Grid Effect

Sorry for the delay, busy weekend…

In this weeks episode entitled “Why Would You Trust Me?”, we got one of the better Survivor episodes in a few seasons. Yul manages to still bend people to his will, Ozzy seems almost unbeatable in individual challenges and Parvati, Candice and Nate continue to grate at my nerves.

We open with Johnathan still remarkably paranoid about his standing on his new tribe. And rightfully so, just as he voicing his concerns, we get Candice, Parvati and Adam cackling over how desperate he is. Instances like these are a major contributor to my disdain for all three of them. They speak about others with such disregard it kind of makes me sick. Anyways, he almost loses his cool when he suggests that all of them start working around camp and his teammates are reluctant to heed his advice. Nate, as would be expected, takes personal offense.

Over at Aitu they are still clinging to the “underdog” mentality as a motivational tactic. This is pretty much a football team claiming they are “disrespected”, and are bound and determined to prove everybody wrong.

As it said in the overview on Time Warner, the two tribes merge at what they thought would be the reward challenge. It ends up being a reward with no challenge for, I presume, making it to the merge. In a move that simply exemplifies why Yul is currently running away with this thing, when asked by Jeff to decide which camp to stay at, Raro or Aitu, the two groups are on the verge of bickering, before Yul chimes in and despite holding much contempt for Candice and Johnathan, asks for their opinion since they are the only two who have spent significant time at both camps. See, when logic overrides mayhem, everybody wins. They end up at Raro, which Aitu welcomes because Raro claims to not have any rats.

The aforementioned reward is wining and dining on a boat. Yul announces that even though they are playing a game, he looks forward to meeting those he hasn’t had the chance to know, meanwhile he voices over that the former Aitu is still very much looking for some loose ends on the Raro alliance. Cunning. Also, Adam vomits over the edge of the boat and Nate is seen with a beer in hand for the following twenty minutes of the episode. Johnathan is flummoxed at the recklessness of youth culture.

Back at camp, Nate and Ozzy are bonding. They seem to both have an understanding that while they wish each other the best, and if things happen down the road, they can look to one another as a potential ally, but as it stands now they have to stick with their original alliances. Adam, still drunk apparently, flirts with Parvati. It’s meaningless.

Yul and Becky, possibly one of the better Survivor duos in the history of the series if Becky brought more to the table (She is definitely bright, but we haven’t seen anything exceptional out of her yet in way of challenges, as of now her greatest attribute is being Yul’s closest ally), are plotting on who is the most likely to flip from the five members of the Raro alliance. They are really calculating in determining that their best bet is Johnathan. After deciding on him, Yul immediately tracks him down to make his case. Johnathan is hesitant because he doesn’t believe Yul has any reason to trust him. And therefore could be setting him up. He does say he would be more susceptible to jump ship if a member of Aitu has the Immunity Idol. Yul does not cop to having it, but clarifies that if he can produce the idol, Johnathan will switch alliances. So in the best strategical move available, Yul solidifies his alliance with Sundra and Ozzy, and informs them he does indeed, have the idol.

Onto The Immunity Challenge. It is balance oriented and in this particular IC they have to stand on ropes wrapped around a tall wooden fixture. During the challenge, Johnathan remarks how this poses a significant disadvantage for men with larger feet. Yul points out that their current predicament explains why “elephants can’t run up trees”. Nice. The moping, regardless of how witty, seems entitled. But, its true, so I can’t blame them for it. Adam falls, Nate falls, Johnathan falls, Sundra falls, Yul falls, Parvati falls, Becky falls, Leaving only Candice and Ozzy. The rain starts to take its toll on Candice and she eventually slips. Ozzy wins. Hurrah! Between the four member Aitu alliance, two of them cannot be voted off under any circumstances.

Back at camp, Adam gushes over how great Candice was during the challenge, despite how fruitless her efforts were. The Raro tribe wants to vote out Yul. They all want to vote him out because he is strong, intelligent and the ring leader for Aitu’s alliance. But none of them even consider he might have the Immunity Idol. Nate and Candice make out over the craziness of “this game” because they are both ten years old.

At this point, Yul informs Johnathan about the idol as well. And also adds that if he doesn’t switch teams, the Aitu alliance is voting for him, which kind of corners Johnathan into voting with Aitu, whether he likes it or not. Because Yul can do whatever he wants with the idol, including give it to one of his teammates if Raro tries to vote one of them off. Johnathan doesn’t realize this, but does play it safe in going back to Raro to hear out what their course of action is. Too sweeten the deal for Johnathan, Yul says they will vote for whomever they want him to vote for. Which is brilliant, because in all honesty, what do they care? No one on Raro is a physical or mental threat, at least not considerable enough to make a priority. He decides on Nate because Adam helped him survive the two tribal councils he had with Raro after he mutinied. This isn’t really true, but whatever. Why Candice and Parvati are given passes is beyond me.

When he hears they are dead set in giving Yul the boot, Johnathan (because he now knows about Yul and the idol, but the rest of the Raro alliance is still in the dark) asks if they are at all worried that he might have the idol. Despite how enamored they are with Yul (the very reason they are voting him off), none of them give any credence to the idea because he only spent one day on exile island. And I can sort of understand their logic, but when they are all certain someone has it, and they all confess that they do not, given that Yul is the only member of Aitu that had been banished to the island at all, isn’t that a little telling? I guess their isn’t much trust amongst the Raro tribe.

Johnathan, now coming to realize that Raro is a collection of dipshits, really seems to be leaning towards Aitu. He is aware that if he is to jump ship, again, he has alienated essentially everyone in the game, making a win virtually impossible. Still, you have to play the hand you’re dealt. I like his cerebral approach to the game, though.

Parvati and Candice both reiterate their desire to give Yul his exit papers. They again manage display that insufferable, arrogant attitude by saying about Nate, “He will do whatever we say” in regards to who they plan to vote off. They also think Yul is the “mastermind” and he is too much competition for everyone this side of Ozzy.

At tribal council, nothing terribly relevant is said. When Jeff shows the vote, Yul’s name is spelled “Yule” and “Yuehl”. Jesus, you really have to be trying to misspell his name if you’re best guess is “Yuehl”. I missed who wrote it in the recap, but I am pretty sure that person spells “go” as “geaux”. Either way, it proves ineffectual because Nate is voted out 5-4. Obviously Johnathan flipped, which is the right move. At least Aitu doesn’t ridicule him behind his back.

In his parting words, Nate says everyone is cool except for Johnathan. He adds that Johnathan can “Kiss his ass” and that he is a “Dirty, stanky, wack, fruitcake, who sold out are tribe” and that he is a “lying bastard”. At least its memorable if not kind of absurd because the only reason him and Adam weren’t voting Johnathan off was because they needed his vote. If the five of them had been the last five people, barring an IC win, Johnathan wouldn’t have a prayer of making the final four.

This was a fantastically satisfying episode. The idea of seeing Candice, Adam and Parvati sent home in the next three episodes is going to be predictable and methodic, but justified.