The question is.. am I referring to the rock or Tasha? Before I answer that I want to first make a prediction. Like it or not, Tony will be back to play this game again. Why? Three reasons. He plays hard, he plays to win (I think), and he gives great sound bites. Such as "get your ass out of the water and cook it". I have never seen a player waist so much potential in all my 10+ years of watching Survivor. At the beginning of the episode I was having a change of heart about him and starting to think he was gonna end up winning despite his LJ blunder, because everything just seems to be going his way. Sometimes on Survivor there are players who don't win so much because they play great but because the stars just happened to aligned perfectly and everything just seems to fall into place for them. The last two winners Tyson and Cochran are perfect examples of this. Two of the dumbest players in the history of the game. One of my fellow recappers gave Cochran a zero percent chance of winning at the beginning of Caramoan but look what happened. Not only does he win he doesn't have a single vote cast against him the entire season and then wins by unanimous decision. This however was not a Survivor first as JT managed to do the same thing but I think most people would of never believed the weasel who was too chicken to draw rocks would have a chance in hell of repeating that feat.
Of course Tony has no chance of accomplishing this since he has already had votes cast against him and after this episode I think he definitely has no chance at winning. I did however, start off the episode really admiring the guy. This happens because of the traditional Survivor auction. Even though Tony has a rock solid alliance AND an idol that can be played after the votes are read, making him virtually invincible for the time being, he is still determined to not bid on any food at the auction so he can win the also traditional advantage. Tony is a jerk and makes some boneheaded moves but you have to admire his dedication! The only problem is he has some serious competition from outsiders Spencer and Tasha.
Now their situation may seem pretty bleak but the last three immunity challenges have been won by one of these two and there is undoubtedly a new idol in circulation after Spencer played his last week. So if they can find the idol and one of them wins immunity then it's a whole new ballgame. I know Spencer blew a golden opportunity when he won immunity by not letting Tasha win and getting everyone to vote for him so he could play his idol but I don't think he would be that foolish again.
So after Wacky Woo gives everyone their money that was previously shoved down his ass we get to the auction. Typically we only have one or two people saving their money for the advantage or information but since this time we have three this time. As Spencer puts it this results in a real buyers market, with very little competition to drive up the prices. It's true that Tasha does bid against Jefra for an item, which seemed to really tick off Spencer, but I suspect she may have just been trying to get Jefra to spend more money. As hungry and safe as Tony he is, he refuses to bid on anything. This is just a testament to the depths of Tony's paranoia.
Finally it's time for the advantage, but of course Probst has to create a little drama and stir things up by putting the three people who still have all their money on the spot. After they acknowledge what is obvious to everyone, Probst pulls out a small scroll and Tony immediately bids all his money, but Probst reveals that it's not that easy. He informs them that if the bidding reaches the maximum amount anyone else with all their money can match the bid and then it will become a contest of drawing for the chance to win the advantage. Spencer agrees to take the chance but Tasha elects to sit out. As they were about to draw I was saying to myself it's going to be Tony because everything has been going his way and sure enough Tony draws the winning black rock while Spencer is left with nothing. Not that it matters because Probst immediately announces the auction is over. I'm not sure if I like this rule of drawing rocks after bidding all your money and I definitely don't like them saving it for the last item. But maybe the only reason they didn't do this in the past is there is normally only one person with all their money after a few rounds of food battles.
Back at camp Tony has to narrate the action as is often his habit and lectures on the downside of winning the advantage. Still having not read the scroll and assuming it's an advantage at the next immunity challenge. He says the fact that he's starving and others are full may neutralize any advantage. However I do not recall anyone ever buying an immunity advantage at an auction and not winning the next immunity. Even Abi who was sat out of nearly every challenge because she is so weak won immunity when she had an advantage. However, this particular advantage is not an immunity advantage but a clue to the new hidden immunity idol.
At first he can't find it and both Spencer and Tasha are working Tony good. Spencer by planting seeds about Jefra and Tasha by staying close with the girls to plant fear of an all girls alliance. Of course it works like a charm for the most paranoid player in the history of the game. I really have to give Tasha credit she is such a better player than I ever suspected from the beginning of this season. So she's in the water with the girls which pisses off Tony even more because he's taking care of the camp and meanwhile Trish thinks that Spencer is too skinny. Okay skeleton lady.
Tony goes to search for the idol some more and this time he finds it at a tree that looks exactly like the tree he found the last idol at. So now, Tony is officially the most powerful player in Survivor history. More powerful the Yul, more powerful than Terry, more powerful than James. This fool now has two idols one of which can be used AFTER the votes are read! There's no way he's going home with two idols in his bag like James did. He is so ecstatic he now believes he has the power to take away a persons vision since he says he can give it to someone else to help them "blind" someone. Tony than proceeds to show everyone in his alliance his new idol even though he is still keeping the other one a secret. He says he is doing it to build trust and tells them it's another community idol but what he's really trying to do is scare the shit out of them which I think is one of his better moves.
At the immunity challenge Woo gives Tasha a run for her money but for the third strait time she wins immunity. Immediately after winning she looks up to the sky and thanks Jesus. Apparently Jesus is a big fan of Survivor and had nothing better to do on this day than to make sure Tasha played another day. I wonder if he is also the one that helped Tony get two idols?
So now it looks pretty bad for Spencer unless those seeds of doubt they have been planting in Tony have begun to blossom and indeed they have into a full blown garden of paranoia. Had Tasha won he almost certainly would of voted her off but now he is so scared of being outnumbered two to one by the girls, despite that fact that he has two idols. We still don't know how long either of these idols are good for but if he can just win one of the next three immunities he's pretty much guaranteed final four even if he uses one of his idols this episode.
Despite all this he initiates a plan to take out Jefra. Spencer and Tasha are thrilled to go along with the plan and Woo, who is Costello to Tony's Abbot is also down. Once again they leave Trish and Kass out of the loop.
It's things like this that drive me crazy. It is so irrational and senseless. This guy just can not slow down for one second. Spencer is a much bigger physical threat than Jefra. Jefra may have a slight advantage over Spencer with the jury but Spencer and Tasha are no slouches in that department either. However the plan may be aborted when Spencer decides to go searching for the idol just to be safe. This is almost enough to cause Tony to flip once again. I'm pretty sure this is just for dramatic effect though, since Probst implied in early interviews that Spencer goes to the end.
At tribal Tony pulls out his normal idol and announces he will be using it tonight because he's convinced the girls are plotting against him. In the end the girls vote for Spencer and not for Tony but Tony does flip and Jefra is sent home. I said this before but now I'm sure Tony's game is over. The way he's going he's going to end up in the end with Tasha and Spencer and is gonna get his ass kicked. After all one of thse two have won the last four immunities! What's even more bizarre is the half of the worst tribe in Survivor history is now half of the final six. So now it really is Brains vs Brawn!
NEXT WEEK ON SURVIVOR! Can Tasha save herself again with an unprecedented four strait immunity victories?
