Survivor: David vs. Goliath featured Bi Nguyen leaving the game due to an injury, a tribal swap, and then the elimination of Natalia Azoqa during Wednesday night's Survivor Season 37 episode on CBS.
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Bi, a 28-year-old MMA fighter from Houston, TX, quit the game on Day 10 after spraining her MCL during the previous challenge.
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And then after a tribal swap, the new Vuku tribe voted out Natalia, a 25-year-old industrial engineer from Irvine, CA, on Night 11 at the third Tribal Council session of the Survivor season. Natalia became the fifth castaway to exit the game.
"I'm just upset because I knew the second we got to this tribe, there was a shift in [Alec Merlino]," Natalia said in her final words.
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"I should have went with my gut and I did not go with my gut. I think I just should have made a big move and continued to make big moves than play stupid. I mean, I played a stupid game tonight and I'm just pissed. I want to hurt him so bad."
The Survivor broadcast began on Day 10, with the David and Goliath tribes meeting Survivor host Jeff Probst.
The "David" Tribe was comprised of Bi; Lyrsa Torres, a 36-year-old airline agent from Puerto Rico, who currently resides in Boston, MA; Christian Hubicki, a 32-year-old robotics scientist from Baltimore, MD, who currently resides in Tallahassee, FL; Nick Wilson, a 27-year-old public defender from Williamsburg, KY, who currently resides in London, KY; Davie Rickenbacker, a 30-year-old social media manager from Orangeburg, SC, who currently resides in Atlanta, GA; Carl Boudreaux, a 41-year-old truck driver from Beaumont, TX, who currently resides in Houston, TX; Elizabeth Olson, a 31-year-old kitchen staffer from Dallas, Fort Worth, TX, who currently resides in Longview, TX; and Gabby Pascuzzi, a 25-year-old technical writer from St. Augustine, FL, who currently resides in Denver, CO.
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The Goliath Tribe was made up of Natalia; Alec, a 24-year-old bartender from San Clemente, CA; John Hennigan, a 38-year-old professional wrestler from Los Angeles, CA; Natalie Cole, a 56-year-old publishing CEO from Los Angeles, CA; Dan Rengering, a 27-year-old S.W.A.T. officer from Lake Butler, FL, who currently resides in Gainesville, FL; Mike White, a 47-year-old filmmaker from San Diego, CA, who currently resides in Los Angeles, CA and has previously competed on The Amazing Race; Angelina Keeley, a 28-year-old financial consultant from Sparks, NV, who currently resides in San Clemente, CA; Kara Kay, a 30-year-old realtor from San Diego, CA; and Alison Raybould, a 28-year-old physician from Leawood, KS, who currently resides in Chapel Hill, NC.
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Bi immediately revealed she had sprained her MCL the previous day during a challenge, and since she's an athlete, she decided to leave the game in order to take care of herself and receive proper treatment or therapy.
The David Tribe was facing one obstacle after another, but Davie said it was making their tribe stronger and testing their endurance.
Jeff then asked everyone to drop their buffs for a tribal swap. Davie was excited to start backstabbing, lying and turning people against each other in the game.
Jeff decided to turn the two tribes into three new tribes called Vuku, Tiva and Jabeni. Ironically, every single tribe featured three former Goliath members and two former David members.
Carl, however, did not receive a buff, so he didn't belong to any of the tribes.
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Wearing orange buffs, Vuku was comprised of Natalia, Elizabeth, Davie, Kara and Alec.
In green, Tiva consisted of John, Christian, Gabby, Dan and Alison.
Having been given purple buffs, the following castaways were assigned to Jabeni: Natalie, Mike, Angelina, Lyrsa and Nick.
Carl was sent to Exile Island and was told he could return to the game at the next Tribal Council session, joining the tribe that loses the next Immunity Challenge after somebody gets voted out.
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Tiva had to completely start over from scratch and build a brand new shelter.
Given the numbers, Christian acknowledged the Davids were going to be in a lot of trouble, and Davie was then shown expressing how he needed to find a way to fit in and get in good with the former Goliaths.
As Davie was attempting to bond with Alec on Vuku, Elizabeth was attempting to buddy up with Kara and Natalia. Elizabeth said she wasn't afraid of hard work and was ready to pull out all the stops to "find some common ground."
Natalia grew worried Kara might jump ship, but Kara promised loyalty to the Goliaths. Alec agreed it wouldn't make sense to turn their backs on their original tribemates. In fact, Kara said it would be "dumb" to do that.
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Once Carl landed on Exile Island, he read a riddle that led him to a series of coconuts in the ocean. He assumed an advantage waited for him in one of those coconuts, and he ended up finding the marked coconut.
Carl was given an "Idol Nullifier," which blocks the use of an idol by any other player.
Carl will be afforded the chance to play this idol nullifier in secret upon voting at Tribal Council. He was instructed to write down the name of the person he wishes to block from using an idol, and if an idol is played for that person, the advantage will make the idol null and void.
If Carl could guess correctly who might be playing an idol, he could totally change the course of the game.
Meanwhile, Mike admitted the Jabeni tribe appeared quite weak, that they were "the Davids of the Davids of the Davids." Mike expected they'd be going to Tribal Council often.
Natalie was then shown saying she wanted to wipe the former David members out of Jabeni as soon as possible. Angelina said Natalie was "sitting on her thrown and telling her peasants what to do."
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Nick saw a crack in the Goliath tribe, and it appeared to be Natalie since she was rubbing her tribemates the wrong way. Nick and Mike also got a "good vibe" from each other and decided to work together.
Mike then shared with Nick how Dan had an idol.
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Over at Tiva's camp, Dan liked Christian and how he was willing to put his ego aside and listen to other people when building the shelter. Christian also tried to bond with John, who admitted he has some social insecurities although he's used to putting on a show in wrestling.
Gabby began to worry about her place in the tribe given all the men seemed to get along so well.
Gabby cried to Christian about how she wasn't happy with the way the tribal swap turned out. She feared she was on the outs and was intimidated by the men, but Christian -- whom Gabby called "charming" -- comforted her.
Christian's goal was to keep Gabby's head in the game and maintain optimism.
"I feel like the only person I can lean on is Christian, and I'm scared that's not enough," Gabby said, adding that she felt like a nerd asking to sit with the cool kids at their lunch table at school.
On Day 11, it became time for the season's next Immunity Challenge, and two tribes would ultimately be safe from the vote.
In addition, the first tribe to finish would receive Reward in the form of chocolate brownies, pastries and coffee or iced coffee.
Jeff then explained the rules. Each tribe was required to pick a "caller" with great communication skills. That person would sit on a Survivor driving wheel while two blindfolded tribe members push that person through a series of obstacles, retrieving a ball along the way.
Upon reaching the finish, the caller would guide two more blindfolded tribemates as they attempt to maneuver that ball through a table maze.
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Vuku had Kara be the caller, Tiva chose Gabby to be the caller, and Angelina served as the caller for Jabeni.
In the end, Tiva won immunity and Reward, while it became a showdown between the other two tribes in the final seconds of the challenge. However, Jabeni placed second, sending Vuku to Tribal Council.
After the challenge, Kara was certain Davie or Elizabeth was going to go home and that it would be an easy vote.
Elizabeth said there was a 50-50 chance she'd be going home, and Davie was on the same page, so the pair went off looking for an idol. However, Davie had the idol since Day 5, and Elizabeth didn't know it.
Davie had a safety net with his idol, but he didn't want to use it this early in the game. Davie then warned Natalia and Kara that Elizabeth was a threat and wanted to take Natalia out. Davie said he wanted to work with the two girls, and they were onboard.
Natalia noted Elizabeth was a threat to her game and she was getting too close to Kara for her liking.
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Without an idol, Elizabeth needed to flip one of the Goliaths, and she thought Alec was her best option. Alec feared showing his cards, however, because a flip would make a statement to all of the remaining original Goliath members.
Elizabeth figured she'd have to write Davie's name down to save herself, and vice versa.
In terms of what Alec was thinking, he thought Davie was the bigger threat, but he didn't appreciate how Natalia always had to "have it her way" and was "bossy" and "barking orders" at everybody.
Alec didn't feel like his opinion was being heard. So although he promised loyalty to Natalia and Kara, he didn't feel like Natalia sincerely trusted him, which made working with her "difficult."
Natalia told Kara and Alec to "shut up" and not talk strategy anymore since Elizabeth was going to be their vote, but her attitude was rubbing Alec the wrong way. In fact, it was pissing him off.
Davie therefore told Alec he would be down for voting out Natalia. Alec recognized, however, once Carl joins the tribe, the Davids would have the numbers if Natalia goes home.
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Alec acknowledged he was going to make a last minute decision at Tribal Council.
On Night 11, the Vuku tribe met Jeff at Tribal Council, and Carl was welcomed to listen in before joining the tribe.
Natalia confirmed the vote was between Elizabeth and Davie, but Elizabeth was hoping her tribemates would throw her a bone since she's loyal.
Davie pointed out, however, how Elizabeth has a great story to win the $1 million if she makes it to the end given she's a mother of three and "doesn't come from much."
There was a lot of talk about playing to win, making big moves and having balls in the game, and that seemed to register in Alec's mind. Because seconds later, he whispered something into Elizabeth's ear, which made Natalia and Kara feel uneasy.
"I was making sure we're on the same page," Alec announced.
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"No," Natalia said. "I want to know what happened."
Kara said she trusted Alec and asked him, "It's the same thing right?" After Alec replied, Kara whispered into Natalia's ear -- and no one talked to Davie, so he didn't know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.
Kara assured Natalia the plan was staying the same and she was just being paranoid, but Kara was wrong.
The castaways then voted for whom they'd like to eliminate from Survivor: David vs. Goliath. Jeff read the votes in the following order: Elizabeth, Davie, Natalia, Natalia, and Natalia.
On her way out, Natalia said, "I knew it," and told Alec, "I knew I couldn't trust you."
Once Alec apologized, Natalia said, "Shut up," before asking Kara if she knew. Kara insisted she did not know the vote was going to turn out that way.
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The episode's closing credits later showed that Kara voted for Davie, Natalia voted for Elizabeth, and Alec, Davie and Elizabeth all voted for Natalia.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski