Survivor Phillipines - October 3/12

Night 6 finds Matsing discussing the loss of Roxy. Angie is happy she is gone. "She wanted to go out with a bang so she threw Malcolm and I under a bus". Russell is mourning her loss for strategic reasons, and says that Roxy was absolutely right when she said that Angie and Malcolm are dangerous because they are too close.

The following morning we find RC and Abi Maria lying on the Tandang beach. RC has found the clue to the idol's whereabouts and confided that fact to Abi Maria. You might think that would secure Abi's trust but nuh-uh. Abi Maria says she isn't trusting RC much any more and RC feels that Abi's paranoia is getting to her. While RC is confiding her problems to Mike, Abi Maria is confiding in Peter - in fact, is telling him that she and RC have the clue. Together they set off to find the idol before RC has a chance. Abi Maria tells Peter that she would like Lisa gone but Peter has a soft spot for Lisa and would prefer they send Mike home. Lisa, on the other hand would prefer to see RC go, but is willing to follow Peter's lead and vote for Mike.

Over at Kalabaw, someone notices that the handle of the rice container is missing. Jeff deduces that the decoration on the lid was also the idol, and that Jonathan probably has it. He undoubtedly figures this out because, while everyone is skittering around concerned about the missing decoration, Jonathan is calmly sitting by the fire looking like the cat that swallowed the canary. Jeff is disgusted that they all missed something so obvious. The job now is to blindside Jonathan so that he doesn't play the idol.

At camp Matsing their misery continues when they realize that their raft has floated away. How fortuitous is it that the cameraman was able to get an overhead shot of the raft drifting away? Denise and Malcolm have a chat. They are still tight and agree that either Angie or Russell must be the next to go. Denise isn't convinced that Malcolm will vote for his snuggle buddy.

The Immunity/Reward challenge rolls around (good thing Matsing didn't have to go to the challenge by raft!). Four members of each tribe must, one at a time, dive into the water and retrieve a puzzle wheel tethered to the ocean floor on a rope. Each wheel is deeper than the previous one. The wheels (pardon the pun) fall off for Matsing early. Angie has trouble retrieving the first wheel which is only two feet under water. She tells the tribe she can't do any more. When Russell's turn rolls around he has difficulty climbing back onto the platform, losing several seconds. On his second turn he gives up and returns without the wheel. Denise turns in an amazing athletic performance and she and Malcolm end up getting six of the eight wheels. However they are in dead last place. Kalabaw wins the challenge and gets immunity as well as a huge fishing kit, a canoe and a paddle. For their second place finish Tandang gets a smaller fishing kit and immunity. This, in spite of the fact that the team's diving mask shattered on Mike's face, leaving him with blood streaming down his face.

After the challenge all the tribes return to camp. Jonathan knows that Jeff is wary of him and decides to confide that he has the idol. Jeff agrees to "ride in Jonathan's boat" for a while, but the game is about me, not we, he tells us. At Tandang Artis is upset that they didn't win the challenge. He claims that Mike dived with the mask on after telling others not to do that. The incident has put Mike squarely in Artis's sights. Meanwhile, while everyone else goes crab hunting, Abi Maria and Peter go looking for the idol. Abi Maria makes the discovery on the top of the rice container (though Peter kind of acts like it is his idol). Peter thinks he can get Lisa and Artis on board to help him get rid of Bloody Mike. At Matsing, Malcolm is wondering how he got stuck with the "goon squad". The only bright light is Denise. Angie is busy telling everyone that she never once said she couldn't do the challenge (she did) and that she would never give up on a challenge (she did). But Russell also did poorly in the challenge so the poor decimated Matsingelians have a tough decision to make. Russell heads off to Tribal Council after telling us about his ancestors who came before and suffered so much more than him. The speech is wasted on the viewing audience. He should be talking to his tribe-mates! In the end, though, Russell gets off lucky. Angie is determined to be the weakest link and is sent on her way along with Lynn from the pool (everyone wave to Lynn!).

The Matsing tribe is down to three members while the other tribes remain intact. Stay tuned to see if Matsing continues to dwindle or whether one of the other tribes will slip into the basement. Until then,

Outwit, Outplay, Outlast
Pat (aka Abi Maria I found the idol I found the idol I found the idol Gomez)