Poor Bruce!
I always hate to see someone leave the game for any reason besides getting voted out, and being forced to leave for medical reasons is the worst way to go. Fortunately, though, they got Bruce off the island and to the hospital when he needed to get there.
So now we are down to six, and I thought since I haven’t done this in a couple of weeks, I’d run down each player one by one:
ARAS—I’m liking Aras more than I thought I would. He is definitely smarter and privy to the game than I gave him credit for during the first half. One of my current favorites (after Cirie, of course) However, I have a feeling that his days are numbered. It’s clear that regardless of what happens at the Immunity Challenge, one of the Casaya members are going to be voted off. That means Aras is clearly in trouble, because as we discussed last week, the other people in the Casaya alliance really don’t seem to care one way or the other whether Aras goes. Shane is probably the only one, because you know Cirie will turn in a second’s hesitation. This episode could prove to be critical for Aras.
CIRIE—As always, the chopping challenge is always very telling. It reveals who is in control and who is not. Very few people can play this game well. Jenna Morasca is one, and Cirie is another. She snuck into the finals and then made the right choices for her Reward with the proper justification. Never mind Shane. Cirie made the right decisions and then made amends afterwards, and no one is mad at her. She is still in an absolutely phenomenal position.
COURTNEY—Week by week, I’m not sure what to think of Courtney. Sometimes I like her, sometimes I think she is at the bottom of the ladder, but overall I think she is a very spirited, caring individual. I liked how concerned she was about helping Bruce (as opposed to Shane), but she definitely took a lot of shots at the Reward Challenge. I actually think her reaction was understandable, I probably would have felt really bad, too. The big thing I’m wondering right now is the true depth of her alliance/relationship with Shane. I was floored when Cirie/Aras/Danielle on the Reward suggested that she had a crush on him, I’m like “Are you kidding, they hate each other!” But then back at camp he’s freaking out and yet they’re making an alliance! I hope she’s not stupid (or insane) enough to fall for it, he’ll turn on her without a second’s hesitation. My favorite moments are when Shane calls Courtney a lunatic. Talk about irony.
DANIELLE—Danielle is my third favorite person currently, along with Cirie at #1 and Aras at #2. Kind of funny all three of them were the ones who went on the Reward. I think she has proven herself to be a smart player, and I see her sitting in the Final Four.
SHANE—What a poor showing this week. He went for a string of episodes where he didn’t really do anything do anything all that bad. This week he completely dive-bombed. His outbursts at the Reward Challenge (while entertaining) were completely childish and only made him look bad (as if he needed the help). Then, to make matters worse, his behavior during Bruce’s crisis was appalling. Bruce is laying there in the shelter suffering and they are going to get the stretcher, and he says “We have to do this NOW?” If I was there, I seriously probably would have lost it. It is one thing to play the game, which we should all know by now is not always nice and clean, but I absolutely can not stand it when someone treats another player with disrespect, ESPECIALLY at a serious time like a medical crisis. If he wins, I seriously will be very upset. He flat-out does not deserve it.
TERRY—Another person I don’t want to see win. Terry may be the underdog, but he is not the type you’d want to root for. I think that while he has definitely had some highlights, his overall game trend has been very weak, and I’ve discussed over the weeks numerous reasons why. He got “lucky” this week, if you’d call it that, and he is now in the Final Six, two votes away from the Final Four. All we know for now is that he is guaranteed Final Five unless he does something stupid like give over the Idol, which we all know won’t happen. The biggest mistake he is making right now is not befriending any of the other people. He made some feeble attempts early on in the merge, but by making cocky statements at Tribal Council like “I’m going to beat them at everything” or his comment in the Reward Challenge this week, “Yeah, it’s supposed to splinter you guys” aren’t winning him any friends. All it gives the Casaya Six is more of a reason to vote him off the second they get the opportunity. I seriously hope he loses Immunity this week and finally has to play the Idol and just get rid of it, because I am so afraid he is going to turn into another one of those underdog success stories at the end of the season, and I don’t think his game overall has made him worthy of the title.
So, as I said, since Terry has the Idol he is once again guaranteed to advance to the Final Five. Those six Casaya people have to fight to make sure that Terry does not win Immunity so that they can force his hand and make him give up the Idol. The ideal scenario would be Aras winning Immunity and then Terry having to give up the Idol, because in order to get rid of Terry, he needs to lose the next two Immunities in a row AND they need to avoid letting him get to Exile Island so that he can’t find the Idol again.
If anyone besides Aras and Terry win Immunity this week, then unless Terry changes his target, Aras will be going home this week. I hope to be wrong! (Unless of course it is Cirie instead, in which case she must stay!)
Six people left, no telling what surprises are in store for the rest of the season!
“See” you next week!
