Last week, Evil Russell left the game for good, losing to Matt in a Redemption Island duel. And he did it while Ralph, the redneck who outplayed him at every turn, sat grinning in the bleachers with the HII firmly in his pocket. Meanwhile, over at Ometepe, Boston Rob sent his tribe to the beach with everything but a box lunch, and brilliantly feigned a bout of constipation so he could sprint into the woods and search for his own HII, which he found. I found new respect for Rob last week. The down side is, his tribe has lost three of four Immunity Challenges (and they may have lost all four if Zapatera hadn’t throw one just to get Russell out), and his group is now down eight members to six, after voting dissenting member Kristina to RedIsle for an imminent duel with Matt in lieu of Special Agent Crazypants (Phillip), who becomes more annoying with each passing day.
Ometepe, Night 11. Upon returning to camp after TC, Phillip realizes that he is the odd man out (use whatever definition for “odd” you want, it fits), and figures that the times has come for the rest of his tribe to realize what a badass he is. The next morning, there is a priceless shot of Natalie and Ashley covering their eyes as Phillip does his morning stretches in naught but his Tidy Pinkies. Um, dude, you need to show that you ARE a badass, not that you HAVE one. Rob begins to reason that with Phillip being the focus of everyone’s frustration, maybe it is in his best interest to keep him around, if for no other reason than it takes the heat off of him. Which kind of makes sense: if Vegas bookies took bets on this show (maybe they do, I don’t know), Phillip’s odds of winning, at this point, are probably the GNP of Switzerland to one. Which makes him the ideal person to take to the Final Three.
Over at Zapatera, the mood is good as Ralph, Mike, Steve and Julie use their seine to catch some fish. Steve thinks now would be a good time to bring Russell’s allies, Krista and Stephanie, into the fold. Which is noble and all, but momentum doesn’t last forever, and if they find themselves at TC, someone’s gotta go. I doubt any olive branch offered to Krista and Stephanie would convince them that they’re still not the next ones to go. Julie doesn’t see them as a threat, and admits as such. But the first order of business is who gets to be spectators for the next duel, so the four Zapaterians who haven’t been yet draw tiles, and, by an odd coincidence, it’s Krista and Stephanie who end up going. Of course, this may be providential as well, because they intend to communicate to Ometepe that they’re willing to flip to the other side if the situation arises.
Duel #3. For Ometepe, the ones who will be watching their former tribe members duke it out are none other than Grant and Boston Rob themselves, the main shot-callers for that tribe. Matt and Kristina enter the arena, and Jeff explains today’s duel. Both members will grab and assemble a bunch of puzzle pieces that look like 3D Tetris blocks, and assemble them into a perfect cube with different designs on each side of the cube, like a Rubik’s on steroids. Pretty straightforward, and I stick by my estimate that Matt has about a 75% chance to three-peat as RedIsle champion.
The individual pieces are quite heavy, so Matt is the first to get all his pieces to the assembling platform. Both of them fail to find the solution on their first attempt. While he’s working, Matt casually asks Rob why he was voted out, and Rob cattily replies that it wasn’t just him, and leaves it at that. After a while, fatigue and the hot sun begin to noticeably slow Kristina down, and the more youthful and energetic Matt uses this advantage to finish his puzzle and claim victory. And while I’m a little bitter because this means the end of my pre-season favorite Kristina, I’m beginning to think that Matt could very well take this all the way to get back in the game. I can’t imagine that anyone on either tribe who is currently in danger of being voted out (Krista, Stephanie, Phillip, perhaps Andrea) posing much of a threat to dethrone Matt, who’s definitely built up a full head of steam. Rob even looks impressed, and when Krista and Stephanie pipe up that if they make it to the merge, Rob might have two potential allies in them, he brightens even more, though he couches his enthusiasm with a bit of caution, just in case he’s being set up. Kristina then throws her buff on the fire and is gone. (Stifled sob)
While Rob and Grant are still away, Phillip ponders his next move. He compares Ashley and Natalie to crabs, given that they scuttle away whenever he approaches. Which is… okay, mildly amusing. He wonders if Andrea may be a potential ally, given the grudge she’s probably been nursing since her buddy Matt was voted out from under her. Andrea, for her part, doesn’t care much for her fellow female tribe-members, given that they don’t do much around camp, but she still has to put a happy face on while they’re around so she doesn’t get on the bad side of an alliances that clearly has the numbers. And honestly, my opinion of Andrea just went up a few notches (which, if my luck holds, means she’ll be the next one out).
While Ashley and Natalie are sunbathing, Phillip approaches Andrea and tells her he admires her work ethic. Seeing a glimmer of hope, she flatly asks Phillip if he ever conspired to get her out, and he flatly denies it. He says that he hopes that an alliance involving himself, Andrea and Matt will have a chance to form. I find myself hoping that happens too, but I’m conflicted because I like Andrea and Matt, but I also like Rob too (I’m unsure about Grant). Of course, this speculation will all be moot if Ometepe doesn’t start winning some challenges.
Zapatera, Day 13. Krista and Stephanie continue to separate themselves from their six tribe-mates, which has become a society of egregious mutual congratulation. Mike also doesn’t see them as a threat, and figures that yet another Immunity victory for Zapatera will break Ometepe’s back. Which is indeed true… I think that only one tribe in Survivor history has come back from three players down (though I can’t remember which season).
Immunity/Reward Challenge. There’s always one challenge like this per season: one person on each tribe has to direct his blindfolded teammates through a maze to collect bags of wooden letter tiles, which must then be assembled by the caller to form the five-word phrase “the sweet taste of victory”. Winning tribe wins immunity and all the ingredients to make coffee, as well as a basket full of various donuts, danishes and pastries. David wants to be the caller for Zapatera, but the rest of his tribe figures that Stephanie’s natural bossiness might be the key to victory. Of course, Rob takes point for Ometepe, and I hardly need to remind you that he’s damn good at puzzles like this. One look at his face and I can just tell that losing is not an option today.
The challenge is pretty even all the way through, but the time taken away from Zapatera when Ralph and Stephanie snipe at each other costs them. Rob almost runs into trouble when one of his letters slides off the table, but he retrieves it soon after. While Stephanie is working on the puzzle, Ralph confesses into Steve’s and Sarita’s ears that it should have been David calling, because Stephanie’s “not smart enough” for this challenge. Well, whatever the case, Rob ends up prevailing, and Ometepe scores a hugely important victory. I’m happy for that, but my first thought has to be that one of Rob’s potential Zapatera allies will be the next to face Matt on RedIsle. As we go to commercial, Julie confirms this thought.
It’s all smiles at Ometepe as they enjoy their “sweet taste of victory”, the first true victory they’ve earned since the game started. They chow down on the baked goods, and when Grant opens a jar of coffee grounds, he notices an HII clue inside. He immediately shows it to Rob, who takes the jar and, with Grant running interference, sneaks it out of camp while they go do a water run. Of course, Rob is smart enough to know that taking an obvious clue-holder would be suspicious, so he removes the clue and sends Grant immediately back to camp with the jar. Rob then further shows his savvy by relating that the complete absence of HII clues after all this time would also arouse suspicion, so he then proceeds to switch the second, much-more-specific HII clue with the first one he snagged, which was extremely vague and unhelpful. Wow. I am impressed. Seriously. He’s thinking of everything. He shows Clue #1 to Grant, who then suggests that they bury it. Rob, of course, goes along with it, secure in the knowledge that this is all for show anyway, since he has the HII. In interview, he grins like the cat that swallowed the proverbial canary. As well he should. He’s played a mistake-free game thus far.
At Zapatera, there’s trouble in paradise. Sarita tries to defend her choice of Stephanie as caller by claiming that David, though intelligent, tends to crack under pressure. Huh? Based on what? His inability to solve the puzzle at a challenge they were THROWING? David, of course, takes umbrage at this comment, and tells Sarita point-blank that any challenge in the future involving a puzzle of any sort will be done by him, period. Steve says that Stephanie gave it her best shot, but Mike feels that failure is failure, and is ready to vote her out because of it. Julie and Sarita would rather vote out Krista first, and Sarita admits that she doesn’t trust David either. Hmm. This may make for some drama in the coming weeks.
Krista and Stephanie, meanwhile, seem resigned to the idea that there’s nothing they can do to save themselves. They wish they could lobby to vote out the aged Steve out based on his lack of stamina, but they know that the six-strong alliance is pretty rock-solid at this point. As they head to TC, Krista opines that none of her tribe-mates will make it to the end, and her one regret is that she won’t be around to see it.
Tribal Council. Jeff opens the Q&A by asking Krista if it’s still the case that she and Stephanie are on the bottom of the totem pole, and she replies that it is. She makes a cute comment that camp life is like “the Brady Bunch going camping”, and that she and Stephanie are the “neglected step-children they’ve invited along”. Hee. Sarita retaliates that “playing the game” hasn’t been necessary, because their alliance is strong and in control, especially now that Russell is gone. Krista retorts that that’s all well and good, but an alliance of six has to crumble at some point. Mike chimes in and tells Krista that no strategy is better than her strategy, which was to simply “be abrasive” the entire game. Jeff then asks Krista if there are any sub-alliances within the six, and she explains that Sarita and Ralph are close, and Steve is friends with both Sarita and Mike; this makes David the odd man out, and his eyebrows cock suspiciously, like this is something he hadn’t thought of before.
Jeff reasons that being on the chopping block is a perfect reason to air all the tribe’s secrets. Mike responds by saying that there really has been strategic sessions, but Krista hasn’t noticed them because she chose not to be part of them. Steve then changes the subject by saying that he wishes David had been in charge of the calling. Jeff then asks Stephanie whether her failure during crunch time is a reason to get rid of her, and she responds that she’s always given her best in challenges, and can only hope that her tribe realizes that. Both she and Krista now believe that RedIsle is their last shot at staying in the game.
Voting time. Since this seems to be a foregone conclusion, none of the votes are shown prior to Jeff collecting the urn. Ralph’s HII is obviously not being used tonight, so out come the slips. Steve. Steve. (Wonder who those votes were…) Krista. “Krasta.” “Crysta.” I’m serious, this is how they were spelled. Krista. And… Krista. So it’s Blond vs. Blonder in the next duel. Could an upset be in the works? Stranger things have happened. Krista’s torch is snuffed, and off she goes to RedIsle.
Next week: Matt appears to struggle at the duel. Hmmm… And Phillip’s frustration at Ashley’s and Natalie’s all-pervading lethargy reaches a boiling point.
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