Post by BCandScott on Mar 31, 2006 18:51:22 GMT -5
WARNING - I was completely aggravated at the end of this episode and cursing furiously at the television.
The recap shows us that famous puzzle again....where Dan couldn't wrap that really smart brain of his around a puzzle a child works in about 2nd grade. It cost him, too. He was gone that night at tribal when Sally got sent to exile island. This is NOT the stupidest thing we will see tonight.
We also got to see Shane having a cigarette at the Panamanian barbecue. I still can't believe he picked SURVIVOR as a place to quit smoking. THIS is not the stupidest thing we will see tonight.
Courtney is cold. She is wet and can't get under the shelter well enough to get under the cover which Shane is hogging. She is freezing and shivering. Shane is disturbed by her shivering and keeps elbowing her. It's raining. I then realize that after the other time when the Casaya camp turned into Lake Casaya, these guys didn't bother to move their camp to dryer environs. Nope, they are still there with the water kind of licking up at the edge of their "shelter." And guess what, THIS is not the stupidest thing we will see tonight.
The next morning, Courtney is miserable and had no sleep. She said everyone was curled up and warm but her and it was the worst night she ever had. She says her innards are still freezing. The love they felt at the barbecue has rapidly dwindled and she and Danielle are ready to send Shane packing again.
Bruce apparently gets up every morning and cleans up the rock garden. He says he just wants to make it to the merge.
Sally spends her time at Exile Island looking for the immunity idol that Terry already has.
At La Mina, they are eating beans and hoping the merge comes soon. There are only four members of their tribe left. They know Sally was tight with Cirie and may flip. They get tree mail about some treasure hunt that may make them more comfortable that night. They hope it's food. They are pretty happy with their shelter. They look out in the water and there is a boat there with a big supply of firewood and a big crate and a map. The map tells them not to open the packages until they have joined with the other tribe. They now believe they are going to merge and in fact this is true. I say that because sometimes people have thought it was a merge (remember Shii Ann) and it wasn't a merge but merely a joining of the two camps into one. The tribes still competed one last time as two tribes. This is not the case this year as Casaya and La Mina are indeed merging into the newly formed Guitano tribe. The La Mina group comes in at a disadvantage of four members to Casaya's six remaining members.
La Mina packs up their camp, their tarp and gear, the remaining beans. Terry mentions privately that he has that immunity idol and says that he is hoping to hang on to it and use it at the right time, but he does say that if there is a way he can use it strategically, he will do it. (I am starting to grit my teeth here.) Terry, Austin and Nick paddle off toward the Casaya Camp. Sally is still on Exile Island.
Casaya is sitting around the fire eating rice. They are all sort of tired and taking it easy, bored. Then they spot the boat approaching with the La Mina tribe. They quickly decide they are having a merge moment. Shane calls them all together quickly and tells them that they have more things than the other tribe, that they have more people and they all agree to stay together, to vote off the remaining La Mina tribe one by one. They are not going to share their stuff either.They all swear they will not flip over and vote with the other tribe. Then they all put on a big show of welcoming the La Mina tribe into their camp.
Bruce walks out to meet the La Mina group. Everyone says hello and they all hug. Austin is worried that Bruce may decide to hook up with Terry. Bruce says he is just happy to see new people. Then a motor boat arrives to bring Sally back to the group. Bruce runs out and greets her in the water and hugs her. They open the crate from the boat given to La Mina and they have new buffs and a new tribe banner and paint to create their new flag with whatever new name they choose. Also there is fresh fruit, cheese, wine, pickled things, and wine. They are thrilled and everyone is cordial and pleasant. Terry says he knows they are sizing them up but there doesn't seem to be any competitive edge to the getting together.
Terry is immediately working with the old La Mina tarp and the shelter that the Casaya's had to create a new shelter. Shane says he thinks their old shelter was in pretty good shape, but the new one Terry is building is amazing. Aras comments that they will let "Captain America" take the lead and Shane says bluntly, "We'll let him build it and then we'll vote him off." Shane says that having assessed Terry while he worked, he does not think Terry has the immunity idol so the next time he does not have immunity, he's out. Oh boy, I think. They are going to be so stupid. They will all vote for Terry and then he'll whip out that immunity idol and whoever Terry and the old La Mina's vote for (probably Shane since he SEEMS like the leader while really Aras is mostly pulling the strings) will be sent home instead and the tribes will then be at 4 to 5 and things will REALLY get interesting. Remember, the idol comes out AFTER the vote. Then whoever has the next largest number of votes goes home. When this idol thing was first explained, I was thrilled because this would allow for a really great game play just like the one that is developing now, right after the merge. It would give the La Minas a chance to stay in at four men and to reduce Casaya to five people. At that point, Bruce could swing over, or even Cirie. This will be SO COOL. I'm so glad Terry has already told us that he WILL use that idol for strategic purposes. He's smart, I KNOW he'll do the right thing.
Terry is "looking for two people" to swing the vote their way. He approaches Bruce telling him he needs one person and they will be even. He tells him if he flips, he will be in the final five. They both talk about being men of their word. Terry is way too obvious talking to Bruce, so Aras lets Bruce know that he is the leader of the Casaya tribe. He's "running the show". He figures if Bruce thinks he's in charge he won't go over to the La Mina vote. I need to comment here that Aras has played a very clever game thus far. He hasn't been blatantly leading anything and yet, he actually controls the tribe pretty much by manipulating Shane and in this case Bruce. Remember, they appointed him head of challenges only, which gave him a certain degree of control over that facet of the game, but he managed to do that without becoming a threat as "the leader of the tribe." Shane is so in your face and constantly blurting out every thought and plan that runs through his brain that he appears to be the leader of Casaya to the La Mina's and for the most part, the others follow along, glad that someone other than themselves is "the leader" which is usually a targeted position right after a merge.
Bruce is happy to be in the power position of being the "swing vote".
During the building of the shelter, Terry continues to tell Bruce that when he is ready to come talk to them and they WILL go to the final five. He is being way to obvious. Now Cirie and Danielle notice this going on. Terry and the others are working to complete the shelter. It's raining and miserable. The next thing that happens is painful to watch. They are cinching town the tarp to one of the "tent poles" they have created out of bamboo. Nick is using the machete to cut the rope. Bruce is leaning over holding the rope taut. Nick, for some reason, is sawing UP on the rope from the bottom and when the machete breaks through the rope it snaps up and smacks Bruce in the mouth....blade side up. Bruce's face is cut and a big chunk of tooth has been chipped out. And guess what, even THIS is not the stupidest thing we will see tonight.
There is some discussion of him needing medical attention but Bruce says he is NOT leaving the game. He has a split lip and a chipped tooth. The lip isn't that bad and if the tooth doesn't expose a nerve, he'll be OK. They don't have any ice water out there, so maybe the tooth won't give him too much trouble. He says he's staying. The Casayas were horrified because they were afraid they were going to lose their "edge" of one extra man. Nick is horrified because, as he puts it, he just hit Bruce in the face with a machete..he's gone.
Bruce is apparently the artist of the group and he takes on the task of painting the new tribe banner. They will be the Guitano's, which Bruce thinks means "gypsy". Bruce is painstaking, wanting to do a really good job for the group. He makes a pretty cool banner actually incorporating a snake, one of the skull puzzle pieces from the puzzle that cost Dan his game, and a shell.
Austin goes after firewood with Aras and makes some "ambiguous chat" about Terry and who might flop over to the Casaya's, feeling him out to see where things stood and quickly realizes that things are NOT good for the old La Mina's. He asks Aras who he is questioning on his tribe and Aras says he gets on well with everyone. Austin says well yeah, your personality would help you get along with everyone else.
Terry approaches Shane and says, if you and Cirie will vote with us, you two will have no worries and will be safe for the next two weeks. The biggest problem with this is that Cirie and Shane aren't worried now anyway. They know that if he doesn't win immunity, Terry is gone (they still think he cannot possibly have the other immunity idol, why I don't know...Shane's great perception skills, I guess) and if not Terry, some other La Mina. They are in a position of power and Terry is offering them, for all intents and purposes, NOTHING. They aren't falling for it and they both comment that it makes Terry look desperate. Cirie says it's like a dictionary salesman...she already has an encyclopedia and the guy is trying to sell her a dictionary.
Terry can't seem to let it go. As soon as the four La Minas are with Shane and Cirie, Terry says "Are you in?"
Shane says, "I don't know what you're talking about."
Terry says, "...what we talked about over there."
Shane tells Terry he sees no reason why they should be "in" at this point anyway. He also tells him he wants to relax and enjoy the rest of the day without talking about it anymore. Finally he says that they are in a really good position where they are, and maybe someone will flop but it won't be himself and it won't be Cirie. He adds that one of the biggest parts of the game is getting to the merge with the numbers to be in control and he is not going to change sides at this point. Terry handled this really badly all the way around I think and pushing them wasn't helping matters any. However, this is NOT the stupidest thing we will see tonight.
Terry keeps saying if they can just get one person, they will be five on five. He thinks maybe Bruce or Cirie will still change but has given up on Shane. He needs to realize he cannot force the Casayas to do anything at this point. If he can just hang on to his four people until another few days goes by, and if he can get rid of just one of the Casayas at this tribal council, the La Minas can actually take control.
The immunity challenge is an endurance challenge. The tribe arrives and Nick says the merge happened well and they are all getting along. The new individual immunity idol necklace is revealed. The actual challenge is to hang upside down on a pole, wrapping your arms and legs around the horizontal beam for as long as you can. Last person hanging gets the immunity necklace. They pick their spots and climb up ladders to the poles and they all get on and the challenge is on. Jeff warns them NOT to drop head first if they drop.
Cirie is struggling early, her arms hurting. Jeff reminds her to let her legs down if her arms are going to give to avoid landing on her head. Cirie gets down as Jeff reminds them that someone up there probably needs immunity and doesn't know it. Then he talks about how their muscles will cramp. It's only been 10 minutes. Aras is down. 8 people still hanging.
Bruce drops at 12 minutes. Sally follows him soon after. Shane tells Jeff that if they give him some food, he will get down. He says, "Give me a cheeseburger or I'm out of here." Jeff tells him there "ain't no food" in a rather disgusted tone and Shane drops at 13 minutes followed by Danielle. Courtney drops soon after. At 20 minutes only Austin, Terry and Nick remain hanging on their poles. Austin tries to convince Terry to get down to give him a chance at immunity. At 30 minutes the three are still hanging. Austin is down, simply unable to hang there any longer. It's between Terry and Nick. Nick says he can't seem to get any blood into his arms and Terry says his shoulders hurt. At 46 minutes Nick can't hold on any longer and Terry wins the individual immunity necklace.
The tribe returns to camp. Terry knows he has the immunity necklace AND the immunity idol. He says he will take the idol to tribal tonight, but he hopes he won't have to use it so he can use it as a bribe later on. He's still holding onto the hope that Bruce or Cirie will change their vote and vote with La Mina. It won't happen. Either Austin or Nick will be voted out. Terry will have to give them the immunity idol to save them. But that will be BRILLIANT because then the person with the next largest number of votes will go. If the old La Mina's band together and all vote for someone....probably Shane....then the La Mina's are saved in tact with four members and the Casayas lose a member, and a member who has been a large part of the cohesive force of the the old Casayas since the merge.
Terry spends some time buttering up Bruce. Bruce does like Terry. Bruce knows that both tribes want him to vote with them. Austin says he doesn't think anything will save him at tribal council. He stops and hugs Bruce, and they pray. He also admits that he faked some of his discomfort during the challenge so as to appear weak to the Casaya group so they would not choose him to be voted out that night. Nick wanted to make the jury but he is pretty sure that since Terry has immunity that he and Austin are the next two walking the plank and he really hopes it isn't him since this is the last non jury eviction.
Shane stands up in the middle of the camp and calls all the Casaya members together for a "meeting", in the middle of camp, in front of the La Minas, but off to one side. Shane has the diplomacy of a bull moose. He has the subtlety of a wet fart in an elevator. He tells the group he is proud of them for staying together. Courtney says she is up for Nick, because he seemed like Terry No. 2 strength wise. Shane said he thought Austin was a better pick because he was the biggest physical threat but now, since Nick hung on so long in the challenge, the others want Nick to go. Shane says he doesn't care. He wants one of them gone and one of them going. They put their hands in a circle and go 1-2-3 and I think they said NICK at that point, but my hearing isn't great and I can't tell. This, however, is still not the stupidest thing we will see tonight.
La Mina definitely took notice. Sally says, would we ever be that tacky? Terry says, we would talk to each other but to call a meeting in the middle of camp....he shakes his head. They decide since Shane called the meeting, their tribe will all vote for Shane. (I expected this. I am happy because Terry will save Nick and then Shane will be gone after his thingyy speech about how he wanted one gone and one going.)
As the ripples of aggravation float around camp about how it was done, Shane tells us that he doesn't care what they think. They needed to get together and talk and that's just the way it is. He says they can have as big a problem with it as they like, they are still going. (I am so glad with my secret knowledge that Terry is going to serve this guy a huge comeuppance.)
Jeff asks Courtney to catch him up at tribal council by telling him the new name of the tribe. She explains it is "Guitano's" which is Spanish for "gypsy". Jeff asks whose idea that was. She says they all agreed, it was collective. Terry said he was hoping for one more immunity challenge before they merged so they could maybe even up the numbers better. Jeff asks Nick how they can handle what seems to be inevitable (the voting of the La Minas off one by one) and Nick says you just try to stir things up and do what you can.( I can't tell for certain but I don't think he knows that Terry is going to save him.)
Jeff asks Bruce how it was being on Exile Island and separated from his tribe and he says it's always been a little bit of him on the outside looking in but he has a lot of respect for everyone and they all seem to like him.
Nick explains that during the immunity challenge he kept thinking that without immunity, he would probably be going home. He felt the one chance he had was to hang on and hopefully he would either win or show them how much they wanted to stay. Austin admits that he was debating internally whether to be strong or whether to opt to come down off the pole and appear weak to avoid being a target. Jeff mentions to Shane that the minute they found out there was no food offered, their tribe dropped one by one. Shane says he personally was only hanging on hoping for food to be offered. After all, the Casaya group is in a strong position and he didn't have anything to worry about. Jeff describes the tribes demeanor as very thingyy (well, duh) and Aras says he is not worried about anything because the six have it all sewn up and the only thing that he is worried about is that Exile Island immunity idol. (Heheh, I think. Oh is he going to be surprised.) He has complete confidence that nobody will flip sides. Courtney says she would be shocked and Cirie says she would be flabbergasted if anyone flipped. Jeff mentions the immunity idol from Exile Island again and they go to vote.
Predictably, Shane, Cirie, Bruce, Danielle, Aras and Courtney all vote for Nick as preplanned in their meeting. Sally, Austin, Terry and Nick all vote for Shane as a way of telling him how tacky his little meeting thing was to them.
OK, I'm on the edge of my seat as Jeff reads out the votes....the four votes for Shane first and then the votes for Nick. Shane is rolling his eyes as the votes are read as if to say, oh how silly, they voted for me. I think, this is going to get him but good. The last vote is read and Nick is told he is the 7th person voted out of Survivor Exile Island. Jeff says "Nick, you have not been to Exile Island so unless someone has given you the immunity idol, you need to bring me your torch."
I think, THIS IS IT. This is SOOOO cool.
Nick stands up and hugs Austin and goes over to Jeff, but for some reason he does not hand the immunity idol to Jeff. Jeff snuffs his torch. What is going on here? Nick is walking away. Terry hasn't given him the idol. Wait, this is NOT the way this should go. THIS, my friends, THIS is the STUPIDEST THING WE'VE SEEN TONIGHT and quite possibly in all the seasons of Survivor. Terry had the perfect opportunity. Nick would stay, Shane would go. WHAT WAS HE THINKING.
And then, we get previews of next week. Terry tells Sally he has the immunity idol. We see the other tribe arguing over whether he does or doesn't have it. Now, if I were a Casaya, I would think, hell no, he doesn't have it. IF he had it he would have used it to save Nick and send Shane home. IF he had it, and didn't use it, he'd be a complete and utter idiot and since the guy doesn't sit and stare at the dirt and drool all day, he has to have a few working brain cells and anyone with any brain cells at all would have saved Nick. That would be my thought. Then we see Terry apparently talking to COURTNEY and saying, "If I gave YOU the immunity idol..." like he's going to cleverly bribe someone with it. OMG, he is a complete and utter idiot. I can't believe this. I am so completely aggravated at Terry for 1) screwing up a really great "HAHAHAH, you were too smug" moment on Shane and 2) basically ruining the game for the rest of his group by letting one of their members go home when he could have saved him and given them a fighting chance.
OK, I'm going to go somewhere and breathe deeply for a while. I have to calm down before next week. I don't think Terry will ever be able to redeem himself in my eyes and I dread the thought that he might win this game after pulling this bonehead move. I guess next week will tell the tale.
Stupid, stupid, so very very stupid. Sigh.
The recap shows us that famous puzzle again....where Dan couldn't wrap that really smart brain of his around a puzzle a child works in about 2nd grade. It cost him, too. He was gone that night at tribal when Sally got sent to exile island. This is NOT the stupidest thing we will see tonight.
We also got to see Shane having a cigarette at the Panamanian barbecue. I still can't believe he picked SURVIVOR as a place to quit smoking. THIS is not the stupidest thing we will see tonight.
Courtney is cold. She is wet and can't get under the shelter well enough to get under the cover which Shane is hogging. She is freezing and shivering. Shane is disturbed by her shivering and keeps elbowing her. It's raining. I then realize that after the other time when the Casaya camp turned into Lake Casaya, these guys didn't bother to move their camp to dryer environs. Nope, they are still there with the water kind of licking up at the edge of their "shelter." And guess what, THIS is not the stupidest thing we will see tonight.
The next morning, Courtney is miserable and had no sleep. She said everyone was curled up and warm but her and it was the worst night she ever had. She says her innards are still freezing. The love they felt at the barbecue has rapidly dwindled and she and Danielle are ready to send Shane packing again.
Bruce apparently gets up every morning and cleans up the rock garden. He says he just wants to make it to the merge.
Sally spends her time at Exile Island looking for the immunity idol that Terry already has.
At La Mina, they are eating beans and hoping the merge comes soon. There are only four members of their tribe left. They know Sally was tight with Cirie and may flip. They get tree mail about some treasure hunt that may make them more comfortable that night. They hope it's food. They are pretty happy with their shelter. They look out in the water and there is a boat there with a big supply of firewood and a big crate and a map. The map tells them not to open the packages until they have joined with the other tribe. They now believe they are going to merge and in fact this is true. I say that because sometimes people have thought it was a merge (remember Shii Ann) and it wasn't a merge but merely a joining of the two camps into one. The tribes still competed one last time as two tribes. This is not the case this year as Casaya and La Mina are indeed merging into the newly formed Guitano tribe. The La Mina group comes in at a disadvantage of four members to Casaya's six remaining members.
La Mina packs up their camp, their tarp and gear, the remaining beans. Terry mentions privately that he has that immunity idol and says that he is hoping to hang on to it and use it at the right time, but he does say that if there is a way he can use it strategically, he will do it. (I am starting to grit my teeth here.) Terry, Austin and Nick paddle off toward the Casaya Camp. Sally is still on Exile Island.
Casaya is sitting around the fire eating rice. They are all sort of tired and taking it easy, bored. Then they spot the boat approaching with the La Mina tribe. They quickly decide they are having a merge moment. Shane calls them all together quickly and tells them that they have more things than the other tribe, that they have more people and they all agree to stay together, to vote off the remaining La Mina tribe one by one. They are not going to share their stuff either.They all swear they will not flip over and vote with the other tribe. Then they all put on a big show of welcoming the La Mina tribe into their camp.
Bruce walks out to meet the La Mina group. Everyone says hello and they all hug. Austin is worried that Bruce may decide to hook up with Terry. Bruce says he is just happy to see new people. Then a motor boat arrives to bring Sally back to the group. Bruce runs out and greets her in the water and hugs her. They open the crate from the boat given to La Mina and they have new buffs and a new tribe banner and paint to create their new flag with whatever new name they choose. Also there is fresh fruit, cheese, wine, pickled things, and wine. They are thrilled and everyone is cordial and pleasant. Terry says he knows they are sizing them up but there doesn't seem to be any competitive edge to the getting together.
Terry is immediately working with the old La Mina tarp and the shelter that the Casaya's had to create a new shelter. Shane says he thinks their old shelter was in pretty good shape, but the new one Terry is building is amazing. Aras comments that they will let "Captain America" take the lead and Shane says bluntly, "We'll let him build it and then we'll vote him off." Shane says that having assessed Terry while he worked, he does not think Terry has the immunity idol so the next time he does not have immunity, he's out. Oh boy, I think. They are going to be so stupid. They will all vote for Terry and then he'll whip out that immunity idol and whoever Terry and the old La Mina's vote for (probably Shane since he SEEMS like the leader while really Aras is mostly pulling the strings) will be sent home instead and the tribes will then be at 4 to 5 and things will REALLY get interesting. Remember, the idol comes out AFTER the vote. Then whoever has the next largest number of votes goes home. When this idol thing was first explained, I was thrilled because this would allow for a really great game play just like the one that is developing now, right after the merge. It would give the La Minas a chance to stay in at four men and to reduce Casaya to five people. At that point, Bruce could swing over, or even Cirie. This will be SO COOL. I'm so glad Terry has already told us that he WILL use that idol for strategic purposes. He's smart, I KNOW he'll do the right thing.
Terry is "looking for two people" to swing the vote their way. He approaches Bruce telling him he needs one person and they will be even. He tells him if he flips, he will be in the final five. They both talk about being men of their word. Terry is way too obvious talking to Bruce, so Aras lets Bruce know that he is the leader of the Casaya tribe. He's "running the show". He figures if Bruce thinks he's in charge he won't go over to the La Mina vote. I need to comment here that Aras has played a very clever game thus far. He hasn't been blatantly leading anything and yet, he actually controls the tribe pretty much by manipulating Shane and in this case Bruce. Remember, they appointed him head of challenges only, which gave him a certain degree of control over that facet of the game, but he managed to do that without becoming a threat as "the leader of the tribe." Shane is so in your face and constantly blurting out every thought and plan that runs through his brain that he appears to be the leader of Casaya to the La Mina's and for the most part, the others follow along, glad that someone other than themselves is "the leader" which is usually a targeted position right after a merge.
Bruce is happy to be in the power position of being the "swing vote".
During the building of the shelter, Terry continues to tell Bruce that when he is ready to come talk to them and they WILL go to the final five. He is being way to obvious. Now Cirie and Danielle notice this going on. Terry and the others are working to complete the shelter. It's raining and miserable. The next thing that happens is painful to watch. They are cinching town the tarp to one of the "tent poles" they have created out of bamboo. Nick is using the machete to cut the rope. Bruce is leaning over holding the rope taut. Nick, for some reason, is sawing UP on the rope from the bottom and when the machete breaks through the rope it snaps up and smacks Bruce in the mouth....blade side up. Bruce's face is cut and a big chunk of tooth has been chipped out. And guess what, even THIS is not the stupidest thing we will see tonight.
There is some discussion of him needing medical attention but Bruce says he is NOT leaving the game. He has a split lip and a chipped tooth. The lip isn't that bad and if the tooth doesn't expose a nerve, he'll be OK. They don't have any ice water out there, so maybe the tooth won't give him too much trouble. He says he's staying. The Casayas were horrified because they were afraid they were going to lose their "edge" of one extra man. Nick is horrified because, as he puts it, he just hit Bruce in the face with a machete..he's gone.
Bruce is apparently the artist of the group and he takes on the task of painting the new tribe banner. They will be the Guitano's, which Bruce thinks means "gypsy". Bruce is painstaking, wanting to do a really good job for the group. He makes a pretty cool banner actually incorporating a snake, one of the skull puzzle pieces from the puzzle that cost Dan his game, and a shell.
Austin goes after firewood with Aras and makes some "ambiguous chat" about Terry and who might flop over to the Casaya's, feeling him out to see where things stood and quickly realizes that things are NOT good for the old La Mina's. He asks Aras who he is questioning on his tribe and Aras says he gets on well with everyone. Austin says well yeah, your personality would help you get along with everyone else.
Terry approaches Shane and says, if you and Cirie will vote with us, you two will have no worries and will be safe for the next two weeks. The biggest problem with this is that Cirie and Shane aren't worried now anyway. They know that if he doesn't win immunity, Terry is gone (they still think he cannot possibly have the other immunity idol, why I don't know...Shane's great perception skills, I guess) and if not Terry, some other La Mina. They are in a position of power and Terry is offering them, for all intents and purposes, NOTHING. They aren't falling for it and they both comment that it makes Terry look desperate. Cirie says it's like a dictionary salesman...she already has an encyclopedia and the guy is trying to sell her a dictionary.
Terry can't seem to let it go. As soon as the four La Minas are with Shane and Cirie, Terry says "Are you in?"
Shane says, "I don't know what you're talking about."
Terry says, "...what we talked about over there."
Shane tells Terry he sees no reason why they should be "in" at this point anyway. He also tells him he wants to relax and enjoy the rest of the day without talking about it anymore. Finally he says that they are in a really good position where they are, and maybe someone will flop but it won't be himself and it won't be Cirie. He adds that one of the biggest parts of the game is getting to the merge with the numbers to be in control and he is not going to change sides at this point. Terry handled this really badly all the way around I think and pushing them wasn't helping matters any. However, this is NOT the stupidest thing we will see tonight.
Terry keeps saying if they can just get one person, they will be five on five. He thinks maybe Bruce or Cirie will still change but has given up on Shane. He needs to realize he cannot force the Casayas to do anything at this point. If he can just hang on to his four people until another few days goes by, and if he can get rid of just one of the Casayas at this tribal council, the La Minas can actually take control.
The immunity challenge is an endurance challenge. The tribe arrives and Nick says the merge happened well and they are all getting along. The new individual immunity idol necklace is revealed. The actual challenge is to hang upside down on a pole, wrapping your arms and legs around the horizontal beam for as long as you can. Last person hanging gets the immunity necklace. They pick their spots and climb up ladders to the poles and they all get on and the challenge is on. Jeff warns them NOT to drop head first if they drop.
Cirie is struggling early, her arms hurting. Jeff reminds her to let her legs down if her arms are going to give to avoid landing on her head. Cirie gets down as Jeff reminds them that someone up there probably needs immunity and doesn't know it. Then he talks about how their muscles will cramp. It's only been 10 minutes. Aras is down. 8 people still hanging.
Bruce drops at 12 minutes. Sally follows him soon after. Shane tells Jeff that if they give him some food, he will get down. He says, "Give me a cheeseburger or I'm out of here." Jeff tells him there "ain't no food" in a rather disgusted tone and Shane drops at 13 minutes followed by Danielle. Courtney drops soon after. At 20 minutes only Austin, Terry and Nick remain hanging on their poles. Austin tries to convince Terry to get down to give him a chance at immunity. At 30 minutes the three are still hanging. Austin is down, simply unable to hang there any longer. It's between Terry and Nick. Nick says he can't seem to get any blood into his arms and Terry says his shoulders hurt. At 46 minutes Nick can't hold on any longer and Terry wins the individual immunity necklace.
The tribe returns to camp. Terry knows he has the immunity necklace AND the immunity idol. He says he will take the idol to tribal tonight, but he hopes he won't have to use it so he can use it as a bribe later on. He's still holding onto the hope that Bruce or Cirie will change their vote and vote with La Mina. It won't happen. Either Austin or Nick will be voted out. Terry will have to give them the immunity idol to save them. But that will be BRILLIANT because then the person with the next largest number of votes will go. If the old La Mina's band together and all vote for someone....probably Shane....then the La Mina's are saved in tact with four members and the Casayas lose a member, and a member who has been a large part of the cohesive force of the the old Casayas since the merge.
Terry spends some time buttering up Bruce. Bruce does like Terry. Bruce knows that both tribes want him to vote with them. Austin says he doesn't think anything will save him at tribal council. He stops and hugs Bruce, and they pray. He also admits that he faked some of his discomfort during the challenge so as to appear weak to the Casaya group so they would not choose him to be voted out that night. Nick wanted to make the jury but he is pretty sure that since Terry has immunity that he and Austin are the next two walking the plank and he really hopes it isn't him since this is the last non jury eviction.
Shane stands up in the middle of the camp and calls all the Casaya members together for a "meeting", in the middle of camp, in front of the La Minas, but off to one side. Shane has the diplomacy of a bull moose. He has the subtlety of a wet fart in an elevator. He tells the group he is proud of them for staying together. Courtney says she is up for Nick, because he seemed like Terry No. 2 strength wise. Shane said he thought Austin was a better pick because he was the biggest physical threat but now, since Nick hung on so long in the challenge, the others want Nick to go. Shane says he doesn't care. He wants one of them gone and one of them going. They put their hands in a circle and go 1-2-3 and I think they said NICK at that point, but my hearing isn't great and I can't tell. This, however, is still not the stupidest thing we will see tonight.
La Mina definitely took notice. Sally says, would we ever be that tacky? Terry says, we would talk to each other but to call a meeting in the middle of camp....he shakes his head. They decide since Shane called the meeting, their tribe will all vote for Shane. (I expected this. I am happy because Terry will save Nick and then Shane will be gone after his thingyy speech about how he wanted one gone and one going.)
As the ripples of aggravation float around camp about how it was done, Shane tells us that he doesn't care what they think. They needed to get together and talk and that's just the way it is. He says they can have as big a problem with it as they like, they are still going. (I am so glad with my secret knowledge that Terry is going to serve this guy a huge comeuppance.)
Jeff asks Courtney to catch him up at tribal council by telling him the new name of the tribe. She explains it is "Guitano's" which is Spanish for "gypsy". Jeff asks whose idea that was. She says they all agreed, it was collective. Terry said he was hoping for one more immunity challenge before they merged so they could maybe even up the numbers better. Jeff asks Nick how they can handle what seems to be inevitable (the voting of the La Minas off one by one) and Nick says you just try to stir things up and do what you can.( I can't tell for certain but I don't think he knows that Terry is going to save him.)
Jeff asks Bruce how it was being on Exile Island and separated from his tribe and he says it's always been a little bit of him on the outside looking in but he has a lot of respect for everyone and they all seem to like him.
Nick explains that during the immunity challenge he kept thinking that without immunity, he would probably be going home. He felt the one chance he had was to hang on and hopefully he would either win or show them how much they wanted to stay. Austin admits that he was debating internally whether to be strong or whether to opt to come down off the pole and appear weak to avoid being a target. Jeff mentions to Shane that the minute they found out there was no food offered, their tribe dropped one by one. Shane says he personally was only hanging on hoping for food to be offered. After all, the Casaya group is in a strong position and he didn't have anything to worry about. Jeff describes the tribes demeanor as very thingyy (well, duh) and Aras says he is not worried about anything because the six have it all sewn up and the only thing that he is worried about is that Exile Island immunity idol. (Heheh, I think. Oh is he going to be surprised.) He has complete confidence that nobody will flip sides. Courtney says she would be shocked and Cirie says she would be flabbergasted if anyone flipped. Jeff mentions the immunity idol from Exile Island again and they go to vote.
Predictably, Shane, Cirie, Bruce, Danielle, Aras and Courtney all vote for Nick as preplanned in their meeting. Sally, Austin, Terry and Nick all vote for Shane as a way of telling him how tacky his little meeting thing was to them.
OK, I'm on the edge of my seat as Jeff reads out the votes....the four votes for Shane first and then the votes for Nick. Shane is rolling his eyes as the votes are read as if to say, oh how silly, they voted for me. I think, this is going to get him but good. The last vote is read and Nick is told he is the 7th person voted out of Survivor Exile Island. Jeff says "Nick, you have not been to Exile Island so unless someone has given you the immunity idol, you need to bring me your torch."
I think, THIS IS IT. This is SOOOO cool.
Nick stands up and hugs Austin and goes over to Jeff, but for some reason he does not hand the immunity idol to Jeff. Jeff snuffs his torch. What is going on here? Nick is walking away. Terry hasn't given him the idol. Wait, this is NOT the way this should go. THIS, my friends, THIS is the STUPIDEST THING WE'VE SEEN TONIGHT and quite possibly in all the seasons of Survivor. Terry had the perfect opportunity. Nick would stay, Shane would go. WHAT WAS HE THINKING.
And then, we get previews of next week. Terry tells Sally he has the immunity idol. We see the other tribe arguing over whether he does or doesn't have it. Now, if I were a Casaya, I would think, hell no, he doesn't have it. IF he had it he would have used it to save Nick and send Shane home. IF he had it, and didn't use it, he'd be a complete and utter idiot and since the guy doesn't sit and stare at the dirt and drool all day, he has to have a few working brain cells and anyone with any brain cells at all would have saved Nick. That would be my thought. Then we see Terry apparently talking to COURTNEY and saying, "If I gave YOU the immunity idol..." like he's going to cleverly bribe someone with it. OMG, he is a complete and utter idiot. I can't believe this. I am so completely aggravated at Terry for 1) screwing up a really great "HAHAHAH, you were too smug" moment on Shane and 2) basically ruining the game for the rest of his group by letting one of their members go home when he could have saved him and given them a fighting chance.
OK, I'm going to go somewhere and breathe deeply for a while. I have to calm down before next week. I don't think Terry will ever be able to redeem himself in my eyes and I dread the thought that he might win this game after pulling this bonehead move. I guess next week will tell the tale.
Stupid, stupid, so very very stupid. Sigh.