Here I Go Again On My Own

"Here I Go Again On My Own"

Season	Survivor: Santa Carolina - The Returned
Author	User:Gavin316
Episode Number	2/13
Episode Chronology
Previous	The Survivor Gods Must Hate Me
Next	Ah The Joy Of Being Here On Day Seven!

This is the second episode of Survivor: Santa Carolina - The Returned

Challenges[]

Reward/Immunity Challenge: Air Raid
At the start of the challenge, tribes must race up a tower and through a series of obstacles. Once all tribe members have made it to the top of the tower, they will each take turns launching sandbags with a giant slingshot, attempting to hit targets out in a field. The first two tribes to hit all six targets would win.
Reward: A kit full of fishing gear for the first place tribe and a fishing spear for the second place tribe.
Winners: Tete & Nampula

Story[]

Night 3[]

The Tete Tribe returns to camp after having just voted Billie-Jean out. Wild Bill, Enrico, Vanessa, and Martha go and sit in the shelter while Simon stands staring at the ground. We then get a night vision confessional from Simon.

Simon
	That vote was very disappointing. My whole Survivor experience can be summed up by that eighties song. Here I go again on my own. I think that probably best explains my time playing Survivor. I am always the low guy on the totem pole…always the outcast. But I am not about to throw in the towel yet. I was in the position last time and I made it to the final three…so I am just going to do what I can to stay another three days and keeping on going from there.

Day 4[]

We begin day four at the Tete Tribe. Simon is staring out at the ocean lost in his thoughts when Vanessa approaches him and asks him if they can talk. Simon obliges and the two of them sit down on the beach and begin to talk.

Vanessa: I want to talk about last night’s vote if you don’t mind.

Simon: Okay…

Vanessa: Last night’s vote was not a vote to outcast you or alienate you in any way. At least it wasn’t on my part.

Last night’s vote was simply meant to get rid of Billie-Jean because I had a feeling that she would not be the most loyal person to keep around.

Simon: Billie-Jean is very loyal…especially to those who show loyalty to her. I think if you would have gotten to know her, you would have liked her.

Vanessa: That may very well be the case but what’s done is done. There is no turning back from what I did last night.

I just want you to know that going forward I would like to possibly work with you. After all you are probably the most sane and trustworthy person on this tribe.

I wouldn’t trust Bill or Enrico as far as I can throw them. Especially Enrico, because I saw firsthand how he played the game last time and I know he would sell me down the river in a heartbeat.

As for Martha…well you saw her special kind of craziness yesterday. That chick is bananas with a capital B.

I understand that you might have a hard time trusting me after voting out your friend but I think you and I can complement each other’s game and you and I could end up going very deep in this game. Just think over what I am saying...you don’t have to give me a firm yes or no right now but I really think this is a good idea.

Simon
	I have to admit to be taken aback by Vanessa’s offer. She just threw me a huge lifeline and I would be a fool not to work with her. I think she is sincere but one never really knows if someone is telling the truth out here or if they are just trying to tell you what they think you want to hear.

Vanessa
	Oh I was being completely honest with Simon. I totally want to work with him and that was one of the driving forces behind me getting Billie-Jean out of the game. I want to be his closest ally in this game and if Billie-Jean were around I could never be his closest ally.

Over at the Nampula Tribe, Craig and Lauren tend to the campfire while the other members of the tribe go about doing other duties. Lauren looks around for a moment in order to make sure that Jody and Jocelyn are not within earshot before she begins talking to Craig.

Lauren: I just want to give you and the other guys a heads up. I think the three of you are hanging around each other too much because Jody and Jocelyn are already talking about forming an all-women’s alliance.

Craig: Damn I kind of figured something was up with Jody. She has not said much to me since we’ve been out here. Granted I just chalked it up to her giving me the cold shoulder due to our past…but this…well this just sucks.

The last thing I want is to have this tribe divided…especially if this divide is gender based.

Lauren: I agree and that’s why I am telling you. I know you and Jody had a conversation about working together but if I were you I would honestly not trust her. She seems to want you out of this game badly.

Craig: Wow that’s…uh…very disappointing. It is also kind of shortsighted on her part. What if we lose the first challenge and we all vote according to our gender?

It would be a tie and then what? That is just stupid and reckless.

Lauren: Well you know her better than I do. Do you think she would be that pigheaded?

Craig: Sadly I do think she would be that pigheaded…

Lauren: Well you don’t have to worry because the last thing I want is a tie in any vote we may have. If that means we have to get rid of her…so be it.

Craig
	I appreciate Lauren giving me the information but I take everything that Lauren says with a grain of salt. Lauren was a notorious pot stirrer during her season and so I am not going to treat her word as gospel. But I will be cautious out my interaction with the other guys just to be on the safe side.

It is now time for Carly to give us a day for rundown of the Zambezia Tribe.

Carly
	So far this game has been tough for me, not so much the survival aspect of it but the social aspect of it. I mean John and I have spent the past three days just hanging out with one another. It is nice because I like and respect John but for the most part he is the only person who bothers to talk to me for any length of time. As for the rest of the tribe…well Vera and I have talked a little bit here and there but we have yet to have a conversation where we bond over life experiences. Hank…well Hank seems to be a bit of a loner out here. I mean he will talk to me if I approach him but he never says much. Then you have Mister and Misses Zambezia Aaron and Jillian. The two of them seem to have a wall up when it comes to talking to me. I’ve tried to get to know them and they hardly even acknowledge me. It is frustrating because I thought with me be closer to the two of them in age they might be more open to getting to know me. Instead they would rather cuddle in the shelter or do whatever it is they like to do. This is sucks…

Day 5[]

Day five begins with a confessional from Wild Bill.

Wild Bill
	I’ve been a good boy thus far out here. I haven’t messed with anyone; I’ve been kind of mute…so when I woke up early this morning I decided to have a little fun. I went back to my old bag of tricks from the Dominican Republic.

Wild Bill gets out of the shelter and begins singing, off key I might add, some made up song. The other castaways in the shelter are clearly not pleased by this turn of events as the sun is just starting to come up which means that it is clearly very early in the morning.

After a few minutes of Bill…”singing” an overly annoyed Martha tells Bill to shut up and go back to sleep. This thrills Wild Bill to no end because he knows he has someone who will engage him in an argument and that is exactly what he wants. So instead of complying with Martha’s demands he just sings louder.

A fed up Martha gets out of the shelter and confronts Wild Bill. She says that she asked him nicely to stop singing and now she demands that he stops singing. Wild Bill laughs and says he is an adult and he will not be told what to do. He continues saying that the morning is the best time to warmup his vocal cords and so he is going to sing every morning. Martha, who is seething with anger, has no reply to what Wild Bill just said. She tells him to keep it down or go somewhere else to sing because people are trying to sleep. Wild Bill laughs and says that he is fine right where he is. Martha heads back into the shelter muttering to herself while Wild Bill continues to sing.

Martha
	Leopards don’t change his stripes. I knew that to be true but I decided to listen to Enrico and get rid of Billie-Jean. Had I done the smart thing I would’ve voted out Wild Bill because I can’t stand his annoying ass.

Enrico
	I truly do not understand Bill’s mindset. I mean who purposely alienates his tribe just for his own personal amusement? Doesn’t this guy know the angrier he makes us the less likely he is to stay in this game?

Over at the Nampula Tribe the guys of the Nampula Tribe (George, Hector, and Craig) are having a conversation about what Lauren told Craig.

Craig: Hey guys I want y’all to know that we can’t be seen hanging around all of the time. We have to put in an effort to get to know the women.

I say this because Lauren told me that Jody and Jocelyn are suspicious of us being an unbreakable trio and because of that Jody is trying to get the women together.

George: That’s absurd. I mean none of us have even really talked game yet. Let alone formed any alliances.

Do you think Lauren is just screwing with you? I mean she is the type of person that likes to cause havoc.

Craig: I thought about that but she seems truly sincere about what she was saying. She told me not to worry because she would not join an all-female alliance anyway so even if Jocelyn and Jody were to get together they would not have her vote.

Hector: Do you think we should hold some sort of tribe meeting and clear the air. After all, the last thing I want is conflict and mistrust on this tribe. I had enough of that in the Dominican Republic and I know what that kind of toxicity can do to a tribe.

Craig: Nah man, I think the best thing to do right now is to keep this under wraps. We should address this only if we lose a challenge. Until then we just have to go out and mingle with the women.

Hector: Hey man, I’m a married man. My days of mingling with women are far behind me…

Craig: You and me both but sometimes fellas we’ve got to take one for the team…or I guess the tribe in this case.

Craig
	I find it a little funny that Jody was so concerned about a guy’s alliance when there was none. However, her paranoia about there being one might have just lead to us forming one. I think it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Aaron gives us a very cocky confessional over at Zambezia Tribe.

Aaron
	This team might be horrible but I think I’ve got it made over here. Look, nobody would even consider getting rid of me because I am the only young stud on this team. If this tribe got rid of me do you think they could rely on the likes of John and Hank to keep them in this game? I think not. Right now I am not overplaying like I did the last time. I am not going to try to form a large alliance or anything like that. I have Jillian on my side and Vera seems intent on working with me and so as you can see I’m good out here. I am all set…this tribe was made for me to be its star and that is exactly what I’m going to do…shine baby.

John and Hank bond over the fact that they are both very religious men. John tells Hank that he hopes this game will not compromise his core values. Hank says that there are times that John’s values will probably be tested but John knows who he is and knows what he has to do. Hank says he has faith that John will do the right thing no matter how many times he is tested.

Hank
	It’s great to have another man of faith out here baby. This game is going to test us and I am glad that I’ll have John to turn to if I have any problems. So far John is the only person I get along with on this tribe so I hope he and I stick around for a while.

Day 6[]

Immunity/Reward Challenge:

The Zambezia Tribe and the Nampula Tribe arrive at the challenge site. Once those two tribes are settled on their respective mats, Jeff welcomes in the Tete Tribe who voted out Billie-Jean at the first Tribal Council. George looks disappointed over this news. Once the members of the Tete Tribe are settled on their mat Jeff goes over the rules for the challenge.

Once Jeff is done going over the rules of the challenge he reveals what the reward for this challenge is going to be. Besides Immunity the first place tribe will receive a kit full of fishing gear, while the second place tribe will also receive Immunity and their reward will be a fishing spear.

Jeff then reminds the three tribes that the losing tribe will have a date with him at Tribal Council where one member of the losing tribe will become the second contestant to be voted out of Survivor: Santa Carolina.

Both the Zambezia Tribe and the Nampula Tribe have an extra member so they must sit someone out. The two tribes talk it over and it is Vera who will sit out for the Zambezia Tribe and Jocelyn for the Nampula Tribe.

The Nampula Tribe are in the lead right out of the gate as all of their members make quick work out of the wooden ladder that serves as the first obstacle in this challenge. The Zambezia Tribe, who are in second place, looks to be doing good until Jillian struggles trying to climb the ladder. The Tete Tribe surges past the Zambezia Tribe as Jillian continues to struggle on the ladder.
The Nampula Tribe continues their dominance in the challenge as they are the first tribe to finish the next obstacle which is to climb up a cargo net. The Tete Tribe is closing in on them though as they quickly get their members up the cargo net. The Zambezia Tribe is all about out of the race to the top of the tower thanks in large part to Jillian’s struggle on the ladder.
The final obstacle would seem like it was not really an obstacle but having gone through two grueling obstacles already the third obstacle is tough. The tribes have to climb a stairway that has fifty stairs in it. By this point fatigue has become a factor for both the Tete Tribe and the Nampula Tribe as both tribes seem a little sluggish while climbing up the stairs. Realizing that getting up the stairs could be a great equalizer, Aaron encourages his team to hustle up the cargo net so that they can make up time on the other two tribes. The Zamezia Tribe seems to positively react to Aaron’s encouragement as they quickly make their way up the cargo net and they then make the collective climb up the stairs.
The Tete Tribe is the first tribe to make it to the top of the tower. Wild Bill is the first to attempt to launch a sandbag for his tribe and he misses. He yells out a curse word as the Nampula Tribe joins the Tete Tribe in the final stage of the challenge. Jody is the first member of the Nampula Tribe to give it a go and she nails her target right away. Martha is up next for the Tete Tribe and she nails a target as well. When she goes back to join the rest of her tribe she looks at Wild Bill as if to say, “See how easy that was?” Bill just shakes his head.
The Zambezia Tribe finally joins the party and Aaron is the first person to target shoot for his tribe. He hits his target which means all three tribes are tied at one target apiece. The Zambezia Tribe actually pulls ahead as John nails the second target for his tribe. The Tete Tribe quickly ties it up after Simon knocks down a target for his tribe.
The members of the Nampula Tribe begin to look like they are panicking because none of them seem really good at this challenge. They watch as the other two tribes begin to knock down target after target while they are unable to hit their second target. It soon gets to the point where the Tete Tribe has only one target left and the Zambezia Tribe has three left.
Craig tells his teammates that, “It ain’t over till it’s over.” Shortly after making that comment Vanessa hits the final Tete Tribal target which means that the Tete Tribe is the first tribe to win Immunity! As the members of the Tete Tribe celebrate a hard fought victory, the members of the Zambezia Tribe begin to hit a rough patch as nobody on their tribe looks like they can hit the broadside of a barn.
This struggle seems to motivate the members of the Nampula Tribe and they begin knocking down their targets left and right and soon it is the Nampula Tribe who is in the lead having just two targets left to the Zambezia Tribe’s three. Aaron is able to force a tie as he knocks down a target for his tribe.
Both teams seem very hurried and panicked due to the tie in the challenge. The Nampula Tribe breaks the deadlock when Craig hits a target. George wins the Nampula Tribe the Immunity as he knocks down his tribe’s final target!

Jeff congratulates the two winning tribes. He then hands one Immunity Idol over to Martha and the other Immunity Idol over to George. He then informs members of the Zambezia Tribe that they will be heading to Tribal Council tonight where one of their members will become the second person to be voted out of Survivor: Santa Carolina – The Returned.

We get a voiceover confessional from Aaron as we see his tribe head back to camp.

Aaron
	This was a tough loss…no doubt about that. We should have had this one in the bag…I’m really not sure what went wrong. I guess the silver lining to losing is that we get to remove some of the dead weight from this tribe tonight.

The Zambezia Tribe returns to camp after just having lost the Immunity Challenge. Jillian apologizes to her tribe for being so slow while climbing up the ladder. Aaron is quick to point out that, that was not the cause for them losing the challenge and that it was the tribe as a whole who lost the challenge. Aaron and Jillian then not so subtly walk out of camp together to discuss their plans. John jokingly asks if Hank if Hank thinks Jillian and Aaron are working together and Hank laughs and says he is not sure.

Carly uses this time to ask John, Hank, and Vera if they would be willing to get rid of Jillian. Both John and Vera seem very unsure of this move. John points out that if they make that move it could alienate Aaron. Carly says that she does not care because Aaron would not be able to do anything in retaliation because he would be in the minority. Hank for his part seems all for it and says that Jillian does not live up to her own personal hype athletically speaking.

Vera tells the other three that she will have to think about it and she then makes up an excuse to leave camp so that she can tell Aaron and Jillian what is going on. Carly says that Vera is running to tell her masters the plan. John says that if Hank and Carly are on board with getting rid of Jillian he will vote that way as well but he would rather see the cocky Aaron go. Hank says that right now with the tribe being so small they cannot risk voting someone like Aaron out. Carly agrees with Hank and says that Jillian is the better option because she is not as important to the tribe as Aaron is.

Carly
	I find Jillian annoying. First off she hardly ever talks to me and when she does she usually just boasts about how great of an athlete she is. I would love nothing more than to see her gone from this game.

Meanwhile, Jillian and Aaron are busy plotting the demise of John when Vera finds them and tells about Carly’s plan to get rid of Jillian. Aaron and Jillian seem a little shocked over this because they both thought that Aaron would be the target. After a brief discussion Aaron, Jillian, and Vera decide that it is within their best interests to get rid of Carly. Jillian says that is a little nervous because there could end up being a tie in the vote and Aaron says that they will have to try and work on either Hank or John to flip. Vera says that the guys seem to be willing to do whatever Carly tells them to do. Jillian smiles and says that she has a plan to change their (Hank and John) minds.

Later on in the day Aaron asks John and Hank if they can talk. The three men leave camp, leaving the three women in the shelter. Aaron tells the guys he is nervous about the vote and says that the last thing he wants for there to be a tie in the votes. Hank says that is a risk that might have to be taken and Aaron says it does not have to be like that. Aaron assures the guys that Carly is his target and that the guys have nothing to worry about.

John says that he is not willing to vote against Carly because Carly was the only one who stood up for him during their previous season. Aaron says that Hank and John do not have to vote for Carly they could throw their votes at him or Vera. That way there is no tie in the votes and Carly will not be bitter over having her allies vote her out.

Aaron
	Hank and John are so damn stupid. I am all but telling them that they have nothing to worry about and they are not the targets. Yet due to some misguided loyalty towards Carly neither guy wants to do the right thing and avoid forcing the tie. I just don’t get their mindset…

The three women of the Zambezia Tribe are chatting about the vote back at the campsite proper.

Jillian asks Carly hypothetically who she would vote out between John and Hank. Carly says that she is not going to comment on this because she does not want it used against her. Jillian assures Carly that whatever Carly says to her and Vera will remain completely confidential. Carly stills balks at saying anything to Jillian.

Carly asks Jillian why Jillian all of a sudden is interested in talking game with her (Carly) when she (Jillian) has been almost completely ignoring Carly for most of the game. Jillian says that it is now time to get down to the nitty gritty and vote someone out and so she was trying to see where Carly’s head was at in regards to the vote. Carly laughs and tells Jillian that she (Carly) is not about to give her (Jillian) any ammunition to use against her (Carly).

Jillian tells Carly that she should stop being overly paranoid, especially when someone is trying to help her out and throw her a lifeline. Carly laughs and turns to Vera and says…

Carly: Vera if someone who has said maybe a paragraph worth of words to you over the course of three days all of a sudden decides they want your input how would you react?

Vera shrugs her shoulders and says she would rather not get into the middle of this discussion. Carly tells Vera and Jillian that the conversation is over with and she walks away.

Carly
	Jillian thinks she is trying to be slick but I see right through her. She is trying to get me to slip up…to give her something to use against me and I am simply not going to take her bait. I might have been born at night Jillian but it was not last night.

Jillian
	Carly is a very savvy player…there is no doubt about that. She knew exactly what I was trying to do and she would not play along. This is exactly why she has to go because she cannot be controlled and that makes her a huge threat to my game.

Tribal Council:

Jeff Probst welcomes the castaways to Tribal Council. Jeff then gives his usual spiel about the torches and how fire life in the game. Jeff then waits for the castaways to light their torches and get settled into their seats before he asks the first question.
Jeff asks Vera what it is like to be on a tribe that consists of people who have never made it past day six in the game. Vera laughs and says it is strange but she thinks that this tribe will do well because they all want to prove that they can do better than they did during their first outing.
Jeff turns to Aaron and asks him if he has a chip on his shoulder because he was voted out first on his season. Aaron says that there is a huge chip on his shoulder because he feels like he did not get a shot to play the game last time. He says that he is already in uncharted territory because he last only two days during his first season so this is a whole new experience for him.
Jeff asks John how much the size of the tribe will factor in on the vote tonight. John says that the size of the tribe is going to be a major factor on how the tribe is going to vote. John continues by saying with such a small tribe there is very little margin for error when getting rid of someone.
Carly interjects and says she agrees with John and that is why she thinks the tribe is best served by getting rid of people who underperform during the challenges. Carly says one poor performance during a challenge could end up being devastating to a small tribe because it forces them to go to Tribal Council which means they have to cull someone from the tribe.
Jillian rolls her eyes over Carly’s comment which Jeff immediately picks up on. He asks Jillian if she disagrees with what Carly is saying. Jillian says that while she gets Carly’s standpoint she does not like Carly’s standpoint because she clearly wants to vote out Jillian. Jillian does freely admit that she has not performed as well as she would have liked to in challenges but she is a good athlete and she will get better.
Jillian then says that she thinks that this vote should be about getting rid of people who are not team players. Players who have their own agendas and are willing to do anything they can to push those agendas on the other members of the tribe.
Carly laughs and says that if the tribe was going by what Jillian just said then both Jillian and Aaron would be the first two targets because that is all they have been trying to do is force their agenda on others.
Jeff asks Hank if he has anything to add and Hank smiles and says…
Hank: I ain’t got nothing to add my main man. Let’s just get this party started!
With that last comment it is time to vote.
The members of the Zambezia Tribe get up to vote and after the last person votes, which was Vera, Jeff goes off to retrieve the votes. Jeff returns from tallying the votes and he asks if anyone has a Hidden Immunity Idol that they would like to play. When nobody steps forward Jeff proceeds to read the votes.
Once all of the votes are read it is Carly who ends up receiving the majority of the votes. This means that Carly is the second person to be voted out of Survivor: Santa Carolina – The Returned.

Tribal Council[]

Tribal Council 2: Zambezia
Voted Against	Voter
Carly (3 votes)	Jillian, Aaron, Vera
Jillian (2 votes)	Carly, John
Aaron (1 vote)	Hank
VOTED OFF: Carly

Voting Confessionals[]

Carly	You are super annoying dude.
	You are super annoying dude.

Jillian	You are too smart for your own good.
	You are too smart for your own good.

Hank
	I wanted to vote with John and Carly but I don't want to chance going to rocks. You said I could vote for you so that's what I'm doing baby.

Aaron
	Hopefully this is the first vote of many where I dictate who is going home.

John
	I have nothing bad to say about you. Then again I have nothing good to say about you either.

Vera
	I think you are a sweet, smart young woman and I would have loved to work with you. I just feel at this time that Aaron and Jillian are stronger allies than you and John.

Final Words[]

Carly
	There is no denying that this stinks. If I had to guess, I would say that Hank got cold feet and did not want to force a tie and honestly I can't blame him. What sucks is this is the exact same spot I went out last time. I guess I was not made for this game...

Still in the Running[]

Nampula
Lauren	Hector	Jody	Craig	Jocelyn	George
Zambezia
John	~~Carly~~	Aaron	Vera	Hank	Jillian
Tete
~~Billie-Jean~~	Simon	Vanessa	Enrico	Martha	Wild Bill