by Anak Ng Tinapa

Isla Misteryo Revealed

As the 3 elected castaways by their respective tribes, Akihiro, Michelle and Solenn arrived at Isla Misteryo. After each Reward Challenge, 3 members from each tribe will spend a day here. All around the area are gold coins that they can use to purchase items from the local Mysteryo Store. Among the items are the much coveted food, toiletries, precious objects from home (such as family pictures) and… Immunity Bracelets. The three wasted no time in hunting for the loot. Michelle noted Solenn’s kindness in offering her 10 coins so that they can eat.

The meaning of the tribes names were also explained, which we’ll skip already as it has been resourcefully researched by ASDF and dutifully recapped by Bunsoy last night.

And then they were 3. Camps that is…

In Nagar’s camp, the promised special guest was JC Tiuseco, Season 1’s Sole Survivor. John wasn’t very impressed. “Don’t get me wrong, but…” he said, continuing that he hopes JC can contribute something significant for the tribe. JC tried to help Moi with the fire but he noted that the flint they were using was different from what he was used to. They worked till night, building the shelter with Moi appearing to take the role of 2nd in command. JC noted her habit of giving off orders with Ian being the frequent recipient. Ian, as well, was aware of this and liked it not.

In Magan, Mico started to work on the fire and the others went around doing other chores. Still smarting from their recent defeat, they vented their energies in the setting up of their camp. Myka commented that Doc Ferds liked giving orders, to her, in particular. “Di ba lahat naman kami nagtatrabaho?” she quipped. When darkness fell, they said some prayers before partaking in the food. Doc led the first one with homage to Jesus. Buwi was next but he wasn’t used to leading prayers. He also paid respect to Jesus but added some for the local spirits/natural elements, to which Doc Ferds disagreed with him on the need to do so. Buwi felt slightly offended with that.

In Sar Mayee, Aubrey was observing the budding hierarchy. She noticed that Karen had become the apparent 2nd in command after Aira. Ervic on the otherhand was feeling dejected. With Akihiro gone, he was the only male left in their tribe. Missing someone to bond with, he just glumly followed whatever the others order him to do, distancing himself from the girls. Trisza, tried to engage him in conversation while Karen just felt that Ervic had no initiative. Later that night, Aira accidentally broke their cooking pot. Fearing the ire of her tribemates, she was profusely apologetic.

Lapit, Survivors!

I guess, Richard wants his very own catchphrase. Really, really.

Tree mail arrived and Elma read the one for Magan. The message contained clues to the next competition which was the first Immunity Challenge of the season. Before it started, the Isla Misteryo folks rejoined their tribes. The challenge was a race to row their boats towards the tribe flag, floating in the water. Along the way, pieces for a ladder needed to be picked up. Once the ladder parts and flag are taken, they race back to shore, build the ladder and hoist the flag up on a platform. The leaders were only allowed to retrieve the objects and hoist the flag. The rest of the tasks (rowing, assembling) would be done by the rest. At stake was the Immunity Idol. But since there are 3 tribes, the Immunity Idol can sometimes be split into two. As was the case at that time, there were to be two winners. The losing tribe goes to Tribal Council.

Sar Mayee (Trizsa sat out) was the first in their boat but Nagar took early lead, with John having a very good strategy with the rowing instructions for his tribe. Magan (Solenn sat out) started veering off-course, causing Buwi to panic. In a tense moment, Mico was asking him what to do and he was just confused. Sar Mayee was progressing well but they forgot one of the ladder pieces. They, too started panicking at this point. Magan & Sar Mayee’s boats hit each other near the flag floats. It seemed that the two tribes were falling apart. Nagar’s flag & ladder piece dropped on their way to shore but was retrieved quickly by John. They were the first on shore. You can really tell how strenuous this challenge was. Aira was having a difficult time wading in the shallow waters, looking for their last piece. Magan was next on shore and started building the ladder. Finally an exhausted Aira found the missing piece. At this stage, everyone was on shore. Nagar’s good lead shrunk to almost nothing because they had difficulty assembling their ladder. Sar Mayee, meanwhile made up for lost time. In the end, Nagar was first on the platform with Sar Mayee 2nd. Magan will now face the fact that one of them will be voted out.

Tomorrow: Trisza wails for food.