By Kim
After Tribal Council, Malcolm explains that he's hoping there will be fractures in the Favorites alliance. And he's not wrong; Erik is already talking about how he's not sure which group he will vote with, and he plans to make his choice at the last minute.
Everyone is hungry and cranky, and then it's time for the Survivor auction. Sherri, Dawn, and Reynold go for food. Malcolm gets a snack and then blows the rest of his money on the chance to look at a clue to a hidden immunity idol. Andrea gives up pasta and wine to get beans and rice for the tribe. Cochran wins the advantage in the Immunity Challenge. Poor Brenda hems and haws about taking a chance on various covered items and finally jumps at one that turns out to be pig brains. Aw. Anyone with twenty bucks gets a chance to get a letter from home, so Dawn, Sherri, and Malcolm don't get one. Eddie wins a giant jar of peanut butter to share with everyone in the tribe in sixty seconds, and they all dig in like animals.
The bro-lliance tries to recruit Sherri and Erik to their side. Malcolm tries to hunt for the hidden immunity idol, but Andrea busts him and refuses to leave his side so that he can't search.
Immunity Challenge: hold a heavy pole up using a rope, and move your hand down the rope as time goes on, making it more difficult to hold. Cochran's advantage is that he can move his hand two knots up the rope at any time. Dawn is the last female to drop out, and it ends up being Reynold, Eddie, and Cochran. Reynold quickly drops, then Eddie loses it and Cochran wins immunity, almost solely due to the advantage he got in the auction.
Malcolm thinks he has Sherri and possibly Erik, and they're voting for Andrea, which they hope will be four votes, possibly five. The Favorites decide to split their vote with three votes each to Malcolm and Reynold in case Malcolm has an idol. So if Sherri or Erik flips, another Favorite goes home.
It ends up being a three-way tie, with three votes each to Reynold, Malcolm, and Andrea. So Erik and Sherri didn't flip. Now they revote, and Reynold, Malcolm, and Andrea can't vote. The Favorites alliance all vote for Malcolm, and Eddie probably throws one vote to Andrea, so Malcolm goes home. That's a huge move for the Favorites; he was definitely the brains in the bro-lliance. I'm sad to see him go, because he was definitely keeping things interesting. Now it's just going to be boring until the Favorites have to start picking one another off.