'Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X' castaway Taylor Stocker voted out of merged Vinaka tribe

Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X's merged Vinaka tribe voted Taylor Stocker out of the game during Wednesday night's ninth episode broadcast on CBS.


Taylor, a 24-year-old ski instructor from Post Falls, ID, became the ninth castaway voted out of Season 33 of Survivor on Night 25 at the game's ninth Tribal Council session. He also became the second jury member.

"My Survivor adventure has been quite epic. Running through the night and sneaking food, I lived through a hurricane, made a new great friend -- his name is [Justin "Jay" Starrett] -- I got a girlfriend, and hopefully we're going to buy a sailboat and have some adventures together. So I'm pretty stoked about that," Taylor said following his ouster.

The broadcast began on Night 23 with Jay blowing off some steam about how he had lost one of his most loyal and trusted allies. He said the Gen Xers were taking out the millennials one by one and the "millennial flippers" didn't even realize it.

Jay then congratulated Adam Klein on being at the bottom of the majority alliance. Jay also called Zeke Smith, Adam and Hannah Shapiro "stupid idiots" because the numbers were 6-3 gunning for them.


Chris Hammons noted he felt comfortable in his alliance but didn't like how castaways like Adam were floating in between and felt lost about where they needed to go.

Meanwhile, Jay and Taylor laughed together about having trusted Adam, agreeing they needed to work their way into a bigger alliance. Taylor didn't want Adam to spill the beans about how he had buried two big piles of food, so he tried to get back on Adam's good graces.

Adam told the cameras Jay and Taylor blew up his spot and when they targeted him, all bets were off. Adam explained that being at the bottom of the Gen Xers' alliance was better than being out of the game, because that's where the boys tried to put him.

Taylor had every intention of ratting Adam out about his Reward advantage if Adam chose to throw him under the bus about the stolen food, which turned out to be half of the tribe's stash left over from the merge.

On Day 24, Jay recognized he was in trouble and could be next, but he had an idol in his pocket. Hannah told Jay that she was playing independently so she wouldn't be viewed as a goat anymore. Hannah wanted to build a resume so she could win the game, and Jay was proud of her.


The Vinaka tribe then met Survivor host Jeff Probst for a Reward Challenge.

Via schoolyard pick, the castaways would be divided into two teams of six. Each team must then race through a series of obstacles attempting to retrieve a key, which would unlock a box. After dragging the box underneath a net to the finish, each group had to open the box, retrieve bolos and then attempt to land those bolos on a target.

The first group to land all five of their bolos on the target would be taken to a resort with a poolside lounge, where they could dine on cheeseburgers, french fries, cocktails -- and soft drinks for Will Wahl since he's under 21 years of age.

There was a random draw for captains, and those people were Chris and Hannah. Chris selected Bret LaBelle, Ken McNickle, David Wright, Sunday Burquest and Taylor.

Hannah chose Adam, Will, Zeke, Jay and Jessica Lewis.


The competition turned out to be a blowout victory for Chris' team, and Hannah was upset about making such a glaring mistake when it came to choosing team members. She was hoping to keep Jay and Will close to her since they felt like they were on the bottom of the tribe.

During Reward, Taylor bragged to the cameras about how he could handle food and drink better since he had been eating well leading up to this Reward Challenge thanks to his stash of food. He hoped to win the upcoming Individual Immunity Challenge, saying he was probably stronger than everyone else at this point.

While Bret appeared to have fun and get drunk at the Reward, Sunday called it an "odd group." Chris, Bret and Sunday were a solid alliance who didn't really trust Ken, David and Jessica at this point. There were obvious fractures in the Gen X tribe, so Sunday thought she needed to be proactive and make a move.

Back at camp, Adam worried he was playing "too aggressively." He needed to prove his loyalty to Gen X because he felt closer to them than he ever would feel about Jay. Adam unintentionally rubbed Jay's placement in the tribe in his face, pissing Jay off. He didn't like how smug Adam was acting.

In fact, Jay told Will that Adam is "an assh-le." Hannah agree and Zeke said he wanted Adam out of the game just so he didn't have to work with him. Zeke thought Adam was acting like an idiot for gloating because that's when people vote against you. 


On Day 25, Sunday noted how she wasn't really friendly with Jessica because she had voted for her once before. In fear Jessica was gunning for her, Sunday wanted to take her out immediately. Sunday figured she could use Jay to make the move since they had a good relationship as a result of their time together at Ikabula.

Jay told Sunday that he would write down whatever name she wanted, and so Sunday asked him to get Taylor and Will in on the plan as well.

It then became time for the season's second Individual Immunity Challenge.

Each castaway was required to stand on a narrow beam while balancing a ball on a wooden bow. At regular intervals, the players had to move farther down the beam, making it more difficult. If at any point a person fell or dropped his or her ball, that person would be out of the challenge.

In a little twist, Jeff allowed castaways to sit out of the challenge and eat grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, potato chips, beer and soft drinks. Zeke and Will decided to sit out, so they sent a message to their tribe that they clearly felt safe.


Will explained to the cameras he would never win that challenge against surfer guys, so he decided he might as well eat and go back to camp with a full belly. Zeke probably shared Will's mentality.

The castaways were eliminated from the challenge in the following order: Hannah, Bret, Jessica, Sunday, David, Chris, Adam, Jay, Taylor, and finally Ken. Ken therefore won immunity.

Jay acknowledged either himself or Taylor was next, and his life in this game was in Sunday's hands.

After the challenge, David talked to his alliance about how Will was less of a threat to win, so the vote needed to come down to Taylor or Jay. David said the safest approach would be to split the vote in case either guy had found a hidden Immunity Idol.

The whole group agreed Jay was a schemer and a plotter, but Taylor was the least trustworthy of the two. Sunday, however, told Bret that she didn't want to write Jay's name down and she wanted Jessica gone. Bret said he'd talk to Chris about it. 

But before Tribal Council, it appeared Sunday's plan had collapsed, and she warned Jay that the Jessica vote was out the window. Jay was ready to throw punches and not give up.


Knowing one of them was going home, Taylor welcomed Jay to have a feast with him from the stolen food. While Taylor was his closest friend, Jay didn't reveal he had an idol to play. Jay knew he could use the idol to save himself, play it for Taylor -- which would probably backfire -- or save it for another day.

Taylor then told Jay about Adam's Reward advantage. The guys agreed Adam would become a bigger target if everyone knew about it. Jay told Taylor to spill the beans as revenge for the Jessica "Figgy" Figueroa vote. Taylor said, for example, Adam could steal a loved one's visit down the road, which might mean a lot to someone else.

At Tribal Council that night, Jay announced he would love to write Adam's name down again. Chris pointed out there were cracks and opportunities to get back into a larger alliance.

With that said, Taylor revealed he wasn't trying to be sneaky when he was eating banana chips but Adam helped him hide two additional jars of food. Adam shook his head "no" as jury member Michelle Schubert laughed from the jury.

Adam wanted to clear the air, telling his tribemates that while he kept Taylor's secret, he did not help Taylor hide food nor did he eat anything extra. Adam said he simply watched Taylor dig a hole. Hannah was laughing uncomfortably during this exchange, and Adam accused Taylor of defaming his character.

Taylor then announced Jay ate food with him prior to Tribal Council, so Adam tried to pass the heat onto Jay. To add to the conflict, Taylor disclosed Adam's Reward advantage. Adam admitted to the tribe that his advantage allows him to steal someone else's reward, however, that has no impact on the game.


Adam confessed he made a mistake in trusting Taylor with any information and it was wrong of him to stash food away for himself. David said he was "stunned and uncomfortable" by the Survivor bombs that were being dropped, admitting that the discussion "put the nail in the coffin" for one person.

Jessica knocked Taylor by saying that she wasn't raised like that, and neither was Chris, Ken or Bret. Jay tried to separate himself from the situation by saying he has goals and isn't just a dumb surfer, which Taylor basically admitted he was.

Jay pointed out that Adam keeping Taylor's food secret made him just as guilty as if he ate the food. Despite sharing some of the food with Taylor, Jay accused Adam of having poor morals, which Adam found ridiculous and hypocritical.

Before voting commenced, Hannah said the game was more complicated than an argument, as it's about whom you can trust, future votes and idols in play. Bret said the vote was going to come down to which castaway was the "most culpable," or deserving of blame.

No one decided to play a hidden Immunity Idol, and then Jeff revealed the votes in the following order: Jay, Taylor, Adam, Jay, Taylor, Jay, Taylor, Jay, Taylor, Taylor, and Taylor.

"Good luck, guys. Sorry for stealing food!" Taylor said on his way out, as Bret shook his head in disbelief and disappointment.


The episode's closing credits later revealed that Bret, Jessica, Will and Hannah voted for Jay. Taylor voted for Adam, and everyone else voted to oust Taylor from Survivor.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski