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For the episode of Survivor South Africa: Island of Secrets, see The Puppetmaster.

The Puppet Master is the season premiere of Survivor: Samoa.

Story[]

Day 1[]

The nineteenth season of Survivor began, with first impressions already forming about Shambo Waters and Russell Hantz. The two tribes meet Jeff Probst, who announces that Survivor: Samoa is officially on. Wearing purple is Galu, and wearing yellow is Foa Foa. Jeff instructs the tribes to elect a Tribe Leader by first impressions. Galu chooses Russell Swan in a 5-3-2 decision, while Foa Foa chooses Mick Trimming in a 4-3-1-1-1 vote. 

Galu and Foa Foa go directly to the Reward Challenge where the leaders choose who does what. Mick chooses Jaison Robinson for the swimming, Russell H. for the strongest part, Marisa Calihan for the agile leg, and Liz Kim for the smartest part. Russell S. chooses John Fincher for the swimming, Erik Cardona for the strength, Yasmin Giles for the agility, and Shambo for the smarts. In the end Foa Foa wins the first challenge and goes to their camp with flint. 

At Foa Foa, Russell H. immediately went to work on creating alliances with every girl on the tribe, and made conflicting alliances with Ashley Trainer, Natalie White, Marisa, Liz, and Betsy Bolan, though the latter was very suspicious of his true intentions. Russell H. says in a confessional that he'd call the voting bloc the "Dumb Girls Alliance".

S19 russellh t
Russell H.
I didn't come here to work; I came here to play. My strategy is to be able to have a secret alliance with each one of these dumb girls. I got an alliance with the dumb short-haired blonde, the dumber long-haired blonde, and the dark-haired girl. I like to call it my Dumbass-Girl Alliance.


At Galu, everyone plays in the water and has a good time — except Shambo. She feels Russell S. isn't doing a good job as leader and should work more. She also knows there is a big age difference between her and the tribe, and has no one to relate to. 

That night at Foa Foa, Russell H. tells he tribe that he lived in New Orleans, had a dog, and how he survived Hurricane Katrina. Sadly, his dog did not. In a confessional, however, he says that none of it was true and he did it to make camp life miserable for Foa Foa. When everyone is sleeping, he dumps out all of the water canteens and burns Jaison's socks in the fire. 

Day 2[]

At the challenge, Galu works together while Foa Foa struggles. However, when both teams get to the puzzle, Foa Foa takes the lead. However, Galu pulls ahead and wins immunity.

Back at Foa Foa, Mike Borassi thinks the weakest should go, which would be Ashley. However, Russell H. targets Marisa when she says she doesn't trust Russell H. because he's been talking to everyone.  

Day 3[]

At Tribal Council, it is down to Marisa and Ashley. Russell H. convinces his allies Ashley, Liz, and Natalie to vote out Marisa, but Betsy sides with Marisa in voting against Ashley. Ben Browning, Jaison, and Mike side with Russell H. as Marisa is the first voted out in a 7-3 vote.

Challenges[]

Challenge: Chief's Choice
A designated swimmer would swim out into the ocean to retrieve a key and swim back. The swimmer would hand the key to the designated strong person to unlock a chain around two bundles of heavy logs. The logs would have to be carried to the next station where a designated agile person would use the log bundles to climb on top of a balance beam. The agile person would need to pull a second key along a rope twisted around the balance beam while remaining on top of the balance beam. At the final stage, a designated smart person would use the second key to unlock a bag of puzzle pieces and use them to assemble a statue. The first tribe to assemble their statue would win.
Reward: Flint
Winner: Foa Foa

Challenge: Yank Your Hank
Six members from each tribe would race across a series of three wooden A-frames carrying three coils of rope. At the end of the course, the six would use the rope to pull a heavy wooden crate across a ramp and up to the finish platform. The four remaining tribe members would disassemble the crate to use as puzzle pieces. The first tribe to solve the puzzle ("Without victory there is no survival".) would win.
Winner: Galu

Tribal Council[]

Tribal Council 1:
Foa Foa
Voted
Against
Voter
S19 marisa t
Marisa (7 votes)
S19 ashley tS19 ben tS19 jaison t
S19 liz tS19 mike tS19 natalie tS19 russellh t
Ashley, Ben, Jaison, Liz, Mike, Natalie, Russell H.
S19 ashley t
Ashley (3 votes)
S19 betsy tS19 marisa tS19 mick t
Betsy, Marisa, Mick
VOTED OUT:
S19 marisa bw
Marisa Calihan

Voting Confessionals[]

An edited version of Russell H.'s confessional was shown in the episode. Betsy was shown writing Ashley's name on the parchment. Jaison did not give a confessional. Natalie gave her confessional before writing her vote.

S19 betsy t
Betsy
(voting against Ashley) Okay, Ashley. You may not be the weakest link at the challenges, but you're the weakest link at camp.
S19 liz t
Liz
(voting against Marisa) I'm so sorry. I tried to do my best to at least keep you until the next Immunity Challenge, but there are too many people who really want you off the island.
S19 mike t
Mike
(voting against Marisa) Marisa, you started the whole plot against me. So this is payback for you.
S19 ashley t
Ashley
(voting against Marisa) When I hear that you are trying to vote me out, I have to vote you out. I'm really sorry.
S19 marisa t
Marisa
(voting against Ashley) I'm voting for you because you're aligned with Ben.
S19 ben t
Ben
(voting against Marisa) This should come as no surprise. You barked up the wrong tree. Now you're gonna feel my coconuts when they come down and nail you.
S19 russellh t
Russell H.
(voting against Marisa) I'm the one that got the ball rolling to get you outta here. If you play with fire, you'll get burned.
S19 mick t
Mick
(voting against Ashley) Mike, I told you I wouldn't write your name down, so I won't. This might bite me... later. This is strategic.
S19 natalie t
Natalie
(voting against Marisa) I'm voting for Marisa, and I really, really hate this. Um, and it was for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, um, it was the majority, and, also, I did tell Mike today I would not vote for him, which again put you, um, in the majority, but I think you're an awesome competitor, and, uh, I think this will probably, uh, hurt our team, so I'm sorry.

Final Words[]

S19 marisa bw
Marisa
Tonight is really difficult for me to swallow. I trusted Russell initially, but it was a mistake to say something to him because he makes trouble and so he made it around me, and I'm really sad to be going home. I don't hold any animosity toward anyone and I'm grateful to have had this experience, however short it might have been.

Still in the Running[]

 Marisa
20th
S19 marisa bw
 Ashley
Foa Foa
S19 ashley t
 Ben
Foa Foa
S19 ben t
 Betsy
Foa Foa
S19 betsy t
 Brett
Galu
S19 brett t
 Dave
Galu
S19 dave t
 Erik
Galu
S19 erik t
 Jaison
Foa Foa
S19 jaison t
 John
Galu
S19 john t
 Kelly
Galu
S19 kelly t
 Laura
Galu
S19 laura t
 Liz
Foa Foa
S19 liz t
 Mick
Foa Foa
S19 mick t
 Mike
Foa Foa
S19 mike t
 Monica
Galu
S19 monica t
 Natalie
Foa Foa
S19 natalie t
 Russell H.
Foa Foa
S19 russellh t
S19 russells t
 Shambo
Galu
S19 shambo t
 Yasmin
Galu
S19 yasmin t

Trivia[]

References[]

Survivor: Samoa Episodes
"The Puppet Master" · "Taking Candy from a Baby" · "It's Called a Russell Seed" · "Hungry for a Win" · "Walking on Thin Ice" · "This Is the Man Test" · "Houdini Magic" · "All Hell Breaks Loose" · "Tastes Like Chicken" · "The Day of Reckoning" · "The First 27 Days" · "Off with Their Heads!" · "Damage Control" · "Two Brains Are Better than One" · "This Game Ain't Over" · "Reunion"
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