After the break, the winners are bussed to a tiny rural Filipino elementary school with about 100 kids anxious to see who the skinny, dirty Americans are. They could care less about the castaways, since they’re here bearing gifts: book bags, balls (no jokes here, Cheryl), globes and other educational items. Really a great experience if you’re into giving back to the community, or are a fan of education, or like kids, or are a human being… Spencer, however, is evidently not human, because he reveals that he “really doesn’t like kids.” AYFKM? I hope he now realizes how idiotic that sounds. It’s not like he’s being asked to ADOPT one of these kids, he just needs to hand them a ball and a f**king sandwich! It’s a 2-hour goodwill tour that will brighten their lives a little bit. Don’t be such a d**k…
A bit later, Woo shows off some of his basketball skills (a future with the Globetrotters is debatable) and then gives the children a martial arts exhibition. Kass is really impressed with how Woo is coming out of his shell, as this is the most she’s heard him speak since being on the show. After the exhibition, the kids return to their classroom, and the 3 head off to eat some food and discuss strategy. Kass is, of course, up front about taking Tony out now. Her plan is to split the vote in the hope of flushing Tony’s idol, and then taking out Trish. Spencer is down with it, because, why wouldn’t he be? But the old Woo has suddenly returned… reticent, contemplative, silent. He’s like Caine from “Kung Fu.”
“Yes, yes, something to consider, right…” is how Spencer describes it.
But as Woo is deciding what’s best for him, Spencer and Kass are now suggesting to him that the 3 of them should go to the final. Of course Spencer wants this. Who better to go against? The woman who pissed off her alliance by flipping on them, or Woo, the guy who’s playing the best “Gervase” game since…Gervase.
No matter what Woo tells them, he reveals to us he knows it’s an individual game, and if he needs to consider taking out Tony, he will. And on the walk back to camp, Woo tells them that he’s in on their plan. Let’s see if that promise holds water…
Spencer grabs Tash and reveals the plan, which she’s undoubtedly up for. Back in the shelter, Trish asks Tony if he thinks Kass and Spencer made a play to get Woo on their side. Tony knows it had to have happened, and takes matters into his own hands by questioning Woo about what was discussed. Woo says their plan is to vote out Tash, which immediately strikes Tony as suspicious. “Why would they take out one of their own?” he questions, which makes him think that Woo might be lying to him. Since it’s a game of strategy, that shouldn’t come as too big of a surprise, so Tony knows he’s going to have to keep his Woo-dar on. Thankfully, the Tyler Perry idol is like having a snow suit in the Arctic when everyone else is in a bikini, so he should be able to breathe easy for a few more days.. And as Kass mentioned earlier in the episode, hidden immunity idols can only be played up to the final 5, so Tony has 2 tribals to play 2 idols. Must be nice… I wonder which order he should play them in…
It’s time for the Immunity Challenge where the players must run across the beach and memorize the number of items on 6 tables. Those numbers must then be selected on a spinning disc which will unlock a metal bar if all 6 numbers are correct. The bar is then used to smash a tile. Sounds pretty straightforward, I’m thinking one of the old Brains may have an advantage. Will Spencer use his brain and strength and buy another few days on the island (remember when he almost went home?!) or can Tash win her 4th challenge in a row and tie Kelly Wiglesworth for that record?
The challenge begins and I’m thinking the best play is to pull a Stephen Fishbach and take your time memorizing all 6 numbers at once. I guess no one saw that season as everyone seems to return after viewing (what looks like) 2-3 tables at a time. And after a couple trips back and forth for everyone, no one has freed their bar. Even after 25 minutes, players are still going back and forth, the fatigue clearly evident on the faces and the speed at which they’re running. Exasperated, Tash approaches for one more try, closely followed by Tony and Kass. It’s a sprint to their stations. They both beat Tash to their locks, but both are wrong yet again. Can this be it for Tash…?
No.
Trish then appears and tries again, no! Finally, Spencer makes a one more adjustment and…
Yes.
Spencer is safe. Another victory for Zero Population Growth…
After the immunity challenges (it’s Day 33) it’s always interesting to see how quickly the scrambling begins. Everyone is on full speed ahead, and with everything that’s been discussed this episode, I don’t see how tonight is any different. Around camp, the players banter about how everyone had a chance in that challenge, but Tony points out that only 2 people seem to be winning (Spencer and Tash) the challenges.
A bit later, Spencer, Tash and Woo are discussing tonight’s plan one more time: the guys will vote for Tony and the girls will vote for Trish, and once again, Woo is clearly not gung-ho with the plan. My spider sense is tingling that Woo is going to spill the beans to Tony, but let’s see if he does. Woo’s been loyal all season to Tony, so I’m not sure if he’s totally on board with the mutiny.
Others are discussing what suits them best, but Kass and Tash have the biggest epiphany: Tony is this season’s Russell Hantz. Tony is just the New Jersey version. Truth be told, I don’t see Tony being the same type of player that Russell was. I get that they’re both very strategic, but Tony is much more comfortable in his position with his “bag of tricks.” Russell had his idols, but typically had to consider playing them as soon as he could. Tony’s had the luxury of having a huge advantage in voting numbers, so he really hasn’t had to seriously consider using his idol(s) each and every Tribal.
The comparison is enough to get Kass thinking that maybe she needs to go to the end with Tony, since no one gives “the jerk” the money. She grabs Woo for one final pow-wow before Tribal… Do they stick to the plan and try to target Tony/Trish or do they change it up one more time and get Tash out? That would seem like a pretty smart choice considering her strength in challenges and possible jury votes, but let’s see who falls victim to Blindside City tonight…
And just then, as I’m typing this, an earthquake hits southern California and forebodes a troubling Tribal Council. Ooohhh, that was spooky…
On a cold and rainy night, Jeff welcomes everyone into Tribal and immediately questions Tash on whether she’s worried since she doesn’t have immunity tonight. Tash replies that she is a tad concerned, but since Tony’s a bigger strategic player, eyes should be on him as well. Tony agrees with that assessment, “that’s why I have my bag of tricks here again.”
He then brings up that Tash was acting very differently today after losing the challenge, and her not being worried worries Tony. Jeff asks him what he can do since he’s clearly deflecting attention away from himself, to which he replies that Tash and Spencer have been claiming “Tony is so dangerous,” which is basically deflecting attention away from them. Tony states that he’ll just need to stick to his alliance, which has remained loyal throughout.
Jeff asks Kass whether Tony’s confidence about loyalty and trust within the Tiger alliance is genuine or not, and she replies that it’s probably not. Tony’s surprised look notwithstanding, Kass says “I’d be worried if I had a bag of tricks,” and with that, Felix the Cat laughed so hard his sides did ache, and his heart went pitter-pat… because that was a ridiculous statement.
Jeff asks a few more questions about the bag of tricks and flushing idols and what all this means, but we know Tony’s safe so let’s just get to the vote. Kass wraps it up by saying there might be a blindside, which is good news for Tash (she thinks). It’s time to vote…
Tony votes Tash
Spencer votes Tony
Tash votes Trish
As Jeff collects the votes and asks if anyone has a hidden immunity idol, Tash and Spencer are particularly pleased when Tony DOES NOT play any idol. Looks like he’s finally going to give Tyler Perry his due, unless he doesn’t need to and he keeps both idols for next week. Smart guy… I can’t wait to see when he finally does play it. The look on everyone’s faces…
Jeff reads the other votes: Tash, and then another for Tash and she’s sent packing. Woo stayed true to Tony, and so did Kass. So after all those arguments and threats, Kass is still in bed with Tony. Sounds like a marriage made in heaven.
Tash’s fire is snuffed, there are no final words from anyone, no goodbyes, no gasps… Thank heavens we can just have a friggin’ blindside Tribal without all the DRAMA!
And as Jeff points out, once again Spencer is on the outside, and looks to have his work cut out for him next week. But so does Chaos Kass, as the tease reveals. She’s not only going up against Tony next week, she’ll be battling Trish, who’s about to go crazy on her. So I guess despite all her flipping and blindsiding, Kass will do her best to disprove the idiom that “you can’t look a gift-horse in the mouth…
I hope everyone has a good week ahead. Happy basketball playoffs, happy reality television watching, and most importantly, Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms out there. I’ll be spending some quality time with my mother, whose own inspirational story still motivates me to this day. And I hope if Spencer has a mom, she’s telling him not to be such a prick…
Enjoy your week, folks!
Fish
Email: bryan.fish.fischer@gmail.com
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Tony’s vote was completely out of the blue. Not sure what we were not shown. My only guess is that he figured out that Trish was getting voted out so he did not want to p -off Kass or Woo.
I also cannot figure out why Tony did not save Trish and voted out Woo.