In this episode Amanda and Angie stuff their faces and the mighty Hein stumbles off his perch.
Grant is getting increasingly sarcastic about "the mighty Hein". Clearly, he'd really love to be rid of the guy, but is scared to take him on openly.
Advertisement
Elsewhere, praise is heaped on Dyke, who has indeed been performing brilliantly lately - since his recovery from foot-in-mouth disease; he seems to be in his element. He tries hard to be modest.
We rapidly move into the reward challenge, which involves collecting underwater puzzle pieces and assembling them correctly.
Mandla swims slowly and fumbles through his part of the task. Peculiarly, Mark makes a silly fuss about Mandla having left his goggles off, as though this was a critical error - in fact, only two out of all the competitors used the goggles at all.
But his criticism was remembered and taken ridiculously seriously by the tribe, badly damaging Mandla's chances. In fact, only Grant and Angela wore goggles at all.
Angela thinks she's won, but has done it wrong and Dyke again has the intelligence to spot what was wrong with her effort, correct it, and win again for Iban.
Whining and dining
The prize is a major braai; with chops, chicken, potato salad, various other luxuries and a bunch of Hunter's Dry cider. As usual, the men do the serious cooking.
But what is really revolting is the way Amanda and Angie immediately start stuffing themselves, failing to do any work at all. Such sheer greed is never a pretty site. Amanda is tucking in while childishly wriggling and dancing in glee.
When Dyke, who actually earned them this feast, and who is busy cooking the meat they're about to devour, asks for a Hunter's, they're too busy guzzling to bother - he has to fetch it himself.
Then they rush to grab drinks for themselves, too, but expect the men to remove the bottle caps for them. What sort of role models are these self-appointed aristocrats?
But the most significant outcome of this game is that Hein stumbles, really very slightly, but sprains his ankle, and is plunged from the role of the all-mighty provider into a disabled and limping mortal.
It frankly doesn't look good and ice, bandaging and keeping it rested and elevated is hardly an option during this game. Are we to have another person going home for medical reasons?
We see him hobbling along aided by a large stick. Grant rather acidly comments that, "that the injury is troublesome - mainly for Hein."
Twisted sisters
Irshaad is remarkably unrealistic at times and announces that he's sure his strategy is good, (what strategy?) and that he'll go far. Far indeed, surely right back to SA, and soon, too.
Then another time he's feeling doomed, and sure that he'll be next to go.
He doesn't seem to have been effective at strategy. He seems to feel that he's safer for helping the grisly girls to think he's a pushover. But that makes him a genuine pushover.
Though he hopes somehow that Dyke will save him and cultivates him rather too obviously, he doesn't really offer any good reason for Dyke to do this.
In fact, Dyke himself points out that his main motivation would be to avoid ending in a situation with the two Twisted Sisters able to vote him off. But with one side down to three members, surely a merger must be close at hand?
Immature Angie, looking tubby (and tabby, considering how cattish she is) continues obsessing about and campaigning against Irshaad. She and Amanda are insultingly condescending towards him, calling him "our little stepchild".
Hein promises to tell them frankly, before the next tribal council, whether he's healing or ailing. Grant, looking more cheerful than he has for ages, remarks thoughtfully that they could get by without Hein.
Less comfortably, but they'd survive nonetheless. He's worried, but trying to keep the ankle warm at the fireside and giving his ankle a massage. He announces that he's "75 % better", though he's limping as badly as ever.
The sudden appearance of booze
Where did the booze come from? Dyke drinks more than usual; Irshaad doesn't drink. Next morning Dyke wakes with something of a hangover, saying, "Some homeless guy slept in my mouth, and left his blanket behind."
Fortunately for Hein, the immunity challenge takes an unusual form - only two representatives from each tribe will do battle, so he doesn't need to be involved at all.
So they can send Mandla and Grant to struggle on their behalf. Also, this arrangement offers both Irshaad and Mandla a chance at redemption. Irshaad fails, and seems to run short of breath when the task requires him to work under-water. So Bajau wins immunity.
Hein's getting stuck in cliché, admitting to "a spot of bother and a little bit of trouble". Mark's certainly sharper and more observant in this series than he was in the previous one.
One big, happy family
Even at tribal council, the spiteful girls are busy pouting and pulling faces, while Irshaad, comprehensively out of touch with reality, insists that this is a happy tribe. Yet Irshaad very properly asks, "Who the hell does she think she is?"
Amanda is staggered that anyone would ask that irresistible question. Why shouldn’t this vain, pompous girl be interrupted? It’s not as though she's ever said anything interesting or important. And as she is almost always talking, somebody has to interrupt her if they're to get a chance to say anything. She conceitedly says she thinks her remarks would be very helpful to him.
But tribal council is fairly brisk, and with one vote for Angie, Irshaad is duly voted out. His advice to Dyke is priceless: "I'm going to say one word: be careful!" (Or should that be "be-careful"?)
(Professor M.A. Simpson, aka CyberShrink, October 2007)
Bookmark with:
What are social bookmarks?