Survivor: South Pacific delivered yet again last night. They’re showing significantly less Redemption Island footage this season, allowing for more time to develop the plot in the “real” game. Whether this was an intentional format change or simply a coincidence, I don’t know. But I like it.
Redemption Island
The episode started out with Stacey and Christine griping on RI. Stacey is a bitter bitch, but she makes me laugh. She said her tribe was “going to hell with gasoline drawers on,” for chrissake. Where does she come up with this stuff? Once she got into her whole “Benjamin” speech at the duel, though, it became apparent that she’s legitimately off her rocker and should probably be medicated. Her one-liners will be missed.
Coach “Don’t Call Me Benjamin” Wade
Coach seems to have erased a lot of his progress this week. For the past few episodes he’s been coming across as a lot more mature, sane, and likable than past seasons. But last night, Coach was back to doing Coach things (calling himself “Dragon” after finding the idol, for example). It’s only a matter of time before the stories about pygmy cannibals start up again. Sigh.
Middle-Aged Ozzy
Over on Savaii, Ozzy continues to prove that he’s learned nothing from his past failures in this game. He’s still the same old judgmental, narcissistic guy he always was, only now he’s older and less in-shape. He really thought he was running the game up until Elyse was blindsided, and I was happy to see him knocked down a few pegs. I can’t wait to see how that whole storyline unfolds next week, and I’m sure he’ll be needing his hidden immunity idol soon enough.
Whose Meat Weighs the Most?
The immunity challenge made the middle schooler in me giggle. It was one “That’s what she said” after another. Who doesn’t love a good inadvertent penis joke (or twenty)? Both teams fought hard to fit the most meat in their mouths (teehee), but ultimately, Upolu’s meat was more massive (haha) and they won immunity. They also won reward, which consisted of spices, veggies, and all 22 pounds of regurgitated meat from the challenge. Yum.
Coch-Train Survives Again
While I would have loved to see Ozzy go last night, Savaii needs to keep their tribe strong until the merge, so Elyse was the next best thing. I think they made a wise decision. I do, however, think that Keith & Whitney were dumb to vote for Dawn. I know they were trying to avoid ruffling any feathers, but being non-committal like that often has the opposite effect. They’ve made it clear that they’re not really loyal to either side, and wild cards can be perceived as very threatening in this game.
I’ll be interested to see who wins the duel next week. I’m also very excited to see how Ozzy handles the realization that he’s not running the game anymore. I can’t wait for next week’s episode!
The Armchair Strategist 