'Survivor: Philippines' Dangrayne tribe votes off Jeff Kent

Survivor: Philippines' newly-merged Dangrayne tribe eliminated Jeff Kent from their tribe during Wednesday night's eighth episode of the CBS reality series' 25th edition.


Jeff, a 44-year-old retired baseball player from Austin, TX, was voted out of his tribe at the season's eighth Tribal Council, which was also the second elimination vote for Dangrayne.

"You know what pisses me off? I think I've made about 60 million dollars playing baseball and I want this frickin' million dollars in this game. And it's not even a million bucks! It's $600 grand by the time [President Obama] takes it! I'm a Game 7 World Series loser. I played in the biggest games in the world and the worst games in the world, but this just sucks," Jeff explained following his ouster.

Survivor: Philippines' eighth episode began following the Tribal Council session on Night 19 in which "RC" Roberta Saint-Amour, a 27-year-old investment banker from New York, NY, was ousted from the Dangrayne tribe -- which consisted of Jeff; Denise Stapley, a 41-year-old sex therapist from Cedar Rapids, IA; former Survivor: Cook Islands and Survivor: Micronesia castaway Jonathan Penner; and Carter Williams, a 24-year-old track coach from Shawnee, KS.

The Dangrayne tribe was also comprised of former Survivor: Australia castaway Michael Skupin; Abi-Maria Gomes, a 32-year-old business student from Los Angeles, CA; Artis Silvester, a 53-year-old computer engineer from Terry Town, LA; Lisa Whelchel, a 49-year-old former actress from Dallas, TX; "Pete" Peter Yurkowski, a 24-year-old engineering graduate from Holmdel, NJ; and Malcolm Freberg, a 25-year-old bartender from Hermosa Beach, CA 


Denise admitted to Penner that she had voted for him, and he realized his former alliance -- which, besides Denise, also consisted of Jeff and Carter -- could no longer be trusted. Jeff still wanted Penner out because he didn't want a returning player to win the game, so he believed it was important to not let Penner win Individual Immunity.

"Now that Penner played his idol, he doesn't have any more power in that way. So we're going to do our best to win the Individual Immunity... we're going to vote him out. In the meantime, I gave up a lot of power and authority when I voted with Tandang tonight, but that's how I'm going to work myself to the top. I'm going to use Tandang against themselves, use every resource that I can and see where it goes from there," Jeff explained.

Skupin discussed things with Penner, telling him there were cracks in the tribe and not to throw the towel in. Skupin said they should wait for someone to screw up and then work their way in. Penner's main short-term goal was to lay low and hope that people would just forget who he was.

"They betrayed me, so now, all bets are off. I have no alliances. I have no allegiances. I don't care. Everybody's equal. They're all ready to die," Penner said.

On Day 20, Lisa said everyone was a "galvanized player" against Penner, and potentially Skupin second, because they didn't want a returning player to have a second chance. Lisa was certain she wanted to stick with the former Tandang tribe -- which consisted of members Skupin, Abi, Artis, Pete, and Malcolm -- going forward as her strategy because they'd have the numbers. 


"For my game, I want to stay with Tandang, but I have no qualms about making this battle to win a million dollars a little bit easier if it's within my power. Once Penner and Skupin's gone, Jeff, Carter, Denise, Malcolm, and I will then target the three that everybody doesn't like -- which would be Artis, Pete and Abi," Lisa explained.

Jeff agreed that after Penner and Skupin, it would be best to get rid of Pete, Abi and Artis -- all of whom believed they were running the game. Jeff thought it would be fun to get rid of them because they were so confident in their gameplay. Jeff hoped to, with Lisa, eventually flip themselves from the bottom to the top of their alliance.

Later on, the tribe met with Survivor host Jeff Probst for a Reward Challenge.

Jeff explained that they had to divide themselves into two teams. One person from each team was required to race out into the water while carrying a rope, clip it to a fish trap, dive down, release a buoy, and then hang on until the rest of that person's team could pull him or her back to shore. Then, the next person would go. Once a team collected all four of their fish traps, one person had to dig in the sand to find a key, which would unlock a puzzle frame. Finally, each team had to use their puzzle scrolls to solve a puzzle.

The winning team would receive a river cruise through the jungle complete with barbeque ribs, potato salad, cornbread, apple pie, along with lemonade and iced tea. In the end, the team which featured Malcolm, Denise, Lisa, Penner, and Jeff won. They beat out the team which was comprised of Abi, Pete, Artis, Skupin, and Carter.


After the challenge, Pete called Abi a puppy because he said she needed to be taken care of due to the fact she often leaked valuable information to fellow castaways. Pete told Abi they should get out Penner first and then vote off Jeff, Denise, Malcolm, and Skupin in that exact order.     

Pete actually wanted to vote out Abi because he thought she was immature and always acted as if someone was out to get her. However, Pete knew if he ended up in the Final 3 with her, she'd get no votes.

Meanwhile, the team enjoying their reward called Abi, Pete and Artis the "evil three" against the "good guys." Penner told Lisa, Malcolm, Jeff, and Denise he could get them further in the game as long as they kept him around a little longer. Lisa was conspiring all along because she didn't want to just get to the Final 5. She wanted to get to the Final 3 and then ultimately win the game.

On Day 22, Lisa anticipated that after Penner went home, they should pursue a five-four alliance.

"It makes much more sense to me for me and Skupin to go to the end with Abi and Artis and Pete, because they have made so many enemies and made so many hothead emotional moves that have ticked people off. I have a plan that assures him that he does not need to scramble and make alliances with somebody else that's going to promise him the world, because I'm going to promise him the universe," Lisa said.


Lisa told Skupin that they should get Penner out first. She knew Skupin was onboard next to go after that, but she decided to tell him that Malcolm had a hidden Immunity Idol in his possession. The pair then planned to convince Pete to keep Skupin around and then Tandang would come together to blindside Malcolm.

Skupin could tell that Lisa was in the game to win, and he was thrilled because she was his closest ally. Like Jeff, they hoped Penner wouldn't win Individual Immunity. But Penner was completely set on winning although he had never actually won an Individual Immunity challenge before. He said he wanted to "stick it in their faces."

Afterwards, the merged Dangrayne tribe met with Jeff Probst again, who explained the rules to what would be their eighth Immunity Challenge and second Individual Immunity Challenge.

The tribe then learned that each castaway must race over and under a series of obstacles, collecting bags of puzzle pieces along the way. The first three people to cross the finish line would go onto the final round, where they would then use those pieces to solve a snake puzzle. The winner, either it be a man or a woman, would win individual immunity in which he or she would be safe from the vote at the upcoming Tribal Council and be guaranteed a one in nine shot of winning Survivor: Philippines.

In the end, Jeff, Pete and Penner were the three players who competed in the final round, but Penner beat them both and claimed victory.


Penner was thrilled about his performance in the challenge, claiming it was the best thing he ever did in his life. But much to everyone else's disappointment, his victory threw his tribe's plans for a loop. Jeff then went with Plan B and decided he was going to vote for Skupin.

Lisa, trying to get Pete to keep Skupin in the game, then told Pete about Malcolm's hidden Immunity Idol. Lisa told him they needed to blindside Malcolm and make him think he was very safe so he wouldn't play the idol. Pete, however, kind of trusted Malcolm, so the news surprised him. Pete wasn't sure whether Malcolm really was playing two sides.

As a result, Pete immediately sought out Malcolm to talk. Pete told Malcom everything Lisa had warned him of and Malcolm was caught offguard. Malcolm suggested he should start scrambling to ensure his own safety, but Pete insisted he could save him if they both voted for Jeff. Pete claimed there would be five people voting for Jeff at the next Tribal Council.

Pete was convinced Malcolm didn't have an idol because of his shocked reaction. Therefore, Pete and supposedly Malcolm -- along with Denise, Skupin, Abi, and Artis -- all decided on Jeff. Pete thought Jeff was a big threat and wanted him gone.

Pete then told Lisa they should vote for Jeff. He called himself the "mastermind" and said it wasn't easy to do. But Malcolm quickly changed course. He talked to Jeff and told him they should vote for Pete and that Denise, Penner, Carter, and Skupin would also be onboard. Malcolm didn't know, however, that Skupin and Lisa had discussed eventually joining forces with Abi, Pete and Artis earlier in the game. 

That night, Survivor: Philippines' Dangrayne members arrived for their second Tribal Council session -- the eighth session of the season overall.


Lisa told Jeff Probst the target went from Penner to Skupin to Malcolm because they were all strong, threatening players. Malcolm then announced he was playing the idol no matter what and showed it to his tribe.

Due to the fact none of the castaways seemed to really feel safe, Abi then took her hidden Immunity Idol out as well -- showing it off. She also expressed how she thought Malcolm had been working with her alliance all along.

Penner openly addressed everyone, saying that they needed to keep Skupin and have a six-member alliance going forward. He was therefore hoping it would be himself, Carter, Jeff, Skupin, Malcolm, and Denise -- leaving Lisa, Abi, Pete, and Artis on the outs. The vote would seem to come down to Malcolm's alliance voting for Pete, and Pete's alliance voting for Jeff.

Although Malcolm and Abi had both revealed the fact they had hidden Immunity Idols, neither of them played them once Jeff Probst presented the opportunity.

Jeff Probst then revealed the votes. Four people voted for Pete, one person voted for Abi, and five castaways voted to oust Jeff from Survivor: Philippines.

In the episode's closing credits, Artis, Skupin, Pete, Abi, and Lisa were all shown to have voted for Jeff. Carter, Jeff, Malcolm, and Denise all voted for Peter. Penner cast his vote for Abi.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski