The next morning, J.T. tries to teach Tyson how to fish. Tyson is excited when he manages to catch something, but when he pulls it out of the water, J.T. tries not to laugh at the "little baby catfish." J.T. gives Tyson a lesson in catfish anatomy, telling him that some catfish have razor-sharp poisonous fins. Even though the catfish attacked him, J.T. throws it back in the water to live another day. He interviews that he didn't think he would get along with Tyson after going up against him in all those challenges, but things are different now that they're living together. With that, the new friends talk strategy. Specifically, voting out Brendan ASAP. J.T., of course, is just fine with that and they shake hands and man-hug. Tyson interviews that he's looking forward to getting rid of Brendan, who seems like "sneaky bastard." Tyson, on the other hand, thinks that when he lies, no one can tell. He's proud of this quality, which I think is shared by many sociopaths.

Back at camp, Tyson makes up a lame excuse to talk to Debbie, saying "Debbie, uh, you wanna go grab some firewood? You think we need some?" Yeah, he's a smooth liar. As soon as they're gone, Taj and Stephen are left with Brendan. This is excellent for the secret Exile alliance. Or not, as Taj interviews that she figured she and Stephen were safe once the merge happened. But they've been at camp for a while now, and Brendan and Sierra haven't said a thing to either of them, so Taj is starting to think they've decided to stick with Tempura rather than align with them. Taj and Stephen go off to talk, and Taj admits that she has no idea what's going on with Brendan or if he's still with them. She doesn't have much hope that he is.

Then Brendan interviews that the secret alliance is still intact, but they're just laying low for now. They sure are! And when it's so low that half of your alliance doesn't think it exists anymore, you might want to lay a little bit higher. Brendan wants to vote Joe and J.T. out to gain the majority before the alliance strikes, which is stupid because Joe and J.T. are both members of Jalapeño, so Taj and Stephen aren't going to be exactly thrilled about that or really trust Brendan to keep them around. Once Joe and J.T. are gone, Brendan says, the Exile Alliance will take charge "if need be." So, obviously, he's only seeing this alliance as a back-up plan, while the other half is seeing it as their only chance in the game. And he isn't communicating with them at all. Not smart, Brendan. Cue the shots of symbolic snakes.