Okay, this season that started out completely boring and lame has just become ridiculously great, at least for this one episode, if not longer. So what happens is that Cassandra snags herself a reward challenge, and she plays it smart by taking with her "Dreamz," Boo, and Yau Man, meaning that Earl is left at home with Alex and Edgardo to make sure they're not up to anything. Once "Dreamz" comes back, he decides to fill in the Earl/Yau Man axis on the fact that Mookie has an immunity idol. This, however, is only the beginning. When Yau Man wins immunity, the "four horsemen" decide to target Earl, not realizing that "Dreamz" is conspiring with others to target Alex. Mookie, however, has the idol, and he decides to slip it to Alex "secretly." The secret isn't as secret as they think, though, as "Dreamz" runs the information directly to Earl And Friends. EAF decide to avoid bouncing the vote off of Alex by instead targeting Mookie. They've now, thanks to Yau Man, brought in even Stacy, so there are six: Earl, Yau Man, Cassandra, "Dreamz," Boo, and Stacy. Meanwhile, Alex, Edgardo, and Mookie decide to vote for Cassandra instead of Earl, partly because Cassandra won reward and sent Mookie to Exile Island. (Seriously, it's that dumb.) So at this point, Alex, Edgardo, and Mookie intend to vote for Cassandra and get her with the vote bounced off of Alex onto Cassandra, while EAF intend to vote for Mookie and have him actually go home, having given away his idol. When "Dreamz" wanders off, however, Stacy points out that there's a safer way to do this -- just vote off Edgardo. So if "Dreamz" is telling the truth and Alex has the idol, then they're safe. But if "Dreamz" is lying and Mookie has the idol, they're still safe. Option C! Nobody ever thinks of Option C! It's a great idea, even though it is from Stacy, and they carry it out just that way. Since "Dreamz" doesn't know, the vote goes 5-3-1, sending Edgardo home and causing Alex, who plays the idol before the vote and removes it from the game, to make the most awesome sad face ever. In case it isn't getting across to you that this is a wonderful episode full of double and triple dealing and leaving practically everybody at risk of being voted off at one time or another, believe me: this episode is awesome. And I haven't even mentioned the part where everyone votes for Stacy as the person they never want to see again.
Previously on A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Bad Luck: The tribes merged and settled in together at Couchless Camp, where it looked like either Boo or Stacy would hit the bricks at the end of the episode. Take note of the way that the previouslys include Alex saying the very words, "Unless I'm mistaken, the four of us [Alex, Edgardo, Mookie, and "Dreamz"] are controlling this game right now." In about 45 minutes, that's going to be really extra-funny, kind of like watching a figure skater fall down. Mookie spilled the news to "Dreamz" that the four horses'-asses-men had that immunity idol they'd dug up, and "Dreamz" got a little suspicious of his "alliance" for not telling him sooner. Alex swore "Dreamz" to secrecy, though, so I'm sure it will all be fine. Who's he going to tell? Anyway, at the immunity challenge, the newly merged tribe was divided into two "teams," only one of which would attend tribal council. Michelle was unlucky enough to wind up on a team with a bunch of original Motos, as well as three out of four supposed "horsemen," who (of course) lost the challenge, because those guys couldn't win an origami contest against a team of penguins. Deprived of even the opportunity to argue on her own behalf, Michelle couldn't do anything to save herself. So even though Mookie went with an ousting-Stacy plan he and "Dreamz" had dreamzed up, "Dreamz" himself stayed with the safe play, so the adorable Michelle saw her torch go out. Nine left. Who will go ? Will anyone still care?
The moon. The starry sky. A bat, who's hanging upside-down in night vision like, "Yeah, yeah, you're screaming in terror because I'm hideous; I get it. I'm six inches tall, so I hope you feel good about yourself, you big puss." We are at Bula Bula on Night 24, where those who did not go to tribal council -- Earl, Yau Man, Stacy, Edgardo, and Cassandra -- are waiting for those who did to return. Edgardo predicts that it will be either Michelle or Stacy who doesn't make it back, and everyone seems to agree. Earl appears to know (or think he knows) that "Dreamz" will be the swing vote. The returnees enter camp, and everyone sees that Michelle is not with them. When Yau Man asks about the vote, "Dreamz" reveals that it was a three-two split. Mookie interviews that he and "Dreamz" had a deal about voting off Stacy instead of Michelle, so he's pretty pissed off about being left to dangle like that. In this interview, Mookie gripes that what "Dreamz" did essentially handed over all the power to Alex. And as much as I usually think Mookie = dumb, in this situation, Mookie also = right. Elsewhere, Alex grills a caught-red-handed Mookie about how clear Alex thought it was that they were all supposed to be voting against Michelle. Mookie scrambles to cover his exposed ass by insisting that he just misunderstood what the plan was. This was no revolt! Honest! He promises! He's just stupid! He swears! And Alex is like "Okay, bygones," which is how you know he's not too smart, either.
Alex has a new idea that will really, really make their alliance solid, and he's sure Mookie will love it: instead of Mookie keeping the idol, they'll all hand it around every day, apparently just for the communality of knowing that it's really shared. Predictably, Mookie gives this about ten seconds of thought before making an internal jerk-off motion and hanging on to the idol. When Alex's "this would really help our alliance" argument fails, Alex switches over to more of a guilt-based theory, under which Mookie shouldn't really get the idol since he just got lucky in finding it while all three of them were looking. Alex tells Mookie that it's "messed up" that he's saying he'll only share the idol on his own terms. I wonder where he was when it was explained that only one person can get the million dollars, because Alex seems to think you can get it as a group. Through this whole thing, you can kind of see Mookie being like, "Yeah, very compelling argument...but I'm going to say no? I think? And keep the idol for myself? Yeah, I think that's what I'm going to do."
Still in night vision, Mookie has a little chat with "Dreamz" about Alex's theory that they should split the idol four ways by passing it around like the only cigarette at an eighth-grade dance. "Dreamz" is not hearing that. Mookie says that if they don't go along, then "the four horsemen's nothing," as Alex said. "Dreamz" thinks that in that case, he and Mookie can ditch Alex and Edgardo and just "recruit," but Mookie thinks that's crazy. Mookie insists that "Dreamz" has ruined everything by getting rid of Michelle instead of Stacy. "Dreamz" tries to explain his vote in an interview, saying that when Michelle said at the last tribal council that she didn't really know him, that made him realize that he didn't know her, either. So because she might have been hostile to him, he chose to vote her off instead of Stacy, whom he knows is hostile to him. It's a perfect example of how people on this show always have such a bias in favor of sticking with their current plan, and they never accurately gauge and account for the risks inherent in doing nothing. "Dreamz" sees taking out Stacy as action and taking out Michelle as doing nothing, and he's totally not measuring properly what the risks are of going along. Because the current plan, just as explained last week, is obviously for Alex, Edgardo, and Stacy to cut Mookie and "Dreamz" loose when we get to F5. Knowing this, Mookie assures "Dreamz" that "Dreamz" has screwed them both, big time.
Credits. Bat! Bats are having a big year. It's the Bataissance.
Bula Bula, Day 25. As we move into the last two weeks, we're finally looking like Survivor here, with some flies sitting on people's faces while they're sleeping and so forth. Mookie is snoozing. Earl, on the other hand, is awake and thinking. He's probably sad, because with Michelle gone, there's nobody here to have the morning meeting! Aw. Earl looks over at Stacy and Boo, who are also awake, and then he interviews that although he was hoping Michelle would somehow make it, she didn't. This did a major number on his plans, so he's very unhappy. Surprisingly, Boo has a plan to share with Earl. I give Boo a lot of credit for recognizing that Michelle was with the Earl-liance, and now she's gone, so there's an opening. He really wasn't affiliated with either group as of last week, so this is a smart move for him. He tells Earl that they could make a five-some of Earl, Yau Man, Cassandra, Boo, and "Dreamz." "The rest of them, they all backstabbers," Boo reasons. Earl thinks about this and indicates that he's amenable to it, provided they get rid of Alex first. Boo cautions Earl that for some weird reason, "Dreamz" seems to like Alex, so Boo isn't sure that "Dreamz" will want to take Alex out first. Earl: "When Boo and I had our man-to-man talk and looked each other in the eye, and he said he's with me...I still didn't buy it." Heh. Earl thinks this is purely Boo "trying to save his own neck." That wouldn't seem to me like a particular indication that Boo isn't telling the truth, though, since own-neck-saving is pretty much what they're all doing, but Earl hasn't steered me wrong yet.
Earl and Boo go back to camp, and as everyone hangs around, Earl tells us that the core of his group is himself, Yau Man, and Cassandra, because he trusts them totally. He considers "Dreamz" a "wild card," and he's not sure whether to trust Mookie either. Earl says that it's like a chess game where you've already lost some "really good pieces," and now it gets tougher. As he says this, we cut to a shot of Earl standing, godlike, at the top of what looks like a big rock formation. He's got his hands on his hips and one foot stepping up -- it's a full "king of the world" pose, and it turns into a sweeping helicopter shot, and I cannot imagine how long that took to set up or how they explained to Earl what they wanted. "Stand here and look kind of like manifest destiny"? "I am still here," he voices over. Indeed, Earl, you are.
Challenge beach. Jeff gathers the players and explains that this will be a test of how well you know the rest of your tribe. It's the game where you go off in private and answer a series of questions about the tribe, and then you return, and the actual game is to predict what the majority of the tribe said. They all scatter to answer their questions, and then they return to listen to the explanation. Each time you correctly predict what the majority of the group said, you get to smash one of three "towers" corresponding to each person. So when your three towers have been smashed, you're done. This is basically a replay of the famous All-Stars challenge when Alicia lost the battle of who's cooler to Jenna Lewis forever when she flipped out over being the "winner" of half of the "who's a pain in the ass" questions while Jenna took it completely in stride that she was the "winner" of the other half. It's only one of many Survivor contexts where the only way to win is not to care. The winner of the challenge gets to spend the night on a luxury yacht, with all the food and showering that suggests. Also, the challenge winner will send one person to Exile Island.
The first question: "Who would you trust with your life?" The answers are really interesting. Earl says Yau Man, which is what I would have said. Cassandra, Boo, and Yau Man say Earl. "Dreamz" and Stacy say Cassandra, and -- get this -- Mookie and Edgardo say Alex. Alex! Talk about not reading the room. Or possibly not understanding the game. Or maybe not knowing which one is "Alex." Alex himself names "Dreamz," which I think means that he either doesn't want to win or is drunk. It turns out that the group actually gave the win to Earl. Not a big surprise there. Cassandra knocks out one of Stacy's towers. Boo knocks out another. Yau Man finishes Stacy off. I've never felt like I understood the "strategy" for actually trying to win this challenge, but it seems to me that these people may have done a smart thing, in that once she's out of the challenge, she can't hit you anymore. So you'd rather have one person gone than three people with one tower down, right? I'd think that would be right. Also, they really hate Stacy, as will become clear. Stacy takes it pretty well as she exits the challenge and takes a seat.
question: "Who are you least likely to invite to a family dinner?" Earl, Edgardo, and Boo say Stacy. Yau Man says "Dreamz." Mookie, Cassandra, Alex, and "Dreamz" say Boo. And indeed, the answer is Boo. I don't know; I'd invite Boo to dinner with my family before "Dreamz," Stacy, Alex, Edgardo, or Mookie. I think Boo would be fun. I sense that we might argue over politics, but my family isn't really going to faint dead away because you have a little excess gas that escapes somewhere. I suppose it depends on your particular family. Mookie smashes Boo, and when they cut to Boo's reaction, it's the first time I really notice what pretty eyes he has. Kind of grayish and stormy. "Dreamz" also takes a shot at Boo. Alex finishes him off, so Boo has a seat. Cassandra chooses Alex for her smashing.
question: "Who most has a sense of entitlement?" Cassandra and Mookie say Alex. Edgardo, Yau Man, and "Dreamz" say Stacy. Alex says Mookie. We can't really see who gets Earl's vote, but he doesn't get it right, so he didn't say Alex, which is the right answer. This is a red flag for Alex, or it should be, because more people wrote down that he has the biggest sense of entitlement than guessed that the rest of the group would say that. When more people think you're acting like a dick than believe other people think you're acting like a dick, that means there's unexpressed resentment of you -- people who don't realize they're not alone yet, but probably will later. ["And probably as a direct result of this challenge; God, this episode ruled." -- Joe R] Cassandra returns to Alex and hits him again. Mookie doesn't have the balls to take Alex out, unsurprisingly, so he hits Earl.
question: "Who would you most like to be stranded on an island with?" The correct answer is Yau Man, and every person gets it right -- except Alex, who says Earl. Could Alex be reading the room any more ineptly? Earl hits Mookie back. Mookie hits Earl back-back. "Dreamz" finishes Alex. I think Alex should not assume that there are four horsemen anymore, do you? I don't think the other horsemen are supposed to be trying to trip your horse, in the scenario he has in mind. Alex takes a seat, and Edgardo finishes Earl, who follows Alex to the bench. Yau Man hits Edgardo, and Cassandra hits Mookie.
question: "Who do you not want to see again after the game?" Sigh. Everybody answers Stacy, and everybody is right. Ouch. OUCH. That's a tough one, and she looks like she swallows hard over on the bench. "Dreamz" hits Yau Man. Edgardo does, too. Yau Man goes for "Dreamz." Mookie hits Cassandra. Cassandra follows by taking Mookie out of the challenge.
question: "Who smells the worst?" Edgardo votes for himself. Yau Man votes for Stacy. Cassandra and "Dreamz" both vote for "Dreamz." The correct answer is "Dreamz," so he and Cassandra have it right. She knocks out Yau Man (which is interesting), while "Dreamz" takes Edgardo down to one tower.
(and best) question: "Who mistakenly believes that they are in control of this game?" Edgardo says Stacy. "Dreamz" says Boo. But Cassandra says Alex, and she has it right. Another red flag for Alex, if he's smart -- it's a very bad sign when people know that you believe you're in control, but they believe they know something you don't. In order to feel comfortable, you have to think you know what it is they know that they think you don't know, you know? (Hey, I didn't say this was going to be easy.) At any rate, Cassandra takes out Edgardo.
question: "Who has wasted this great opportunity?" Wow, that question is a bit presumptuous. I'm not sure "great opportunity" is quite how I would describe the chance to one day embarrass yourself on The Fish Bowl. "Dreamz" says Edgardo; Cassandra says Stacy. And, of course, once again, the answer to the "who isn't a very cool person?" question is Stacy. So Cassandra takes "Dreamz" down to one tower left, meaning that if she gets the question right, she'll win.
question: "Athletically, who out here has surprised you the most?" Is there any question about what the right answer is to this one? I guess there is, because "Dreamz" says Cassandra, which is wrong. Cassandra says Yau Man, which is obviously correct, given the number of challenges he has unexpectedly rocked. So if you're keeping score, that's nine straight correct answers for Cassandra, making it only fair that she gets the victory, even though getting all the questions right doesn't actually make victory inevitable in this game. Cassandra takes out "Dreamz" with his last tower, and she's the big winner. She has to send someone to Exile, and she picks Mookie. He unhappily heads for the boat that will take him there. Do you think he'll hold a grudge? Jeff explains to Cassandra that she will be able to take three people with her on her yacht reward, but she'll be picked up later and can decide back at camp who she wants to bring. She doesn't have to decide this minute, which is a good thing for her. "I'll lick your feet, man," Edgardo calls out. Ew. I think I'll pass. Although it would be cool if someone didn't -- just take your stanky shoes off and be like, "Hit it." Everybody heads back to camp.
Exile Island, Day 25. Mookie says that he's pissed off at Cassandra for sending him here. "She has no idea who she's messing with," he says. Oh, I think she does. Nine straight correct answers? I'd say she has the scent in the wind better than you do, Grumpy The Clown. "Cassandra is quiet, but in a deceiving, conniving way," Mookie says. Do you think he's bitter at all? It's hard to tell. "She just made the worst mistake of her life," he says, going for "menacing" and kind of...not hitting it. I don't know. Mookie's just not scary. Maybe he should have called himself something else. When your name makes you sound like you should be played by Steve Buscemi, then I'm only going to fear you if you're carrying a gun. Mookie climbs to the top of the tower and reads the idol clues, realizing that there had to be clues in both camps, and anybody who didn't find it would have to be an idiot. Therefore, he's quite sure that there must be one that was recovered at Moto in addition to the one he dug up at Ravu. "Earl came to Exile Island about five, six times," Mookie says. Therefore, Mookie is pretty sure that Earl has the idol. "I'm 99 percent sure that Earl has the immunity idol," he says. Mookie tells us he just wants to take out Cassandra and her friends. "Call it revenge," he says. Well...okay. He says he just has to talk to his "four horsemen," and "it's done." Did he not pay attention to the Alex-hating answers that "Dreamz" gave during that challenge? Does he not understand that four is not a majority of nine even if you have four? And that three is even less of a majority of nine?
Back at Bula Bula, everyone's razzing Cassandra about being popular because she's giving away the passes for the yacht reward. She takes "Dreamz" right away. And then she takes Boo, which was a really interesting move. She interviews that her strategy was to choose people she needed to form bonds with. She wasn't really sure about these two guys, and that's why she picked them. Now, she's down to picking among her friends, and that gets difficult. She ultimately chooses Yau Man, because...who wouldn't? Her explanation for this one is basically merit -- she thinks that he works so hard around camp that he just needed the rest. Aw. Having seen her be the only Moto-an who looked up from her rice when Gary was practically dying, I'm not that surprised by this. We watch as the lucky four board the yacht. It may not have been Cassandra's strategy to do it like this, but her choices also had the effect of leaving the Big Daddy (Earl) of her alliance back at camp to watch what was going on. If she takes all her friends, that leaves all her non-friends to scheme alone, and God knows we've seen that backfire plenty of times.
The rewarded few are welcomed to the yacht. Cassandra tells us that when she saw all the food, the implications of her victory began to register a little better. Boo reacts with great excitement to the concept of a margarita, which makes me like him a little more. As everyone toasts with champagne, Yau Man welcomes both Boo and "Dreamz" to the "syndicate," and tells them that there are to be no more mistakes. Now, we're going carefully. Suddenly, Yau Man seems a little bit like a James Bond villain, which is sort of amazing. He needs a little pet of some kind to stroke. Maybe a ferret. He interviews that it will take a little more work to be sure about "Dreamz," but this is their chance to feed him and "brainwash him, basically." Hee. That night, there's more drinking and more toasting and more alliance talk, and they talk about how Alex needs to go . Cassandra tells us that she can see right in "Dreamz's" face that he's not a sure thing. I will agree that his poker face is not what I would call "impressive." They all watch a fireworks show off to one side of the yacht. "Dreamz" tells us that he's the swing vote now, which you sense is just how he likes it. He says that Mookie's sticking with the boys and Stacy, but his heart says to go with Cassandra and Earl and their friends. He tells us that he's very conflicted, and he's "being tugged in every direction."
We come back to Bula Bula on Day 27. Day 27? I think we missed a day somewhere, because Mookie got to Exile Island on Day 25. I wonder if they didn't pick up Cassandra and friends for their overnight until the night? Hm. "Dreamz" has decided to tell Alex that the group is planning to vote for him in tomorrow's tribal council. Alex brings up the prospect of using the immunity idol, and "Dreamz" reminds Alex that he'd have to persuade Mookie to give it up first. And "Dreamz" thinks that Mookie is going to be all Lord Of The Rings "my precious" about it (seriously, that's the allusion he uses). Earl comes up at this point, sort of shrugging that he isn't trying to bust in on their private discussion, but they've taken the pot with them (ha!), and the tribe kind of needs the pot back. A little trick: when you want to sneak off and not be followed? Don't take the essential supplies with you, morons. And if you do, come back. Earl interviews that there's part of him that sees all the time "Dreamz" spends with Alex and wants to just get rid of him now, because it's too much of a mess.
Cassandra plays go-between a little, and she assures "Dreamz" that it's not that Earl doubts him, exactly, even though it is that, exactly. Earl walks up, and the three of them start to talk. Basically, Earl's like, "Dude, I heard the conversation with Alex, because I was standing right there." And "Dreamz" still keeps it up about how he doesn't like it that Earl is "doubting" him. I think "Dreamz" needs to stop being a quadruple-agent if it hurts his feelings not to be trusted. Earl tells "Dreamz" that he needs to listen a little bit more and flap his yap a little bit less. But then "Dreamz" busts out this gem: "Mookie's got an immunity idol." Earl blanches. The absolute best part is where Earl kind of isn't sure Mookie really has it, and "Dreamz" insists that he's seen it. "What's it look like?" Earl asks, by way of a test. "It's a turtle," "Dreamz" responds, which is awesome, because it's just what he would say if he were off his nut. So Earl, who apparently hasn't seen Yau Man's idol, is like, "It's a turtle?" Which I love. He's all, "But that would be stupid and lame...oh, right." Earl voices over that "Dreamz" is trying to strategize on his own, which Earl thinks is hard to manage. I think Earl would argue that you have to pick some people to take into your confidence, or it's hard to be successful. As "Dreamz" continues to fill Earl in on everything, Earl kind of can't believe that Alex and Mookie are just sharing the immunity idol -- which, of course, they're not. Earl is right that nobody would do that. Yau Man sums this all up in an interview in which he says that it all makes him nervous, the idea that those three guys (Mookie, Alex, and Edgardo) all know where the idol is and they're all sort of using it in a group. "I have to rethink how this will play out," Yau Man says.
Challenge beach. It's time for the immunity challenge, and it's your basic endurance deal. Here, you stand inside a frame with your feet on little footholds stuck in the sides of the frame. You periodically have to step down to smaller and smaller footholds. You're not allowed to lean on your hips, back, or bottom. It has some similarity to the famous telephone-pole challenge that led to Yul's wonderful explosion of nerdiness about how elephants can't run up trees. I watched this episode with Joe R., and I immediately told him that Yau Man would win because of his small feet. Mookie rejoins the group from Exile Island, and it's about time to get started. Jeff retires group immunity and shows them the gaudy individual immunity necklace. It appears to be made from oversized Muppet teeth.
Go! Different people have different strategies for this. Stacy stands straight, with her elbows equally against the sides. Mookie stands on one foot and dangles the other, in the hopes of always having a fresh foot to stand on. Interesting choice. The first person out is Cassandra, who hobbles over to the side after not very much time has passed. At twenty-two minutes, Edgardo starts drumming on the sides. I think he seems bored and cocky, but Joe immediately says that Fidgeting Guy is always the to go. And indeed, down goes Edgardo. At thirty minutes, everyone has to step down to a smaller foothold. At thirty-four minutes, Earl slips and is out. Asked to pick a potential winner, Earl goes with Stacy. Edgardo agrees. Stacy tries to smile, but she looks a bit uncomfortable, really. At forty-one minutes, Mookie goes down.
At one hour, the five people who remain step down onto quarter-inch footholds. Alex drops out. "Dreamz" drops out. You'll notice that Boo and Stacy probably are the most convinced that they need immunity right now, and they're both still in it. But Stacy is not long for this challenge, as her grimace suggests, and she's soon gone. Boo, too, is struggling. He slips. He gets back up. He slips again. He gets back up. "How many lives does that guy have?" Yau Man wonders. Heh. You can't keep him down! Boo is invincible! Joe R. is falling in love with him! ["I do admit a fondness for the big lug." -- Joe R] Boo keeps slipping and recovering by sheer force of will, and it's actually really cool, but Yau Man is so unperturbed by the entire thing that it's all in vain. There's only so much Boo can do, but when he finally lands with a thud, he raises his hands over his head in victory. Hilariously, when Yau Man hops down, there's none of the stiffness or apparent sore feet that everyone else had. He just is so much smaller and thinner than the rest of these people that none of them ever had a chance. So Yau Man is the first to receive the individual immunity idol.
Bula Bula. Day 27. Buckle up, y'all. The group sits around, and Mookie voices over that because Cassandra sent him to Exile Island, he's taking out her entire alliance. Really? Really? You're going to change alliances, Chief Petty Officer Mookie? He and Alex talk, and Mookie says they should vote for Earl. Of course, Mookie said earlier that he was pretty sure Earl had the idol, so...what? Anyway, Mookie says his plan is to surprise Earl somehow, so that (presumably) Earl won't play the idol. Good luck with that, Mookie. "Dreamz" joins Mookie and Alex, and Mookie announces that they're taking out Earl, Yau Man, and Boo, in that order. "It's done," they agree, because what could possibly go wrong when you have three guys in agreement? "Dreamz" brings up the matter of Stacy, as he tends to do, and Alex insists that Stacy is safely with them. You've gotta know that's not what "Dreamz" wants to hear.
Elsewhere, Yau Man and Stacy talk. She tells him that she's really nervous about going to tribal council without knowing what's going on. She's fairly clearly hinting that she's available if he wants to talk strategy, and Yau Man asks her whom she'll be voting for. She says she doesn't know. "Vote for anybody except Earl, okay?" he says. "If your heart will let you, vote Alex. If not, just don't vote Earl." Stacy: "It makes no point [sic] if I'm the only person that's voting for Alex." Yau Man: "It will not be a blind vote out there." He's not smirking, exactly -- he's smiling a little reassuringly without agreeing to tell her any more than this. "You have my assurance it's not a blind vote out there." There's a really interesting tone to this conversation, almost like...she was the winner of all the "hate" questions, so she's not going to win, in all likelihood. But she might stay around longer, and she might be able to redeem herself a little by getting in with a better crowd, and I think that's all he's really offering. It's a little bit of a Jonathan Penner move, like, "If I can't win, maybe I can take out some assholes as I go." There's not a lot of "we will take you far" to it, just "cooperating for the moment is probably better than not cooperating." "Then I'll do that to save myself, then," Stacy agrees. Yau Man nods, like, "This has been a lovely discussion. And: you'd better."
Alex starts in trying to guilt Stacy about saving her on the most recent vote, getting Michelle ousted instead. He explains that Mookie wants to get Earl out first. He asks if Stacy's in, and she just stares blankly at him, which...is kind of awesome, actually. She claims to be "hot" and "agitated," but if he doesn't realize that she is so gone, he's even dumber than I think. Stacy pretty much interviews that she's going to do what she thinks is right for herself. As, of course, she should.
Alex and Edgardo have a chat about what's going on with Stacy. Edgardo breaks the news to Alex that from what he's describing, Stacy is obviously no longer part of their team. Alex looks a lot more surprised than he should be.
Spider.
In just one of the great scenes of this episode, "Dreamz" and Edgardo talk. "Dreamz" asks if Edgardo thinks that Stacy will stay with them. In this very dry way, Edgardo says, "What do you think? I think not." "Dreamz" confirms to Edgardo that everyone on the other side wanted to get rid of Alex, so if Mookie were to give the idol to Alex, that should thwart the plans of the Earl-liance. "Dreamz" doesn't think that Mookie is going to cough up the idol, but Edgardo figures that's the only move they really have. Edgardo has a chat with Mookie to stress the fact that the safe thing for them to do is guard against a Stacy defection by giving the idol to Alex. Mookie digs up the idol while voicing over that he doesn't really want to be in a position of having to use it this early. He pockets the idol and returns to camp, where he's greeted by Earl and Yau Man. He and Alex decide that the best way to do this is in plain sight, where Mookie will casually drop the idol and Alex will casually pick it up. Really? You couldn't loan him a shirt and wrap the idol in it? Couldn't hand him a pot of water and put the idol in it? Couldn't step into the woods to get water? Couldn't go out on the beach to wash clothes? Couldn't do anything except count on nobody noticing as you pass the idol in front of them? Alex whispers to Mookie that it doesn't matter what Stacy does, because as soon as they do this, it's all over. Right, because...then it will be a 4-4 tie? And that will mean they'll be safe? Whatever, there, Alex. What's also brilliant about this "exchange" is that instead of Mookie dropping the idol and Alex picking it up a little bit later -- even thirty seconds later -- they both stick their hands down into the grass at the same time, which looks ridiculously suspicious. They're like a Ricky Gervais version of tricky spies. As the show presents this, "Dreamz" is watching and sees them do this, although it seems equally likely that the implication of spying is a fake-bake and "Dreamz" just knows this is happening because he's in the alliance that's planning it. "It's gonna work, Mook," Alex assures. "It's gonna work."
"Dreamz" now assumes triple- or quadruple-agent status as he returns to the Earl-liance and tells them that Mookie gave the idol to Alex. So, to review: "They're going to vote for you. You'd better get the idol." [sound of "Dreamz" tiptoeing] "Hey, they're giving him the idol." The Earl-liance has a really difficult time believing that Mookie would do such a thing, but "Dreamz" swears it happened. "I promise, I promise, I promise," he repeats, and Boo quietly says, "I believe his word." With this information, Earl looks around the Earl-liance, which now seems to include "Dreamz," and says, "Mookie?" They all agree that they will vote for Mookie.
Elsewhere in this ever-changing world in which we live in (thank you, Paul McCartney), Edgardo tells Alex that he thinks they should vote for Cassandra instead of Earl. His rationale is that Cassandra unites that team, and that without her, it would fall apart. The obvious stupidity of asking "Dreamz" to vote for Cassandra utterly escapes these guys, who decide they will indeed change the plan in that way, and they and Mookie decide they'll just let "Dreamz" know he's supposed to vote for the person he obviously likes the best in the entire tribe. Edgardo, speaking with the kind of unintentional irony that so often makes this show delightful, tells us that this is an "all or nothing move."
Over in the Earl-liance, Stacy is now devoting her conniving skills to helping out these guys. She's concerned that the Axis of Alex is trying to confuse them by sending "Dreamz" over to give bad information about the idol. She points out that the safe play, if the Axis of Alex thinks they're choosing between Mookie and Alex, is to vote off Edgardo. What's great about it is that they don't have to tell "Dreamz," so they can basically use it to test out whether "Dreamz" is full of it or not. The five of them -- Earl, Yau Man, Cassandra, Boo, and Stacy -- can vote off Edgardo, and "Dreamz" will vote for Mookie, and they can still win the vote. This is a very smart idea, and the Earl-liance warms to it immediately. In an interview, Earl describes the current state of things as "total chaos," but it's in fact kind of the opposite. It's a really well-thought-out strategy, to be honest. You can see in an interview how proud Earl is of the way a lot of this has progressed. What I like is that when he boasts about outmaneuvering the Axis of Alex, it's all "we": "We're smarter than that," not "I'm smarter than that." Earl would, I'm sure, be the first to tell you that the brains behind this particular final step were Stacy's. He doesn't need all the credit, and that's a real positive for him. "Dreamz" puts the final touches on by telling Alex that he knows it's Cassandra who's going, and that the Earl-liance isn't really talking to him. Heh. Alex is confident that the Earl-liance doesn't know about Mookie's idol, and "Dreamz" says that they certainly don't -- in fact, they're sure that nobody in the Axis of Alex has the idol. "You might be going home tonight...so they think," "Dreamz" says. "So they think," Alex grins, and then he adds, "This is brilliant!" "Dreamz" smiles and nods. Brilliant, all right. Definitely good enough to thwart moose and squirrel!
Okay. So. Tribal council. Everybody gets seated, and Jeff brings in Rocky, Lisi, and Michelle from the jury. Michelle and Earl grin at each other, and the grins convey the entirety of the following conversation: "I got voted out!" "I know, dude, I'm sorry." "This sucks!" "I know, but wait until you see the shit that's about to go down. JUST WAIT." Jeff asks "Dreamz" if there was a "mad scramble" regarding immunity, and "Dreamz" happily reports that things were "chaotic." Edgardo says he doesn't even know who the majority is right now. Of course, he thinks he does. And he's wrong. Jeff reminds Yau Man that the only person with nothing to worry about is him. Yau Man agrees that this is his first trip to tribal council without his blood pressure and heart rate elevated. Heh. He adds, "That's a good thing for an old man." Everyone laughs. Jeff asks Yau Man about the effect of the different way the idol is played this season, and Yau Man says that you have to sort of guess whether somebody has it and will play it, because if you think somebody has it, you vote for somebody in his alliance instead. Yau Man is, of course, encouraging the Axis of Alex to believe that since they know Mookie has the idol, they're voting for Alex. These aren't the droids you're looking for! Yau Man also explains that you can defeat an army either by cutting off the head or taking the "soldiers."
Jeff asks Alex how much effect the idol has on his strategy. Alex says that he's logically going to assume that people who have been to Exile Island, like Earl, have the idol. Alex is being stupid here, because what he would like to do is induce Earl to play the idol and then vote for Cassandra. You don't induce Earl to play the idol by saying you think Earl has the idol. Alex says that this leaves two options: "avoid Earl," or "take out people in Earl's alliance." You'll notice that those are the same thing, and calling these two things out stresses to Earl that no matter what he thinks is happening, if he has the idol, there's no need to play it. Asked about the importance of the vote, "Dreamz" says that this vote will be "everything," and will "separate snakes and rats."
And now, it's time for voting. Alex votes. "Dreamz" votes for Mookie: "A strategic move; I'll still be friends." Boo votes. Cassandra votes. Edgardo votes for Cassandra: "Nothing against you, but better you than me. Let's see if this works." Yau Man votes. Earl votes. Mookie votes. Stacy votes.
When Jeff returns with the painstakingly tabulated votes, he says that this is the moment when anyone who wants to play the immunity idol would play it. Mookie grins at Alex. Yau Man and Earl look at Alex expectantly. Alex stands up and walks to Jeff, idol in hand. Earl smiles and nods. What makes this so brilliant is that at this moment, every single person sitting on the benches looks smug. Every single person thinks they have just pulled off a major coup, which means that there are about to be some very disappointed people. I think that Cassandra is grinning partly because she's really happy that "Dreamz" wasn't lying. So now Alex is immune. At this point, Joe R. was like, "Ohhhh, I hope they read all the ones for Cassandra first! I hope!" Jeff begins to read votes: Cassandra. Cassandra. Cassandra. Michelle is making an unhappy face on the jury, and Rocky is kind of turning out to be a fun juror, because he's watching, all, "The fuck?" Mookie and Alex grin at each other some more. Joe: "Now read the one for Mookie!" Jeff reads the one for Mookie. This should scare the pants off of Mookie and the rest of the Axis of Alex, because this already means that something is really wrong. But hey, there could be a stray vote, right? Boo or Stacy wasn't really in the loop?
And then...oh, goodness. I wanted to immediately send flowers to the camera guy who so carefully and lovingly captured the moment where Edgardo's name is read, and you can actually watch the instantaneous dissolution of his shit-eating grin. You can actually watch the immediate popping of his facial muscles into a stunned stare. Alex does more of a slow wilt, like, "wah-wah-waaaaaah." A miserable Mookie stares over at Alex, like he doesn't understand how this could have happened. Over on the jury, Rocky does this awesome thing where he reaches over and touches Michelle's knee while making this wonderfully cringing, totally amused "Yow! That one's gotta hurt!" face. Earl actually grins from ear to ear, nods, and starts stroking his beard. It is that good. Another vote for Edgardo, and the jig is so very up. Another one, so now it's a tie between Edgardo and Cassandra. My favorite shot is of Mookie's miserable face, with Earl visible behind him over Mookie's shoulder, resting his chin in his hand and smiling. Another for Edgardo, who turns and looks at "Dreamz," who in turn shakes his head like, "Gee, dude, I don't know." And the tenth person voted off is...Edgardo! Whee! Mookie actually sinks his head down in despair. Edgardo is snuffed. Alex eats a bug. When Edgardo is gone, Jeff rubs it in that Alex blew the idol when he didn't need it. Whoops! He announces that the idol will be hidden again, which I don't really dig, but whatever. Earl looks so happy that I don't even mind.
week: Mookie and Alex strive for relevance.