'Survivor' eliminates Julie Wolfe and votes off Ralph Kiser, Steve Wright

Survivor: Redemption Island eliminated castaway Julie Wolfe from the game after she lost the season's ninth Redemption Island duel to Matt Elrod and Mike Chiesl during Wednesday night's broadcast of the eleventh episode of the CBS reality series' 22nd edition.


"I didn't come out here to make friends. Like many Americans, my house is in foreclosure and this was an opportunity for me to make a better like for my girls and my kids are proud of me either way. I came short of the money, but I'm walking away with something bigger. My life is changed. I see Matt's story with God and I am looking forward to going back home, finding a church and get involved," Julie, a 50-year-old firefighter from Oceanside, CA, said following her ouster.

Later in the episode, the Murlonio tribe also voted Ralph Kiser and Steve Wright out of their tribe at the season's twelfth Tribal Council session, which featured a special back-to-back elimination voting with an additional Immunity Challenge in between.    

As the game's newest Tribal Council victims, Ralph, a 44-year-old farmer from Lebanon, VA, and Steve, a 51-year-old former NFL player from Huntington, CA, will now take Julie's place and join Matt, a 22-year-old pre-med student from Nashville, TN, and Mike, a 31-year-old former U.S. Marine from Del Mar, CA, on Redemption Island where they will await the game's next duel and attempt to eventually earn a chance to rejoin the game's other remaining castaways and resume competing for Survivor: Redemption Island's million dollar prize.

"Don't let anyone starve," Ralph joked to Steve, referencing how he had been the one most often providing food for the camp. "I see daylight ahead now. If one of us Zapatera guys gets into the Top 3, we'll be the one to win it. I want to be that guy. I bet Steve lost 40 pounds. He's pitiful."


"Hey, you got room for one more?!" Steve said upon arriving at Redemption Island.

Survivor: Redemption Island's eleventh episode began on Night 27 at Murlonio's camp with six former Ometepe members -- Andrea Boehlke, a 21-year-old student from Random Lake, WI; Grant Mattos, a 29-year-old yoga instructor and former NFL football player from West Hollywood, CA; Phillip Sheppard, a 52-year-old technology executive and former federal agent from Santa Monica, CA; Natalie Tenerelli, a 19-year-old professional dancer from Acton, CA; Ashley Underwood, a 25-year-old nurse and former Miss Maine USA from Benton, ME, and returning castaway Rob Mariano, a 35-year-old from Canton, MA who now resides in Pensacola, FL -- against the remaining members of the former Zapatera tribe, which now only included Ralph and Steve.

Steve asked Phillip to bury the hatchet over the argument they had before and during the game's eleventh Tribal Council. Steve had called Phillip crazy and a "lunatic" and Phillip believed his insults were prejudiced and implied racial undertones, while Steve insisted his words had no other meaning besides their literal definitions.

"I'd like to reach an olive branch handshake to you," Steve said, although he wished Phillip would have reached out to him first.

Steve told Phillip he was not a racist man and wanted to put the awkwardness behind them, but Phillip wasn't so sure that his was being genuine and actually had good intentions. Phillip decided his actions were a bit self-serving because he had seen Steve mocking and making fun of him multiple times.


Steve then complimented the remaining girls on executing a good blindside at the previous Tribal Council when they voted out Julie because he felt it was his only shot to be extra friendly to the Ometepe alliance in order to stick around longer in the game in the hopes they would vote out Phillip instead.  

Steve noted he was going to keep plugging away at the game and work hard at building relationships, but at the same time, he was hoping Rob, the former Survivor: Marquesas, Survivor: All-Stars and Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains castaway, would change his mind about his alliance and welcome in Ralph or himself at some point.

But Rob knew what he wanted for his alliance, and Phillip was key.

"As long as he keeps up his stupid antics, he's coming with me all the way to the finals," Rob said.

On Day 28, Ralph and Steve were talking about how they were the only members left of the former Zapatera tribe and would most likely be the next ones to go.


Meanwhile, Phillip said he had a premonition that he was going to find his shorts that Julie had previously hid and buried before the tribe voted her off at the eleventh Tribal Council session. Phillip knew they were buried under a rock, which was the only information Julie had disclosed, and went searching for them. Surprisingly, he ended up finding them under the second rock he looked under, and noted that no one should ever mess with him.

"I am so excited about seeing Julie at the end of the day, because I'm going to wear these shorts and she's going to know that you can't pull the wool over the undercover specialist. I am truly blessed," Phillip bragged.

That same day on Redemption Island, Julie was in good shape and even said she had the best night's sleep ever, but Matt was an entirely different story.

Mike knew Matt initially faced Redemption Island head-on but was starting to slowly falter over time and lose strength since he first got sent to Redemption Island during the season's second episode, only to return to the place where he was originally exiled after being voted out and betrayed again by his own former Ometepe tribe at the season's eighth Tribal Council.

Matt had previously won his right to re-enter the game by beating Sarita White in a duel after spending 15 days on Redemption Island already and winning six consecutive duels. Upon his return to Redemption Island, Matt subsequently participated in the game's eighth duel and won again, making the challenge his seventh duel victory overall. 


Matt was seemingly exhausted and worn out, but admitted his strong faith was the only thing helping him to survive and keep pushing forward in the game. 

"Matt had incredible strength going through Redemption Island the first time. After he was blindsided the second time -- by the folks he thought were truly his friends -- he's kind of been on a little bit of a downward spiral," Mike said. "Coming back here was really, really rough on him and it took a lot of the wind out of his sails."

"This isn't like anything I've ever experienced. I'm just out here wasting away, missing my family. I can only feel them when I really, really try... God has me here for a reason. I said this from the beginning, that God wanted me here... I know he wants me to be here," Matt said in tears. "God has literally been carrying me for the past four days. I know I'm still in the game, but I'm just so over this game."

Later that day, the Murlonio tribe received their Tree Mail, which invited all the castaways to attend and watch the game's ninth duel. Matt told Jeff he was going to do the best he could in the challenge, but if he failed, he was ready to go home. Matt simply wanted to accomplish what God's will required of him to do.

After everyone arrived at the duel, Survivor host Jeff Probst explained the rules. Each castaway would have one shuffleboard and three pucks. The goal would be to slide the puck across the board, through the obstacles and into the end zone. If any part of the puck touched the end zone, he or she would score a point. The first two people to land all three of their pucks in the end zone would remain on Redemption Island and stay alive in the game, while the person to lose the challenge would become the second member of the jury that will decide Survivor: Redemption Island's winner.


Matt, Mike and Julie then squared off in the duel. During the game, Matt caught a quick glace at Andrea and gave her what was seemingly a bad look. Andrea said she felt weird about it afterwards and could sense he was angry at her.

Mike and Matt ended up winning the duel, which was Mike's second duel win and Matt's eighth of the season. Julie then threw her buff into the fire and exited the game.

"God is not done taking to Matt," Jeff said. "You are staying alive on Redemption Island, whether you want to be here or not."  

Matt said he'd stay in the game as long as God would want him to, and Jeff noted Jesus fast for 40 days, while the game of Survivor ironically requires the castaways to compete for 39 days.

After the duel, Andrea said she would like to talk to Matt if he ever came back in the game again and if afforded the opportunity. However, she knew he would never trust her again, but she didn't blame him at all for feeling that way.

Later on, the girls talked about how Matt's spirit had been broken, and Andrea felt bad for him because they had close conversations in the past. Andrea told Rob how she felt, but Rob assured her it wasn't just her that put Matt on Redemption Island. Andrea explained she felt guilty on a "human level" rather than a "game level."


Rob and Grant found Andrea's feelings a sign of weakness and disappointment. They then discussed they should get Andrea out first because she clearly still cared for Matt as a friend, and they worried that if Matt ever came back, Andrea would turn on them and rejoin forces with him. Grant was just confused about when to pull the trigger and vote people off.

On Day 30, the Murlonio tribe arrived for the Immunity Challenge and met Jeff who explained the rules to what would be their twelfth Immunity Challenge and fifth individual Immunity Challenge.

Each castaway learned they must match up against another tribe member, and the goal would be to stay on the same log longer than his or her opponent. The first person to hit the water would out, while the winner would move on to the next round and face another person. Those winners would then move on to the final round, and the last person left standing would win individual immunity, chocolate cake, and cold milk. 

Ashley, Ralph, Phillip and Grant all won the first round and moved on. Grant and Ralph then won out of those matchups, and finally Grant won the challenge, ensuring his safety from elimination at the subsequent Tribal Council.
 
Jeff then told Grant he could choose one person to share the reward with him and he picked Rob. He was then offered to choose one more person to eat with him and he strategically selected Andrea, because he said he wanted her to feel good and safe within their alliance because if certain scenarios were to play out and Ometepe had to get rid of one of their own, it'd be Andrea first. 

The three castaways had two minutes to chow down on the cake and then everyone received a surprise package, referred to as a "twist." Jeff said they could not open it until Tribal Council and must bring the package with them.

After the Immunity Challenge ended, everyone went back to camp and were wondering what the mystery package, or twist, was. They thought it felt like a deck of cards, but Andrea wasn't worried because she knew there were two easy votes: Ralph and Steve. She said it would be silly to vote one of their own Ometepe members off when the six of them had so much faith in one another over getting rid of a Zapatera member.


Ralph felt like he was going to be on the chopping block because it was between him and Steve on Zapatera and wished there was going to be something good waiting for him in the mystery package. Meanwhile, Steve said his strength was weakening and his stomach had even caved in.

Rob, observing everything surrounding him, knew Steve was physically done and would stop fighting in the game, but was aware that Ralph's head was still in it and as a result, had to be the next castaway to get voted out.

Rob said the package could leave them with many options and he then talked to Ashley and Natalie about Andrea's concern for Matt. Ometepe planned to vote out Ralph, but if they had to vote someone else out, it was going to be Andea since she still had a "soft spot" for Matt.

Afterward, Steve wanted to give joining forces with Ometepe one last shot and talked to Ashley and Natalie. He told them he and Ralph were going to vote for Rob and it would be smart if "you three girls" (Ashley, Natalie and Andrea) sided with them and voted off Rob because he was sure that Rob was planning to take "nimrod" (Phillip) to the final jury vote since Phillip's behavior would prevent anyone from voting for him.

Ashley told Steve they would consider his proposal, but quickly dismissed it once he left. 

"That would work if we actually wanted Andrea in on it. But we don't," she told Natalie afterwards.


Instead, Ashley and Natalie told Rob that Steve had approached them and Rob told the girls Steve was just desperate to stay in the game.

"It seems like Steve may have got his second wind. He's going to members of my alliance behind my back trying to come up with a plan to get me out of here, which makes me think I should get rid of him first. What I was originally thinking about, I'm thinking about not doing now, because I may have to wait to get rid of Andrea," Rob said.

That night, Survivor: Redemption Island's Murlonio castaways arrived for their fifth Tribal Council as a merged tribe and the season's twelfth overall Tribal Council.

Steve told Jeff how he and Ralph pleaded to grab more allies, and Andrea knew it would make sense to make a big move, but she still felt like Ometepe was a rock solid group and she didn't want to do anything to jeopardize that.

Ralph admitted he thought it was his time to go and Steve agreed, but the Grant quickly spoke up and said that Steve was not a quitter. He told the castaways that they shouldn't take Steve's passiveness as a sign he was rolling over and dying, and Phillip noted Steve had the ability to step up in a challenge fit for him if he really desired to.

They then discussed how Rob's Survivor history includes his Survivor: All-Stars decision to betray Lex van den Berghe after Lex helped him prevent the elimination of eventual winner Amber Brkich -- whom Rob met and fell in love with as he powered the couple to the season's final jury vote in 2004.


Rob responded by noting that while he betrayed Lex, he did stick with Amber until the end -- literally, given they are currently married and have two children.

Zapatera tried to warn Ometepe that Rob would eventually cut their throats to keep around who he wanted despite his loyalty or word, but Ometepe was not phased by the accusation.

Jeff then revealed the voted and two people voted for Rob, while six castaways voted to oust Ralph from Survivor: Redemption Island. Ralph's torch was then extinguished and he was exiled to Redemption Island, where he would attempt to survive with Matt and Mike while awaiting the season's tenth duel.

Jeff then had Steve open the "twist" package and read the instructions on the small tile. The castaways learned they would be competing in another individual Immunity Challenge, which would be the season's thirteenth Immunity Challenge and sixth individual Immunity Challenge. Jeff explained they would have to vote off another member of the Murlonio tribe immediately after the challenge.

Steve knew he had to win the challenge in order to stay and fight because he realized everyone would be targeting him next.

Jeff then explained the castaways would receive a series of symbols on tiles, and they would have to repeat the sequence of tiles matching the order of what Jeff had shown them beforehand. Every time a castaway got one symbol correct, they would continue on, but if a person missed one symbol, they would be out of the challenge.


The last person left in the challenge would immunity and be safe from the subsequent vote. Jeff then showed them seven different symbols and asked them to repeat them in the order they saw.

Rob ended up winning individual immunity, outlasting Ashley and Steve. Rob was the only castaway to get the sixth symbol correct out of all seven. The Murlonio tribe members then cast their votes again and Jeff revealed who would be the next to leave camp.

One person voted for Grant, while five people voted for Steve. Steve's torch was then extinguished and he was exiled to Redemption Island, where he would attempt to survive with Matt, Mike and Ralph while awaiting the season's tenth duel.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski