'Survivor: Philippines' Dangrayne tribe votes off "Pete" Peter Yurkowski

Survivor: Philippines' merged Dangrayne tribe eliminated "Pete" Peter Yurkowski from their tribe during Wednesday night's tenth episode of the CBS reality series' 25th edition.


Pete, a 24-year-old engineering graduate from Holmdel, NJ, was voted out of his tribe at the season's tenth Tribal Council, which was also the fourth elimination vote for Dangrayne.

"I felt bad for Abi. She's crying and everybody ripped her apart. I've kind of learned to deal with her, but I mean, I needed to for my game. Malcolm has a lot of power right now. He's definitely someone that they needed to get rid of, but they didn't want to do anything with it. I have a ton of regrets, but I feel good about how I left the island. I'm not happy I left it, but I did what I could," Pete said following his ouster.

Survivor: Philippines' tenth episode began following the Tribal Council session in which Artis Silvester got eliminated on Night 25, and Pete and Abi-Maria Gomes, a 32-year-old business student from Los Angeles, CA, were feeling bad for Artis and realized they needed a new gameplan moving forward.   

Former Survivor: Australia castaway Michael Skupin wanted to control the game and knew he had to make more than just one big move to do that.


Skupin then told Denise Stapley, a 41-year-old sex therapist from Cedar Rapids, IA, that their alliance -- which also consisted of Carter Williams, a 24-year-old track coach from Shawnee, KS; Lisa Whelchel, a 49-year-old former actress from Dallas, TX; former Survivor: Cook Islands and Survivor: Micronesia castaway Jonathan Penner; and Malcolm Freberg, a 25-year-old bartender from Hermosa Beach, CA -- should make it to the Final 6 and then just duke it out for survival from there. Denise seemed to agree with the idea.

On Day 26, Lisa said it was her intention to never waver from her former Tandang alliance -- which also included Abi, Pete and Skupin -- although it finally became time to change things up.

Lisa acknowledged she wasn't good at breakups and admitted to Abi she didn't fully trust her. Abi told Lisa she shouldn't want to be at the bottom of the other alliance when she could be at the top of Tandang's alliance. But Lisa was clearly okay with that situation because she was looking for quality time out of her experience on the island and knew her new alliance of six members would treat her with respect.

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. Each team had three drums, one centered in the middle of three separate circles. One at a time, one member from each team was required to race to put his or her team's circle symbol-side up while the opposing team member raced to flip that same circle symbol-side down. The first team to get all three of their symbols face up at the same time would score a point for their team. The first team to receive three points would win the challenge.


The winning team would receive reward in the form of a spa day complete with a bath, massage, pedicure, manicure, chicken, beef, shrimp skewers, fried calamari, and a cocktail. The teams ended up being Abi, Carter, Malcolm, and Pete versus Penner, Denise, Lisa, and Skupin.

In the end, Malcolm's team won. While they were enjoying their reward post-challenge, Malcolm deliberately silenced any talk of strategy, and everyone agreed because they just wanted to relax. Malcolm then told the cameras the only reason he didn't want to discuss the game was because nobody he was with was a part of his Final 4 or Final 3 plans.

On Day 26, once Malcolm's team returned to camp after their spa day, Abi flaunted the experience and rubbed everything in for those who missed out on the opportunity. She was clearly annoying Denise, Skupin, Lisa, and Penner. Even Malcolm noted that Abi "has all the social grace of a mack truck." Abi then continued to aggravate her fellow castaways, saying she was going to stop cooking and hoped others would feed her.

Denise was turned off by Abi's behavior but ultimately thought it was a good idea and for her own benefit to just let Abi keep running her mouth.

"You have lost your freaking mind, girl. Part of me just thinks, 'That's fine. Just let it piss everybody else off.' You know what? Your time will come and I may not get to tell her anything until I'm writing her name down and it's that Tribal Council when she's finally walking out and I get to say, 'You know what? Whiners are wieners. You need to go home,'" Denise explained.


On Day 27, Malcolm wanted to set up his Final 4, so he told Skupin it should be the two of them in addition to Lisa and Denise -- as long as Lisa would be willing to jump onboard with the plan. Skupin strategically said "absolutely," and he talked with Lisa afterwards about how they needed to trust someone. Lisa and Skupin realized they had to choose between being in a Final 4 with  Penner and Carter or Malcolm and Denise.

Lisa admitted to Skupin she trusted Penner more than Malcolm, so the two castaways then decided to chat with Penner.

Penner didn't settle on any definite plans with the pair, as he said he was just focused on getting rid of Pete and Abi first. He didn't want to make any important decisions until after that, and so he told Skupin and Lisa they shouldn't get ahead of themselves.

Penner knew that because he didn't give them his word, he opened himself up to more of a risk of getting blindsided, but he was apparently okay with that. Penner said he could keep his head held high in regards to how he had played the game if he was to get eliminated. Lisa then pointed out to cameras that Penner had certainly missed an opportunity.

Afterward, Lisa and Skupin agreed on a Final 4 deal with Malcolm, swearing their loyalty to him and Denise. Skupin and Lisa made the decision after determining they didn't have another choice because Penner wasn't cooperating.


"I've committed to a Final 4 with Malcolm. I'm not totally comfortable with it because he's a gamer and that worries me, but I felt I had to. I felt I didn't have a choice, so it makes me a little nervous. I want to be the one calling the shots, so I'm going to do everything I can to win the next Immunity Challenge," Skupin said.

Later that day, the Dangrayne tribe met with Jeff Probst again, who explained the rules to what would be their tenth Immunity Challenge and fourth Individual Immunity Challenge.

The tribe then learned that each castaway must maneuver a buoy through a tangled rope. The first five castaways to finish would get to move onto the next round in which they would move a buoy along a balance beam. The first three people to successfully do that would get to move onto the last round. Then, they'd be required to navigate their buoy through a series of obstacles in the water. The winner would win Individual Immunity, be safe from the vote at the next Tribal Council and be guaranteed a one in seven shot to win the million dollars.

Penner, Carter, Denise, Skupin, and Malcolm were the five castaways to move onto the second round. Denise, Carter and Skupin were the three castaways to compete in the third and final round. In the end, Carter won immunity.

Following the challenge, Abi noted it was herself, Pete and her hidden Immunity Idol in an alliance versus the other six castaways. Penner told his large alliance they needed to split their six votes -- three for Abi, three for Pete. He said that if Abi chose to play her idol, assuming she would, Pete would definitely go home. But if Abi surprisingly didn't play her idol, the votes would determine a tie and then they could re-vote to send Abi home. 


"Pete and Abi cannot win this game. They don't have the numbers. There's no reason to keep them around. Their ship has sailed. Now, could somebody surprise me and play an incredibly stupid move? Maybe. But I honestly believe all of us in the six are going to stay strong. So either Pete or Abi going home, could it screw up? Yeah. But you know, you could get hit by a car walking from your house to the post box too," Penner explained.

Meanwhile, Abi and Pete wanted to send Malcolm home because he was powerful and threatening and had a hidden Immunity Idol. The pair decided they were going to pitch the idea to everyone in the hope someone bites the bait. They just needed one person to flip to create a whole new game.

Abi asked Lisa first to vote for Malcolm, but Lisa said she was no longer in the Tandang alliance and had given Malcolm her word. Lisa apologized for turning on Abi and Pete but noted she felt it was necessary. Pete then approached Carter, but Carter was quick to decline the offer, saying he was in a good spot.

At the same time, Penner didn't trust any of his alliance members but knew they all trusted him. Penner thought staying in his alliance of six would ultimately help his own game.

Pete's final hope seemed to be Skupin. Pete explained that Malcolm posed a big threat in challenges, had a hidden Immunity Idol and kind of controlled the game. With Skupin's vote and Abi playing her idol, Pete pointed out they could get Malcolm out. The move would blindside Malcolm and flush out his idol along with flushing out Abi's idol at the same time.

Skupin acknowledged that Malcolm was the biggest wild card in the game and seemed to consider Pete's plan.


"I have a deal to go to the Final 4 with Malcolm, but now, I'm starting to rethink whether that was a smart thing to do or not because he's playing the hardest. Malcolm's a threat in challenges, he's a smart, strategic player, and he's liked by everybody. So, if I'm sitting next to Malcolm in the Final 3, I'm not sure I could beat him," Skupin said.

"The risk of changing it up again is it could backfire, but do I anticipate our current alliance staying strong to the Final 4 and having this happy ending, it's not that likely in this game."

Malcolm knew his name was on the chopping block, but he was afraid to play the idol if no one actually decided to flip on him after all. Using his idol at this point in the game would cause Malcolm to lose a lot of leverage going forward. Malcolm believed his best bet would be to try and watch and read people at Tribal Council, knowing if he made the wrong move he could be toast.

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

"RC" Roberta Saint-Amour, Jeff Kent and Artis all arrived as the season's first three jury members.

Malcolm started off the session by explaining he knew how easy it would be for one person in his alliance to flip on him and join Pete and Abi in getting him out. Skupin seemed nervous and told Jeff Probst that Malcolm's idol was a factor in making voting decisions.


Pete said it wasn't a good feeling he was slated for execution, while Abi was beginning to have a change of heart. She told everyone she was regretful about how she had handled the previous Tribal Council in which she openly announced she wasn't sure whether to trust in Lisa's expressed loyalty.

Abi admitted she had doubted Lisa when she shouldn't have, and then explained that she was upset Lisa wasn't willing to forgive her. Lisa then jumped in and told Abi she definitely forgave her, but that wasn't the issue at hand. Lisa noted she just wanted to work with people who trusted her in return.

Abi told Jeff Probst she felt like an outcast and didn't realize until that very moment that she was an unlikable player in the game. The news shocked and hurt her although her fellow castaways thought it was a very obvious notion. 

Denise said she wanted to work with good people and not try to basically take a goat to the end just to win by default. Abi started crying and felt hated and misunderstood. Denise said it was simply frustration the tribe felt towards her. Abi then explained that although everyone thought she was an idiot for misreading social cues, she was going to keep fighting in the game.

Before Jeff Probst revealed the votes, Abi played her hidden Immunity Idol but Malcolm did not.

In the end, three people voted for Abi and three people voted to oust Pete from Survivor: Philippines. Abi and Pete voted for Malcolm. Because the votes for Abi did not count, Pete was eliminated.


The episode's closing credits later showed Lisa, Denise and Skupin all voted for Abi, while Malcolm, Penner and Carter voted for Pete.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski