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After two unexpected contestant departures, the producers have to juggle things around a little, so we get a lot of filler and a combined immunity/reward challenge. So Ami and Cirie go crab-hunting while Ozzy frets that his tribe thinking of him as a leader. Maybe he shouldn't have acted like one, then. Over at Airai, Jason tries to impress the ladies by killing and eating a rat. It doesn't work. Instead, Parvati makes a deal with Alexis and Natalie for her and James to align with them until the merge, and then with Parvati and Amanda to the Final Four. Then there's an odd request; each tribe is to select one member of the opposing team to sit out the upcoming reward/immunity challenge and go to Exile Island. The Exliee will have immunity if his tribe loses the challenge, but miss the reward if his team wins. Airai chooses Ozzy and Malakal chooses James, then crosses him out and selects Alexis, instead. Why? Ami offers up a lame excuse about Alexis looking like she's good at balancing. Whatever. For the challenge, Erik and Amanda race against Eliza and Jason on yet another obstacle course of danger. Erik takes the opportunity to leap, chest-first, into a platform and probably break all of his ribs, but it's not enough and Malakal loses yet again. Erik is sure he's a goner but tries his hardest to stay in it, telling Cirie and Amanda about all of Ami's behind-the-scenes plotting with the Fans. Ami talks her way out of it and, in a particularly evil moment, thanks Erik for giving her the opportunity to become closer to Cirie and Amanda. But then Ozzy returns from Exile Island and is greeted by Erik, who tells him about how Ami's been gunning for him. Ozzy does not like this. At an emotional (well, for Ami, at least) tribal council, Ami cries that she's only just started to feel like she belonged in her tribe and now no one trusts her. As if they ever could. In the end, it all catches up with her and she's gone. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
Malakal returns to camp from Tribal Council and everyone is buzzing about Tracy's accusations that Ozzy is leading the tribe. While everyone tells Ozzy it's not a big deal, he won't let it go and insists that he is not the leader of the tribe. Instead, he says, everyone in the tribe has his own job to do, and they all do their jobs well. Ozzy's job just happens to be leading people. Looking really stoned, Ozzy tells us he's not a leader; he just has a lot of good survival ideas to force upon his minions.
In night vision, even though I'm pretty sure this is going on during the day, Cirie and Ami are armed with machetes and skulking around the woods. They freeze, and Cirie makes a face while Ami looks around. A crab ducks behind a log. "Keep going," Ami whispers. They climb a pile of rocks (or rather, Ami climbs it while Cirie probably makes a face or something) and the music picks up. A crab peeks out from behind a rock. "A big ass one!" Cirie calls out. Ami's on it, leaping into action and hacking away at the crab with her machete. "Nice work," Ami pats herself on the back. Nice work, indeed. Ami has managed to kill a crab of modest size that should provide the group with an eighth of an ounce of meat. Have they killed those chickens yet? I was sort of expecting to see a big ol' chicken slaughter as soon as they returned from booting Tracy. The sun "rises" as Cirie cooks up her and Ami's catch. They brag that they killed eight crabs and are the "Crab Warriors." Amanda walks up and girlfriends them all as Ozzy looks on.
Later, Ozzy and Ami chop coconuts. He's still worried that people think he's the leader of the tribe, but Ami tells him not to worry about it. She says she has no intention of getting rid of Ozzy, and that even when Tracy came to her with the plan to get rid of Ozzy, Ami told Tracy no way. Hmm, I guess this was when Tracy was wearing her very convincing Ami mask she fashioned out of sand and pieces of coral, as I recall someone who looked a lot like Ami being the one responsible for this plan. In fact, Ami says, pouring it on nice and thick, it was she, the Crab Warrior, who "stopped anything crazy from happening." Ozzy's even more worried now, but Ami again tells him not to worry about anything. Ozzy tells us that Ami is a little bit too quick to swear her allegiance to him. "I'm starting to get uneasy feelings," Ozzy says.
Over at Airai, everyone's sitting around engaging in their favorite activity: talking about foods they can't have. I have no idea why you'd want to torture yourself with this, but it's something that every contestant on this show does every season. The Palau cast used to recite their favorite recipes over and over again every night. Jason gets so into the food discussion that when he spots a rat, he takes out a paddle and kills it. The girls scream, and not in happiness at a new source of food. "Aw, poor guy," Jason says. I wish he'd been that sympathetic before he murdered it. Jason says there's not very much meat on it, but he's going to eat it anyway. He'd fucking better; if he killed the rat and didn't use it for food then he'd be an asshole as well as an idiot. Jason says no one's eaten a rat since Season One, and thanks for making me have to go find that link buried under fifteen seasons of show, Jason. He concludes that this is really cool. I guess he has no way of knowing that Amanda killed a SHARK with her bare hands, thereby making his little catch look all the punier, ha ha ha! Parvati also disagrees with Jason, but puts it even better than I could, saying Jason's been trying to impress them since they got on the island but "it's not working. I think he's a loser." OUCH, though. I kind of feel sorry for Jason as I imagine him at home, surrounded by family and friends for weekly viewing night, with a single tear rolling down his cheek while the rest of the audience looks around in an uncomfortable and prolonged silence.
James and Parvati (who has a brown ring around her mouth for some reason. Did they get chocolate milk in a reward challenge I didn't see?) complain about the Airai beach. They are always complaining about that beach. It must really suck compared to Malakal, which isn't really fair to the contestants. Even the ocean hates the Airai beach, as James points out they while they used to have calm water at Malakal, Airai has choppy seas too dangerous to boat in. "Popeye wouldn't go in that. You would die! Jacques Costeau would be like, 'damn!'" James cracks me up. "This is where they bring the criminals," James says of the Airai coast. Then James gets down to strategizing, worrying that if Alexis and Natalie get too close to the merge, Eliza and Ami will swoop in and ally with them, and then Parvati, James, Ozzy, and Amanda's alliance will be in trouble. Parvati tells us that they'll have to pull in more people if they want to stay in the game. After a shot of a symbolic spider weaving its web, Parvati goes to Natalie and says that she and James want to ally with Natalie and Alexis. Natalie agrees to this. I can't believe Eliza didn't approach her earlier. Maybe she did and we didn't see it. I hope so, for Eliza's sake. Love you, Eliza! Parvati continues that once the merge happens, the big guys (Ozzy and James are mentioned. Oddly, neither Erik nor Jason are) will get voted out quickly, leaving Parvati, Amanda, Alexis, and Natalie in the Final Four. Parvati tells us she likes James and Ozzy, but knows it'll be impossible to go against them in the end. She'd rather go against Natalie and Alexis. From calling Jason a loser to doing some actual strategizing, Parvati kind of rules this week.
Eliza and Jason are spending a lot of time together, and discover some treemail or whatever they're calling it these days. It instructs the team to pick one player on Malakal to sit out today's challenge and go to Exile Island. That player will then get individual immunity from tribal council if his team loses today's challenge. Eliza is shocked to see there's a tribal council tonight, while Jason figures out from the Malakal member names on the paper that Tracy was voted out last night and thus displays mental abilities I didn't know he had. Eliza tells us what we just saw, and then Jason wonders who on their tribe will get the immunity.
That's our cue to go to Malakal, where Amanda reads the clue that says today's challenge will involve balancing and that the winning team probably gets food and no tribal council. They wonder who to choose to sit out. "Whoever's their best balancer," Ami says. That would be the guy who coaches gymnastics, right? Right? Meanwhile, Erik hopes against hope that he'll be the one picked by Airai because immunity is his only chance to stay in the game right now. Well, Erik, I guess that's what happens when you let the "Fans" get picked off, one by one, without doing anything to stop it, and you yourself are also a "Fan."
Probst is disappointed that his announcement that Tracy was voted out last night isn't met with much surprise, since even Jason figured that out already from the clue. Cirie smirks at Airai, and Eliza rolls her eyes. Not sure if one thing lead to the other or it was just the editing, but who cares? It made Eliza look badass. Probst explains the immunity rules once more: each team has selected a member of the other tribe to sit out and go to Exile Island. If that person's team loses the challenge, the Exilee will have immunity at tonight's (and only tonight's, like anyone thought he was going to get super-permanent immunity or something. On second thought, that's probably exactly what Jason thought) tribal council. Probst collects the selections, and we see that Airai chose Ozzy, much to Erik's chagrin, and Malakal selected James, then crossed his name out and wrote "NO JAMES" and changed it to Alexis. All of Airai is like, "huh?" Alexis is probably more shocked than anyone, as she actually reacts with a facial expression if not words. Ami non-explains to a curious Probst that they thought the challenge was about balancing and Alexis "seemed" like she'd be good at that. Um. Okay, I know the players can't see the little writing that accompanies Jason's name that says "Gymnastics Coach," but surely, one of them must know that he's a gymnast, right? Erik? Hello? Alexis just makes an "oookay, whatever" face that I like. Maybe she'll be really cool once she starts talking and stuff.
Probst sends Ozzy and Alexis to the boat and asks the remaining players if they're ready for the challenge. "How about what we're playing for?" Jason demands. Oh, dude. What was that? What is his freaking problem that he has to blow up Probst's spot like this? This is worse than the time he made Probst sit back down at Tribal Council. Probst should smash him over the head with the immunity idol for such insubordination. Instead, he just asks for the immunity idol back so he can give his important "immunity is back up for grabs" line and explain the challenge. Basically, two members of each tribe have to navigate an obstacle course. There's a balance beam section where opposing team members can throw sandbags at you. If you fall off, which is demonstrated by one of the challenge actors hamming it up by losing her balance and pitching into the water, you have to go back to the beginning and the other team member will go. If you make it across the course, you grab a flag and then do the course again to return with it. The first team to get five flags wins. And now that Probst is good and ready, he'll tell them what they're playing for: besides immunity, the winning team will have pizza and beer delivered to their camp. Eliza almost craps her bikini at this news, and the rest of her team is similarly excited. Malakal looks somewhat less thrilled, probably because they know there's no way in hell they're getting that prize. Airai sits out Parvati (BIG LOSS there) and the game begins!
Eliza and Jason will be running the course for Airai, leaving Natalie and James to throw sandbags. Amanda and Erik will be running the course for Airai, leaving the Crab Warriors to swing the bags. Jason and Erik go first, and we see that the obstacle course only has one balance beam. So if one person is on it, the other player has to wait until he gets all the way across before he can go. This is stupid. I'm guessing/hoping this was a last-minute way to play catch-up with all the unexpected player losses and they just didn't have time to build two balance beams. It's either that, or the brains behind the challenge that almost killed Jonathan have worked their magic once again. The race starts, and while Jason walks across the rope bridge, Erik chooses to jump across it. He makes it, although not very gracefully, and gets to the spinning balance beam section before Jason, so Jason has to stand around waiting for Erik to get across. Despite this, they're just about neck-and-neck as they roll through a net to grab their flags. They make their back to the beginning, with Erik nearly falling through the rope bridge, then managing to stop himself by swinging his legs out and grabbing both ropes without touching the ground. Meanwhile, Amanda probably got a faceful of penis. Jason catches up and Eliza sets out, but quickly falls through the rope bridge. Just as she's turning to go back, Amanda comes flying through the frame as she also falls. She did not look pleased about that fall one bit. It probably hurt. Jason gets across first and Erik catches up to him with another leap across the bridge. They both get their flags back to the beginning, with Airai in the lead. Eliza makes it across the rope bridge this time, as does Amanda, although she almost falls through again. While Amanda slowly gets across the bridge, Eliza is knocked off the balance beam by Ami's well-placed sandbag. By the time Amanda gets to the balance beam, Jason's right behind her. They get to the rope bridge, and Jason makes up for lost time and takes the lead.
Eliza is pretty far along the rope bridge when Erik leaps across his. Somehow, even though it looks like Erik got to the spinning balance beam first, I guess Eliza touched it with her hand first, and that's what counts? Because Probst lets her go first and makes Erik wait. She gets the flag first, and on her return trip is wary of Ami's bag-throwing skills. They play chicken for a while, with Eliza trying to fake Ami out and make her throw the bag early, but in the end, Eliza is able to make it past the bags and across the bridge. Also, she can be cautious since Erik is behind her, so he can't move until she does. Again, a second balance beam wouldn't have been a bad idea here. Erik also makes it across, and then I guess he's allowed to go again instead of Amanda, because he does. He tries to leap across the rope bridge again, but this time he's not so lucky. He hits the opposite platform chest-first. I assumed he was, like, dead, but Probst just tells him to go back to start. And he's moving, so I guess he's okay. But damn, that looked painful. While Jason easily gets across the course, Amanda falls through the bridge so it's Erik's turn again. Yet AGAIN, even though there's really no point this time as Jason is about to win and even if Jason did fall at the last second, leaping across the gap wouldn't make much of a difference for Malakal, Erik jumps for it. He gets across, although lands badly on one of his feet. It doesn't seem to bother him, though. Nor does it matter; Jason makes it back with the flag. Before he can put it in the bucket, though, he has to scream "PIZZA AND BEER!" It would have been funny if he'd fallen off the platform and dropped the flag, giving Malakal the win. He manages to stay upright and get the flag in the bucket, though, so Airai celebrates and Malakal sulks. Especially Erik.
Malakal minus Ozzy arrive back at camp. "Who took that really hard fall?" Ami asks. Um...duh. I know they've got similar hair, Ami, but the fact that Erik wasn't wearing a shirt should be enough for you to tell them apart. Ami asks if he's okay while ominous music plays. "No," Erik says. He says it hurt "like crazy" and lifts his shirt for the ladies to see. There's no mark there, although I'm sure he got a nice bruise at some point later on. Ami tells us that she likes Erik and wishes they could have won the challenge today, but since they didn't, he's going tonight. "I don't see any way out for him," Ami says confidently.
Happy music brings us to the Airai camp, where Eliza says "Jason, that challenge was made for you," and they even subtitle it just so we can all know what dumbshits Malakal were not to sit him out. It goes to Jason's head, as he tells us he was the MVP of the challenge and brought back four of the five flags. He's still concerned about his position in the tribe, but the fact that he has the hidden immunity idol helps. Hee hee hee. I can't wait for him to play that thing. The look on Probst's face! Delicious. He says he's not going to count on any alliances and just compete hard. Wow, that sounds like a really smart plan that has worked for ABSOLUTELY NO ONE IN THE HISTORY OF THIS GAME. Parvati tells us that she thinks the key to the team's success is that Eliza and Jason knew they were "on the outs" and therefore the ones going home tonight if they lost, so they both gave their all. Why does everyone hate Eliza so much? Why can't she be on the ins?
A boat pulls up with four boxes of pizza (I hope they save some for Alexis!), a bucket of beer, and some garlic bread that Probst totally forgot to mention during the challenge and recovers for by saying they just decided to throw it in. Eliza tells us they're in heaven and she can't stop smiling. I think the beer might have helped with that. Meanwhile, that pizza, like all pizzas on this show, looks kind of gross. But I'll bet after you've been starving for twenty days it looks like the best thing ever. James impresses everyone by opening the beer bottles with his teeth. Ouch. Jason tries to do it too, but can't. Ha ha! Stick to slaughtering rats, douchebag. By the way, I've known one person who could open beer bottles with his teeth. But then he couldn't drink any of them because he was an alcoholic. I just can't believe Probst was cruel enough to give them all those beers and no bottle opener. He must really hate Jason.
Because we need filler this week, we head on over to Exile Island, where Ozzy plays dumb as he and Alexis follow the clues. He tells us he wants to "find" the immunity idol so he can see whether or not someone took his fake one. He and Alexis make their way to the final resting spot, and Ozzy checks under the rock and finds the immunity idol is gone. "Someone's taken the bait!" he cheers, rubbing his hands together in glee. "Who's it gonna be?" he wonders; "who's gonna be tricked by Ozzy?" Honestly, Ozzy, don't think you're so awesome. It's more like the person who found the fake idol is so dumb.
Back at Malakal, Cirie and Amanda hang out on a log and wonder why they suck so bad at challenges. Cirie says she feels bad for Erik, as he'll be leaving now, but not bad enough to, you know, let him stay. Erik uses the last of his Ozzy-knowledge to climb a tree and get some coconuts. He tells us he wants to stay in this game very badly and claims to have seen this show so many times. Too bad it was apparently the same episode each time, and that episode wasn't a very good one. It kills him that he's thisclose to making the merge and now he's going home. "All the fans are dead in the tribe. All the favorites have the control," he says. Well you did vote out some of those fans, didn't you? Oops! "I'm pretty desperate right now," he says.
And in this desperation, he goes to Cirie and Amanda and asks them if they trust Ami. "Why?" Amanda asks. Erik says Ami's been trying to make an alliance with the fans since Joel's ouster. He tells them everything Ami's tried to do so far. Even though none of those plans ever happened, she did try. And she spilled the beans to Erik about all the alliances that were in the game, like hers with Yau-Man. As Ami emerges from some bushes wearing what looks suspiciously like a medic-provided Ace bandage around her knee, Erik says he likes Ami and doesn't want to hurt her, but he wants to stay in the game even more. He tells the girls he'll be voting for Ami tonight and hopes they do as well. "But after the merge you're just gonna go right back to Airai," Amanda says. Erik says Ami will do the same thing. Cirie tells us she doesn't know who to trust, as Ami walks up behind Erik. Cirie continues that Erik would say anything to stay in the game, while Ami has proven "time and time again" that she can't be trusted, especially not by Cirie. Ami walks past them and turns back, sensing she could be in trouble. She limps over with a smile plastered on her face and asks Erik if he's been telling them "everything." Amanda and Cirie are having a blast watching these two people fight for their game lives. They're having a little bit too much fun, actually. Stop gloating, you two.
After the commercial, Erik is off cutting a coconut, giving Ami a chance to talk to the girls. She graciously says she's not mad at Erik for telling the truth. How big of her! She says she doesn't think she's done anything to hurt Cirie or Amanda. Cirie and Amanda just stay on their log, eating coconut before they render their final verdict. They are absolutely loving this. Ami tells them to remember that Erik is saying anything and everything to stay in the game. Cirie folds her buff and tells us that no matter who she decides to keep, it'll be risky. Erik could go back with the "Fans" after the merge and possibly get Eliza to vote with them. Ami could do the same thing.
Cirie and Amanda have decided to stand up, and Ami tells them she always felt like she was on the outs with them and did whatever she had to do to feel like she was in with someone. Amanda says they never asked her to join because they knew she had her alliance with Eliza. There's a pause as Ami thinks about this very valid point. She can't come up with an excuse, so she just jumps to the point, that after the switch no one came to her and invited her to be a part of their alliance. And that's all she wanted. So Amanda gives her that, and Ami thanks her pathetically. Amanda tells us that they don't know Erik, but they do know Ami. And they'd rather go with the devil they know than the one they don't. Except the devil they know may very well be the actual Devil. Ami, Cirie, and Amanda seal their alliance with a group hug that Cirie doesn't appear to want to be any part of. I'm wondering why Cirie isn't taking advantage of this to get Erik and Ami to vote with her and take out Amanda. Surely she knows she's at the bottom of the alliance as soon as Ami's gone?
And now let's welcome back the Evil Ami we all know and love. I was wondering what happened to her this time around, but I see she was just lying in wait. Waving the machete around, Ami tells Erik she owes him a thank you because she just had a really good talk with Cirie and Amanda. "That's what I wanted, yeah," Erik says. "That's not what you wanted," Ami says with an evil laugh, pointing the machete at Erik. Erik. Run. RUN!!!! You're gonna DIIIIIEEE!!!! Ami gives me the shivers. After transcribing her entire season, she was the one contestant I just really didn't want to meet. Not at the reunion, and certainly not in a dark alley. Not ever. Erik tries to get away, but Ami wants to make absolutely sure he knows the price of going up against her, so she spells it out. She says she had a talk with the girls and now she feels a lot closer to them and like she's actually part of their alliance. "Thank you. Thank you," Ami says. Okay, so I guess there's a slim chance that Ami was sincerely grateful to Erik and that's what all that was about. But there's a much, much greater chance that she's just sticking it to him and getting him back for trying to screw her over by rubbing this in. With a machete. "No problem," Erik says, sounding terrified of the evil he sees behind Ami's eyes.
Erik tells us that things are looking pretty bad for him, and while he doesn't want to give up, he doesn't know what else to do. He makes damn sure he's right there when Ozzy's boat comes in so he can get to him first. "How well do you trust Ami?" Erik starts. He then tells Ozzy that Ami plotted against him twice with the "Fans." It's so serious that Ozzy has to take his hat off at the news. Erik says he'll write Ami's name down tonight and he hopes Ozzy and the girls will, too. Ozzy tells us that when he finds out that someone's made a move against him, he wants them out as soon as possible. He goes to Amanda, who says she and Cirie want to keep Ami. Ozzy doesn't. "Ami's a lying little snot," he says. Just like the rest of you. Come on now. Amanda isn't buying it, saying they know what Ami's about and how she plays. They don't have that same assurance about Erik. Again, knowing what Ami's about and how she plays would not equal assurance for me. Well, Ozzy, since you insist you're not the leader of the tribe and you don't tell your tribemates what to do, I'm sure you'll just go along with their plan, right?
Dramatic music plays us into tribal council. Malakal sits, and Probst sets about calling them out for sucking, starting with Cirie, who he tells (doesn't even bother to ask) is on what is "clearly the inferior tribe at this point." Meanwhile, Probst was clearly on the inferior reality show Dancing With the Stars last week and I still have no idea why. Is he hoping to become a contestant? A judge? A host? Anyway, Cirie says she doesn't know why they keep losing, but they don't like it. Probst turns to Erik and points out the obvious, that every person voted out of Malakal thus far has been a "Fan," so he should be scared. Erik says this has occurred to him and he feels "hopeless" and is "baffled" about how things could have ended up this way. Here's a hint for you, Erik: Joel was so determined to vote out Chet no matter what, thereby splitting the "Fan" alliance while the "Favorites" remained strong and took you all out, one by one. Ozzy speaks up and says that while they were an alliance of "Favorites" in the beginning, the people at the bottom of that alliance have tried to join up with the Fans. At this, Ami's eyes well with tears. Ozzy continues that this makes things "funky." Funky as in Funky Winkerbean, the "comic" strip where everyone gets cancer and dies? Or "funky" as in "the way this game goes every single season, come on now it's not like you didn't expect this so stop being such a baby about it?"
Probst picks right up on Ami's tears and asks her what's up. She says she knows Ozzy is talking about her. "Why would you say that?" Ozzy asks. Oh, shut up, Ozzy. You're only saying that to draw the big confession out of her that you think you deserve. Erik says that as soon as the "Fans" arrived at Malakal, Ami came up to them and tried to make an alliance. Ami says she did and she could have stuck with the "Fans" and voted out the "Favorites" one by one, but she didn't. I don't think she could have done it the first time because Joel was so determined to get rid of Chet at all costs, and the first vote would have been the only time her defection to the "Fans" would have guaranteed the numbers. So Ami really didn't have the opportunity to do anything. Nor did she. She tried to make one, but couldn't. It wasn't because she had any allegiance to the "Favorites," which is what she's claiming now. Ami says she finally felt like she was a part of the tribe and now they're telling her they don't trust her, conveniently forgetting all of the things she's done, on both this season and others, to lead them to this conclusion.
Ozzy doesn't agree that they haven't let Ami feel like part of their alliance because Ozzy refuses to see how he's done anything wrong in this game, ever. When Ami points out some examples, Ozzy changes the subject, asking Ami if she ever tried to align with the "Fans" to vote him out. She says absolutely not and only told Erik and Tracy that so that they wouldn't feel hopeless and camp morale wouldn't suck. "The only way I would vote for you is to win the million dollars. Period," Ami concludes. I don't believe her, although I do think she believes what she's saying. Ami has a convenient ability to forget all of the wrong things she's done and the lies she's told and only remember the good. And if there is no good, creating it out of thin air.
Because we still have some time to fill, Probst asks Cirie how to choose between sticking with the plan and voting out a "Fan" or taking out a fellow "Favorite" whose loyalties have been questioned. Cirie, wearing what might possibly be her remorseful smirk, says she doesn't have to make any decisions because Ozzy told her and Amanda what to do. Actually, she says that the "Favorites" are like the "home team" and you don't want the visitors to beat you. But you also have to go with your gut and vote out the person you trust the least.
And I guess we're really struggling to fill some time because Amanda gets to tell us what she thinks. Because she can't imitate the sound of chirping crickets, she has to say that she likes Ami and thinks she's a "really good person" and wants to believe what she's saying. BORING! Probst quickly turns back to Ozzy and asks for his take, which is: "God, I really want to trust Ami. I really do." Ami breaks down and sobs that she doesn't know why Ozzy can't trust her. Probst asks Erik why they should believe him. He makes a not-very-convincing argument that he's desperate and backed up against a wall, which would make me think he would say anything not to get voted out tonight, truth or lie. Ami says the tribe should trust her because her heart is in this game and in this tribe. She wants to fight for this tribe. They have so many more challenges to lose! She appeals to Cirie and Amanda to trust her and plays the "Favorite" card, saying she wants to keep all the Favorites in the game -- even Eliza! How big of her. Truly, her heart has no limits. Have we ever seen someone beg not to be voted out like this before? Mercifully, it's finally time to vote.
Ami votes for Erik, saying "I don't even know what to say," which isn't true because she follows that by saying Erik is a good guy. I guess they cut her off before she could say "to BURN ALIVE MWAHAHAHAHA!" Erik votes for Ami; his font all artistic and cool-looking. He probably took some time drawing that and pissed off the entire crew. Those voting markers go dry pretty quickly. I wonder if he had to ask for another marker. Erik says nice things about Ami, since he's already said all the bad stuff. We don't see how anyone else voted but Cirie's smirk is conflicted.
Probst comes back with the urn and asks if anybody wants to play the immunity idol. Of course not, but we have three shots of people looking around nervously anyway. Time = filled! Probst reads the votes. I think Erik's going home for sure. The first vote is Erik's vote for Ami. Second is Ami's vote for Erik. Third vote is...for Ami! She knows she's done, which is exactly how Tracy felt last week when she saw that Ami, who she winked at seconds previously, hadn't voted with her after all. Erik somehow resists dancing in incredible relief and joy. With the fourth vote, Ami is voted out. Everyone looks sad except for Ozzy, who's very pleased with himself. Ami and Erik hug and Cirie mourns the loss of her fellow Crab Warrior. "You guys have to start winning," Ami says as Jeff extinguishes her flame of life or whatever. She graciously waves good-bye and wishes them all good-luck before girlishly scampering off into the night. Probst no duhs that they listened to their guts (which isn't a very nice way to describe Ozzy) and voted accordingly tonight.
Over the closing credits, Ami says it kills her that her tribe couldn't trust her. She really doesn't know why they wouldn't, does she? It's like there are two Amis, and they don't talk to each other. So Evil Ami is free to plot and scheme while Sweet Ami, like, saves endangered species of birds or something. "I'm blessed that I got to play this game twice," she concludes. Honestly, I think she's played it four times by now.
You can read more from Sara Morrison at L.A.me, which she occasionally updates when she's bored at work. Or you can try your luck emailing her at saramorrison@gmail.com with news that some Nigerian king died and she stands to gain ten percent of his fortune if she hands over her bank account info.