Rain, rain and more rain. The contestants are looking glum, some feel friendless and many desperately try to breathe life into old alliances. And there's an unexpected win in the immunity challenge.
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In the Recap, Kathy says glumly that: "Being on the losing side of life is tough". It's raining, of course, and Shii-Ann is feeling friendless. I think this may be because she hasn't any friends. She goes and asks Bawston Rawb if she is to be next for the axe. He seems to think so. She doesn't like this idea, and decides that she'd better stir her stumps and win Immunity this time round, and spoil all their nasty plans. She resents finding herself isolated, but has formed no friendships and no real alliances.
Treemail brings a large mask, and another bad verse. Jeff looks impeccably turned out and well groomed as usual, despite the rain. In some of these games, the rules are much harder to understand than the games themselves.
Food reward with a twist
Let's see now: They each get a mask with three ropes tied to it (some rather neat caricatures), and anyone who gets a quiz answer that matches that of the majority, gets the thrill of cutting one of somebody else's ropes. When your last rope gets cut, a log smashes your mask, and you're out. At least they don't do any of it under water, which is a great relief. The winner is promised a food reward, which starts them all salivating like Pavlovian dogs.
All of them will go to a Panamanian restaurant, where there will be seven items on the menu. The winner decides who eats what. The food will range from steak and an open bar, to rice and water from the camp. Ah, an invitation to be nasty to others. The winner will gain some good food, and a requirement to alienate some of the group by allotting them the worst food. This used to be done at Roman banquets – the menu you were served revealed how the host saw your social status.
First they all have to answer the questions privately, giving their own personal opinions, then answer them again, publicly, stating what they think the group's answers will have been. Asked: "Who does not deserve to be on All-Stars Survivor?" the majority choose Alicia, which annoys her deeply. Asked who uses sex as a weapon, everyone names Amber. Even Amber. Asked who is most honest, they seem to choose Rupert. Ah, come on folks. Is there a pro-Troll bias here? Even Rupert chose himself as the most honest - was that really an honest answer? Asked who never shuts up, they chose Jenna, who seems to take this as a compliment. It goes rather quickly, and one is left puzzling over what appeared to be their answers. Was Boston Rob really chosen by anyone, even himself, as the person they'd most trust with their life?
Rupert rules the roost
Anyhow, Rupert wins. Alicia is furious, having discovered that nobody actually likes her. This seems to surprise her so greatly that she doesn't even scold them as vigorously as usual, and doesn't even wag her finger, but scorns all attempt to comfort her, and sulks a lot on her own.
Jenna thinks Rupert needs coaching, and egotistically decides that she's the ideal coach. He makes a fairly wise resolution, that while he will, as required by the rules, nominate people in an order of his choosing, he will have each of them choose what they want to eat from whatever is left on the menu, rather than specifically selecting what each will eat. This means that though he's forced to reveal the his popularity ranking of the tribe, they have to choose their own fate within constraints set by the others.
Limited menu – feast or famine?
At the restaurant, he's seated at the head of the table, and being so honest, selects for himself the large steak and the open and unlimited bar. Rob, who he chooses next, chooses a burger and cola; Jenna goes for a hot dog with sauerkraut and orange juice. Amber, next up at the menu, takes a ham and cheese sandwich with chilled fizzy water; Alicia goes for the salad and cold water, announcing brightly that this is exactly what she would have chosen for herself even if she'd won.
Tom gets left with a plate of cold potatoes; and Shii-Ann, bottom of the list, gets the bottom of the menu - more of the lousy rice from the camp. She doesn't appreciate this, and grumbles mightily. She actually annoys everyone else about as much as she could. She complains that of course they left the Asian to eat the rice; and leers at Rupert's plate and other goodies, constantly rubbing in her degree of deprivation and her resentment of their greater luck. She really knows how to win friends and influence people.
Rupert, meanwhile, sinks a prodigious number of beers, chugging them down so rapidly that they hardly touch sides on the way down, while he becomes progressively drunk and incoherent.
No rain – for a change
The next day is newsworthy only because for a change it's not raining. Tom and Alicia talk. She tries to revive a half-hearted alliance with Old Tom, who, observing that while it's obvious why Rob and Amber stick together, leers at Alicia and says, "We might not have slept together, but at least we snuggled!" Coming from a goat farmer, I guess that might be a compliment. Each thinks they can win if up against the other.
For the immunity challenge, we're back to an endurance ordeal. They have to stand on a log, with one arm on a chain over their head, the chain attached to a water bucket. If they move too much, the water drenches them and they're out.
Amber, confident that she's safe with Rob around, hardly bothers to even try, and floods out at 4 minutes. Jenna, also not trying too hard, is out at 10. Big Tom drops off his log at 16 minutes, and Alicia does rather better, at 38 minutes. Now the rain is back. Presumably filling the water buckets still more. After 1 hour and 24 minutes Rob bites his itchy arm, and is drenched and out.
Shii-Ann hangs in there for her life
Now there's an unpleasant choice looming. Shii-Ann is still hanging in there, almost literally! And she looks strong. Rupert the Gnome is struggling, visibly. After 2 hours, he gives up, and Shii-Ann yells with victory, "Take that !". Saved for a week. She glories in her victory, then having second thoughts (or more tactical thoughts) apologises for this, unconvincingly and ineffectively. She tries to persuade people to vote Rob out, but nobody's listening to her. She tries to start conversations, but no one wants to talk with her.
So she huddles on the beach, chattering to the camera, and revelling in her brief reprieve, and expressing delight that the rest, remnants of the other early tribe now face eviction: " I love that they'll have to eat one of their own!," she chortles.
At Tribal Council, as Lex and Kathy enter and sit in the jury, it seems they're expecting Shii-Ann to soon join them, and they're rather surprised to find that she has won immunity. Kathy has cleaned up rather well, though in fresh and heavy make-up and a large green necklace, it looks as if she's auditioning to play the role of an Inca princess. Shii-Ann says she was certain she'd have been voted off, so she won immunity and spoiled that plan.
But when it comes down to the voting, apart from one for Rupert, the rest vote for Alicia, and she stalks off in a huff. The clips from the next show suggest something more lively, with Jenna arguing energetically with both Shii-Ann and with Rupert.
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