Survivor: Caramoan, Episode #11 – Oh, No! Not You, Too!

Hello Readers!

Survivor: Caramoan did it again! Another great episode aired, keeping viewers, like myself, glued to the screen until the Castaway voted out had their torch snuffed out. Yes, another Survivor giant has left the game. Who was it? Check it out my post and you’ll find out!

Stealth-R-Us was still reeling from Phillip’s impromptu departure. On the other hand, The Outsiders (or as they are called on the show, The Three Amigos – Malcolm, Reynold and Eddie) were elated that their plan worked so well. They couldn’t stand Phillip being at camp, and it may also help them get further in the game with the head of Stealth-R-Us no longer trying to call the shots. Erik was also assessing his position in the game. He felt that he would be able to get further in the game if he became a swing vote instead of being loyal to Stealth-R-Us.

The next day, Brenda was crying. Her tribe mates rushed to her side to see what was wrong. She told them it was the reality that Stealth-R-Us was no longer in control, and the fear of not knowing who was in the driver’s seat upset her. I wish Brenda would get control of herself, and keep her eyes on the prize, not cry over things that may not happen.

The Castaways were happy when then received their Tree Mail. It had colourful envelops for each of them. Yes, Readers, it was Survivor: Caramoan’s day for their annual Auction as their Reward Challenge!

At the Challenge, Jeff Probst told the competitors that each of them had $500, and that the bidding would go up in $20 increments for each prize. As well, no one was allowed to give another person their money or share their prize (unless Jeff Probst stated otherwise). This was how everything went down:

Malcolm spent $20 on a blind item which turned out to be two ice cold beers.

Reynold spent $80 another blind item. Jeff Probst then gave him the opportunity to trade it for two other blind items. He stuck with his original item which turned out to be a slice of pizza. He turned down a coconut and the remainder of the pizza. Sherri scooped that up with her $500.

Dawn bought a whole cooked chicken with her $500.

Information in the game was the next prize to bid on. Malcolm spent the rest of his money ($480) to win this prize. It turned out to be directions to find the hidden Immunity Idol. He had 60 seconds to memorize the directions, and he took in all of the details he could.

Andrea won a spaghetti and meatball dinner, along with garlic bread and a glass of red wine for $280. Jeff Probst then gave her the choice to either keep this delicious dish, or to give the tribe a whole sack of rice and beans, something they needed desperately. Andrea decided to help out her Castaways and chose the ride and beans.

Cochran came out of this Auction as the big winner with his prize. He spent $380 on an advantage he could use for the next Immunity Challenge.

Sadly, Brenda may gave been the loser of the Auction by winning a blind item which turned out to be pig’s brain that she had to eat immediately. She was so sad, and admitted she doesn’t eat pig meat outside of the game. Poor girl!

Letters from home was the next prize that Reynold on. He passed them out to the Castaways to read at their leisure at Enil Edam.

The final item of the Survivor Auction was won by Eddie. He won a huge bowl of peanut butter that he was allowed to share with rest of the tribe for 60 seconds. Everyone was covered in the sticky treat as they headed back to camp.

Back at Enil Edam, the tribe got together, still sticky with peanut butter, and shared what their lived ones had to say. Of course, many of them became emotional over these letters, but it also gave them the strength to keep going in the game.

Sherri was trying to change her fortunes in the game. She was thinking about leaving Stealth-R-Us to become an Amiga. Malcolm promised her at least fifth place in the game if she she came aboard. She didn’t sign on the dotted line, and told them she would seriously consider the change.

Reynold thought the next logical target would be Cochran. This was because he was a strategic thinker who was also becoming a threat at Challenges. Reynold thought that with Cochran, along with a few other strategic players, out if the game, that it would be smooth sailing for The Three Amigos for the rest if the game.

Malcolm went in search of the Immunity Idol in the cover of  night. He felt he needed this Idol in order to make it through another Tribal Council. His only trouble came in the form of Andrea and Cochran. They tracked him down in the jungle during his search, and pretty much stopped it cold. He didn’t want to have them find it, nor give away what the clue had told him, so he and Andrea just sat in the darkness until almost sunrise. Malcolm knew he wouldn’t be able to look around with Andrea on his heels, so he gave up searching and went back to camp with Andrea right behind him. I hope Andrea’s actions doesn’t put a target on her back.

At the Immunity Challenge, each Castaway had to hold a rope with several knots on it with one hand. The rope held a weight which represented a third of their body weight before they started the game. Every five minutes, they had to move the same hand down the length of rope until they were holding on to the tip of their rope. The last person to be holding on to their rope would win Immunity from Tribal Council. Jeff Probst gave Cochran his advantage in this Challenge that he paid fir at the Auction. He was able to move his hand two knots back up the rope at any point in the competition.

The first group who dropped out of the Challenge were Brenda, Erik, Sherri, Malcolm, and Andrea. Jeff Probst then gave encouragement to those left in the competition to keep going. Cochran then chose to use his advantage to make it easier for him to win. The next few people to leave the Challenge were Dawn and Reynold. This left Eddie and Cochran. Eddie looked over at Cochran struggling to hold on to the rope, and grimaced. This proved to be his undoing as the rope slipped from his hand, giving Cochran his second Immunity Challenge win.

Back at camp, The Three Amigos were upset that they could no longer target Cochran, so their next plan was o try to get two other people to flip over to their side. They went after Erik and Sherri with the promise that flipping to their side would help them stay in the game longer. Malcolm would take Sherri, while Reynold would work on Erik.

Malcolm made Sherri a promise that he would take her to the end if she flipped, as well as telling her of their voting plan to split the vote to take Andrea out of the game. Reynold told Erik of their plan to vote Andrea out, but Erik didn’t agree with it fully, as he intended to play both sides for the rest of the game.

The Favs were also talking about who they should vote out at this Tribal Council, and Andrea confessed to the group that she was suspicious of Erik, and she wanted him gone since she didn’t trust him.

Sherri secretly confessed that this was now her game since she was a swing vote. I feel that she should actually watch her back, as she is the weakest member of her tribe, and no one would want to take her to the end if the game since she has done nothing to show that she has done anything strategic, social or physical to impress anyone else left in the game who would be on the Jury.

At Tribal Council, Jeff Probst brought in The Jury with a very disappointed Phillip to observe the next Vote. Jeff and the Castaways first spoke about Phillip leaving the game. The Three Amigos were smug about what happened, and were sure they were in a good position to be successful for the rest of the game. Jeff Probst also touched in the topic of people flipping since it seemed as though Stealth-R-Us was fracturing. Andrea confessed she was nervous about this happening; but she then said she trusted her alliance.

Once the votes were cast, Jeff Probst shared these results: Reynold got 3 votes; Malcolm got 3 votes; and Andrea got 3 votes. Yup, a three-way tie! Jeff Probst had the Castaways do a second vote where they could only vote for Reynold, Malcolm or Andrea. When the second set of results came in, it was clear who was going to be Juror #3…it was Malcolm! The Three Amigos are down to two. He was gracious when he shared his thoughts at the end of the show. He knew it was his fault that he was no longer in the game, and said he had a good time.

Yeah, I know, another heavy-weight is out! No Phillip, no Malcolm. Now I’m crossing my fingers and toes for Cochran to hang in there for the rest of the game. I think he has the brains to do it, especially with Malcolm out of the way. The only person he has to really has to worry about is Andrea, as she’s good at Challenges, and, hopefully, she’s learned from her last experience in Survivor. Only three more episodes left until the finale on May 12, 2012! I can’t wait to see how everything unfolds!

Until my next post, Readers!

Reese.

Survivor: Philippines, Episode #12 – Luck Be a Lady!

Hi Readers!

Oh, what an episode this was! Throughout this season, the people you’d think would have been voted out of the game have either gained Immunity, or were spared as a result of another being sacrificed.If you read my previous post, Abi was lucky enough to have an Immunity Idol to save her butt.  Now she has to fend for herself to stay alive in the game.  Will Luck smile down on Abi again during this episode, or will she be shown the door?  Read on, and you’ll see!

After the last Tribal Council, Abi was in damage control mode, apologizing to everyone, especially Lisa, for her behaviour and her lack of tack.  No one was buying what she was trying to sell.  The Castaways also found a box with five hundred dollars for each person in it.  Survivor fans would know what this means…it’s Survivor Auction time!

Yes, Readers, the Reward Challenge for this episode was this season’s Survivor Auction.  For you Readers who are not familiar with the Auction, this is what happens: Jeff Probst will display a number of prizes for the Castaways to hid on with the five hundred dollars they were given.  Some things were visible (or described), while others were covered.  The Castaways also didn’t know when the Auction would end, nor could they keep any of the money, so they were encouraged to use it when they wanted something. The Castaways bought plates of pancakes, sub sandwiches, and even the opportunity to give up what they were bidding on to trade it for something the tribe could use. The most notable prize to bid on was to gain a huge advantage at the next Immunity Challenge. Abi snatched up that prize, hoping it would help her stay in the game longer.

Back at Dangrayne, Abi began shooting her mouth off, again! Really?! Does she ever learn? Abi has to realize that, regardless of your place in the game, you shouldn’t burn any bridges just in case you need to cross over one of them in the future. Jonathan tried advising her about her bluntness, but Abi brushed him off. Jonathan later admitted that Abi was annoying and obnoxious; he couldn’t wait to get rid of her. Abi also thought her tribe mates would change their tune and want to work with her because they wanted to reap the rewards of whatever advantage she was going to gain.

Abi then separated herself from the rest of her tribe to read what her advantage was for the next Immunity Challenge. Her advantage was that she would be able to go straight to the final round of the Immunity Challenge. There was an extra tidbit in her prize. It was a clue to where the next Immunity Idol was hidden. Abi then went in search of this new Immunity Idol, but with no success. With one “golden ticket” out of her reach for the moment, she had to bank on her advantage at the next Challenge to allow her to win Immunity.

At the Immunity Challenge, Abi read what her advantage was o the rest of her tribe, but made a point not to share the rest, and ceremoniuosly, ripped up the piece of paper it was written on. The other Castaways had to get themselves through a course where they were attached to a rope (this has happened a lot this season) that was tied around a beam for the First Round. The top five went through to compete for Immunity. In Round Two, the contestants were also attached to rope, but had to go through a jungle gym of poles. The top two joined Abi in the Final Round. That Round, the Castaways had to untie knots of rope while climbing through a tower. Most of the tribe had their fingers and toes crossed that Abi would screw this Challenge up. Abi whipped out her four-leaf clover, beating her other competitors and gaining Immunity from the night’s vote.

Back at camp, the rest of the tribe were quaking in their boots about their safety in the game. Malcolm was looking to get rid of Jonathan since he couldn’t do the same to Abi. He relayed his wishes to Lisa, who didn’t like the idea, but agreed to go through with it.

Feeling the guilt of the plan she was about to follow, Lisa, in a stupid move, went straight to Jonathan and let him in on the plan. Jonathan was flabbergasted that he may be on the chopping block, and began to work Lisa to find out whether it was Malcom’s wish to get rid of him. He also asked her why she was following Malcolm’s lead. She explained it was because Jonathan didn’t want to lock down a Final Four deal with her and Skulpin.

With his Survivir life on the line, Jonathan was scrambling to make Denise the new target to be voted out. He told Carter to vote for her, and tried to get Skulpin to change his mind in order to stay. Skulpin had qualms with getting rid of Jonathan, as well as loosing Jury votes, and considered following suit.

At Tribal Council, Jeff Probst and the Castaways about Abi’s change of luck. The other tribe members were not worried about this change of events. Jonathan then expressed his anger over Lisa and Skulpin possibly voting for him, but he also pleaded with him for some more time in the game. Once all the votes were counted, Jeff Probst annnounced that the next Castaway to be leaving the gqme was indeed Jonathan. Oh, all of his hard work just went down the drain!

Well would you look at that, Readers, the game has been turned on it head once again! Abi was sooooooo lucky that Luck was her side to extend her life in the game. Oh well, Jonathan! Now there is one less schemer in the game for the Casaways to have to worry about. As there are so few players left in the game, who will be one to rid the tribe of Annoying Abi? Will she save herself yet again, or will the rest o the tribe’s dream come true, and she’ll be the next to leave? Read my next Survivor post to find out!

Until my next post, Readers!

Reese.