Grid Effect

Pre-credits scene, it’s dusk at Ravu and the three ally members are discussing the alliance. Mookie confesses (to the camera) he is selfish and is using the idol for himself, and if he can get Alex and Edgardo further as a result, then great. They say they are not telling Dreamz because he cannot keep info to himself.

Treemail says they are to paddle out to Exile. Michelle gives a misguided interview about how Survivor tested she is as opposed to Stacy, Cassandra and Boo. I suppose on some level having roughed it beforehand would better prepare her for subpar living conditions in the future, but I wouldn’t rely on that. No one’s dropping out of the game because they have to sleep on the ground.

The four Ravu members contemplate post-merge strategy as they are counting on the merge taking place at Exile. Mookie thinks he can pull Michelle or Yau-Man which is an impossibility. That’s like pulling Michael out of The Corleone’s. They have plans to stay together but it won’t happen. The depleted tribe can never keep there act together going into the merge and they usually implode.

The contestants paddle…

They meet and greet with no guidance and walk to the highest point to rest in the treehouse, only to discover they have new purple colored buffs in the cubby where the clues for the idol were. That should be a clear indicator for both sects of people that someone else has laid claim to the other idol. There is a note informing them they are going to back to Moto as one tribe, Mookie is ecstatic. He claims to be the only who has not been there. Well, the only remaining contestant who hasn’t lived there. Alex called Ravu “seven days of hell”. Wow, Alex, you certainly are an Ivy Leaguer.

Ah, the coup de grace, they got to the island and the camp had effectively been removed. Good. Mookie suffers an impenetrable sadness as a result. In fact, virtually everyone laments, but some are handling it better than others. Earl seems to be the only “Man” of the group, at least in the classical definition. Well, him and Yau. Earl in fact actually laughed at the situation. Currently, they have a cave. It is primitive.

They decide to name the tribe “Bula Bula” which translates to “Hello Hello”. I don’t know either. Michelle and Stacy corroborate and are now feeling good as women in this game, since the men will see each other as threats and they’ll start attacking each other. Essentially she thinks it will be like the South Park episode where Bebe develops boobs and the boys literally kill each other vying for her affections.

Everyone is hot on the campagin trail trying to acquire alliance members. The four from Ravu are apparently planning on sticking together. Yau thinks they have secured Mookie and Dreamz but is skeptical.

Stacy says she has a lot of trust in Alex, and Alex says he is looking out for the “Four horsemen”. The nickname is obnoxious but is a shorthand so I am going to use it. Sorry. Mookie is really into it, and even spills the beans to Dreamz about the idol. Dreamz camera interviews about being annoyed that they didn’t inform him when they found it. And he should be, he now knows his place in the pecking order. Although he should stick to the plan, if the four of them are the final four, none of them can touch him in immunity challenges. Apparently common consensus is Boo is the first to go amongst the Alex and Earl factions.

The non-black horsemen paddle out into the water, seemingly to talk undisturbed and without eavesdroppers. Edgardo is really pissed Mookie told Dreamz about the idol. They contemplate bringing Stacy into the group and getting rid of my shorthand. Mookie, because he’s not an idiot (although sometimes impressionable), recognizes the disadvantage this puts him and Dreamz at since Stacy would align herself with Alex and Edgardo should they all make it to F5. They seem kind of confused and frustrated with one another. Something tells me this four horsemen deal will be short lived.

Cassandra and Earl are really tight, Earl says, “Just keep them thinking they have you and keep them thinking that I’m not thinking”. I really have no idea where Cassandra and/or Dreamz’ loyalties lie. Mookie tells Dreamz that they want to bring Stacy in, he tells them absolutely not, and for good reason, her and Lisi did their best “Mean Girls” impersonation with him on the original Moto. I like seeing him put his foot down.

At IC, they unexpectedly form two teams, but only for the challenge. It consists of paddling, grabbing bundles that will form symbols and place them accordingly. Losing team are the only five that go to TC, the other team gets steak, some spices, other supplemental items and Wine.

The two people grabbing for the bundles are Yau Man and Stacy, Yau Man gets his quickly and the green team has to replace first Stacy with Dreamz, then Dreamz with Alex, and he grabs it shortly after Yau Man grabs the orange teams second. Yau Man gets the third one right before Alex gets the second.

Orange team paddles to shore long before the green team does. Earl and Yau are fumbling with the pieces as Michelle and Alex begin to work on theirs. Orange team ultimately prevails, it consists of Yau, Boo, Earl, Cassandra and Edgardo.

Michelle, Stacy, Mookie, Alex and Dreamz are all going to TC straight from IC. Meaning, no time to strategize or congregate amongst friends.

Amazingly, Boo recognizes how fortunate he is for the Immunity Challenge to have panned out as it did. He says, and I quote, “I would have been gone”. Insightful. He is looking a little more lively than he was twenty minutes ago, where he was looking a little Zodiac killer-ish. The “orange” team is speculating as to what is happening at TC. They all think Michelle and Stacy are on the chopping block. And they are probably right, since there are more original Moto people on that team than Ravu, my money is on Michelle to go. Though Dreamz, Michelle, and Mookie all want Stacy out.

All five of them are feeling paranoid. Understandably. Probst asks all of them for good reasons to get rid of other people at TC. And they pretty much epitomize loaded questions. Alex is the only one who stonewalls him, saying, “I don’t have any reason to get rid of (fill in name)” except for Michelle, he says he doesn’t know her well enough to have a reason. And they go to the vote, Naturally Alex votes for Michelle, Mookie votes for Stacy and I presume Dreamz votes for her as well, but they do not show it. The votes go as such:
Stacy
Michelle
Stacy
Michelle
Michelle

That was really disappointing. Did anyone want to see sweet, jovial Michelle go over bitch face Stacy? So be it, and I think that implies Dreamz voted for Michelle, based on what he said about Alex’s answer to the “give me a reason” inquisition that was conducted by Probst, “He’s just telling me who he is voting for”. If nothing else, you can’t say Dreamz personalizes his vote. This could actually be beneficial for him, but I am skeptic.

In her parting words, she is remarkably graceful given how fucked she got. She goes through the whole “I am vindicated by this spiritually and am as strong as I thought” spiel. It’s about what you would expect. I always maintained she was cute and endearing, not clever, alright? Cut me some slack.

Tonight: Mookie and Dreamz have differing opinions on how things broke down at TC, Dreamz, predictably, tells everyone about the idol as a result. I like his rogue attitude and hopefully people cease cow towing for Alex.