Beer, Pop, and Chips

Beer, Pop, and Chips is the 5th episode of Survivor: Espana

Challenges
Reward: Idol Hands You'll play this challenge one on one. You'll be holding a statuette on a platform in your hand. On my go, you'll try to knock your opponents statuette off while protecting your own. If it touches the ground, or your free hand, your opponent scores a point. First to six points wins. Reward: One beer, one bag of nacho flavored tortilla chips, and one cola per castaway on the tribe.

Immunity: Four runners will have to run through the course, including over the A frames. At the end of the course, they will retrieve a bag of puzzle pieces, and make their way back through the course. Then the next person goes. Once you have all four bags, you'll hand them to your puzzle solvers, who will work on the puzzle. (Serra de Tramuntana) First tribe to get it right wins.

Previously on Survivor
Julia and her alliance finally got the majority. So they celebrated with a little relaxation. But just as she settles into the thought, a tribe switch occurs at that night's tribal council. With Danielle not being assigned to either tribe, she was controversially eliminated on the spot. While the rest of the Ardilla tried to figure out how to get the majority, Willis and Jeffery had a bit of a disagreement. At Musaraña, the tribe had initially viewed Laura as a crucial swing vote. But after losing the immunity challenge, she was demanding not to be approached. With the two alliances ticked off by this, they targeted Laura instead, voting her out of the mountains. Thirteen are left. Who will be voted out tonight?

Initial Reactions
Night 12 Musaraña just got back to camp, and was discussing the outcome.

Susan: Going to be different without her.

Ronda: She definitely brought it on herself, though.

Susan: Yeah, but it's still sad.

Confessional-Susan: I love her to death, but sometimes I think Ronda gets so focused into the game that she forgets about the fact that it's people in it. Laura was a great friend and a wonderful person. But Ronda doesn't see it that way.

Ronda: Let's shake it off, and we'll get the next one.

Susan: I'll figure out how.

Confessional-Ronda: It sucks to get rid of your new friends. But in this game, you're here for a million dollars. What do you have to do to get that? Outlast the others. How do you do that? Vote them off.

While Susan is clearly trying to "suck it up," we join Sue and Ramon, during a little chitchat in the shelter.

Sue: Was she normally that way? Not involving herself in game discussion?

Ramon: Hard to say. No other workers got assigned to this tribe. We'd need to ask Joan. Which means going to the well.

Sue: Hmmm.

Confessional-Sue: I've never really been comfortable with the well. We have a water source. This river right here. Ardilla has it, too. So it's clearly only a ploy to get people to talk to each other. Ramon: So, are you going to do it?

Sue: Maybe.

At the fire, a little bit of uncertainty is going on. Well, more like certainty mixed with generic need of confirmation. Virginia: What's the plan for next time?

Raphael: I think that it's the original plan. Ronda.

Virginia: Let me guess. We'd need to ask Sue for confirmation.

Raphael: Bingo.

The title sequence plays.

Day 13
We join Ardilla at camp, where things were about to get complicated. Joan: Willis. What's up? Willis: Not much. You. Joan: I'm fine. You got a minute? Willis: Alright. They head towards the cool rock. Joan: So, I was wondering what you thought about gunning against Matthew. Willis: I'm down with that. But just so you're aware, Julia isn't really on my side. Joan: Just let me deal with her. I'll take care of it. Willis: Alright. Confessional- Joan: Right now, I'm thinking that I'll have to set up 2 separate voting blocs just to make this work. But I'm willing to do that. Because life sometimes requires that. Over at the shelter, Julia and Larry are talking. Julia: Hate to say it, but I don't think the alliance will last without Sue. Larry: After seeing Jeffery and Willis the other day, I think he may be voting for Willis. Julia: Willis is starting to grow on me, though. Larry: Really? Why? Julia: He kind of reminds me of a younger version of my husband. Larry: Didn't see that coming. Confessional-Julia: I'm hoping to use the tribe switch as a chance to completely reset this and start fresh. I'm thinking that will be easier to do than trying to reestablish the majority. Besides having the reins was stressful. So I'm just hoping that Larry doesn't mess up. Larry: Well, it was great working with you. Best of luck in the future. Julia: You, too. At Musaraña, it's a little more simplistic. Let's join the swimmers today. Ramon: How are we going to decide? Ronda: We were originally planning Sue, weren't we? Ramon: Yeah, but I wanted to make sure that hasn't changed. Ronda: Trust me. It hasn't. Susan will be down with it. I'll be down with it. It'll be fine. Confessional-Ramon: So, Sue is probably expecting it to be her right now. But that will be 3 for Ronda, and 3 for Sue. So that will deadlock us. And I don't want to draw rocks. Later, Susan is throwing the rice bags. Ronda and Sue are talking about their nails in the shelter. Raph and Ramon are fishing. Virginia is fetching the water. All seems to be fine. Until Jeff starts strolling up to camp. Probst: KNOCK KNOCK! At that point, everyone gets concerned. Probst: Sue, I need to talk to you. Everybody else can just go back to whatever they were doing. She gets up and goes with Jeff. Probst: This came in the mail today. You were informed in advance that the river was off limits by law. Hence why we provided the well. Jeff hands Sue a ticket, stating that she owes €500. Probst: By law, you're not permitted to leave Spain until that is paid. Sue: Alright. In the purse in my locker, there should be a checkbook. Can you bring it to the next challenge so I can write that? Probst: I'll see what I can do. Be more careful when you get water, okay? Sue: Alright. Confessional-Sue: Me and tickets have never been a good combination. Driving down the interstate on the way to work? Get a ticket. Parking in the A-mart parking lot? Get a ticket. Play Survivor and use water for consumption? Get a ticket. Why did I sign up to play this game? Got one too many tickets and need the money to pay them off. Jeff notices Susan throwing the rice bags, and decided to get a closer look. Probst: Couldn't help but to notice these. How did you make them? Susan: One ration of rice per bag, Jack's shirt, and Ronda's sewing kit. Probst: Clever. Mind if I throw one? Susan: Go ahead. I'm using that rock as a target. Jeff's throw hits the rock head on. Probst: Still got it. Alright. I should be going now. See you tomorrow. Musaraña tribe in unison: Bye. Confessional-Ronda: Don't get me wrong. Jeff's shot was awesome. But he's had 3 square meals, an actual bed, and the ability to call his wife and kids whenever he wants. So it shouldn't be a surprise that we're bad at this. It's only fitting that, when Night 13 falls on a Friday, it storms. The fire washed out real quick, so they were cold, too. Jack: This is going to be a long night. Jeffery: No crap. Confessional-Jack: About that time, I got nudged by Willis. And it was in a manner that reminded me of the argument the other day. So I stopped, not wanting to be public enema #2 Producer (in confessional): I think you meant enemy, right? Confessional-Jack: Yeah. What did I say? Producer: Enema. Jack couldn't hold his laughter in. Confessional-Jack: Being exhausted and in the medical industry is always a crappy situation.

Patricotc’s Blunder
Well, I screwed up. While writing Espana, I saved every section of an episode onto a separate email. While preparing today’s episode, I deleted the email which was supposed to contain this section. Not good. To summarize, not a whole lot from Musaraña. At Ardilla, the Musaraña Voting Bloc thought Willis might flip. But that didn’t work out, as Julia was already talking to him about baseball. Let’s move on and forget that I did that.

Reward Challenge
The Idol Hands challenge site is mind blowing. Well, not really. It's just a circular fence. They're pretty common on farms. But the editors did a good job at making you think it's epic. Probst: COME ON IN, GUYS! Ardilla walked into the site. They start looking at the pathway. Probst: Ardilla getting their first look at the new Musaraña tribe. Laura voted out at the last Tribal Council. A little surprising, all things considered. Probst: Are you ready to get to today's reward challenge? Not really, but the castaways disagreed with me. And it's their game, so... Probst: You'll play this challenge one on one. You'll be holding a statuette on a platform in your hand. On my go, you'll try to knock your opponents statuette off while protecting your own. If it touches the ground, or your free hand, your opponent scores a point. First to six points wins reward. You want to know what you're playing for? Let's see what's under Jeff's tarp today. Probst : Winning tribe gets one beer per tribe member, one cola per member, and a one ounce bag of nacho cheese flavored tortilla chips per member. I know it's worth playing for. Ronda, the youngest castaway this season, is 23. So everyone is of legal age. Probst: Ardilla, you have one extra member. Who's sitting out? Joan: Sure. Probst: Joan, have a seat on the bench. Everyone else, I'll give you a minute to strategize. We'll get started. Let's look at these statuettes. Oh, they're of a lion. Okay, back to the game. For each of Jeff's introductions, Ardilla is mentioned first. Probst: Alright. First round. It's Willis taking on Ramon. Survivors ready? Go. Willis just goes after it, but Ramon backs away, causing the fall. Musaraña is first on the board! Matthew: Nice try. Probst: Next two. It's going to be Matthew taking on Sue. Survivors ready? Go! Sue going on the defensive early. But Matthew isn't giving up. He's going to try to kick it off. He misses. Sue bumps his arm, and scores! Musaraña 2, Ardilla, zip! Ronda: Nice job, Sue. Probst: Next round. Larry taking on Raph. Larry: That's a crappy shirt. Confessional-Larry: Wordplay. Get into people's minds, and they'll be unfocused for the task at hand. Let's see if it works. Probst: Survivors ready? Go! Larry takes a swing almost immediately and misses. Raph's hand is starting to shake. He drops! Musaraña 2, Ardilla, now on the board! Ronda: Shake it off. Probst: Next round. Jack taking on Ronda. Survivors ready? Go! Jack is forcing her back against the fence. Ronda not giving up. She escapes. Ronda now going on the attack. She falls short. Jack still putting pressure on her. But Ronda is giving up nothing. Jack's now going for it. He misses. Ronda escapes again. A bit of a time lapse occurs. Probst: We've been at it 10 minutes now. Jack is starting to look exhausted. Ronda is ready for more. She goes for it. Still falls short. Jack is going for it. He can't connect. Ronda gives a feint. Jack flinched enough to drop! Musaraña, 3, Ardilla, 1. Julia: About damn time. Probst: Next round. Julia taking on Virginia. Survivors ready? Go! Virginia abandoned to knock Julia's off. Virginia's statuette touched the ground first, though! Musaraña still leads, 3-2! Jack: Shorter match. We won it. Much better match than the last one. Probst: Next two. Jeffery taking on Susan. Survivors ready? Go! Jeffery going on the defensive. Susan takes a swipe. She misses. Goes again, and misses. Jeffery takes a shot, and gets swatted away. Susan going again. And connects! Musaraña, 4, Ardilla, 2. Susan: Valiant effort, though. Probst: Next two. We have a rematch. Willis taking on Ramon. Ramon won last time. Survivors ready? Go! Willis now taking a more defensive stand. Ramon takes a strike. Willis blocked, but touched it with his free hand in doing so! Musaraña, 5, Ardilla, 2. Matthew: Better than last time. Probst: Next round. Larry taking on Ronda. Larry: This is who they sent? Please. Probst: If Ronda wins, Musaraña wins reward. Survivors ready? Go! Ronda goes on the attack early, and connects! MUSARAÑA WINS REWARD! Larry slams his platform down. Musaraña cheered the win, as Ardilla was visibly disappointed. A little bit later... Probst: Musaraña, here's your food and drinks. Grab them, head out. Ramon: Fair warning, guys. I'm a terrible strategist when I'm drunk. Susan: You're a terrible strategist sober, too. Ramon: Yeah. Probst: Ardilla, I have nothing for you. Grab your stuff. Head back to camp.

Afterwards
Musaraña came back to camp hooting and hollering. Raphael: Who wants a beer? Sue: Shouldn't we ration them out first? Just kidding. Give me one. Confessional-Raphael: Today's reward challenge was for beer, pop, and chips. And we won. So I doubt anyone is going to talk strategy for the rest of the day. Ramon: Virginia, you thirsty? Virginia: I don't drink. Ramon: You want my soda? I'll trade you. Virginia: Deal. Confessional-Virginia: I'm glad that Ramon offered to trade his soda for my beer. Because I promised myself that I would stay sober to focused on the game. That, and Ramon is hilarious when he's drunk. He is. Ramon: Hey, Raph. Got a minute? I want to talk about strategy. Ronda: Wow, Raph. You have really nice boobs. Susan: Thanks, but when did I get castrated? The girls were sober, by the way. In another incident, Ramon: Virginia, if I wasn't married, I'd kiss my wife as she went to sleep every night. And for a third one. Ramon: Alright. I'm thinking we should vote out Sue next. She is definitely a threat. No doubt about it. Any other thoughts? There was no response from the squirrel he was talking to. Confessional-Ramon: Yeah, I should've saved Virginia's beer for another day. Speaking of squirrels, let's go to the Ardilla tribe. They left the reward challenge with nothing. Willis: That sucked. Julia: Yeah. Confessional-Jeffery: The reward challenge was a bust for us. 6-2 loss. And I'm hoping that we can win the immunity challenge tomorrow. Because going 2 men up will be a huge momentum boost. Larry is clearly in dismay. Confessional-Larry: A nice cold can of pop is what I've been craving since I got out here. Heck, with how cold it gets up here sometimes, that part may have came on its own. So, yeah. I'm ticked. We haven't really seen much of Jeffery yet. Let's talk to him. Confessional-Jeffery: So, we're definitely looking at this situation. The swimmers from Musaraña are in an alliance. The Ardilla 4 split up. Julia appears to be partnering with Willis. Virginia was planning on discreetly setting up a voting bloc with them both of them. But the discreet part might be out the window. So that leaves Larry and I unconfirmed. So, it will be interesting to watch. Well, it might be interesting to watch. But hearing about it was really boring. So let's talk to Jack and Larry. Larry: So, why did they call you guys swimmers? Jack: The 5 of us went for a swim immediately after getting to camp. Hence the name. Larry: Ah. Confessional-Larry: In order to make an informed decision about the swimmers, I need to get to know them first. And they seem like pretty nice guys. So I'm going to be playing it by ear for now. Rather than fake something interesting going on there, I'm just going to skip to that night. It featured another trip to the river bank for our Musaraña lovers. They are now drinking their beers. They're kind of gabbing. Kind of... well, you figure it out. Ronda: I'm so glad we did this. Susan: Yeah. Ronda: Too bad it might end soon. Susan: Let's try to win the immunity challenge first. Failing that, though, I have one more trick up my sleeve. They share a kiss. Ramon sees this, but isn't alarmed. Confessional-Ramon: I have this tendency to see things when I'm hung over. And last night, I saw Susan and Ronda making out. So I'm thinking that was a real good one.

That part before the commercial
Susan: Hey, Raph. You mind helping me get water? Raphael: Sure. As they head into the woods, Susan puts her plan into action. Susan: So, let's face it. You don't have a chance with old Ardilla. Raphael: What do you mean? Susan: Virginia defied your alliance with Willis. Sue was never on it. So how is it that you won't have a target on your back after the merge when they rejoin them? Raphael: Fair point... Confessional-Raphael: About that point, I wasn't sure that I liked where this was going. Susan: So, we know that we're two tribal councils away from the merge. We're already voting Sue for this one, should we not win the challenge. Then we get rid of Virginia. There's the merge. And the game opens back up to the point that you are clear to do what you want. Confessional-Raphael: Susan's plan seems a little well thought out. So I'm thinking that she might be a larger threat than we have given her credit for. And we should probably get rid of her. But her logic makes sense. It sounds like it's advantageous for me to go with it. So I'm not sure what to do.

Immunity Challenge
The Tomb Raider challenge was ready for action. A frames decorated the challenge course, 2 per side. Probst: COME ON IN, GUYS! Ardilla and Musaraña walked in. They knew it was an important challenge, and both were going to bring their A game. Pun not intended. Probst: Alright, shall we get to today's immunity challenge? Cue him taking it back. Probst: First things first. Joan, I'll take it back. And now it's officially a Survivor episode. Don't get me wrong. It's still a fanon, but... you know what I meant. Probst: Once again, immunity is back up for grabs. For today's challenge, 4 runners will have to run through the course, including over the A frames. At the end of the course, they will retrieve a bag of puzzle pieces, and make their way back through the course. Then the next person goes. Once you have all four bags, you'll hand them to your puzzle solvers, who will work on the puzzle. The image shows that the puzzle is a word scramble that reads “SERRA DE TRAMUNTANA," the name of the mountain range they are in. Probst: First tribe to get it right wins immunity. Will be safe from the vote. Losers, you know the drill. Tribal Council tonight, where someone will be the 6th person voted out of this game. Ardilla, you have one extra member. You're sitting someone out. You can't sit the same person out in back to back challenges. Who is it going to be? Willis: I'll sit out. Probst: Willis, have a spot on the bench. Everyone else, I'll give you a minute to strategize. We'll get started. After the negotiation ends, Probst: Running for Ardilla is Jack, Jeffery, Julia, and Joan. For Musaraña, it's Ronda, Sue, Raph, and Ramon. For immunity. Survivors ready? Go! Jack and Ramon head out first. Probst: Jack is running against Ramon. Both tribes are working their way up the first A frame. Jack and Ramon are both down. Now for the second A frame. They're both down. Ramon (captioned): You know who could flip? Jack (captioned): Not sure, dude. Sorry. Probst: A little bit of talking going on as they untie their bags. Jack is coming back. He's over the first A frame. Now Ramon is coming back. Jack makes it across the second. Ramon is across the first. Go, Ardilla! Ramon's over the second. Joan is out for Ardilla. She makes it over the first A frame. Probst: Go, Musaraña! Sue out for Musaraña. Joan is over the second A frame, as Sue goes over her first. Joan is on her knots now. Sue is on her second. She's going to the knots. Ronda: Mind if I go next? Raphael: Sure. Probst: Joan is coming back. She makes quick work over the first A frame. Same for the second. Go, Ardilla. Jeffery out for Ardilla. Sue's coming back. They're both over their first. Sue is slowing down. Jeffery's over the second. He's on the knots. Sue's over the second. Sue is taking her time getting back. Go, Musaraña. Ronda now out. She's over the first very quickly. Now tackling the second. As she went down the second, however, she planted her foot wrong, and took a very hard fall. Probst: Jeffery frees up his knots. He's heading back. Ronda: Jeff, I need medical. Probst: STOP, JEFFERY! Jeffery had already made it over the first A frame by this point. Probst: MEDICAL! Dr. Brendan Casey and the Survivor medical crew comes out to assist Ronda. Jack gets a quick peek. Jack: I've seen worse. But that doesn't look good at all. Dr. Casey: Well, it's definitely broken. Probst: So, what exactly happened? My back was turned. Ronda: I planted my foot wrong, and crashed into the dirt. Probst: I take it you moved your arm trying to protect yourself? Ronda: Must've been. Probst: So, Dr. Brendan, how does it look? Dr. Casey: Well, I hate doing this to castaways. But there is absolutely no other option. If we don't have surgery done within the next few days, we're going to see a permanent loss of all mobility in the left arm. So for that reason, I'm going to have to pull you from the game. Ronda completely understood that, but it still sucked to hear that news. Probst: Let's get a truck out here. Ronda, as you know, there are two ways you can leave this game. Quit, which you clearly are not doing, or to have medical decide that you can't continue... He had a whole spiel ready to go, but Ronda was just ready to leave. Ronda: Alright. Mind if I say goodbye? Probst: Alright. Go ahead. So she starts to gets up and heads to the mat. But Dr. Casey has a different idea. Dr. Casey: Actually, let's have them come over here. I want to put a splint on while you're doing that. That should keep it from getting worse. Probst: Okay. This challenge is over. I want everyone to come over here real quick. As they gather, Ronda: It sounds like I'm being pulled. Each castaway, regardless of affiliation, was devastated. Ronda: My arm is significantly broken, and I have only a few days to get surgery to repair it. Every castaway gives her a side hug on the right side. As a white SUV approaches, a confessional is given. Confessional-Sue: Gamewise, this was fortunate, as we now have the majority alliance on our tribe. But you don't really want to see anyone get eliminated like that. The hug procession ends with Susan. They share a kiss. In doing so, they confirm that they were a couple. But at this point, no one could care less. Ronda: God has spoken. Literally everyone laughed at that. Probst: Alright, Ronda. It's time for you to go. She gets in the van, cast already on. The door shuts, and the van drives off. The castaways look on, waving as she departs. Probst: Alright. With Ronda now out of the game, Tribal Council has been called off. Given that there is now no need for an immunity challenge, the challenge is over. Technically, since the challenge requires 6, and Musaraña now only has 5, Ardilla won the challenge by default. Joan: You might as well just hold onto the idol. One less thing you have to do in a few days. Probst: Everyone is okay with that? That was a unanimous yes. Probst: Alright, that's what I'll do. Either way, the game's back on. Ardilla, grab your stuff. Head out. Musaraña, grab your stuff. Head back to camp. through. That's pretty good. But I do wish I was out there. I sure miss Susan.

Initial Reactions
Well, since we still have a little bit of time, let's get the initial reaction from Musaraña. Ramon: Not good at all. Raphael: No. Confessional-Ramon: You never want to lose a member of your alliance, let alone by medevac. But we just found out that Ronda and Susan were a thing. So, she's probably devastated. Virginia: What are the odds of Susan quitting now? Sue: Very likely. Virginia: Good. Confessional-Virginia: Susan will quit any minute now. No doubt about that. That will decimate their alliance to one. I could probably work a deal with Ramon to vote out Raphael in exchange for his safety. But, first thing's first. Susan needs to go. At Ardilla, the reaction was much more disappointing. Julia: Not going to lie. Would've rather gone to Tribal. Jeffery: Yeah. Confessional-Joan: Ronda is gone. That's really unfortunate. So we're trying to look back on the memories. Matthew: I remember one time, she somehow managed to turn her buff into a sock puppet. Did a whole parody on Interworld War V with Danielle. Jack: That was awesome. Willis: You remember her throw at the tribe switch? Joan: That went a good 30 feet, didn't it? Jack: We're going to miss her. Let's go back to Susan. She's at that spot on the bank where she and Ronda would hang out at night. Confessional-Susan: I'm really sad that Ronda is gone. I'm not going to lie. But we're out here for a million dollars. So when the game is over, and we'll be able to talk again, we will do so. But until then, the game is back on. It'll suck. But I've lived without her for 24 years. What's 25 more days? The episode comes to an end with that thought.

Tribal Council
No Tribal Council occurred due to Ronda’s medevac.

Next time on Survivor
An unusual occurrence happens. Confessional-Willis: For the first time in Survivor history... And an offer may be too good to resist. Probst: For an advantage. Survivors ready?

Final Words
Ronda’s final words were shot at a beach near Palma. Playing during the final words was a highlight reel of Ronda's game. Final words-Ronda: The surgery was a success. And I got this surprisingly sexy cast to go along with it. Seriously, though. It sucks to be out of the game early. It sucks even worse being out of the game this way. But, ultimately, I got 37.5% of the way

Author’s Notes
As usual, this is merely an initial upload. A more coded version will occur later in the day.