Survivor: Worlds Apart eliminated Joaquin Souberbielle during Wednesday night's fifth episode of the CBS reality competition's 30th season.  

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Joaquin, a 27-year-old marketing director from Valley Stream, NY, was voted out of his new Escameca tribe on Night 16 at the season's sixth Tribal Council session.

"I didn't see this coming. I totally got blindsided by the four. I don't know who but I have a good guess. I'm sure [Mike Holloway] was obsessed with [Sierra Dawn Thomas] and I was getting too close to Sierra. I was getting too close with [Rodney Lavoie Jr.]. They felt like I was pulling their tribe away from them and they're like, 'Let's get this guy out of here.' But this was my fate and I'm going to take it with a smile on my face," Joaquin said following his ouster.

At this point in the game, the two tribes are Escameca and Nagarote.

The Escameca tribe was comprised of Joaquin; Sierra, a 27-year-old barrel racer from Roy, UT; Mike, a 38-year-old oil driller from North Richland Hills, TX; Dan Foley, a 47-year-old postal worker from Gorham, ME; Rodney, a 24-year-old general contractor from Boston, MA; Joe Anglim, a 25-year-old jewelry designer from Scottsdale, AZ; and Tyler Fredrickson, a 33-year-old ex-talent agent assistant from Los Angeles, CA.

The Nagarote tribe was made up of the following castaways: Kelly Remington, a 44-year-old state trooper from Grand Island, NY; Jenn Brown, a 22-year-old sailing instructor from Long Beach, CA; Hali Ford, a 25-year-old law student from San Francisco, CA; Will Sims II, a 41-year-old YouTube sensation from Sherman Oaks, CA; Carolyn Rivera, a 52-year-old corporate executive from Tampa, FL; and Shirin Oskooi, a 31-year-old Yahoo executive from San Francisco, CA.

On Day 15, Shirin on the Nagarote tribe had just been blindsided by Max Dawson's vote-off. She was heart broken to see him go. Carolyn, attempting to get Shirin back on her side, told Shirin that she was Max's little puppet.

Shirin wondered if her personality was why people didn't want to work with her, and then Hali said straight to her face that she was annoying at times. Shirin hoped her tribe would see the good qualities in her, because she really wanted to fit in.

Over at Escameca's camp, Rodney was getting really close with Joaquin because he had gotten sick of everyone else. Rodney wanted a connection, bromance or homeboy to chill with in this game, and he finally got it. The guys agreed they were both about "girls and partying," and so they quickly bonded. They talked about winning the money so that it would stay on the East Coast.

Both tribes then met Survivor host Jeff Probst for a Reward Challenge.

Jeff explained each tribe must race up a tower and through a series of obstacles. Once at the top, one at a time, the tribe members had to launch sandbags in attempt to hit one of many targets out in the field. The first tribe to hit all six targets would win the chance to go to a turtle sanctuary and watch them migrate to sea and lay eggs. They would also be served beef stew, mac and cheese and hot chocolate to enjoy.

Escameca sat out Dan for this challenge because they're not allowed to sit the same people out back to back. In the end, Nagarote won Reward.

On Day 16, Sierra told Joaquin she wanted nothing to do with the original Blue Collars. Joaquin let her in on the fact he had Rodney on his side, and she already knew he was working with Tyler. Joaquin warned her that Joe was strong and Mike was tough so they'd both end up being big threats.

Rodney was still tight with the Blue Collar players -- Mike and Dan -- yet swore his allegiance to Joaquin, Tyler and Sierra. He was working both sides and told the cameras when the time was right, he'd flip on Joaquin's alliance and take over the whole tribe. 

"I have so many numbers it's not even funny," Rodney said.

Rodney then told Mike he was super close with Joaquin because he'd listen to anything he said.

In a surprise twist, Rodney asked Mike to trust him and throw the next Immunity Challenge so they can get a Wild Card like Joe out of the game before the merge.

Mike said in a confessional it barely ever works in your favor to throw a challenge but this was a special situation. Mike's real alliance was in the other tribe, with Kelly, so he desperately wanted her to make the merge. Therefore, Mike realized it wouldn't hurt to throw a challenge or two in order to keep Kelly safe for the sake of his own game.

Both tribes then competed in an Immunity Challenge. To test their memory, one castaway from each tribe faced off at a time. They were shown items placed in a specific order, and then they had to replicate the display. The first person to get it right would score a point for his or her tribe. The first tribe to score three points would win immunity. 

Escameca sat out Joaquin for this challenge.

Rodney was up against Carolyn, and Carolyn got the display right first. Sierra was then matched with Hali, and Hali won. Joe went up against Will and beat him. Shirin then faced Dan, and Dan got it right first. It then became a showdown for the win between Mike and his true loyal ally Kelly.

Jeff pointed out that Mike stayed looking at the closed curtain longer than necessary, and it was because he was clearly trying to throw the challenge. Kelly, however, really struggled with the challenge.

As a result, Mike tried to help her out without it being noticeable. He told her flat out he was "giving" her the win. After a few rounds, Kelly finally won the challenge for Nagarote. She knew at that moment she could trust Mike whole-heartedly. She couldn't wait to reconnect with her Blue Collar tribe, where she felt she belonged.

Although a little part of Mike "died" in the game for throwing the challenge, he got to work on strategy. Mike was starting to not trust Rodney because he was spending so much time with Joaquin. He therefore considered splitting up the power couple before they could make power moves together.

Mike then talked to Rodney, and Rodney noted Joe needed to go home. Rodney was sure that everyone was onboard with that decision. Joaquin was really excited because he originally thought it was him and Tyler against the world, but he ended up becoming close with Rodney and having Sierra in a place where she owed him one for taking her in with his alliance. Joaquin said it was going to be "a walk in the park" because he was so certain Joe was next to go.

Afterward, Mike talked to Dan and Joe, telling them that the "White Collar boys were playing them for a fiddle." Mike said they had reeled in Rodney and were probably gunning for Sierra too. Mike revealed to the group that Rodney brought up getting Joe out first, and Joe immediately thought he was screwed.

Sierra was clearly the swing vote at this point in the game, and Dan and Rodney had previously pissed her off. They attacked her personally about her performance thus far after a prior Tribal Council. Dan tried to apologize to Sierra again and get back on her good graces. The guys told her they needed to split up Joaquin and Rodney, and so they'd be voting for Joaquin.

Sierra had separate alliances wanting to work with her, and she felt happy to be wanted. However, her old Blue Collar tribe had hurt her badly, so it almost made her sick to watch them begging for her back. She hated Dan and was angry. Sierra worried the guys were just using her in the moment and wouldn't keep her going forward.

Later on, Sierra confessed to Joe she was playing the game with her heart and head. She needed to figure out whom to trust and which alliance would take her to the end. She didn't know what she was going to do before Tribal.

At Tribal Council that night, Joe explained Joaquin and Tyler had previously been looking for cracks in order to find their way in. Tyler pointed out bad blood existed involving Sierra. Sierra, in turn, was open about her feelings. She told Jeff that her new tribe had made her feel more appreciated in 24 hours than her old Blue Collar tribe made her feel in 11 days.

Joaquin noted that because people hated each other, it made things easy for him. Joe felt he was on the bottom of this tribe without a doubt. Sierra said she had to look at the big picture to determine if she should stick with the Blue Collars for just a couple more votes until the merge or trust the new tribemates.

In the end, four votes were shown being cast for Joaquin, and three votes were shown for Joe.

Joaquin looked at Rodney on his way out for some answers, and Rodney's face was one of shock and confusion. The episode's closing credits revealed Joaquin, Rodney and Tyler voted for Joe, but everyone else voted for Joaquin.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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