'Survivor: Caramoan' (CBS)
Quick Note: We’re going to be bringing you all kinds of “Survivor” fun this season including episode recaps, exit interviews, and Power Rankings with Michael Skupin. Be sure to follow me on Twitter (@gordonholmes) for up-to-the-minute news and info.
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Last Week: Hanging with the bros was easy for Cochran to resist, Malcolm was gifted an idol despite having one on his wrist, Michael became the first name on the jury member list, and Dawn made a move that left many people…annoyed.
39 Days, 20 People, 1 “Survivor” Blog
Let’s take a look at the tribe as it currently stands…
The Enil Edam Tribe (wearing green)
Andrea – Entertainment Host and Writer, 23
Brenda – Paddleboard Company Owner, 30
Cochran – Harvard Law Student, 25
Dawn – English Professor/Power Rankings Champ, 42
Eddie – Firefighter/EMT, 23
Erik – Comic Book Artist, 27
Malcolm – Bartender, 25
Phillip – Chief Executive Officer of Enter Software Sales, 54
Reynold – Sales, 30
Sherri – Fast Food Franchisee, 41
Another Quick Aside: Other potential headlines included; “Major Meltdawn,” “The Break of Dawn,” “Woe Is Meehan,” and “Cry, Cry Again.”
The post-Tribal fallout starts back at camp where Stealth R Us Too is holding a quick meeting sans Malcolm. Andrea is encouraged because they have the numbers and Eddie, Reynold, and Malcolm don’t have an idol. Dun dun dun…
Oh…and Stealth R Us Too does a chant where they say, “S-R-Us.” This immediately makes me think of “The Princess Bride’s,” “Rodents of unusual size? I don’t think they exist.”
Great, now I want a peanut.
The next morning, a chat between Cochran and Phillip is interrupted by some kind of emergency. Apparently Dawn lost a retainer that had her bottom teeth in the weird lagoon. She’s in terrible shape emotionally, and says she’ll pull herself from the game if they can’t find it.
Fortunately, some girl named Brenda does some diving and manages to retrieve the lost dental appliance. The two bond over Brenda’s act of heroism.
Reward Challenge Time: The players will be divided into two teams of five. One by one, the players will race through a series of obstacles. They’ll then enter a muddy pit where they’ll dig for a bag of balls. Once all of the bags have been retrieved, they’ll shoot them into a hoop. First team to get all of their balls into the hoop wins a trip to a resort for a delightful lunch.
This challenge seems familiar. Wanna bet Malcolm pulls all of the bags out of the mud pit for his team?
The purple team is Reynold, Erik, Dawn, Cochran, and Phillip against the orange team of Andrea, Brenda, Eddie, Malcolm, and Sherri.
The challenge starts and Malcolm does indeed pull a page from the Penner playbook and uncovers all of the bags. However, Reynold sees what he’s up to and copies him. This move, along with Sherri’s trouble with a balance beam helps purple get off to a major lead.
Purple begins shooting while orange is still two people behind and easily wins the reward.
At the resort, Phillip craps up the pool by jumping into it while still covered in mud. Erik turns this into a clever metaphor for how Phillip plays the game.
Later, Dawn lets Phillip and Cochran know that she’s worried about Andrea pairing up with Reynold’s bro-liance. Phillip doesn’t buy it because Andrea’s already been a target. He then says that Dawn is “totally a lunatic.” Man, you’re having a rough day when Phillip thinks you’re crazy.
Cochran tries to talk Dawn down, but she needs some alone time. Cochran’s worried she might be the second person to lose their mind this season. Someone better hide the rice.
The next morning, Dawn feels better because she was finally able to get some sleep. Stealth R Us Too holds another pow-wow and it’s unanimous that Reynold’s time is up. So…he’s going to win immunity, right?
Immunity Challenge Time: Players will race across a platform and into the ocean. They’ll swim under the platform, emerge on the other side, climb back up, grab a ring, then put it on a post. There will be two heats, the first two finishers from each heat will face off for immunity.
Round One: Reynold and Andrea beat Cochran, Dawn, and Sherri.
Before round two kicks off, Phillip pulls himself from the challenge because he’s uncomfortable being underwater for so long. Apparently this is because of something that happened when he was a boy.
Round Two: Malcolm and Brenda defeated Eddie and Erik. Poor Eddie, he had the challenge won, but he screwed up putting his ring on the post.
Final Round: There are five rings for this round. Malcolm and Reynold are neck and neck the whole time, but Reynold picks up the win. It’s like I’m psychic…
Afterwards, both sides go on an idol hunt. Well, except for Phillip. Maybe he was traumatized by an idol as a kid.
Eddie, Malcolm, Dawn, and Andrea are searching…and Malcolm finds an idol! What?! Why would there be a second idol out there? Or did Malcolm hide his own so he could find it in front of Eddie or Reynold?
Stealth R Us is cool with it though. They’ll just split the vote between Eddie and Malcolm, then boot Eddie. Unless Malcolm plays both idols…which would be awesome, but probably shortsighted.
That night at Tribal Council, Eddie knows he’s doomed, but he has enjoyed the ride.
Andrea lets everyone know that Malcolm found the idol. Malcolm smiles and puts it on.
Cochran admits that Reynold was the first choice to go home because he’s so charming.
Probst then tells Phillip that he made “Survivor” history by sitting out of a challenge without the promise of a sandwich or Lunchables or something. Phillip explains that when he was a kid he got trapped underwater and it’s always been a fear of his.
Andrea thinks people are paranoid because she’s close with Eddie, Reynold, and Malcolm.
Then…Malcolm pulls out his second idol.
Wha-what?! I think I’d be mad if I was Reynold. Well, not too mad.
All of the sudden, all of the Stealth R Us Tooers start whispering about who to vote for. Brenda says, “Andrea.” Andrea says, “Phillip.” Oh man…
Eddie laughs and dubs their alliance “The Three Amigos.” Somewhere in the distance a mail plane crosses the sky.
Malcolm then tosses some gasoline on the fire by saying that the Amigos are voting for Phillip because he’s a fun sponge who sucks the fun out of the group.
Erik then raises the possibility that they might not play the idols. Phillip agrees and he thinks they should vote the way they had intended to.
Voting Time: Cochran’s vote isn’t shown, but he says this Tribal is why he still loves “Survivor.” You and me both, buddy. Erik votes for “Fillup!,” and the rest of the votes are secret.
Probst asks if anyone wants to play an idol. Eddie and Malcolm both do. We’ve got two votes for Malcolm, four votes for Eddie, two votes for Phillip and the eleventh person to be eliminated from “Survivor: Caramoan – Fans vs. Favorites” and the second member of the jury is…Phillip.
You see, Phillip…that’s what you get for messing up the pool.
Verdict: Wow…just wow. They said this was the craziest Tribal ever, and they certainly delivered. That was awesome.
However, I think Malcolm could’ve done much better with a public idol and a secret idol than he’ll do with Eddie by his side. But, we shall see.
Who’s Going to Win? Can the Amigos get back into it? Can Stealth R Us Too get along without a Specialist? Erik’s looking better and better as a fringe guy. Still my day-one pick.
Power Rankings Results: Michael Skupin had Phillip in spot eight, I had him in spot five. So, the current score is Team Skupin 113, Team Lightning Punch 130.
Any questions? Drop me a line on Twitter: @gordonholmes
Tags: jeff probst, survivor, survivor caramoan, survivor fans vs favorites
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