Survivor One World - March 7/12

What could make Rick switch teams and start cheering for the women? More importantly, what would make Lynn text me to ask me if I was watching Survivor (with a WTF thrown in, I might add)? Well I could tell you, but you aren't going to believe me! Things start out normally enough. The men return to camp having voted Matt off. The Muscles vs Misfits alliances are holding strong and Colton is solid in his hatred of Bill. Day 9 finds the women of Salani gathering snails for breakfast. They are feeling buoyant. They have won the last two challenges and have discovered they quite like sauteed snails. The smell of cooking snails brings Jonas and Troy over for a visit. Jonas suggests that the women loan the men their fishing net and in return the men will give them half the fish they catch. The women (who were asking for favours themselves not so long ago) say no, sending the men off in an indignant huff. As usual, the ensuing griping is interrupted by a challenge. In this reward challenge Survivors must use a giant slingshot to shoot coconuts at a target. The first team to knock out five squares in a straight line (bingo-style) wins their choice of one of three rewards. They can buy Comfort (a blanket, pillow and a mattress) Protection (a tarp) or Luxury (coffee and donuts). The women threepeat, winning their third challenge. To their credit they pass on the donuts and snag themselves the tarp, having learned from their cold wet night under the palm fronds. The men call it flukey. Jonas even goes so far as to say the men lost because they didn't have time to learn the game. Bill calmly points out that the women didn't have any more time then the men and admits that the women are serious competitors. Grumble grumble, mumble, mumble stupid women, grumble. But speaking of stupid people, Leif and Bill are having a chat on the beach. Leif tells Bill that he feels so much better that Matt got voted off since he was never comfortable with Colton's idea of voting Bill off. Bill's eyes pop. The is news to him. Meanwhile Michael spots Bill and Leif talking and tells Colton. Like a queen on his throne, Colton orders Michael to send Leif to him. Colton badgers Leif into confessing that he did tell Bill that he was a target. Now that same target is painted squarely in the middle of Leif's t-shirt. Colton is in charge and no one messes with his alliance. Tree mail arrives in the form of a small puzzle and a note hinting at pairs of minds, being well balanced and being smart. Kat suggests that she would like to be paired with someone who is good at puzzles and implies that someone isn't Alicia. Alicia takes offense and Sabrina has to step in to calm things down. That kind of drama isn't helpful a few minutes before heading to a challenge. For the challenge, Survivors are paired up and bound together at the wrist. Each pair has to get over a teeter totter and assemble a puzzle. Once the puzzle is finished they collect a key. After all three keys are collected they can use them to open three locks. The team to get all three locks open first wins immunity. Alicia and Chelsea are the first pair to got out for the women and they have trouble with the first puzzle. Even after checking out the men's completed puzzle they can't figure it out. The men have nearly completed the entire challenge before the pair can get their first puzzle together. It is a rout. Back at camp the men are strutting like peacocks while the women try to decide whether Alicia (puzzle mangler) or Christina (long term target we just can't remember why) should go home. Sabrina thinks it should be Alicia whom she calls a dead weight with a mouth. But things are happening at the men's camp that will have a dramatic effect on Tribal Council. Leif and Bill come to talk to Colton. He refuses to talk to either of them and tells them to go away. This frustrates Bill who tries even harder to get Colton to talk to him. Nada. Colton tells Bill he is wishy washy and he doesn't even want to be around him. From this Colton floats the idea that maybe they should give the girls the immunity idol and go to Tribal Council to get rid of Bill. Some (Jay in particular) are aghast but the idea seems to take on a life of its own. Someone mentions the idea to Tarzan who jumps on it but with the intent of getting rid of Leif (or "the betrayal", as Tarzan now calls him). Right up until the last minute we don't know which tribe will show up at Tribal Council. The look on Dimples face when the men file in was well worth the price of admission. Even as Tribal Council proceeds, it still is not clear whether Bill or Leif is going home. Both Leif and Bill seem to believe it is Leif, but when the votes are counted, Colton gets his way and Bill is sent home. This, however, only comes after a disturbing discussion where Colton assures us his dislike of Bill is not racial...after all he has Afro-Americans in his life - his housekeeper. No, his dislike of Bill is because he is a struggling stand-up comedian. If Bill just had a back-up plan for his career he might be more acceptable to Colton. Huh? But all of that aside Bill is heading home and taking pool member Pam with him. In trading their immunity for a chance to get rid of a player whose only sin is that he is disliked by Colton, have the men committed the biggest blunder in Survivor history? Yes. Yes they have. Until next week Outwit, Outplay, Outlast Pat (aka Kat I suck at puzzles but not as much as Alicia Edorsson)