When treemail arrives, the Survivors find out the winner of Reward will get to go away from camp. Kim and Kat immediately agree to take one another as long as they can also avoid leaving Christina, Alicia, and Troy at camp together.
Reward Challenge: Answer questions about how the majority answered questions. If you get it right, you get to chop someone else's rope and three chops sends a doll representing that person into the fire. The creepy part is that the dolls are dressed like each person, and after they burn, they leave a skeleton hanging there. To the surprise of no one, Troy gets the most chops and goes out first. Tarzan and Chelsea follow. Then Kat and Sabrina, and then Christina. Alicia and Kim are the final two, and Kim wins the reward of a helicopter ride to a private beach for a picnic. She gets to pick someone, so she picks Alicia. And then despite her earlier promise to Kat, she picks Chelsea. Troy talks a lot of smack about how this shows the pecking order in the alliance, and Kat is PISSED. This challenge was just like the board game True Colors, which I think got pulled from the market because (at least in my group of friends), it always caused fights and someone stomping out of the room, pissed. Genius.
While on the reward, Kim worries about the lasting effects of the challenge. And she's right to be worried, because Troy is using the opportunity to work on Kat's mind. Sabrina lets Troy talk to see who will go along with his plan, and Christina seems most willing to flip. When Kim gets back and sees how upset Kat is about the whole thing, she regrets not taking her.
Then a pig wanders into camp and they all run around and giggle, but fail to actually catch it. Well, Troy's the only one who even gets close, and I suspect he might be botching it on purpose because he doesn't want to deal with it. Kim is happy that something happened to break the tension after the Reward.
Immunity Challenge: Slide down a slip and slide, grabbing rope rings along the way and then toss the ring on a post. They compete two at a time in rounds. Troy goes out in the first round, losing to Tarzan. And then acts like a dick for the rest of the challenge, refusing to watch and drinking water instead of watching or cheering people on. The final round ends up being Chelsea versus Kim, so it doesn't even really matter who wins, right? But Kim wins.
Kim decrees that they should split their vote again and throw a few votes to Christina in case Troy does have an Immunity Idol. Sabrina decides it would be a good idea to tell Christina that, and I guess just hopes that Christina doesn't realize that if Troy does play an Idol, Christina could go home? Christina tells all to Troy, like a dummy, because now Troy plans to vote for her so that she goes home.
At Tribal Council, Troy continues on his plan to cast seeds of doubt in the minds of the alliance members, and Christina just proves that no one likes her and she is clueless about why and how to change things. And then, since Troy didn't have an Idol to play, he gets voted out, but he tries to continue his mind games with Kat on the way out. Everyone followed the plan except for Christina, who voted for Chelsea and not Troy. Not that it mattered, so I'm not sure what her strategy is, if she even has one. I guess she wants to get Troy's vote if she makes it to the end?
Night 27. The tribe returns from voting out Leif at Tribal Council. Tarzan interviews that there are only two men left and it's hopeless unless he wins Immunity. He adds that his plan is to do what the women tell him to do regarding voting and hope that he's part of their alliance. Alicia and Kim whisper about how Troy is just doing everything he can to stay. Kim interviews that Troy throwing her name out was "a curveball" and she wasn't planning on being a target this early. She adds that this vote solidified the women's alliance so she needs to stay calm and keep everyone happy. Troy interviews that Tarzan is voting with the women, so he's still a man alone even though the women think he has an Idol. So his plan is to just win every Immunity challenge. He might want to work on a back-up plan in case that doesn't work out. Although I guess his back-up plan is, "Get voted out."
Day 28. Alicia and Troy walk into camp with Treemail. Alicia reads that today's Reward Challenge isn't physical and the reward will mean getting away. They talk about how the winner might get to choose other people to bring and Kat interviews that she thinks it's time that she gets to go on a reward. First of all, shouldn't she hope to win herself? And second, why is it her turn?
Later, Kat says to Kim, "You're picking me, right?" Way to put her on the spot. Kat interviews that she and Kim have a great relationship, so she thinks they will pick one another if either of them wins. Here's the thing: everyone (but Troy) thinks that she or he has a great relationship with Kim. It's why Kim is running the show. Anyway, Kim says that she doesn't want Troy, Alicia and Christina back at camp together while she's gone, since they would get up to things. Kim mutters something about taking Kat and Alicia, but I didn't see any kind of pinky swear that she would take Kat. Then again, she didn't say that she WOULDN'T take Kat.
This Reward Challenge is creepy! As the tribe enters, they see large voodoo dolls that represent each tribe member. Probst explains that they each had to answer questions and the goal now will be to answer as the majority of the tribe answered. Getting an answer right means the chance to chop someone else's rope. Three chops and that person's doll will burn, meaning that they're out of the running. This is basically like that defunct board game, "True Colors." My friends and I used to play it in college and it ALWAYS led to fights. One time my roommate got so mad that she quit playing and went in the kitchen and banged pots and pans around and slammed cupboards. Another time, my guy friend's roommate threw a chair across the room. Shit got personal! So the producers are obviously trying to shake things up. Anyway, the winner gets a helicopter ride to a private beach and a picnic lunch.
Everyone lines up and gets their answer cards. Probst asks the first question: "Who does not deserve to still be here?" Answers are mixed, with Tarzan, Troy, Kat and Christina all getting votes. The group answered Christina and Kim, Chelsea and Troy got it right. Christina agrees with Probst that it's a slap in the face and she doesn't know why. Troy chops Kat, Kim chops Troy and Chelsea chops Tarzan. I don't know why she didn't also chop Troy, but maybe she didn't want it to be a pile-on?
Second question: "Who would you trust with your life?" The votes are split between Kim and Tarzan. I wonder if some people took it literally and thought, "Well, Tarzan's a doctor, so he could save my life." The correct answer is Kim, so Christina, Chelsea and Alicia get to chop. Christina goes after Chelsea, Chelsea chops Troy and Alicia finishes Troy off. They get to see their first burning doll while Alicia jokingly yells, "This is my island" and Tarzan says something ridiculous about "the molecular substrate." Stop talking, Tarzan. Troy takes a seat to the side; he doesn't seem that upset since it's Reward and not Immunity.
Third question: "Who most needs a wake-up call in life?" Some of the women complain that this game isn't fun and they don't like it. Every single person except Kat answers Kat. She said Christina. Kat laughs about it and doesn't seem very upset or surprised. So now there will be a lot of chopping. Sabrina chops Tarzan. Tarzan chops Chelsea. Kim finishes off Tarzan, so he takes a seat and there are only women left playing. Christina chops Sabrina. Chelsea chops Christina. Alicia finishes off Chelsea and she takes a seat. So a bunch of people are one chop away from being out after that bloodbath.
Fourth question: "Who is the biggest poser?" What a weird question. Everybody except Alicia said Troy. Alicia said Christina. Probst points out that Christina gets an answer every time. Um, actually she didn't for the second question, so shut up Probst and stop trying to stir up trouble. The correct answer is Troy, so everyone but Alicia got it right. Kat chops Sabrina, Christina chops Kim and Kat and Sabrina chop Alicia.
Fifth question: "Who does the least for their tribe?" Kim, Christina and Alicia say Sabrina, while Kat and Sabrina say Troy. Sabrina doesn't seem upset. Christina chops Kat. I think Christina's strategy was just to go down the line, left to right, giving each person one chop, which isn't a terrible strategy. That way, no one feels targeted by her. Except Kat, who takes it personally. Alicia finishes Kat off and Kat seems pissed. Kim finishes off Sabrina, so she's out.
Sixth question. Only Kim, Christina and Alicia remain: "Who would you most want to be stranded with on an island?" Kim says herself and Alicia also answers Kim. Christina answers Troy. That was a weird answer, although Troy has probably been the nicest to her of anyone, I guess. Sabrina makes a face like, "Whuh?" Alicia does a victory dance and then chops Christina. Kim finishes her off and Christina heads to the bench as rain starts pouring down.
Seventh and probably meanest question: "Who do you hope to never see again after the game ends?" Kim and Alicia both answer Troy. Probst points out that Kim has two chops left while Alicia only has one, so if they are both right, Kim wins. And they are both right. Kim finishes Alicia off and Kim wins reward.
Probst tells Kim that she'll be picked up by a helicopter and she can pick one person to go with her. Kim immediately picks Alicia, which is good because she doesn't want to leave Alicia at camp, but it also looks like the obvious choice since Alicia came in second. Probst asks Kim if picking one more person would be easy and Kim says that it would be really, really hard. Probst tells her that she has to make that hard choice. Kat gives Kim the puppy-dog eyes and Kim apologizes and chooses Chelsea. Kat is pissed. Why did Kim pick Chelsea? She has Chelsea in her pocket. I guess she thinks that Kat is too. She should have picked Troy, to try to win his jury vote. Although I guess she doesn't want Troy to get any stronger for the Immunity Challenge by eating real food?
As Chelsea joins Kim and Alicia, Kim says that Chelsea never eats and Kat knows that. Kat is still pissed. Troy says that Kim's choices are revealing, and shows exactly where everyone stands. He adds that Kim and Chelsea and Alicia are the top dogs and Kat, Sabrina and Christina are the bottom. As they walk off, Kim looks back and tells Kat that she's sorry again, but Kat is like, "Whatever." She's kind of a child. I mean, she thought they had an agreement, so I can understand being upset, but this is beyond. I guess maybe she's also upset because of how the question about the wake-up call went and that other people chopped her rope first? Who knows? Anyway, Troy voice-overs that he was trying to plant seeds of doubt with his comments and he hopes that it worked. I don't know why the women don't just ignore him. I guess the smart ones do. Or they should have joined him last week, when they had the numbers.
Kim, Chelsea and Alicia enjoy their helicopter ride, which features swooping and turns. I'm shocked that Probst isn't standing on the landing gear, showing off. As they land, Kim comments that she hated that challenge and everyone else is pissed off. Chelsea tells her not to worry about it right now and enjoy the reward. They set out their food, which is a variety of breads, meats and cheeses and discuss how people back at camp are probably feeling "cruddy" and that Christina, in particular, took a beating. Kim says they'll have to do "the damage control of [their] lives" when they return. Kim tells the others that today could be "the day that the tides turn" and she knows that Troy is back at camp pointing out that everyone loves her, which is "a disaster." Kim interviews that she doesn't know if she's enjoying this reward, knowing what's happening back at camp. Chelsea and Alicia don't seem that concerned, probably because they'll just wait for Kim to tell them what to do .
So what IS going on back at camp? Kat tells the group that she hated when Kim said that Chelsea was hungry, because they're all hungry. Troy tells her that it had nothing to do with food and it was strategy. Unfortunately, Kat's not smart enough to ask why Kim would take Chelsea as part of her strategy when Troy is also claiming that Chelsea's part of Kim's final three. Wouldn't it be a better strategy to take people who aren't already in your pocket? Troy interviews that he's going to make the most of this opportunity to get in people's heads and he continues to tell Kat that she's not in the know and she needs to catch her snap about the situation.
Kat, clearly affected by Troy's speechifying, interviews that she's pissed that Kim didn't take her and she's pissed that Troy keeps saying that she's not a leader -- she's just a follower. Sabrina pulls Kat aside and says that Kim left the people that she could trust back at camp and Sabrina is going to use this time to get info from Christina. Kat cries in an interview that she's not a weak player and she's going to do whatever she can to be portrayed as strong, including voting Kim out if that's what it takes. Sabrina interviews that Kat is "a hot mess" but Troy is really savvy and he's the one person who really could win all the remaining immunity challenges.
Sabrina subtly asks Troy what his master plan would be, if she agreed to go with him. Troy says that Kim could win immunity, everyone likes her and she's got Chelsea in her pocket, so they need to get rid of her. Troy offers to vote with an anti-Kim alliance if they want. Sabrina says they'd need one more girl and Christina chimes in that they need to do something, because she thinks either she or Sabrina would be the first woman voted out of the alliance. Sabrina interviews that she was just feeling out Christina to see how easily Troy could sway her if Sabrina seemed interested and it turned out that Sabrina folded like a cheap suit or whatever the saying is. Cheap suit? House of cards? Something that folds easily? Pre-scored paper? I don't know.
The three rewardees return to camp. Kim tries to get Kat to sit to her and Kat refuses, because she's a child. Kat interviews that she was thinking about a lot of things and she wasn't sure if they were seeds planted by Troy or ridiculous things she was thinking about. She doesn't know what she's thinking about? Finally, Kim gets Kat to come aside and talk to her. Kim starts out well, saying that she had every intention of taking Kat when they talked about it, but then she realized that she had to make a choice based on winning the game, not who she likes best. Kat says that it made her look like a follower and now everyone thinks that she is one. This is where Kim goes wrong; she starts saying that the choice wasn't easy for her and she's had the worst day in the game and she wishes she didn't win. That's a terrible argument, because Kat doesn't give a shit. What Kim needs to say is that Kat is an integral part of their strategy and she has made a lot of key decisions and Kim will cop to that in front of a jury. THAT'S what Kat wants to hear. So Kat just sputters because she doesn't feel bad for Kim, nor should she. Kim interviews that she's paying for making a decision based on something other than strategy. Wait, she just told Kat that the decision was strategy-based and now she's saying it wasn't? I am still confused as to WHY Kim chose the people that she chose. Not that I really care, but they've talked about it so much that I feel like I should know.
Tikiano. Day 29. It's pouring rain so everyone is sitting inside the shelter. Then Troy spots a wild pig wandering around outside. Alicia immediately wants to kill it and Kat is right behind her. What are they going to kill it with? The pig isn't scared of humans -- it's just wandering around. So everyone takes off out of the shelter except Tarzan, who is just sitting there probably muttering about how foolish they are. Do any of them really think this is going to work? And how long will it stay good? I mean, either you eat the whole pig immediately (not likely) or you have a lot of rotting meat. And who is going to butcher it? Anyway, Troy tries to lasso it with a rope (although I suspect he's not actually trying that hard) as the other women scream and giggle. Troy interviews that he doesn't think catching it is a good idea, but it was fun to try. Kim interviews that she didn't really want to kill the pig, but it served as a nice distraction from the post-reward tensions. And then the pig escapes, so pig adventures over.
Just in time for the Immunity Challenge! Hey, Probst is wearing a black shirt. Is this symbolically meaningful? The challenge is to slide down a giant slip and slide, grabbing rope rings along the way and then tossing the ring onto a peg. The contestants will compete two at a time, tournament-style, until there is only one winner. The production geniuses have determined that people will slide better if they are oiled up, so everyone slathers oil on their bathing-suited bodies. Oh lord.
Alicia and Chelsea are first to compete. Chelsea gets a better running start than Alicia, who is tentative, but neither of them slides very far. They get up and try to walk/run, but it's very slippery so they have to shuffle and it doesn't go very quickly. They finally reach the end of the slide and start tossing rings. Chelsea gets it on her second toss and moves on to the round. Then they hug, which is gross, because they are greasy. I realize a certain segment on the population finds that the opposite of gross.
Sabrina and Kat are . Sabrina gets a great running start and slides all the way to the rope ring. This means that Sabrina gets first shot at the toss, but she misses. Kat makes her first attempt and wins the round and then does a little dance of victory that cracked me up.
Troy and Tarzan compete . Neither gets more than halfway down the slide on their initial dive, but both end up at the end around the same time. After a few tosses, Tarzan takes his time and nails the peg. The women freak out in celebration to see Troy knocked out so early.
So it barely matters who wins now, right? Troy's going home. Christina and Kim are the last group in the first round. Kim takes a long dive and then crawls quickly down the rest of the slide and nails the ring toss while Christina just leisurely slides. She's not even trying. I get that she knows Troy is going home, but wouldn't you at least make an effort?
Meanwhile, Troy is standing with his back turned, refusing to even watch the rest of the competition. What a maroon. I mean, what is he trying to prove? I guess if the alternative is another rageball breakdown, this is better. But barely. Moving on to the second round, Chelsea will be battling Kat. This time there are two rings to gather and toss. Kat takes a big leap and then does a purposely goofy shuffle down to the end with Chelsea close behind. Chelsea gets her two rings hooked quickly and wins, moving on to the final.
Tarzan and Kim are fighting for the finals. Kim uses her crawling strategy again and gets to the end quickly. Tarzan also tries to crawl but given his bad knees, he's pretty slow. Kim gets her two rings hooked almost before Tarzan even gets to the end.
So now Chelsea and Kim are up in the final. Kim once again uses her crawling strategy. I don't get why Chelsea wouldn't do the same thing, since Kim has shown that it works, but she stands up and tries to walk instead. After multiple tosses, Kim gets her three rings hooked first and wins Immunity, her first time winning.
Tikiano. Day 30. So the Immunity Challenge was actually the day after the pig incident, which makes sense because the weather was totally different. The tribe returns to camp after the challenge. Troy interviews that things don't look good for him, but he's trying to stay positive as long as he's still in the game, because he can still talk to people. He also knows that the women think he has an Idol, so they will probably split their vote to hedge against him playing the Idol, and that might work out for him.
Kim tells Kat and Sabrina that she thinks they should throw two votes to Christina, since "she's used to seeing her name written down" and anyone else would flip out. Everyone else will vote for Troy and then Troy goes home. Kat interviews that she's getting tired of being told what to do and everyone thinks that Kim is running the show and Kat can't think for herself. Why would anyone think otherwise? What has Kat done to show that she can think for herself or that she's leading the tribe? She's just mad because she's done jack and shit this season and somehow managed to survive.
Sabrina tells Christina that she and Tarzan and going to vote for Christina, but Christina isn't the target. Christina knows that they think Troy doesn't have the Idol, but she doesn't seem to realize that if Troy plays it she's going home -- at least if Kim's plan works out. I mean, it will be Kim, Chelsea, Alicia, Kat and maybe Christina voting for Troy and then Sabrina and Tarzan voting for Christina and Troy voting for whomever. Probably Chelsea. So if Troy did play the Idol, Christina would go home as the second-highest vote-getter. Sabrina doesn't think Christina figured out she was going home and Sabrina is obviously trying to set up her jury votes, because at least she can say, "Christina, I was the only one who told you what was going on." Christina just kind of blandly accepts what Sabrina is saying and doesn't even seem upset.
Later, Christina joins Kim, Kat and Alicia, who are watching clothes. Christina tells Kim about her conversation with Sabrina. Kim asks if Christina's okay with it and CHRISTINA SAYS THAT SHE IS. What? Why would she say it's okay? Does she really not understand that she's going home? I don't understand her gameplay AT ALL. Alicia interviews that she thinks Christina's IQ is a zero, if that's possible and that she treats Christina like her special ed students. It is so upsetting to me that Alicia is a teacher, much less a special ed teacher. She should be a garbage collector because she is a person made out of garbage. Teachers get a bad rap and Alicia isn't helping their case.
Christina and Troy have a chat out in the water. Christina says she's always scared and she's trying to figure out what's going on with the women. And then Christina talks for a while without actually saying anything. She says things like, "Kim won, so we can't vote for her." Christina then tells Troy that she'll vote for Chelsea and he could too. Troy just kind of chuckles because Christina obviously can't do basic math. I guess she's hoping that Troy will play an Idol and Chelsea will have two votes and so will she? But then doesn't everyone vote again, choosing between Christina and Chelsea? Because Christina will lose that vote, obviously. I don't know why I keep trying to figure out Christina's strategy when she obviously has none. Then Christina tells Troy that some of the women are voting for her and he's like, "Well, that's settled." Because if he can just convince one more person to vote for Christina, that would be four and then it's a tie.
The women discuss their plan and Kim says that if everyone just sticks to the plan, they will be fine. She interviews that the plan is to give five votes to Troy and two to Christina, but the danger is if two people in their alliance flip, then Troy will be back in the game and then they're in trouble. For example, Tarzan tells Troy that he doesn't know yet how he's voting. And Troy is trying to convince Kat that voting her own way would be a method of demonstrating independence. Will they flip? Let's find out.
Tribal Council. Probst starts by pointing out that the season started with men versus women and it seems to be that way again, so Troy is probably in trouble since he didn't win immunity. Thanks, Captain Obvious. Probst asks Sabrina if there's been much talk about the pecking order in the women's alliance and Sabrina says that all of them haven't gotten together and talked about it, but it's been discussed. Probst asks Christina to interpret it and Christina says that she knows others have talked about it and no one is being clear about who's in the top five, four, or three. If no one's telling you, that's because you're not in it, dummy.
Chelsea says that the game started really quickly and people were thinking about top three and Christina counters that sometimes people flip flop or get voted out and things change. Troy likes to hear that because he says it means Christina is wobbly on her alliance. Probst asks what we're all wondering: "Christina, why are you here?" Christina says it's because she's lucky. Ugh, she is terrible at this game. Although I get why someone might want to take her to the finals. No one likes her. Who would vote for her? The jury looks annoyed and Alicia thinks it's funny because everyone at the Reward Challenge said Christina didn't deserve to be there. Probst gives Christina a lesson in strategy: this is the jury and none of them think she deserves to be there and Alicia adds that Christina doesn't seem to have a strategy. Christina claims that she DOES have a strategy but she doesn't talk about it. She also has numerous boyfriends in the Niagara Falls area.
Troy is still enjoying the evidence that Christina is on the bottom of the alliance and he adds that all of the women claim that they are all happy and trusting, but they're being naïve. I think it's smart of the women not to debate Troy at Tribal Council, but I would retort that if there were cracks in the alliance, the LAST person they would share that information with is Troy. Kim butters up a potential jury vote by saying that Troy is brilliant and good at getting into people's heads.
Probst wants to know why Kat was so sad that she wasn't chosen for reward. Kat says that Troy's comments bothered her and she doesn't want to go down as a weak player or a follower and Troy's words made her wonder if that's who she is and she's not seeing it. Probst says that it's clear that either Troy or someone else will be leaving tonight and Troy's job today was to make sure that someone else got voted out. Troy says he feels pretty good about things. Does he? Does he really? This is why I wish there was an aftershow or something that showed what REALLY went down, because I always feel like we have incomplete information.
People vote and Probst tallies. Troy doesn't play an Idol because he doesn't have one. Kim and Chelsea look thrilled. The vote comes down to one vote for Chelsea, three for Christina and four for Troy. So Troy's out. On his way out, he grabs Kat's shoulder and whispers, "Do it!" Chelsea looks annoyed. Kat just laughs. During credits, we find out that Christina voted for Chelsea. If Christina had any sort of strategy, I would say that she expects to go to the finals with Chelsea and that way she can tell Troy that she never wrote down his name. Troy, Sabrina and Tarzan voted for Christina and everyone else voted for Troy, so the women (plus Tarzan) stuck to the plan. But now what happens?
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