The Eyes– An Offer You Can't Refuse?

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Another interesting episode of Exile Island with another non-surprising result. We’re at the point of the season where you can tell the tension is starting to build, and yet nothing really earth-shattering happens, mainly because the players are afraid to make a big move, especially those who are in a particular comfort zone.

I think one of the biggest mysteries of the Survivor universe will forever be this: How on Earth has the Casaya tribe managed to stay together for so long? During the tribal phase, on paper, La Mina should have blown Casaya away. But, Casaya won the most Immunities, and now, even more surprisingly, they are staying together and keeping the numbers advantage they have.

I’m done with trying to explain why; I think it’s just going to have to be chalked up to a mystery. In any event, it’s been interesting to unfold.

However, I do want to talk about the Casaya members, and what they have invested in staying together:

ARAS—Clearly, he is the leader. Plus, of anyone there, he needs to be the most worried about have the Hidden Idol suddenly pulled out in a Hail Mary play, because he’s likely to be the one voted off. Which is why I think he was smart to want to vote off Sally, and even smarter for switching back to Austin when he realized the dissension within the ranks. I like Aras. Has he played a flawless game? Certainly not; he has some times of arrogance and heated temper (much different than what I predicted in my preliminary analysis) but overall, he seems to have a pretty good head for the game. He and Shane also seem to be in a good cop/bad cop type of alliance. While Shane APPEARS to be the leader (since he’s not very smart and is very open about his power) Aras is really the one calling the shots.

SHANE—Shane has definitely been an issue of controversy this season. While I did at the beginning, I no longer have an urgent desire to see him voted out. While I definitely do not want him to win, I think he has definitely been interesting to watch. As I said above, he is not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree. However, to his credit, he does seem to know something about the game. He and Aras are running a nice little show…for now. I personally think it is going to fall apart before too much longer, but Shane does seem to recognize basic strategy, and it’s helping him to stay in the game.

CIRIE—Still, and always, my favorite player of the entire cast. As I have said before, she is well on her way to being on my list of favorite Survivor players of all time (with Kathy Vavrick-O’Brien, of course, always being #1!!!) Cirie is smart, and she knows what she is doing to get to the end. She is staying with Casaya simply because there is no reason for her to jump. She is better off with them, and she knows it. That may seem a surprising declaration, especially since way back when the tribe was first formed she was on the outside looking in, but if you pay attention, you will notice that over the course of their time together, she has gone from an outsider to being included in a Final Four. Whenever someone mentions the Final Four, her name is always mentioned as someone who is in it, which means the other players have no intentions of ever voting her out. As of now, she is in the best position of anyone. If she manages to make that Final Two, she will blow her opponent away, regardless of who it is. That is why getting to the Final Two will be her biggest challenge, but I hope she can do it. Go Cirie!

COURTNEY—Obviously, her strong feelings against the plan to vote out Sally worked, because Aras rightly backed off and went with the rest of them against Austin instead. And, despite her obvious hate-hate relationship with Shane, she is still included in their Final Four over Danielle. So, like Cirie, there is no reason for her to be going anywhere. She is the best position she can possibly be in for right now.

BRUCE—Bruce is a more interesting issue. He constantly talks about how much he respects Terry, and of all the Casayas, he is the most likely to split. And yet, twice he doesn’t. He’s clearly an outsider, so what gives? We know he is a very loyal type of person, but he also talks in confessionals (all the time) about how he is great and he is a competitor and he wants to beat them all. His ego could use a slow-down, but he is quickly running out of options. He is not going to beat Aras or Shane in challenges, if he thinks he can go down to that point and go on a challenge streak. He’s great with the karate and stuff, but I think some of the others can definitely beat him. He’d better figure out a plan for himself soon that will work.

DANIELLE—I saved her for last for the obvious reason of why didn’t she and Bruce leave? If I were Danielle, I would have taken the offer Terry gave me. Why? The Immunity Idol. That thing would have given her a free pass. I think she was very foolish not to take it, because it was a golden opportunity to change her destiny in the game without having to worry about her former allies retaliating, because she would have had a secret weapon to protect herself. Plus, she would have taken that Idol away from Terry.

As far as Terry and Sally go? Terry did a much better job this week of making his sales pitch. Last week was pitiful: you won’t have to worry for two more weeks! This week was much better: offering Danielle the Idol was perfect, and it’s too bad it didn’t work. Good try, though. Once again, I also don’t blame Terry for keeping the Idol for himself and not saving Austin. He still needs it.

We’re in the Jury phase now, folks! And I think Jeff said it best when he said this is the element that is what makes Survivor so much fun.

I think a shake-up could potentially occur this week, so I’m not going to make any formal prediction. Regardless, I can’t wait to see how this all plays out! Let the games begin!

“See” you next week!