'Survivor: One World' (CBS)
Last Week: An alliance among Manono’s misfits began to take root, Kat blew a challenge and released a controversial toot, and in the end poor Nina was given the Tribal Council boot.
What?! “Toot” is putting it delicately. And my little nephew will appreciate the term.
39 Days, 18 People, 1 “Survivor” Blog
Let’s see where the two tribes currently stand…
The Salani Tribe (wearing teal)
Alicia – 25, Special Ed Teacher
Chelsea – 26, Medical Sales
Christina – 29, Career Consultant
Kat – 22, Timeshare Rep
Kim – 29, Bridal Shop Owner
Monica – 41, Ex-NFL Player’s Wife
Sabrina – 33, High School Teacher
The Manono Tribe (wearing orange)
Bill – 28, Stand-Up Comedian
Colton – 21, College Student
Jay – 25, Model
Jonas – 37, Sushi Chef
Leif – 27, Phlebotomist
Matt – 33, Attorney
Michael – 30, Banker
Tarzan – 64, Plastic Surgeon
Troyzan – 50, Swimsuit Photographer
Set your DVR to record “Survivor: One World”
Quick Aside: Before we get into this mess, it’s important for me to say that the Super Dude alliance knows that Colton has the immunity idol. This was revealed in a bonus scene last week.
“Country Club” Colton and “No Nickname Yet” Jonas start the evening off on a classy note by inviting the SaLadies over to their camp. Why the invite? Because a major storm is on its way. The women decide to stick it out.
CUT TO: The women freezing and starving in their tiny tarp-less shelter.
The next morning, Troyzan and Colton take pity on Salanians and allow them to warm up by their fire. At first, Kim wanted to be tough and Girl Power-y, but her coldness won her over.
Matt returns from crab hunting and is not pleased to see the ladies all up in his camp. They owe him a chicken, durnit!
Reward Challenge: The teams will square off in head-to-head memory contests. A curtain will be raised over a series of items. When the player feels they know the order of the items, they’ll drop the curtain and head to another station to recreate the item lineup. First person to get the items in the right order wins. The first tribe to win five rounds wins fishing gear and momentum. They will not, however, receive a momentum idol.
Tarzan and Leif will sit out for Manono.
Round One: Sabrina defeats Matt.
Round Two: Monica gets the best of Colton.
Round Three: Alicia beats Jay.
Round Four: Troyzan bizarrely drops the curtain immediately. Of course, both he and Kat get it wrong. This happens seven times before Kat manages to topple Troyzan.
Round Five: Christina gets the win over Bill. Salani wins reward and momentum.
Quick Note: Former “Survivor” Power Rankings champion Tamara “Taj” George is this week’s “Survivor” original. Love her.
Back at camp, Salani uses their newfound confidence to try to fix up their shelter and start a fire. Unfortunately the dampness around camp necessitates another fire-bargaining session with the boys. Matt must hold his spare embers in high regard as he isn’t happy about giving one up so easily.
Oddly enough, Colton agrees with him. Colton lets us know that he’s a Republican and does not believe in handouts. Meanwhile in Philadelphia, smoke starts to pour out of my computer as I try to type too many jokes at once.
Quick Aside: The tribes are so at war over every little thing. It seems like very short-sighted strategy to me. I’ve got to wonder how differently this season would’ve turned out if Michael hadn’t gone on his early looting spree.
Eventually, the guys decide that they will trade some time with the Salani boat in exchange for fire. Chelsea takes this offer back to her tribemates and has a bit of a breakdown during the discussion.
Kat tries to make Chelsea feel better by saying, “We’re just girls, we’re not meant to be beaten down this way.” By the way, that sound you heard in the background was every female “Survivor” fan in the world simultaneously punching a wall.
Things seem to pick up the next morning as three of the women do their best Ozzy Lusth impersonations and participate in some successful spear fishing.
Immunity Challenge Time: One person from each tribe will act as a caller, while the other members will be split into pairs and blindfolded. The caller will have to lead the pairs through an obstacle course. Once they’re through the course, they’ll release bags of puzzle pieces. Once they have all five bags, the caller will then complete the puzzle. First tribe to finish their puzzle wins immunity. And momentum…probably.
Colton and Jay will sit out for Manono.
Bill will call for Manono while Sabrina will call for Salani.
Fun Fact: Tarzan and Troyzan are paired together. How could they NOT be?
Not a ton to describe here except for some stumbling and puzzle-piece recovering. The men jump out to a super-huge lead as they have all five bags while the women are still struggling with their third.
Eventually, the women recover all of their bags and Sabrina manages to gain some serious ground on Bill. This is a very tough, very cool, tree-shaped puzzle. They’re both tied with one piece left and Sabrina manages to win it for Salani!
Now who are “just girls?”
Back at camp, the guys are trying to make Bill feel better about blowing the huge lead he was given. Colton, however, isn’t a Bill-leaver. He even calls him “ghetto trash.” Uh oh…
Colton calls his misfit clique together and tells them that Bill should go home first. Others would rather see Matt go home first.
Jay swings by their little pow-wow. They let him know that he backed the wrong horse and is welcome to join their clique. Matt also pays them a visit, but he isn’t offered the same invitation.
Matt pulls Troyzan aside later and tries to get him to join the Super Dudes. If I were Matt, my pitch would’ve included, “I want you to be the last Tarzan-themed nickname guy standing.”
Troyzan doesn’t seem to be buying it though. He immediately spills his guts to Colton. Colton seems to be OK with this because Matt is the head of the snake and you’ve got to keep the snake from…you know…wiggling.
OK, if anything, I hope that exchange helped the women feel better about their gender. The men on this show aren’t looking so great either.
That night at Tribal Council, fire equals life…etc…
Colton lets us know that he’s comfortable because he has an idol. I’m pretty sure the word “subtle” isn’t in this kid’s dictionary.
Colton goes on to say he’s not going to be a James (Clement), he’s going to play the idol immediately. Ooo…gravedigger burn.
Next up, J-Pro gives Colton grief for spending so much time with the girls.
Bill thinks Colton assumed the guys wouldn’t accept him because he’s gay.
Tarzan believes it’s good to have Colton on their side due to the connections he’s made with the female tribe.
Matt thinks tonight’s vote will set the course for the rest of the game.
Voting Time: Colton claims that someone “pissed off the wrong queen,” and that’s the only thing that was shown.
Jeff tallies and returns. Colton does not play the idol. I actually kinda like that move. Although, I’d wager that you can only play that card once.
One vote for Colton, one vote for Bill, four votes for Matt, and the third person to leave “Survivor: One World” is…Matt.
Verdict: Much better this week. I don’t know if it was the lack of seeing the guys’ strategy, or the weird no-Probst reward challenge, or the way the women were being decimated, but this season has been missing a spark. Here’s hoping this is a step in the right direction.
Who’s Going to Win: Jonas FTW.
Power Rankings Update: Oh crap… “Survivor: South Pacific” champion Sophie Clarke had Matt in the fifteenth spot while Jim Rice had him seventh. That extends the women’s lead to 31 to 19. Hopefully John Cochran can score some points for the guys next week when he faces Christine Shields Markoski.
Any Questions? Drop me a line on Twitter: @gordonholmes
Tags: jeff probst, survivor, survivor one world
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