Survivor One World - April 11/12

On day 23 ten Survivors are left clinging by their fingernails to the hope of winning one million dollars. Tarzan is lamenting the loss of Mike because he believes the girls are plotting to remove the guys one by one. Troyzan is happy that Mike is gone but is also worried that he and Jay might be next because they are physically strong competitors. Treemail arrives announcing a do-it-yourself reward challenge. I suspect these are challenges put together for those times when Dimples is off charming the sponsors on the mainland. There is a stake with five cross beams numbered one to five. Survivors must throw two balls connected by a string. The goal is to get the most points by wrapping the string around the higher numbered cross beams. Survivors draw colored rocks to divide themselves into two teams. Ultimately the team of Jay, Kat, Troy, Tarzan and Alicia win reward - a boat trip followed by a barbeque on a different island. While they are waiting for a local chef to cook their seafood Jay and Kat have a chat on the beach. Jay is still angry that Mike was sent home, and wants to ensure that Kat is still on the same page. While Kat assures him that she is, Jay is not totally convinced. Meanwhile Kim tells us that she wants to be seen as calm, soft-spoken and forgettable until the jury gets around to recognizing that she was making the decisions. She believes Jay and Troy are too strong to keep around but wants both to believe they are safe. When she tells her female alliance though, Chelsea has doubts. She has looked both Jay and Troy in the eyes and told them that she will not vote for them. To betray them is "not me" she tells us. Alicia tells her she must take her heart of the game and use her brain, but Chelsea's integrity may have made her a target. Sabrina tells us they can't tolerate a crack in their alliance. "It is", says Sabrina, "time for the women to put on their big girl panties and make some big girl decisions". The women had an alliance from day one and she wants them to stick to it. Jay is of the same mind and wants to stick to the men's orginal plan and get rid of Alicia. Jay believes he is close to Kim and Chelsea and ultimately wants to take them to the final three. He admits he is tight with Troy but thinks Troy is too likeable and wiley to take to the final three. Meanwhile Kim tells Alicia that they are telling men Alicia is next to go but that it isn't true and she shouldn't panic. Jay is confident that the girls are telling the truth but Troy is not nearly so certain. For the immunity challenge Survivors must balance on a small wooden block with one hand tethered above their head to a bucket of water. If they lose their balance or lower their arm the bucket will tip, the water will spill and they will be out of the challenge. Dimples also promises to bribe them out of the contest with various food items. Before Dimples can even announce that the game is on, Tarzan spills his water and is out. Christina is also out, just before Dimples can mention the first food bribe. Sabrina dumps her water for two cookies and Kim and Kat abandon ship for some cupcakes. Alicia agrees to quit for a covered basket before she even knows what it is (a bowl of candy). After 45 minutes Troy loses his balance leaving Leif, Jay and Chelsea. Jay bows out for chicken wings and a beer (still believing he doesn't really need immunity). Chelsea persuades Leif that he will be seen as less of a threat if he lets her win. A very confused looking Leif finally agrees, takes a tray of burgers and fries and leaves Chelsea with immunity. This challenge showed a lot about who was whose side. The girls cheered each other on and actively cheered against the men, causing Troy to look dubiously at each of the women. After this challenge Chelsea admits that she can't go any further with Jay and Troy. Kim hatches a plan to split the votes to flush out Troy's suspected immunity idol and, unlike Chelsea, she has no trouble at all in lying to the men. When Jay asks her if he is going to be blindsided or if anything is going to go crazy, she tosses him her best Crest White Strips smile and tells him he needn't worry. Troy still feels that something is fishy in spite of repeated reassurance by Jay. He puts his immunity idol in his pocket and tells Jay he intends to play it tonight. This is the first that Jay knew of the idol. He seeks out Kim and tells her that Troy has the idol and is working to get Kim voted out. Kim is worried but has no time to talk to everyone before leaving for Tribal Council. She just has to hope that the women will follow the plan and give Jay enough votes to ensure he goes, should Troy play the idol. At Tribal Council Troy does opt to play his idol. The votes are actually split four ways. Kim gets one, Troy gets two, Alicia gets two and poor Jay gets four votes. And so Jay is heading off to the jury, taking pool member Jack with him. Kim has shown herself to be a wiley strategist and the women's alliance has so far held strong. Tarzan voted for Jay which I didn't really understand but....that's Tarzan. And so there are nine survivors left - Kim, Chelsea, Alicia, Sabrina, Christine, Kat, Troy, Tarzan and Leif. Who will be the next to leave? Will the women decimate the men or will their alliance crack under pressure? Check in next week to find out. Until next week, Outwit, Outplay, Outlast Pat (aka Kat I can't believe I'm still here Edorsson)