Last Week: Stephenie’s shoulder was separated, Rupert’s toe was twisted, the Dragon Slayer became the Dragon Player, and the show got a little bit healthier as it is now 100% Sugar free…
39 Days, 20 People, 1 “Survivor” Blog
Here are the tribes…
The Hero Tribe (wearing blue)
Rupert Boneham – 45
James Clement – 32
Colby Donaldson – 35
Cirie Fields – 39
Amanda Kimmel – 24
Stephenie LaGrossa – 29
James “JT” Thomas Jr. – 25
Tom Westman – 45
Candice Woodcock – 27
The Villain Tribe (wearing red)
Tyson Apostol – 30
Randy Bailey – 50
Sandra Diaz-Twine – 34
Danielle DiLorenzo – 28
Russell Hantz – 37
Jerri Manthey – 38
“Boston” Rob Mariano – 33
Parvati Shallow – 27
Benjamin “Coach” Wade – 38
Courtney Yates – 28
We start off back at the Villains camp and Boston Rob is annoyed. Rain is pouring down, everybody is complaining, and nobody is helping him start a fire. It’s almost like he’s part of a tribe specifically made up of people with negative traits.
The next morning the villainous ones get to work crafting a new shelter. Randy lets us know that this is the fourth design for the shelter, and each new iteration has been worse than the one before it. Kind of like the Baldwin brothers.
Courtney fills us in on how annoyed Boston Rob is getting with the other members of the tribe who clearly don’t know what they’re doing. She hopes Boston Rob doesn’t drop dead or they’ll be in big trouble. I guess she hasn’t seen this week’s preview.
Over at the Heroes tribe everything is all unicorns and cupcakes. They are working together like a well-oiled machine.
Well, not everything is perfect. Rupert and Stephenie are having a fight over what all Survivors fight over – food. Forty years from now when I’m recapping “Survivor: Jupiter” you can bet they’ll be feuding over space coconuts.
Back at the Villains camp, Boston Rob is still peeved with how the construction of their new Death Star is going. On top of that he’s feeling sick and dizzy.
Meanwhile the villainous girls are complaining because the Heroes tribe got all the studs and the Villain tribe got Randy. I’d say “Poor Randy,” but he doesn’t care, so why should I?
Boston Rob decides to take a break and take a walk. While he’s away he apparently passes out. I couldn’t really tell what happened because the cameras didn’t catch it.
Jerri discovers him and is understandably freaked out. He weakly tells her to get help and now I’m understandably freaked out.
The medical staff and Jeff Probst are called in. This is getting a little scary as Rob is even having trouble drinking water. It’s very reminiscent of what happened to Russell Swan last season.
Fortunately, they claim he looks worse than he actually is. He seems to be an emotional wreck. I’m not sure if he’s talking about how rough it is being out there or how hard it is being away from his new baby.
Finally, the real Boston Rob breaks through and he says he’s going to win the game. Yes! Boston Rob at his best is a good time.
Immunity Challenge: Two members of each tribe will race to roll a large tribe-colored crate across the field. When they’re done two more members of their team will go to retrieve another crate. Once all of the crates are at one end, they’ll stack them and spell their tribe’s name.
The first tribe to complete their puzzle wins immunity as well as a tarp and other camp goodies.
J-Pro lets us know that this challenge was used in Tocantins, so JT, Coach, and Tyson have some experience with it. To even the teams Courtney and Randy will sit out for the bad guys while Rupert will sit for the do-gooders. Rupert is displeased with this decision.
Quick Aside: Rupert is getting a terrible edit. All they show him doing is complaining. What’re they doing to America’s favorite “Survivor?”
The first pairings feature Danielle and Boston Rob against Cirie and JT. Cirie and JT utilize JT’s Tocantins experience to get off to a good lead. The Heroes maintain their lead throughout the cube rolling portion.
And in the “Ouch” portion of the challenge, Parvati catches a corner of a cube to the face courtesy of Russell. Stephenie’s shoulder must’ve loved that.
During the puzzle portion the Villains once again make up a ton of time as the Heroes are getting very frustrated. At one point James yells at Stephenie. Her shoulder probably didn’t love that.
Eventually, on the strength of Boston Rob and Russell’s backs, the Villains complete their puzzle and take their second straight immunity challenge.
When it’s over, James continues yelling at his teammates in a very unheroic fashion. Even going so far as to refer to Stephenie as his team’s “Kryptonite.” The Legion of Doom wearing the red buffs must’ve loved watching that.
Back at the Heroes camp, JT is annoyed because the plan going into the challenge was for JT to take charge of the puzzle and nobody was listening.
During a team meeting, James again lets everyone know that they aren’t working well together. He may have used some potty mouth to do this.
Tom lets us know that he doesn’t appreciate the way James is talking to the team. But James is built like a WWE action figure so they may need him for challenges.
Meanwhile, the Villains are enjoying their tarp. But true to “Survivor” form, nobody is happy with Boston Rob trying to be the leader. Not one to let anyone steal his thunder, Russell runs out and catches one of Shambo’s chickens.
Politicking around the Heroes camp involves James telling everyone that Stephenie should go home because her Ulong tribe didn’t win a single immunity challenge in Palau. That’s like blaming Julia Roberts for “Valentine’s Day” being terrible.
JT does us all a favor by breaking down how the alliances are shaping up thus far. He makes it sound like Cirie and Candice are on Team JT. While other factions include James, Amanda, and Rupert on one side and Colby, Tom, and Stephenie on the other.
Tom hatches a plan to let Cirie and Candice think they’re next on the chopping block after Stephenie.
Smart.
That night at tribal council, James and Stephenie get into it almost immediately. James again brings up what happened to Stephenie’s tribe in Palau. He’s like a lawyer bringing up precedent.
As James continues to lay into Stephenie, both Colby and Tom come to her defense in heroic fashion. They don’t think Stephenie should be singled out. James sarcastically says he was referring to “Y’all.”
Amanda is very concerned that her past affiliations with the Micronesia crew could land her in hot water.
Voting Time: Stephenie votes for Amanda, Amanda votes for Stephenie, and the rest will have to wait.
Fortunately this is a written recap, so you only have to wait one sentence. One vote for Stephenie, one vote for Amanda, one vote for Stephenie, one vote for Amanda, one vote for Stephenie, one vote for Amanda, one vote for Stephenie, and the second person voted out of “Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains” is…Stephenie.
Well, thanks for reading my “Survivor” recap I hope…
WAIT! As Stephenie is having her torch snuffed she says, “Next time Y’ALL lose a challenge, a little less cursing off your tribe might help.”
James responds with, “Keep your mouth shut.”
Nice of James to give Tom and Colby something to work with when they get back to camp.
Verdict: This season is off to a super hot start. Villain Boston Rob is looking like a million bucks while Hero favorites James and Rupert are looking like jerks.
Who’s Going to Win? We have no idea what’s going on alliance-wise over at the Villain camp, but they’re looking great thus far. So, shot in the dark…I’m feeling good about Jerri.
Power Rankings Update: I jumped out to a huge lead over our “Survivor” All Star team by scoring fifteen points while Tina Wesson netted her team only three points. One champion down, another coming next week as I go toe-to-toe with “Survivor: Samoa” winner Natalie White. Be sure to check back Tuesday for our picks.
More “Survivor” Fun: Check out Former Players Share Their Oddest Memories and special analysis from former champion Jenna Morasca.
What Do You Think? Is James on the wrong tribe? How long can Boston Rob last surrounded by evil villains? Who’s your pick to win?
Tags: boston rob mariano, jeff probst, rupert boneham, Russell Hantz, survivor, Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains
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