Watching Survivor

The plotting! The shifting! The alliances! The Ambush! OH MY! Let’s get right into the recap, hm?

Night 24
We pick up right where we left off last week, with the return of the ‘tribe in a tribe’ from Tribal Council where the bastards voted out my cutie Michelle. Tensions are clearly high as people struggle to figure out just who’s aligned with whom, and which members can be trusted completely. (Hello! None of them! ha!)

Mookie admits that he’s upset at Dreamz for voting out Michelle, saying they screwed themselves. Alex claims it was all a misunderstanding that caused him to target Michelle instead of Stacy, and then starts right in on Mookie about his being the one holding onto the immunity idol and how that makes him feel vulnerable, that Mookie has all the power. Mookie tries to protest, but we all know that’s exactly what he’s doing!

Then, Mookie confronts Dreamz about it, asking what he’s supposed to do to preserve themselves, while Alex demands they rotate the idol possession and jumps him about his vote for Michelle. “Trust me, you just screwed both of us!”

Meanwhile, Dreamz is more intent on watching a moth then listening, and looking decidedly… under some influence… while doing it. Not a good look for the boy!

Day 25: The Morning After
Tension is definitely the name of the game at Bula-Bula. Earl is shocked and disappointed to have Stacy return instead of Michelle and mourns the loss of his little spy. Boo makes a move to join Earl, Yau-man, Cassandra. Earl doesn’t trust him, but knows they need his vote. Earl is definitely playing a smart game - more so then I ever thought he would at the beginning of the Season.

Reward Challenge!
Everyone is given a series of questions to answer privately, and then they come back together and Jeff will read the questions, and they answer the question according to what they think the group consensus was. Each Tribe Member has three towers. When they answer correctly, they get to smash another players tower - all three smashed, they are out of the game. Last one standing wins Reward.

The questions:
1. Who would you trust with your life: Earl
Cassandra, Boo and Yau-man got it correct, and without wasting any time knock Stacy out of the game, one - two - three.
2. Who are you least likely to invite to a family dinner: Boo (who’s reply to that was “…wow.”)
Mookie hits Boo, Dreamz hits Boo, Alex his Boo and knocks him out. Cassandra hits Alex.
3. Who most has a sense of entitlement: Alex
Cassandra hits Alex, Mookie hits Earl.
4. Who would you most like to be stranded on an Island with: Yau-man
Everyone got it right except Alex. Earl hits Mookie, Dreamz hits Alex, Edgardo hits Earl, Yau-man hits Edgardo, Cassandra hits Mookie.
5. Who do you not want to see again after the game: Stacy
Dreamz hits Yau-Man, Edgardo retaliates and hits Yau-man, Yau-man hits Dreamz, Mookie hits Cassandra and Cassandra hits Mookie.
6. Who smells the worst (Earl raises his hand. Hahaha!): Dreamz is nodding, he knows.
Cassandra hits Yau-man, Dreamz hits Edgardo.
7. Who mistakingly believes they are in control of the game: Alex
Cassandra takes out Edgardo - and then there were two.
8. Who has wasted this great opportunity: Stacy
Cassandra hits Dreamz.
9. Who out here has surprised you the most with the athleticism: Yau-man
Cassandra is right, hits Dreamz, and wins the Reward challenge without missing a single question! Perhaps Cassandra has been paying more attention then she seems while coasting under the radar!

She sends Mookie to Exile Island, and gets her boarding pass to the yacht, and she also gets to choose three to go with her, once back at camp. She leaves with a big smile, and who can blame her?

Mookie, on exile, is aaaaangry that he’s there and says that Cassandra made the worse mistake of her life. He realizes there must be another idol, and figures Earl has it, wants to take out Cassandra and her alliance - revenge all the way, baby!

Cassandra uses her reward wisely to take Dreamz and Boo so that she can see where exactly they stand in the alliance, and also takes Yau-man, because he works hard and deserves the break on the yacht. Yau-man and Cassandra want to “brainwash them, basically” while they enjoy their reward. Boo is in 100% he says, but they know Dreamz isn’t quite with them yet. He can’t keep it off his face, and they all know he’s waffling.

Day 27
Back at camp, Dreamz tells Alex his name is coming up - and while they’re strategizing, Earl walks up on them and catches Dreamz fraternizing with the enemy. He admits part of him wants to let Dreamz go, that he’s not trusted yet.

Cassandra, Dreamz and Earl talk, and want something solid from Dreamz and to earn their trust, so he up and tells them that Mookie has an immunity Idol. This is where we get the title of this episode, as Earl asks what it looks like and is told “It’s a turtle!” Earl does a pretty good job of acting surprised, and they start thinking about how it will all play out.

Immunity Challenge!
Tribal immunity is no more, it’s all about individual immunity from now on. They will use arms to brace between two walls, while their feet are on two very narrow wooden pegs. Every 30 minutes they step down to a smaller peg (1 in, ½ in, ¾ in). Arms, hands and feet only - no back, butt, hips allowed.

Cassanda is the first one out at 11 minutes.
Edgardo slips off at 22 minutes.
Earl is out at 34 minutes.
Mookie out at 41 minutes.
Alex drops out as they move down again at 1 hour.
Dreamz falls at 1:03.
Stacy is in pain, and falls at 1:15.
Boo slips and recovers. Slips again and recovers, which has Yau-man asking incredulously “How many lives does that guy have?”
Boo struggles, and finally falls.

Yau-man wins first tribal immunity with a grin and the comment “I bet I could stay another hour!” I bet ya could too, Yau-man!

Back at camp, the wriggling and strategizing begins in earnest! It plays out something like this:
Mookie is gunning for Cassandra and her alliance, though they decide to vote Earl at first.
Yau-man talks to Stacy, and says if her heart will stand it, vote Alex, but otherwise, vote anyone but Earl.
Then Alex drags off Stacy and says “I saved you, vote Earl” not knowing she’s already promised Yau-man, and asks if she’s in. She waffles, and Alex is instantly suspicious.
Alex pulls over Edgardo to tattle on Stacy, and Edgardo’s like “That means she’s not in.”

So! The Four Floundering Horsemen, hmm and haw and when told by Dreamz that the vote will go to Alex and Mookie makes a sort of sly hand off - in view of Dreamz.
Dreamz then runs off and tells the other’s that it switched hands and Alex will play the idol.
Earl, Yau-man, Cassandra, Stacy and Boo join Dreamz and decide to vote Mookie.
Then, the Floundering Four decide to vote Cassandra instead.
And HELLO! Get me off of this merry go round! Gah!

Just before Tribal council, in a final strategy move, Earl, Yau-man, Cassandra, Stacy and Boo decide to vote for Edgardo out of the blue, and not tell Dreamz. That gives them a for sure hit on the other alliance, with a 5-person majority vote, without risking the votes being nullified due to the playing of the Immunity Idol.
Dreamz gives Alex a little pat on the back, says that he is voting Cassandra and Alex thinks it’s brilliant, and Dreamz manages not to give it all away. Probably because he didn’t know the last chess move!

And finally, it’s time for…

Tribal Council:
Dreamz answers Jeff - making everyone laugh at his description of the mad scramble that’s been going on since the Immunity challenge, and Edgardo agrees that everyone is paranoid, he doesn’t even know who the majority is at this point. Yau-man, proudly sporting his Immunity Necklace, says it’s the first time he’s come with normal heart rate and low blood pressure, which is “good for an old man!”

Yau-man explains that playing the hidden immunity changes the way they strategize, and perhaps it’s the first hint that the Floundering Four have that things are not quite as they seem. Dreamz says it’ll be crazy, it will change the game, that this vote will separate the rats from the snakes, right here.

Jeff tallies the votes, then asks if anyone has the Hidden Immunity Idol and wants to play it. Everyone looks around at everyone else, and after proper dramatic pause, Alex stands up and presents the Idol while Cassandra smiles, Earl and Yau-man grin knowingly.

The Votes:
Cassandra, Cassandra, Cassandra (Mookie and Alex share a smug look).
Mookie (He pouts)
Edgardo! (Edgardo, Mookie and Alex’s faces fall in a stunning display of shock! Earl starts nodding with a smug grin - even the Jury is smirking as Rocky nudges Michelle and Lisi grins.
Edgardo, Edgardo, and the 10th person voted out and the 4th member of the jury: Edgardo!

Feel them shock waves, baby!

This was the best episode yet, I swear. They let us in on a whole bunch of the strategizing and thought processes much more then they have to date, and it was amusing to see it all pay off for my man Earl and Yau-man! Earl’s clearly got a handle on this game, and he is still my pick for number one!

Also: The Idol will be re-hidden, and new clues on Exile Island, so it might come into play again at a later date. Nice!

Next week: Dreamz has some explaining to do, Alex and Mookie discover Yau-man has the other immunity idol by digging through his things and new plan is born.

So: what were you’re thoughts on tonight’s episode? Chime in! Sound off! Mourn the loss of Edgardo’s sexy accent! You know you want to…

Survivor, Survivor: Fiji!, Moto, Ravu, Immunity, CBS, Jeff Probst, Reality TV, Edgardo, Yau-man