'Survivor: Cagayan -- Brawn vs. Brains vs. Beauty' reshuffles the tribes, Cliff Robinson gets the boot

Survivor: Cagayan -- Brawn vs. Brains vs. Beauty's fourth episode featured the three tribes reshuffling into two new tribes and concluded with the new Solana tribe voting out Cliff Robinson at Tribal Council.


Cliff, a 46-year-old former NBA All-Star from Newark, NJ, was voted out of his Solana tribe at the season's fifth Tribal Council session during Wednesday night's broadcast of the CBS reality series' 28th edition. It was Cliff's first time this season attending a Tribal Council session with his tribe.

"I got too comfortable with my core alliance. I thought I was staying up on what was going on around camp, but it sucks. It's tough. It just goes to show when you think things are going the way you expect them to go, boom! You get blindsided," Cliff said following his ouster.

The members of the Brains tribe were Kassandra "Kass" McQuillen, a 41-year-old attorney from Tehachapi, CA; Latasha "Tasha" Fox, a 37-year-old accountant from St. Louis, MO; and Spencer Bledsoe, a 21-year-old student from Chicago, IL.

The Brawn tribe was comprised of Cliff; Lindsey Ogle, a 29-year-old hairstylist from Kokomo, IN; Sarah Lacina, a 29-year-old police officer from Cedar Rapids, IA; Tony Vlachos, a 39-year-old police officer from Jersey City, NJ; Trish Hegarty, a 48-year-old pilates instructor from Needham, MA; and Yung "Woo" Hwang, a 29-year-old martial arts instructor from Newport Beach, CA.


The Beauty tribe featured Jeremiah Wood, a 34-year-old male model from Dobson, NC; Morgan McLeod, a 21-year-old former NFL cheerleader from San Jose, CA; Alexis Maxwell, a 21-year-old student from Addison, IL; Jefra Bland, a 22-year-old former Miss Kentucky Teen USA from Campbellsville, KY; and LJ McKanas, a 34-year-old horse trainer from Boston, MA.

Survivor: Cagayan -- Brawn vs. Brains vs. Beauty's fourth episode began on Night 11 with the Brains tribe returning from the Tribal Council in which J'Tia Taylor was voted out of the game. Spencer couldn't be happier to still be in the game because he thought he was going home. He was rising his way back up, and although he was on a rollercoaster, he was glad he hadn't fallen off it yet.

Kass admitted she had changed her vote last minute because they would definitely lose the next challenge or two with J'Tia and Spencer "kicks butt." But Kass said the way her tribe had been playing the game thus far was ridiculous -- they were the "crap for brain tribe, just a rolling log-jam mess with a couple of nerds on top."

Spencer suggested to Kass and Tasha they could make it to the Final 3 together, but he then jokingly noted only two tribes stood in their way.

On Day 12, Tasha said she felt whether they were going to be a strong tribe with Spencer would be tested at the upcoming challenge. If they won, she believed the other castaways would start seeing them differently.


The Brawn, Brains and Beauty tribes them met Survivor host Jeff Probst for a Reward Challenge.

Jeff immediately asked all the castaways to drop their buffs and randomly draw a new one -- which would either be orange for Aparri or purple for Solana.

Sarah began panicking about whom she could trust because she had become so close to Tony and Woo. Meanwhile, Tasha and Kass looked a little disappointed, as if they had made the wrong decision to get rid of J'Tia instead of Spencer at that point.

Sarah, Spencer, Morgan, Kass, Tasha, Jeremiah, and Alexis became members of the new Aparri tribe.

Woo, Cliff, Trish, Jefra, LJ, Lindsey, and Tony were the castaways on the new Solana tribe.


Sarah felt awful because her entire tribe left her. But Tasha became excited, thinking about how well her new tribe might do in the challenges. Meanwhile, Jefra and LJ worried about being teamed up with mainly all former Brawn tribe members. They knew they were on the outs.

For the Reward Challenge, one person from each tribe would hold onto a pole while two members from the opposing tribe would attempt to remove that person from the pole and drag him or her to the finish line.

The first tribe to get someone across the finish line would receive one point. The first tribe to achieve two points total would win the challenge and Reward in the form of coffee, pastries, donuts, chocolate-chip cookies, blueberry pastries, brownies, and cinnamon rolls.

In the end, Solana won.

Spencer said it was great to upgrade from "the moms to the hot girls" in his new tribe, but it was tough to keep losing the challenges. He didn't think the former Brains tribe members would get a fair break.


Later that day, the new Solana tribe enjoyed their food. LJ acknowledged he and Jefra were outnumbered 5-2. He had a hidden Immunity Idol in his possession but knew that would only buy him a few more days in the game, so he hoped his tribe would absorb him as a team member rather than a threat.

Trish quickly became interested in LJ because they're both from Massachusetts. She thought he was laid-back and easy going, a gentleman and just a true "Boston boy."

LJ felt it was "a moment of beaming sunshine" and he didn't mind the fact Trish was drawn to him for whatever reason, even if it was sex appeal, because it may keep him in the game longer. Lindsey told the cameras Trish was just trying to get attention from younger men and it made her sick.

As for Cliff, he was still one of five members in his original Brawn tribe. He assumed he was in a great position and grew wary of LJ and Trish.

Over at Aparri's camp, Sarah was on a tribe with three former Brains tribe members and three former Beauty castaways. She realized she was in a tough spot and didn't know whom to trust.


Morgan felt Sarah outed her right away when she revealed the story of how the first three people voted out of their tribes at the beginning of the game were given the option to supply their tribe with an additional bag of rice or receive a clue to the hidden Immunity Idol.

Morgan was forced to tell her former Beauty tribe members the truth at that point and she hoped it wouldn't put a bigger target on her back than she already had. However, Alexis wasn't happy and knew she couldn't trust Morgan going forward. Alexis felt it was vital to her game to jump ship immediately.

Alexis then tried to get together with the former Brains tribe -- Spencer, Kass and Tasha. Alexis gave them her word she'd be loyal to them, and Spencer could tell she was desperate and there were therefore fractures in the Beauty tribe.

Alexis insisted Morgan lied all the time, and Spencer thought her tribe was so "gossipy, almost like high schoolers." Spencer noticed the Beauty girls weren't afraid to talk crap about one another even if it was face-to-face. Spencer said in a confessional that the Beauty girls lacked social skills.

Shortly afterward, Jeremiah tried to jump ship as well. He also talked to the former Brains tribe, Kass and Tasha, saying Morgan would likely backstab him in a heartbeat. Jeremiah suggested they become a foursome with Spencer because he was certainly on the outs.

The former Brains tribe basically were golden and had their pick of castaways. Tasha noted they went from "a tragedy to a triumph." The game had switched up and they were on top.


At Solana's camp, Trish told Jefra that Lindsey would appear like she was a hard worker but she wasn't. Trish also revealed she was closely aligned with Cliff. Because of Trish's behavior, Jefra thought there may be a spot for herself and LJ to slip in. Trish said they had been trying to get rid of Cliff but they couldn't lose challenges. Jefra then told Trish she was tight with LJ and they'd both be onboard with that plan.

On Day 14, the two new tribes met Jeff again, who explained the rules to what would be their fifth Immunity Challenge.

For the challenge, each tribe was required to use one large log to smash two walls and then maneuver the log through a table maze. The first tribe to get its log through the maze and bang its gong would win immunity and be safe from the vote at the next Tribal Council.

Each tribe had to sit one person out. Trish sat out for Solana, and Morgan sat out for Aparri but only after she lost a contest of "rock, paper, scissors" to Alexis.

The challenge was very close at the end, but Aparri finished the job first. Jeff called them "the underdogs," and Tasha, Kass and Spencer were thrilled about the change of pace.

Meanwhile, Tony was shocked his tribe lost since they were mainly comprised of former Brawn members. He said the challenge was basically made for them. Tony then noted in a confessional LJ was a threat, so he needed to be the first person to go.


Later on, LJ started scrambling and tried to convince his tribe they needed him to win challenges, but Cliff didn't like the bond he shared with Trish since they were both from MA and Trish seemed to be playing the game with her emotions. Cliff said when you play the game with feelings, that's "when foolish things happen."

Cliff then told his former Brawn members they must vote for LJ and stay united and strong as a group. Woo convinced the group he was stronger than LJ on land and 10-times as strong in the water, so it didn't matter if they got rid of him. Woo told the cameras they needed to look at the bigger picture.

"Unfortunately, paranoia's rampant right now," Woo told the cameras.

Trish talked to LJ about voting for Cliff with Jefra and Tony because Cliff was "real shady." LJ was, of course, up for the plan.

"My name's being thrown out there. I talked to Trish and she said that she wants to get rid of Cliff, and I was shocked. Apparently Trish and Tony don't like Cliff and it just doesn't make sense to me. You're 5-2, you don't need to talk anything. Still, if what she says is true, I might not have to play my idol," LJ said in a confessional.

"I play with my heart and I really like LJ. He's a gentleman, he gets along with people, he never gives up -- I mean, the guy's got it all. But Cliff, he doesn't do anything. And 14 days of his entitlement is about as much as my nervous system can handle. So we're putting Cliff's name down on that ballet. And the best part about the whole thing is Cliff doesn't have one single clue, and it's really cracking me up," Trish told the cameras.


Lindsey talked to Woo about Trish potentially flipping, but Woo tried to assure her that she wouldn't.

"She's going to screw us over. I guarantee it," Lindsey told Woo.

Trish then talked to Tony and told him that Cliff did nothing around camp and needed to go. She also insisted Cliff hadn't said one word to her this whole time, and once they got to the merge, he'd kill everyone in the Individual Immunity Challenges just based upon his strength alone. Tony agreed, and Trish pointed out the "dingaling" -- meaning Lindsey -- would go after Cliff.

"Trish came to me and said, 'We need to get rid of Cliff. We need to cut the head off the snake.' She's crazy! I don't know if she's bipolar or something. I don't know what she is, but there's no reason to do this right now. What we need to do is get rid of LJ. He has the heart, he has the drive, he has the ambition, he has a strategic mind, so he's dangerous," Tony said in a confessional.

Tony reiterated to Trish how LJ and Jefra were on the bottom and they were five deep, so it just didn't make sense to target Cliff. He said they could wipe them out one by one if they cracked. Trish said LJ wasn't stupid and Tony agreed. Because Tony didn't like Cliff or trust him from the beginning because he's "a very influential person and wraps people around his finger," Tony was ready to get rid of him.

Tony noted if he voted Cliff out, he'd be putting all his cards on LJ, and he didn't trust him at all. So Tony was confused about whom to side with.


Cliff then talked to Tony and said that if Trish wanted to make a move, she could do whatever she wanted and then get voted right out of the game. Cliff explained they needed stability, and without Trish, the former Brawn tribe would still be four against three. Cliff thought Tony was with him in voting out LJ.

"I'm actually looking forward to going to Tribal Council. Trish really got caught up on her emotions, so we're going to chop down Trish's new support system and have her come groveling back to her old tribemates," Cliff said in a confessional.

LJ still felt it was just him and Jefra, and while Trish seemed willing to flip, he wasn't sure about Tony. LJ knew he "putting a boatload of trust" in the pair and hoped they'd deliver. LJ decided he'd play it by ear on whether he'd use his idol at Tribal Council based upon Tony's comments and his feeling a blindside may or may not be coming.

That night, Survivor: Cagayan -- Brawn vs Brains vs Beauty's Solana members arrived for their first Tribal Council session -- the fifth session of the season overall.

LJ admitted to Jeff he was intimidated and uncomfortable in the tribe, but at the end of the day, he and Jefra were just trying to entertain as much as they could. Cliff then discussed the person who couldn't put their emotions aside in a game of numbers was someone to worry about. Woo added that everyone needed to stick with their original plan and trust what they're apart of or they'd end up in a bad situation.

Trish announced the vote was a test of loyalty amongst the five Brawn members, and numbers were only important if the numbers are going to work for you -- otherwise, you make other arrangements. With that said, Lindsey reminded her tribe they needed to stick together.


Afterward, Tony told Jeff the night's vote would definitely shift the game -- whether they'd move forward as a team or take a step back and move forward with a difference team. That seemed to seal the deal in LJ's mind that he was safe.

The castaways then cast their votes for whom should be eliminated from the tribe. Woo was shown voting for LJ in fear he'd make it to the merge and reconnect with his former Beauty tribe. Jefra was shown voting for Cliff because he couldn't call the shots forever. Although Tony's swing vote wasn't revealed, he told the cameras his decision was "nothing personal, just strategical."

LJ declined to put his hidden Immunity Idol in play, and then Jeff revealed the votes. Four castaways voted for Cliff, while three voted for LJ.

Lindsey looked absolutely shocked while Jefra and LJ were relieved and thankful. Trish was smiling as Cliff departed the game.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski