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Rhune
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Ep. 2 Recaps
« on: Sep 27^th, 2002, 9:51am »

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Youth Is Served Again on 'Survivor'
Fri, Sep 27, 2002 00:09 AM PDT
by Rick Porter
Zap2it, TV News

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - There appears to be an interesting dynamic developing on "Survivor: Thailand." It may be just a product of clever editing, but it it's real, this game could be pretty interesting.

The folks in the Chuay Gahn tribe are, as a group, less physically adept than rival Sook Jai, and they paid for it again in Thursday's (Sept. 26) episode. Yet they seem to like each other for the most part, even if they have some disagreements.

Case in point: Navy swim instructor Helen's military bearing and purposeful ways are getting on some of the other Chuays' nerves. She's worried that they're shunning her before sending her home.

Yet what they're really doing is planning a little surprise for Helen on her 20th anniversary. She's nearly overcome when they give her a little floral crown and sing to her. (Side note: Brian brought a guitar as his luxury item, but the jury is way out as to whether he actually knows how to play it.)

Over at Sook Jai, meanwhile, their stronger physical abilities allow them to win challenges without much evidence of teamwork. In fact, there seem to be some bad blood simmering not far below the surface.

Jed and Stephanie, in particular, seem to be alienating themselves from their compatriots. Jed first disses the shelter-building effort, saying food is more important. Then, after they get a mess of shellfish, he won't eat.

Stephanie, for some reason, sleeps all night on the beach in a downpour, making herself sick. She sits out the luxury challenge, in which six tribe members, blindfolded, carry a seventh around a figure-eight course collecting color-coded bags. Sook Jai wins, but it's close.

The same thing happens in the immunity challenge, which consists of assembling a floating lotus-flower puzzle by swimming out to retrieve the petals. Sook Jai squeaks past again, putting Chuay Gahn two people down.

In the end, Tennessee social worker Tanya Vance, who's been ill pretty much since day one, is sent home. It's something of a mercy eviction.

The clips from next week's show indicate a physical confrontation in Sook Jai, and a different sort of physicality in Chuay Gahn. Conflict is what makes "Survivor" interesting, so here's hoping the clips are more than just a tease.

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Rhune
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Re: Ep. 2 Recaps
« Reply #1 on: Sep 27^th, 2002, 9:56am »

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From Entertainment Weekly.com - http://www.ew.com/ew/article/commentary/0,6115,355469~3~0~tanyaisvotedof f,00.html

Barf Bagged

Tanya is voted off -- The Tennessee sweetie was betrayed by her gut reaction to island living, says Dalton Ross, but her ex-tribe better stop choking in the challenges

Holy smokes! I guess I'm supposed to write about this latest episode of ''Survivor,'' but how can I after seeing the preview for next week's episode? Those shots of extreme dude wannabe Robb with his hands around little man Clay's neck? Unreal. And that he said/she said battle between Ted and Ghandia? What was that all about? Seems she's gonna accuse him of coming on to her or something, which is interesting on one level because did you catch that shot on Thursday's episode with them both lying down where she had her hand resting comfortably on his thigh? Seems like she was getting a bit close to Ted's immunity idol, if you know what I'm saying. Whatever it is, let me be the first to declare that IT LOOKS AWESOME!

It was only a matter of time before they broke up that little love-in over at Honk Kong Phooey Gahn, or whatever the tribe is called. Speaking of Hong King Phooey Gahn (What's that? It's Chuay Gahn you say? Okay, whatever.), are they planning to win ANY challenges during the show? True, they've come tantalizingly close in all three, even blowing a huge lead in the first one, but Mark Burnett better throw them some nonphysical competitions, because these people are getting smoked. Actually, considering the way Ghandia flubbed the knife puzzle portion in episode 1, maybe they're not quite masters of the mental side either. (Also, witness Helen's foray to the waterhole. Yo, Helen. Bring the damn map next time, woman!)

So, Tanya's now a goner, done in not by her constant bickering but by her constant need to projectile vomit on command. (A fate that has now befallen a growing number of ''Survivor'' contestants. You remember Jessie from ''Survivor: Africa,'' right? She looked kinda like J. Lo if J. Lo had puke coming out of the side of her mouth. Sexy, eh?) I guess that was the right call, getting rid of her, although keeping Jan around may prove to cost them if these survival of the fittest games keep cropping up. The Sook Jai tribe is simply too young, too strong, and with too many boob jobs to be taken down easily.

Of course, that's all that can really be said for Sook Jai at this point. Remember how happy they all were to be on the same team together in the first episode? What a shocker that the squad with all the young'uns is the one that seems to be having so much difficulty getting along. At least until next week's scandal. Have I mentioned how psyched I am for that yet?

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Rhune
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Re: Ep. 2 Recaps
« Reply #2 on: Sep 27^th, 2002, 9:57am »

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http://www.bristolnews.com/news/MGB4COXIL6D.html

Tanya Vance voted out of tribe on "Survivor: Thailand"
Tanya Vance lost her bid at winning $1 million on Thursday's episode of CBS-TV's reality series "Survivor: Thailand."

by JOE TENNIS
Bristol Herald Courier
Sep 26, 2002

Tanya Vance lost her bid at winning $1 million on Thursday's episode of CBS-TV's reality series "Survivor: Thailand."

Vance, 27, was voted out of her tribe on the second episode of the season after fellow tribe members complained of her suffering from illness, including dehydration.

In comments aired at the end of Thursday's episode, Vance, from Gray, said she had no hard feelings toward her fellow tribe members following the vote.

"This has been the opportunity of a lifetime," said Vance, a social worker at the Sullivan County Children's Advocacy Center in Blountville.

Vance's time on the show, filmed earlier this year, was spent on Koh Tarutao, a remote island off the coast of Thailand.

She is a 1993 graduate of Sullivan North High School in Kingsport and a 1997 graduate of East Tennessee State University in Johnson City.

Last year, Rich Valley farmer "Big Tom" Buchanan, 46, spent two months in Africa filming another edition of "Survivor" that finished airing in January. Buchanan ultimately won $100,000 in a tie for a second-place finish.

"I can't believe they voted her off. I'm still throwing stuff," Buchanan said a half hour after Thursday's episode ended.

Buchanan, still, said he had a feeling that Vance's time might be cut short because she had appeared so frequently on screen.

"I just noticed that at the first of the thing that Tanya got a lot of TV time on the first show," he said. "Tanya was definitely the prettiest lady there."

Buchanan attended ETSU about 20 years prior to Vance and recently met her at an "ETSU Pride" rally in Johnson City.

"I was just so into Tanya. I was for her. I was a 100 percent supporter. My bubble's busted, and I was just hoping she would do better," Buchanan said.

"But 'Survivor' is a tough game. And it's a game that takes some luck, too."

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Rhune
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Re: Ep. 2 Recaps
« Reply #3 on: Sep 29^th, 2002, 3:59pm »

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http://www.realitynewsonline.com/cgi-bin/ae.pl?mode=1&article=articl e2310.art&page=1

Survivor: Thailand - Second Week Scorecard and Observations
by Ken Kellam III -- 09/29/2002

A few weeks ago, a sports announcer said the true indication of where a football team stands is how it does during the second week of play. Could that also be true of Survivor as well? Ken takes another look at the remaining players to see what we can figure out about them.

A few weeks ago, a sports announcer said the true indication of where a football team stands is how it does during the second week of play. Could that also be true of Survivor as well? Some strong first impressions were made during week one: Some good, some bad, and some, well, fatal, if you're John. But did anyone change radically during the second episode, or were previous impressions merely solidified?

First let's take a look at the Soak Jaw tribe (and judging from the previews for next week, someone from one of the tribes may be doing just that). Jake, who put the tribe together, seems to be doing everything right. He's in great shape for his age (61), and also seems to relate well to a tribe that is younger than his kids. He's turning out to resemble Rodger more than B.B., but isn't afraid to speak his mind to the camera about who is and isn't working. However, he seems to be able to clam up around his tribe, at least as far as we can see. Get used to him, because he'll be here for awhile. And it will be a sad day on message boards all across cyber-space if and when he gets the boot.

Last week, Robb may have set a record for greatest number of viewers irritated during the first week. He didn't get too much camera this week. While that's a blessing for the audience, it probably means that we'll see a lot of him in the coming weeks. On the previews, he's already shown trashing another player, presumably one on the other team. This week, Jake cited him as one of three people not eating much.

Last week, Jed came through big during the puzzle challenge of the immunity, catching up with and passing a flustered Ghandia. But his tribemates noted the went he tended to go off by himself. He seemed to do his cause even more harm this week by not helping with the shelter. His explanation was that spending time building the shelter was "frivolous," but it didn't seem too frivolous when it started to rain now, did it Jed? He explained to the camera that if they partake of the water he brings, he's free to partake of the shelter they build. Regardless of whether or not your point is valid Jed, you better hope the others don't catch wind of this attitude.

Ken, the NYC cop with the great first name who got applause during week one, deserved some this week as well for playing with a level head. Yes, he has had some justifiably harsh things to say about some of his tribemates, but only to the camera.

Penny, the Lone Star beauty, came up big during the reward challenges, leading her blindfolded teammates to victory. So far, we haven't seen much from her in confessionals, so she may be just keeping quiet, or at least that's what we're supposed to believe. By the way, just in case it comes up, the CBS website may list her as engaged, but according to a small item in the local paper, she was married on September 1. The event was given a small amount of space and didn't really stand out from the other wedding announcements. And predictably, there was no mention of the show to be found.

No confrontations for Shii Ann this week, and nobody wanting to see her hands. And of course, no luck for the spoiler sites that listed her as the next to go. Was she even on this episode? Oh well, certainly she'll have some big moments in the future, for better or worse.

Erin has smartly not sulked about being that last one picked, and has been more than willing to do her share of work. She did have a painful-looking moment when she slipped right before doing her part of the immunity challenge. But the tribe won anyway so it's all good.

Last week, Stephanie stood out by showing her "ta-tas." This week, she stood out by showing her arrogance and stubbornness. First, she wondered what the others would do without her and Jed making the food. Then she refused to come in out of the rain, literally, and is now paying the price in the form of a cold. Unlike the unfortunate Tanya, Stephanie's health problems are her own doing. If she doesn't shape up in a hurry, both physically and mentally, the "gleam in her eye" Jake saw when he picked her may be totally wiped out soon at a tribal council near you.

Now, what about the Chewy Gum tribe? Well, let's start with Jan and her pigtails. It's been said that men don't like to ask for directions, but Jan and Helen seemed averse to even taking directions along, leaving the map behind. They ended up paying in terms of lost time, extra energy expended, and nerves frayed. One of the most telling moments was when Helen was lugging the heavy water container back to the boat, and found Jan lying on her back in the water. Not exactly the team-player image there.

And of course, Helen. Despite refusing to cry due to working with a bunch of macho guys back in the states, she had several reasons to: the frustration of getting lost while looking for water, her 20th anniversary, and of course, losing immunity. Then again, maybe the others should chip in and buy her a sense of humor, since Clay indicated she was way too serious.

Ghandia is, besides Tanya , the only one who did NOT cast a vote for the Volunteer State native. Instead, she scrawled Helen's name, explaining she didn't like the way Helen handled stress. HELLO? Have you already forgotten how rattled you got during the first immunity challenge? This was definitely a candidate for the "Stacey Stillman Rolling Your Eyes" award.

Poor Tanya. So sweet, so cute, so loveable. And sadly, so sick. So Jessie-ish. Like the S3 player, Tanya was booted out for no other reason than her own good. And to add insult to injury, it was her voice that her teammates followed in the reward challenge, just not well enough to win. And to think, I was ready to pounce on fellow RNO writer Phil for predicting she wouldn't be able to see the merger with binoculars. Well Phil, your crystal ball was little shinier than mine on this one. By the way, I predicted her to win. Maybe that's why Vegas has yet to ask me to set the odds on each person's victory hopes.

Now for the men. Clay should give thanks that snoring is not a reason for getting the boot. Not yet anyway. But while his tribe is trying to find a way to get a good night's sleep, Clay found some squid. Not exactly the greatest tasting thing out there, but protein nevertheless. And of course, the man with the golf club didn't fare too well in a golfing challenge with two of his tribemates, but of course, nothing was at stake but pride. Still, I think the tribe could go either way on him.

Ted's most memorable moment on this episode was singing about mashed potatoes and steak, which got a few laughs from his tribe mates (with him, not at him). Now maybe I just didn't notice it last week, but he's a little more out of shape than I realized, especially for an ex-college athlete. But so far, he's still one of the stronger people on the tribe, and hasn't ruffled any feathers. But that's about to change, judging from the previews regarding him and Ghandia.

Brian, so far, has played the game well, despite his tribe losing twice. Even though he cares about Tanya, he knew voting her out was the right thing to do. And so far, his guitar-picking hasn't irritated his tribemates. In fact, they seem receptive to it. However, I wish he would have taught some of them the concept of harmony before they sang "Happy Anniversary " to Helen. It seems as if they were singing in seven different notes, while he was playing in an 8th one.

And one final question: What happened to the "filthy food challenge" that traditionally takes place during the second episode of each installment of the series? Was it: A. The producers simply wanted to do something different this year. B. They figured it was hard enough to swallow Robb's bull. C. The squid Clay found wasn't quite gross enough. D. Tanya was so sick, water qualified as disgusting for her.

Whatever the case, it sure looks as if the series has its plate full this coming Thursday night. Stay tuned.

Ken can be reached with any comments, criticisms, or money orders at [email protected]

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Rhune
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Re: Ep. 2 Recaps
« Reply #4 on: Sep 30^th, 2002, 9:27pm »

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http://www.manlythoughts.com/s5_episode2.html

Episode 2: Women Lost - Squid Die - God Responsible?

The show opens with a dawn sky as clouds flow in fast-motion above the ocean shore. A close-up of ants crawling on a twig refocuses to show the Chuay Ghan tribe flag. A monkey stretches and yawns. The campfire smolders beneath the caves at Team Church Social as everyone sleeps. A group of bats cling to the cave wall as the roar of someone's snoring overcomes the gentle sounds of morning music.

Ted sits up and gives someone a painful look. Tanya and Brian giggle as the camera pans back to show us that it is the smallest in the tribe with the largest sleep noise. Their giggling wakes up Clay. Ghandia complains, "Oh lord, all that snoring" as she frets with her covers.

You know, people snore. People do not snore on purpose. If they could avoid snoring, they would. I'm tired of people considering those who snore to be social pariahs.

People complain about how blacks are portrayed horribly on Reality TV. I've heard similar complaints from the Hispanic population about TV in general. Women complain of gender-based stereotyping. What about those who snore?!

Never do you see some hunka-hunka studmuffin soap opera star snoring away. The lack of snore sensitivity in the media is illustrated by the failure to eliminate the stereotyping which is constantly apparent in todays media. Gatekeeping of the portrayal and participation of snorers in the TV industry continue to have a profound impact on todays society.

Snore prejudice. That's all it is and it's a huge problem here in America and I'm proud to be the first to speak out against this epidemic of evil.

People who snore are people, too!

"We don't need no stinkin' map!"

We see Team Church Social fighting to get their canoe into the water. Once again we hear Ghanji-rea-of-the-mouth (thanks Dane!) complaining, "The boat that we have is a piece of crap. It fills with sand. It fills with water. It's EXTREMELY heavy. With our water source being as far away as it is, it just makes the journey to go get water even more frustrating."

Helen and Jan set off in the canoe as Ted and Clay look on concerned. Clay gets in the first of many Helen digs, "Helen and Jan didn't take the map with them. They thought they could figure it out."

As soon as they took off without the map I knew they were doomed. There would be no way they could pull over and ask for directions. If it were two guys, they would've been lost only HALF the time.

As Helen strolled through the jungle (at their first landing) looking for the water source, we were shown various shots of a very large snake crawling through the trees, inching down from above, getting closer and closer the more Helen appeared lost. I was hoping that maybe the snake would have hypnotic powers like Kaa in The Jungle Book. Unfortunately, before Kaa could get close enough, Helen yelled, "I don't think this is right, Jan!"

"Dammit," said Kaa.

Back at the main camp, Clay, Ted, and Brian play a round of golf on their beach. Ted provided sports commentary and interviews and he actually showed promise. They set up 3 holes, "A par 5, a par 3, and a par 6."

During their game, it went from sunny to rainy to storming. As Clay got a Hole-in-One (with maybe a bit too much celebration), we switch over to the drama of Helen and Jan. The waters are now so rough that the waves flow over into the canoe. As Helen paddles furiously, Jan holds some sort of cup in her mouth and paddles in a sort of scared, hesitant manner. I'm hoping their canoe tips over only so that I could get a glimpse of the elusive cameraman saving Jan's life.

Helen then admitted to the cameras that she would've killed Jan and then herself had she had a gun. "That's why I don't carry a gun," she said. Kaa wonders aloud, "Hell woman, if you were going to do that, you should've just let me eat you!"

Team Skateboard Builds Shelter

While these two continued to paddle, we visit with Team Skateboard. Jake says, "The number one priority has been for 4 days out here to get us a really nice shelter built."

We see everyone but Jed and Stephanie working diligently on the shelter. It appears to be made of out bamboo with a slanted roof so that water runs off and under the floor. Ken explains how the rain gutter will work and I am reminded of the Professor on Gilligan's Island.

Jake comments, "The shelter has become almost an obsession to the tribe. But Stephanie and Jed have not worked on the hut very much, which has caused problems with people who have worked on the hut."

As everyone works, Jed nibbles at a fingernail as he very diligently watches the boiling water.

Ken shares exactly how I feel about lazy-asses, "It's one thing to be lazy but to be FREAKIN' lazy is another thing. You know, you're put in everybody's place and you're not gonna do a damn thing." (I really couldn't understand him, but I know what he meant... lazy people suck.)

Stephanie says, "I know shelter's really important, but I just can't get into that right now." Right now being the whole of 4 days.

Jed says over the construction sounds in the background, "Spending your energy building a shelter seems kind of frivolous to me. I mean, it's the fourth day and it's not even done..."

Stephanie further justifies their laziness by saying that Jed is taking care of food and "I've been primarily the water. If you took the two of us out of the equation, I'm not sure how the other six would be."

Well, maybe she has a point. As I watch Jed carry over a cup of water to Robb, "Drink up, you animal" I'm thinking that the whole tribe would probably just die from starvation and dehydration if these two weren't able to watch the water boil.

Helen and Jan are STILL Gone!

Team Church Social stands around looking worried and concerned while they discuss the fact that Helen and Jan haven't returned yet. They say that it shouldn't take more than an hour to row to the water site - three hours at the most for the entire trip and they believe it's been at least 4-5 hours. "We should be seeing them and we ain't seen NOTHIN'!"

When I saw how Jan and Helen got lost and kept trying island inlet after island inlet, it reminded me of the Family Circus cartoons where the kids paths are followed by the dotted line.

And then I found this Mother Goose & Grimm cartoon on the net. It's not relevant but I still think it's worth sharing.

After hours of being lost and paddling and fighting rough waters and a leaky canoe, they finally returned to the first place they looked. Helen said, "All of a sudden God just put it in my mind, I guess."

I'm just sort of curious as to why God waited 4-5 hours to "all of a sudden" make them realize that they've explored every beach on the island.

Clay giggled to the camera about how she didn't take the map and about how tired she was, "I bet she doesn't take off again like that." Notice that he seemed to be talking only about one person - Helen. (I know it was Helen because he mentioned earlier how she thinks she knows everything and refused to take the map.) I think Clay's a little jealous because Helen could kick his ass with one arm tied behind her back and one leg over her shoulder.

Team Skateboard - Signs of Immaturity

Now that their shelter is "far enough along" to provide at least a little refuge from the rain, Team Skateboard set out to find food. Somehow, even with Stephanie and Jed working diligently to provide food and water, there didn't seem to be any food for the tribe. Everyone except for Jed, Stephanie, and Robb went to a cave and found clams and shellfish. (Is a clam a shellfish?) Jed justified that 5 people didn't need to go for food in a space "as big as a kitchen," just like Jed justified all his other lazy-ass behavior.

The area, of course, was much bigger than a kitchen and I've decided that I want to move to an island. Shii Ann stated that in a normal world, those who stayed back and sat on their asses (I might be paraphrasing a bit) would be excited that they gathered a lot of food and that there would've been water boiling so that they could just get cooking right away. "But, it wasn't like that. It was kind of strange." It was like I was surrounded by that type of asshole youth who are indifferent to everything but themselves and their leisure.

Shii Ann continued to share her concerns about the tribe; how Stephanie, Jed, and Robb didn't eat any of the food they gathered, how "there are so few happy moments here. We're fighting against nature, we're fighting against each other..."

As we heard various good-nights, Jed complained that he just can't sleep in that "little fort that everyone was building." So, he, Robb, and Stephanie slept out in the sand. We heard Robb say to his sleep outside buddies, "I think it's going to be a nice, clear night, dude."

Camera editing fast-forwarded a bit to... Ka-BOOM! Thunder and yet another rainstorm. A miserable night for "Alliance Dude." Shii Ann observed, "It's interesting... Jed snubbed the shelter and then came to sleep under the shelter."

Jed said to the cameras, "I just slept like a baby. I probably got two drops all night. I don't really worry if it's OK with anybody. If I'm going to give out water when people are building shelter, then they need to realize I might sleep under their shelter that they've been building."

When you see construction crews working their butts off in the hot sun, I wonder how much they pay that guy who sits around and gives out water? I've never actually seen this guy, but according to Jed's world, one must surely exist.

Eventually, all but Stephanie took shelter. For some reason, she stayed out in the rain. A close-up of her face showed her nose running while she sniffled away. Stephanie told a few people that she absolutely loves to be in the rain. Ken stated that "she was being pigheaded. And right now, she's sick." They need her strength for the challenges, but if she's going to be a stubborn idiot and make herself sick, we may as well feed her to Kaa.

A Monkey Visits Team Church Social

As Brian strummed a tune, Ted sang a song about food. Initially, they pleaded for him not to sing, but then they laughed and laughed and laughed at his song - sort of like how a group of dorks start laughing about something stupid but they're really just laughing because they think other people might think they're cool because they're having so much fun.

I'm not saying that Ted's song wasn't funny. This just reminded me of group dork behavior.

Some of you may remember Michael Skupin from Survivor Australia. He stalked a scared, lost little pig. The closer he got the more it squealed for its life. He then pounced and stabbed and stabbed, blood squirted everywhere, and finally he held it up in the air with his bloodied arm and laughed maniacally, "HA HA HA HA HA HAAAA!" (Well, at least this is how it seemed after the editors had their way and the animal rights people had their say.)

It's a good thing Michael wasn't on this Survivor because I kind of liked that monkey who came to listen to Brian's guitar playing.

Clay called the monkey, "Magilla" but some people surely know that Magilla is a Gorilla. Here's another fun fact for you: Magilla the Gorilla was the very first cartoon to have a toy tie-in. Now, of course, you can't find a child's lunchbox or Christmas toy that isn't based on Spongebob Squarepants or Blues Clues or whatever is the latest thing.

If I were them, I would've tried to get closer to the monkey, maybe feed it something. Then again, as a friend who used to work in the Primates section of the St. Louis Zoo once told me, monkeys are so strong that even the smaller chimpanzees could rip off a human arm. So maybe I'd be content at some mutual staring.

Boy, I'm just full of fun facts today, aren't I?

We learn that it's Helen 20th anniversary and her tribe decides to secretly plan a special event for her. They picked some flowers for a crown for her to wear... you know, the traditional 20th anniversary crown.

Tanya and Clay check their Cave Mail and I notice some odd camera work. Initially, I thought we were given a little Tanya booty worship since the cameraman followed her with the cameras focused in on her backside. But I noticed that Tanya had a nifty Sun-Fire tattoo on her lower back. And THEN the very next frame showed a close-up of Brian's tiger tattoo on his right shoulder. We must have some body-art fans behind the cameras.

Tanya reads the mail: a blindfold challenge. Ghandia discusses strategy...

"I think it would be good to distract the other team with my cleavage. And if need be, easy access in case I have to pull the boobs out to distract the guys on the other side."

Tanya laughed, "They're gonna be blindfolded!"

Ghandia knew, "Doesn't matter. They will know!"

And she is absolutely right. Men will know, blindfolded or not. We men can be sitting in the most romantic restaurant booth across from a most sensual, beautiful woman. Her bare foot can be rubbing up against our leg beneath the table and there is no woman in the world we want more. But if somewhere in that restaurant is a woman showing ample cleavage, something weird happens. It's like our minds are slowly taken over by the power of the cleavage. Our eyes become controlled like by a powerful magnet until we somehow, some way, even if it's just a fraction of a second, spot that cleavage. As soon as we see it, we're fine, our minds are returned, we're good to go.

Reward Challenge

The reward challenge is the standard blindfold-the-team-while-one-person-is-the-guide challenge. A guess there's a Survivor rulebook that says they must repeat the same challenges every season.

In every blindfold challenge I can remember, one team's leader was usually responsible for losing the challenge. This year, I didn't see that one leader was any better or worse than the other. They both crashed their teams into poles and tree limbs. They were neck-and-neck throughout the entire race. Instead, we finally saw that the main reason for one team winning over the other was Jake's initial strategy in selecting his team: strength and youth.

Jeff Probst yells, "Soup Kitchen wins!"

Team Skateboard won a lantern, buoys, fishing line, fishing hooks, and a 30-meter HUGE fishing net.

Anniversary Party

Team Church Social was in bad need of a morale booster. They've lost every challenge thus far. They were down and out. If this were Team Skateboard it wouldn't be a problem because they'd already be taking Prozac or Ritalin or whatever else drug this younger generation is prescribed to. (And you can't tell me for a second that Robb has forgotten his Ritalin a few times and that the beautiful, big-breasted Erin hasn't taken anti-depressants at one point in her life.)

The tribe slowly walked towards Helen. Ghandia asked, "Can we talk to you for a minute?"

Helen freaked. "Uh oh. You guys voting me out?"

And this wasn't an entirely ridiculous response. Those words, "We need to talk" are dreaded. Never is this followed by something good. All managers of the world need to make a pact: "For the next 6 months, we will regularly call our employees into our office with, 'Can I talk to you?' And THEN we will sincerely compliment them."

Do this and maybe those words will not instantly spark fear in the minds of man.

Helen sat down and instead of firing her, they all began to sing a really, really bad "Happy Anniversary to You" song. Actually, I think it was like 3 different songs all sung as the same time - all ignoring Brian's guitar accompaniment.

Helen cried and I don't think it was because of the song, either. (I cried and it WAS because of the song.) To the cameras, she said, "I was paranoid all day because I could tell that they were keeping me out of things and deliberately going off without me. I was getting really nervous that maybe they were going to vote me off."

During her little ceremony, she acted all shocked and surprised, "How the heck did you do this?!"

That night we see that Tanya is still really sick and can't eat any of the food because she'll just throw up again.

The next morning, God must have spoken to a school of squid and told them not to take their anti-depressants because a bunch of them committed suicide on the beach. Everyone rejoiced at this manna from heaven.

To me, seeing the dead squid scattered all over the beach, this was like tropical island roadkill.

Immunity Challenge

Mr. Probst described the challenge. "A floating lotus flower puzzle. Six pieces are missing from that puzzle. Those pieces have been tethered to the bottom of the ocean floor. Your job, one tribe member at a time, swim out, dive ten feet, unclip the missing piece of the puzzle, swim back and get it in its spot. Each piece is unique so it will only fit in one spot. One person from each tribe will stay on the flower and they will help navigate those pieces into their appropriate spot. First tribe back with their puzzle completed will win immunity. Should a member of your tribe be mangled or eaten by a shark, another team member may complete the task in their place."

(Frankly, I'm shocked at all the violence of this year's Survivor. First we had Kaa eating Helen, then Michael and the monkey followed by a monkey ripping off a person's arm. The suicidal squid appeared and now the Lotus Flower/Shark challenge. I'm troubled.)

Even though Penny wasn't able to dive down and unclip her piece, the race ended up being very close. Apparently, even though she swam like a bullet, Jan had trouble in figuring out that the rope tethering her flower to the bottom was somehow attached to her flower and thus directly below said flower. (Jan's a nice lady but I'm thinking that she may be teaching first grade because that's about all she could handle intellectually.)

Also, Ghandia and Clay seemed to be very slow swimmers. These things allowed Team Skateboard to make a comeback and eventually win the challenge.

"Soup Kitchen wins immunity!"

Once again, the younger, more fit tribe wins the challenge. I wonder if future Survivors will continue to vote out stronger members from their tribe first just because they're bossy or they don't get along or whatever. Because John was voted out last week instead of someone weaker, Team Church Social has now lost every challenge. And the one challenge that they had before John left was lost only because of Ghandia, who is clearly the weakest member on the team.

Is it possible that Team Church Social would've won this immunity challenge if John were still there instead of someone weaker? Definitely, since Penny couldn't complete her task.

Will Team Church Social realize that the weaker players are causing them to lose challenges? They've been showing for both episodes now how Tanya is sick. Tanya, however, is much more athletically-inclined than several others in her tribe. I'm really hoping that they give her more time to get better.

Back at camp, everyone is really hating life. While the team lied around, Ghandia with her hand draped very comfortably across Ted's upper thigh (which the camera zoomed in on and then panned out in a bit of foreshadowing), Ted mused, "Mmm, mm, mmm... so close. That's the beauty of these games. There's no such thing as second place. You either win or you lose."

They know that they have to vote out someone and they really do seem to get along. Well, sort of. Apparently, Helen is getting on peoples' nerves. But I'm afraid that this team, which I'm starting to think isn't all that smart despite their age and experience, will give Tanya the boot.

Tribal Council

Once again, Team Church Social arrives at tribal council. And once again, Mr. Probst tries to stir things up with his probing questions...

"It's never fun coming to tribal council, but... two times in a row. Ted, how's the morale of the tribe?"

It's slowly declining, but we're still a family.

"Ghandia, is what Ted said True?"

blah blah blah

"Tanya, did you have any idea it would be this tough only 6 days in?"

Nope.

"Who here will admit that at least one point in those first 6 days you have to assess how you're fitting in with everyone else. That is the object of this game. You don't know any of these people... Helen, you're starting to nod."

Helen blabbed about something and then mentioned how touched she was over the party they threw for her. She said she's under orders not to cry. Jeff quickly asked as her voice began to choke up, "Why are you on orders not to cry?"

"Because I work with all these men who are Green Berets and Seals... yada yada."

"Ghandia, what are you basing your vote on tonight?"

Blah blah blah.

"Jan, how tough will tonight's vote be?"

Hard. Blah blah blah.

The Vote

Brian voted Tanya - mentioned being a big brother and told her to get better.

Ghandia held up her HELEN vote and then perfectly described herself in the first immunity challenge when she freaked out during her puzzle, "I just don't think that you effectively handle stress. It seems like you kind of get too anxious and start bugging out, frankly. I think in the long-run that's gonna hurt the group."

Tanya and Ghandia voted for Helen. Everyone else voted for Tanya. I liked Tanya. Team Church Social sucks.

Next Show

The previews of the next show are surely captivating. The two tribes meet at a challenge where they have to walk across a thin floating bridge pushing the other team off as they go.

We see Shii Ann facing off against Ted, two shots of Jed and Brian going at it, and Robb towering over Clay as he grabs him by the neck while Clay screams.

But the juicy part is the "Case of He Said She Said." We see a few glimpses of Ted and Ghandia getting comfortable with each other. Ghanji-rea-of-the-mouth says, "He... started getting sexual..."

Ted yells, "I'm not even attracted to you!"

The voiceover comes in, "This is the Survivor you'll be debating with your friends" followed by a Ghandia anger/frustration scream.

Yippee! It looks like I'll be needing to spend some time next week explaining how men and women think. It should be fun.

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