Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Survivor Fans vs Favourites - April 10, 2013 episode recap

Cut Off the Head of the Snake

Last week on Survivor, the tribes merged, Cochran proved he can eat anything and Corinne proved cocky gets you kicked out quickly...

Enil Edam - Day 23
The next day after Corinne's epic blindside Stealth-R-Us are confident they are going to make it all the way (well, Phillip is anyway.)
-Reynold says he sees last night's vote as a victory because, even though Corinne was a big part of their counter-alliance, a Favourite went home, it wasn't him.  Reynold sees his (pretty boy) alliance of himself, Eddie and Malcolm as unshakable and he realizes that every girl that has associated with them has gone home so he decides he's going to play the game (ie: flirt with Andrea.)
-Malcolm lost his closest ally when Corinne went home but on the plus side, he's now the only person that knows about his hidden immunity idol.  They thought they cut off the head of the rebel snake, little do they know, they missed. (I can't help but wonder how soon it will be before he tells someone about the idol, that seems to be what happens... maybe Malcolm will prove me wrong.)

Enil Edam - Day 23
-It seems to me Phillip is flirting with Sherri in his own crazy/awkward way - he tells her when he first saw her he thought she was hot (oh, take me now big boy...)  He tells her the boys are going to go because they dared treat her badly and he bestows upon her the Stealth-R-Us name of Tenacity.
-Oh yeah, she knows he's bat sh*t but she is playing along.  He tells her there is one requirement, she must be loyal and completely trustworthy (uh, two things... related, but still) Sherri's playing Phillip's specialist game, she can deal with big personalities, Phillip is now her Shamar (as Shamar was her Phillip... huh, I'll leave that alone.)  Her plan is to have Phillip coming to her for her opinion within two votes.

REWARD CHALLENGE
They will divide into two teams of 5 - one person from each team will be their defender standing on a small platform in front of a soccer like net (oh, it's all out in the water.)  One at a time, people from the other team will jump off their platform and attempt to get a ball in the net past the defender.  Each goal is a point, first team to 4 points wins Reward.  The Reward: they will be taken to a waterfall, they will repel down and have a picnic lunch, Survivor style.

They did a schoolyard pick and it looks like most of the younger guys are on one team: Reynold, Erik, Eddie, Cochran and defender is Michael.
Other team is Phillip, Andrea, Brenda, Dawn and Malcolm is the defender.
Sherri was not picked so she's SOL - not playing, not rewarding.

-Off they go and Eddie throws the ball right at Malcolm (hmm, does he not understand?)
-Brenda gets a goal, then Erik ties it up, Andrea gets a goal and it's 2-1
Reynold misses, Dawn misses... Cochran scores a goal against Malcolm! and it's tied 2-2 (who is this new Cochran?)  Phillip scores, then Eddie scores and we're at 3-3... Brenda just misses (Ohhh!) door is opened for the guys and Erik scores the winning goal!
-Eddie, Erik, Reynold, Cochran and Michael are going on reward!

REWARD
-Cochran is not enthused about the repelling down a waterfall, he's not used to leaving his apartment, or twitter - but he's embracing it.  This is the guy that was afraid to take his shirt off last time he played, now he's following the show-off douche bag Reynold, down a waterfall and doing a pretty good job.
-They sit down to sandwiches and beer and eat like men, (yeah, thanks for showing me the chewed up sandwiches in your mouth as you talk - Reynold and Eddie - gross).  They pitch to Cochran that the last Fans vs Favourites was dominated by women, how cool would it be if they made it all guys to the end? Michael points out the three Fans there are a united voting block, use them.
-Reynold, proving he has no clue about Cochran's view on the world, tells the camera he's thinking, let's get rid of the scheming women who keep flirting with us all (okay, 1. no one's flirting with Cochran and 2.why would he want to go to the end with the fit, good looking guys? He's smart enough to know that is not how he's going to win.)
-Cochran tells the camera they don't know him very well if they think that a testosterone fuelled appeal will work - he has "no desire to engage in any masculine tomfoolery with these numb-skulls" (I LOVE it!)

Enil Elam - Day 23
-Malcolm says he saw their loss at the Reward Challenge coming, got over it quickly and knows he's with the people he needs to be with anyway.  He needs numbers and he's going to go after the people on the bottom - in his mind that is Sherri and Dawn (OMG! Stay away from Dawn, she's the reason Julia and Corinne are gone - don't talk to DAWN!  Again, I ask, what about Brenda - why does no one ever talk to Brenda?)
-Malcolm makes his pitch to Sherri, we're on the bottom, if we make a move now we'll be improving our placement... she acts like she's in.
So, he goes and talks to Dawn, makes a similar pitch, that they are 7th or 8th in this alliance, if they use the Fans, they can improve their lot.
-Dawn right away is thinking: Malcolm is a problem.  She tells him though, that she wants to talk to Sherri and think and get back to him.  She then tells the camera it would be great if she could make him think she's voting with him, then take him out.

-Next scene is Sherri telling Andrea, Phillip and then Dawn joins them - that Malcolm wants to flip it - get them to split the votes for Reynold and Eddie then vote one of the power alliance out.
-Andrea wants them to go along with Malcolm, but then they'll all vote for him.  Phillip can't believe this young upstart is trying to play double duty against him, the Specialist.
-Malcolm checks in with Phillip, what's the plan? - Phillip says they are going to split the vote between Reynolds and Eddie (but he's all shifty, looking at the camera even - really? You were never a special agent!)

Enil Edam - Day 25
We see Andrea and Eddie sneaking off to the lagoon and she says she doesn't know if they are island dating or what but he's really hot and she hopes fostering this little flirtation will get him to vote for her in the end or at least get him to give her info. 
-He tells her he'll vote however she wants him to, except for Reynold of course (can't vote out his husband) - she flirtily asks him if he promises, that he'll do what she says... neither one of them are tipping their hands though, they are both still playing.
-Eddie says he feels like Andrea really likes him and is willing to drag him along, he only needs to be dragged two or three more votes (as opposed to the 10 votes up to this point - sheesh) before he can start punching people.
-She knows she's playing Eddie but she's not sure if he's playing her (come on, he's a playa!)  She knows he won't vote out Reynold but asks if he'd vote Malcolm.  He says, if he has to... She asks if he knows anything about hidden idols and he says, no, definitely not (oh yeah, playa.)

IMMUNITY CHALLENGE
This is a classic, testing their ability to stay calm when everything in their bodies is telling them not to [be calm].  They will be out in the water underneath an iron grate.  As the tide rises, the water will rise and they will have less and less room to breathe until they run out of space completely - the person that lasts the longest under the grate wins Immunity.
-Off they go and it starts with a nice float... at the one hour mark they are running out of space and they all have their faces pressed through the grate.  Phillip (the Specialist? Really?) is the first person taking himself out of this challenge (no water boarding for him).  Sherri is the next person out, Erik is next and then Dawn can't take it anymore...Malcolm is out, Michael is out... Eddie, Cochran and Reynold are all out and it's down to Brenda and Andrea...  Andrea is fighting to stay in it but she finally has to bow out and they have to actually jump in and let Brenda know she won (apparently she can breathe underwater, that was amazing).  So, you think, Brenda won Immunity, this is a big deal, maybe we'll hear something from her now?  Nope. (It's gotten to the point that I'm wondering if Brenda pissed someone off and they've tried to cut her out of the show, so strange.)

Emil Edam - Day 25
-Back at camp, Malcolm knows this is his last shot to try and keep his numbers up because the Fans are easy pickings - he's got to make his move but make sure the Favourites think he's still 100% on board with them.  He goes and talks to Andrea, because she's the one calling the shots, and she tells him they are splitting 4 votes for Reynold, 4 for Eddie and on the re-vote it's Reynold for sure.  Malcolm sees her sharing this plan with him a positive sign that they don't suspect.
-Andrea is laughing to the camera that he's actually a really good liar and Dawn is proving the MVP, she's really working it. Where did this Dawn come from?
-Malcolm then talks to Dawn and she asks who he wants to take out, Phillip? No, he's after Andrea (he knows where the brains of the operation lie - why take out the joker prince when the brains are with the Queen.)
-Dawn tells Malcolm if he shows her Reynold's hidden immunity idol she'll believe him and vote with them.  As he struts off thinking he's the man, she tells the camera she can't believe, especially after she got Corinne voted off, that Malcolm still trusts her - that just tells her, he's not dialled in.
-Malcolm goes and tells Reynold they just have to show Dawn the idol, it doesn't have to be played, then, when the Favourites split the votes, they can vote for Andrea and take control.  Reynold is happy, Yes! (Oh, you guys are so blind...)
-Reynold goes and grabs his bag and sits down beside Dawn, casually showing her inside the bag and then he whispers to her, "if you don't follow through, I go home tonight, so don't screw me.  If I have reason to doubt you, I'm going to play it for myself tonight.
-She's saying, yes, I understand that... but then she tells the camera she can't stand people that intimidate other people.  She thinks shame on you Reynold, you shouldn't have showed me your idol and shame on you Malcolm, you shouldn't have brought me in. (I'm kinda liking the New Dawn as well. She is way more focused and ballsy this time around, it looks good on her.)

-Reynold goes and tells Michael and Eddie that he showed Dawn the idol, she's in.  Michael is nervous that she won't follow through. Eddie wants to go talk to Andrea but Reynold tries to talk him out of it.  Says she changes her mind every five minutes, promises him all these things - she's dangerous, let's just get her out of here, then Cochran will warm up to us and we can bro-down with the guys to the end (I sh*t you not, he actually said they could bro-down - what the hell does that mean?)
-Eddie doesn't listen (he's not so smart) he goes and talks to Andrea and they have a little joust - he wants to know if they are splitting the votes for him and Reynold tonight. 
She tells him maybe they are splitting the votes but he's not going home tonight. 
He wants to know if Reynold plays an idol he could be going home or is it Michael or Malcolm?
She wants to know if Reynold has an idol. 
He doesn't know, he knows someone has one. 
She wants to know if her name has come up...
And he says it's been talked about (OH EDDIE, What have you done??)

-Now Andrea's freaking out.  "I may be going home tonight. Malcolm's targeting me and there are idols..." (what is she worried about?)  She runs to Cochran, "I may be going home tonight." She feels like they have to change it up and go with the safer play of voting off Michael.
-Cochran says okay, if she's in danger of course - but then he tells the camera he was really put off that she was so willing to abandon the smarter aggressive move of taking out Malcolm. 
-She is frantic about this and I just don't get it - she tells Phillip she wants to change the vote to Michael, he still wants to vote Malcolm but she has the teary panicked look in her big blue eyes and the guys just want to save her (gag.)
-Andrea goes and tells Dawn she wants to change the vote and Dawn can't believe her, she starts crying out of frustration, feels like all the work she did today was for nothing just because Eddie made Andrea feel like she was going home.  Dawn tells her Reynold showed her an idol today to prove they wouldn't play it - this is their chance to take out a big player in Malcolm and she wants to vote out Michael?  This seems to snap Andrea out of it... "I can change it." (OMG!)

TRIBAL COUNCIL
Michael, did you see it as a glimmer of hope that at last tribal council it was a Favourite voted out, not a Fan?
-Yes, I was in shock but also, well this was what I hoped would happen.  Some of the Favourites would see each other as threats and use some of the Fans - unfortunately they didn't use me for that vote, but they can use me for other votes.
[Then Erik starts picking through Andrea's hair - "Bug" - that's all we've heard from Erik this show, did he piss someone off as well?  He and Brenda are the silent players.]
Phillip, what do you see happening at camp?
-From the beginning the Favourites got together and we developed a strategy involving Stealth-R-Us - something he introduced in Season 22 Redemption Island.  And we have a new member, a very effective double agent who was able to share a tremendous amount of operative information in the form of Sherri (she is beaming with pride) and her name is Tenacity.  (Reynold just rolls his eyes - I'm with you there bro.) Phillip blah blahs on...
Michael, so it's you, Reynold and Eddie as Sherri is obviously a member of Stealth-R-Us.
-Sherri pipes up, "you have to remember, they all voted for me. All my Fans wrote my name down.  Pay-back's a bitch." (Hopefully she doesn't eat those words.)
Eddie, concern you?
-It doesn't really bother me much.  I'd rather play my own game than be somebody's puppet (uh, Reynold has his hand up your butt right now) in their little league of operatives.
-Reynold's not really worried about the league of operatives, he knows they are three against eight.
But if someone has an idol, they can flip this game...
-Phillip pipes up, again from his past season, he stated if they think you have an idol, you will be voted for.
Michael, little concerned?
-At this point he is ready to play with somebody who is actually wants to play.
So you're saying when Stealth-R-Us begins to break down, I'll be here.
-It already is breaking down.  They voted out Corinne before a Fan.
-Phillip says we also know, from Season 22 Redemption Island, that a coalition that stays together, makes it to the end.
Andrea, is that the big question - yeah, we can stick together but we can't all go to the end. As some point someone has got to make a move.
-Yeah, in my season, I was on the bottom of my alliance, I didn't know it at the time but if you sense you are on the bottom, this is the opportunity to flip because you do have three Fans and maybe others within the SRU organization that maybe are willing to make moves and you can totally change the game.
So Phillip, when Andrea says if the right person gets the right numbers at the right time they can change the game...
-I totally expect that to happen but if someone tries it now, they are going to realize they erred in their judgement because there are still enough numbers and enough smart people here to realize it and you are going to be flushed out - good-bye. (Malcolm looks a little shell-shocked.)

Time to Vote:
Malcolm votes for Reynold - says this was supposed to be a throw away vote but after Phillip's little speech he has no idea what's going on.  Hopefully it goes to plan.

Tallying the votes time:
Anyone want to play a hidden immunity idol?  Reynold stands up and Malcolm says, "Hold up man, they all voted for me, that's what Phillip's little speech was all about.  Give it to me and we're all good."  Some shocked looks all around, Reynold says, 'yeah' and tosses the idol to Malcolm, who plays it (seemed a little staged to me, but still cool.)  All the Favourites are shaking their heads or looking upset... (Oh, this could be epic...)

Votes:
Andrea 1, 2, 3
Reynold 1
Michael 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... 6 - and it's Michael who is going home tonight. 
And with Michael leaving; Kevin C, Lee G and Wendy E are out of the pool.

So, Andrea did save her bacon by switching the vote from Malcolm, and/or Phillip is an evil genius in flushing out the idol.

Michael had the best exit, "Turkeys, pffst"(raspberry), and the finger. (Hilarious.)

Next episode: We see Dawn having a breakdown... bawling and baffling the boys, she even threatens to pull herself from the game (jebus.)

Michael's final thoughts: It's been a long, strange, difficult journey. He's very disappointed, he wanted to go deep into the game but what can he say - the Favourites are great players they really are tight and they are playing hard and strong.  I know they're going to bust up eventually but here I am, it's a bummer.

Well, for the final result to be the easy vote, Michael, going home, they certainly made it suspenseful and entertaining.

Have a great weekend everyone,
Coleen

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