Before I begin this weeks recap I need to admit that I forgot to mention last time that with the four votes he received last week, Penner has officially broken Ozzy's record of most votes cast against a single player. Over the course of three seasons Penner has had a staggering 29 votes cast against him. Good work Jonathan.Now onto this weeks recap. We're now down to the final 6! Three Tandang's, two Matsing's, and one Kalabaw! Who will survive this episode? The episode begins right after last weeks tribal and Abi starts it off by an unbelievable display of clairvoyant powers when she announces that it's clear to her that there's an alliance between Malcolm, Denise, Skupin, and Lisa. Wow, eat your heart out Kreskin! She continues to play her fake idol, however. It's her only defense, knowing full well she has almost no chance at winning another immunity.
Immediately after the first commercial break we jump strait to the reward challenge. This is the week for visits from loved ones which leads to the most disgusting emotional outbursts in Survivor history. The main perpetrators are Skupin, Lisa, and Denise. As soon as Probst makes the announcement Skupin immediately starts crying at the top of his lungs. He is also the first to get to see his loved one and he proceeds to slobber all over his son. When Denise's husband comes out she jumps on top of him and blows snot all over his shirt, which Probst is happy to point out. It's been a while since Lisa has done any professional acting, but she evidently still has a huge fear of being upstaged. Not wanting to be out-shined by Skupin or Denise, Lisa has a meltdown so intense at the sight of her brother, that her face looks like one the melting nazi faces from the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.
The challenge involves castaways tossing muddy bags to their loved ones who must throw them to knock over a group of short bamboo poles on platforms. Winner gets to take their loved one back to camp until the next day. In light of last weeks teaser it's no surprise when Malcolm wins. Probst gives him the opportunity to pick another Survivor's loved one and he surprisingly chooses the Texas Girl that threw him under the bus a few weeks ago instead of his long time ally Denise. Skupin asks Malcolm to ask for another one. He does and Probst grants his request, to which Malcolm again disses Denise and chooses Skupin. Malcolm reveals this was done to reward them for sticking with him and Denise at the last vote. I expected to hear some bitching from Denise about Malcolm's choice. It may very well have occurred but is not a part of the final edit. As Carter's mom leaves, Skupin starts telling her over, and over, and over, AND OVER AGAIN about what a hell of guy Carter is. It's painfully obvious that the jury marching wind has shifted sharply from Abi to Carter.
Back at camp Lisa and Skupin reward Malcolm's generosity by immediately plotting to blindside him at the next vote. They realize Malcolm will be hard to beat in the finals and none of the players have yet to figure out that this season is going to be a final two. At first, Lisa is firm, or at least pretends to be firm in keeping to her word, THIS TIME, but then her brother advises her that Malcolm might respect getting blindsided by her. Yeah right. There have been a couple morons in Survivor history to actually respect being voted out but Malcolm is not nearly as dumb as Brandon Hantz, John Fincher, or Shambo. Still this is enough to bring back Lisa's greedy side who begins to gleefully orchestrate Malcolm's demise.
I know this is game for a million dollars but I have always had a real problem with people turning on a player that just gave them a reward. I know it's been done many times in Survivor but I still don't like it. Especially when you're pretty much guaranteed to make the final four with the player in question. I also think it creates really bad karma for yourself when you do that. I'm talking to you Stephanie Lagrosa! At least they didn't swear to God like Dreamz from Figi but its still pretty despicable of them in my book.
In an effort to clear their conscious's they pray to God that his will be done. That way when Malcolm loses the immunity challenge they can say, we were doing God's will by blindsiding you Malcolm. They also ponder how Jesus would probably look a lot like Malcolm if he were to play Survivor. How ironic that the immunity challenge takes place on day 33, which is how old Jesus was when he died. So will Malcolm's game die at 33 as Jesus did?
Well the challenge consists of players running out into the water to retrieve three bags of sticks and ropes. They must then use these materials to form one big pole to reach over to a target to activate the immunity flag. Everyone plays like it's the final immunity challenge, everyone, that is, except for Abi who seems to be on a holiday during the challenge, which absolutely infuriates Probst. It's never said in the episode, but I for one believe this was a strategic move by Abi. I think she knew she didn't have much of a chance to win, so she decided to act like she didn't need it, in a effort to convince everyone she has a hidden immunity idol.
Lisa, Skupin, and Carter jump out to an early lead with their pole building but their poles aren't strong enough to push the target. Malcolm who has no idea how much he needs this, takes the advice of the tortoise and goes slow and steady to build a strong pole. Then for the third time since the merge, the player who needs it the most, wins immunity, even though he didn't know it. This leads to Lisa doing a very weird impression of a sports announcer calling her defeat. Another sign that Lisa is losing it.
Back at camp Lisa and Skupin are both bummed. Lisa acknowledges that they did pray to God for the best result. Skupin is so into the conversation he points out a huge ant crawling on a nearby branch. Doh! Could Skupin be related to Homer Simpson?
So now the tribe has to decide between Carter and Abi. It's hard to say who it will be, because Carter isn't putting any effort into saving himself and Abi seems to be putting forth a huge effort to annoy everyone. At one point Denise pleads with Abi to drop the subject but that only encourages her to continue more strongly. Abi points out how Denise doesn't have to worry because she's in the final four already. Then Lisa and Abi get into it. Lisa admits she may have to write down Denise's name at the final four but she's not doing it until that time. Denise adds that she would not begrudge her for doing that. Yeah right, and monkey's will fly out of my butt! What she means to say is, "I won't begrudge you, as long as I'm not the one voted off that night!"
To her credit, Abi doesn't give up and continues to play her imaginary idol. Her reasoning is, that if you tell a lie long enough, people will start to believe it. She admits that even she now believes she has a fake idol. That's probably how she convinced herself for so long that everyone didn't hate her. Malcolm also admits that Abi's fake idol has to be considered along with Carter's dangerous challenge ability.
I'm not surprised by Carter's lack of scrambling but still disappointed. He revealed in a post game interview that Lisa and Skupin had approached him about getting rid of Malcolm before he won immunity. If he had been smart he would tried dropping the dime on Skupin and Lisa to Malcolm and Denise and tried to target one of them instead of being focused on Abi.
When it gets to tribal council I'm still thinking Abi is toast. She's so desperate she even tells Probst that she has an idol and intends on playing it tonight. Carter does speak up for himself by saying that there's been a lot of talk about taking people to the end who are deserving. Lisa gives a hint to the outcome of the vote by saying she wants to bring people along who she can beat. No one seems to believe Abi has an idol but they still vote out Carter much to RC's disappointment who must once again continue to play the waiting game to confront her nemesis! So that's the end of Kalabaw! Unless you count Denise.
Abi has gotten a lot of criticism from a lot of people over her outrageous game style, including myself, but when all is said and done, she's made it to the final five. There are two returning players and a former professional athlete who would love to be where she's at right now. She's also in a very good position now to squeeze into the final three. She just needs one of the two sub alliances to flip over to the dark side. If she can get Lisa to take her to the end she may be able to pull out the biggest miracle in Survivor history and actually win this game. You may now all release a collective groan at that prospect. I know that's very unlikely, and I think she's most likely going home next week, BUT if the wicked Parvati can win a season anything can happen here.
NEXT WEEK ON SURVIVOR! Only one more episode until the finale and as long as Malcolm isn't stupid enough to not play his idol he's guaranteed a spot in the final four. If he can win immunity he can give his idol to Denise which almost certainly will seal Abi's fate at last!
No comments:
Post a Comment