Survivor Philippines Episode 9 Spoiler Review

The morning after Tribal Council, Jonathan takes Lisa aside and flatters her in an effort to sew more divisions in the various alliances. It turned into a psychotherapy session. And ended in a hug. Given how much of Lisa's deep stuff we're dealing with at the start here, I'm thinking she's going home tonight, as she's getting that ultra-personal, ultra-sympathetic edit.

The reward challenge was the Survivors divided into 2 teams, the winning team got a feast after delivering school supplies and toys to a local village. I sense many tears ahead. As there were 9 Survivors and the teams had to be even, one person was not going to be picked, and would have no shot at reward, that was Abi. Ouch.

The reward challenge was an obstacle course through mud and rice that involved bags of balls and shooting hoops. Malcolm, Jonathan, Denise and Carter won the challenge. In discussing strategy, the four decided they wanted to pull Mike Skupin to their side to pick off the old Tandang tribe.

In a shocking turn of events, Abi continued to treat people horribly. Artis got another 9 seconds of camera time, which was to say that Abi should shut up. That brings Artis's total camera time this season to 58 seconds.

The immunity challenge involved balancing six balls on specific divot spots on a big wooden paddle, in succession. Artis got 4 more seconds of TV time, bringing his total to slightly over a minute in 9 episodes.

It quickly became a battle between Skupin and Pete, and Mike Skupin won, so for two weeks in a row, the returning Survivors take individual immunity. But with no immunity, Jonathan is vulnerable tonight. More Artis! The guy has doubled his on-camera time tonight.

Abi tried to kill Mike with a coconut. Well, not on purpose, but it kinda turned out that way.

Jonathan and Lisa have another chat at the beach, and it's the most bizarre Survivor conversation ever, as Jonathan has a meta-talk about what the story of Survivor is this year, and who the heroes and villains are this season and who the audience is going to be rooting for. They used to edit those kinds of conversations off the show. So Jonathan basically tells Lisa she's the fulcrum character and her decision at Tribal Council tonight will change the course of the plot for the rest of the season.

Lisa questioned whether she should stay loyal to her former Tandang tribe when they are no longer loyal to her.

At Tribal Council, Abi continued to be a really unlikable person. Artis got more talking time on TV. Lisa talked more about how much of a life-altering experience the game has been for her, which made Jonathan a little nervous. Abi tried to throw Lisa under the bus again. You just know that Abi is going to be final 2 or final 3 because NO ONE WOULD VOTE FOR HER TO WIN.

In a 5-4 vote split, Artis was voted out, capping his TV time for 9 episodes at about 2 minutes and 10 seconds. Artis, we barely knew thee. Abi was ticked. Jonathan was happy. But Lisa actually voted for Jonathan. It was Skupin who flipped.

Next week: Lisa and Abi have it out.