Episode Report Card Sara M: A+ | 4 USERS: A+ YOU GRADE IT WHAT
By Sara M | Season 16 | Episode 13 | Aired on 05.08.2008
Erik walks past the jury with his finger crossed. They don't even want to look at him. They do look at the four women, who, now that Erik's not looking, are openly rejoicing, with Parvati kissing Natalie on the head. James does a baseball umpire "you're out!" signal. How could everyone know so well what is about to happen except for the one person it matters the most to? Erik votes for Parvati, employing what I believe is the first-ever sideways (vertical) vote. He says he's taking a risk and he hopes people will keep their word. Why would they, Erik? After all, you didn't. WORDS MEAN NOTHING.
But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Natalie, Cirie, and Erik have something amazing cooked up that we don't know about and they're actually going to vote for Parvati. Oh, wait -- no way. For Natalie votes next, and it's for Erik: "I don't even know what to say ... but thank you?" she says.
Amanda votes next, and we see her vote is also for Erik. "You know ... " she starts, and then she has no more words. She just shakes her head as she slowly fades out. That was hilarious. The jury shakes their heads. You can tell that the editors and everyone involved with this show had the greatest time putting this segment together. I have a feeling they were openly laughing at Erik during this tribal council as well.
Cirie's next, and we see her vote, too! It's also for Erik, which means we know before Probst tallies the votes who is going home. Damn. Erik did something so stupid that it broke sixteen season's worth of formula! Like, he broke the show! This is amazing. "You know, my mother always told me, you may not be able to beat 'em with these all the time," Cirie says, pointing at her biceps; "but you can always beat 'em with this." She points at her head, which, unlike Erik's, is full of brains. And magic.
Last up is Parvati, who sums everything up quite nicely with her vote for Erik: "you're crazy! You'll officially go down as the dumbest Survivor ever. In the history of Survivor. Ever!" And it's a history he knows so well, having won a reward challenge off of it and everything. At least Jason had the excuse that he clearly didn't watch this show and had no idea what he was doing.
Probst leaves to tally the votes. Amanda mouths "oh my god," still not believing that this is happening. Jason is loving everything about this moment, since it means his short reign as the stupidest Survivor ever will soon come to an end. Probst comes back with the urn and a tone of disgusted resignation. He asks if anyone wants to play the idol. Of course Parvati will be doing that, since there's no way anyone would be dumb enough not to even bother to look for a guaranteed ticket to the Final Four, right? And yet ... nothing. I don't think she even looked for it! If Erik hadn't been so stand-out stupid this episode, it would have been her. But he was, so here we go. Probst reads the votes. The first vote is for Erik. He nods but I'm not sure if he knew what was coming yet. The second vote is his vote for Parvati, which Probst makes a big deal out of having to turn vertically thanks to Erik's wild ways. The next vote is for Erik, who gawks. Over on the jury, Eliza has her hands out in the universal, "what were you thinking?!?!?" gesture. And now Erik looks sad. Aww, it's not really fair to laugh at someone for doing something so stupid, is it? And yet, I am. Because you know what? He's not an ice cream boy. He's an adult, and a fan of this show. He should know better. My mom doesn't even watch this show anymore, and when I called her and told her that someone gave the immunity necklace away at tribal council, she immediately said, "well, he needs to go. He doesn't deserve to be on the show if he's going to do that." And she's exactly right.