Last week, the tribal Immunity Idol, which hasn’t been won by the same tribe two times in a row so far this season, went back to Savaii. At Upolu, the previously rarely-seen Edna turned into a full-on, annoying chatterbox, and her general uselessness at challenges made her fear for her safety. But as weak as she was, the person on the chopping block was Stacey, who, despite a terrific performance at an endurance challenge, proved that a habitually sour disposition will get you even less far, and she was sent to RedIsle to face off against Christine, her one and only friend in the game.
Duel #3. With Dawn, Whitney, Albert and Mikayla in attendance, Christine and Stacey got the party started by acting like second-graders, taking great pleasure in insulting Coach by calling him “Benjamin” (his given name) over and over again. All Dawn and Whitney could do was cock their eyebrows in bemusement while Albert whispered “sour grapes” under his breath. Seriously. Is there a way both of these two could lose? Sadly, no. But after the duel, which involved a test of hand-to-eye coordination, Stacey was sent packing. Christine is now 3-0, and Stacey can go back to the mortuary where she works, where, I’m sure, nobody cares if she runs her mouth or not.
Immunity/Reward Challenge
I loathe food challenges, and this one is particularly disgusting. The contestants, with their hands tied behind their backs, must bite hunks off a half-roasted pig and spit it into a marked basket, and the tribe whose basket weighs the most after ten minutes wins Immunity, as well as some better-looking food: vegetables, spices and a large loaf of bread. I spared myself the image of the group ripping slobbery hunks off the pig by fast-forwarding through it. It was incredibly close, but by a scant two ounces of meat, Upolu ekes out a victory. Wow. And STILL no one has won back-to-back challenges! I haven’t checked, but I don’t think this has ever happened in Survivor history!
Camp Life – Upolu
Needless to say, Coach is not happy when he hears about Stacey’s diatribe, letting everyone know in no uncertain terms that the name “Benjamin” better not come up while he’s in the vicinity, revealing that he’s gone by the monicker “Coach” since he was eighteen. Really? I mean, I’ve know a lot of people who hate their names, but I wouldn’t have expected this reaction from a man as staid as Coach. Of course, this slight was punctuated by the fact that he may be the #1 target for elimination once the merge happens. It now becomes critical that they develop some kind of momentum, and enter the merge with superior numbers.
Albert, for his part, has decided that the target on his back will be just as big, so the time to find the Upolu HII is now. He locates the clue, which reveals that the HII is hidden in the tall branches of a tree near the water, so he proceeds to climb every tree he can. He doesn’t find it initially, and then he lets Coach and Sophie (only them) in on the clue, and they then proceed to look together. Coach finds it after a brief search, and I find myself smiling. Between him and Ozzy, he’s definitely the one I’m rooting for.
It should be mentioned that Brandon held it together pretty well this episode. He was a monster during the challenge, and even helped cook the spoils of their victory (which included the meat they gathered) into a hearty meal for Upolu. The whole thing with Mikayla is still there, simmering, but thankfully it didn’t re-escalate this week.7
Camp Life – Savaii
Elyse is still confident in her five-strong alliance with Ozzy, Whitney, Keith and Jim, which tells me right away that word has not yet gotten out about Jim’s secret arrangement with Cochran, which is, with Dawn’s help, to pull the rug out from Ozzy a little bit by sending his confidant Elyse to RedIsle. I mentioned this last week, but the numbers are still on Ozzy’s side, unless Jim or Cochran can get Whitney or Keith to turn, and I don’t see that happening. And with Ozzy possessing the HII, this plan has a few kinks to work out.
Cochran, who ten days earlier was a big admirer of Ozzy, is now completely over him, it would seem. He pushes himself around camp, gathering firewood and such, while Ozzy and Elyse spend most of the day canoodling in the shelter. Yeah, that would probably irk me too. I find myself totally rooting for Cochran to pull off a palace coup, because those are some of the best moments on Survivor.
Once Dawn and Whitney return from the Duel with news of what’s going on at Upolu, Ozzy lets it slip that Coach should get rid of Albert, who seems to be his #2 man. This rattles Jim, because if Ozzy thinks that getting rid of a strong ally is good strategy, then that speaks ill of Keith and himself progressing in the game. Jim then interviews that he’s going to work on Keith and try to turn him against Ozzy. Oooh….
Cochran makes one last-ditch attempt to bond with Ozzy, and goes out in the boat while Ozzy does what he does best – catch fish. To his credit, he catches enough for the whole tribe, but Cochran astutely observes that despite his “Mowgli-esque” persona, Ozzy also has a lazy streak (calling him “middle-aged” and he’s 30, hee), as well as an arrogance that suggests that the tribe should defer to him because he’s… well, Ozzy. While Ozzy sleeps off his labor in the hammock, Cochran continues to plot his demise.
After losing the challenge, Cochran continues to show off his work ethic, and Ozzy interviews that it’s “too late” for that. Wait, what? You called him out at the beginning for not working, and all he’s done since then is try to prove you wrong, and you’d still prefer to cast him out than two girls who do NOTHING? Didn’t he see Revenge of the Nerds? I’d love to see a reboot of that, right now!
Jim takes Keith aside and tells him his plan to vote out Elyse. Keith is in agreement, but doesn’t want to break Ozzy’s trust just yet. Blindsiding Elyse is the same as blindsiding Ozzy, and he’s got mere hours to think of a way to vote Elyse out without starting a war. Whitney, opening her mouth for what seems like the first time ever, proposes an idea: Ozzy and Elyse are going to vote for Cochran, and Jim, Dawn and Cochran will vote for Elyse, so therefore, if she and Keith throw their votes for some random person, then Elyse will be gone and she and Keith can just claim it was a misunderstanding. Well… Ozzy made it quite clear that Cochran was to be the one, so I’m not sure how that’s going to go, but that’ll have to be in next week’s recap, should this plan go through.
Tribal Council
Jeff opens the Q&A by asking Ozzy where they are right now from a strategy standpoint, and he replies that the merge is still off in the distance, and keeping the tribe strong is still the most important thing. Elyse adds that strength is defined by both how they perform in challenges as well as how much they contribute at camp. By that criteria, Dawn should be up before Cochran, shouldn’t she? I mean, she had a great challenge last week, but she hasn’t been busting it like Cochran has. And I don’t think Cochran has single-handedly cost them any challenges… I guess it is just that whole jock-nerd mentality.
It is then revealed that the challenge really took its toll on everyone: lacerated gums, chipped teeth, Ozzy even said his jaw was partially dislocated. Ouch. Cochran seems to have been the only one to emerge unscathed. Jeff then asks Dawn whether she finds Cochran’s social ineptness endearing or annoying, and she replies that she leans toward the former, saying that Survivor is all about bringing together people who are as different as possible, which is definitely one of the show’s better qualities. Keith, meanwhile, is leaning the other way. Oh-oh. Jeff espouses that Cochran just can’t catch a break.
Elyse then basically says bye-bye to Cochran by saying that his experience with doing the show he loves will continue whether it’s back at camp or on RedIsle. Jeff asks Jim whether voting someone off is personal or merely strategic, and he rightly points out that there’s no way to differentiate between the two, because whoever goes is a person with feelings. Unless it’s Christine.
Voting time. Jim votes for Elyse, leaving the E’s off her name. Ozzy votes for Cochran, calling him the “Coch-Train”, which is just dumb. No HII being played today, so Jeff collects the urn, and out come the slips. Cochran. Elyse. Cochran. Elyse. Dawn. (Ah-ha!) Dawn. And the final vote goes to… Elyse. Ozzy and his sheepdog-hair can only lower his head. Her torch is snuffed, and off she goes. I’ve nothing against Elyse, she was just a pawn in this game of chess between Ozzy and Jim, and I hope she disposes of Christine next week.
Next week: Ozzy divorces himself from the tribe. And from the looks of the Immunity Challenge, it looks like Upolu’s momentum may indeed continue. Here’s hoping.
