As soon as last week’s episode ended, I found myself scratching my head. I thought for sure that Ruth Marie was going to be voted off. I had already begun kicking myself because in last week’s column, Ruth Marie was my pick for Sole Survivor.
And then, almost out of nowhere, Austin and Nick are siding with Nick and Terry and ousting Misty. And my first reaction was one of puzzled bewilderment.
I thought for sure the younger guys would side with the younger girls. However, the more I thought about it after everything was set and done, the more it started to make sense.
Take Austin, for example. There is no doubt in my mind that he is the one who made the final decision with Nick right behind him. I definitely underestimated Austin in my preliminary analysis. He’s proving to become a player. He understands the game. He went out there saying he wanted to be ethical and stuff, and yet he showed last week that he understands the way the game works. He was definitely playing both sides of the fence, telling Misty and Sally one thing and telling Terry and Dan another.
So, the question at this point becomes, did Austin and Nick make the right move? Part of me says yes, and the other part says no. On the one side, in terms of the tribe, Terry is definitely more of an asset than Misty. Terry was a superstar in that Reward Challenge, and he made his strategy very clear. Right in confessional, he said he wanted to vote Misty out because she was smart. No ifs, ands, or buts about it, Misty was smart, so she needed to go. Nothing at all about being weak for the tribe.
As I see it, here are the pros and cons to their decision. The first, as I mentioned, is Terry’s physical contributions to the tribe is unmatched. The four men together can likely have firmer control over the tribe than the younger men and younger women. However, everyone is saying it, and it could be true: Terry may become the next Tom Westman. He’s the type of guy who is a physically dominant leader who everyone knows they have to get rid of, and yet potentially, no one will. He seems very likeable, as well, and as I mentioned above, has a clear sense of strategy and direction. If they don’t stop him, he could easily win this game, he seems to have what it takes.
In addition, at the merger, Austin and Nick may find themselves in trouble if they make it that far. They’re both physical threats, and so is Terry. If from here on out they are dominating the challenges for La Mina, the people from Casaya who make it that far are going to remember, and will target them. If they had gone with the girls, they would still have the same amount of votes (four) and in a merge situation the girls could work on some of the other girls and guys from the other tribe and possibly form an alliance to go to the end of the game.
Ultimately, only time will tell whether they made the right decision, but I admire them for not falling into the flirting trap. It’s such an obvious strategy that younger women often use, and it’s refreshing to see a younger guy go against them and make a strategic decision based on what he thinks is best for him in the long run, rather than on his hormones.
So, needless to say, Austin went way up my list after last week with the revelation that I totally underestimated him in my pre-analysis: it’s very clear that, whether you think he made the right decision, he has a brain. He is not at all like Guatemala’s “Golden Boy” Blake, with whom I compared him to in pre-analysis.
At this point, I see the political layout of La Mina as this: Terry, Nick, Dan, and Austin are in control, Sally is next in line, and Ruth Marie is fifth in an apparent five-person alliance. If you watch the Insider clips (which I did very closely this week because, as I said before, at first I was very confused as to what happened), she said she was following her alliance. So, obviously, Ruth Marie is not as on the outs as she was portrayed to be, and yet it is very apparent that she is on the outside looking in with respect to the actual core group.
So, if La Mina loses Immunity this week, unless something drastic happens to change the course of events, I expect Sally to be the next one voted off. Obviously, the spear incident was not as forgotten as I guessed it would be. As Jeff said at the end of Tribal Council, even in the most tight-knit of tribes, there is always someone on the outside. Sadly for Sally, she is that person in this case.
Okay, before I start talking about the disaster that is the Casaya tribe, I want to give a shout-out to the designers of that Immunity Challenge. It was so much fun to watch, and I was glad it was close, because during the challenge, I had no idea at any given moment who was going to win, and those are the types of challenges I love the most. Kudos!
Casaya. From now on, until the day Survivor ends and even beyond that, when I hear or see the word “Casaya,” I will forever think of Shane and his “Thinking Seat.” Honestly, now. Is this man 35, as his CBS bio claims, or 5? I do need to say, though, that as annoying as Shane is, at least he is very interactive television: interactive in the sense that you want to reach through your TV and strangle him. He is so odd that we just find ourselves wondering what he is going to do next.
However, if he makes it much farther, I’ll be shocked. Every week he causes some kind of chaos. The promos for tonight once again show him fighting, this time with Danielle.
Aras put it best: he is in an alliance with three “nutballs.” However, he should not discount his own lunacy……or is thinking you can get energy through your hands normal? What about doing “some sort of yoga move” during the challenge? And, my favorite, him crying out that Misty was choking him when, if you look closely at the tape, her arms were clearly wrapped around his chest. In other words, Aras, you are not free and clear of insanity status.
Shane does take the cake, though. Courtney should not worry anymore. Shane called her a lunatic. What better way is there to check to make sure you are in solid mental health? If Shane walked up to me and called me a lunatic, I’d thank him, because that’s coming from a certified lunatic, and to them, normalcy is insane. So, despite her incident with the dead turtle in episode one, Courtney’s mental health seems to check out thanks to Shane.
So, needless to say, this tribe is quickly falling apart. They’d better hope that some kind of tribal shuffle is coming up soon, because they’re not going to be able to function together much longer.
Before wrapping up my comments for the week, here a few standouts from this week from my viewpoint:
CIRIE— Once again, Cirie is the casual observer. At the outset, it seemed she was the most vulnerable, but she could potentially be in the best position within the tribe. The alliance of four is eating itself alive, and Cirie is just sitting back and watching it all happen. I like her more and more every week, and hope she goes far. I think she will, but we all know how bad my predictions can be!
RUTH MARIE— Close one. I truly thought she was getting the boot this week. As I mentioned before, she is on the outside looking in, but I think Sally will get the boot before her. If she can manage to make it to the merge, I still think she will go far. She just has to survive the politics at La Mina first.
BRUCE— Tough break. Sent to Exile Island twice in a row is really hard. However, he does not seem to have suffered any social ramifications with the tribe because of it. On the contrary, he quickly emerged as their leader. I think, despite his lack of quality time with his tribe, he is in a good position. If he aligns himself with Bobby and Cirie, and they can probably easily pull a stray vote from the Nutball Alliance (yes, that’s their official title from now on) and avoid being voted off. I did notice, however, that he made no bones about it that he was good and that the tribe should keep him. He certainly doesn’t suffer from the humble bug.
Last week’s episode proved that the Immunity Idol is still hidden somewhere on Exile Island. Misty didn’t find it (and I swear for a minute I thought she did because it seemed like a little smirk formed on her face when Jeff asked her) and Bruce didn’t find it on either trip. He said on the second trip, he didn’t have time to look for it, which means he didn’t find it on his first excursion there. So the Idol is still out there somewhere and fair game for it to be found.
One thing I have been wishing there is more of is footage of the person on Exile Island. We had a satisfying amount in episode 1, but episodes 2 and 3 both contained little clips of Exile Island. Since it is such an important factor in this season, I’d like to see some more of it.
Other than that, this is shaping up after three episodes to be a great season, I’m really enjoying it so far. There are a lot of different characters and personalities that are clashing, and I can’t wait to see what happens next!
“See” you next week!
