Finally, the real game can now begin. The two tribes are finally merged! Once everyone gets to their new beach, they eat, drink, and be merry. Lisa takes it upon herself to hang everyone's clothes out to dry. Upon doing so, she discovers Malcolm's hidden immunity idol. Honestly, I think Lisa did this on purpose. She could have been putting up a front the entire time - - acting like she was doing something nice for the tribe, when in reality, she was actually looking to see if anyone had an idol. Lisa comes off as an extremely sweet lady. She could easily fool anyone into believing that it was just an accident. If this was her plan from the very beginning, then she is brilliant. If not, then she should say that it was her original plan anyway. Haha. Malcolm ends up making a final three deal with Lisa (and Denise). Let's see how long this lasts. :)
The dynamic of the new tribe is something I have never seen before. Everyone is plotting against their original tribemates. Original tribe alliances almost seem to be no more - - with the exception of a few. RC and Skupin think about flopping to the Kalabaw tribe because at least that way they could make it into a final six, as opposed to a final seven with Tandang. Abi, Pete, Malcolm, Artis, and Jeff are thinking about splitting the votes between RC and Penner. This will definitely be an interesting tribal - - and for the first time, I don't exactly have an opinion on what these people should do. All of the ideas that are being thrown around are intelligent, logical and thought-provoking.
I was really surprised by a lot of people in the individual immunity challenge. Pete, Skupin, and Penner were the first three men out. To me, it almost seemed like they eliminated themselves so they didn't appear to be huge physical threats. If this was the case, then I think it's the stupidest thing that Skupin and Pete could have done. You should never feel safe enough to throw a challenge. Penner, on the other hand, already has a hidden immunity idol, so I could kind of see why he would give up so quickly. Once again, this is just me making assumptions. Maybe they actually sucked in this challenge. I was also impressed with Carter. There's no way I would assume that someone would pay back what was owed to me. Carter did the right thing by not giving the win to Jeff. In addition, Denise continues to excel in everything she does. I would love to see her win this game.
Finally, tribal council is upon us. This is the first time in Survivor history that one tribe had not been to tribal until they reached the merge. You can tell that everyone is fighting to stay alive in this game. Lisa really brought up some really good points about flipping. As previous seasons have proven, just because you think making the switch to the opposing tribe is a good idea, it also shows that you lack loyalty to those you were previously aligned with. That distrust is the perfect reason to get rid of you once you are no longer deemed valuable. In addition, I'm surprised that RC did not fight harder. Once again, we don't see everything that goes on at tribal, but if I were RC, I would have been like - - "Well, if I didn't dig up the clue, and you say that you didn't dig up the clue, then is there anyone else that you talked to about it?" At least this would have made Abi reconsider everything that had been going on. Maybe RC did pull this card - - but if she did, it was not shown on TV.
I tried to figure out what was going to happen at tribal tonight. If the four Kalabaw stuck with RC and Skupin, then I had a feeling that they would try to get rid of Pete. Skupin already let it be known that Artis, Pete, and Abi were in a strong alliance with each other, so why not try to get rid of the threesome's strongest guy. So, naturally, I had a feeling we would see Pete's name tossed around. However, I don't think that tonight was the best time to throw Penner under the bus. It was clear that there was a lack of communication. It was clear that Penner was feeling uneasy about things. If you make the decision to vote for him, yes you flush out the idol, but you also lose his loyalty. It's called a blindside due to the fact that you make the person you are stabbing in the back feel as comfortably as completely possible, even to the point that you are "letting them decide" who is going home. I am very disappointed in a lot of people tonight. If they truly wanted to blindside Penner, they needed to do a better job about keeping him informed about what was going on. A pissed off Penner is something that I would not want. He's played this game two times already - - he knows a thing or two about "O, O, O" ing a few people. It'll be interesting to see what kind of havoc Penner stirs up next week In closing, I honestly felt bad for RC. She doesn't seem like someone I would get along with in the real world, but she seemed very defeated for a very long time. In the beginning, it almost seemed like she was playing the game a little too hard. Maybe that is what made people distrust her so much. However, in the end, she just seemed like her spirit was broken. If this was the case, then it was her time to go. You should be fighting every step of the way.
Here are the questions that I am left with after this episode:
Why did Pete automatically assume that Denise and Malcolm no longer have an alliance? They went through so much together prior to them being broken up. Never assume anything. Pete, you're an idiot.
Why didn't Skupin vote with RC? They could have gotten Pete out of the game if they really wanted to. What was stopping Skupin?
Will Penner blow up Lisa's secret? I think it's a very big possibility.
Was Lisa just being nice or was she actually looking for something? My intuition tells me that Lisa knew exactly what she was doing. She knew that if someone had a hidden idol, they probably didn't have enough time to hide it. So why not take a chance and try to pull a fast one on the other tribemates. She is sweet enough anyway, who wouldn't believe that she was just trying to do a good deed by hanging everyone's clothes up to dry. (Except where did Penner hide his? Or did I miss that part? Hmmm).
What is going to happen next? The alliances seem to go like this: Abi, Pete, and Artis are a strong three. Denise and Malcolm are a strong two with Lisa being a third since she found Malcolm's hidden stash. The other players in the game are basically floaters at this point and can be used as pawns. Will there be a six against four coming? Will people flop from one alliance to another until only the final three remain? This episode really did a mind-fuck on me, and goes to show that you should expect the unexpected. The unlikely and improbable can and will happen in this game. I can't wait to see what happens next.
Eliminated: Roberta "RC" Saint-Amour, the 27-year-old Investment Banker from New York City.
Until next time. . .
Twitter: @the_timgilmore
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