The Amazing Race 31.7 “Living Fearlessly”

If nothing else, this season of The Amazing Race will be remembered for drama at the pit stop.

On previous seasons of The Amazing Race, coming in last at the pit stop would typically mean a few tears, an expression of regret, and, ultimately, a show of appreciation for whoever your partner was in the race.  Phil would tell you that he was sad to see you go and, most of the time, he would mean it.  Phil’s kind of the anti-Probst in that way.  Whereas Jeff Probst often seems to view the people on Survivor as merely being pieces in a game, Phil always seems to get emotionally involved in the race.  Phil would always make sure that the eliminated teams at least got to leave the game with a shred of dignity.

That hasn’t always been the case during the current season of The Amazing Race.  This season, showing up last to the pit stop had led to a lot of drama and accusations.  Not surprisingly, the main reason for this is the Riley Sisters.

I always go back and forth on how I feel about Rachel.  On a personal level, she drives me crazy.  I get tired of the whining.  I get tired of the overdone theatrics.  I get tired of the constant bitterness.  I worry about what will happen to her once Big Brother and The Amazing Race are no longer on the air.  Her life revolves around going on reality TV shows and acting like a child.  I’m not sure that mentally healthy, though it’s certainly paid off for her financially.

At the same time, Rachel brings the drama.  It’s important to have a villain on these shows and Rachel always seem to be willing to play the role.  Watching Rachel, you do have to wonder how much of her obnoxious behavior is authentic and how much of it is just her playing the role that’s made her famous?  I imagine it’s probably a little of both.

This season, even more so than the previous two times that she was on the race, Rachel has managed to alienate every other team on the show.  Rachel may be a bit more passive-aggressive while racing with her sister as opposed to her husband but she’s still the same old Rachel.  Unfortunately, because Rachel and Elissa have consistently been at the back of the pack throughout this entire season, they always seem to be at the mat when the last team to arrive finally shows up.  They’re always present at eliminations and this had led to some drama.

For instance, Corrine and Eliza probably would have thrown a hissy fit over getting eliminated regardless.  But having Rachel standing there undoubtedly didn’t help.  Britney and Janelle weren’t as vocal as either Corrine or Eliza but you could still tell that neither was happy to leave the race with Rachel staring at them.  And then last night, it was Nicole and Victor’s turn.

When Nicole and Victor reached the pit stop last night, it was already an emotional moment.  The entire leg of the race took place in the mountains of Switzerland.  Nicole, much like me, is terrified of heights.  As a result, Nicole spent almost the entire leg of the race freaking out.  And then, when she and Victor finally reached the pit stop, there was Rachel and Elissa.

Nicole and Victor were already mad at Rachel and Elissa because Rachel told them that all of the other teams were planning on U-turning them.  Rachel apparently thought that she was just giving them a “heads up” but instead, Nicole and Victor felt as if Rachel and Elissa were trying to manipulate them into using the U-turn themselves.

(Meanwhile, the other teams were not happy to discover that Rachel and Elissa had revealed their plans.)

So, when they reached the mat, we spent what seemed like several minutes listening to Nicole go on about how difficult the day had been. She wasn’t just upset over having to confront her fear of heights.  She was also upset that Rachel and Elissa had tried to make her and Victor feel paranoid.  To be honest, it was a little bit hard to follow Nicole’s monologue but it was still clear, by the end, that she and Victor have no interest in working with Rachel and Elissa.

Fortunately, for Nicole and Victor, last night was a non-elimination leg!  So, they’re still in the race!  I’m glad about that.  I like Nicole and Victor and, honestly, Switzerland is too beautiful a country for anyone to be eliminated in.

Here’s how the teams finished:

Coming in 1st, Tyler and Korey.  Tyler and Korey had another good leg of the race, which means we didn’t have to listen to them whine about not being in first for once.

Coming in 2nd, Colin and Christie.  Colin and Christie are continuing to come on strong.  I have yet to see any signs of weakness from either one of them.  Comparing the way Christie and Nicole each dealt with their fear of heights says a lot about why one team came in second and one came in last.

Coming in 3rd, Becca and Floyd.  Team Fun is inconsistent.  When they’re strong, they’re really strong.  When they struggle, they really struggle.  Last night, they were very strong.

Coming in 4th, Leo and Jamal.   I’m still a little bit surprised that these two are finishing higher in the race but the Afghanimals still have the potential to win the race.

Coming in 5th, Rachel and Elissa.  Now that they’ve managed to alienate everyone, they may be in trouble next week, for reasons that I’ll going into shortly.

Coming in 6th, Chris and Bret.  After a strong couple of legs, the final Survivor team seemed to struggle a bit last night.  They’ve done a lot better than I thought they would but these physical challenges could be their downfall.

Coming in 7th, Nicole and Victor!  But fear not!  It was a non-elimination leg and the cutest team on the race will survive to race at least one more leg.

Next week, we’re still in Switzerland but there’s a new twist!  The remaining teams will be voting to determine which team will be given the next U-turn.  And while the other teams may have earlier said that Nicole and Victor were the team that needed to be U-turned, Rachel and Elissa have managed to annoy a lot of people.

We’ll see what happens!

Lisa Marie

The Amazing Race 31.5 “I’m A Bird, I’m A Plane, I’m on the Amazing Race” and 31.6 “Who Wants a Rolodex?”

Last night, CBS aired two episodes of The Amazing Race, probably to make up for last week when the show was preempted by the Survivor finale.

The first episode found the teams in Dubai, which was a lot of fun.  The 2nd episode followed them to Uganda, which was considerably less fun, if just because it saw the return of the Head-to-Head competition at the pit stop.  Each team had to beat another team in a head-to-head match-up before they could proceed to the pit stop.  This is something that was introduced last season and, to me, it just doesn’t seem to be true to the spirit of the Amazing Race.

For the most part, last night’s two hours seemed to be all about the luck of Rachel and Elissa.  The sisters had terrible luck while actually racing.  They consistently struggled with the roadblock and the detours.  They got stuck with a terrible taxi driver in Dubai.  I spent most of last night convinced that we were finally going to see the RIley sisters eliminated from the race.  (Rachel would have been devastated while Elissa doesn’t seem like she really cares one way or the other.)  However, their luck changed whenever they reached the pit stop.

For instance, in Dubai, the Riley sisters came in last and guess what?  It turned out to be a non-elimination leg!  Then, in Uganda, they managed to beat Britney and Janelle in the Head-to-Head.  That allowed them to come in 2nd to last.  Unfortunately, it also meant that Britney and Janelle were eliminated for the race.

I’ve always liked Britney and, to a lesser extent, Janelle and I was sorry to see them eliminated last night.  However, I really wasn’t surprised to see them go.  Britney and Janelle has struggled during nearly every leg of the race.  The skills that helped them out in Big Brother weren’t much help when it came to trying to race around the world.  So, while Rachel and Elissa barely survived to race another day, we said a sad goodbye to Britney and Janelle.

Here’s how everyone else did last night:

Coming in 1st in Uganda (and, before that, 4th in Dubai), Tyler & Korey!  After struggling for much of the race, Tyler and Korey finally achieved their first 1st place finish of the season.  They’re still a strong team, even if they haven’t quite dominated the race like they did the last time they ran it.

Coming in 2nd in Uganda (and third in Dubai), Colin and Christie!  Colin and Christie continue to be one of the most consistently strong teams competing this season.  They have yet to finish anywhere lower than 4th place.

Coming in 3rd in Uganda (and fifth in Dubai), Nicole and Victor!  If Colin and Christie are the most consistently strong team, Nicole and Victory are a close second.

Coming in 4th in Uganda (and 2nd in Dubai), Chris and Bret.  They may have struggled at the start of the race but Chris and Bret have definitely found their rhythm.  I would be surprised if they won but I could definitely see them coming in 4th or 3rd.

Coming in 5th in Uganda (and 1st in Dubai), Becca and Floyd.  As you can tell by their two finishes last night, Becca and Floyd are struggling with consistency.  One leg, they’ll run a strong race.  On the next leg, they’ll struggle.  Phil obviously loves Team Fun but I have my doubts that they’ll be around for too much longer.

Coming in 6th in Uganda (and 7th in Dubai), Leo and Jamal.  The biggest surprise of this season is just how much Leo and Jamal have struggled over nearly every leg.  For a team that’s been so strong in the past, it’s weird to see them consistently at the back of the pack.

Coming in 7th in Uganda (and 8th in Dubai), Rachel and Elissa.  Interestingly, Rachel is a lot more stable while racing with her sister than with Brendon but she’s also not finishing as well as she did during those seasons when she had a meltdown every episode.

Coming in 8th in Uganda (and 6th in Dubai), the now eliminated Britney and Janelle.  They were a likable team but they struggled from the start.

Next week, our remaining racers go from Uganda to Switzerland!  We’ll see what happens!

 

 

 

Survivor 38.13 “I See The Million Dollars”

Well, that was a letdown.

Let’s just get this out of the way.  I am not at all happy with what happened during the finale of Survivor: Edge of Extinction.  From the minute that Jeff Probst said that the Edge of Extinction twist would last the entire game and that a second player would be allowed to return and compete, my main concern was that — at the last minute — some nonentity would reenter the game and basically ruin the entire season.

And, amazingly enough, that’s exactly what happened!

Listen, I’m sure that Chris is a nice guy and he made some pretty good moves during the finale.  Convincing Lauren to use her idol on him was clever and, even more importantly, it left Lauren vulnerable at the next tribal council.  (What exactly was Lauren thinking, though?)  And giving up immunity so that he could battle Rick Devens in the firemaking contest was a big move.

But none of that changes the fact that Chris essentially only played the game for 11 days.  Meanwhile, Gavin and even Julie played the full 39 days.  Devens may have been a returning player but, unlike Chris, he wasn’t just dropped into the finale.  He returned when the teams merged and he had to fight every day after that to survive.  If anyone proved himself this season, it was Rick Devens.  If Gavin or Julie had been the player who finally sent Rick home, it would have been a big Survivor moment.  Instead, RIck was sent home by some guy who most of us had forgotten about.  To lose because you didn’t win immunity is one thing.  To lose because of a twist is another.

I know, I know.  Even though Chris was voted out, he was supposedly still playing the game on Edge of Extinction Beach.  That’s what Jeff Probst kept telling us, anyway.  Chris spent 28 days at the Edge of Extinction before reentering the game.  Yes, he had to survive on rice and he had to listen to Reem whine.  But you know what he didn’t have to do?  He didn’t have to compete for immunity.  He didn’t have to search for an idol.  He didn’t have to make alliances.  He didn’t have to fight to survive tribal council after tribal council.  He didn’t have to get any blood on his hands in any of thhe votes.  He didn’t have to do any of the things that every other Survivor winner has had to do.  Instead, he reentered the game at the end and was given an immunity idol for his trouble!

In the end, of the final three, I think Gavin deserved it more than Chris.  When you look at the people who voted for Chris, you see that he got the votes of everyone who was voted out pre-merge.  Essentially, the people who spent the most time on Edge of Extinction Beach voted for Chris to win and why shouldn’t they?  They spent nearly a month with Chris.  Reem never even talked to Gavin before the final tribal council.

(For the record, Rick, Lauren, Aurora, and Kelley voted for Gavin.  Reem, Aubry, Eric, Joe, Julia, David, Wardog, Ron, and Victoria voted for Chris.  Considering that Aubry previously lost the game to someone who, like Eric, didn’t actually do anything in the game until the final three days, I’m especially surprised by her vote.)

Chris winning was a truly disappointing end for a season that had its share of great moments.  Even though the majority of the players weren’t particularly strong, this was still a season of great tribal councils.  This was a season that featured some of the greatest blindsides in Survivor history.  Even the finale featured the spectacle of both Lauren and Julie attempting to play fake immunity idols.  This was a season with potential but it could never quite overcome the Edge of Extinction twist.

Oh well!  Hopefully, they won’t do this Edge of Extinction thing again.  Survivor 39 will feature Boston Rob and Sandra as mentors and, even though I’m tired of both twists and returning players, I know that I’ll definitely be watching!

Thank you everyone for reading and commenting over the course of this entertaining but frustrating season!  The Amazing Race will be back next week and then, sometime in June, Big Brother starts!

See you then!

Lisa Marie

 

The Amazing Race 31.4 “I Took Out A Polar Bear”

Well, that was certainly something.

Last night’s episode of The Amazing Race found the teams continuing to race through Vietnam.  Despite having to do an extra task, Bret and Chris came on strong and proved the doubters (like me) wrong.  Colin and Christie came in first for the first time this season while Nicole and Victor are continuing to prove themselves to be a very strong team.  The usually cocky Afghanimals struggled while Tyler and Korey again showed that they’re easier to deal with when they’re winning than when they’re struggling.  There was even a fun trip to Snow Town Saigon!

But, for all that, the thing that people will be remember about this episode was how Corrine and Eliza reacted when they were eliminated from the race.  It wasn’t really a shock when they were the last to arrive at the mat.  They’ve struggled for almost the entire race and, while they were right about Rachel and Elissa being obnoxious about stealing taxis, it’s also true that Corrine and Eliza were often their own worst enemies.  Just consider the last detour, in which Corrine and Eliza decided to puddle out in a basket boat and retrieve a basket of fish.  Everyone else immediately figured out that one member of the team should sit in the boat while the other steered.  However, Corrine for some reason, decided that both she and Eliza should attempt to stand in the boat at the same time.  This not only slowed them down but it also caused the boat to capsize at one point.

So, no, it wasn’t a shock when they showed up last at the pit stop, mere seconds after Phil had checked in Rachel and Elissa.  And it wasn’t a shock that Corrine and Eliza were not happy about losing to the RIley sisters.

Still, I don’t think anyone expected Eliza to start sobbing nor did they expect Corrine to announce that she hated the Riley sisters and that she hopes that she would never see them again.  It’s probably about as bitter as I’ve ever seen anyone get after being eliminated from the race.

I’ve gone back and forth on how I feel about all the drama at the pit stop.  At first, I was actually on Corrine and Eliza’s side.  At least they were being honest about being disappointed and I did think that Rachel was being a bit fake when she said, “We respect them as women.”  But, the more I thought about it, the more I was like, “It’s not Rachel and Elissa’s fault that the two of you continually did stupid things in the race.”

Anyway, with Corrine and Eliza now gone, that leaves Chris and Bret as the only Survivor team in the race.  Who would have guessed that would happen?

Here’s how everyone did last night:

Coming in first, Colin and Christie!  I’m loving the new, mellow Colin and Christie.  When they were first on the show, Colin was a good guy but came across as being so obsessed with winning that he could occasionally be hard to take.  (In all fairness, Colin also says that his previous season was edited to make him look like a villain.)  This season, Colin and Christie are running as strong a race as they did their previous season but they actually seem to be enjoying themselves as well.  They’re fun to watch this season and I hope they stick around to the end.

Coming in second, Nicole and Victor!  I’m probably enjoying these two more on the Amazing Race than I ever did on Big Brother.  They’re working well together, they don’t make stupid mistakes, and they’re definitely a strong team.

Coming in third, Chris and Bret!  Wow!  Who would have guessed it?  After last week, I seriously had these two pegged for elimination.  But they came back strong last night.  I think a lot of it has to do with attitude.  Chris and Bret didn’t let having to do an extra task drag them down.  Instead, they did what they had to do and kept racing.

Coming in fourth, Becca and Floyd!  Team Fun always seems to struggle but they also seem to recover enough to make a decent showing at the pit stop.  If nothing else, you can tell Phil loves them.

Coming in fifth, Tyler and Korey.  Tyler and Korey are stronger than their fifth place finish would indicate.  I just wish they wouldn’t get so whiny whenever they’re having trouble getting a taxi or performing a task.

Coming in sixth, Leo and Jamal.  Leo and Jamal are another team that’s stronger than a sixth place finish would indicate.  Their struggles have largely been due to a run of bad luck but I think it would be a mistake to write them off.

Coming in seventh, Britney and Janelle.  I love Britney and Janelle but so far, they’ve come in 8th, 5th, 6th, and now 7th.  If they don’t start moving up the rankings, they’re going to be in trouble.

Coming in eighth, the Riley Sisters.  On the one hand, Elissa does a pretty good job of calming Rachel down.  (Certainly, she’s been doing a better job of it than Brendon did when he was on the race with Rachel.)  On the other hand, Brendon and Rachel usually finished stronger than Rachel and Elissa.  I’ll be shocked if Rachel makes it as far with Elissa as she did with Brendon.

Coming in ninth and getting eliminated, Corrine and Eliza!  Apparently, they will not be at the finish line at the end of the race.

Because of the Survivor finale, The Amazing Race will not air next week but I imagine it will be back the week after.  We’ll see what happens then!

Lisa Marie

Survivor 38.12 “Idol or Bust”

Well, we’re almost there.

There’s only one episode of Edge of Extinction left and then this season of Survivor will be in the books.  I have to say that I really, really hope that the show never does anything like Edge of Extinction again.  Right now, there are five players left in the game and then there’s 11 people on Edge of Extinction beach.  During next week’s finale, one of those 11 will win the right to reenter the game and presumably be a part of the top 6.

But why?

Seriously, why should someone who couldn’t cut it the first time now get a chance to reenter and possibly win the game?  For instance, let’s say that Reem wins the chance to reenter the game and then, because everyone on the jury has spent the last month listening to her talk about how much she wants to win and how she’s the only person who hasn’t betrayed anyone, Reem somehow wins the season?  I mean, who is going to be happy with that?  On the one hand, it’s true that you do have some strong and likable players at Edge of Extinction.  There’s Joe and David and some people like Auby.  But there’s also a lot of players — like Julia, Chris, and Reem — who never mattered and who never did anything to suggest that the game would be improved by giving them a second chance.

Admittedly, you could make the same argument about Devens, who is currently my favorite player in the game.  Devens was voted out and he did reenter the game and now he’s the biggest threat to win.  But I tend to think of Devens as being the exception that proves the rule.  If Devens hadn’t won his chance to reenter the game and, instead, it had been someone like Wendy, Keith, Reem, or Chris who reentered the game, does anyone think they would have been able to take over the game as easily as Devens has?

Last night’s episode was pretty much dominated by Devens.  It was pretty much a typical Survivor 38 episode, in that it didn’t really get interesting until tribal council.  That’s when Devens — who had already won the immunity challenge — revealed that he had also found an immunity idol.  He announced that he was going to play it for Julie and that, as a result, the Aurora/Lauren/Gavin/Victoria alliance would have to turn on each other.  In the end, Rick didn’t play the idol but it didn’t matter because Lauren, Gavin, and Victoria had already decided that they were going to blindside Aurora.  By a vote of 5 votes for Aurora and one vote for Julie, a rather angry Aurora was sent to Edge of Extinction Beach.

So, with the finale approaching, here’s your final six:

Rick Devens — Because Devens has an immunity idol, he’s guaranteed to survive, at the very least, the first tribal council on finale night.  If Devens makes it to the final three, he’ll be difficult to beat.  His problem is that everyone knows this so no one wants to take him to the end.

Lauren — Lauren also has an immunity idol so she will also survive the first tribal council.  If she makes it to the final three, Lauren’s problem is that she’s largely been a follower during the entire season.  First, she did whatever Kelley told her to do.  Now, she does whatever Gavin tells her to do.

Gavin — Gavin’s been coming on strong over the past few episodes.  If Devens doesn’t make it to the final three, I think Gavin would be the favorite.

Victoria — Victoria suffers from the same problem that’s going to make things difficult for Lauren.  She’s largely been a follower this entire season.  She’s worked with people but she’s rarely been a leader.

Julie — Julie seems to be guaranteed a spot in the final three because everyone thinks that they can beat her.  They’re probably right.

The Returning Player — This is the wild card.  Who knows who will return from Edge of Extinction Beach or when they’ll return.  Will they return and be a part of the top six or a part of the top five?  Aubry won an advantage and has been allowed to practice for the eventual comp.  But the show has been focusing so much on Reem that I’m worried they’re foreshadowing her eventual return.

I guess I’m going to predict that we’re going to have a Gavin, Lauren, and Julie final three.  I’m going to predict the returning player will be voted out at the first tribal council.  Then Devens will be voted out as soon as he doesn’t have immunity.  Gavin will win the last immunity and he’ll take Julie with him to the final three.  Lauren beats Victoria in a fire-making comp and then Gavin wins the million dollars with Lauren picking up a vote from Wentworth and Julie maybe getting a vote from Ron.

We’ll find out what happens next week!

Lisa Marie 

The Amazing Race 31.3 “Here Fishy, Fishy, Fishy”

So much of The Amazing Race has to do with luck.

Seriously, if there was any reality show that seemed to be specifically designed to show how much of what happens in the universe is due to chance and blind luck, The Amazing Race is that show.  You can be the strongest team in the show but if you miss a flight or get a bad cab driver, your race can be over.  For that matter, you can also consistently be a weak team, just to find yourself saved by Phil announcing that “this leg is a non-elimination leg and you’re still in the race!”

Cases in point: Just check out what happened to Leo & Jamal and Chris & Bret last night.

Last night, the Race went from Laos to Vietnam and Leo & Jamal went from first place to nearly last.  Every season that they’ve been on the race, Leo & Jamal have been consistently strong and, some would say, consistently cocky.  But last night, they struggled.  They got a bad cab driver.  The struggled with a dancing detour.  They struggled a little less with a singing roadblock but still, they were at the bottom of the pack when they started that roadblock.  It’s tempting to say that this was karma biting back at them for all the times that they’ve lied to the other teams.  But, in the end, it was mostly just bad luck.  They went from 1st to next-to-last and one would hope that the experience would humble them a little but I doubt that it will.

The only thing that kept Leo & Jamal from coming in last was that Chris and Bret continued to struggle.  The older teams have really had a hard time this season.  First, JJ and Art got eliminated.  Then Rupert & Laura.  And, last night, Chris and Bret survived only because it was a non-elimination leg.  Some of Chris and Bret’s problems do stem from the fact that they’re not as fast as the younger teams.  But they also make a lot of stupid decisions.  Last night, for the deour, they could have either danced or they could have fished.  For some reason, these two out-of-shape men decided to dance.  When that didn’t work, they had to go fish.  They did pretty well with the fishing but, because they tried to do the dancing first, it didn’t matter.

As for the other big developments last night: Tyler & Korey are still mad at Team Fun for U-turning them.  Apparently, Tyler was not impressed by the big bad of trail mix that Becca tried to offer him as a peace offering.  Meanwhile, Team Fun is still mad at Rachel and Elissa for u-turning them and they’re planning to get revenge.

As for Rachel, she is apparently under the impression that there’s an official Big Brother Alliance between her and Elissa, Britney and Janelle, and Nicole and Victor.  We’ll see how long that lasts.

Here’s how everyone finished last night:

Coming in first, Becca and Floyd!  What they lack in skills, Team Fun makes up for in enthusiasm.

Coming in second, Nicole and Victor.  They’re emerging as a very strong team and I expect them to be around for a while.

Coming in third, Colin and Christie.  For those of us who remember the last time they were on the race, it’s still a little bit difficult to adjust to the new, mellow Colin and Christie.  Still, it seems to be working for them.  They’ve come in 2nd, 4th, and 3rd over the previous three legs.

Coming in fourth, Tyler and Korey.  I just realized that we haven’t heard Tyler’s annoying laugh that much during this season.  I’m guessing that’s because they’re still mad over getting u-turned.

Coming in fifth, Corrine and Eliza.  Shockingly, this once helpless team actually did pretty well last night.  I’m hoping we get at least one Corrine vs Rachel fight sometime during this season.

Coming in sixth, Janelle and Britney.  Janelle and Britney are proving to be a middle-of-the-road team.  They’re good enough to survive for at least a few more legs but I’ll be surprised if they actually win the race.

Coming in seventh, Rachel and Elissa.  Rachel came close to having one of her famous meltdowns last night but she didn’t.  Elissa does a better job calming her down than Brendon did during Rachel’s previous two seasons on the Race.  Rachel did get the quote of the night last night with her response of “I am not 35!”

Coming in eighth, Leo and Jamal.  Bad luck, all around.

Coming in ninth, Bret and Chris!  They’ve survived to race another leg but I doubt they’ll be around for too much longer.

And that’s where we stand right now.  Next week, Chris and Bret will try to keep their chances alive.  We’ll see what happens!

Lisa Marie

 

Survivor 38.11 “Awkward”

Last night’s episode of Survivor was entitled “Awkward” and it was a good title because it was basically 45 minutes of one awkward moment after another.

First, you had the loved ones challenge.  This is the challenge where the castaways compete for a chance to spend the day with a family member, a friend, or a lover.  It’s also the challenge where Jeff Probst asks everyone why they’re doing Survivor and everyone cries.  Some people love this episode.  Some people spend almost the entire episode cringing.  I imagine I would probably cry if I was on Survivor, living on rice and boiled water, and suddenly my boyfriend came walking out of the jungle.  But the show always tends to drag out everyone seeing their loved ones and it can get a little bit ….. well, awkward.

Speaking of awkward, did you notice the Julie’s husband looked like he could be Ron Clark’s younger brother?  I think that explains a lot about the Julie/Ron relationship.

Ron and his husband won the challenge and Ron was then put in the awkward position of deciding who would get to share the reward.  It wasn’t surprising that he would pick his most consistent ally, Julie.  He also picked Gavin, mostly because Gavin put off his wedding so that he could be on Survivor.

For those who didn’t win the challenge, things got awkward back at camp.  That’s when RIck Devens caught Aurora trying to search through his things.  Aurora said that she was searching his stuff for an idol and that there was nothing in the rules that said that she couldn’t.  This, however, was kind of a dumb move on Aurora’s part because it confirmed to Rick what he already suspected: he was the number one target.

This made RIck even more determined to find an actual immunity idol, which he managed to do.  Of course, it involved him awkwardly climbing a tree in the middle of the night and hoping that no one would notice him.  Amazingly enough, despite several people waking up through the night, he managed to do just that.

At the immunity challenge, Devens was the first one to drop out.  Immunity was eventually won by Gavin, who really didn’t need it.  Back at camp, things were awkward as everyone refused to talk to Devens.

Ron did two things, neither of which worked out well for him.  First off, he decided to give Devens the immunity scroll that he found at the start of the game.  What he didn’t tell Devens is that the scroll was only good through Day 9 and had already expired.  To me, this seemed like a needlessly mean-spirited move on Ron’s part.  It  reminded me of why I just can bring myself to like Ron.

Ron also gave the extra vote advantage to Gavin.  Ron apparently thought that this would seal his alliance with Gavin but Gavin and Lauren immediately started to think about casting the extra for Ron.  Their logic was that, if Devens did have an immunity idol, it would make sense to get rid of Ron instead.  This, of course, put Gavin in the awkward position of betraying the man who earlier shared his reward challenge victory with him.

At Tribal, everyone said that they were planning on voting for Devens so, after the vote, Devens handed Jeff the immunity scroll.  Jeff announced that the scroll was expired and had no power.  Ron started to smirk but then Devens started yelling at him, accusing him of trying to make him look stupid.

Ron’s smirk disappeared.  Both he and the jury were stunned by Devens outburst.  (Yes, things were a little bit awkward.)  Suddenly, Devens laughed and said that he knew the scroll was probably useless because both Ron and Julie have proven they can’t be trusted.  Then Devens got the actual immunity idol out of his bag and handed it to Jeff.

The first four votes (from Ron, Julie, Victoria, and Aurora) were for Rick and none of them counted.  Aurora got on vote, from RIck.  Meanwhile, Lauren and Gavin both voted for Ron, with Gavin using the extra vote to cast two votes for Ron.  And so, by a vote of 3-1, Ron Clark was sent to Edge of Extinction Beach!  (One thing to note: it turns out that Gavin didn’t need to use the extra vote.  If he hadn’t, it still would have been a 2-1 vote to kick Ron out of the tribe.)

If nothing else, this has been a season of great Tribal Councils!

Anyway, Ron is now on Edge of Extinction beach.  Judging from the preview for next week’s episode, it looks like the Edge of Extinction twist might be ending next episode.  Presumably, someone will rejoin the game and the rest will finally get to take a shower.

We’ll see what happens!

Lisa Maire