I do believe something has hit the fan. Can you smell it?
I know I can. It’s happening at Crazy Camp Casaya. After weeks of coin-flip luck at the Immunity challenges, they finally headed back to Tribal Council. They had been fortunate enough to win twice in a row, but this week, fell short. So it was time for the wackiness to ensue. And did it ever.
But the best part was that I have a hunch this is just the tip of the iceberg! The cascade has been started, and we still have more to see. True, Bobby’s boot was relatively uneventful, compared to what we could have seen. But the fact that Casaya was a complete madhouse before Tribal Council can only mean that this tribe is in a complete state of disarray, which is unlikely to dissipate anytime soon.
This, folks, is great television! We were given a sample of the craziness at Casaya, yet there were more than enough hints (both in last week’s episode and in the previews) to indicate that there is indeed more to come. The frantic plotting, vote changing, scheming, and perhaps a pinch of trickery is what makes Survivor so classic. Who could possibly watch last week’s episode without getting slightly aroused?
Certainly not I. Which is why I will be tuning in on Thursday evening yet again on pins and needles just hoping for more.
Look at what we had last week. Two guys go off and drink the wine, and the tribe’s pissed off at them. When they lose, they decide to get vengeance regardless of a person’s worth or physical ability. Then a group of people decide on one of those guys. Then someone makes a promise. While that is going on, a smaller bunch of people decide on someone else to go home. So then they tell the promise guy, who is then torn on who to vote for, but will indirectly break the promise for the good of self and tribe. Then a wacky Tribal council where more than half of the tribe gets at least one vote, and the person voted out doesn’t even have a majority of votes!
Exhale, Dora. It’ll be okay.
I figure now’s the time to mention useless trivia. I said Bobby didn’t even get a majority (at least 50% of the tribe – Paschal English excluded). This is only the second time in Survivor history when such event has happened. Give up on the first? Episode seven of Survivor Borneo (season one, in 2000). Gretchen Cordy received four votes (from of course Kelly, Richard, Rudy, and Sue), and Colleen, Gervase, Jenna, Sue, Rich, and Rudy each received one vote. Talk about a tribe in disarray. Of course it’s not like it mattered, because only four people actually wanted to win Borneo, and those were the final four.
So does this mean that Cirie, Danielle, and Courtney are the final three? I doubt it, simply because of math/probability. But I tell you one thing, all three of these broads showed great heads on their shoulders. And after seeing them in action, it would not surprise me if any one of them walked away with the million clams. And I made sure each of them went up in rank for this week’s rundown (more on this later). Think about it, you have seven people, any one of which could easily be sent packing (maybe not so much for Danielle and Aras, but the other five had at least one reason to have votes sent their way). And amongst those seven, three people is enough to get the job done. Thinking back to Guatemala, I said that all Danni had to do was keep her head up, and let the rest of the tribe self destruct. And essentially, that’s what she did, and she won. Applying this to Survivor Exile Island, Danielle, Cirie, and Courtney did close to nothing, yet in doing so, proved they are able to kick ass. All it takes is a little common sense and a level head to take you far in life.
Did I just compliment Courtney? I think I did. (mental note: Courtney is allowed only one compliment per month, and this meets the quota for March, so no more till April). But on the plus side, the three players of the week are all women
In other Survivor news, eating when you’re hungry is apparently now a BAD idea, and beans apparently are a primary cause of emesis, not flatulence. For those of you not in the health sciences field, that means beans cause vomiting, not farting. I don’t even know what to say to this unexpected series of events. Of course, it’s not like Nick and Austin had planned or hoped to grow sick after beans, it just happened that way. I didn’t realize how bad off La Mina was with respect to food. Situations like that just seem like they shouldn’t be. In other words, doesn’t CBS purposely put tribes in food-rich areas to prevent this? Yes I’m aware that Survivor is a survival situation, but I get the impression that CBS has some soul and would not put people in an area where food was impossible to be found. Either someone on La Mina is just way off, or CBS really goofed up on this one. I have a feeling it’s La Mina’s fault.
And with that, it’s time for the rundown. Once again, it’s early, but I have plenty to say about each remaining contestant, so a majority of my column this week will be filled with rundown stuff. As with always, the rankings indicate a person’s likelihood of winning, relative to the other contestants, given their current level of gameplay.
Loser’s Lounge:
16- Tina Scheer
15- Melinda Hyder
14- Misty Giles
13- Ruth Marie Milliman
*Loser’s Lounge update!* It’s lady’s night at the Lounge, and ladies drink free! Just imagine the fun times!
12- Bobby Mason (8). I don’t know if Bobby’s game ever took off really. Yeah he was good in the challenges, but that can only go so far. Even Ibraheim from Palau was good in challenges, but then again, it IS Ibraheim. Bobby had a moment with the fish this weekend, but then came the wine. After that, it was him or his other half Bruce to go home. Had Aras not been so vocal about keeping Bobby to raise suspicion, Bobby may be still around. But then again, did anyone in the audience really like him, such that they’ll mope about his exit? I’m leaning towards no. But on the plus side, Bobby is in the Lounge with four females, one of which loves giving massages, so he’ll have some fun.
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11- Bruce Kanegai (9). What happened to that Bruce everyone liked? If not for the side move by the Casaya women, Bruce would have been toast. His accomplishments this week include drinking the tribe’s wine, making an ally with an outcast, and pissing people off. Somehow, I don’t equate this to a winning strategy.
10- Sally Schumann (11). She’s still in the danger zone. Give her a couple more weeks, once we find out about this ‘twist,’ and if she’s still around, then expect her stock to rise. Until then I have to keep her towards the bottom, because given her current status in the game, she’s not favorable to win.
9- Shane Powers (12). He did the totally right thing by siding with the women, and by not voting for Bobby as a technicality. Although not technically voting for Bobby, by throwing his vote away like that, one could consider it as such. I do question him voting for Aras (a supposed ally) and not someone like Cirie or even Danielle (explain to her beforehand he was throwing a vote her way). Either way, the fact that the girls wanted to side with him shows that people are able to trust him in their game (despite him being a freak). But I still can’t shake the Lex Van Den Berghe Trigger Finger (TM) thoughts. But he did improve a lot this week, and his moving up three spots is not to be ignored.
8- Aras Baskauskas (4). What a good Tribal Council performance. He did everything he possibly could to make sure that Bruce was going to be sent packing, to spare Bobby. Someone who could talk like that could be trouble at the final Tribal Council, if he’s in the final two or the jury. But, I have to dock him points because he did lose his buddy Bobby, and the reason he did was because it was WAY too obvious that Aras wanted Bobby around longer to better Aras’s game. The tribe may be on to him, and he may be in slight danger if a merge is coming up soon (ie, do you need team strength anymore if it’s individual after the merge?)
7- Courtney Marit (10). I already complimented her once in this article, so don’t expect another glowing one. I will say she played awesomely this week, and showed that even when voting out deadweight, she can work her magic. Is this a hint of what’s to come?
6- Dan Berry (5).
5- Nick Stanbury (6).
These two guys do a switcheroo this week. Both could deserve staying where they were last week, but I felt Nick needed to go up one because of his reward challenge performance. When my loverboy Austin had to tag out early, who did the water/fetch leg of the challenge for the remainder? That’d be Nick. Nick’s showing signs of improvement, especially because the way Austin was hit so hard, Nick was almost fine by comparison. As for Dan, nothing’s changed, and still in a good position.
4- Cirie Fields (7). Player of the week honors, folks! After having nothing good to say about her merely weeks ago, my feelings toward her changed quickly. Last week I speculated that her standing back and observing would come in handy, and it certainly did. All it took was the girls to go on the beach and say “wait a minute, we can do something about this.” And so it was. Cirie gets mucho credit for simply keeping a level head and waiting for the right time. Remember how a few weeks ago it was either her or Melinda, with the other clearly next to go? Four out of seven people on Casaya got votes, and Cirie was not one of them. Clearly this tribe attitude has changed, and I’m excited to see what’s ahead for Cirie.
3- Austin Carty (2). I have to deduct a couple points because of how the food hit him. Yes, I know it’s not his fault, but when bad things happen to you (through your own fault or not), it usually is not good. Also, Austin having to switch out of the challenge so early shows he may not be the superman I once thought. Nonetheless, he’s still in a great position in La Mina, and after the revitalizing Immunity challenge win, he should get better quickly.
2- Danielle DiLorenzo (3). Cirie and Courtney both moved up three spots, so it would only be fair to do the same for Danielle. Problem is, you can only go up two spots from #3, and Terry’s still the clear-cut #1 choice. So she only moves up one spot, but it’s still #2, so there you go. I’ve been saying for awhile that she was the brains of Casaya, and this week proved that for me. She keeps on doing great, and she’s earned her stay toward the top of the rundown.
1- Terry Deitz (1). No reason whatsoever to drop Terry. Last week’s one-page spiel about Terry could have basically been said ‘He’s in one of the best positions in the game right now, he’s invaluable to his tribe, and he has the best long-term game plan.’ Any of the aforementioned is sometimes enough for me top put someone at #1, but having all three is definitely reason for the top spot. That being said, Terry still has all three of those traits at hand, and will continue to be at #1 until someone comes along and really proves why they deserve to be #1. All that being said, Terry did get sent to Exile Island again. Not that he needed it, because he had already found the talisman (great word!). So it was like a mini-vacation. I originally scoffed at the notion of sending Terry again (obviously, he can tough it out better than anyone, so sending him isn’t really a punishment. Also, why would you give him a second chance at finding the talisman?) It did not total up to me. Casaya said out of respect (true, don’t make an extra enemy), but I’m sure it was reciprocity from sending Bruce over twice. Last week I went on and on about the power Terry has, as long as people don’t find out about it. But I’m wondering if Casaya essentially said ‘we’ll give it to Terry, that way we know he has it for sure.’ And that seems to me like it would make sense. If you assume (as opposed to just suppose) Terry has it, you can alter your game such that you don’t try to boot Terry at a time where it could backfire on you (eg, the five on five merge scenario posed last week). If I were on Casaya, I would say with relative certainty that Terry has the idol, and make him use it at a time where it would be totally safe to use it. Just a thought. Of course, I’m sure the only people on Casaya who are smart enough to figure that out are Cirie, Courtney, and Danielle – the women.
So with that, folks, I’m out. It was nice to follow up a ‘these women suck’ column with a ‘these women rule!’ column. I’m excited to see how this ‘twist’ works out on Thursday. Hopefully we’ll all be watching. As always, feel free to disagree with me, and drop me an email.
Until next time, when we discuss the rise and fall of the Ottoman Empire, stay cool.
~Dora
