Episode Three: Shock & Ew

Before we pig out on the juicy main course of third episode analysis, let us take a quick nibble at the hors d'oeuvre of an episode recap, pushing some of the less-palatable morsels under the lettuce, so to speak, though we know that trick fools no one. I shall leave the rest of the laboured metaphors till dessert.

Ravu returned from Tribal Council a troubled tribe. Rocky and Rita made some concerted efforts to bolster flagging spirits, but the overall feeling was one of confusion and dismay. They continued to deteriorate the next day, and Moto continued to thrive, indulging in a spot of home improvement (before retiring to the conservatory for elevenses). Earl returned from Exile Island to a gang of "begging children", but soon after, Michelle managed to turn the tide of misfortune when she used her spectacles to make fire (and so Ravu finally have safe water to drink).

Ravu went into the reward challenge "all fired up" (good one, Rocky) and gave Moto a slippery run for their money, but again they just couldn't pull it off. Moto won the reward, and Sylvia was sent to Exile for the second time, where she meditated on her atrociously bad performance in the challenge, and received a third clue to the location of the Immunity Idol. Back at Moto, Gary (aka Papa Smurf) began to feel the worse for wear after taking a few hard knocks at the challenge, and eventually the medics were called in to take a look at him.

Still, this didn't stop Moto from stomping through the ensuing Immunity Challenge, and Gary actually delivered the coup de grâce by polishing off two pig snouts (*shudder*) while Anthony was still on his first nostril. It could have cost Antho the game, as Mookie pulled some more strings back at camp, but Sylvia's irritating manner and general uselessness persevered, and still not having found the hidden Immunity Idol, she was given the boot.

As Jeff pointed out, a lot of opinions were aired at Tribal Council. It will be interesting to see how this affects the dynamic of the tribe next week.

* * *

The Prodigal Sun: Michelle finally became a presence in this episode, starting the fire for Ravu, and drawing a snake in place of an S when she voted for Sylvia (tee-hee). It should put her in a fairly secure position within the tribe for now, although with Ravu there really are no guarantees (Erica says hello). Michelle still seems a bit kooky though, talking to the sun and all that, and I don't see her sticking around till final four unless she finds some coattails to ride (Becky says hello). It was nice to see her bumped up from a 'filler' position for a while, and getting props from Jeff too; that doesn't happen often.

I have one question though: why did she hand the nascent flame to Anthony to carry into camp? If I'd put all the effort into getting a fire going, I'd have strode into camp with my smoking coconut husk held aloft, a latter-day Prometheus, proclaiming "Supplicate before me, puny mortals, for I have attained what you could not! I grant thee life, for I am combustion incarnate!"

Or something like that; I don't think I'd last very long in Survivor, actually...

Cool, Cool Mountain: Star 1: This week's reward challenge was a blast: a one-on-one race down a giant Slip 'n Slide to grab a numbered ball, which then had to be tossed into a tiny basket to score a point; first tribe to 6 points wins. There were varying levels of capability on display for this challenge, from Sylvia falling on her back and floundering like a new-born seal pup, to Boo thundering down the course like a mother walrus protecting its young, and basketing the ball on the first attempt. We also had the spectacle of a rather front-loaded Cassandra trying to maintain equilibrium, and Yau Man's valiant, and almost successful, attempt to take down Dreamz before he scored the winning point for Moto.

It was a more important challenge than anyone could have guessed: Moto left with a badly injured Gary (but even more fishing gear), and Sylvia's fate was sealed after a very poor showing, and another trip to Exile. I think it was also the genesis of the animosity that would flare up in the next challenge between certain opposing tribe members.

Ceist a dó: why did Moto take another batch of fishing gear as their reward? It's not as if they need that much food, and usually there's only one or two people on a tribe that can actually fish successfully anyway. The luxury items would have been much better: someone brought a guitar, and there was a soccer ball, and what looked like a giant green stuffed turtle (probably Boo's).

Spit or Swallow?: And so we came to the second of this episode's challenges: eat disgusting stuff faster than the other tribe and win Immunity. We hadn't had a food eating challenge since, I think, Series 11. Evidently the members of Ravu had forgotten the details of this particular kind of challenge, cheering and hooting at the proximity of the words 'food' and 'eating' in the same sentence. Bless them, dehydrated and famished as they were, they probably would have applauded had Jeff announced a 'Razorblade Challenge'. Moto looked on in well-fed derision.

Rocky beat Liliana by the skin of her teeth by guzzling down a distastefully suppurating giant clam. Dreamz chowed down on some octopus tentacle, easily getting the better of Sylvia (I was hoping he'd make some comment to the effect that he'd eaten worse while living in the streets, so I could scathingly retort 'Where, the streets of Atlantis?' But he didn't, so I won't). It was one point apiece as Mookie took on Lisi and a pair of peanut worms, and this is where the taunting started; Mookie waving his worm in Lisi's face, trying to make her vomit. Boo wasn't at all happy with this behaviour, and reprimanded Ravu for it, only to be smacked down in turn by Rocky: "You vote out two people, then you tell me how you feel bro." Go Sly!

Moto had three straight successes after that, and walked away with Immunity. Ravu, well...at least they got fed. I see Mookie's point about Anthony not showing the will to win or whatever, but c'mon, he had to eat an actual pig snout. I mean, there's only so much you can do with your imagination to disguise the fact that you're eating someone else's nose. Incidentally, do they provide a vegetarian option at these challenges, does anyone know?

Any Other Business: Boo, what on Earth are you wearing on your head? It looks like a tiny, bright red, portable gazebo. Sylvia, could you make your hole-digging any more obvious? Wait, I've covered that already. Earl, for the sake of your tribemates' eyesight, could you try writing a tiny bit larger when casting your vote?

* * *

Quote of the Week: Rocky had a nice little monologue at Tribal Council, but for the sake of brevity I'm going to give it to Anthony this week: "I often wonder if these folks even like me." That may prove to be quite perceptive come next week.