Unsurprisingly, it's the end of Race Wars, and it's time to mix up the tribes. A pick-'em that forces a minimum level of integration leaves one team with most of the buff (Brad, Nate, J.P., Adam) and the other team with most of the smarts and some of the most unappealing personalities, including the increasingly annoying Flicka and the insufferable Ozzy. After a challenge in which the women bail out in a most embarrassing fashion, the new Aitu (including Yul, Becky, Cao Boi, Sundra, Flicka, Jonathan, Ozzy, Cecelia, and an Exile-Island-sequestered Candice) has to vote someone out. At first, it seems like Ozzy has the upper hand in getting Becky voted out, but Yul and Jonathan recruit Cao Boi and Flicka, respectively, and the boot goes to the very appealing Cecelia, which is really sad. In other news, it turns out that Candice was not trying to declare her love to Billy, but she does an admirable job of smiling and laughing about it, rather than being all, "Oh, my God, what a freak!" Good for her.
Previously on I Think She Likes Me...Heh-Heh: Aitu, led by non-geniuses Ozzy and J.P., decided that rather than wait around for Billy to lose them a challenge that would force them to boot him, they'd lose it on purpose and boot him. Yeah, that'll...show him? Cristina initially resisted this Keystone Kopsian plan, but ultimately, she and Cecilia grabbed their plastic batons and went along. Meanwhile, on Exile Island, Yul made quick work of finding the immunity idol, using very similar information to the information Jonathan had the week before. Yul > Jonathan was not a surprise to anyone. At tribal council, before being subjected to the indignity of being booted, Billy welcomed further indignity by announcing that he was having a secret love affair of the mind with Candice, which appeared to be so secret that even Candice didn't know about it. In thirty seconds, Billy's departure thus went from a really dumb thing orchestrated by dorks to something that was maybe just as well for the sake of everyone's mental health, but was still orchestrated by dorks. Because a dork is a dork, of course, of course.
Credits. It disappoints me that J.P. is so intensely unlikable, considering that he is so purty.
We arrive at Aitu, where it is Night 6 after tribal council, and everyone is still coming down from Billy's mysterious behavior and subsequent eviction. Cecilia says that she still can't believe the whole "love at first sight" thing. Cristina tries halfheartedly to defend Billy, saying, "Maybe he really has a crush on her." It occurs to me here that they aren't entirely talking about whether Billy is crazy; they're wondering if Billy was bullshitting. I certainly would like to think so. In this same vein, Cristina goes in an unexpected direction by wondering if Candice is "playing him." It's so funny, because you realize that this entire development is so completely out of left field to these people that they don't know what to think is going on. They kind of think it's bullshit, and they kind of think it's an unsound mind, but they can't help assuming that there has to be more to it than they know about. Because it seems impossible that he could entirely dream it up out of his head if he had never had any contact with Candice outside of standing to her at a challenge. They're wrong, of course, which is the sickly amusing part. J.P. says he thinks Candice's reaction is going to be, "Who?" He's a dick, but he's kind of dead-on in these limited circumstances. J.P. goes on to say that he "studied" Billy and his behavior around camp, and he just doesn't like it. I bet that was one academically rigorous course that went like this: "Whatever." In an interview, J.P. says that everything Billy said at tribal council was "just ridiculous." He covers his ass with both hands by saying, of the Candice thing, "If it's true, it's true, but...it's not true."
Puka, Day 7. Those are some gorgeous beach shots they have here. It makes me want to go to the Cook Islands and segregate myself from others based on race. Brad is skulking along the bottom of the water with the fishing spear, looking surprisingly competent. He emerges with a sizable fish that looks quite embarrassed to have been caught by a reality-show contestant. "I'm never going to hear the end of this," the fish thinks, not realizing at all that it doesn't know the half of it. Back at camp, Jenny and Becky are sitting silently as Cao Boi tells a story about a guy he knows who brought his kids over from Vietnam when they were fifteen and sixteen. "Ha ha ha!" Cao Boi laughs boisterously. He goes on to explain that the guy apparently didn't know that his kids would be drafted and forced to go to Iraq. And...this is weird, because I can't imagine that Cao Boi doesn't know there's no military draft, and I can't imagine that he thinks there's a secret military draft. Everything he says about how it's rich people's kids and politicians' kids who can traditionally avoid the draft is certainly valid, but I'm...not sure it's all that relevant at the moment, you know? I guess his theory is that there's clearly going to be a military draft, which I'm sure some people believe (warning: emails mentioning your theory about whether the administration will reinstate the draft will be deleted), but he seems awfully certain.
A tired Brad tells us that he's had "a coming to Jesus in [his] own mind." He's bungling that expression, incidentally, which is more like "come to Jesus moment." And that's not really what it means anyway, because Brad means "revelation that I'm angry." "Come to Jesus moment" usually means something more like a reality check often brought on by another person's intervention, in my experience. I'm not sure you can have a "coming to Jesus" that someone is annoying. Unless it's, like, Herod. Anyway, Brad goes on to say that Cao Boi simply never shuts up. Jenny weakly challenges Cao Boi by saying that people might avoid the draft by going to college, but nobody apparently has the presence of mind to simply tell Cao Boi that if he were as savvy about politics as he thinks he is, he wouldn't be making this argument in the first place. Brad tells us that he doesn't think Cao Boi is "all there." Furthermore, he doesn't think Cao Boi will ever get there. "Unless he's medicated," he adds. That seems like a bit much to me, there, Brad. Not all people who have weird ideas are mentally ill -- some of them just hang around in organic food co-ops too much. Just kidding, organic food co-ops! Love your flax seeds!
Over at Raro, they open the Day 7 segment with one of my favorite shots of all time, which involves a chicken close to the camera pecking at a coconut husk, and then turning and running away in his hilarious, chicken-like fashion. (Chicken: "I didn't even see you there! I haven't even had a shower! I'm a mess! Eeeeee!") The non-chicken inhabitants of the beach collect some treemail that talks about a challenge not requiring brawn. Jonathan says that they woke up and got an early challenge today. And he's worked with Fran Drescher, so he knows about waking up with an early challenge! (I swear, the end of The Nanny jokes is in sight.) (up: The Naked Truth jokes!) Jonathan says that the tribe is strong, and that they haven't lost yet, so he feels positive. There is a shot of JessiFlicka doing some kind of weird tree-hugging exercise, literally, and then Parvati doing a backbend, followed by Jonathan himself on all fours, stretching out his neck or something. It's like Calisthenics For The Bourgeoisie.
Jeff brings all the tribes to a beach. Once they're there, he brings in Yul, freshly returning from Exile Island. Yul heads over and hugs the rest of the members of Puka. They all frisk him for the idol. Jeff takes back the various parts of the immunity idol from Raro, Puka, and Hiki. And then he says the magic words: "Drop your buffs." Some immediately know what this means; others don't, which is consistent with what we've been told about the fact that, unlike what is usually the case, not everyone this season is a longtime fan of the show. Jeff announces that it's "time to integrate." Way to use language carefully, Jeff. He lines up the women on one line and the men on another line. All the men, and then all the women, reach into bags and each retrieve a tile. They all simultaneously reveal their tiles, and the special ones with Xes on them are held by Brad, Jonathan, Cecilia, and Parvati. So those are your four "captains." It's about as much of an honor as being the queen of the Miss Celery Festival, so they had better not get too excited. Jeff sends them all to stand on separate mats. They're now going to alternate -- women choose women; men choose men.
First, Cecilia and Parvati play rock-paper-scissors to see who goes first, and Cecilia's scissors cut Parvati's paper, so she has the lead pick. Jeff tells her that she has to pick someone from a different tribe than herself. She pouts, at least making it look like she would have liked to pick Cristina. She picks "pretty lady with the dreads." Really? Out of all those women, you picked JessiFlicka? Of course, JessiFlicka runs over and is all, "Call me Flicka!" as they hug. I predict Cecilia regretted that move immediately. Parvati picks the "cutie in the pink," who turns out to be Jenny. Now, JessiFlicka has to pick someone who isn't from either of the tribes now represented, so she can pick Becky, Rebecca, Sundra, or Stephannie. The choices narrow quickly, you'll notice. She goes with "the sister on the end," that being Sundra. I don't know about the use of the term "sister," there, dear. Jenny can now choose between Stephannie, Sundra, and Cristina. She takes Cristina. Good call on the cop, I think. Sundra has no choice but Becky. Cristina picks Rebecca over Stephannie, which I find an interesting decision based on appearances alone, and seriously, I wonder if Stephannie hurt herself with the ugly floppy hat she has on. Becky picks Candice over Stephannie; Stephannie joins Rebecca. So basically, we have one tribe with two white women and one tribe with two black women, which is a function of the fact that both of the first two people booted were men, so because the white and black tribes were the ones with two women, each side has a spare. Got it? Okay.
Brad's scissors cut Jonathan's paper, and he doesn't take more than about one and a half seconds to choose J.P. He knows J.P.'s name, too. None of this "cutie with the almost bald head" for him. Jonathan chooses Yul, who is unquestionably the most desirable remaining teammate, but strategically is the wrong choice. As the EEFPs pointed out (and I never would have noticed), the other team wouldn't have been able to pick Yul for its pick, so Yul will still be there time. The right pick was probably Nate, whom J.P. can pick time if Jonathan doesn't. Take Nate, and you force J.P. to pick Adam (who you, Jonathan, know to be a jackass anyway), and you can still get Yul. Of course, Jonathan didn't have all week to work this out like we did, and I'm not sure it's surprising that it didn't occur to him. Anyway, he picks Yul. So J.P. picks Nate, and with that, we have a mismatch of brawn, because Yul is forced to pick Ozzy, who is wiry at best, leaving Nate to pick Adam and Ozzy to pick Cao Boi. I'm not a big believer in muscles being more important than anything, but seriously, that's four young gym guys to one, or possibly one and a half if you give partial credit for Ozzy. In Palau, widely considered a major physical mismatch, it was only three to one. And in this group, if you're tracking the racial breakdown, one of the sides has one from each tribe, and the other has two Asian guys and no African-American guy. (I try to mix up my terms, because it minimizes the picketers outside my house.) So they're not quite as even as the women's groups chosen earlier.
The four captains each choose an egg handed to them by Jeff, and he tells them that when he gives the go-ahead, they're supposed to smash the eggs in their hands as hard as they can. When they do, Brad and Parvati smash blue eggs; Jonathan and Cecilia smash red eggs. So that's how the tribes line up. Notable: Yul and Becky are reunited. The Jonathan/Cecilia tribe is going to be called Aitu; the Brad/Parvati tribe will be Raro. As they all smear paint on each other's faces, Jeff says that all their accumulated goodies will be gathered up and split between the tribes, and then he sends them home. So now, they can start ganging up on each other based solely on personalities and petty grievances, and everything can get back to normal.
We return to the new Raro on Day 7. They all seem very happy, and Nate interviews that with how rough they had it at Hiki, he's awfully happy about the change. He says that he went from "the ghetto" to "Bel Air." Hey, I think I've heard of that transition before. I know a song about it. Want to hear it? Anyone? Anyone? Sigh. Nate says that he also wasn't crazy about the "stanky yellow buffs" he was wearing. I wonder if he realizes that, in a week, the new ones will be just as bad. They all sit down together, and Stephannie tentatively asks everyone else how they felt about the tribes being divided by race. J.P. says that he thought it might educate people and make people think and so forth. He is so full of it, seriously. He thinks something, I'm sure, but I doubt it's that this will be wildly educational. Stephannie says in an interview that, on their tribe, "you really don't see color." Eh. I never like it when people say that, because no matter who says it, it's always denial, a little bit. The question is only whether it's healthy or unhealthy denial, you know? Accusations and bullshitting begin to fly regarding who does and doesn't snore, and that's always good for a few laughs. Parvati happily interviews that they're "a melting pot." Bleh. Brad says that he's only pretending to be nice until he goes back to trying to outmaneuver everyone, basically. There's an honest kid right there. "Cold hard cash," he reminds us, is the goal. But then everyone does a cheer together, so maybe everyone else has given up on the cold hard cash. You think? Parvati waggles her shoulders seductively while informing the tribe that she's "so excited." It's subtle flirtation that's really so effective.
Aitu, Day 7. Cecilia takes on the task of showing everyone around the beach. Jonathan is really impressed with the quality of their shelter, among other things, and Cao Boi can't say enough in his interview about how welcoming Cecilia and Ozzy are. He says that because they're Hispanic, they were all "mi casa es su casa." Of course, that appears to be pretty much Cecilia only, which would suggest it may be because she's hospitable, rather than because she's Hispanic. I don't see Ozzy being all that hospitable, unless he's showing you where in your back the knife will go. JessiFlicka is all excited about the "change of energy" on the tribe. She says that she can "feel the vibration from other people." You know how it is when you feel vibration from other people.
Cao Boi and JessiFlicka have a very intense conversation in which he looks at her and declares, "You're not Asian...but I love you." Oh, Lordy. She giggles. They hug. She says she's glad to have "fun people to hang out with." The tattoos always find each other. Especially when they're barely wearing any clothes.
So now, Cecilia wants to get down to business. She tells Candice the story of the last tribal council: "Billy, when he left, said that you guys had, like, love at first sight." At first, Candice isn't entirely sure what Cecilia is saying. "Love at first sight?" she asks. "You and Billy?" Becky asks in disbelief. Candice laughs and grins uncomfortably, more out of confusion than anything. "What did he mean by that?" she wonders. Cao Boi teases her about blushing. Cecilia tells Candice what Billy said about them mouthing "I love you," and at first, Candice talks about having told Billy she felt bad for him, and it almost sounds like she's going to deny having said anything like that. But she does cop to the "we love you," which he apparently misunderstood. Just slightly. Candice does okay here looking chagrined at the confusion and sort of embarrassed, but not disgusted or "Are you kidding? Ptui!" about it. Jonathan grins, finding all of this terribly funny, because this is just like when Téa Leoni thought he was in love with her. (See?) When Cecilia hits them with the part about Billy saying that meeting Candice was his big prize, Jonathan's jaw literally drops and dangles. "You led him on, Candice!" Jonathan teases. "No, I didn't!" she protests. "You...led...him...on," he continues. "Oh, please," she says, finally giving up.
Over at Raro, the Four Buff Multicultural Dudes are standing around. This is Brad, J.P., Adam, and Nate. Parvati comments that she plans to flirt with all the guys and be all awesome and stuff: "It's what I do best." Remember how I said last week that Cecilia was pretty in something other than that hollow-faced, huge-dead-eyed, bony way that the show usually favors? Parvati is the epitome of that. They just love the women who look like Jenna Morasca, with no meat and the huge bug eyes and the obvious void where a soul should be. It's not that it's bad, it's just that the producers' ability to find one who looks like this in practically every season is absolutely weird. We watch as Parvati makes "baby monkey" remarks (ick) to Adam. She tells us that she had Adam "from the beginning," so now she's going to work on Nate. She chooses to start by telling him that his pants are falling down. Is that her opener? Good Lord. "What's your name, Parvati?" he says. "Parvati, you are on top of it." Yeah, I think he's right in the palm of your hand, whatever your name is. She giggles about pulling Nate into her web, and...I am very confused. Just very, very confused. It's like I ache on behalf of women, but also on behalf of people who can read.
Aitu, Day 7. The music is ominous as Jonathan splits bamboo with a machete. I wonder what that means. I'll bet it stands for something. Violence, maybe. Or else Jonathan's just acting. He goes and has a chat with Cao Boi. Elsewhere, Becky opens a discussion with Candice about whether she trusts Jonathan. Candice says that she does, and Becky adds that she completely trusts Yul. It turns out that the two women are having the same thought -- an alliance between the two of them, Jonathan, and Yul, and then some fifth person to be named later. So then Becky talks directly to Jonathan, and they're both totally jazzed about this alliance idea. I don't know how that came together, but it seemed to materialize immediately. It's interesting, considering that, back in the day, Jonathan stole a chicken from Yul. Who knew they'd end up friends? Just another way that reality television brings people together long enough to use each other to win money. Becky thinks Flicka would be a good fifth. Jonathan assures her that getting Flicka on their team is absolutely, positively no problem whatsoever. He says he can tell Flicka that the real alliance is the two of them and Candice, and they're just dealing with Yul and Becky on the side for numbers. That's pretty good planning, in the sense that he's thinking as far as telling Flicka not only that it's an F5 alliance, but that it's an inside F3 alliance, which is what you want out of your F5 alliance, if you see what I mean.
Jonathan goes to talk to JessiFlicka about the plan to align with "a couple of the Asians." Yipes. It's completely truthful, and yet it sounds kind of bad. Welcome to Our Uncomfortable National Relationship With Race. Jonathan tells JessiFlicka that this will make for a "good strong five." He adds that if anybody else approaches her, JessiFlicka should say she's not even thinking alliances. She comes back by uncomfortably stressing to Jonathan that she isn't thinking alliances, which isn't quite what Jonathan wants to hear, to say the least. He says that's okay -- he's thinking about it so she doesn't have to. Uch. "Stay with me and Candice," he tells her. JessiFlicka looks dubious, although she might be seeing her own hair wads out of the corner of her eye. She tells us that she isn't comfortable staying with Candice and Jonathan, because she wasn't that comfortable there to begin with. And of course, for those of you who thought the "social experiment" aspect was interesting, it's fair to wonder whether -- though not to conclude that -- JessiFlicka's actual issue here is that she doesn't like the "stay with the white people you know!" part of what Jonathan is telling her. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if that's part of her deal, nor would I entirely blame her for the instinct, which could potentially feel unpleasant. She tells us that she's "not really thinking about alliances," adding, "I'm here to make friends and see what happens." Bleh. She says that she wants to last as long in the game as possible without "feeling fake." I think she showed up for the wrong game. Scattergories With Bill Moyers is down the hall.
Now, Yul and Becky have a talk about their developing alliance. Becky talks about how she and Jonathan came up with Flicka for a fifth, and then they were choosing between booting Ozzy and Cecilia. You'll note that this nine-person tribe is made up of three Raro Members, three Puka members, two Aitu members, and one Hiki member, because as it happens, the same tribe that had an "extra" Hiki female got the only Hiki male. So the other former tribes are reasonably evenly split, but Hiki is mostly over on the other tribe, which is made up of two Raro, two Puka, two Aitu, and three Hiki. It's interesting that Hiki, which is one of two tribes that went into the merge down a person, wound up with a majority on one of the two resulting tribes. I love math! Anyway, Becky tells Yul that it might make sense to go after Ozzy or Cecilia in case the two of them already have an alliance. It makes a certain amount of sense -- if you take one of them out, then you could have everyone aligned against Ozzy and Sundra for the moment, assuming we're thinking old tribes have some meaning. Yul now says that he needs to tell Becky something, because he wants to be honest with her and so forth. And what does he have to say? He wants to tell her that he found the immunity idol. Becky draws in her breath. "That's so awesome," she says. He also tells her that if he's in a situation where he needs to use the idol to save Becky, he will. She says she trusts him. Yul -- who I have a feeling has a big speech about integrity lingering right at the back of his throat that I do not want to hear -- tells us that he feels like his bond with Becky is strong, and that it's a big advantage to have someone you can totally trust. She tells Yul she won't tell anyone, and then they have a little hug. Hugs!
At Raro, it is Day 8, and Nate is taking a turn with the fishing spear. Much to what is clearly his own surprise, he encounters an octopus. He fails the first time he tries to spear it, but eventually, he's able to pin it against a rock. Not the fastest or most efficient octopus death I've ever seen, I must say. I think we need a consultation with PETO. He calls for help to Brad and J.P., who are standing on the shore, and they come over to...help wrestle an octopus, basically. Nate, assisted in his development of drama by the incongruous caption "Shoe Salesman," says that he "felt like the mack," asking the octopus "Whadda you got now?" I'm not sure that kind of confrontational attitude is entirely required. Everything gets very sensual as Brad emerges with the octopus clinging to his body and J.P. tries to pry it off. Dirty! All Nate can do is cackle at his defeat of the octopus. Nate tells us that he's not sure the guys were necessarily thinking that he would be the big-game hunter. "We've got dinner, ladies," the men announce as they return to camp. "That's a lot of meat," Parvati says admiringly. And then she does her best eyelash-batting routine at Nate. "You could probably eat that whole thing yourself, huh?" Is that her flirting? I think even the octopus gets it, Parvati, and it's dead. And an octopus. Nate's all, "Probably," and then he waves the octopus at Parvati and she runs, because dead fishy things are so icky. Ew, icky! She's a girl! She hates icky things!
And now, the tribes arrive at a beach where Jeff Probst awaits, along with the three-part immunity idol. Today, they will be playing the challenge from Palau where you run in circles in shallow water, and you try to catch up to the other team. You will recall that in spite of Ulong's buffness advantage, Koror stomped them in this challenge. Each team member here starts with a fifteen-pound bag of sand. Interesting note: Palau's sandbags were twenty pounds, meaning not only that each person carried five more back then, but also once you took someone's bag, you were carrying forty rather than thirty, and so forth from there. That's how Bobby Jon wound up dragging eighty pounds of sand around in a circle. Also, in Palau, you just had to touch the other team. Here, you have to tackle them. That seems like an unnecessary change to me.
The challenge starts. And after a short -- like, very short -- time, Cecilia, Sundra, Candice, and Becky -- four of the five women on Aitu -- drop out of the challenge. It might be time-compressed, but Probst agrees to announce it with a particular cadence suggesting it really did kind of happen all at once. So each of the men is now carrying thirty pounds of sand. At Raro, Stephannie drops out, and Brad takes her bag. Nate promises Raro that the Aitu guys are all going to get weak carrying so much weight. Cristina drops out, and Adam takes her bag. Jenny drops out for Raro as well. Flicka gives her bag to Jonathan, leaving no women on Aitu and Jonathan carrying forty-five pounds of sand. Parvati drops out for Raro. One woman left -- and that would be Rebecca. So now, Aitu's weight is divided among the four varying-in-buffness guys, and Raro's is divided among the four very buff guys plus Rebecca. Jonathan shares a bag of sand with Ozzy. Raro begins to close the distance and approach Aitu from the rear. (Hee.) Yul looks back at Raro as he holds Cao Boi's arm supportively. Yul, I think, realizes at this point that they're not going to outrun the other team, and he's trying to figure out what to do. Finally, Rebecca quits. At least she tried, which I appreciate, considering how pitiful the rest of the women looked in this challenge. Every single one of them? Before one single guy went out? God. Finally, Yul -- kind of not getting the way this works at all -- says that they should just wrestle Aitu. I like the spirit, in the sense that it's something to do besides give up, but it makes no sense. What happens then? You fight them and then you run all the way around the circle? Can't just win the wrestling match, dude. But that's exactly what Yul tries to do. I will say this: Yul accomplishes one thing with this move that I really like, which is that he gets J.P. to, instead of dealing with Yul, go and grab skinny old Cao Boi, which kind of makes J.P. look like a puss, and I'm all in favor of that. Not only that, but after J.P already has Cao Boi down, he gives him an extra little...I don't know, it's like a "fuck you" squeeze, where he pushes him down extra-hard. It's really gratuitous, and in that sense, it's a little creepy. J.P. gives me a bad, bad vibe. But anyway, Raro wins immunity. Gee, Ozzy, what if you hadn't thrown the challenge last week, and Hiki had lost, and the women had booted Nate? How might things look different right now? It's at least interesting to contemplate, I think.
Jeff announces that Raro gets to send someone from Aitu off to Exile Island, and that person won't participate in tribal council, so he or she can't be kicked off and can't vote. Given the opportunity to give someone a free pass for a week, Raro decides to send Candice. Could be saving her because they think she's weak; could be saving her because they want her to hang around till after the merge. Very hard to say. Jonathan appears to be very displeased by Candice's departure, for obvious reasons. So Jeff says that one of the eight remaining Aitu tribe members will be going home, and he'll see them at tribal council. As Aitu leaves, Adam looks at JessiFlicka and mouths, "I love you." Not really. Candice makes her way out to the Exile Island boat.
It is still Day 8 at Aitu when we return from commercials, and Jonathan is expressing disbelief that Raro chose to send Candice, of all people, to Exile Island. Yul says that he suspects it was a matter of not perceiving her as a physical threat. Yul interviews that the sending of Candice to Exile Island was a big problem for the strategy he was working on, given the plan to get together with her in an alliance with Becky and Jonathan. Instead of needing just Flicka to go along, now they need somebody else, too. Elsewhere, Ozzy "bonds" with Cao Boi by promising not to vote him out. Cao Boi tells Ozzy that they need to vote off Becky because she's "weak." He tells Ozzy to "talk to the girls." So Ozzy takes a beach stroll with Cecilia, Sundra, and Flicka, in which he tells them about Cao Boi's plan. In addition to Cao Boi's "weak link" argument, Ozzy also says that Becky should go because she's "seriously plotting." Somebody sets up yet another shot of Ozzy dramatically chopping something, and I think that's about enough of that. Ozzy chopping is not a sign.
Later, JessiFlicka calls Jonathan over and asks him what he's planning to do. He calls her over for a private consultation. Flicka starts off by giving Jonathan the bad news that Becky is leaving, and that JessiFlicka's not going to go against it. "What if I said we should vote for somebody else?" Jonathan asks. "Would you vote with me?" Flicka insists that she has a bad "vibe" about Becky. Again, might be interference from her own hair, of course. Jonathan interviews that he really thought Flicka was "handled," and that he was surprised that he couldn't just order her around and tell her what to do. That's never a good place to put yourself, there, Jonathan. "We've got a serious problem here," he says. Now, he and Yul have a talk about the fact that it appears as though, right now, they only have three people for the vote tonight, which makes them pretty badly outgunned unless they can really make something happen.
Meanwhile, Cecilia and JessiFlicka are also talking, and JessiFlicka is saying that Jonathan is mad at her for refusing to commit to being in his alliance. "I don't want to be wishy-washy," JessiFlicka whines in a manner that is exactly wishy-washy. Cecilia tells her to "go with [her] gut." Jonathan tells Yul that they need to work on Cao Boi and/or Flicka, and that it's a risk, because if it doesn't work, then they're going to expose their alliance very early. Basically, in terms of the task of doing the convincing, Flicka is assigned to Jonathan, and Cao Boi is assigned to Yul.
Jonathan tells JessiFlicka that he just wants to make it to the merge, and he reminds her that they're eventually going to have to get rid of everyone they like. She says "it's not about that." She says "it's about having trust in the people you have a connection with." Well...for what purpose? I don't always know what these people mean, because in talking about "connection," JessiFlicka seems to be talking about real trust, while all you need in the game is...well, "game trust," I guess, meaning you only have to believe that you can predict what people are going to do. All that really requires is that you figure out whether what they're saying they're going to do is in their best interests, because if it is, they'll probably do it, and if it isn't, they won't. That's why seeing things from multiple perspectives is so useful in Survivor, and in a weird way, empathy is useful. It's a weird empathy that is had by borderline psychos like Richard Hatch, but it's the ability to recognize how other people will be affected by their petty grievances, partly. It has nothing to do with trust in the "I trust you to watch my wallet" sense -- that kind of trust is about trusting people's morality. What you need in the game isn't trust so much as predictability.
Elsewhere, Cao Boi is telling Yul that the vote against Becky is about "fairness," because she's "the weak link." Yul says he doesn't agree that Becky is weak in challenges. "She is," Cao Boi insists. "She's the princess out here." Huh? Yul says he thinks that Becky has actually been "strong and decisive on the challenges." Frankly, all the women took a powder on this challenge so early that I don't know how you'd distinguish between them, and Puka won both of the challenges before this, so how would Cao Boi be concluding that Becky is a weak link? What is that based on? Yul argues that, in fact, Cecilia is weak in challenges. Yul is on to something here, which is that he's making the argument from inside the construct Cao Boi is using. Instead of trying to get Cao Boi to vote a different way, which is what Jonathan is doing with the "don't vote based on the person you like" discussion, Yul is telling Cao Boi how he can stick with the voting theory he's using and still vote the way Yul wants him to. It strikes me on some level that Yul just doesn't have quite the head for this game that I wish he did, although he's a super-interesting guy who I like a lot, but at least here, I think he has the right idea.
Meanwhile, Jonathan changes to vague but friendly threats, telling JessiFlicka that in the event that he and Yul can flip a couple of other people and JessiFlicka winds up in the minority, then she'll be "on the outside."
Back to Yul, using another good tactic on Cao Boi by only asking for what he needs right now -- he says that once they vote off Cecilia, they'll be up in numbers enough that they can drop Becky later if they need to. It's true, too, because theoretically, they'd have Candice back, so then they'd potentially have Yul, Cao Boi, Jonathan, Flicka, Candice, and Becky, allowing them to get rid of Becky if Cao Boi really wants to and still keep the majority. Not that Yul would ever go along with this, but there's no point in not leaving it open if you think it will help.
Jonathan works on JessiFlicka by insisting that she needs to think past "current weak link." She just says she's not thinking ahead right now. And: apparently not. Jonathan compares it to chess, telling her that she really needs to be thinking a little bit longer-term. As much as I don't like the lecturing and I'm bored to death with chess analogies, Jonathan really is kind of right about that part. JessiFlicka makes inscrutable "hmm" noises that come from her tattoos. She tells Jonathan that she has to think about it more. Incidentally, this is very, very dangerous, this line-walking thing she's doing. That's how you make yourself the very first target in whatever alliance you eventually wind up going with.
Cao Boi, on the other hand, shakes Yul's hand, and while it doesn't seem as though they necessarily have a deal, Cao Boi basically says he's happy to listen to whatever Yul has to say. That conversation seemed surprisingly elevated, as far as just showing those two guys having a civil discussion about what to do, rather than just freaking out and yelling at each other. Good show, fellas. Cao Boi interviews, though, that he doesn't like scheming. Apparently, the fact that a lot of these people are not fans of the show has transported us back to the first season, where it wasn't universally agreed upon that planned voting was even appropriate -- you'll recall that some people believed that alliances were basically dirty play, a theory you just about never hear anymore.
Now, Cao Boi and JessiFlicka have a discussion, which I think is actually the "you're not Asian" one from earlier, but I think this is where it happens, chronologically. The two of them agree that they don't trust Jonathan. "He's manip-alative," Cao Boi says.
Meanwhile, Jonathan breaks the news to Yul that JessiFlicka is kind of half-assing the whole thing about voting as part of an alliance in the first place. Not good news, of course, not that these two guys have gotten much good news lately.
But interestingly, Cao Boi is busy telling Flicka that, in fact, Jonathan is right that the priority now is making it to the merge. "I don't want to be picked off," JessiFlicka says, sadly shaking her head. "They're playing bad." Cao Boi says. "You're not part of the crowd. I'm not part of the crowd, period. We're just stuck in this...like, I don't know." Oh, see? Asian, schmasian -- they're going to bond now because they both think that being different from everyone makes them superior to everyone. As we've been discussing with regard to various contestants, race is one way people identify with each other, but it sure isn't the only one. JessiFlicka asks Cao Boi what they do now. Amazingly, she gives an interview in which she says she's unhappy about being "wrapped up in this whole drama." That's just disingenuous right there. "I can't believe it! I came on a TV show, and there's all this drama." They're not going to put it on TV if you're all sitting around at the library together, Flicka. As to how she actually intends to cast her vote, Flicka says that, on the one hand, she knows about numbers, but on the other hand, she likes Cecilia. What to do, what to do. Jonathan interviews that he sees two ways to play -- "I like you, so I'm not going to vote for you," or "Sorry, I like you, but I've got to vote for you, because I want to go further." Give that actor a hand! He says he just doesn't know yet how he did convincing JessiFlicka, and that he won't know until the vote.
Tribal council. The group files in. Presumably, the Aitu and Raro members who haven't been here before get fire, but that part isn't shown, because apparently they have enough interesting stuff not to show the boring stuff. Jeff, unsurprisingly, wants to discuss the merge. Or the semi-merge, or the preliminary merge, or whatever. Did the ethnic divisions have anything to do with the way the merge happened? Jonathan says that he doesn't really think so. He claims to be happy about the way the merge happened, and while he would undoubtedly be happy to dish drama if he had any, I think he really doesn't think the race business as been a big part of recent events. Jeff turns to Sundra, asking her about being the only Hiki member who came to the new Aitu. She says that the position she's in can be thought of either as "vulnerable or valuable," which is a pretty good way to put it. It's the "you're dispensable and have no friends" angle versus the "swing vote" angle. She says she just goes with her gut. I think I've had about enough gut-going to last me an entire season. I hope Billy built that toilet.
Jeff asks Yul to "assess" the tribe at this point. Yul says that he thinks some people really want the victory, and some people really want the experience. Jeff says to Jonathan that neither of those is really wrong, and Jonathan agrees. He points out, though, that even if you're there for the experience, you're still voting. So you're in the game, whether you want to be or not. On the flip side, people who are strategizing are still having the experience. Jeff asks Flicka, "Eight days in, is this game already more complicated than you anticipated?" She's kind of a sitting duck for that question, with her hair particularly spazzed out this evening and looking like converting oxygen to carbon dioxide is more complicated than she anticipated. She says that she gets tied up in "where people's intentions are." She can't figure out if people are telling her things to get them on her side, or "to be nice." I think she just wasn't made for this game, I have to say. "People might be trying to get my vote!"
Asked how the tribe will be different after tonight, Ozzy answers how he will be different, saying he'll know where people's loyalties lie. Jeff reminds everyone that the immunity idol could theoretically be with Yul or Jonathan, and that won't come up unless one of them gets votes.
Time to vote. Yul votes for Cecilia, saying he's sorry, but it was her or Becky. Cecilia votes for Becky, saying that it's not personal, but that she thinks this is "better for the tribe." Sundra votes for Becky. Becky votes for Cecilia, saying that it's not personal. Ozzy votes for Becky, bitching that it's because she never talked to him. Is it really necessary to make it sound like you would vote for that stupid a reason when you undoubtedly didn't? It's not like he won't be legitimately childish and petulant later; there's no point in doing it when it doesn't even count. Cao Boi votes. Jonathan votes for Cecilia, calling her a "very classy lady." Just like Fran Dresch-- never mind. Flicka votes.
Jeff comes back to read the votes. First vote: Cecilia. Second: Becky. Then Becky. Then Cecilia. Then Cecilia. Then Becky. Three to three. Then Cecilia. So that fourth vote for Cecilia has to be a problem for Ozzy, because clearly, he didn't get the five votes he thought he had. But they don't show him quite yet. Then...Cecilia again, so that's that. That's a bummer. I did like her. I am gratified by Ozzy's disgusted expression. Man, I hope he's . Better hurry! Can't have him around all angry like that! When Cecilia has gone, Jeff says it's clear that the tribe is divided, and he insists that it's "risky" for them all to be split up. I'm not sure I agree. But at any rate, they leave to return to camp.
week: buff men are lazy. Cao Boi is making people nervous.
In her farewell interview, Cecilia says that it's "insane," and that she had a wonderful time, but thinks that voting her off will hurt the tribe. She just wants to help!