A Sign from the Survivor Gods

A Sign from the Survivor Gods is the fifth episode of Survivor: Mexico.

Story
"none"

- Previously On... Survivor! At Pantera, Brisa started to feel the pressures of the game after having to vote out her closest friend, Polita. As a result, she lost her trust in Simoneta and secretly defected from the Pink Panteras, ‘I want to stay in this game, but I don’t see myself staying loyal to Simoneta.’ Back at Zorrillo, Diego and Santiago pleaded to Lucas and Damian about sparring them and voting out Angel. Even though it looked as if they came to an agreement, Damian was just having them let their guards down. At the reward challenge, Simoneta and Citlali’s miscommunication gave Diego and Santiago an opening to steal the victory. When the Zorrillo returned to camp, they decide to have a barbeque to forget about the game, but Lucas ruined their good time by having too much to drink. After the challenge, Simoneta publically talked down Marisol in an effort to alienate her. Her plan backfired as Citlali and Wendy defended Marisol, but Citlali became the target for Simoneta’s verbal lashings, ‘If the next thing you’re going to say isn’t ‘I’m sorry,’ then I’m done talking with you.’ At the immunity challenge, Zorrillo’s winning streak looked inevitable as they won their third challenge in a row, ‘Zorrillo! Wins immunity!’ When Pantera returned to camp, it was obvious that Simoneta was the next to go, but Estrella put all her effort into having Wendy switch her vote. At tribal council, Wendy chose strength over loyalty and as a result had Citlali voted out, ‘Citlali, the tribe has spoken.’ Twelve are left, who will be voted out tonight?

Pantera
As soon as the women returned to camp, Marisol let her frustrations be known to Wendy."pantera"

- I can’t believe Wendy would be so desperate that she’d turn on me and Citlali. Now I know that I can’t trust her, but now, that leaves me to fend for myself because now it’s one against four.

Pantera
The next morning, all the girls went to go get tree mail. As they were reading, their mail instructed them to pick two people from their tribe that would best represent them to go on an overnight journey."pantera"

- So this morning, we all decided to go get tree mail and instead of being treated to a lovely poem, it just bluntly said to pick to people to go on a journey. I don’t know what to expect, but I’m guessing it’s going to be a reward challenge.

Most of the girls thought it would be a reward challenge, so they pick Marisol for her strength in challenges. Simoneta then elected to have Estrella go with Marisol the girls agreed to the nomination. It was decided that Marisol and Estrella were going on the journey. Even though Simoneta’s nomination seemed innocent enough, she actually had a reason to nominate Estrella."pantera"

- I had no idea what this ‘journey’ was about, but if it means coming into contact with the other tribe, I know I can’t let Marisol spill the beans about what happens here. That’s why I picked Estrella to go with her. Should Marisol squeal, I have Estrella there to give me a full report.

Once the two girls were packed for their journey, they said their farewells and had their map guide them on their journey.

Zorrillo
Over at Zorrillo, the guys were just as confused as the girls because they didn’t have a clue as to what this ‘journey’ would symbolize.

Damian made the choice of Diego and Santiago to represent their tribe. Although most of the guys were confused about his decision, he knew exactly what he was doing in picking the two.

When the two guys were all packed, they wasted no time to start their trek.

The Journey
Later that day, the two representatives from both Pantera and Zorrillo met at a wooden structure filled with loads of fruits, desserts, and a variety of beverages. Once they were in each other site, they greeted one another and stepped inside the structure. As they were getting comfortable, Jeff then walked in and was about to drop some major news on the four. He went on to explain that in the Aztec civilization, representatives from cities would gather at a meeting spot to discuss affairs that went on in their cities. He then explained how this lead to the formation of one of the greatest cities in the Aztec civilization, Tenochtitlán. Then he told the four castaways that they would be doing the same; they would spend the night in this luxurious shack talking about what went on in their tribes and in the morning would tell the opposite tribe that they are now merged. When the four heard Jeff say merge, all their jaws dropped. He tossed them their new buffs and told them to choose whose camp they’ll be for the remainder of the game. He then told them to enjoy themselves and that he’ll see them in the morning.

When Jeff left, they couldn’t hold in their excitement about the merge and about getting to interact with the opposite tribe, especially the men."pichirilo"

- I could not be more relieved to hear Jeff say the word ‘merge.’ This is the chance that Santi and I have been waiting for. I can’t believe I have Damian to thank for sending us on this journey, it’s like a sign from the Survivor Gods. "pichirilo"

- So, this afternoon, we were all talking about our tribes and all that. Then the men, namely Santiago brought up the idea about a secret alliance between Marisol, Diego, himself and me. When they told us that they were in the same spot as us and when Marisol openly said she wanted to work with, I didn’t waste the opportunity to say yes. This is an opportunity because instead of going into the merge with only Simoneta, I have three people instead. So four is obviously greater than two.

Once Night fell, the four washed up, slipped into some robes and were going to bed. However, a flirtatious interest seemed to spark between Marisol and Diego. As Estrella and Santiago were trying to sleep, all they could here is giggles and whispers coming from Diego and Marisol.

Day 14
The following day, Jeff returned and asked how everything went. Everyone responded with smiles. He resumed to ask whose camp they will all be at for the remainder of the game. They decided on Zorrillo’s shelter. So Jeff instructed them to pack their things, head over to Pantera and bring all of Pantera over to Zorrillo’s camp. Once they were ready, the four headed over to Pantera.

Pantera
That morning, Pantera was greeted to the greetings from the return of the four returning from their journey. Simoneta obviously showed an expression of annoyance from the return of Marisol. When the women asked what the men were doing here, Marisol and Estrella presented the girls with new buffs and everyone’s expression changed to excitement. The two then proceeded to tell the girls that they had to pack everything because they were going to live at Zorrillo’s camp. As everyone was packing, Simoneta pulled Estrella aside and asked for a report on yesterday. "pichirilo"

- So when Estrella came back, she told me that nothing went on, but something tells me she’s not telling me the full truth. I’m going to have to be real careful around her. I’ll still work with her, but that doesn’t mean I trust her.

Once Pantera had everything they needed, they said goodbye to their camp and headed over to Zorrillo.

Zorrillo
All the men were down by the water when Pantera, plus Diego and Santiago, came in. With no one at the camp, Santiago and Diego decided to give the women a tour of their camp and such. As Diego and Santiago showed them to the water, the men were caught by surprise by the visit from Pantera. The men and women started to intermingle and exchange hugs. After their intermingling, the men asked what brought them to their camp. Instead of answering, Diego and Santiago showed them their new buffs as a sign of a merge. The men asked what they were holding and figured out that they were new buff and began to cheer loudly.

Merged Tribe
When everyone was situated and named were exchanged. Everyone had one thing on their mind; where’s the merge feast? Some thought that Jeff would deliver the food in a basket, others thought that they’d be taken somewhere for a cultural feast.

Damian, Yuyi and Lucas went to check tree mail. At the same time, they were strategizing about this unexpected merge. "pichirilo"

- So I was getting mail with Lucas and Yuyi and we were talking about this unexpected merge. I personally thought I’d be a tribe swap, but sadly, it’s a merge. Now I have to rework my strategy because I have to account for more people. I’m not fazed because Zorrillo still outnumbers Pantera. Even if they have Diego and Santi, what no one knows is that Brisa’s my sister. So all I gotta do is tell her to write someone’s name down and she won’t even think twice to do it.

When they opened tree mail, they found something that would make anyone starving for two weeks go ape shit. Baskets filled with their merge feast, a blank flag, and some paints and brushes. They collected everything and ran back to show everyone the bounty that they found. They then all sat down to an afternoon filled with food, drinks and desserts. Once everyone finished eating, they all decided to work on coming up with a name for their new tribe. After long debate and the tossing of ideas, Memo pitch combining the tribe names and came up with Pichirilo. Everyone heard the name and immediately fell in love with the name. When all was painted onto their flag, they each personally wrote their name onto the flag."pichirilo"

- Our tribe name is Pichirilo and everyone thinks it’s a combination of Pantera and Zorrillo. Pichirilo is actually the name of my dog. So it’s kind of cool to have a tribe named after my dog.

Reward Challenge
"COME ON IN GUYS!" the newly formed Pichirilo tribe came in and Jeff began to speak, "I’m guessing you guys are glad about this early merge? Memo, what did you guys decide to name your new tribe?”

Memo replied, “Pichirilo, it’s a combination of both our tribe names,”

Once Jeff question was answered he proceeded to ask, “Guys ready to get to today’s challenge?" Everyone uniformly said, “Yes,” Jeff then walked over to Lucas and held his hand out for the immunity idol, “Alright Lucas, give it up,” He then placed the idol back on the pedestal and told everyone, “Tribal immunity, no more. Individual immunity is what you seek,” Jeff then uncovered a beautiful necklace adorned with an array of colorful beads. Jeff then gave everyone the reality of the situation, “Today, you’re not playing for immunity. We’re in open season which means everyone will be vulnerable,” Everyone was confused because they didn’t know what they were playing for. Jeff then uncovered another necklace adorned in mainly black and continued his explanation, “You are playing for power. This is the ineligibility necklace. Whoever wins today’s challenge, will get the power to give this to any other player. That player then cannot vote at the next Tribal Council. Today's immunity challenge is very simple, you will hold onto a rope for as long as you can. That rope is connected to a stretched out net filled with water balloons. If you let go, the balloons will launch out of the net and you’re out of the challenge. Last person left holding on to their rope, wins power. Make sense?” Everyone understood, “Draw for spots, we’ll get started,” Once everyone took their position, they all started to pull down on their ropes until the rope would no longer give. Jeff then commenced to say, “And this challenge is on,”

This challenge was not only for power, but it would indicate who would be foreseen as a potential physical threat. It was a hot and bright day and Jeff came forward with a bowl of ceviche and tostadas for anyone who wanted to drop out of the challenge. People made note of the food and were contemplating the decision. Brisa, Wendy and Simoneta obviously knew that they weren’t going to win, so they all agreed to drop out. After just 30 minutes, Brisa dropped out, followed by Simoneta and Wendy. When they all went to go claim their food, Estrella was shaking her head in such disappointment. As everyone else looked on with hunger, the three girls toasted and began to chow down on the mixture of shrimp, vegetables and limejuice and made comments on how delicious it was. Time passed and no one showed signs of fatigue or struggle. Just as Santiago was readjusting his hands, he lost his grip and was out of the challenge. The three girls clapped for Santiago after lasting for 50 minutes. Minutes later, Jeff came back and had another offer; iced coffee and donuts. No one seemed to move an inch so Simoneta suggested giving the donuts to them. After a minute, Jeff decided to give the donuts and coffee to the four people that were out of the challenge. Once the four started to indulge, Estrella unexpectedly let go and silently cussed because she missed out on having donuts.

Another half hour passed and Jeff approached the remaining contestants with a large plate of chocolate chip cookies and a pitcher of milk. Everyone then started to gasp at the sight of the chocolate chip cookies. Damian and Yuyi offered to drop out if Angel would drop out. Angel agreed to the deal so Angel dropped out followed by Damian and Yuyi. They lasted for 90 minutes and celebrated by basking in a plate of chewy, melt in your mouth chocolate chip cookies along with a tall, cold glass of milk. Soon after the three dropped Marisol could no longer hold on and dropped out at an hour and 40 minutes. Jeff noted Marisol's achievement of being the last women and everyone clapped at Marisol's display of strength. All that remained were Lucas, Diego and Memo. Two hours had passed and Jeff approached the three with one final offer of a plateful of nacos and beer. All three were tired and hungry, but they didn't want to loose such great power. They were all quickly trying to figure out a solution to how they would end the competition.

Memo and Diego courteously dropped down and Jeff announced, “LUCAS! Wins reward!” As Lucas heard Jeff yell out his name, he let go of the rope and was applauded by his peers. Jeff then awarded Lucas with the power of the Ineligibility Necklace. "Everybody, Tribal Council tonight where one of the twelve of you will be voted out.Lucas, you now have the power to stop someone from voting at tonight's Tribal Council. Have the afternoon to figure out who it's going to be," The three then sat down to enjoy their beer and nachos before heading back to camp.

Pichirilo
Once everyone returned to camp, no one wasted time to start walking off and strategizing. Everyone except for Angel and Simoneta, who were just laying in the shelter and talking to each other. Lucas became skeptical that Angel wasn't interested in an all male alliance anymore, but rather he was interested in Simoneta which worried Lucas."pichirilo"

- I don't think Angel is interested in working with the guys anymore because he's been spending too much time with Simoneta. I beginning to think that Angel is playing for the other team.

Estrella, Marisol, Diego and Santiago all met down by the water to discuss their vote. Theye were all considering Lucas, but Diego mentioned how Simoneta was spending a lot of time with Angel. So he thought that maybe she could be trying to work over some of the men. With that bit of information, the four unanimously decided on Simoneta because they did not want her to stir up potential trouble.

While the four were strategizing, Lucas gathered his alliance and made the notion of voting off Lucas. Everyone seemed confused as to why they'd vote out one of their own. Lucas explained that Angel seemed more interested in working with Simoneta. The other guys thought to recruit Simoneta because of her manipulation of Angel, but Lucas whole-heartedly disagreed because he knew Simoneta was smarter than she looked and he didn't want her to screw them over later on. So they didn't have any other choice then to vote out Angel. After meeting with his alliance, Damian went on a walk with Brisa and was going to explain to her that she is now part of his alliance."pichirilo"

- I'm glad to be at the merge with my brother, but now he wants me to vote out someone for no good reason. I'd rather vote for Simoneta, but if I go against him, I know that he'll vote me out straight after. I love my brother. Even though he's always seemed mean towards me, it's his way of showing his love to me.

Tribal Council
That night, Pichirilo packed their things and made their way to Tribal Council as a new tribe. Once they arrived, they set their torches in their slots and everyone took their seats.

Brisa stood up and walked passed the fire pit and through a small corridor to the urn and casted her vote, her vote was not revealed and then went back to rejoin the group. When it was Diego's turn, it was revealed he voted for Simoneta and mentioned that she had a bad attitude. When Lucas went up to cast his vote he mentioned how he couldn't trust Angel because Angel would throw away everything they worked for for a pretty girl. When it was Wendy's turn, she voted for Lucas because she saw him as a challenge threat. Once they all cast their votes, Jeff announced, "I'll go tally the votes." Jeff then went to collect the urn and tally the votes. With uncertainty surrounded the anxious new Pichirilo tribe, Jeff finally returned with the urn instructing, "none"

- Once the votes are read the decision is final person. Person voted out will be ask to leave the tribal council area immediately. I'll read the votes. First Vote: Lucas Angel Marisol That’s one votes Angel, one vote Marisol, one vote Lucas. Simoneta Simoneta That’s two votes Simoneta, one votes Angel, one vote Marisol, one vote Lucas. Simoneta Simoneta That’s four votes Simoneta, one votes Angel, one vote Marisol, one vote Lucas. Angel Angel Angel That’s four votes Simoneta, four votes Angel, one vote Marisol, one vote Lucas. One vote left. Fifth Person Voted out of Survivor: Mexico: Angel. Need to bring me your torch.

When the last vote was read, the Journey Alliance was in shock because once again Simoneta eluded the vote. Angel collected his things, and inserted his torch into the slot, as his game came to an end. "none"

- Angel, the tribe has spoken. Time for you to go.

Angel turned to everyone and expressed, “Great game, guys,”

"none"

- Well, now that you guys are merged, it seems clear that old tribal loyalty will be tested. The question now is, will this game still be men vs women, or will that no longer matter? Grab your torches head on back to camp. Goodnight.

Reward
Challenge: Eruption Each player must hold onto a rope attached to a net filled with water balloons. If they let go of the rope, they will launch the balloons and subsequently be eliminated. Last person left standing wins.

Reward: Ineligibility Necklace Winner: Lucas Batalla

Voting Confessionals
"pichirilo"

- Personally, I thought you were very sweet, but friends come and go and family's forever. I have to go with what my brother says.

"pichirilo"

- I really don’t think you have a brain in that smog cloud you call hair. You aren’t strategizing, therefore, you can’t move forward.

"pichirilo"

- Even if Marisol and Estrella didn’t tell me anything about you, I didn’t need a hint to know you don’t deserve to be here based on your attitude.

"pichirilo"

- You said I needed to have ice in my veins, this is proof enough that I got game. It was only a matter of time before we had to turn on each other. I’d rather do it sooner than later.

"pichirilo"

- This is about tribe loyalty and you’ve demonstrated that you’d throw it all away for a pretty girl. We can’t trust you.

"pichirilo"

- Angel, you’re a really great dude, but I don’t trust you enough to keep you here three more days. Sorry, man.

"pichirilo"

- There's no more excuses for you to hide behind. You're going home tonight and there's nothing you can do about it.

"pichirilo"

- You seem too conniving to keep around. I don't want to give you the chance to pounce.

"pichirilo"

- If I don't go home tonight, I'll make sure you go home before me.

"pichirilo"

- You seem like biggest challenge threat right now, I wanna have my chance to wear that necklace.

"pichirilo"

- I think you forgot, it’s bros before hoes.

Final Words
"pichirilo"

- I didn't expect to be voted out right off the bat. I guess I should've kept my feelings for Simoneta on the down low. Overall, I have no hard feelings towards anyone and I wish you all a great game.