I’ve got to say, Gary pulling that Immunity Idol out at Tribal Council will probably go down in history as one of the greatest Survivor scenes ever. It was very well edited and presented, and definitely shocking. Even though I had a feeling he was going to pull it out, it was still a shocking moment to watch, and it was a lot of fun.
So Gary Hogeboom/Hawkins preserves himself for another week, and Bobby Jon was the first one sent to the Jury in his place. So it turns out my prediction was right last week on accident. Either way, the question is whether or not he can keep himself around another week, or if his torch is going to be going out this week.
I think that the best way to approach the predictions this week is to take each player one by one and make my observations.
GARY— Naturally, we’ll start with Gary. I opened up with reaction to his discovery of the hidden Idol. I’m not sure if he can survive another week or not. Obviously, he’ll most likely need the Immunity Necklace around his neck. Politically, I’m not sure if there’s much he can do. Stephenie is, as I said last week, in complete control of this game right now, and the only thing that can save Gary at this point is whether or not they decide to get rid of Jamie like they said they might last week if he hadn’t won Immunity. I think the vote this week will come down to Gary or Jamie. So, all Gary can really do now is push for a Jamie vote and win Immunity.
DANNI— Danni has a lot of spunk, and she showed over on Yaxha that she is definitely a player. The only problem is that nasty numbers game, and while there’s always a chance of the alliance breaking, I don’t know if I see it happening. If something does happen, then I definitely can see Danni slipping through the cracks and making it quite a long way. Either way, I think she is at least safe for this week since Gary is still there and Jamie is really, really annoying people; however, she is the third runner-up for a possible boot choice this week.
STEPHENIE— I went to great lengths last week to talk about Stephenie, and the contrast between her games in Palau and Guatemala. Nothing has changed for her from last week; she is still in control of the alliance, and therefore the tribe, she just has to hope that the others don’t realize it and band together to take her out. Bobby Jon tried to warn them about what she’s capable of, but I really don’t think it stuck with them. The only way she can win this game is if she is sitting next to Judd or Jamie, and that is why she is airtight with Judd.
JUDD— Well, they didn’t play it up very much, which we probably should have realized from the previews, but I’m talking, of course, about him throwing up in the shelter. What a bonehead. Every week he finds more and more ways to show America that a lot of the gray matter is fried/non-existent. I also thought it was curious that he chose both of the Palau people to join him at the King’s table for the Reward feast. Obviously he and Steph are tight allies, that’s no real mystery; but why give other people more opportunities to notice? Add that on to the fact that he very stupidly went out and looking into the trees for the Idol after his “it’s on the ground” lie. Very discreet, Judd. The thing is that now, Gary knows Judd was lying, and it will be interesting to see if and when this comes to bite him in the butt. I really, truly can not see this bumbling buffoon winning the million dollars, and I really hope he doesn’t.
JAMIE— Jamie had a bumpy ride himself this week. First, he made a very gracious move at the end of the Reward Challenge. I’m not going to bother trying to argue whether it had an ulterior motive or not, I really don’t know. I was annoyed, however, by how many times he tried to remind people what he did by saying cliché lines like “nothing tastes better than my self-respect.” Give me a break. And the most confusing part of the entire episode was when Gary told him that he would vote with them, and then he ran to Steph, Judd, and the others and said that Gary told him he was going to vote against him. That definitely came right out of left field, and I don’t know if that was one of the biggest misunderstandings of Survivor history or just an outrageous attempt to lie. Obviously, if he was lying, it worked, because it put Gary’s head on the chopping block officially, but wow. I really have no idea where that whole thing came from. Jamie could easily have been the one to take the Walk of Shame this week if he didn’t have Immunity, and that probably will not change unless he shapes up his game.
RAFE— For someone who knows a lot about the game, he really seems extremely indecisive about making some kind of grand move. Naturally, he’s going to have to if he wants to win. I would love to see him pull in Cindy, Lydia, and Danni into some kind of Final Four alliance. Who knows, he may very well be waiting for that, because after they vote Gary out, they’ll have a 4-3 advantage over Steph, Judd, and Jamie. I don’t really want to see Steph go, but I’d be thrilled to see Judd and Jamie get booted. I hope he is waiting for that, and I hope he doesn’t allow himself to become a sacrificial lamb.
CINDY— Speaking of Cindy, where is her head at? Is it just me, or did we see nothing of her this week? This means one of two things: 1) she is really boring and doesn’t have a lot to say, or 2) her big moment is coming and she’s Final Four, or even Sole Survivor, material. Not much else to say about her except for that; we’ll see what she does this week.
LYDIA— Well, I don’t know what kind of waffling adventure Lydia is going to undergo this week, but I hope it doesn’t become Christy/Dolly Syndrome. You always want to try and commit in this game. In any event, she’s done the hard part, and that is, make the merge. For some reason, I definitely see her in the Final Four unless she does something to royally screw up.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I haven’t done this in a while, but I’m going to take a stab at it:
BOOT PICK: Gary
SOLE SURVIVOR: Stephenie
“See” you next week!
