So with Alex gone, Yau Man is looking around and figuring out that if Boo and Stacy are ousted, that's going to leave an F4 situation that will almost certainly not work out well for him, owing to the bond between Cassandra and "Dreamz," in particular. This all becomes much more significant when we get to the reward challenge, where Yau Man actually manages to win a multi-stage contest for a truck. Probably not all that excited about driving a big truck in the first place, Yau Man offers "Dreamz" the following deal: at F4, if "Dreamz" and Yau Man are still there and "Dreamz" wins immunity, "Dreamz" gives the immunity necklace to Yau Man. "Dreamz" immediately agrees, and Yau Man hands over the keys and sends "Dreamz" on a reward trip with Stacy and Boo, where they deliver a box of school supplies. While they're there, Yau Man is on Exile Island, where he sent himself. No, seriously. He picks up another clue to the re-hidden idol, which essentially gives away his location. Back at camp, he shares this with Earl, who tracks down the idol and takes possession of it. So now Yau Man has one, and Earl has one. The immunity challenge goes to Boo, which removes the possibility of booting him. "Dreamz," realizing that he really, really shouldn't have taken a deal that may either require him to (1) allow himself to be booted or (2) look like a snake or (3) possibly return his truck, gets Cassandra and Stacy to agree that they'll vote off Yau Man -- a plan into which Boo is apparently also recruited. As tribal council approaches, Stacy pretends that she knows she's going home, while Yau Man gets an increasingly bad feeling. Earl, however, thinks they're fine, and seems to think Yau Man doesn't need to use his idol. Yau Man thinks different. After Stacy makes a weird comment suggesting that there's something tricky going down with the vote, Yau Man plays his immunity idol, saving himself from the boot and sending Stacy home. Sunday: the finale. Whee!
Previously on If Earl Or Yau Man Wins, I Will Forgive You For Jenna Morasca, Which You Have To Admit Is A Pretty Damn Good Deal, And I Will Throw In Stupid Aras For Kicks: Alex, whom Jeff calls "the last member of the 'four horsemen' alliance," because Jeff can't keep track of what became of four people, was on the ropes, or else was "a potential swing vote," depending on how you want to look at things. Alex tried to be a ninja, but had a mightily hard time making it past "shaggy-ass buffoon." At the reward challenge, Stacy was repeatedly smacked in the face with a big hunk of pork, which will never, ever stop being funny, even when we are all discussing it through ill-fitting dentures from our nursing-home beds. ["Sherioushly, Barry Gibb, find a new dentisht." -- Joe R] Earl went to Exile Island, where he got a clue to the location of the idol that was re-hidden after Alex burned it off while the universe laughed in his face. Alex came pretty close to winning immunity, but he didn't, and Boo did, because even gravity is not a member of Alex's alliance. Alex tried to hustle up a plan to boot Yau Man based on Yau Man's immunity idol, but he couldn't quite convince enough people in time, because even math is not a member of Alex's alliance. Thus, Alex went home to boo-hoo with his friends and tell them how to vote. They are members of Alex's alliance, but they are of substantially less use to him now.
Rays swim about, and then we are at Bula Bula on Day 34. As the background music tosses out both suspense chords and hick twanging, we learn that (of course) we are watching Boo being sneaky. He explains that he's trying to create a secret path to the water hole, with the idea that he can hide there, and when other people try to come there to have secret conversations, he can eavesdrop. I'm not sure how he's going to follow them without being suspected of anything -- "Okay, you go get water; I think I'll...take a little walk having nothing to do with you at all" -- but at least he's trying. He looks at us and whispers, "Sneaky is fun." It's like Hot Elmer Fudd, if there were such a thing, which there definitely should not be, so I am kind of concerned about myself now for even linking those words. I apologize. No one should believe in that concept except people who make earflap hats. And shotguns, and LET'S STOP.
What's completely wonderful, editing-wise (whether or not it's true in actuality), is that while Boo is tiptoeing around out by the well to wait for people to show up talking about him, they're actually all back at camp. Where they're...talking about him. Specifically, Earl is telling everyone that the most important thing is to make sure Boo does not win immunity this week, because he's the designated bootee. Man, if they take this discussion to the well, Boo is so on it. Earl also cautions, though, that Boo had one clue to the idol, and it's always possible that he has it -- Earl hasn't seen the idol yet in the places he's had a chance to look. "If he has it, then what happens?" Stacy wonders. "We gotta blindside him," Earl offers. Stacy is, of course, willing to help in whatever way she can, including staging a fight with Earl or something. She certainly has changed her tune since her early days. It's amazing how a lady will go from strutting to totally sucking up. Earl interviews that they do intend to get rid of Boo, both because he's fairly strong and because it's not entirely clear whether he's trustworthy. There's something so very O.Henry about all this -- Earl is trying to outsmart Boo back at camp, while Boo is trying to avoid being outsmarted all the way out by the well...it's poignant, in a cream-pie-fight kind of way.
Yau Man interviews that right now, he's "definitely having fun." He says that there are a lot of "sneaky conversations," and apparently, that's just what he likes. I think it's highly inappropriate that so many of this year's contestants seem to view Survivor as an enjoyable game, thus passing up the opportunity to use it to get into heaven. I am displeased! Yau Man tells us that "getting rid of Boo first would make [his] life much, much better." Better chances, and also less farting around camp, is my guess. Boo continues to hide in the reeds near the well, just waiting -- waiting -- for somebody to come out there to talk about him. "If my name comes up on the chopping block," he says, "I'LL KNOW!" And he gives a firm thumbs-up to the camera. You couldn't have constructed that better; you really couldn't. Big valentines to the editors.
Full credits! Wow, Sylvia was this season. Can you believe it? I feel like she played with Twila back when we were all teenagers.
We return to Bula Bula, still on Day 34, where Stacy is going to fetch the basket-mail. In the basket, she finds a hatchet and a note that indicates a pretty sizable reward. She takes it back to read it to the tribe, and as soon as she reads the part about the reward being "big," Boo immediately tells them all that it's going to be the car challenge. He's probably watched enough Survivor to know that it's about time for the car to show up anyway. "Dreamz" starts telling everyone that he doesn't have a car, and he's the only one without one. In fact, he explains in an interview that he doesn't even have a license, because he's never needed one. So he tells the rest of the group that if anyone would be willing to help him get a car, he'd really appreciate it. Earl makes a "the hell?" face, which I love. Because seriously, dude. "I just want a car," he says. "I just want a car." I want a million dollars, goofball. Sometimes, life hands you lemons. I wish Earl or someone else had said, "That one may have to remain one of your 'dreamz,' because we all have 'mortgagez,' and some of us have 'relativez' who could use 'carz' also." Yau Man observes him thoughtfully, in a really great shot. There's a lot of really spot-on camera work and editing this season, which is something I haven't noticed in a while. Good for them. "Dreamz" interviews that if the challenge has anything to do with strength or agility, he's guaranteeing right now that he's going to win. Oh, "Dreamz." Never start making guarantees.
Challenge course. Jeff brings in the remaining six, saying to them, "And then there were six." I wonder if it makes him sad that there aren't more ways to express that same concept. It's probably like being Fountains Of Wayne and playing "Stacy's Mom" for the eight-hundredth time in three years. Jeff is standing to a giant blue curtain surrounding...well, something really big. Big! He says he's going to show them what they're playing for. He pulls a big rope, and the curtain drops to reveal a giant black pickup truck. They all look at it hungrily, and the show is nice enough to give you a huge close-up of the Ford logo, along with an FX twinkle. I think from this giant additional close-up of the car's markings, this may just be an F-350 Super Duty. With V8 Power Stroke. Hey, I knew a guy once who had that. Anyway. Earl seems to recognize the car instantly, putting his hands on his head and saying, "That's an F-350!" This truck, Jeff says, can haul three tons and tow twelve tons. I can't think of anyone who needs that much truck, except possibly Fitzcarraldo.
Jeff says that in this challenge, you're roped together into two groups of three. You walk together up and over a series of seesaws. If anybody falls off his seesaw, you have to all go back to the start. Then you crawl (still as a group, of course) up and through a tower that's all made with cargo netting, and then you dig in an expanse of sand to find a hatchet. You unwrap the hatchet and use it to chop a rope that's dangling a giant box over the bed of the truck. The box will fall into the truck, and your team wins. Your team will then drive the truck to a nearby village to deliver the box, which contains school supplies. The team will also grab a trailer (SEE HOW MUCH IT CAN HAUL? DO YOU? DO YOU?) that's carrying a "mobile school office." At the school, you'll get a picnic lunch. I wonder what Fijian lunch ladies are like. Hair nets? Of course, before you go, you have to determine who actually wins the car. This will be determined by a hatchet-throwing contest (among the winning team) requiring each person to throw a hatchet and cut two ropes. First to cut their ropes wins the car. Winner not only gets the car, but sends someone to Exile Island.
The teams are "Dreamz," Cassandra, and Earl against Stacy, Boo, and Yau Man. Ready...go! Yau Man falls off the seesaw. Aaaand again. Aaaand again. Now, Stacy later claimed that they were throwing this challenge so that Boo wouldn't get a full stomach before the immunity challenge, and indeed, you can see Yau Man repeatedly "falling" off the seesaw and then looking over at the other team, exactly as if he's looking to see whether they're far enough ahead yet. The "Dreamz" team runs to the cargo net, and finally, Yau Man and his team start making some progress on the seesaws. The teams crawl through the cargo nets. "Dreamz" and his team emerge first and start digging. Unfortunately, they are very, very bad at digging. And hey, guess what -- it's Boo who finally finds the hatchet. So it does seem entirely plausible that Stacy and Yau Man attempted to throw this challenge, and they couldn't, because "Dreamz," Earl, and Cassandra were that bad at digging. ["Or, in the alternative, because Boo is so very awesome that he won a team challenge all by himself with his own team sabotaging him! Love ya, Boo!" -- Joe R] Boo celebrates; everybody else looks just a little bit down. It's convenient, because they can all yell, "Booooo," and he won't know what's up. It's like being a baseball player named "Lou" or "Stu."
So now: hatchet-throwing. First to cut both ropes wins -- you get the truck, and you decide who goes to Exile Island. Boo cuts a rope on his first try; everybody else misses. The second time, Yau Man gets a hit, and everybody else misses. So now, Boo and Yau Man are tied. Stacy misses. Boo misses. Yau Man hits. He wins the car! He has so many secret crazy skills. And what I love is that none of them are stereotypical -- it's not like he turns out to be a martial arts guy or a math whiz. It's like, "Hi, no, I am not Pat Morita, morons -- but I am hell with a hatchet." He raises his hands in victory.
"Yau Man," Jeff says, "congratulations." Yau Man: "Thank you. So...I want to see if I can make a deal. With the car." Jeff looks at him, amused. "You're going to negotiate with the car?" Yau Man affirms. He asks "Dreamz" how badly he needs the truck. "You know how bad I need a car, Yau Man," says "Dreamz." So here's the deal that Yau Man offers: if he and "Dreamz" are both still there at F4, and if "Dreamz" wins immunity that time around, then "Dreamz" will give his individual immunity to Yau Man. "Dreamz" takes the deal without even thinking about it. "I promise to God," he says. Jeff clarifies the terms of the deal, also emphasizing that it's not enforceable in any way -- it's just a favor done in return for the hope of a favor later. It's honor only. "You can't enforce it; it's his word," Jeff says. I suspect part of the reason to clarify that is that the show doesn't allow you to agree to split the money, and I'm quite sure they wouldn't want you to agree to give the car away in exchange for a move in the game, either, and they want to make sure nobody thinks they're going to court after this to enforce something somebody said during the game. So it's made explicit that this is not binding on anybody; you're just hoping he'll do what he said he would because he said he would. In other words, the inside-the-game aspect of the entire thing is being clarified for everyone. Jeff also clarifies that under Yau Man's offer, if Yau Man or "Dreamz" gets voted out at this tribal council or the one, so that they're not even both there for F4, "Dreamz" can still keep the truck.
I really do think there are several things going on here. Yau Man is smart enough to look ahead and see that it's probably Boo and Stacy in some order going home , and then he's going to be completely, utterly screwed. He knows that this doesn't have a huge chance of success, but he also knows that if he does nothing, then he has almost no chance of success unless he wins immunity at F4 -- which, of course, he can still do. I also think he doesn't care a whit about the truck. I don't think he needs it, and I don't think he's impressed with the "haul twelve tons" thing, because...he's an older computer dude, and I don't think a giant testosterone truck is really his life. Finally, I do think that if you've listened to a guy talk about being homeless as a kid, who wouldn't feel good about giving him a truck? I mean, I'm no "Dreamz" fan, but to give a major windfall to a person who's had a hard go of it? That's pretty nice.
Total sidebar: While researching Yau Man's hobbies to make sure that I wasn't making a dope out of myself by ignoring the fact that his bio page at CBS.com said that his hobbies included "dragging giant trailers" or something, I discovered the most divine thing. It turns out that Yau Man listed as his favorite book something called The Reason-Driven Life. I read the description, and now, I am completely in love with him.
Anyway, so now, "Dreamz" is going on the reward with Boo and Stacy, meaning that Yau Man has to send someone to Exile Island from among Earl, Cassandra, and technically himself. But wait! Not so technically. Yau Man decides to send himself to Exile Island. "Yau Man is an amazing dude," "Dreamz" announces. Jeff Probst does a pretty good job with this moment, calling Yau Man "the first person in the history of Survivor to go from winning a truck to not having a truck and going to Exile Island." Heh. Yau Man is like the country song of the show. Yau Man heads for his boat to go into self-imposed exile. Jeff sends Earl and Cassandra back to camp. He tells the others that the truck will be floated up the river on a barge until they get to a road, and then they'll take off from there, and Jeff will be waiting at the school. "Dreamz" goes to check out the truck he won. Or "won." The truck is loaded onto the barge and begins floating.
Back from commercials, we find Yau Man arriving at Exile Island. He tells us that he really thought Earl had spent too much time here, and Cassandra wouldn't do so well, so that left himself. He says that he feels really good about being able to give the car to "Dreamz." He says it's clearly the biggest gift he's ever given anyone. I would think that would be true for most of us, except maybe Oprah. He says that "Dreamz" has the chance to "really, really change his life" -- not only because of the car, obviously, but overall, you can see where Yau Man is going with this. Being on the show will give the kid a boost...maybe the financial help of the car (provided he can pay the taxes) will push that even further. Yau Man says that his concern has always been that at F4, "Dreamz" would probably be there and would probably win immunity, so he figures that this way, as long as "Dreamz" sticks to his word, he'll be safe at F4. And this is his way to "get rid of 'Dreamz.'" Yau Man says that he was actually really surprised that "Dreamz" took the deal seemingly without thinking about it.
Yau Man climbs into the tower, explaining that in addition to the other reasons to put himself on Exile Island, he also gets to have another clue. This one, as you'd expect, makes it pretty explicit where the idol is in particular -- especially because it uses the word "pining" complete with quotation marks around it, meaning it's a pine tree. The show certainly does like to hand it to you on a platter. With glitter on it. And chocolate frosting. They really might as well tie the idol to the third clue, to be honest. Cut out the middle man. And by "the middle man," I mean your primate brain. Yau Man says that he'll be sharing this with Earl, and with luck, one of them can track it down.
Truck. "Dreamz" reminds us that Yau Man gave him this big, beautiful truck, and now it's all his. The truck backs up and connects to a trailer. You do not see "Dreamz" driving here, which is not too surprising, since he previously announced that he didn't have a license, and I don't think you'd start your driving career by pulling a giant trailer through the pouring rain in Fiji. In fact, you can see that Boo is driving as they pull up at the school, anxious to see the happy little faces of all the happy little children. The truck arrives and honks, and all the Fijian kids go running out, in a scene that looks very uncomfortably staged. And why is Jeff Probst with them? Terrifying. He's even dressed in the school uniform. Or they're all dressed like him, which was the interpretation of my friend Jane Wiedlin's Boyfriend, who found it to be the most terrifying moment of the entire episode, this sea of Probstian children teeming from the school like something out of Dawn Of The Leathery Host Guys. Stacy talks about how great this was, seeing the kids, blah blah. I have to say, for a box of "school supplies," a hell of a lot of the contents of that box seems to be sporting equipment. I mean, the kids like it, but that's not what we call "school supplies" where I come from. "Board Games"? Where are the graphing calculators? , Jeff shows the teachers the "mobile office," which will allow them to have a sofa and a copy machine and, presumably, all the gossip their little hearts desire. One of the teachers says that all the swag will "lift the level of achievement" in the school. I sure hope so. Particularly their level of achievement in kicking, if the supplies are any indication.
Lunch! "Dreamz" strikes up a conversation with a little kid about how he's from America, and it's much colder there than it is in Fiji. Heh. He interviews that the supplies were a "step up" for the kids, just like the truck was a "step up" for him. And right here is where "Dreamz" says that he finally started thinking about what Yau Man gained in the deal. Way to catch the snap, dude. "Dreamz" realizes that if he gives away immunity to Yau Man at F4, he's probably going home himself. So all of a sudden, the truck doesn't look so shiny. So, quite correctly, "Dreamz" has figured out that his best bet would be getting rid of Yau Man before he gets to F4. One would think. Or one would think if one were thinking, which it appears maybe he was not, so much.
Back from more commercials, it's Day 36 at Bula Bula. An orange lizard menaces the camera. Earl is hunting for the idol. Cassandra is elsewhere talking to "Dreamz," pointing out that Earl is off on the idol hunt. "Dreamz" seems surprised that this is what Earl is doing, and Cassandra is like, "What you think?" These are the little moments where you can figure out that he's not that smart. "Dreamz" tells Cassandra, "That truck was pure strategy," like he expects this to be a revelation. It's kind of silly, because it's not like Yau Man hid the ball about the fact that it was strategy. He was like, "I would like to make a deal with you regarding the later progress of the game." Traditionally, "a deal" involves something for me and something for you. If he'd claimed he was simply giving it as a gift, then maybe "Dreamz" would have some cause for the "I think it was pure strategy" thing, but with this? No. Anyway, "Dreamz" thinks that Yau Man was trying to get rid of him, knowing how close he is with Earl and Cassandra. He is literally the last one to figure this out. Including the orange lizard. "Dreamz" points out to Cassandra that "you could buy twelve cars with a million dollars." Mmm...a few more than that, actually. And he's totally right that he potentially made a very, very bad deal there, but...the problem is, he already made it. In an interview, "Dreamz" vows that he really will give Yau Man immunity at F4 if it comes to that, because he's a man of his word, and he wants to set a good example for his son, and he appreciates the gesture Yau Man made to him. But what this means is that "Dreamz" needs to get Yau Man out before F4. Which, incidentally, I think is totally fair. That's not part of the deal, so this isn't any kind of backstabbing -- Yau Man knew this might happen. Anyway, "Dreamz" says they have to take out Yau Man, and if Earl gets in the way, take him out, too. Er...not sure how that's supposed to work, there, dude. You can't start thinking that you're going to run the game with two people when there are six left. Cassandra interviews that it's tempting to get rid of Yau Man, because he'd be tough to face in front of the jury. But Boo is physically strong, so...what to do?
Challenge course. Boo is wearing the necklace around his arm, which is pretty funny. Didn't care for the fit, maybe? Grizzly Adams beard overwhelming the necklace a little? Yau Man is brought back from Exile Island. Jeff prods "Dreamz" to crow about how great the truck is, now that Yau Man is back. "Dreamz" talks about how great the car is, and he thanks Yau Man profusely, and Yau Man beams: "I'm glad you enjoyed it." Jeff takes back immunity from Boo and explains the challenge. Each person will stand on a floating platform with a long rope with a ball on the end. The idea is to throw the ball and drop it through a hoop attached to a beam. Then you pull the beam down with the rope and walk across. Essentially, the challenge is just doing this three times -- the first time, the first four will survive, then the last two, then the winner, who has to grab a buoy with a grappling hook to entirely finish the game. But mostly, it's lassoing the hoops with that little ball on the end of the rope.
First round. There honestly isn't a lot to say, except that "Dreamz" gets his almost immediately, followed by Boo, Earl, and Yau Man. Cassandra throws her entire ball and rope in the water, so she's not in it from the beginning, really. So it's the four men going on to the round. In the round, we learn that "Dreamz" got lucky the first time, because he's not doing so well this time. In fact, the two moving on turn out to be Yau Man, who is a real learning-curve guy who generally gets better even over the course of a short challenge, followed by Boo. So those are your finalists. And they both kind of need immunity, too. In the last round, it looks like they're both nervous, but Boo walks away with the victory. So that's all there is for the "boot Boo" plan. Nobody but Boo looks happy as Jeff puts the necklace around Boo's neck. One of the other five is going home. Back to camp, everyone.
When we return, it's still Day 36 at Bula Bula. The tribe talks, and Yau Man marvels at Boo's abilities with "ball and rope." Boo tells us that he was really "stoked" to win immunity, and he was even happier to have immunity when he realized that nobody else was at all happy that he won it, meaning he suspects that he was the one to go, had he not nailed down immunity.
Earl and Yau Man take a walk, and Earl asks about how exile was. Yau Man says that he did okay and stayed dry, and he also tells Earl that the third clue contained a reference to a pine tree. Yau Man interviews that the location is pretty well pinpointed once you get the third clue. They agree that it has to be inside a hollow pine tree near some kind of rock formation, based on a "tower of rock" thing that Earl got earlier. Earl interviews that they're just hoping to find the other idol, which would mean that each of them would have an idol going forward, which is pretty good. And so we go with Earl as he hunts for the idol. And then we watch as he looks up at a big rock. Hmm. "How do I get up there?" he wonders. He makes his way up a little hill. And then he pokes a tree with a stick. And then he reaches inside the tree. And...turtle! "Well, well, well," Earl chuckles. He opens it up and shows it to us. "We are in business," he says. Indeed, Earl, you are in business.
Earl goes back to camp and fetches Yau Man, and they take a walk. "Yau and I trust each other one hundred percent," Earl says, "and that's why we are where we are now." I think that's...actually true, believe it or not. He's happy to say that they each have one, which is a great place to be. Once they're alone, Earl shows Yau Man the immunity idol that he found. Yau Man asks if it was pretty easy to find, and Earl says, "There's a lot of pine trees." Heh. Yau Man says he was worried about how long Earl was gone. In an interview, Yau Man happily says that now, they each have an idol. That should get them to F4, and with his deal with "Dreamz," he thinks he's safe to F3. Yipes. No resting on your laurels! Danger lurks around every turn!
Indeed, elsewhere, "Dreamz" is talking to Stacy about getting rid of Yau Man. He tells her that as things stand right now, she's not making it to F4, because Earl and Cassandra want to take him and Yau Man. But if she helps him get rid of Yau Man, she'll be right there, back in the mix. Stacy interviews (quite wisely) that she thought there was a good chance she was going to be , once Boo won immunity. This would obviously make her particularly apt to accept what "Dreamz" is offering here. But now "Dreamz" wants her to help him get out of the truck-related mess he got himself into. She asks him how many votes there are against Yau Man, and he says it's just the two of them so far. But then, here comes Cassandra. "Dreamz" starts by telling her that every single plan he's come up with so far as gone kaput, which I think it...entirely true, even though he's still here. But now, he needs her to "help" get rid of Yau Man. He even says "please." Stacy tells Cassandra that she's willing to go along with this. "Dreamz" figures that if they convince Yau Man that Stacy is going, he won't use his idol. Cassandra interviews that there are pluses and minuses to voting out Yau Man -- the plus side is that he'd be hard to beat at the end, and the minus side is that if it doesn't work and he uses the idol, then she's really screwed herself with Yau Man and Earl, who are her basic alliance. I think her interpretation here is a good one. There's an argument for going with "Dreamz," but if she does this and they're at five, it's not clear that she still has another good ally besides "Dreamz."
To my surprise, Stacy takes Earl aside and totally snows him, telling him how she has no hard feelings, knows she's going, and so forth. Earl interviews that she was "going down with dignity" and so forth. No! No, no! Don't believe her! Earl tells Stacy how much he respects the fact that she's taking it so well. No, no! I have to say, I'm a little surprised that he didn't spot this in the offing. ["I love Earl but...serves him right for being that guy who talks about 'going down with dignity.'" -- Joe R]
Elsewhere, Yau Man says to "Dreamz," "So I guess we're voting out Stacy tonight?" "Dreamz" agrees, but he is the worst liar in history. Yau Man interviews that although the plan is to get rid of Stacy, he's watching very carefully to see what's going on. I hope so! Think, Yau Man, think! "Dreamz" says to Yau Man, "Yau? You changed a man's life." It's way, way, WAY more of a "so you can still feel good, even though you're losing" speech than he should be giving. Yau Man thanks "Dreamz" for making the deal, and watches his reaction closely. "Dreamz" tells Yau Man that he knows Yau Man's strategy is to take him out "at three." At three? Doesn't he mean at four? Oh, "Dreamz." You are so frequently confused. As he talks in an interview about never really knowing for sure what's going to happen, we watch him watching Stacy's face. Yau Man goes and sits to Earl on a rock -- about a foot from Boo's head, interestingly -- and says, "I have bad vibes." Earl shakes him off, just like Tim Robbins in Bull Durham. Shakes him off, shakes him off, shakes him off again. Don't believe him, Yau Man! He's nice, but not as wily as you!
Tribal council. Seats are taken, and Jeff brings in the jury. Alex totally looks like he needs a noogie. Get on that, Mookie! Jeff talks about what happened at the reward challenge. In explaining it, "Dreamz" refers to himself as "a great man of [his] word," which makes Alex and Edgardo laugh particularly hard -- Mookie, I'm sure, is in on this as well. "Dreamz" says that he intends to make sure that he wins immunity and gives it to Yau Man at that point. Jeff asks Yau Man what he's expecting. Yau Man says that he expects "Dreamz" to keep his word, but he knows that in making that deal, he made himself a target in this round and the round. Yau Man adds that the other part is that Yau Man knows "Dreamz" needs a car. "That's my big heart, I let him have the car," he adds with a chuckle. Alex makes a "whatever" face, even though Yau Man totally made it clear that the strategy was primary and the charity was secondary. Alex finds everyone else so pathetic from his spot over there where he CAME IN SEVENTH.
Jeff brings up the immunity idol and asks Boo if he's nervous. "It doesn't matter to me who has the idol at this point," Boo answers. They make a big shocked-sound-effect thing out of this answer, but...isn't that what Boo should say? He has immunity -- he doesn't care who has it. I'm not sure what the big damage is supposed to be from him making this remark. Asked if she believes Boo, Cassandra says it totally matters who has it, because it can be used in the two tribal councils. Well...yes, but...anyway. I don't really get why Boo's answer was bad.
Jeff asks Earl about someone making a "million-dollar blunder" by having the idol, not playing it, and being voted out. Earl says that it's definitely a matter of guessing when you need it. He says that every time you come, you're a target. So it's not like you're only a target once. Jeff asks Stacy how nervous she is about the possibility that it's her. She says she's nervous because she came late to the alliance, and it might be that they'll target her before going to the core people. Also, she's mean and no one likes her, as they've already made clear. "Dreamz" says that he thinks everyone will try to get him out before he can give immunity to Yau Man...or something. As is often the case with things he says, it doesn't make a hell of a lot of sense. I always kind of feel like I need a mental translator.
And now, Jeff asks Stacy what she thinks will come out of tonight's vote. "I think everyone wants to seem like they're playing nice," she says, "but I think there's going to be lines drawn, and there's going to be divisions among the tight-knit alliance. Because I don't think that it's all going to be a vote one way or the other. I think it's going to be split." Now, it's always hard to tell whether the timing of reaction shots is genuine, but we certainly see Yau Man make a hell of a scrunchy face at this point. It is the scrunchy face that gives me hope! Catch on, Yau Man. Catch on! Earl just flicks his eyes between Stacy and Jeff. That cool eye-flicking thing he does is sexier than anything self-consciously sexy that anyone does on any other show, I will tell you that. Jeff reminds everyone that if you have the idol, you can play it after everyone votes but before the votes are read.
Earl votes. Boo votes. Yau Man votes for Stacy: "Sorry, it's your turn." Cassandra votes. Stacy votes. "Dreamz" votes: "Sorry, bro, that's how the game goes." Jeff goes off to tally. When he returns, he says that if anyone wants to play an idol, now is the time. The wait is interminable. Everyone looks around. Earl looks over at Yau Man. Yau Man looks stalwart. And then...Yau Man reaches into his bag, thank God, and takes out the idol, which he walks over to Jeff. "Dreamz" rubs his hands over his face. Jeff explains that all votes for Yau Man will be thrown out, and those voting for Yau Man make unhappy faces. It's not the best face-wilting of the season, because except for Stacy, they're not specifically screwed; they're just like, "Oh, nooooo." And I love that.
First vote is for Stacy. vote is for Yau Man. Yau Man nods and smiles. vote is for Stacy. vote is for Yau Man. So there are two for Stacy and two for Yau Man, and there are two left. If the is for Yau Man, then Stacy's done, because there aren't enough votes for a tie. And the vote is for Yau Man. So Stacy is going home. Earl smiles this wonderful smile and shakes his head, like, "Okay, guess I'm glad we didn't listen to my suck-o advice, huh?" Hard to gauge jury reaction there. Stacy is snuffed. What we don't know, based on that reading of votes, is whether the last vote was for Yau Man or Stacy. Either Boo or Cassandra could potentially claim that they voted for Stacy, but they're likely to be outed immediately by everyone else.
In her final words, Stacy explains that she took a risk, hoping that Yau Man wouldn't play the idol, and it didn't work out. She doesn't say, "I guess it wasn't very smart for me to tell everyone I thought there was going to be a split vote if my goal was to make people think there wasn't going to be a split vote."
: the finale. What will become of that car deal? Will Boo keep winning immunity? Can any of these people beat either Earl or Yau Man in a final vote, should it come to that? What if Earl and Yau Man are both in the final vote? Tune in. It could actually be satisfying. Or painful. Or both.