Day 40 on “Australian Survivor: Blood V Water” proved to be the end of the road for Samantha “Sam” Gash, one of the most cutthroat players in the history of the game. Talk about #JusticeforJesse!
To recap, Sam and husband Mark Wales had two hidden idols between them, plus Mark had the immunity necklace around his neck, when they stepped into tribal council in the 20th episode. Despite being warned by alliance member Josh Millgate that Mark should play an idol for Sam, the married couple rolled the dice … and Sam ended up being blindsided. Following Sam’s elimination, the surviving players all exited the tribal council area and then host Jonathan LaPaglia broke from tradition and asked jury member Jesse Hansen, who had previously been betrayed by Sam, whether he “enjoyed” her blindside. “That was flipping epic,” the kid stated enthusiastically.
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Since Day 2, Jesse and Sam were each other’s ride-or-dies in the Outback. But that all changed after the merge, when Sam teamed up with Mark’s “strong boys” alliance. When that group targeted Jesse for elimination, Sam was at first hesitant, as they’d had each other’s backs through thick and thin. Then on Day 30, Sam came upon Jesse finding a hidden immunity idol. Unbelievably, Sam managed to convince Jesse to hand her the idol so that she could hide it in her sarong, and then she promptly voted him out at tribal council, sending him to the jury.
That single move still reverberated 10 days later, culminating in Jesse’s “flipping epic” comment after Sam’s ouster. To clarify, the idol Sam “stole” from Jesse is still in play and in Mark’s possession. That means he currently has two idols as we approach the Top 7 episode, and since idols can only be played when there are five people left in the game, he has essentially made it to the Top 5. As of this writing, none of the other players have any idols or advantages.
The five people who wrote down Sam’s name at tribal council were Josh, David Goodchild and the trio of Purgatory “second chance” players: Jordie Hansen, Shayelle “Shay” Lajoie and Kate “KJ” Austin. The other three — Sam, Mark and Christine “Chrissy” Zaremba — all voted for Jordie, believing him to be the biggest threat in the game.
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Since returning from Purgatory, Jordie made it his personal mission to eliminate Sam as revenge for stealing his brother’s idol. That plan was finally enacted, but only thanks to KJ playing her special advantage in the previous episode. At the “Survivor” auction, KJ earned the power to send three players at tribal council back to camp, meaning they couldn’t vote (or be voted for). Her decision to send back Mark, Josh and Chrissy helped level the playing field, and her “second chance” alliance was able to eliminate Jordan Schmidt. At first, Jordan’s cousin Josh was mad at David for flipping, even going so far as to call him a Judas. But then Josh came to realize Sam was the real issue, since she essentially threw Jordan under the bus when she announced she’d use an idol on herself; no idol was played.
Of the remaining seven castaways on “Australian Survivor: Blood V Water,” who do you think WILL win the half-million dollar prize? Vote in our poll below and then defend your choice in the comments section.
