Either Mark Burnett is a master of foreshadowing or has a sense of humour that realizes that sometimes Suvivor is going to be somewhat subpar. Beginning this episode with the somewhat obligatory snoring scene gave us a taste of what was to come - a very bland show with little excitement and almost no suprises.
How hard was it to figure out that Chuay Gahn, or as I like to call them - Chewy Gone, was going to lose both the reward and immunity challenges. There was so little footage of Sook-Jai (I would not touch this name with a ten foot pole) that anyone could tell they were not to be featured.
As the boys of the Goner tribe play a round of golf, they let two of the women battle the elements to fetch a pail of water. Helen, expert survivalist, gets the two of them lost in their boat, and spends hours trying to find the water source. One last search finds the water hole, and it seems that Helen does all the totin' and fetchin' while the matriarch Jan takes a well-deserved dip in the ocean. Meanwhile the boys have finished the round, and are kicking back at the 19th hole bar, when they realize something must have gone wrong. The tension mounts when finally the boat rounds a corner and the intrepid travelers reappear. Yawn.
Excitement ensues at Sook-Jai when they finally complete their shelter, only to have three members decide that they want to sleep outside. In monsoon season. Of course two of the three end back in some fashion in the shelter, leaving the lone female out in the rain - which of course makes her too sick to compete in the reward challenge. Ho-hum.
Things really begin to rock and roll when the reward challenge begins and six players must carry a seventh around a course such that they can cut down bags from poles. The trick is that the six are blindfolded and must listen to the "caller" for directions. And to even make it more interesting, the paths of the two teams cross several times, just begging for a major collision. The tension builds to the climax, when Penny rams Jed into a tree and he begins complaining that he was run into a tree. Oh yeah, Sook Jai won the challenge. How much more?
And then the immunity challenge. I must admit my eyes did open when I saw Erin's bathing suit, and her dive was definitely a 10 in my book. But even with Penny unable to finish her turn and swimming back to the others to let someone else do her work, Sook Jai wins handily (how in the heck could that happen?). Then Chewy Gone, true to their name, must return to tribal council. And the big suprise of the night? They vote off the luminous Tanya - the girl with the hurl. I believe I went to sleep before I heard her final words.
The big winners of this episode? I would have to say Shii Ann, who many thought would not last long, continues to show her Survivor smarts. Clay, Ted, and Brian seem to have formed an alliance that will probably hold if they make it to the merger. Erin will always be a winner in my book.
Losers? Stephanie screwed up big time by isolating herself by sleeping in the rain, then getting sick to boot. Jed and Robb joined right in with her, but were smart enough to get inside out of the rain. Penny showed weakness by not finishing her part of one competition, and her previous success in the reward challenge is probably not enough to offset that. Helen is probably the best survivalist, but cannot bond with anyone. And for some reason Ghandia is out in the cold.
My predictions for next week? Who knows - the world has changed since the Acme Brain Trust did not correctly predict the bootee last week. But my guess would be Helen from Chewy Gone or Jed from Sook Jai.
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