Survivor UpdateInteresting episode. We begin with the Yaxha tribe members stumbling in the dark; guess they don't let them use their torches during the trip back to the campground for fear they'll burn donw the jungle. Then it turns out that they're merging with Nukum in the dead of night.
There's some brief welcome, but then Jamie spoils the mood by commenting that there's no room in the tent. For the rest of the episode the former Yaxha are obsessing over the fact that they're doomed to be Pagonged. The Nukum seem to be happy to have people doing the work for them, but they sound determined to vote off the Yaxha. At first, only Rafe seems bothered by this and he gets off the evening's best line: "Am I in the Axis of Evil?"
Then, the tree mail tells everybody that there's a small idol in the woods somewhere that anybody can use for immunity. The Yaxha now have a reason to be even more active than they have been. Even Judd and Jamie start searching, apparently to make sure that nobody from the former Yaxha has an out.
There is some discussion about the order Yaxha will be voted off. Bobby Jon, taking advantage of his friendship with Steph from Palau, gets her to promise to save him at least one more week so he can be on the jury. The order is Brandon, Bobby Jon, Danni and Gary. Interesting how many people like Gary in this show; if he were to make it to the finals he'd have an excellent chance of winning.
There is no reward challenge this episode, so we go right to the Immunity Challenge. But this time there's a twist. They lay out a spread on a picnic table with food, wine, grapes, you name it. Anybody who feels confident that they're not in danger can sit down and have a meal. Anybody who wants to have a chance at immunity has to pass up the feast. Predictably, all four former Yaxha chose to try for the necklace, joined by Judd (who had looked great at balancing earlier in the episode) and Cindy, who's been a cipher despite making it this far.
This is of course, a variation on the old "make folks balance on something and then offer them pizza or an ice-cream sundae if they come down" challenge that appeared in Palau and the Outback.
Jamie puts his foot in it though by announcing to everybody that Brandon and Bobby Jon are on the chopping block while they're in the middle of the challenge. Then he compounds the error by pointing out that Judd is there to protect "our" interests. At this Rafe gets rather emotional, talking to Steph and crying.
The challenge is to balance a pot on your head while standing on a small block of wood. After an hour, the only person eliminated is Danni. Jeff calls them over for a playoff. This time, the challenge is to carry the pot on your head all the way to the top of a Mayan pyramid. Gary is the only person to make it all the way to the top and wins immunity.
Since we know he's in no danger of being voted off it's somewhat ironic. But he didn't know that. Back at camp, though, it looks like Jamie's callous comments may have put him in danger. At one point or another, it seems like everybody on Nukum is committed to voting him off, except for poor Lydia. Of course, poor Lydia may be the person whose position improved the most after the merge, since she's not perceived as a threat to anybody, and her lack of athletic ability doesn't matter now that we're past the team competitions.
In the end, of course, the person you would have picked before the scheming began is the one who gets voted off. Brandon gets six votes to Jamie's four, so Nukum held. This was where I thought Burnett really blew it though. The rule on the mini idol was that if you wanted to use it at tribal council, you had to declare that first. It would have made for a lot more drama if they'd allowed the person to draw it out after the vote, and that meant that the second place vote-getter was voted off. Jamie would have really been sweating it then!
CooterTV sounds like
he doesn't like Jamie.
As I’m writing this, I have faith that not since Jonny “I faked my grandmother’s death” Fairplay has there been a Survivor as despised as Jamie. If there’s one thing that this game will not stand is someone who sits there and dishes out ridicule and insults. Has this guy ever watched Survivor before? The cocky ones always end up on the Jury.Good summary, written with a bit more wit than I can muster.
