Survivor 32 Episode 2 “Kindergarten Camp”

Wow, that was a weird episode.

At first, I didn’t think that it would be that strange.  It was playing out like a typical early episode of Survivor.  People are still getting to know each other.  Alliances are still being made.  Idols are being searched for.  Some of it was fun to watch but none of it was particularly surprising.

On the Beauty Tribe, Caleb and Tai have a fun little bromance going.  As I mentioned in my previous Survivor post, it’s amazing how much more likable Caleb is on Survivor than he was on Big Brother.  When he wasn’t trying to kiss Caleb, Tai managed to discover a clue to the hidden immunity idol.  However, to get the idol, he has to climb up a huge tree and retrieve a key.  Looking at the tree and looking at Tai, I have a hard time believing that he’s going to get up there.  It almost seems as if they specifically hid the idol so that it would take two people to retrieve it.  So, I guess it’s a pretty good thing that Tai has made friends with Caleb.

(I really do think that Caleb is emerging as a legitimate threat to win this season.  He’s athletic and likable,  He may not be book smart but he does seem to be smart enough to take advantage of whatever situation he finds himself in.  The only real danger for Caleb is that he might be such a strong player that, post-merge, he becomes everyone’s target.)

On the Brains Tribe, Debbie is annoying everyone, including me.  Seriously, Debbie — CALM DOWN!  Debbie and Joe both seem to think that the pathogens in water are harmless and Liz is having a hard time adjusting to life on the smart beach.

And then, we have the Brawn Tribe.

Oh my God, how I hate the Brawn Tribe!

Basically, the Brawn Tribe is dominated by Jason and Scot, two alpha males who spend all day sleeping and whining.  Even after Alecia, after five hours of effort, managed to start a fire for them, Jason and Scot were both determined to vote her out.  Scot, at the very least, has figured out that Alecia has a name.  Jason is still calling her “blondie” because Jason is a condescending loser.

I don’t think anyone was shocked that the Brawn Tribe lost another immunity challenge.  The Brawn Tribe sucks.  It sucks largely because Jason and Scot suck.  The obvious solution to some of their problems would be to vote out either Jason or Scot.  Usually, I roll my eyes whenever the survivors start talking about forming an All-Girls Alliance because those alliances never seem to last for more than two episodes before everyone ends up melting down over nothing.  But still, as soon as I heard they were going after Jason, I was excited.  I could not wait to see Jason get blindsided.

However, this time, the inevitable alliance meltdown took less than two episodes.  It look less than one day.  After deciding that she, Alecia, and Cydney should join together to get rid of Jason, Jennifer suddenly had a chance of heart before tribal council.  She told Cydney that they should just go along with the boys and vote out Alecia.

That was when I started yelling at the TV.  Seriously, how does that make any sense?  Jason and Scot bring nothing to the tribe, they’re terrible at challenges, and neither one seems like they would stick with their former tribemates after merging.

But then things got even stranger.  At Tribal, Jeff Probst asked — as he always does — whether or not there had been any scheming or plotting back at camp.  A smart person would just say, “No,” and try to keep things moving until it was time to vote.  A smart person knows that you don’t want to say too much at Tribal Council.

However, this is the Brawn Tribe!  Remember what Scot told us in the previous episode?  They’re not beautiful.  They’re not smart.  They’re strong!  (Except, to judge from the season so far, they’re not really that strong either…)  These are not smart people.  These are very dumb people.

As soon as Jeff asked the question, Jennifer immediately started rambling about how there had been a plan to get rid of Jason and then tried to blame it all on Alecia, despite the fact that Jennifer was the one who originally came up with the plan.  I watched in amazement as Jennifer just kept talking and talking.  With each word that she uttered, the rest of her tribe trusted her less and less.  At the very least, Jennifer’s meltdown proved that she wasn’t exactly a reliable ally.

Before Jennifer started talking, everyone was planning on voting for Alecia.  But, when it came time to vote, Cydney and Jason joined with Alecia and voted for Jennifer.  And so, Jennifer was the second person voted out.

Seriously, what happened!?  As far as I can guess, that earwig that crawled into Jennifer’s ear was still inside of her, chewing away at her common sense and controlling her mind.  “Nom nom nom,” the earwig said, “keep talking, keep talking…”

That’s the only solution that makes any sense!

That’s it for now!

Beware of ear wigs,

Lisa Marie