Pre-merge Survivor is always kind of annoying because, for some reason, the players always feel they need to vote out the strongest tribe members to get rid of the threats early. Of course, that almost always backfires because they need the strong players to keep their tribe numbers strong to get to the merge. Then you start voting out the threats. I’m happy to say that while some mistakes may have been made early in the season (a lot of people are still upset about Jimmy Johnson), the merged tribe has a lot of strong players and it’s going to be very interesting to see the psychology of the game come into play now as opposed to the physical aspect.
Speaking of the physical, I again have to give massive props to Jane for hanging in (no pun intended) just long enough on a tough physical challenge to take out her last remaining opposition, Chase, arguably the most physically fit member of the tribe. Did he give out or just lose his grip while trying to adjust? It’s unclear, but Jeff pretty much willed Jane into not quitting and once again she walked away from the challenge with immunity. And best of all, no one brought up her name as one of the conspirators against Brenda at Tribal.
Ah, Brenda. Powerful, arrogant, smug Brenda. How the mighty fall in this game. Brenda knew she was the target, she knew there was a large number against her but she was so over-confident in her alliance of three that she didn’t feel the need to scramble for votes or to throw anyone like NaOnka under the bus. You would have thought that she had learned a lessong from Marty’s elimination, where she said she was forced to vote him out to show her allegiance to her tribe, yet she never once thought that her two alliance members might have to think hard about showing their allegiance to the people with the numbers. Oh, poor stupid Brenda. Of course, maybe she knew it was inevitable since Sash did not offer to give her the hidden immunity idol, but I did like the little look she gave to NaOnka to try to convince her that she needed to use her hidden immunity idol. When it came down to it, even Chase — who blabbed to Brenda about the plan — and Sash, the queen to her king as she put it, voted her out. Well, at least she can tell Marty how sorry she is for voting for him.
And what’s up with Purple Kelly? She went on the reward trip with Jane, Chase, Fabio and NaOnka so she should have known the plan was to vote out Brenda, no? Maybe the only person who talked to her was Chase and at that moment he was hot to get Benry out for some reason. Benry? He may as well have targeted Purple Kelly because so far neither of them have been a real presence in the game. And if everyone but Chase was on the same page, why did NaOnka feel the need to drag Fabio away from the group to tell him the plan? I really thought the Benry vote was from Chase, trying to not make any enemies, but seeing it was from Purple Kelly (and why do we still have to call her that since Kelly B is gone?) was just a bit mind-boggling.
And the fire. Let’s talk about the fire. The whole camp burned down. Okay, that’s about all I have to say because it didn’t seem to affect anyone or the game, despite the fact that the preview from last week made it seem like someone had actually died right in front of them. And has anyone seen the hen and rooster since the merge? Well, I’m glad to see Brenda gone and Jane winning immunity. Now maybe Chase will get his head back in the game.
“Brenda tryin’ to roll on one of the barrels. That’ll work … for a minute.” – Jeff commenting on the yellow team’s technique at the reward challenge
“Yellow team has made very little progress in this challenge. If this were life and death, you’d be dead.” – Jeff giving the yellow team more encouragement
Clacked by Chuck Duncan 
on Nov 17, 2010 @ 23:18 EST5EDT
I thought the loser dismount line was funny.
Interesting episode. I really wasn’t sure who was going home, right up until Sash didn’t give Brenda the idol. Arguments could be made either way from his perspective, but I guess ultimately he thought being self-serving (instead of simultaneously saving his closest ally and taking out the other idol by dumping NaOnka) will take him further in the game. I don’t know if I like his chances, though: The first three members of the jury are three of the four biggest schemers in the game! It’s like the stupid people are rising against!! If that’s the case, Sash isn’t long for this world.
I’d be fine seeing Fabio win it all, though. Or old “aw shucks” Jane. Just not “Purple” Kelly. Geez, what a dimwitted bore. I too thought the vote for Benry must have been Chase in a good-hearted attempt to save Brenda, but nope, he turned on her just like everyone else. Kelly was just that clueless.
As for Benry, he was making some moves tonight. He tried once with Marty and it didn’t work out, but the schemers were kind enough to give him another shot. Dan continues to slide under the radar despite being a complete liability in the challenge. I swear he’s going to squeak into the final three somehow. So who’s the power alliance now? Do any bonds even survive that mess? Jane & Holly? Quite possibly. Fabio & Benry? Probably not, since Fabio was the last one to hear about any anti-Brenda plans.
NaOnka has zero friends left in the game, save maybe Sash who desperately wants to make the finals with her (but I don’t see how that happens when she’ll be gunning hard for him). Whatever happens next, I see Dan & Jane to be in the best positions for the upcoming days. Holly slightly less so, since Chase outed her as a schemer and she’s less than subtle about, well, anything. If Nay’s not next to go as the previews would have us believe, I’d bet on either Kelly or Chase. Sash would be a target, but he’s slippery enough to at least play his idol if he’s on the chopping block. If that happens, maybe he can blindside somebody, since nobody seemed to plan for the possibility that Brenda would play it.
*POST AUTHOR*
Well, based on last week’s Tribal, I believe, the case was certainly made to bring NaOnka to the finals because no one would vote for her. And as we’ve been seeing this season, the previews for the next week aren’t all as important, horrifying or damaging as we think they are. If NaOnka didn’t get voted off for stealing food, I don’t know what else she could do that would have the tribe turn against her.
*POST AUTHOR*
UGH! I just found out that the preview for next week was just a cleverly edited preview of the clips show that always airs around Thanksgiving, so all that stuff about NaOnka was just referencing the food stealing episode (hopefully they’ll show us a little more footage of how the tribe reacted). No new episode next week.
Well that is terribly sneaky of them.
I am so glad that Brenda was voted out.
I absolutely despised the way she played the game. How ironic that, in the early part of this episode, she actually crowned herself the King. And then later on, we found out that her consort, Sash, also voted for her.
Bwaaahaaaa! Good riddance!