'Survivor: Philippines' (CBS)
XFinityTV is blowing up their coverage of “Survivor: Philippines.” Every Monday Jeff Probst and I will tackle a wide variety of topics with the “Survivor” Question of the Week. Every Tuesday I’ll be squaring off against “Survivor: One World” favorite Kat Edorsson in this season’s Power Rankings challenge. Every Wednesday briefly after the show we’ll have a full episode recap and every Thursday we’ll have an interview with the latest eliminated player. Follow me on Twitter (@gordonholmes) for all the updates!
Set Your DVR to Record “Survivor: Philippines”
Last Week: Penner felt like a turkey for screwing up the previous week’s vote, Malcolm realized he has a lot to be thankful for, Abi didn’t know when to shut her Ply-mouth, Artis’s million-dollar dreams were squashed, and Pete’s future in the game started to look pil-grimm.
Quick Note: Ply-mouth? Pil-grimm? I’m so sorry.
Another Quick Note: We are flying without a DVR tonight. So, this is advanced warning in case I miss anything/screw anything up.
39 Days, 18 People, 1 “Survivor” Blog
Let’s take a look at the tribe as it currently stands…
The Dangrayne Tribe (wearing black)
Abi-Maria – Business Student, 32
Carter – Track Coach, 24
Denise – Sex Therapist, 41
Lisa – Former ‘Facts of Life’ Star, 49
Malcolm – Bartender, 25
Michael – Professional Speaker, Author, and Coach, 50
Penner – Writer, 50
Pete – Engineering Graduate, 24
This evening’s festivities kick off with some post-Tribal fun. Abi is not happy about losing Artis. If only there had been some kind of magical, rooster-shaped piece of wood that could have kept him safe…
Skup lets us know that he made his move because he doesn’t think he would’ve gotten to the final three without breaking up the Tandang Trio. His plan now is to boot Abi and Pete, then at final six everyone say, “Game on.” What does that mean? There will still be alliances and idols and whatnot.
The next morning Abi and Lisa have a bit of a heart-to-heart. Lisa claims that she has never broken their alliance, but is open to breaking it in the future. Gotta give her points for honesty.
Abi doesn’t like that Lisa said that the others were nicer to her. Lisa brushes it off, saying she’d rather be sixth with people who don’t call her out at Tribal. Oh, snap…
Anyone else think Lisa and Denise are pioneering a new way to play this game with their pseudo hyper honesty? If it really is just a game, how can someone stay mad at you if you explain the moves you’ve made?
Reward Challenge Time: The tribes will be divided into two teams. They’ll race to flip drum symbols over so that they’re showing their team’s logo. Meanwhile, the player from the other tribe can flip their symbols back over. First tribe to get all three of their logos up wins a point. First tribe to three wins a spa vacation and a delicious meal.
One team is Skup, Penner, Denise, and Lisa while the other team is Carter, Abi, Malcolm, and Pete.
Round 1: Carter beats Penner.
Round 2: Skupin beats Malcolm when Malcolm forgot to flip one of their drums.
Round 3: Lisa beats Abi when Abi accidentally flipped the wrong drum. Although in her defense, this is like her first challenge ever.
Round 4: Pete beats Denise.
Round 5: Malcolm beats Skupin when Skup flips the wrong drum. Although in his defense, he’s lost a lot of blood.
In an awesome moment, Probst told Carter that he could use a pedicure. Carter looked at his hands and agreed. Jeff then reminded Carter that pedicures usually take place on a person’s feet. Give that man seventeen more Emmys!
At reward, everyone agrees to not discuss strategy. Malcolm initiated this plan because he doesn’t want to go to the final three with anyone he’s hanging out with. That’s smart too, because with two immunity idols between the four of them, they could try to talk him into making some trouble.
They return from the reward and Abi promptly tells everyone about what a wonderful time they had and how much they had eaten. This rubs the rest of Dangrayne the wrong way. She goes into great detail about how she feels like a peasant at camp and a princess at the reward.
The others comment about how she doesn’t have the best social graces. She doesn’t appreciate that and tells them that she won’t be cooking anymore. She informs them that she wants to eat, she just doesn’t want to cook. I gave my girlfriend that speech once. It did not turn out well.
The next day, Skup approaches Malcolm with his “Game on” plan. Malcolm would rather have a four-person voting block and take it to the end. You know, like everyone has done since Richard Hatch invented it 100 years ago.
Malcolm wants his four to include Skup, Lisa, and Denise. Skup goes to Lisa with this. What it boils down to for her is if she trusts Malcolm or Penner more. Lisa says she trusts Penner more. The irony in this is that she was the one to out Malcolm’s idol and break their alliance.
Skup and Lisa approach Penner about aligning with them, but he’s not ready to commit to it just yet. That might be a mistake.
Sure enough, Lisa thinks he missed an opportunity.
Next thing we see, Malcolm, Skup, Lisa, and Denise are shaking hands in the jungle. Game on, indeed.
Immunity Challenge Time: The players will maneuver a buoy on a rope through an obstacle. First five to get to the end will move on. They’ll then maneuver the buoy on a balance beam. First three to get to the end will move on. In the last bit, they’ll maneuver the buoy around a boat, around a platform, and back to the beach. First one to get back to the beach wins immunity.
Round One: Malcolm, Penner, Denise, Skup, and Carter advance. Gah…Pete needed this.
Round Two: Denise, Carter, and Skupin advance.
Round Three: It’s close between Carter and Skup, but Carter and his perfect toenails manage to win.
Welllllp…if it is six against two, they can split the vote between Abi and Pete and it won’t matter if she plays the idol.
Back at camp, Penner lays out the plan to split the vote. If Abi doesn’t play the idol and it’s a tie, they’ll vote for Abi. This always works out, right Tyson?
Abi and Pete decide to target Malcolm because he’s such a threat. They think Skup might flip because he’s easily swayed. Is swaying a way of hurting yourself? Cause if so, then Skup is super easily swayed.
Abi approaches Lisa with this new plan, but Lisa reminds her that they’re not in an alliance anymore. Carter and Penner aren’t buying into it either.
That night at Tribal Council, Malcolm admits that he’s more worried about staying in the game than jury management at this point.
Skup thinks the idol is a factor that you’re always thinking about.
Pete knows he’s slated for execution, but he’s hoping he swayed someone.
Abi regrets how she handled the last Tribal Council. She also thinks that the fact that English isn’t her first language could be working against her.
Denise disagrees because she knows plenty of people who don’t have English as a first language, and they’re fine. She just thinks Abi is a pain.
Abi is upset because Lisa won’t forgive her for not trusting her. That’s perfect for Lisa as she won’t be branded a liar or a backstabber for busting out of the Tandang alliance.
Denise thinks taking Abi to the end is an easy win if that’s how you want to play.
Jeff thinks that maybe Abi’s problems are cultural because she can’t read the social cues her tribemates are giving her.
Abi breaks down in tears. Denise tries to talk to her, but she isn’t letting her finish a sentence.
Voting Time: Abi votes for Malcolm…and that’s the only vote we get to see.
J-Pro tallies and returns. He asks if anyone wants to play an idol…and Abi does.
We’ve got three votes for Abi, one for Pete, one for Malcolm, one for Pete, one for Malcolm, and the eleventh person to leave “Survivor: Philippines” and the fourth member of the jury is…Pete.
Abi forgets her torch on the way out. The question is; did she forget it, or does she want to have a torch, she just doesn’t want to carry it around?
Verdict: Pete going home was not a shocker. I’m assuming Abi’s done next week. So, maybe next week will be snoozer, but I can’t wait till we hit the final six. This season is easily the best thing since “Heroes vs. Villains.”
Who’s Going to Win: Malcolm, Skup, Lisa, and Denise are a respectable final four. Of them, Denise is your winner if she gets to the final Tribal.
Power Rankings Results: Kat and I both thought Pete was a dead engineer/model walking, so we both had him in the eighth slot. So, the current score is Team Kat: 116, Team Awesome Thunder: 118.
Any Questions? Drop me a line on Twitter: @gordonholmes
Tags: jeff probst, jonathan penner, Lisa Whelchel, michael skupin, survivor, survivor philippines
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