Survivor One World - March 28/12

Night 17 in Survivorland. There are six men and six women remaining. Colton is gone home with a sore tummy. Pat is happy Colton is gone. Alicia however, is feeling a little insecure without Colton. She thinks she may have to realign with the women and try the "girl power run". Having been told at Tribal Council they are merging, Survivors return to camp to find a feast waiting for them. The following morning they name their new tribe Tikiano (God Year). To celebrate the merge, chef Jonas is preparing young coconut, lightly carmelized with a dash of sea water. Food aside, Jay isn't pleased with the merge. He is back living with Tarzan and other people he doesn't really like. Tarzan is looking around him with dismay. He is hoping that the men would stay strong against the girls, but here they are cavorting with each other. Tarzan thinks the men should stick together and recruit free agent Alicia to their side. Mike agrees with Tarzan's plan but tells us privately that he isn't "in with Tarzan". For the challenge, Survivors are randomly divided into teams (m'thinks that Colton's sudden departure speeded up the merge while this challenge had been previously planned and set up as a team activity). The carrot at the end of the stick is a reward of pizza and beer and a "secret note". Each tribe must send three people, one at a time to dig under a log fence, crawl under a bunch of logs, and dig up one of three bags of (wait for it) puzzle pieces. Once all three bags of puzzle pieces have been retrieved, two other members must assemble the puzzle. It's a nailbiter, but the team of Alicia, Troy(zan), Christina, Sabrina, Chelsea and Jay win. They head off for their pizza and beer. After eating they get to open their secret note, telling them that there is another idol hidden somewhere in the vicinity of the camp. The non-pizza/beer group are lamenting their loss while planning strategy. Tarzan has told Mike that the men should stick together to get rid of the women, but apparently he has neglected to tell Jonas the plan. This leads to a confrontation between Tarzan and Jonas. In the end Tarzan stalks off in a snit, saying he is going to drop out of the alliance. He tells us that he is willing to "fall on a sword" if necessary. Smartest of all though, is Troy. While the others are sleeping in the next morning, he is out looking for that hidden idol. And there, in the hollow trunk of a tree, he finds it. Troy adds to his riches when he wins the Immunity Challenge (standing on a log while balancing balls on a wooden disc). Armed with two immunity idols and tight with his Salani alliance, Troyzan is sitting pretty...at least for the moment. So the final pre-council strategizing begins. Jay thinks that Jonas should go, but Chelsea is sad because Jonas is nice and can cook. Troyzan doesn't think Jonas is the best choice and decides to tell Jonas about the plot against him. Jonas goes to Tarzan and apologizes for the earlier argument. Tarzan is moved to tears by the apology and decides that Kat is a better target for his alliance to vote for. While all this is going on, Chelsea is doing her laundry. She soaks it in the ocean, rubs the dirty spots with sand is and finally ready to drop it in boiling water. Tarzan, however, decides to drop his shorts in with her laundry. There is a lot of discussion about whether the dark spots on Tarzan's shorts are dirt or poop. Whatever the case, Chelsea opts to remover her laundry from the pot and quickly decides that Tarzan is a better target than the likeable Jonas. Jay is reluctant to change directions though, saying a change in plans can come back to bite you in the butt. At Tribal Council Jonas reveals that Kat was Tarzan's target ("why me!", asks Kat). Any post-apology good feelings Tarzan had toward Jonas evaporate. Tarzan says he is going to vote for Jonas and Jonas urges everyone to vote for Mike. Had Jonas kept quiet it is possible that my Kat would be saying farewell this week. Instead, Jonas is taking pool member Barb with him to obscurity. Until next week, Outwit, Outplay, Outlast Pat (aka Kat dodged another bullet Edorsson)