Hurricane Miseria blew into the Panamanian island paradise with a thunderous “I will huff, and I will puff, and I will blow your shelters down!” Saboga’s shelter was for analogy sake, made of straw; Mogo Mogo’s was made of wood; and Chapera’s was made of brick; each one weathering the effects with the correlating results. It has been said by scholars that the measure of greatness is determined by perseverance over adversity. Courage has been defined in literature as standing up to ones fears against his or her will to otherwise do so. In the fourth installment of Survivor: All Stars, we have witnessed the courage of an underdog, Saboga, to achieve greatness in the face of nature’s wrath and mighty warrior adversaries. Measuring success by accumulated wealth and power; we see the astounding dominion of the Chapera Empire, constructed from nothing, on an equal playing field with the other tribes, into a well provisioned fortress. In the end, the massacre of former Survivor royalty continues as those unexpected to win derail the progress of the gilded, creating their own destiny.
Saboga is a downtrodden tribe, beaten mercilessly by the destructive torrential ravages of nature fully exposed without the protection of a well constructed shelter. Desolate by their flooded camp the quartet members of Saboga fall into despair. Their deplorable shelter has become an indoor swimming pool mockery of shattered ideals. Even for the most hard core survivalist, this would be too much to bear. With their half dozen members cut down to four, starved and shivering, they struggle to hoist themselves up to rebound from their plight. Ethan Zohn states, “It was horrible. Some of us thought that people would come and rescue us. I’m like; nobody is going to come rescue us! What are you nuts?! This is Survivor. It is our own fault that we built a crappy shelter.”
The Jerri Manthey we remember from Survivor: Australian Outback would have chastised Rupert for his blunder, yet instead falls into a catatonic state of depression and disbelief. Jenna Lewis momentarily sheds her new predatory persona to harness her maternal nurturing instincts to persuade Jerri to bask in the sun for rejuvenating warmth. Rupert extends an apologetic olive branch by offering her water before setting off to reconstruct a solid shelter that would appropriately protect them from the elements of the tropical rainy season. He is redeemed by constructing a shelter that provides them with an adequate resting area that refreshes them sufficiently to prepare for the Immunity Challenge.
Mogo Mogo continues their blue ribbon neutral performance, neither commanding victories nor suffering defeats. Their state of equilibrium gathers no prizes but also suffers no losses at Tribal Council. The quintet harmoniously goes about camp business as usual. Richard Hatch cements his tribes’ adulation by spearing three very large amore eels, ranging in length from two to four feet long. With food in their bellies and a proven solid camp, they are content and prepared for upcoming challenges. They have weathered both the potential destruction by nature and Jenna Morasca’s untimely departure.
Life is much different at the mega power that is Club Chapera. With all the trappings of a four star hotel, the Chapera sextant live in luxurious opulence by Survivor standards. Due to their unstoppable winning spree, they collected in the reward challenge a shower, a portable toilet with paper, hygienic supplies such as mouthwash, toothpaste and brush, soap, shampoo, body wash, loofah sponges and body brushes to add to their palatial estate. In addition, they received the clue to find the third key for the lock box containing rice. From utter destitution, without even the means to gather food or water to a well fortified and strengthen army, Chapera has become the team to beat.
I have to point out that the generous rewards between this and the previous installment have me wondering why the sudden explosion of commodities? The theme of this All Star season was originally billed as the return of the greatest competitors to prove they are indeed the best under the worst hardship ever attempted in the series. Could it be that Mark Burnett and his production staff realize that the hardship from the first week was too extreme? It could be theorized that they wish to prevent a trend of contestant drop outs as the series has now experienced back to back surrenders in consecutive seasons by Osten Taylor and now Jenna Morasca, officially excused by her concern for her mother’s debilitated condition. Players are also falling short of their former glory as once adored Rupert Boneham and Rudy Boesch and the tough as nails Susan Hawke have all become ill from lack of proper nourishment. Either that or the all stars are requesting the star treatment, as former American sweethearts are now lashing out and being seen as disagreeable unpleasant divas.
Rob Mariano has been credited as the catalyst that propelled Chapera’s ceaseless accumulation of wealth. With a humble beginning as an unrelenting laborer he was lifted into General status that galvanized consecutive wins in the challenge battlefields. Once he established his martial leadership within the tribe he selected his beautiful companion, Amber Brkich, to secure his power. Together they rule as Mark Anthony and Cleopatra, scheming openly shrouded only by tribal respect until they may lay claim as Emperor and Empress.
A power struggle ensues between Rob Mariano and Rob Cesternino for tribal influence when Chapera, armed with the clue for their final key attempt to locate it. Rob Cesternino scores the first point by intelligently deciphering the clue to indicate that the starting point is by the tree mail. Everyone is stumped next by the accurate measurement of a pace, as the clue states the location to be 10 paces away. Rob Cesternino understands the importance of championing this match, locating the final key before Rob Mariano, thereby becoming the heroic food provider. The alternative is to relinquish all power and thus final decisions of alliance majority rule to Mariano. Alas, fate and choice are against him as Rob Mariano locates the key to the lock chest and to the hearts of his tribe mates. Rob Cesternino, once considered the greatest player to never win the game, has no leg to stand on.
The Immunity Challenge was homage to Survivor: Australian Outback, episode 6, the blind leading the blind. As in the Outback, Jerri Manthey once again assumed the role of the guiding eyes directing her blindfolded Saboga mates to gather puzzle pieces and lead them to the base to construct the puzzle, a large Rubik’s cube structure, with pictography on all sides that must match. Against all odds, Jerri successfully lead her team to victory, escaping Tribal Council, followed by Mogo Mogo after Lex Van Den Berghe figures out the design, sending Chapera to the elimination round for the first time. The significance of Saboga’s victory, with Jerri in particular, was cathartic by means of redemption of spirit. Saboga was at the breaking point and would not survive another defeat. In Jerri’s case, she was unsuccessful in her execution in the Outback and so would have to overcome her own self doubt in order to focus effectively in the same type of challenge. This victory will not only prevent another insufferable numeric loss, but also heal their collective drive and repel tribal animosity wrought by former disagreement and misjudgment. They are now back in the game as they face their opposition four against five – five.
Rob Cesternino is a brilliant player who has displayed infallible judgment in the Survivor: Amazon, but in haste has made critical amateurish mistakes. He correctly realized his lack of control in a majority alliance and therefore applied the philosophy, “if you can’t beat them, join them.” He deduced that Rob Mariano controlled Amber’s vote and most likely had Big Tom Buchanan’s stamp of approval. Those in jeopardy were Alicia Callaway (an opinionated physical challenge threat), Susan Hawke (an irritating uncooperative cynic), and himself (a skillful, intuitive strategist of game dynamics). He blindly trusted Rob Mariano on his word and deal-making handshake that he has an alliance and suggests they vote Alicia out first, then Sue. Cesternino failed to observe any hesitance or derision of his suggested chopping block order from Mariano who supposedly controlled the final decision. He should have confirmed the alliance by probing Amber and Big Tom for contradiction or hesitance in their affirmation of an alliance with his inclusion. Cesternino is a better player as shown in the Amazon when he quickly analyzed alliance cohesion amongst others that betrayed his interests, prompting him to realign with other minorities to further advance himself. Inexplicitly, he dares fate by choosing blind faith over security.
Tribal Council confirms the errors of Rob Cesternino’s approach to Mariano’s inexpugnable plan. Mariano’s lovely and persuasive collaborator, Amber, approached Big Tom with the proposal to oust Rob Cesternino based on his presumed intelligence to fool them all. The majority alliance is set and Mariano has his sacrificial lambs set for selection. “There could be one of three eliminated…Cesternino, Sue, or Alicia. I haven’t made up my mind but when I do, that’s the person who will be going home.” Cesternino, relinquish your title as master strategist for a new master mind has set himself in position to dethrone you. After manipulating Rob Cesternino to divulge his short list of elimination prospects, Mariano presumably approaches the others (as this is done off camera) including a paranoid Alicia who worries that she hasn’t heard any strategizing, a legitimate concern which usually indicates you are in consideration for expulsion.
After some very probing and rather disproportional inquires by Jeff Probst, who seemed to target Rob Mariano and Amber unfairly for their budding romantic alliance, everyone is sent to vote. I must state my objection to the degree of disruption most of Jeff Probst questions and the length of time he places covering certain issues places on the game play of some individuals. He seemed to directly center all attention on Rob Mariano’s power within the tribe, setting him up as a target in future Tribal Councils. His incursion on Rob Mariano’s territory had no immediate effect however as a unanimous vote ejects Rob Cesternino from the game. All four of the eliminations to date, with the foot noted voluntary departure of Jenna Morasca, have been top three finalists in their previous season of Survivor. In summation, the reputations and placements of each contestant is not forgotten and will be a determining factor on how far one will advance in the established new order.
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