'Survivor: San Juan del Sur -- Blood vs. Water' tribe votes off Wes Nale after two castaways play hidden idols

Survivor: San Juan del Sur -- Blood vs. Water's merged Huyopa tribe eliminated Wes Nale during Wednesday night's tenth episode of the CBS reality competition's 29th season. 


Wes, a 23-year-old firefighter from Shreveport, LA, was voted out of his Huyopa tribe on Night 26 at the season's ninth Tribal Council session. 

"I hope my dad gets far and I hope he gets to the Final 3 and wins a million bucks. This was the experience of a lifetime and I'm glad I got to experience it with him. Those [chicken wings] were not worth one million," Wes said following his ouster, referencing how he blew the Individual Immunity Challenge to eat food.

"I do regret that decision, stepping off [the platform], you know, [but] you have to wing it sometimes and take risks, and you have to risk it to get the biscuit."

On Night 24 at Huyopa's camp, Keith Nale, a 53-year-old fire captain from Shreveport, LA, thought Reed Kelly -- a 31-year-old Broadway performer, model and aerialist from New York, NY -- was going to get voted off at the previous Tribal Council session, so he was confused. Keith called Reed "a gamer and thinker," self-admittedly unlike himself.


Reed didn't know whether to stick with Jon Misch, a 26-year-old financial assistant from Waterford, MI, and his group with the intention of picking off his alliance members one by one or just take out Jon. Reed thought targeting Jon would be a great move because he believed he was the "alpha male" of the tribe.

All the while, Natalie Anderson, a 28-year-old student and crossfit coach from Edgewater, NJ, just tried to put a good face on for everyone although she was upset her closest ally, Jeremy Collins, had been eliminated. She needed to figure out what to do next.

Jon then told Natalie about the hidden Immunity Idol in his possession, which wasn't news to Missy Payne, a 47-year-old owner of a competitive cheerleading gym from Dallas, TX. Natalie pretended to be on Jon's side but was well aware he had been behind Jeremy's blindside, so she told the cameras she wanted to "give him a taste of his own medicine." She then went looking for a hidden Immunity Idol.

All the castaways then gathered at the Reward Challenge, where host Jeff Probst explained the rules.

For the challenge, the players were divided into two teams via a schoolyard pick. They were required to dive into the water, climb up a platform, jump off the platform, grab a key, collect puzzle pieces in the water, swim the pieces back to the platform, and then the next person would go.


Once all the puzzle pieces were collected, the teams had to build their own statue using those pieces. The winning team would win Reward in the form of delivering baseball gear to children in need of equipment, watching the kids play a baseball game, and eating hot dogs, hamburgers, popcorn, etc.

One team was comprised of Jon; Reed; Jaclyn Schultz, a 25-year-old media buyer from Las Vegas, NV; and Alec Christy, a 22-year-old student from Winter Park, FL. They played against Wes; Missy; Natalie; and Baylor Wilson, a 20-year-old student from Nashville, TN.

Keith was not selected, so he couldn't participate in the challenge or win Reward.

In the end, Jon's team won. Reed chose to give up his Reward to Missy because she really wanted to go and had never won a Reward before. Missy cried and thanked him.

Jon's group decided to send Wes to Exile Island although they knew Wes wasn't going to like it. Wes looked confused about their choice.


Reed said in a confessional he gave up Reward so he could "get the ball rolling" on taking out Jon back at camp.

On Day 25, Reed had a heart-to-heart with Keith to discover where he stood. He wasn't sure whether Keith understood "the intricacies" of the game. As a result, Reed warned Keith that the other alliance was convinced he and Wes had an idol between the two of them and so the group planned to split their votes for the two guys.

Reed, however, insisted to Keith he was going to vote with them in addition to Alec. Reed hoped to stay four-strong and get rid of Jon. Keith was onboard and hoped he wouldn't have to play his idol.

Meanwhile, Natalie and Baylor found an idol. They intended to keep Jon comfortable for one more vote because, once he's gone, they'd have a girls majority. They thought to get rid of Reed first because he was great in Immunity Challenges and knew how to talk his way through things to get what he wanted.

On Day 26, all the castaways met Jeff again for the next Individual Immunity Challenge.


For the challenge, each player was instructed to balance his or her feet on a very narrow perch while holding a handle above his or her head. If at any point the castaways let go of the handle or lost their footing, they'd be out of the challenge. The winner would be guaranteed a one-in-eight shot of winning the game, and the person voted out at the next Tribal Council would become the season's third jury member.

Throughout the challenge, food rewards were offered as incentive to drop out of the running. After an hour and 20 minutes, it came down to Natalie, Alec and Reed.

Alec soon dropped out because he couldn't hold on any longer. After three hours, Natalie realized she was about to drop, so she asked for food. Jeff agreed to give her pizza, chicken wings, cookies, beer, and water. Natalie opted to take it, and so Reed won immunity.

After the challenge, Reed, Wes, Alec and Keith still planned to send Jon home. However, they were convincing the group to split their votes between Wes and Keith as a way to give themselves the majority for the blindside.

Missy insisted to Jon that both Alec and Reed were with them, but Jon wasn't so certain. Alec claimed he was 100% onboard with their plan, but for the first time in a while, Jon felt at the mercy of his alliance because he wasn't calling the shots.


Before heading to Tribal, Jon thought about his idol and acknowledged to cameras it would be selfish of him to use it on himself right now. He assumed it would be better to save the idol for a move down the road -- to protect either himself or Jaclyn.

At Tribal Council that night, Reed called Keith and Wes out for potentially having an idol. He said Wes might've given it away by choosing to drop out of the Immunity Challenge early for food when he shouldn't have felt so comfortable. Because Wes should've feared he was on the outs, his choice to give up immunity showed confidence.

Reed was hoping his warning would further persuade the castaways to split their votes for the father and son. After some unexpected side conversations took place, Natalie appeared frantic and Baylor expressed how she was going to make a last-minute decision.

After everyone cast their votes, Jeff asked if anyone wanted to play his or her hidden Immunity Idol. Jon hesitated and then Natalie turned around and told him to play it. Jon asked if Natalie was sure, and she simply said, "It's up to you."

Jon then decided to play his idol. Quickly following in his footsteps was Keith, who also chose to put his idol into play.

When the votes were revealed, four people voted for Jon, three castaways voted for Keith, and two players voted for Wes. Because both Jon and Keith had played their idols, Wes was eliminated.


Jon laughed and was so relieved he had played his hidden Immunity Idol. He called Reed "a sly dog." It then became obvious Alec and Reed had voted for Jon.

The episode's closing credits later featured how each castaway voted. Jon and Jaclyn voted for Wes, Natalie voted for Keith, and finally Alec, Reed and Keith voted for Jon.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski