Survivor Samoa - October 8/09

It's night 8 on the balmy beaches of Samoa. Foa Foa has just returned from Tribal Council where Ben and his white hood have been sent home. Russell (EGG) tells us that Ben did himself in at Tribal Council and he (EGG) was forced to let him go. That isn't exactly how I remember it but as we all know EGG is calling all the shots so it must be true (insert note of sarcasm here). For his part, Jaison tells us that coming on Survivor was the worst decision of his life. EGG says that Jaison is ready to go home and wonders "what kind of man is that?" EGG thinks that maybe Jaison should be voted off next. "After all", he tells us, "whoever I want to be gone is gone. They're all under my thumb right now".

The next morning we look in at camp Galu where Shambo has returned after her visit with Foa Foa. She finds her tribe somewhat lacking. At Foa Foa she was a somebody. She connected. At Galu everyone is lazy. Lazy but not stupid. Erik and John pump Shambo for the clues to the whereabouts of the hidden immunity idol. They reason that the same clues that lead to the idol hidden at Foa Foa may lead them to the idol in their own camp. Shambo takes about oh...a nanosecond...to give them the clues, thinking that it will guarantee their protection later on. They even promise to give her the idol if they find it. Oh Shambo! What have you done? I share a body with Erik and I can tell you he has no intention of giving you that idol!

Tree mail arrives with a map and instructions. The chief of each tribe is to select two members of their tribe to participate in a challenge that appears to involve food as a reward. Not knowing what to expect, both tribe leaders select one person who is smart and/or good at puzzles (Natalie and Shambo) and one person who is more physical (Dave and EGG). They head off to the specified location where they stand around wondering "where is Dimples and what colour shirt will he wear today?" But no Dimples arrives. Instead they are left to stare at a crate containing three live chickens with a sign saying "reward". On the other side of the clearing is a large treasure chest. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence waiting for Dimples, the Survivors begin to discuss what they should do. Should they just take the chickens? Should they look in the chest? Finally when EGG makes a move to the chest they all fly into action. It turns out the chest contains a number of coloured balls,a flag and instructions. The crate contains...well...chickens. They are to put the flag in the ground and throw the balls at it alla bocce ball/horseshoes/curling. The closest ball to the flag at the end wins the chickens. Foa Foa has this on in the bag. Every ball they throw gets them closer to the flag. It comes down to a final throw by Danger Dave for Galu. Dave pulls off a perfect shot, rolling his ball right to the flag. Once more Foa Foa tastes the sting of defeat as they shuffle back to camp to think about who to blame for the loss.

Back at Galu, Erik is hard at work. He is happy to have some alone time to look for the hidden idol. Yasmin leaves camp and John is sleeping, so Erik starts looking. He eventually finds the idol hidden in a tree beside the fire. What he doesn't know is that John wakes up and sees him searching for the idol. "Wait a minute", thinks a sleepy John, "wasn't I supposed to be in on that action?". Shortly after Erik gets the idol tucked away behind a rock for safe keeping, the challenge winners arrive back at camp with the chickens. Russell assigns Shambo to look after them so she proceeds to talk to them - in chicken. Dave is ecstatic that he won the challenge for the tribe but is careful not to be too cocky. The next morning Shambo is busy talking to the chicken, apparently praising it for laying an egg (not THAT EGG...he isn't getting laid until he gets home and can find someone stupid enough...did I type that out loud?).Anyway, the chicken is running around in the jungle, Erik and Shambo are chasing it, and no one else in the tribe seems to care very much one way or the other. In a comedic highlight Erik is running through the jungle after the chicken when he gets clotheslined by the clothesline. This would have been much funnier if Erik wasn't MY guy. Meanwhile, amid the chicken rodeo, there is talk that Yasmin does not contribute at camp and should be sent home if Galu should ever lose an immunity challenge.

Right on cue, Dimples, refreshed after having the last challenge off, arrives with an immunity challenge. Each tribe must run across a net to retrieve a set of blocks. Once they have these on their mat the must stack the blocks. Once the stack is complete they have to make their way over a rope bridge to get a second set of blocks and stack those. The stacks are tall so the tribe has to put someone on their shoulders to reach the top of the stack. It's close, but Foa Foa wins their first immunity challenge.

Galu has all kinds of potential evictees. Shambo lost the chicken. Yasmin is lazy. Monica did poorly in the challenge. It comes down to a choice between Yasmin and Monica. Russell thinks it should be Monica because he is all about strength in the challenges. But the tribe votes against him and it is Yasmin who is pitter pattering away from Tribal Council is her high heels.With Yasmin goes Barb who, coincidentally, also has a fine shoe collection.

And so, goodnight from beautiful Pasqua Lake, where the snow continues to fall. It would be pretty in December. In October it's just wrong. Until next week...

Outwit, Outplay, Outlast
Pat (aka Erik wahoo I got me an idol Cardona)