Eliza Orlins was so desperate to save herself that she played a Hidden Immunity Idol she knew was fake.

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All it did was completely out Ozzy Lusth for having the real Hidden Immunity Idol, as the 25-year-old former Survivor: Vanuatu contestant from New York became the eleventh castaway eliminated from Survivor: Micronesia -- Fans vs. Favorites during last night's broadcast of the long-running CBS reality show's sixteenth season.

"Well I think I did everything I could do in this game.  I think I went out with a bang.  I played a fake Hidden Immunity Idol," said Eliza after her ouster.  "I can't really believe that [Jason Siska] thought that stick was the real Hidden Immunity Idol -- but I had to play it anyhow, out Ozzy for having the real one, and hopefully now people can do something about it.  Too bad that Immunity Idol wasn't real because we would have shocked them."

Survivor: Micronesia's ninth episode began with the Malakal tribe returning to camp following the previous Tribal Council that saw the elimination of Ami Cusack.  Ozzy commented that Ami had "dug her own grave."

"You can't be playing all sides like that," said Ozzy, a reference to Ami's earlier attempts to sway the Fans to boot him.

Since a Fan had been ousted from Malakal at the previous three Tribal Councils, Erik Reichenbach was amazed to still be in the game.

"In a perfect world, tomorrow would be the merge," Erik told Ozzy, former Survivor: China castaway Amanda Kimmel and former Survivor: Panama castaway Cirie Fields.

At the Airai camp, Eliza and Jason were also anticipating the merge and talked in the cave about how they would align with Ami once it occurred.  Jason then told Eliza he had the Hidden Immunity Idol, which Eliza said put him in a "really good position" and made it a "good alliance" for her to have.

"Hopefully we can take it to the end," she said.

Malakal received Tree Mail that instructed them to pack up their stuff and travel to an undisclosed location, which bummed out the tribe since Malakal had the far better beach and camp.  Erik realized if this was in fact the merge it would be "highly beneficial" to his standing in the game and made it clear to Ozzy he had no intentions of changing allegiances.

"I want you to know I'm not flipping to any other side," Erik told Ozzy, who agreed to be "straight up" with Erik for the rest of the game. While it wasn't exactly the most reassuring response, it was still music to Erik's ears.

"Rather than be in opposition to Ozzy -- one of the most powerful players in the game -- I'm now aligned with him in some kind of like zookeeper bond. Like, I'm more the monkey and he's the zookeeper now because I owe him my life," said Erik.

Airai received the same Tree Mail message and was more happy to be leaving their cruddy camp. They packed their belongings, and Natalie Bolton and Alexis Jones talked with former Survivor: Cook Islands castaway Parvati Shallow -- who had a secret alliance with the two Fans as well as Amanda.

"No matter what, we trust each other and have each other's backs," said Alexis.

However what Alexis didn't know is that Amanda was unaware of the pact and Parvati and Amanda were also already in a four-person alliance with Amanda, Ozzy and Survivor: China's James Clement.

"Oh my God, I'm in such a hot pickle right now!" opined Parvarti.  "I have made an alliance with my original tribe of Ozzy, James, Cirie and Amanda.  And a second alliance I got myself into is me, Alexis, Natalie and Amanda.  So I feel like I have the numbers on my side no matter what.  But I now have a decision to make down the road."

Malakal and Airai then arrived at the neutral beach and learned it was in fact the merge.

"This is the worst merge I could possible imagine," said Eliza, realizing Ami was absent.  "[Ami] was probably my closest ally and closest friend in this game.  So I feel really alone right now and heartbroken that she's not here.  But I'm trying to stay positive."

The two tribes feasted -- with James eating bat soup -- and they also selected the new tribe name "Dabu," which Erik suggested and said is the Micronesian word for "good."

"I told everybody that Dabu means 'good' in Micronesian, but I pretty much just made it up," he said with a laugh.

The new Dabu tribe slept on the neutral beach before moving to Malakal for good the next morning.  Ozzy commented he was "ready to go beyond Fans versus Favorites" as he cuddled with Alexis -- whom he recently spent an evening on Exile Island with.  That sounded good to Alexis, who said she "had a great time with Ozzy out on Exile" and was "just kind of excited to come out here and get to know him."

Needless to say, Amanda intently watched the two interact and was suspicious of Alexis' motives.

"I know Alexis likes Ozzy, but me and Ozzy have been doing this together for 22 days now," said Amanda.   "Yeah, it bothers me a little bit.  I want her gone."

The next morning Dabu arrived at the old Malakal beach -- with the old Airai tribe excited to be in new surroundings while Cirie complained it felt like the space was being invaded.  Jason gushed about how he wants Ozzy to teach him to use the spear before Ozzy correctly predicted that Jason had found the fake Hidden Immunity Idol he planted.

"Going to Exile, I found out someone has taken my planted Idol.  Most likely, it's Jason," said Ozzy. "I think he's the only one who had the opportunity to look who hasn't been voted out.  So I think that Jason walking around with my fake Hidden Immunity Idol is a beautiful thing.  I think it's poetry in the making."

As if on cue, Jason snuck into the woods and hid the idol he had under a rock for safe keeping.

"Hopefully nobody will discover it here," said Jason.  "Hopefully I won't forget this spot either."

Eliza asked Parvati if she knew what had happened to Ami at Malakal's most recent Tribal Council.  Parvati explained Ami was ousted because she had tried to take out Ozzy, a comment that surprised Eliza.  Still, Eliza knew her best bet was to align herself with the remaining Favorites.

"We're still together right?" asked Eliza.

"I don't know.  Things have changed," answered Parvati.  "It's a whole different game."

That was not the response Eliza was looking for.

"I feel outnumbered and I feel on the outs and I feel like I don't have any real close allies except for Jason," said Eliza.  "If I at least got in with the Favorites, then it would be okay. I could get my way to the Final 6 and then work from there. But if I'm not even in with them, I could be next to go.  This is just a disaster."

Amanda and Parvati then reunited in the surf and after the two gushed about missing each other Parvati noticed Eliza was staring at them.

"I'm so sick of her, she's going next. She has to," said Parvati to Amanda about Eliza.  "I can't have her here anymore."

Parvati then told Amanda about the alliance she had made with Alexis and Natalie, explaining "I've put us in an alliance without you being there."  While Amanda didn't show it while talking with Parvati, she was upset about the secret alliance.

"Parvati pretty much screwed me over because I don't want to be in an alliance with Natalie and Alexis," said Amanda in a confessional, adding she didn't want Alexis anywhere near the finals.  "I'm livid and it leaves me with a lot of questions about Parvati."

Prior to leaving for the upcoming Immunity Challenge -- the first with Individual Immunity on the line -- Jason approached Eliza and told her if he can win, he'll give the Hidden Immunity Idol to Eliza.  The two then figured that if everyone else votes to oust Eliza and she plays the idol, her and Jason's vote for Ozzy would be enough to blind-side him out of the game.

Dabu then arrived at their first Individual Immunity Challenge, and host Jeff Probst explained the rules.

Each castaway had to put mind over matter to outlast on another as they are positioned in a row under a steel grate partially submerged in water. The castaways' breathing space will slowly disappear as the tide rises, and the person who stays under the grate the longest would win Individual Immunity and be safe at Tribal Council.

The challenge commenced and Amanda was the first one out 35-minutes into it.  Parvati, Alexis and Cirie followed around the 45-minute mark, with Natalie, Eliza and Erik bowing out a few minutes later. 

James, Ozzy and Jason all employed different strategies as the water began to submerge the grate.  James eventually ran out of air and was eliminated and despite Ozzy's best efforts he was unable to outlast Jason, who claimed Individual Immunity.

Back at camp, Jason boasted how it was "pretty delightful" to "dominate Ozzy" in the challenge and promised to eliminate him later that night at Tribal Council.  Meanwhile Parvati put her plan in motion to eliminate Eliza, telling all the Dabu members, "Eliza's getting voted out."

Eliza overheard Parvati and quickly ran to Jason in the cave and explained she would need him to give her the Hidden Immunity Idol since everyone was in fact gunning for her.  Jason explained he has Eliza "covered" and would place the idol in her bag before Tribal.

"I'm trusting you," said Eliza before adding ousting Ozzy would be the "biggest blind-side in history" and might make her "more hated" than Jon "Jonny Fairplay" Dalton.

While Eliza seemed like the popular choice to be booted, Amanda hadn't given up hope that she might be able to instead get rid of Alexis.  Amanda told Cirie that Alexis is "dangerous," and Cirie agreed to get rid of Alexis since it means she won't be going anywhere for another week.

"A small bit of jealousy is coming into play because of the relationship that Ozzy has with Alexis," said Cirie with a slight grin on her face.

With Tribal Council looming, Eliza retreated to the cave and reached into her bag to retrieve the Hidden Immunity Idol -- but her delight quickly turned to panic when she realized it was just a stick with some crude carvings.

"This isn't it. This isn't it!" panicked Eliza before marching across the beach and right up to Jason and asking him what he's trying to pull.

"It's not the idol!" she told Jason.

"Yeah, it's the idol," answered Jason.

"It's not the idol," she replied.  "Ozzy must have put it in there.  He must have the real thing.  That's not the idol!"

"Yes it is," reassured Jason.  "It has a face on it, don't worry."

"Ozzy put it on there -- made a face on it!" she told him.  "It's not the idol!"

"Why do you say that?" asked Jason.

"Because that can't be the idol!" she replied.

"Why not?" asked Jason, apparently a slow learner.

"Because it's just a stick!" Eliza bluntly told him.

However they didn't really have much of an alternative, so Eliza sheepishly asked if she should still try to play it.

"Yeah, of course!" replied Jason, who presumably didn't care too much since he was safe with Individual Immunity.

Survivor: Micronesia's ninth Tribal Council commenced, and Alexis commented on the three strengths it takes to win the game -- social, physical and mental.

"I think the merge is the first opportunity where you get to see your entire competition versus the competition within your own tribe," she added. 

Cirie then singled out Alexis as having all three of those strengths, describing her as a "triple threat."

"I don't think at this point in the game [that it's worrisome]," replied Alexis since she had just been called out, a comment that brought shocked looks on Cirie and Amanda's faces. 

Alexis referred to Eliza's lack on social skills -- but did so in the past tense as if Eliza had already been eliminated.  She apologized, but the damage had been done and Eliza agreed with Alexis' assessment of her skills.

"I think that my social game potentially has been lacking," said Eliza.  "But I think that a lot of people here are playing a very short-sighted game and not really looking down the line.  They're overestimating their own social game."

Ozzy and James then commented how taking "the one that everybody hates" to the finale is the way to win -- and Eliza said it's no secret she isn't liked.

"Well Eliza," said Parvati, "you've been running around back and forth trying to vote me out since Day 1.  Then coming back to me yesterday and telling me that you're going to be 100% loyal to me and we need to stay true to the old Malakal tribe and Favorites to the end?!  Are you kidding me?"

Eliza tried to defend herself but was in a difficult position since everything Parvati said was basically true.

"I definitely got myself into this mess," she admitted.  "But everyone is here to win $1 million.  People have come awfully close and lost because they went up against the best.  So are you really going to make the same mistake again?  Bring people people don't like to the finals and have a shot!"

Even Eliza apparently felt her final plea fell on deaf ears because after the votes were cast she decided to play the idol given to her by Jason -- which brought a big grin across Ozzy's face.

"This is not a Hidden Immunity Idol," Jeff told her.

"That means Ozzy has it!" quickly stated Eliza.  "Jason found [the fake] on Exile.  Ozzy has the real one."

"Sorry I couldn't tell you guys..." said Ozzy.  Jeff then threw the fake into the fire.

"Jeff come on!  That took hours to make!" said Ozzy, which brought a big laugh from James.

Jeff then read the votes and Eliza was booted by an 8-2 margin -- with only her and Jason voting for Ozzy.  Eliza left Tribal Council and became the first member of Survivor: Micronesia's jury.

Survivor: Micronesia -- Fans vs. Favorites next episode will air Thursday, April 17 at 8PM ET/PT.
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio

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