Coo Day What?

"Coo Day What?"

Season	Survivor: Dominican Republic
Author	User:Gavin316
Episode Number	4/13
Episode Chronology
Previous	The Boy Is Skating On Thin Ice
Next	For the Good of the Team

This is the fourth episode of Survivor: Dominican Republic

Previously On Survivor...[]

On the Yuna Tribe, Rodney did his best to get back into his team’s good graces once he realized that he was earmarked for elimination by Martha and Mark because he supported Carly in the second Tribal Council vote. After a tough loss at the Reward challenge, Damion let it be known that he felt that Esther was a huge liability on the team and if the Yuna Tribe had any thoughts of winning challenges, they would have to get rid of Esther.

The Payabo Tribe was racked with internal conflict as well despite the fact that they had won three challenges in a row. Thom, Hector, and Sherri got into an argument over how the tribe had very little rice left. When the Payabo Tribe lost their first Immunity Challenge the camp broke up into three different factions.

Hector, Denise, and Thom wanted to get rid of Wild Bill, while Wild Bill, Jenny, and Sherri wanted to get rid of Hector. Kendra and Sully, who found themselves the swing votes in Payabo’s first Tribal Council, sought to keep their team as strong as possible and therefore they were not willing to vote out either Hector or Wild Bill. Sully and Kendra offered both sides alternative deals and when Jenny, Wild Bill, and Sherri were unwilling to compromise their votes and Thom and Denise were more than willing to change their votes Sherri became the third person to be voted out of the game. Thirteen are left, who will be voted out next?

Challenges[]

Reward Challenge: Seers and Doers
One person from each tribe will be the caller. The rest of the tribe will be blindfolded, two members of each tribe shall be paired up, the extra member will traverse the course solo. Using only verbal commands, the caller will direct their tribe mates to collect ten items scattered in the field. Once all ten items have been collected, the caller will direct one pair out to find a set of keys. Those keys will unlock a chest. The first tribe to get their chest and all ten items back to the start wins immunity and the reward.
Reward:The winning tribe will board a boat that will tour San Lorenzo Bay. While on the boat they will be given pizza, soda, beer, and tropical fruit to eat.
Winner:Payabo

Immunity Challenge: Triage
Each tribe selects two members to become "rescuers." The other members are placed at predetermined accident locations. Using a stretcher, each tribe must locate their tribemates at the accident locations and bring them back, one by one, to the "first aid tent." First tribe to rescue all of its members and cross the finish line wins.
Winner: Payabo

Story[]

Night 9[]

The Payabo Tribe returns from their first Tribal Council with it being nighttime most go and lie down in the shelter. Wild Bill on the other hand starts flipping out. He tosses stuff around, begins yelling at no one in particular about utter nonsense. Most of the tribe, even his only ally Jenny, tries to ignore him and go to sleep but the fact that everyone is trying to sleep just fuels Bill to go even crazier. He soon begins to sing in an off key voice.

That was the final straw for Sully who tells him to shut the hell up so that people can get some sleep. Wild Bill begins to laugh and says he does not have to listen to a Benedict Arnold and if he wants to yell and sing he is going to yell and sing and none of them can stop him. A frustrated Sully goes back to the shelter and he and the rest of the tribe try the best that they can to ignore Bill as he continues to sing and shout.

We now see a nightvision confessional with Wild Bill talking about why he is acting the way he is acting.

“	Going into Tribal Council I had an idea that either Sherri or Jenny was going to get voted out. So when Sherri was actually voted out I was not at all surprised. When we came back from camp I decided to put on a little show for my tribe. I was actually not at all mad about Sherri going, I mean yes she was an ally but at the end of the day I am still playing a one person game and as long as I move on that is all that matters. My little show tonight was just me having fun screwing with my teammates. I’m plan on making life for them out here as uncomfortable as possible. Why am I doing this? Because I can and the glorious thing is none of them are going to do a damn thing about it because they do not have to guts to vote me out tonight. Had they been thinking with their heads they would have voted with Hector to get rid of me but they are just collectively not smart enough to see the threat I pose to each and every one of them. Sometimes it’s good to be the bad guy.	”
–Wild Bill

Day 10[]

“	I noticed that Damion was up early this morning and I knew for a fact that I was not going to be able to get back to sleep. I went over to where Damion was and asked if he and I could go for a walk to hash out any problems that may exist between the two of us.	”
–Esther

You and I have not really gotten to know each other out here and yet for some reason you continue to target me. What you said about me the other day hurt my feelings and I just wanted to get into your head and try to figure out why you dislike me so much.- Esther

I don’t hate ya, I just think that you’re not good in challenges and we’re gonna keep on losing so long as you are in the game. I didn’t mean to hurt your feeling or nothing.- Daimon

Well the fact of the matter is you did hurt my feelings.

Look, I understand that I am older and therefore I might be a hindrance during physical challenges. There is not much I can do about that, my mind wants to do more than my body actually can do. However, not all challenges will be physical and so there will be a time where I will be an asset to this team.- Esther

I didn’t really think about that. Truth be told the main reason why I went off on you is because as a pro MMA fighter I ain’t used to losing and to lose every challenge except for one is starting to impact me...it’s starting to make me think that maybe I ain’t good enough to lead y’all to victory.

I took out my anger on you. There ain’t no excuse for what I did, know what I’m saying?- Daimon

Look I understand what you said to me was when you were in a very emotional state. Trust me I feel just as you do when we lose. It hurts me to see my chances of advancing in this game dwindle after every loss.

However, we cannot let that negativity linger because in the long run it is only going to damage our team further. I have no problems with you, yes what you said hurt me but I can look past that in order for the two of us to become better teammates.

So what do you say?

Want to put the past in the past and put our best feet forward?- Esther

Yeah I’m cool with that. Want to hug it out mama?- Daimon

Why not.- Esther

Esther and Damion share a brief hug and the two head on back to camp.

“	I feel really good after my conversation with Damion today. The whole purpose of the conversation was for him to see me as a person and not some sort of albatross who is dragging the team into oblivion. I think that I reached him today…or at least I hope that I did. In truth, Damion is not that different from any of the young men I used to deal with when I was a Principal and a teacher. He is a brash young man who has not had the wisdom that comes with living a long life. He only sees today when he should be thinking about tomorrow. In time he will become wiser but at this point in his life he is just a young pup who needs to have these life lessons to make him into a better man in the future.	”
–Esther

“	You know I gotta give Esther mad props for having the balls to come and talk to me. That lady’s got some stones, know what I’m saying? Ain’t nobody going to intimidate her and I gotta respect that. That don’t mean that I ain’t gonna vote for her if we lose another Immunity Challenge. It just means I’ll respect her while doing it.	”
–Damion

Over at the Payabo camp Jenny and Bill are discussing his antics during the previous night. Jenny says that while she did find it funny at first even she grew tired of all the noise he was making. Bill just laughed and said that was the whole idea of his rant last night to make things uncomfortable for everyone.

Jenny says that if he keeps on doing stuff like that the rest of the tribe may not be willing to keep him around because his worth in challenges will be outweighed by how annoying he is to the rest of the tribe. This causes Bill to laugh once again, he tells Jenny as long as Thom is still on the tribe he should be good.

Back at the Yuna Tribe, the entire Tribe is sitting in their cave/shelter talking about various things. Mark makes a point of saying because the team had a bonding experience, when they were trapped in the cave during the previous day due to rain; they won the Immunity Challenge yesterday. He says that Rodney and Damion should not scoff at him every time he brings up the power of Tribal unity because their Immunity Challenge win was proof positive that if there is a positive vibe on their Tribe, their Tribe will win.

Rodney laughs at this and tells Mark there can never be positive vibes on the team as long as Martha keeps on telling him that he is the next to go because he voted with Carly. This causes Martha to go off on Rodney talking about how his vote against her was because he was a mindless sheep who let a homophobe control his vote just because she was cute.

Rodney tells her that nobody controls his vote, he then goes on to defend Carly saying that the only known homophobe on their team was John and that she better be very careful about who she accuses of being homophobic. Rodney goes on to say that if Martha keeps on accusing everyone who opposes her in this game of being homophobic then people are going to start ignoring her and viewing her as the boy who cried wolf.

Martha then starts yelling at the top of her lungs:

“	Lord please allow me to get my temper under control. I don’t need to be smacking down this stupid white boy.	”
–Martha

Rodney starts laughing over the ridiculous of Martha, while the rest of the Tribe seemed shocked over the way Martha is reacting. Rodney gets up and leaves the shelter while Martha continues to yell various insults at him.

“	Rodney is going to pay for what he said today. He thinks he is safe because he is starting to cozy up with Jill and he is friends with Damion. Well he ain’t safe because when it comes time to vote, his ass is gonna be the one that is going to go home. Believe that.	”
–Martha

“	So it looks like I once again put my foot in my mouth. Ah well the game wouldn’t be fun to me if I didn’t have a target firmly placed on my back. I just hope that the rest of my team see how crazy Martha is and how much of a liability she can be going forward in this game. If they don’t see it…well then I guess I will be making the walk of shame the next time we lose an Immunity Challenge.	”
–Rodney

Day 11[]

We start off Day 11 with a surprisingly candid confessional from Wild Bill.

“	These past eleven days have been rough for me both physically and mentally. Not the game…I’ve got that handled. No it is the fact that I have not been able to smoke a cigarette for almost two weeks. It sucks going cold turkey out here but I knew it was going to suck going into this and it is just yet another obstacle that I’m gonna have to conquer in my life. It’s just tough doing it out here…I mean I have been smoking two packs a day for the past thirty years. It has been a huge part of my life and so walking away from it sucks. The symptoms are fully settled in right now, I am constantly coughing, I am always tired, and I have what seems to be the world’s longest headache in the history of headaches. But ya know what? I was addicted to drugs for damn near twenty years and I beat that, so this is gonna be a walk in the park. I just can’t let anyone else on the Tribe know what is going on with me. I don’t need to give them yet another reason to vote me out. Plus I don’t want to have them giving me any pity. Though if I truly think I am going to get voted out, I might just pull out the, “I’m a jerk to everyone because I am suffering through cigarette withdrawal symptoms.” That’s actually a pretty good excuse; I’ll have to remember to use that when or if I need it.	”
–Wild Bill

Over on the Yuna Tribe Damion and Rodney watch as Mark, Jill, Martha, and Esther do Yoga on the beach. Rodney and Damion laugh over the ridiculousness of doing Yoga. Damion says to Rodney that this better not tire the four of them out because that is the last thing their team needs is to have four people tired going in to the Reward Challenge later today.

Rodney then asks Damion if Damion would be willing to make an alliance with him, Jill, and possibly Esther. Damion tells Rodney that while he and Esther did have a conversation to clear the air yesterday, he still does not think he can trust her and he also feels that keeping Esther around in the game will only hurt the team in the long run. Damion says he would much rather be in an alliance with Mark, Jill, or Martha because then the team would remain strong. Rodney laughs at this notion and says he highly doubts either Martha or Mark would be willing to work with him and both see Damion as an outsider as well.

Rodney goes onto say that he thinks Jill would be willing to work with them but where Jill goes Esther goes. The two of them are a package deal and so if they want to work with Jill they will have to work with Esther. Damion tells Rodney that he does not see any reason for Esther and Jill to stop working with Martha and Mark so this conversation is kind of pointless. Rodney laughs and says maybe Damion is right and this is just a pipe dream that he was having.

A little later on in the day at the Payabo camp, we see Jenny holding a blindfold in her left hand and tree mail in her right hand. Jenny then proceeds to read the cryptic tree mail and Thom wonders if this next challenge is going to involve one of them wearing a blindfold.

“	This next challenge might only be a Reward Challenge but right now it is the most important challenge of the season for us. We cannot allow the other tribe to build off the momentum from their victory in the last Immunity Challenge. If we win today, then they might psychologically think their last win was a fluke. And that would be a great thing for us because if they doubt themselves then we have a better chance of winning this next challenge.	”
–Denise

Reward Challenge:

It is time for the Reward Challenge. The Yuna Tribe is the first team to arrive at the challenge once all of their members are settled on their mat; the Payabo Tribe enters the challenge area. Jeff Probst informs the members of the Yuna Tribe that Sherri was voted out at the previous Tribal Council. None of the members of the Yuna Tribe seemed shocked over this move; they all seemed to just collectively nod their heads over this news.

Jeff Probst explains to both teams the rules of the challenge and informs the castaways the winning tribe will be getting. Jeff tells the Payabo Tribe that because they have one extra member on their tribe they must sit one person out. They are not allowed to sit the same people out in back-to-back challenges which mean that both Sherri and Thom must take part in this challenge. The Payabo Tribe chooses Kendra to sit out this challenge.

Here is how the two teams chose to divide their team:

Yuna Tribe Caller: Esther
Yuna Tribe members who are paired up: Jill and Rodney, Mark and Martha
Solo Yuna Tribe member: Damion

Payabo Tribe Caller: Thom
Payabo Tribe members who are paired up: Jenny and Sully, Hector and Denise
Solo Yuna Tribe member: Wild Bill

The challenge begins and right from the start it is clear that Esther should not have been the caller for her tribe. Her voice does not carry well which means the people on the Yuna Tribe who are on the course are having a hard time hearing her. A frustrated Martha, who just tripped over a bowl, yells at Esther to speak louder. It is to no avail as Esther continues to speak in the same tone.

Meanwhile, the Payabo Tribe is having success as Thom is speaking in a forceful and clear voice. Jenny and Sully bring in the first item for the Payabo Tribe. Before anyone on the Yuna Tribe brings an item over to their mat, the members of the Payabo Tribe have managed to bring over five items to their mat.
Martha keeps on yelling at Esther to speak louder which causes Esther to become flustered. She then starts to stutter and give wrong directions because she is feeling pressured. This does not help the Yuna Tribe at all as they fall even further behind in the challenge as the Payabo Tribe now has nine items on their mat.
Wild Bill soon brings the final item over to the mat and it is at this point that Thom directs Bill towards the keys. Bill soon finds the keys unlocks the chest, which means that the Payabo Tribe once again picks up the victory.

As an elated Payabo Tribe celebrates yet another challenge victory, Jeff informs the members of the Yuna Tribe that he has nothing for them.

Following the challenge the members of the Yuna Tribe sulk back into camp. Nobody says anything immediately but it is clear that there is looming animosity towards Esther by the other members of her tribe. Esther sort of looks down at the ground and begins to kick some sand around. A few moments later she decides to speak.

I am so sorry guys about the challenge. I tried to speak louder but honestly I couldn’t even hear myself talk over Thom. His voice was so loud.- Esther

Yeah you were pretty much useless in that challenge today. I said before the challenge began today that I should be the caller cuz there ain’t no way my voice was going to be drowned out. But you felt the need to step up and claim the caller role for yourself. Cuz you needed to do you we lost. You cost us the challenge and there really ain’t nothing more to be said about that.- Martha

It was a team decision to make me the caller. I would have been content to have you be the caller but you and Mark said you did not want me out on the course because I would slow the team down.- Esther

Don’t even go there Esther. Don’t even be trying to pin the blame on me and Mark. You own up to what you did and don’t be dragging my name through no mud.

I don’t even recall you saying that you would rather have me be the caller.- Martha

She did not say it because…like…you and Mark totally took that choice away from her. You guys totally told her that she had to be the caller because you didn’t want her on the course.- Jill

Shut up Jill…- Martha

Don’t tell me to shut up! I am just like totally stating the facts here. If you want to discount them because they make you look bad well that is on you.- Jill

There ain’t nothing you can say that will make me look bad girly cuz I’ve done nothing wrong…- Martha

I like totally guess you’re right. I can’t say anything that will make you look bad…I don’t need to because you’re doing a good job of making yourself look bad.- Jill

Look folks we need to calm the hell down. That loss was a team loss ain’t nobody more or less guilty on us getting that loss.

Should Esther have been louder?

Sure but then again she shouldn’t have been the caller in the first place. If you and Mark hadn’t put her in the position to be the caller maybe we wouldn’t have lost. So you see that was a team loss…don’t worry about nothing Esther. You win some you lose some; all that matters in this game is immunity. There ain’t no use in fighting over a reward challenge that don’t matter in the grand scheme of things.- Damion

Oh so now you’re taking her side in this? That’s funny Damion; cuz you’ve been wanting to get rid of her all game. Truth be told if Tribal Council was tonight I might be inclined to toss a vote on her.

You know what?

Screw all y’all. I’m gonna go for a walk so that I can calm down and no need for any of y’all to follow me.- Martha

Martha leaves the camp and heads down to the water while the rest of the Yuna Tribe just stand around silently looking at each other.

“	That fight between Martha and Esther today was excellent. I am not sure if Martha knows it or not but she might have just shot herself in her foot. There is still a chance that I might survive our next Tribal Council when or if we go to another one.	”
–Rodney

“	: I am not sure where the hostility from Martha came from this afternoon. She and I have always gotten along and so to have her attack me in front of the entire team with such venom was…humiliating.	”
–Esther

We now head over to the boat which is carrying the members of the Payabo Tribe. The members of the tribe are enjoying themselves as they stand on the deck of the boat basking in the sunshine.

“	Today was such a beautiful day for the reward we got. We were on that boat as a team today there was no drama, no fighting we just enjoyed our surroundings.	”
–Jenny

“	This was a huge victory for us today because it showed the other tribe that we are indeed the dominate tribe. Now that might not be exactly true but our win today planted the seeds of doubts in their heads…that I am sure of. They don’t know if their last Immunity Challenge was a fluke or not because we won today and we won in a convincing fashion. So I gotta believe that those Yuna folks are probably thinking that their Immunity Challenge victory was just a matter of luck.	”
–Thom

“	Ya know, as we were sailing around the San Lorenzo Bay enjoying our reward, not one person thank me for once again leading this team to victory. That’s cool because once again I have proven myself to be indispensable to this team and because of that they’ll think twice about voting me out.	”
–Wild Bill

The team is now sitting down to eat and Sully jokingly makes a toast in which he says that he wants no game talk while they are eating and that they should just enjoy this experience. The rest of the team seems to agree and they all laugh as they clang their glasses together.

“	This was the ultimate challenge to win. I mean who wouldn’t want to eat beer and pizza while traveling on San Lorenzo Bay? Just a fantastic day!	”
–Sully

Back at the Yuna Tribe we see Mark and Martha in the woods. Mark is telling Martha that she should have handled Esther more diplomatically. Martha says that she did nothing wrong and she only spoke the truth and if Esther could not handle the truth then it was on her and not on Martha.

Mark says that Martha should think about apologizing to Esther because Esther really took what Martha said to her hard and she was crying over it. Martha laughs this notion off and tells Mark that Esther will eventually get over it. Mark once again implores Martha to rethink her stance because this could potentially jeopardize their standing in the tribe.

Martha once again dismisses this line of thinking saying that Esther and Jill need her and Mark and that they know it. Because of this she thinks that nothing will come out of this fight.

Back at the Yuna camp Jill, Rodney and Damion are sitting around talking about the earlier fight between Esther and Martha.

How’s Esther doing?- Rodney

Um…well she told me that she would rather be alone when I tried to talk to her just a few minutes ago. So…like…she’s not taking it very well. I’m just going to totally give her, her space and let her think things through. If she needs to talk to me then we’ll talk.- Jill

Martha was really rough on her. I mean yeah we lost the challenge but like Damion said, it was only a reward challenge. It’s not like one of us is going to be going home because of that loss.- Rodney

Yeah man, you’re right.

I know that I’ve been down on Esther this entire game but she’s good folk and she and I had a conversation and we ironed out a lot of the problems I had with her. She might not be the best at physical challenges but we’ll need her around for mental challenges. Know what I’m saying?- Damion

You know this little fight is the perfect excuse for you and Esther to join up with me and Damion. It is not like the two of you should be loyal to Martha after the way she acted today.- Rodney

Gosh…um…I’m not sure. It’s not like Damion has been kind to Esther either. Like totally no offense Damion…- Jill

None taken.- Damion

IDK, maybe she would be willing to turn on them. I mean if it were just me I would dump them as soon as possible because I am no fan of Martha’s constant bullying. I mean I like Mark but I am totally not sure if he is a good long term alliance partner.

I’ll tell you guys what. I’ll float the idea by Esther when she is feeling better, but she and I are a package deal. Wherever she goes, I go.- Jill

Cool, that’s all we can really ask of the two of you.- Rodney

“	Well Rodney is being as slick as ever. He is trying to get me and Esther to join up with him and Damion and I think it is a good idea but I am just not sure that Esther will go for it after the way Damion has treated her. Then again Martha has totally treated her like crap to so who knows what is going to happen. The main thing that scares me about being aligned with Rodney and Damion is, I am not sure if joining an alliance with him is good long term or not. I have to totally be smart about this move and I have to not make a game changing move just because I find I think a guy is totally cute.	”
–Jill

“	If Damion and I can get Esther and Jill on our side, I will be here for another three days. At the end of the day that is all I could ask for because every extra day I am out here means that I am one day closer to the prize.	”
–Rodney

Day 12[]

Day twelve over at the Yuna Tribe, we see Esther sitting on the beach staring out at the water. Moments later Mark joins her and the two of them discuss the fight that she had with Martha the previous day. Mark says that Martha is sorry for what she said but she is too proud to apologize. Esther tells him that she does not believe that is the case at all as Martha refused to even look at her when the two woke up earlier in the day.

Esther then goes on to tell Mark that when Damion told her to her face that she was useless in challenges it hurt but she got over it quickly because she had not built a relationship with Damion. However, when Martha said it to her it stung her deeply because she thought that she and Martha were close. She then asks Mark why he did not standup for her during the argument.

Mark says that he has to do a balancing act when dealing with the volatile Martha. Because he is relying on her vote, he does not want to do anything to piss her off and so he could not afford to choose sides in the argument yesterday. Esther says she understands his position but as a friend Mark should have supported her.

“	Mark is playing a very diplomatic game thus far; I call him the Henry Kissinger of our tribe. He is trying to make sure he gets along with everyone and I fear in the end that might just be his downfall.	”
–Esther

“	Esther is starting to make me nervous, I am trying as hard as possible to repair her relationship with Martha but I am just not sure I can do it. In the back of my mind I am wondering if perhaps Esther will join up with Rodney and Damion and shake this tribe up. I don’t think it will happen because that would harsh the vibe of this tribe really quickly but this is Survivor and there always has to be a little paranoia involved in your game at all times.	”
–Mark

Camp life over at the Payabo camp is not going all that well either as Hector and Thom are once again engaged in yet another argument with Wild Bill. This time Hector is accusing Bill of intentionally getting rid of the diving goggles that the tribe won in one of the previous Reward Challenges. Thom says that Bill was the last person to have them and because Bill has a propensity to “lose” things Thom believes that Bill has either misplaced them or intentionally gotten rid of them just to screw with his tribemates. Bill laughs the accusation off and tells both Hector and Thom that Thom must have a touch of Alzheimer’s due to his advance age.

Bill says after he used the goggles he put them back where all of the fishing gear was kept. Bill then goes on to say that he is annoyed over the fact that people are accusing him of sabotage when nobody has a single shred of evidence to back it up. It is at that point that Hector and Thom walk away in disgust.

After Hector and Thom walk away Jenny, who had overheard the entire fight, walks over to Bill and asks him if he did intentionally lose the goggles. Bill smiles at her and voices his outrage over the fact that she would accuse him of doing such a thing. He then says of course he got rid of the goggles just to screw with Hector.

“	Yeah I took the goggles and I chucked them somewhere in the woods. Why did I do it? Because I knew it would get a rise out of the people on my tribe. More specifically I knew I would get a rise out of Hector. You see I love screwing with Hector because he thinks that he is the leader of this tribe and everyone on this tribe has to bend to his will. Little does he know, he is not in control of anything. Right now it seems as if Sully and Kendra are the two people with the most power on this tribe. Case in point they were the two that controlled the vote that got rid of Sherri. So yeah Hector is nothing but a pawn out here.	”
–Wild Bill

“	I am so sick of Wild Bill and his damn disrespectful antics! The dude drives me nuts! I am not even sure what annoys me the most about him. I mean between the late night singing, to his stealing of people’s stuff, to his general laziness around camp. This dude is a menace to our tribal life.	”
–Hector

Back at the Yuna camp, Esther and Jill are talking over there options in regards to where they are going to vote if their tribe loses the Immunity challenge. Jill tries to persuade her to think about joining up with Rodney and Damion and she lists the benefits of making an alliance with them. The biggest one being if they stick with their current alliance that will mean Rodney will have to go and with Rodney gone they might not have the strength to compete in future challenges.

Esther agrees that, that is something to think about but she still feels loyalty to Mark even if he disappointed her by not sticking up for her in her argument with Martha. Jill tells Esther that she is not entirely comfortable being aligned with a head case like Martha who seems to get offended over the smallest of things. Esther agrees with her but she tells Jill that she is not sure she can be aligned with Damion because she does not trust him. She said if the alliance was with Rodney alone, she would join without hesitation because she likes Rodney.

However, she does not feel comfortable with being in an alliance with someone who has tried to vote her out twice already. Esther then goes onto to say that she will think over their options and she will give Jill an answer if they lose the next Immunity Challenge.

“	I have a feeling that Jill is not thinking entirely with her head. You see I think she has a thing for Rodney…she will never admit it, but I am pretty sure there are feelings there on her part. Therefore, in order for Rodney to stay in this game she is going to have to realign the votes. That means she and I are going to have to form a new alliance with Rodney and Damion. I am not entirely sure I want to be in an alliance with Damion. After all he did try to vote me out twice…so I am skeptical about trusting him. I am not sure what is going to happen if we lose the next Immunity Challenge, all I know is that I cannot dwell on it too much because if I do then I will not be ready for the next Immunity Challenge. I hope we do not lose the next Immunity Challenge but if we do I guess I shall play it by ear and vote whatever benefits me in the long run. This is truly a case of sticking with the devil that I know which is Martha or joining up with someone I will never fully trust in Damion.	”
–Esther

Over at the Payabo Tribe Wild Bill and Jenny have mange to get Sully alone out in the woods. Sully does not look at all comfortable talking to them.

Seems like you’ve been avoiding me dude. We’ve been wanting to talk to you and Kendra for the last couple of days but every time I go near you, you seem to walk the other way.- Wild Bill

No…ah…not at all Bill. It’s just that you seemed to be very pissed off over Sherri going home and so I did not know how to approach you.- Sully

Well of course we were pissed off, I mean you did get rid of one of our allies and you and Kendra did hand all of the power over to Hector and his crew. So why wouldn’t we be pissed off?- Jenny

Well here is the thing, Kendra and I made it perfectly clear that if you were willing to get rid of Thom or Denise we would vote with you. Because the three of you were not willing to commit, Kendra and I decided to vote with Denise and Thom to get rid of Sherri.

I mean we could have easily voted with Hector to get rid of you but we felt that it was wiser to get rid of Sherri. Kendra and I are all about keeping the team strong and so we are always going to vote with that in mind.- Sully

But Sherri wasn’t weak…- Jenny

Have you been watching the challenges? Sherri was hands down the weakest woman on the tribe. The only person she was better than was Thom. This is why Kendra and I wanted to get rid of him first because he makes this team weak, the three of you were the ones that wanted to get rid of Hector.

Hector was never an option for us, there is just no point in getting rid of him at this point. Just like there is no point in getting rid of either of you. At the end of the day I want to keep this team as strong as possible so that we go into the merge with numbers. That is the key to the game to have numbers.- Sully

What good are numbers going to be when you know full well that Jenny and I will never work with Hector, Denise, and Thom? And you know damn well that they will never work with us.

So we can go into a merge with our entire team the way it is now but the numbers ain’t gonna matter because I will do everything I can to get rid of Hector.- Wild Bill

Look man I don’t disagree with that but we don’t have to get rid of him this early. To be honest with you I agree that Hector needs to go but it will have to happen after the merge. If we try to get rid of him before…well it will be a dumb move to make and I don’t plan on making too many dumb moves in this game.- Sully

“	Sully is such a tool. He is one of those people who thinks he is smarter than he actually is. He and Kendra think they have this game down pat, which is a completely foolish way of playing because you never know when the rug is going to be ripped right up from underneath you. Sully you claim that you are not going to make any dumb moves. Well you already did when you got rid of Sherri and turned your back on a solid five person alliance. Hell, who knows maybe Bill and I will see if Hector and his group want to get rid of Sully. I mean that probably will not happen but in this game you just never know.	”
–Jenny

Immunity Challenge:

The castaways reach the challenge site; Jeff explains the rules of the challenge. Jeff informs the Payabo Tribe that because they have one extra member on their tribe they must sit one person out. They are not allowed to sit the same person out in back-to-back challenges which means that Kendra must take part in this challenge. The Payabo Tribe discusses who should sit out the challenge and they collectively decide that Thom will sit this challenge out. Jeff reminds the two tribes that the winning tribe will be safe from the vote tonight, while the losing tribe will go to Tribal Council, where one of their tribe members will end up becoming the fourth person to be voted out of Survivor: Dominican Republic. Here are the tasks as decided upon by the respective teams:

The “rescuers” for the Yuna Tribe: Mark and Damion
The “rescuers” for the Payabo Tribe: Hector and Sully

The “injured” tribe members for the Yuna Tribe: Martha, Rodney, Jill, and Esther
The “injured” tribe members for the Payabo Tribe: Kendra, Jenny, Wild Bill, and Denise

Both tribes immediately go to rescue the other male contestant on the team who is not a rescuer (For Payabo it is Wild Bill. For Yuna it is Rodney.). The Payabo Tribe gets a quick advantage thanks in large part to the efforts of Mark on Yuna. Mark is struggling very hard to hold up his end of the stretcher and on three separate occasions he drops his end causing Rodney to end up on the ground.

Hector and Sully are having no such problems with Bill and they are able to bring him to the first aid tent in a quick fashion. Once Bill has been “treated” in the first aid tent he is able to join Hector and Sully in saving Denise. The three of them quickly get Denise on their stretcher and they head back to the first aid tent.
While Payabo is well on their way to bringing back their second tribe member, Yuna is still struggling to bring their first tribe member back to the first aid tent. They finally get Rodney back to the tent which means that he is now able to take part in the challenge. As Rodney and Damion take off to save Martha, Mark stands at the first aid tent sucking wind while he is hunched over with his hands resting on his kneecaps. Damion hollers at him to get back into the challenge but Mark just waves him off.
Moments later the Payabo rescuers arrive at the first aid tent where they drop off Denise. The four members of the Payabo Tribe then head out to rescue their third teammate Jenny. It is at this point that Mark slowly jogs out to join Rodney and Damion in rescuing Martha.
With Mark’s help the Yuna rescuers are able to make up some ground as the Payabo Tribe for some reason is having a hard time getting Jenny onto their stretcher. Payabo soon decides that it is better if Hector and Bill carry the stretcher in order to give Sully a little rest. While Denise just does well nothing but run along with her team.
Both teams make it back to the fist aid tent at the same time but that is horrible news for Yuna as they still have to rescue two people whereas Payabo just has to rescue Kendra. Both teams head out and once again Yuna makes up some ground as they are able to get Esther on their stretcher pretty quickly.
However, it is all a moot point as the Payabo Tribe gets Kendra onto their stretcher and brings her back to the first aid tent just as Yuna is heading out to rescue Jill. The six members of the Payabo Tribe then head towards the finish line and they once again win the Immunity Challenge.

Payabo wins their third Immunity Challenge of the season!

After the challenge is over, Jeff Probst hands the Immunity Idol over to Denise. He then informs the dejected looking Yuna Tribe that he will be seeing them a Tribal Council this evening where one of them will be the fourth person voted out of the game.

A thoroughly beaten Yuna Tribe returns to their camp after the Immunity Challenge.

“	The loss today was a bitter pill to swallow. Especially seeing how Mark seemed to quit the challenge right at the start. It sucks that we lost but now I am going to have to brush that dirt off my shoulder and work my magic. Because I really want to be here for another three days, but in order for that to happen I really need to solidify an alliance.	”
–Rodney

Martha, Mark, Esther, and Jill are in the cave which serves as their shelter. Martha asks Esther if they are good and Esther nods her head in agreement. Martha smiles and says she can’t wait to vote Rodney out tonight.

Meanwhile out in the woods, Rodney and Damion discuss their options.

Dude we desperately need to have a coup d'état tonight at Tribal Council tonight.- Rodney

A coo day what son?- Damion

A coup d'état dude…it means to overthrow the people who are in control.- Rodney

Man I ain’t ever heard that word before man. So you talk to the ladies about it lately?

I mean Jill seemed like she was down with us but she didn’t make Esther seem like she was all about being in an alliance with us.- Damion

Well I have had little conversations with Jill here and there but we have not really had the chance to talk at length because whenever Mark sees the two of us alone he comes over to see what we are talking about. From what I gather, Esther does not seem like she wants any part of an alliance with us and I am not sure if Jill would be willing to force a tie in the vote.- Rodney

So what do you wanna do man? I mean it’s your neck on the line tonight so I am not the one that needs to be fretting about what is going to happen just yet.- Damion

Well you should be, because once I am gone if you guys lose another challenge it will probably be between you and Esther as to who will stay and who will go. I am not sure what to do, with communication shut off between Jill and I, I just don’t know how to try and talk to them.- Rodney

Well you’re gonna have to figure it out fast dog, cuz we’re going to be going to Tribal soon.- Damion

Rodney and Damion head back to camp and Rodney approaches Esther and asks if he can talk to her. Martha laughs and tells Rodney that he shouldn’t waste his time scrambling because Esther has already told them that she was going to vote him out. Rodney says that might be the case but he should have the chance to at least try to save himself.

Rodney and Esther walk out to the beach and they talk about his situation in the game. Rodney tells Esther that his game life is in her hands and she can either save him or get rid of him. Esther tells him that she has to do what is best for her game and if she were to join up with Rodney and Damion it might make her look bad for backstabbing Mark and Martha.

Rodney says that as soon as he is gone either she or Damion will be the next to go should the team lose another Immunity Challenge. He then says that if she were to vote with him tonight he would assure her that she and Jill would be in a final four pact with him and Damion and that neither he nor Damion would vote for her again until they get to the final four.

Esther tells Rodney that if it was just him in the alliance she would probably jump right away. However, she is not too keen about being in an alliance with Damion because he has been gunning for her since the start of the game. She says that she is not sure she can trust someone who verbally attacks her.

Rodney smiles and says that Martha did the exact same thing and it was more vicious coming from her because she was supposed to be a friend. He then goes on to say that Damion assured him that he would not say anything negative towards Esther anymore if she aligns with him and Rodney.

Esther says that she still has to think about it because she has misgivings about being aligned with both Damion and Martha and she does not know what side she is going to take.

“	Right now I am the kingmaker on this tribe. I am the one who is going to decide who is going to stay and who is going to go. Let me tell you it is not the optimal position to be in. Rodney has so many valid points as to why he should stay, but I feel this sense of loyalty to Mark and Martha even after my argument with Martha. As the old saying goes, heavy is the head that wears the crown. Well that is very true today and I truly wish that I was not in this position.	”
–Esther

Tribal Council:

After the Yuna Tribe settles into their seats, Jeff asks Jill what is wrong with her tribe and why do they keep on losing. Jill tries to be diplomatic and says that there is nothing wrong with the team, it is just the other team seems to perform better at challenges.

Jeff is not buying this answer and when he sees Martha rolling her eyes at Jill’s answer he asks Martha for her opinion. Martha says that some people like Esther just are not pulling their weight at challenges. Mark looks shocked by this answer and shoots Martha a “Are you serious?” look.

Jeff asks Esther for her reaction and she says that she does agree with Martha to an extent. Esther says that she has underperformed during challenges but others have as well. This causes Martha to shout out “Who you talking about?”

Esther sheepishly says that the main reason why they lost the challenge today was because of Mark. She goes onto to further explain that had Mark not taken his rest during the challenge they might have won the Immunity Challenge.

Mark agrees with Esther, saying that he just did not have his A-game at the Immunity Challenge and that the loss was on him. He then goes on to say that the main problem with the tribe is not how they do at challenges but how they coexist at the camp. Mark goes on to say that Rodney simply does not fit in with the tribe’s vibe and so he will be getting his vote tonight.

Jeff asks Rodney if he is aware of the target on his back tonight and Rodney laughs. He then tells Jeff, “Martha and Mark like to look for team boogeymen. First it was John, then it was Carly, and now it is me.”

He then tells Jeff that once Carly left the game he realized that he was the next to go and if he hadn’t realized it on his own, he knew it was true because Martha kept on reminding him of the fact.

With that last comment it is now time to vote.

After the castaways vote, Jeff goes off to collect the votes and tally them. He then comes back to read them.

Jeff reveals that the first vote is for Rodney. Rodney nods his head and smiles.

The second vote was for Martha. She does not seem the least bit phased by this as she knows both Rodney and Damion will probably vote for her.

Jeff shows us that the third vote was for Rodney. Martha, who is sitting next to Rodney, pats Rodney on the knee and knowingly nods her head at him. As if to say, “Yes you played a good game but you are the next to go.”

Jeff reveals that the fourth vote was cast against Martha. Once again there is no reaction from Martha as she realizes that, that vote was probably from Damion.

The fifth vote is the shocking vote because written in bold letters on the ballot is Martha’s name. Martha looks at both Esther and Jill with a pissed off look on her face. Rodney looks directly at Martha and smiles at her. He then pats her on her knee and she looks at him with a cold blank stare.

The sixth and final vote is for Martha, who looks absolutely stunned. Mark does not know what to make out of the vote either.

With four votes being cast against Martha, Martha becomes the fourth person voted out of Survivor: Dominican Republic.

As Martha goes to grab her torch she starts cussing out Jill and Esther. Jill is all smiles, while Esther looks scared.

After Jeff snuffs out Martha’s torch, Martha turns to her former tribe and says:

“	Y’all some shady ass bitches!	”
–Martha

Tribal Council[]

Tribal Council 4: Yuna
Voted Against	Voter
Martha (4 votes)	Esther, Jill, Damion, Rodney
Rodney (2 votes)	Martha, Mark
VOTED OFF: Martha

Voting Confessionals[]

“	Well it is either me or you, I hope it is you.	”
–Rodney

“	You chose to align yourself with the wrong folks and because of that you’ve gotta pay for your sins.	”
–Martha

“	Oh gosh…well I never really liked you anyway so good riddance you big meany.	”
–Jill

“	Rodney, you just don’t fit in with the vibe of this tribe. I’m sorry to have to vote for you but you have to go in order for our team to be harmonious.	”
–Mark

“	This is strictly business mama, Rodney and I be coo day tarring yo ass.	”
–Damion

“	Not only is this the toughest move I have had to make thus far, it is also the biggest move I have had to make. I am not happy with how our friendship has deteriorated over the past couple of days but you had to go out of your way to be cruel to me and you chose not to repair our relationship. I would have let it slide had it been a one-time thing but you chose to attack me once again just a few minutes ago. Therefore, I have no other choice but to write your name down. Good luck girl.	”
–Esther

Final Words[]

“	Well played Rodney, you did you and you kept yourself in the game. I don’t like you but I can’t fault you for making your move to stay in the game. I will say this though, there be some shady people on my team. Jill and Esther I hope I don’t ever see y’all again because if I do I won’t be held accountable for what I will do to the two of you.	”
–Martha

Still in the Running[]

Yuna
~~John~~	Esther	Rodney	~~Martha~~	Damion	~~Carly~~	Mark	Jill
Payabo
~~Sherri~~	Hector	Denise	Gilbert	Jenny	Wild Bill	Kendra	Thom

Next Time on Survivor...[]

Mark begins to crack mentally due to the fact that he is no longer in control of the Yuna Tribe.

Denise and Thom have a heart to heart about missing their families.

Author's Notes[]

The Reward Challenge was from the fourth episode of Survivor: Nicaragua.
The Immunity Challenge is from the fifth episode of Survivor: The Australian Outback.