Episode Report Card Sara M: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Chocolate Lovers
By Sara M | Season 20 | Episode 5 | Aired on 03.11.2010
For the first round, we have Tyson, Li'l Russell, and some chick I've never seen before against Candice, James, and Tom in the pit. On the platform are Jerri, Douche, and Rob against J.T. Amanda, and Rupert. "Let's go, Heroes!" Colby says. Good thing he didn't eat any of that chocolate, thus allowing him to stay focused on being his tribe's cheerleader. Probst calls go, and the very focused Heroes get all three balls to their platform people, mostly thanks to James, who gets two of them by himself. But then the platform people miss all of their shots, though James is able to get the rebounds and throw the balls right back to them. He's not so lucky when J.T. shoots his second shot, as he jumps up for the rebound and comes down funny on his left leg. I don't have HDTV but I can still see that doesn't look fun. To his credit, Li'l Russell checks on him to make sure he's okay, which is more than Probst is doing. James gets to his feet, but when he tries to put weight on his left leg, it buckles beneath him. Probst finally stops the challenge and has the doctors come in. Dr. Ramona is gone for good, it seems, so we get Dr. Claudia again, who is concerned about the ligaments in James's knee. But since it looks "stable" and James claims he isn't in pain, they stand him up again to see if he can now walk unassisted. He takes two steps and his knee buckles again, so it seems pretty clear to me that he's done something to his ligaments and they are no longer able to do their job properly. Perhaps if he worked out on his legs as much as he did his upper body, his quads would be stronger and better able to resist injury. With that, Dr. Claudia pulls James out of the challenge. Unfortunately for the Heroes, they can't just substitute Colby in James' place -- they have to do the challenge one man down. And since James was basically dominating this challenge so far, they are probably screwed.
Probst restarts the challenge, and the Heroes still do well, with Tom getting two balls to the platform people while Candice nearly manages to get one of her own until Li'l Russell wrestles it out of her arms. Awesomely, it's AMANDA of all people who gets the first point for the Heroes, thus proving that women are capable of something and useful to have on a tribe, PROBST. This might also prove how much women love chocolate. "Nice work!" Colby shouts. Good thing he refused that chocolate, or else he surely wouldn't be able to contribute to his tribe in this manner. The pit and platform crews switch places and we begin a new round. A bunch of shots miss for both tribes, and then the Villains employ the tactic of waiting for J.T. to get a ball and then basically carrying him to the Villains platform to get the ball to their team. That might have worked for Douche against Colby, but it's not as successful this time, and Rupert ultimately comes up with the ball and tosses it to his platform, even though he has a broken toe. While the platform people miss again, Douche kind of swats at J.T., thus getting him tackled and thrown on the ground hard by J.T. Douche rolls around on the ground, holding the back of his head. His dramarama is cut short, however, when Tyson makes a basket. The round is supposed to end at this point, but over in a corner, Rupert and Jerri are still wrestling over a ball. Rupert swings Jerri around, ultimately slamming her face into a fucking fence post. Oh, that did not look fun. WHY DO THEY DO THIS CHALLENGE?! IT IS SO FUCKING DANGEROUS. Rob rather heroically immediately comes to Jerri's aid, stepping between Rupert and Jerri and shoving Rupert backwards against the fence as Probst calls out for everyone to stop. Rupert says he didn't mean for that to happen, and I actually believe him, although this is another reason why they a) shouldn't do this challenge, and b) definitely shouldn't do it with men and women together like that. Jerri says she's fine, and tells Rupert to get away from her. "Like I meant to do that!" Rupert says, all defensive. Dude, you're a gigantic man and even though you didn't mean to do it, you still slammed a woman's face into a solid piece of wood, and did it after the round was over. Try saying you're sorry, and don't get all huffy if the woman doesn't immediately accept your apology. Also, CBS? We see enough violence against women on your police procedural shows -- let's leave it out of the reality shows, okay?