The tribe returns to camp and Tony, as always, needs to rationalize to the others why he doesn’t have an advantage having the advantage. “You guys all got eat, and I didn’t,” so poor hungry Tony has to endure the effects of starvation, guilt, the advantage, and the stupid Tyler Perry idol. JFC, dude, celebrate something for once! So while he’s busy trying to make something to eat, the others collapse into food comas and begin discussing the intricacies of their respective meals…
“Oooh, was that a chicken quesadilla…?”
“Were there mushrooms on that…?”
“Did that sauce have mango in it…?”
Tony starts to boil (his anger, not the cooking pot) and just wants someone to watch the stupid fire while he goes to get water. Or can someone get the water while he watches the fire? Or can someone get off their lazy, emaciated ass and do something, I’m f**king starving over here…!”
So Tony (pretends to) stomp off but is really just looking for a place where he can read his advantage scroll in privacy. Upon doing so, he reads that instead of an advantage in the next challenge, the scroll offers a clue to the location of ANOTHER hidden immunity idol near camp.
Can this guy get any more breaks in this game?
Unfortunately, he’s not able to locate the “big white tree” that the clue mentions, but he knows he’s on the right path. He’ll just need to keep digging around every white tree there is. Since everyone thinks the advantage he’s received is in the next challenge, he could probably get away with a little digging here and there – or at least extended periods away from camp – to search for the idol without too much suspicion being raised. He would be in a powerful position to be holding 2 idols, and this time (I’m looking at you, James), he can’t be tricked into NOT playing one and going home with them in your pocket.
As Tony is walking up and down the beach searching for the white tree, he passes the 4 girls who are all taking a dip in the ocean. He notices they’ve been in there for a while now, which gets him thinking about Tash possibly trying to form an all-girl alliance (to take him out) so despite any feelings of ultimate control, Tony is still a paranoid mess and needs to speak with Spencer. Who is more than happy to feed into Tony’s paranoia that the girls may be thinking about changing things up. He relays to Tony the events of their last reward challenge where Jefra flipped over to the “Lambs” alliance and shook on it. And while that didn’t hold tight, it could mean that she’d be willing to flip again.
And just to mess with Tony’s mind a little more, Spencer suggests that Tash has been playing “one hell of a social game.” He just keeps feeding him line after line, anything that plays into Tony’s paranoia: “Jefra said she’d do this…” and “Jefra said she’d do that…” Tony is (partially) listening to what he’s saying, and based on the things he heard Jefra say last week at SpyShack#2 (“I don’t trust Tony anymore…”) Tony knows that some of what Spencer is telling him could be true. Yes, he knows Spencer is desperate, but Tony is very aware that he could very easily become a target. So while he’ll continue to be comfortable in his position, he will not become complacent. He’s going to take matters into his own hands and secure his place in this game, and his legacy…
While the ladies are STILL taking a dip, Tony and Woo are back at camp and remember they had a crab trapped in a box. They find that the crab has died, so Tony asks the girls if they should cook it. Jefra calls back that it’s still okay to cook, but they should do it soon. This upsets Tony, who whispers to Woo, “Did you hear that? WE should cook it. Then get your asses back here and cook it, then!” Tony’s had it up to here with their laziness and possible all-girl alliance, and decides to kick things into action. He’s going to go find the other idol.
Somehow, he finds the big white tree that he wasn’t able to find before. Why’s the tree gotta be white?! Why is everything about race in this episode…!! (Too soon?)
So after admiring the Moby Dick tree for a moment, Tony rolls up his sleeves and dives into the process of digging. Oh wait, that ground right there looks like it’s freshly dug up. Yeah, that’s it, dig right there. There you go. Oh, what’s that? It looks like…the hidden immunity idol. Boom goes the dynamite… Our once fat little construction worker is now in possession of the “black” (Tyler Perry) idol, and the “white” (Moby Dick tree) idol. All we need is Sir Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder (or Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo!) and a fricking piano, and we can win ourselves a god*amn Emmy!
He returns to camp and goes about showing the idol to everyone in his alliance. He tells them that it’s a “community idol,” but he has no intention of sharing it with anyone. And as he reveals to us, he’s showing them the idol for 2 reasons. 1) to give them a false sense of unity within their alliance, but really 2) to scare them a little by knowing he has it.
Off to the immunity challenge we go and from the challenge preview I Tweeted out this week, we know it’s a great little physical vs. mental wunderchallenge. In it, players will have to dig out and yank up a rope that has bags attached to it. Once all the bags are collected, players have to remove the 5 balls inside the bags and use them on a tilting table maze. The first player to maneuver all 5 balls through the maze and into the 5 holes at the other end of the table wins immunity.
Woo takes the early lead but Tony overtakes him pulling up the bags, Tash and Spencer are close behind. Jefra, Kass and Trish are bringing up the rear but this is a long challenge. Tash is the first to get all 5 balls out of the bags and moves to the table maze first. After making a couple quick ones, Tash loses a ball as others are joining her at their maze. Tony, Spencer, Woo, and Jefra, are now at the maze with Kass and Trish essentially out of it. While Tony struggles to grasp the concept of “subtlety” (in more ways than one) Woo gets it and soon has three balls in their slots as well and is tied with Tash. But she’s landed her fourth ball! And with Woo breathing down her neck on his last ball…she drops in the fifth! Third immunity win in a row! Take that Donald Sterling, you f**king a**hole!
Hi Bryan,
I really should get on Twitter, I just don’t get it! But then I could read more of the comments. I really think this season is great and your comments/recap are always the highlight of each episode. I hope your sabotage idea gets some press. It seems really clever and would be fun to watch. I didn’t get at all why Tony showed everyone the idol he found. I would have kept it quiet myself. I know he said his reasons why but I thought they were stupid. Though over all, he’s a fun guy to watch and I wouldn’t mind if he won. It seems to me like Tasha should be the one they are all gunning for as soon as they can. With respect to the survivor auction, the food portions were really skimpy. Like Woo’s ribs, all you get are 3 ribs and a beer. No fries, no brownie! And Trish, all she gets is some gummies and a small popcorn/soda? Come on, these people are starving! Sorry you didn’t get to see Jefra shower-PERV! 🙂 Finally, I keep thinking LJ looks totally awful at all of these jury shots at Tribal. I will confess, I had a tiny LJ crush, but in the jury scenes, he looks like an old guy with a bad comb-over. The jury members usually look so good when they come out at Tribal, but he always looks terrible.
Yeah, I thought Trish really showed how dumb she is during the auction when she kept asking what they were waiting for. Had she never seen this show before?
My girls! So nice to hear from you… 🙂
(kinb) As you may recall, I was hesitant to get on Twitter all of last season, but it’s necessary for what I’m trying to do now. I get it if people don’t wanna get on it, so here’s my two cents based on my 6 months:
1. If you don’t wanna tweet a lot and just follow a couple people, that’s best. Just as long as the people you follow aren’t fanatically tweeting shit all the time (annoying!)
2. If you follow too many people, you’ll just end up missing everything. I’m following a ton of ex-players now and it’s more work trying to catch up on every tweet I missed than it is joy from reading some good ones.
3. It’s hard/frustrating trying to get followers at the beginning. Believe me!
And thanks for being such a big fan. I’m glad you’re digging my columns.
-I wont’ hold my breath on my Sabotage theme, but I wont’ give up either.
-Re: Tony, if you had Twitter, you would have seen my post where I wondered if Tony’s going to end up “pulling a Russell Hantz” and make it all the way to the end but lose to a Trish, Woo, or Tash because of the way he got everyone voted out. He’s putting WAY TOO BIG a target on his own back, seemingly orchestrating everyone’s departure. That’s not the way to cull jury votes…
-And yeah, the auction was very…sparse. I wonder why?
-Me? A perv? Pul-lease… 😉
-Totally agree on LJ. Is anyone doing hair & make-up SUGGESTIONS for these people at Ponderosa? He looks older than me!
Thanks for your input, I really appreciate it!
(ericah) Something about Trish just makes me think she’s not the brightest light on the porch. Just comes across as a very simple person. Nothing wrong with that, but in a game based on outwitting, it seems like she’s unprepared. Like going to battle without a weapon…
Thanks for writing! Have a great weekend!
Fish
1) I like your “Sabotage” idea in some respect. It would be different and would definitely change how someone plays the game. Here’s what I fear though – I really like having someone to root for. There has to be players who I WANT to win the money. I tend to be totally turned off by players like Tony, Russell, and Brad C (to name a few). Those that are rude, overbearing, obnoxious people. I don’t even care if “they played a good game” by the end. I just want them to lose. SO, if they pick up your idea, I wouldn’t want it to be all totally cut throat and mean players. For example, Rupert stole those shoes at the very beginning of his first season. He could have come off as a total jerk, but instead he came off as a lovable guy with a mischievous streak. I could back a Rupert …. never a Russell or a psycho like J’Tia.
2) I wanted to scream at Tash during the auction. First she bid on some stupid thing for $20 or something – WHAT?!? Do you realize you are playing Survivor? You know there will be some type of advantage at the end. You NEED that; you don’t need some jelly beans (or whatever). And then to let it go at just the two of them. Did you start out on the Brains tribe? Isn’t she an accountant or something? You don’t realize that you two have a better shot with 2 out of 3 than letting Spencer go it alone for a 50/50 shot? She did at least have an explanation …. But I still think she should have gone all in.
3) Russell ran the game through fear, but he also played well (I still didn’t want him to get the money – see #1). Tony seems to be getting more and more irrational. I’m waiting for a J’Tia moment to pop up any time. I think he has lost any chance of getting votes from the jury at this point. Who knows though – these people tend to change their mind a LOT more than their underwear.
Thanks for the great recap – as always!
Hi rsanon, I totally agree with your point #1. If you recall, I said when I revealed it that you can’t have just a bunch of villains, America wouldn’t get behind it. You need to have some contestants who embody the “outwit” part of the theme. Whether that’s someone like Vytas who tried that cheap shot on his brother, or someone like Ciera who was willing to play both sides and make big moves, or even a guy like LJ, who everyone seems to love. It’s just the theme of the show, and Jeff can spin players any way he wants to make them more “sabotag-y.” If that’s a word…
But I’m with you on not having a mean player win. As much as I enjoy a good blindside, deep down I want someone to win who a) deserves it (up to my discretion), b) played a smart game, and c) isn’t a jerk. There have been some players who played a strong game (like Russell H.) but the way he bullied people and his chauvinistic comments were troubling for me to get behind. I would have voted for Mick… And don’t even get me started on X’XXX…
2. I discussed all that in the column. I totally agree with you. Why not go for the advantage and face off against Tony? Even if you don’t win, you’re making it more difficult on him. Oh well…
3. I have a feeling that Tony’s actions are losing him jury votes (or LOST him jury votes) but he’s blinded by his own game. He’s thinking about how HE would vote for a winner, rather than how THEY should vote for a winner. It’s all about communication… You gotta figure out what they want to hear rather than what you wanna say…
Thanks! Stay tuned for an epic conclusion to the season and the recaps…and hopefully more!
Fish