As VIRTUAL SURVIVOR 7: PEARL ISLANDS moved forward, the castaways were surprised by a merge of their tribes. In the first Tribal Council as a new single tribe named Balboa, the remaining castaways voted off ex-Drake Earl Haines, the 22-year-old student and ticket seller from West Lawn, Pennsylvania, in a split decision. Upon leaving Tribal Council, Earl sent a message to his former tribemates: "Sadly I feel no one on Morgan will step up and play the game and I think my fellow Drakians will soon join me."

OUTCASTS REMAIN OUTCASTS

The players voted out in the first 6 rounds of the game were given the chance to play one more challenge. As a group, if the Outcasts were to beat either Drake or Morgan (or both), they would vote a fellow Outcast back into the game, replacing the player that the tribe(s) vote(s) out. However, the Outcasts were unable to come out victorious and remianed out of Virtual Survivor 7: Pearl Islands.

OUTNUMBERED AND OUT OF LUCK

Hoping that he could swing votes from some members of the old Morgan Tribe, Earl went into Tribal Council knowing that his game was over. He left with only 8 of the 10 votes being read. This still appears to be Drake vs. Morgan, even in the newly-merged Balboa Tribe.