'Survivor: Caramoan -- Fans vs. Favorites' votes out Hope Driskill

Survivor: Caramoan -- Fans vs. Favorites' Gota "Fans" tribe eliminated Hope Driskill, a 23-year-old pre-law student from Jefferson City, MO, from their tribe during Wednesday night's third episode of the CBS reality series' 26th edition.


Hope was voted out of her tribe at the season's third Tribal Council, the second elimination vote for Gota.

"You know, I'm really, really disappointed. I definitely think that I should've stayed out here longer. I thought I was a strong player, and I feel like I went before my time. But I will say that this has been an incredible, once in a lifetime experience, and I feel really grateful to have had the opportunity," Hope said following her ouster.

Survivor: Caramoan -- Fans vs. Favorites' third broadcast began on Night 5 with the Gota tribe returning from the prior Tribal Council session. 

The Gota tribe was comprised of Hope; Laura Alexander, a 23-year-old administrative officer from Washington, DC; Sherri Biethman, a 41-year-old fast food franchisee from Boise, ID; Matt Bischoff, a 38-year-old in BMX bike sales from Cincinnati, OH; Edward "Eddie" Fox, a 23-year-old fireman and EMT from East Brunswick, NJ; Julia Landauer, a 21-year-old racecar driver from Stanford, CA; Michael Snow, a 44-year-old event planner from New York; Shamar Thomas, a 27-year-old Iraq war veteran from Brooklyn, NY; and Reynold Toepfer, a 30-year-old in real estate sales from San Francisco, CA.


Reynold told his alliance -- which was comprised of Hope and Eddie -- he didn't trust anyone and wasn't friends with anyone. He figured Matt had turned on him because he was supposed to keep Alexandra "Allie" Pohevitz in the game and clearly didn't vote for Shamar the way he was supposed to. While Reynold was making himself an outcast in the tribe, he reminded his tribemates they needed him around for Immunity Challenges.

Meanwhile, Shamar was going nuts on all the people in his tribe whom he believed wrote his name down at the previous Tribal Council. Eddie insisted to Shamar it wasn't his plan to get him out but Shamar didn't care. Shamar also yelled at Matt, calling him out on his "bullsh-t."

On Day 6, Reynold admitted he got blindsided by Allie's ouster because he thought everyone was voting for Shamar for being lazy around camp. Eddie thought Shamar was going to step on everyone's toes to the point where they'd finally want him gone.

However, Sherri wanted to keep Shamar around and asked him to keep his mouth shut because both Eddie and Reynold were ruffling his feathers to get him worked out so he'd flip out on people and then become a target. Sherri was understanding of Shamar's mood swings and accepted them but noted he needed to shut up.

Shamar explained he felt like the black sheep in the tribe and it was disheartening. He said he wanted to win the million dollars but was beginning to feel like it wasn't worth it because of how his tribemates were acting towards him and behaving. Shamar started questioning whether he should be in the game at all.


Meanwhile, the Bikal "Favorites" tribe members were enjoying themselves around camp.

The Bikal tribe consisted of Brenda Lowe, a 30-year-old paddleboard company owner from Miami, FL; John Cochran, a 25-year-old law student from Washington, DC; Phillip Sheppard, a 54-year-old in software sales from Santa Monica, CA; Malcolm Freberg, a 25-year-old bartender from Hermosa Beach, CA; Brandon Hantz, a 21-year-old in chemical disposal from Katy, TX; Andrea Boehlke, a 23-year-old entertainment host and writer from New York; Corinne Kaplan, a 33-year-old clinical consultant from Los Angeles; Dawn Meehan, a 42-year-old English professor from South Jordan, UT; and Erik Reichenbach, a 27-year-old comic book artist from Santa Clarita, CA.

Phillip said he was having the time of his life while Cochran was overwhelmed by all the beautiful women around him in very little clothing.

Andrea, Phillip, Cochran, Dawn, Corinne, and Malcolm were in an alliance together but Malcolm and Corinne were clearly gravitating towards each other since they were kind of the odd players out. They hadn't previously competed on another Survivor edition together like the rest of their alliance members had.

Corinne was thrilled to work so closely with Malcolm, as she believed he was intelligent and good looking, which didn't hurt. Malcolm, however, wasn't returning the feelings as strongly. The pair ended up finding a hidden Immunity Idol, and although Malcolm was glad to have some power, he was a little disappointed he had to share it with Corinne.


"I'm not thrilled that Corinne knows I have the idol. Of course, in a perfect world, I'd have it all to myself. But Corinne does know about it and she's someone that, luckily, I did have a good relationship with early on in this game. Our wagons are kind of hitched together because of this idol now, and it's either going to work out really well or we're going to burn down very quickly because she does not go down without a fight," Malcolm explained. 

Andrea wondered whether there were better options for herself and her alliance. She was considering taking Corinne out with a unanimous vote and then bring in Brandon as a solid replacement. Andrea wanted to get rid of Corinne before she could get rid of her, so she told Phillip her idea -- calling out the fact Corinne and Malcolm were very close. Phillip agreed and Andrea was just worried the news would get back to Corinne and ultimately put a target on her own back.

Brandon told Andrea he'd do anything to stay in the game, and then Andrea told him to vote for Corinne. Brandon announced he was all set with that and down for the plan, but in the back of his mind, he questioned the group's honesty and loyalty.

"I've been told that I'm safe... but it's really sketchy because there's a voice in the back of my head saying, 'You've been done like this before. You've been coaxed along to believe that something's not true. I just think there's a bunch of lying going on because if they tell me, 'Hey, Brandon, you're going out next,' I'll pee in the rice. I'll pee in the beans. I'll burn the shelter to the ground," Brandon told the cameras.

"I'm going to try 150% percent each and every challenge, but if we lose, and my efforts aren't good enough for them to keep me around, by God, there's going to be hell to pay around camp."


Meanwhile, over at Gota's camp, Shamar realized he didn't want to come across as "the angry black man in Survivor." He was thinking about quitting the show because he just wasn't happy on the island. Laura told him that she'd love him to stay and she was thrown back by the fact Shamar would "take it so far as to quit."

Shamar admitted he had a tough time adjusting to life after his military involvement because he had been in many dark, tight and unfortunately unforgettable situations in Iraq. He tried to be a happy person on the island and uplift everybody but couldn't help being angry when people condescended and verbally attacking him.

Sherri was convinced Shamar would regret quitting the season and told him if he followed through with the decision, it's a possibility they could be down two tribemates if they were to lose the upcoming Immunity Challenge. Shamar then told Sherri and Laura that since they had been loyal to him, he'd be doing a disservice to them by leaving. Therefore, out of respect for them, he said he'd stay and fight for a few more days.

"I had my hopes up a bit that Shamar would quit, but deep down, I knew he wouldn't follow through with it. And then he turned it into this like, 'Shamar's all about loyalty,' and made himself a hero for 'unquitting' the game of Survivor that 50,000 people would line up for days just to get a chance to play. I don't know. That's no heroic move in my book, but I'm just going to play my game and Shamar is just going to be one of the factors in my game and I'm just going to have to deal with it," Reynold explained.  

Later that day, the castaways met Survivor host Jeff Probst, who then explained the rules to what would be their third Immunity and Reward Challenge.


The two tribes learned that they each must race out to the water to a large bamboo cage, climb over the cage and into the water -- where they would find a very heavy chest -- untie the cage door, and then drag the chest through the cage and all the way back to the shore. Both tribes must then place the chest on their given track, use a grappling rope to retrieve three missing sections of track and then push the chest to the finish.

The first tribe to get its chest on the finish platform would win immunity and be safe from the vote at the upcoming Tribal Council session, while the losing tribe would be forced to vote off one of its own members. In addition, the winning tribe would win Reward in the form of comfort -- chairs, pillows, a blanket, and a tarp.

In the end, the Bikal "Favorites" tribe won immunity and reward. Eddie failed to close the deal for the "Fans" even though the challenge was neck and neck from the start.

The following day, Reynold and Shamar got into it again and Shamar called him "disgusting," ordering him to leave him alone and not speak a word. Reynold told the cameras Shamar was more immature than his three-year-old nephew.

Meanwhile, Laura was discussing who should be voted out next. She said Hope should be the next target because she was a member of the dwindling threesome alliance, but if it came down to a matter of physical strength, she believed it'd be her on the chopping block. Laura then decided to tell her alliance -- which was everyone but Eddie, Hope and Reynold -- to split the votes between Hope and Eddie, and then for the re-vote, vote for Hope.

Laura wanted to split the votes to potentially flush the hidden Immunity Idol out in case Reynold played it for either castaway, and then she explained the girls should vote for Hope and the boys should vote for Eddie to keep things simple. Both Sherri and Shamar were clearly onboard with the plan.


Hope was somewhat aware of how things were playing out and worried she was on the chopping block. She didn't think there was any chance Reynold would give her his idol. Shamar then talked privately with Hope in the ocean. He told her she wasn't 99% percent in the hole just yet and assured her that he wouldn't be casting his vote for her.

Shamar told the cameras he liked Hope more than Eddie and Reynold and therefore wanted her to stay because they got along well. Shamar hinted to Hope that all she'd have to do to save herself is turn on her alliance and vote for Eddie, but he wasn't sure whether she was capable of making such a move.

Julia then discovered what Shamar had done, warning her group that he had blabbed the entire plan to Hope and clearly didn't care about the game. Matt couldn't believe Shamar did that but wasn't surprised at the same time. Laura noted that Shamar was a complete wild card and potentially putting herself in the line of fire.

In a last minute attempt to keep herself safe, Laura told Reynold she was totally down to get Shamar out. Reynold's alliance plus Laura and Julia would be five votes and enough to eliminate Shamar, so Reynold was thrilled about the move and agreed to it. However, Laura wasn't really being sincere.

That night, Survivor: Caramoan -- Fans vs. Favorites' nine members of the Gota tribe arrived for their second Tribal Council session -- the third session of the season overall.

Shamar's temper was once again discussed and he said he simply was the scapegoat for everybody. Shamar suggested people made up lies to create a certain perception of him on the island, and when Reynold tried to argue the claim, Shamar ordered him to stop talking because he was an "evil person."


Hope then announced how Shamar told her that he was 99% percent sure she was going home and she should therefore turn on her friends because Reynold had no intention to give her his idol. Shamar was taken aback by the revelation, insisting he had only said he wasn't 99% percent sure she was going home.

Shamar told Jeff he felt picked on, even when he tried to be all smiles. Matt then chimed in and said Shamar's personality just rubbed people in the tribe the wrong way. Shamar was taking all the heat but kept insisted he wasn't doing anything wrong. Sherri tried to explain to the group that once you cross Shamar, you just can't go back, and Shamar said that was "exactly right."

Hope then announced she wanted to put the vote on Shamar because he brought a negative energy to the tribe that most likely wouldn't change for the better. Eddie admitted because he was flirty, charming and fit, he most likely had a target on his back as well -- especially since Shamar had allegedly been trying to get him out since Day 2.

Eddie revealed he thought Shamar hated him just as much as Reynold, but Shamar corrected him and said it was simply because Eddie was a follower of Reynold -- whom he definitely didn't like. Before voting commenced, Reynold noted playing his idol was going to be like playing a poker game going forward.

Jeff then revealed the votes and it was a three-way tie amongst Shamar, Hope and Eddie. Laura, Julia and Sherri voted for Hope. Matt, Michael and Shamar voted for Eddie. And Reynold, Eddie and Hope voted for Shamar.   

Jeff announced the tribe would have to re-vote for one of the three castaways and Shamar, Hope and Eddie wouldn't be allowed to cast their votes.


The results ultimately sent Hope packing, as she was shown receiving four votes and Shamar only earned one vote. Reynold clearly voted again for Shamar, while everyone else presumably voted to oust Hope from Survivor: Caramoan -- Fans vs. Favorites. One of the re-votes was not shown.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski