Survivor Millennials vs Gen X Episode 3 Recap: See U Later

After last week’s blindside against Mari Takahashi, the winner pick for roughly 98% of the Survivor viewing public, it’s anyone’s game now as Survivor: Millennials vs Gen X moves forward… well, anyone’s game, save for one. Here’s how the third episode and vote-out of the season played out.

WARNING: Spoilers for episode three are in full effect from this point forward.

The episode begins as the Millennials return from Tribal Council. Hannah immediately visits “Dumb-A$$ Island,” Zeke and ADAM’s current vacation spot. She tries to explain why she voted against Mari, but the boys are not interested in hearing her out right now. Emphasis on “right now.” As in, any other time but right now. This does not compute for Hannah, despite how many times ADAM screams: “NOT. RIGHT. NOW.” It’s beginning to feel like Mac bet Hannah that she couldn’t get ADAM to say “now” nine times.

The next day, Generation X’s alliance of six wake up to the sunrise and recite poetry, as is their generation’s wont. Paul continues his zombie narrative, saying that his visit from Doctor Joe last week has brought him back to life. Apparently, resurrection has not made Paul a better fisherman, a fact that does not go unnoticed by a very frustrated Ken.

Back at the Millennials’ camp, ADAM walks along the beach and strolls right past the fabled immunity seashell — a bomb that’s destined to go off, just not in this act. Instead, there’s a different twist: the Millennials and Gen X-ers have to randomly select four members from each of their tribes to get together for a meeting of the minds. From the Millennials: Will plus the full Triforce. From Gen X, two different sets of allies: Zombie Paul and Chris, and David and CeCe. David hopes the summit will include pizza and beer, but instead, the Family Guy writer finds a different but still familiar pairing:

The two sides try to feel each other out for information, including who is feeling each other up on the Millennial tribe. To their credit, Figgy and Taylor keep their showmance under wraps. (Hopefully they’re keeping a lot of things under wraps.) David and CeCe, however, are much more generous with their intel, selling Paul down the river as the dictator of their tribe. David goes so far as to tell Taylor that he’ll happily vote out a fellow Gen X-er in the event of a future swap or merge.

Once the summit ends, the two sets of representatives return to their beaches. Ken learns that the Millennials call him “Ken Doll,” a nickname he’s had and hated since childhood. “When you’re a boy,” he says, “the last thing you want to be known as is the plastic doll with no penis.” He fails to mention that what Ken Dolls lack in human genitalia, they more than make up for in STYLE.

Over at the Millennials’ beach, the majority alliance of Michelle and the Triforce decide upon their next target: Zeke. Even though he’s not on the immediate chopping block, ADAM decides to lay out the case for Michaela and Hannah that they need to bust up Figgy and Taylor, since Jay and Michelle will always view the power couple as loyal and valuable votes. It’s a sound argument, but one that doesn’t play out further this week — seeing as the Millennials utterly obliterate Gen X at the immunity challenge, winning a set of lounge chairs that Jay unsuccessfully attempts to barter for fishing gear. Drew Christy would be proud.

Paul’s posse seems set on voting out CeCe, since she was the weakest link in the challenge. But Paul, no longer afraid of anything having come back from the dead, manages the impressive feat of speaking with his entire foot in his mouth, telling Jessica and Sunday that while he currently does not have an all-boys alliance with Chris and Brett, he would happily take them up on the offer if it comes up. Jessica does not like the sound of that, so she pitches voting out Paul to Sunday and that other person, you know the one, the lady with the edit that looks like this:

Heading into Tribal Council, it’s clear that two names are on the block: the cool dads are voting CeCe, and the three outsiders are voting Paul. But where will Jessica, Sunday and Who-cy ultimately land? Before the answer, Jeff picks away at the tribe’s internal paranoia, dissects the differences between the two tribes’ challenge performance style, and grills the Gen X-ers on their texting habits.

“When you write the word ‘you,'” asks Probst, “do you spell the word out?” Indeed they do, and Probst proceeds to question the efficiency of fully spelling out words. Ken immediately shuts down this line of thinking: “Language is beautiful,” he says, speaking for English majors and decent human beings everywhere.

Before the vote, Jeff asks Jessica to explain what’s at stake for the tribe. The red-eyed attorney sums it up eloquently: “We have to focus on winning the next challenge. It won’t just take six of us — it’ll take everyone who’s left.” With that, the cap has been tipped, and the brim is pointing directly at Paul. He receives the first vote, then CeCe, then Paul again, then CeCe again, then Paul again, then CeCe once more… and then two more votes for Paul, enough to finish the job.

Head shots be damned; there’s more than one way to take out a zombie. Bon voyage, Pirate Paul… or as the kids say, c u l8r.

Check back with Parade on Thursday morning for our exit interview with Paul.

Josh Wigler is a writer, editor and podcaster who has been published by MTV News, New York Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, Comic Book Resources and more. He is the co-author of The Evolution of Strategy: 30 Seasons of Survivor, an audiobook chronicling the reality TV show’s transformation, and one of the hosts of Post Show Recaps, a podcast about film and television. Follow Josh on Twitter @roundhoward.