The Beginning of the End

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The Beginning of the End
Episode Information
Season	Caramoan
Episode Number	12/14 (369)
Original Release	May 1, 2013
Episode Chronology
Previous	"Come Over to the Dark Side"
Next	"Don't Say Anything About My Mom"
Subpages

The Beginning of the End is the twelfth episode of Survivor: Caramoan.

Story

Day 31

Day 31's Tree Mail announced a surprise Immunity Challenge instead of the Reward Challenge that the castaways expected. When they got to the challenge site, Jeff announced that it would be a combined Reward/Immunity Challenge. With the castaways balanced on the first set of slats, Jeff offered up a plate of donuts and a glass of milk to whomever jumped off. Erik and Eddie agreed to jump off together. When the castaways moved up to the second set of slats, Jeff offered three hot dogs and a soda, which Cochran took. Thirty minutes into the challenge, the castaways moved to the top of the a-frame where Dawn, Sherri, and Reynold fell off, leaving Andrea and Brenda to fight it out. They tried to negotiate for one of them to win, but neither wanted to step off. They continued the challenge for three hours when they agreed to share the reward note and to make up their own fourth stage of the challenge by lifting their left foot off the top of the a-frame. Jeff counted down to this new fourth stage and Brenda fell off the top shortly thereafter to give Andrea the win. Back at camp, the reward note turned out to be a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol. Andrea shared the clue with her whole alliance and they went looking for the idol. Erik found it and handed it over to Andrea. Brenda's determination to stick it out in the challenge made Andrea suspicious of Brenda as she could be a big threat in future challenges. Andrea pushed Cochran, Dawn, and Sherri to blindside Brenda instead of splitting the vote between Eddie and Reynold. But when Tribal Council came, the Favorites did not blindside Brenda and instead sent Reynold to the jury by a vote of 4–2–1–1.

Day 33

After Tribal Council, Andrea was still lobbying hard to Cochran about blindsiding either Brenda or Dawn. Cochran told Brenda and Dawn about Andrea's plan. Brenda immediately turned against Andrea. Erik won the Immunity Challenge by a blowout over Brenda. Back at camp, Andrea continued to push for a blindside. Cochran figured out that Andrea wanted to take Eddie to the final three, possibly displacing Cochran in the final three. Suspicious that Andrea was leaving him out of her plans, Cochran talked to Brenda, Dawn, and Sherri about blindsiding Andrea. Just in case Andrea got paranoid at Tribal Council and played the Hidden Immunity Idol, Cochran got his alliance to split the vote between Andrea and Eddie. Andrea told Erik that she would like to go to the final three with him. Erik wasn't sure if he should join Brenda and Cochran in blindsiding Andrea or joining Andrea in voting out Brenda. At Tribal Council, the timing of a "big move" was discussed. When the vote came, Erik made his "big move" and decided to vote against Andrea. Andrea was not paranoid enough to play her Hidden Immunity Idol and she took it with her to the jury by a vote of 3–2–2.

Challenges

Reward/Immunity (Day 31)

Challenge: Bermuda Triangle
Players will stand on an unstable triangular platform. They would move up a rung at regular intervals until they reach the top. Jeff Probst will tempt the castaways with food. If they fall off for any reason, they are out. The last person standing wins.
Reward: The winner will receive a note with a clue to a Hidden Immunity Idol along with individual immunity.
Winner: Andrea Boehlke

Immunity Challenge: Bermuda Triangle
Placement	Winner	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th
Time Elapsed	3 hr		30 min			15 min	0 min
Castaway	File:S26 andrea t.jpg Andrea	File:S26 brenda t.jpg Brenda	File:S26 reynold t.jpg Reynold	File:S26 sherri t.jpg Sherri	File:S26 dawn t.jpg Dawn	File:S26 cochran t.jpg Cochran	File:S26 eddie t.jpgFile:S26 erik t.jpg Eddie & Erik

Immunity (Day 33)

Challenge: Fun Climb
The castaways would maneuver a buoy through a rope maze to a post. They would then untie a series of knots to release a key. The released key would open a chest that contained a set of ladder rung puzzle pieces. The first castaway to assemble their ladder and climb to the top of the tower would win.
Winner:  Erik Reichenbach

Immunity Challenge: Fun Climb
Result	Winner	Competitors
Castaway	File:S26 erik t.jpg Erik	File:S26 andrea t.jpgFile:S26 brenda t.jpgFile:S26 cochran t.jpgFile:S26 dawn t.jpgFile:S26 eddie t.jpgFile:S26 sherri t.jpg Andrea, Brenda, Cochran, Dawn, Eddie, & Sherri

Tribal Council

Day 31

Tribal Council 12: Enil Edam
Voted Against	Voter
File:S26 reynold t.jpg Reynold (4 votes)	File:S26 andrea t.jpgFile:S26 brenda t.jpgFile:S26 dawn t.jpgFile:S26 sherri t.jpg Andrea, Brenda, Dawn, & Sherri
File:S26 eddie t.jpg Eddie (2 votes)	File:S26 cochran t.jpgFile:S26 erik t.jpg Cochran & Erik
File:S26 erik t.jpg Erik (1 vote)	File:S26 reynold t.jpg Reynold
File:S26 sherri t.jpg Sherri (1 vote)	File:S26 eddie t.jpg Eddie
VOTED OFF: File:S26 reynold bw.jpg Reynold Toepfer

Voting Confessionals

“	(voting for Reynold) I think things would've gone a lot better for you if you'd've been a little bit more humble in this game.	”
—Brenda

Final Words

“	Here I am, adiós. I put my trust in a lot of people and that wasn't reciprocated, and I had no more rabbits I could pull out of my hat. No more Immunity Idols, but, uh, I'll tell you one thing for sure: I had the time of my life.	”
—Reynold Toepfer

Day 33

Tribal Council 13: Enil Edam
Voted Against	Voter
File:S26 andrea t.jpg Andrea (3 votes)	File:S26 brenda t.jpgFile:S26 erik t.jpgFile:S26 sherri t.jpg Brenda, Erik, & Sherri
File:S26 brenda t.jpg Brenda (2 votes)	File:S26 andrea t.jpgFile:S26 eddie t.jpg Andrea & Eddie
File:S26 eddie t.jpg Eddie (2 votes)	File:S26 cochran t.jpgFile:S26 dawn t.jpg Cochran & Dawn
VOTED OFF: File:S26 andrea bw.jpg Andrea Boehlke

Voting Confessionals

“	(voting for Brenda) I think it was the moment that we were balancing on the doghouse in the ocean for four hours that I realized that you are a huge threat and need to go.	”
—Andrea

“	(voting for Andrea) You're a sneaky, sneaky little girl, always ready to blindside someone, but I don't think you're ready for this one.	”
—Brenda

Final Words

“	Unfortunately, I was confident with this plan I set up that I wasn't even thinking about playing the idol. I should have learned my lesson the first time that when the day's really calm, people are napping and you feel comfortable, you're probably gonna get blindsided, and it happened again, but I will always have this beautiful necklace souvenir that will remind me about trusting people too much.	”
—Andrea Boehlke

Still in the Running

Bikal
File:S26 andrea bw.jpg Andrea	File:S26 brandon bw.jpg Brandon	File:S26 brenda t.jpg Brenda	File:S26 cochran t.jpg Cochran	File:S26 corinne bw.jpg Corinne	File:S26 dawn t.jpg Dawn	File:S26 erik t.jpg Erik	File:S26 francesca bw.jpg Francesca	File:S26 malcolm bw.jpg Malcolm	File:S26 phillip bw.jpg Phillip
Gota
File:S26 allie bw.jpg Allie	File:S26 eddie t.jpg Eddie	File:S26 hope bw.jpg Hope	File:S26 julia bw.jpg Julia	File:S26 laura bw.jpg Laura	File:S26 matt bw.jpg Matt	File:S26 michael bw.jpg Michael	File:S26 reynold bw.jpg Reynold	File:S26 shamar bw.jpg Shamar	File:S26 sherri t.jpg Sherri

Trivia

Behind the Scenes

• Andrea Boehlke describes herself as a "Stubborn German" during the Day 31 Immunity Challenge. She explains that she was hungry for an immunity win and the clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol, hence the deal she brokered with Brenda Lowe.

Life at Ponderosa

• Reynold Toepfer reflects on how bittersweet it is to be out due to the harsh conditions on the island. Reynold immediately goes to his post-game check-up, where he learns he has dropped from 203.7 lbs. to 181.0 lbs. Reynold comments that he has not weighed that much since his freshman year of high school. Reynold arrives at Ponderosa, where Michael Snow and Malcolm Freberg welcome him. Michael, Malcolm, Phillip Sheppard, and Reynold sit down and eat. Reynold expresses his surprise at how down-to-earth Phillip really is, contrary to his view of Phillip being egotistical in the game.
• Despite her blindside, Andrea Boehlke leaves Tribal Council in good spirits, saying that she wanted to play hard, but it she deduces that she might have played too hard to vote Brenda Lowe out. Instead of moping about her elimination, Andrea laughs her elimination off. During her post-game check-up, she learns her body weight dropped from 126.6 lbs. to 115.6 lbs. Andrea cheerfully arrives at Ponderosa, where she is warmly welcomed by the other jurors, including Malcolm, whom Andrea thinks is bitter towards her. She then reflects her experience in two seasons, saying that she is just as surprised by how dirty and scruffy she looked when she was voted out from Survivor: Redemption Island, and now. She happily wears her unused Hidden Immunity Idol and intends to keep it as a souvenir.

Other

• As of this episode, due to Brenda Lowe and Erik Reichenbach receiving their first votes against themselves in this season, John Cochran is the only player to not have any votes against them.
• This is the ninth episode in which a contestant was voted out by a plurality (i.e., less than half of all counted votes), with Andrea Boehlke receiving only 3 out of 7 votes.
  • This is also the second time in which Cochran and Dawn Meehan are involved in a Tribal Council that ends with the eliminated contestant being voted out by a 3-2-2 plurality, after "Taste the Victory" in Survivor: South Pacific where Elyse Umemoto was voted out.
• Reynold Toepfer's elimination marks the first time this season that the remaining female contestants outnumbers the remaining male contestants (4 to 3). The balance would be restored by the end of the episode and the female contestants wouldn't form the majority again until Day 39.
• With Andrea being voted out, all returning players from Survivor: Redemption Island have been voted out.
• The second Immunity Challenge was a variation of the one used in Survivor: Micronesia.
• Brenda and Erik - the only Favorites who voted against Andrea during the Day 33 Tribal Council - are also the only Favorites (and in extension, castaways) to make the merge that voted against Andrea during the first Tribal Council vote of the season, in "She Annoys Me Greatly", where they failed to vote out Andrea.
• With Andrea's elimination, she becomes the first female jury member of the season.
• As of this episode, Erik has given away all three forms of immunity (tribal, individual, and hidden) to a rival castaway.
• At Reynold's elimination, no pair of castaways voted against each other, despite four different castaways receiving votes. Reynold voted for Erik, Erik voted for Eddie Fox, Eddie voted for Sherri Biethman, and Sherri voted for Reynold.
• Reynold's elimination briefly interrupted the streak of eliminations of players that were on Bikal at one point in this season, which started in "Persona Non Grata". Afterwards, the streak continued until Eddie's elimination.
• According to Jeff Probst in the first challenge of the episode, this is the first time that contestants added rules to the challenge that weren't otherwise there.

Episode Title

• John Cochran says this in a confessional when talking about Andrea Boehlke's failed attempt to blindside Brenda Lowe.