Survivor 14.10 "I'll lick your feet, man!"

Hokay, I'm not gonna make it, we know this, but maybe, just maybe, I can catch up before the finale on Sunday--that's right, SUNDAY!

REALITY ROUNDUP

I was so happy that Charla and Mirna lost The Amazing Race that it almost made up for whatstherefaces winning, the couple. I was hoping the beauty queens would win. But I've got this nagging feeling that we haven't seen the last of Charla and Mirna. I'll bet CBS finds away to foist them on us somehow. As for American Idol, I'm thrilled with the Final Four, still rooting hard for Melinda. But enough about that, onto SURVIVOR

CH-CH-CHANGES

I hate when I reuse a chapter heading, and I know I've used that before but, I'm in a hurry here. Everyone's reeling from Michelle's ouster. Earl is sorry to lose his loyal friend, while Mookie is furious at Dreamz for keeping Stacy, who he fears will be a more attractive Finalist than either Mookie or Dreamz. Also, Mookie has to pretend that he misunderstood what Alex wanted him to do, since he went against Alex to cast a vote for Stacy. Alex is also angry that Mookie doesn't want to pass the Idol from Horseman to Horseman. He suspects, rightly, that Mookie is playing his own game (but why shouldn't he?). Boo approaches Earl about replacing Michelle against Ed, Alex and Mookie. Both sides think that Dreamz is loyal to them, probably because I think Dreamz IS loyal to both sides at the same time, because that's possible in DREAMZLAND. Earl isn't thrilled with having Boo onboard but he likens the game at this point to a chess match where, "...you've lost good pieces."

THE VERY REVEALING REWARD CHALLENGE (AKA EVERYBODY HATES STACY)

For the Reward Challenge, Bula Bula takes part in a SURVIVOR favorite: the very revealing quiz. This is the game where everyone privately answers a series of questions, and then publicly they have to guess what answer was given by the majority of the group. You may remember in Exile Island. Shane throwing a hissy over being dubbed "The person who wrongly believes they're controlling the game," and Courtney having a meltdown for being called...well, everything else that was bad. THis time around, the designated punching bag is Mean Stacy, who handles it all with a bemused smile. Probably because truly doesn't care what this bunch of "losers" thinks about her or anything else. When you get a question right, you get to smash somebody's something, and they only have three somethings--you all know the drill. I won't get into who knocks who out because there aren't any surprises. The winner gets an overnight stay at a spa. Earl is voted the person who most would trust with their life, while Boo gets called the least likely to be invited to a family dinner, which seems to hurt the big guy, awww. Alex is singled out for his "sense of entitlement," while Yau-man is the majority's "stranded on (another?) desert island companion. Stacy is voted as the person no one wants to see after the game, and she gives everyone a "I don't' want to see you all, either," shrug and smile. Dreamz is voted smelliest while Alex gets the dreaded "Who mistakenly believes they're controlling this game" tag, but he laughs it off because he's sure he's not mistaken. Stacy is called out for "Wasting This Great Opportunity," and Yau is dubbed "Something I Can't Read Because I Have Really Bad Handwriting." I'm sure it was a good thing, everyone likes Yau. Cassandra winds up winning the reward. She sends Mookie to Exile and decides to wait until they get back to camp to pick three people to go with her. Edgardo does nothing for his case by sputtering, "I'll lick your feet, man!"

BACK AND FORTH

Mookie is so bent about being Exiled, he decides to make getting rid of Cassandra his number one priority, even though he could certainly beat her in 9 out of 10 Individual Immunity Challenges, probably. He's taking it waaaaay to seriously, ranting about how Cass "doesn't know who she's dealing with," blah blah blah. Dude, suck it UP, Earl has been in Exile like 18 times, he never threw a fit. Mookie decides that Earl had to have found the other Idol...but damn that Cassandra! Gah! She must pay! Mookie's not very good at this game, if he cant' try and focus on knocking out Earl and Yau. Back at camp, Cassandra decided to reward Yau for all his hard work, and then she takes Boo and Dreamz for strategic purposes, which is smart. Boo could use some reassurance, and Dreamz needs to be seduced over to their side--I was happy to see that Cass knows how wishy washy Dreamz is. She likes him--but she doesn't trust him, which is wise. Then we have the usual,"Food Rules!" stuff before Yau goes about trying to, as he so colorfully puts it, "brainwash" Dreamz. They tell him they want Alex out of the game, and Dreamz tells us that his heart is telling him to dump the Horsemen and go with this group...which lasts a few hours. Once he returns to camp, he's quick to seek out Alex and tell him that the other alliance is gunning for him. When Alex brings up his concerns about Mookie's priorities, Dreamz makes a very humorous analogy, likening Mookie's relationship to the Immunity Idol to Gollum's devotion to his "precious" ring. THEN, when Earl tells Dreamz he doesn't trust him, Dreamz reveals that Alex, Mookie and Ed are in joint custody of the Immunity Idol (Dreamz doesn't know about Yau's). It's really fun trying to figure out what the hell Dreamz is thinking...like I said before, I think he's sincere in the moment of telling people he's on their side, but he's really only on his side. He doesn't seem to fear a consequence from playing both sides, and indeed, so far he's benefited...

IMMUNITY CHALLENGE

Jeff retires the team Immunity Idol and reveals the HUGE Immunity Necklace. The challenge is one of strength, will and perhaps security--everyone stands in a little stall with their feet resting on small pegs on either side. You can't use your hips, back or butt to brace yourself, just your hands and arms. It's brutal, but even the first person out, Cassandra, lasts a decent 22 minutes. Then Edgardo's out at 30, Earl's out, Mookie's out at 40. The foothold is made smaller at one hour in, and Alex and Dreamz soon exit, followed by a surprisingly tough Stacy. Finally, at like, an hour and a half, Boo falls and Yau wins Immunity and chirps, "I could stay another hour," which would be pretty braggy coming from anyone else, but not so much Yau, he's just THAT lovable.

THE FOUR HORSEMEN'S APOCALYPSE

Well now, it's scramble for power. THe Horsemen settle on Cassandra, and not just because of Mookie's petty grudge but because she's tight with Earl and Yau but is almost certainly not going to be in possession of the Immunity Idol they assume Earl of possibly Yau has. Dreamz is wary of Stacy and, ironically, warns Alex and Mookie not to trust her, even though he's the one that's gonna spell their doom. He is right about Stacy though, who seems to have a soft spot for Yau. When he tells her to vote against Alex instead of Earl, she listens. When Alex comes to her to make sure she's on board with HIS plan, she starts babbling about being distracted and having a headache. Alex wonders what that could mean and Ed correctly decodes, "That means she's not with us, dude!" But the Horsemen THINK they know exactly who's gonna be targeted, because Dreamz told them it was definatley ALex. So Ed and Alex lobby mookie to pass the Idol to Alex so they can use it at Tribal Council and blindside their enemies. It's actually an awesome idea, except...it depends on slippery Dreamz, who quickly runs to Earl and company and tells them that ALex is now in possession of the Idol! The Six decide to vote out Mookie, but after Dreamz leaves, Stacy comes up with an anti-Dreamz insurance plan and suggests they all vote out Edgardo without telling Dreamz, in case Dreamz has an outbreak of complete honesty and warns Mookie to get the Idol back. I hate to say this, but, kudos Stacy. Alex can't help but boast that his use of the Immunity Idol will go down in Survivor History as one of the game's greatest Survivor moves of ALL TIME. Well, it IS memorable, I'll give him that! :D

TRIBAL COUNCIL

THe jury is brought in, and Michelle and Earl exchange warm smiles. The questions with Jeff are actually pretty boring because everyone is so intent on keeping their plans a secret, no one really says to much--except Dreamz, who of course rambles on about swing voters and changing alliances and how CRAZY this vote is gonna be...in a way that probably makes everyone worry a little about what the heck he's done or is about to do. The votes are cast and ALex asks if anyone wants to play an Idol and Alex struts up to Jeff, very pleased with himself, and Earl can't hold in his great big gotcha smile, though ALex, Ed and Mookie are too pleased with their own awesomeness to notice that no one seems all that stunned or upset by the move. Jeff reads Dreamz' vote for Mookie and then the three votes for Cassandra, the three votes that the Three Horsemen think is gonna be enough because the next 6 votes are all gonna be voided votes for Alex...right? I will now use emoticons to show how quickly Alex and Ed's expressions changed when Edgardo's name game up :D to :/ in like, half a second! It was sooo sweet! It registers swiftly: they have been outwitted and outplayed. Ed is voted out and Mookie and ALex have no Idol and Dreamz sold them out. Jeff informs the gang that the Idol Alex misplayed will be rehidden and new clues will be offered at Exile Island.

Alex leaves the game in 9th place, which used to be the first juror spot. In Season One, witty Greg, inventor of the coconut phone finished here, while in the Outback, tough chick Alicia's finger-waving days were cut short. In Africa, snarky Kelly was the victim of a paranoid Lex, who mistakenly blamed her for casting a meaningless vote against him (T-Bird did it). In the Marquesas, arrogant Johnny Pots and Pans cried his way into obscurity when the underdogs outwitted the Smugglies in a truly awesome power play, whereas buxom Erin was yet another forgettable also-ran from Survivor's worst season, Thailand. In the Amazon, we lost Dave the clueless rocket scientist and in the Pearl Islands we saw the last of Ryan-O, aka Rhino, aka Friend to Pelicans. In Vanuatu, a bitter Sarge was betrayed by runner-up Twila and in Palau, Coby pretty much sabotaged himself by becoming a petulant motormouth, cutting ahead of Steph in the ouster line. In Guatemala, sweet Bobby Jon was ALSO the victim of the Immunity Idol--Gary the allegedly famous football player found the Idol, played it BEFORE the votes were cast, as used to be the protocol, and Bobby Jon was next to go. In Exile, Austin the writer who was a nice enough guy when he wasn't comparing himself to Jesus went home and last season, the entertaining, though hard to understand Nathan was betrayed by shifty Jonathan, after stupidly saving his butt a few times.

EVICTED SURVIVOR FUN FACT

Edgardo played on his native Puerto Rico's David Cup tennis team--pretty impressive.

Next up...It's a race against time...for ME! :D Peace Out!

Christine