By Kim
Massive, massive props to Joe for his recap of the last episode. He rules.
Malcolm realizes that he lost an ally in Corinne but he thinks he's still got a strong position because no one knows he has an Idol, and he has both the Fans and the Favorites thinking he's with them.
Phillip inducts Sherri into Stealth R Us, so she's in with the Favorites: Phillip, Andrea, Dawn, Brenda, and Cochran. They think Malcolm and Erik are with them, but we've seen that Malcolm and Erik are actually allied with Reynold and Eddie.
Reward Challenge. They have to divide into two teams of five and take turns throwing a ball into a goal, past a defender from the other team. The winning team gets to rappel down a waterfall and have a picnic lunch. The defenders are fairly pointless; it's mostly about whether or not someone can launch the ball into the goal while jumping off a platform. It's a close game, but the team of Eddie, Reynold, Erik, Cochran, and Michael ends up winning. On the reward, Eddie and Reynold are all "Guy Power" and Cochran is rightfully like, "Gross, you guys."
Malcolm approaches Sherri and Dawn about flipping and taking out another Favorite. Dawn goes straight to her alliance and reports what happened, and they decide to blindside Malcolm. Meanwhile, Andrea and Eddie have a flirtation but they also both wonder who is using whom in this scenario.
Immunity Challenge. Hang from a grid in the water as the tide rises up over your head. It comes down to Andrea and Brenda, and Andrea struggles valiantly but ultimately Brenda wins. She's so Zen, she doesn't even know she won at first.
Dawn and Andrea try to play Malcolm and convince him that the Favorites are splitting their vote between Reynold and Eddie. Malcolm decides to target Andrea, and then Eddie tells her about it, and she flips out and decides that the Favorite should vote out Michael instead of Malcolm, because she's worried that Malcolm might have an Idol. Dawn hates this plan and assures Andrea that Malcolm doesn't have an idol. So now I have no idea what's going on. I don't know why they don't vote out Eddie; they know he doesn't have an Idol and I really doubt Reynold would give his up.
At Tribal Council, Phillip gives a big speech about how anyone who has an Idol should expect votes against him or her. After the votes are cast, Reynold stands up to play his Idol and Malcolm tells him to hold on. Malcolm says that everyone voted for him and Reynold should give up his Idol so they can be in good shape. Reynold AGREES! And gives Malcolm his Idol!! Meanwhile, the Favorites all voted for Michael, and the only vote against Reynold was Malcolm's own. Oops. Anyway, Michael goes home. It remains to be seen if Reynold is pissed that Malcolm did that, although I guess Reynold was going to play it anyway, so the Idol would have been gone either way. And now Reynold's Idol is gone and no one knows about Malcolm's Idol. You may not agree with his gameplay, but at least Malcolm is making this season a little more interesting.