Massive, massive props to Joe for his recap of the last episode. He rules.
Malcolm realizes that he lost an ally in Corinne but he thinks he's still got a strong position because no one knows he has an Idol, and he has both the Fans and the Favorites thinking he's with them.
Phillip inducts Sherri into Stealth R Us, so she's in with the Favorites: Phillip, Andrea, Dawn, Brenda, and Cochran. They think Malcolm and Erik are with them, but we've seen that Malcolm and Erik are actually allied with Reynold and Eddie.
Reward Challenge. They have to divide into two teams of five and take turns throwing a ball into a goal, past a defender from the other team. The winning team gets to rappel down a waterfall and have a picnic lunch. The defenders are fairly pointless; it's mostly about whether or not someone can launch the ball into the goal while jumping off a platform. It's a close game, but the team of Eddie, Reynold, Erik, Cochran, and Michael ends up winning. On the reward, Eddie and Reynold are all "Guy Power" and Cochran is rightfully like, "Gross, you guys."
Malcolm approaches Sherri and Dawn about flipping and taking out another Favorite. Dawn goes straight to her alliance and reports what happened, and they decide to blindside Malcolm. Meanwhile, Andrea and Eddie have a flirtation but they also both wonder who is using whom in this scenario.
Immunity Challenge. Hang from a grid in the water as the tide rises up over your head. It comes down to Andrea and Brenda, and Andrea struggles valiantly but ultimately Brenda wins. She's so Zen, she doesn't even know she won at first.
Dawn and Andrea try to play Malcolm and convince him that the Favorites are splitting their vote between Reynold and Eddie. Malcolm decides to target Andrea, and then Eddie tells her about it, and she flips out and decides that the Favorite should vote out Michael instead of Malcolm, because she's worried that Malcolm might have an Idol. Dawn hates this plan and assures Andrea that Malcolm doesn't have an idol. So now I have no idea what's going on. I don't know why they don't vote out Eddie; they know he doesn't have an Idol and I really doubt Reynold would give his up.
At Tribal Council, Phillip gives a big speech about how anyone who has an Idol should expect votes against him or her. After the votes are cast, Reynold stands up to play his Idol and Malcolm tells him to hold on. Malcolm says that everyone voted for him and Reynold should give up his Idol so they can be in good shape. Reynold AGREES! And gives Malcolm his Idol!! Meanwhile, the Favorites all voted for Michael, and the only vote against Reynold was Malcolm's own. Oops. Anyway, Michael goes home. It remains to be seen if Reynold is pissed that Malcolm did that, although I guess Reynold was going to play it anyway, so the Idol would have been gone either way. And now Reynold's Idol is gone and no one knows about Malcolm's Idol. You may not agree with his gameplay, but at least Malcolm is making this season a little more interesting.
The editors have a lot of fun juxtaposing shots of monkeys waking up in the morning and looking for food with our Survivors waking up in the morning and... looking for food, mostly. Phillip, Andrea, Dawn, Malcolm -- and maybe Brenda and Cochran though I'm not sure on those last two -- sit around and talk about how they are in great shape by the numbers.
Meanwhile, Reynold, Eddie and Erik are trying to start a fire. Reynold interviews that even though Corinne was the head of his counter-alliance and she's gone, he considers it a win because a Favorite went home. But... she wasn't part of their alliance. I mean, they thought she was, but she wasn't. Reynold points out to Eddie that any women who hang out with them end up going home. I don't know why the newly-merged tribe didn't get rid of Reynold and Eddie first. I still don't get that. Reynold is super-psyched about his alliance with Eddie and Malcolm (he doesn't mention Erik, who I thought was in their Alpha Male alliance too?). Anyway, Reynold thinks it's time for him to start (?) playing the game, so he asks Andrea what her plans are going forward. Andrea doesn't tell him a thing, because she's not as dumb as he is. Then again, Reynold is plenty dumb.
So what's Malcolm up to? He interviews that Corinne is out and she was his closest ally. Then again, now there's no one left who knows he has the Idol. And he thinks he has all of the Fans on his side. (Well, not Sherri, but she's a lady so Malcolm doesn't need to bother with her, I guess?). Anyway, Malcolm points out that the Favorites think they cut off the head of the Rebel Alliance, but they missed.
The animal commentary before this scene is a giant snake stalking a baby monkey, who scampers away. I'm still not sure which animal represents Phillip and which one represents Sherri. Anyway, Phillip is buttering Sherri up as they relax in the lounge chairs. Phillip interviews that the Fans haven't quite figured out that if they don't join up, they'll go home. Sherri is on board and Mike isn't. Anyway, Phillip inducts Sherri into Stealth "R" Us and his fellow alliance members seem as tired of Phillip's shtick as I am. Anyway, Sherri interviews that she'll do whatever it takes to manage Phillip's lunacy and stay in the game. She managed Shemar and she thinks she can manage Phillip, and predicts that she'll be calling the shots in two more votes. We shall see. I actually wouldn't doubt it.
Reward Challenge. They will be divided into two groups via schoolyard pick. Four members of each team will take turns jumping off a platform into the water while trying to throw a ball into a goal, while one member of the opposing team plays goalie. The reward is rappelling down a waterfall and having a picnic. That's a reward? That kind of sounds like a punishment. Like how about you just fly me in a helicopter, Probst? Why do I have to do all the work? I'm starving and bug-ridden and filthy. PAMPER ME.
We don't get to see the schoolyard pick because that might give us too much insight into current alliances, I guess? And somehow the teams ended up as Reynold, Eddie, Erik, Cochran and Michael versus Phillip, Dawn, Andrea, Brenda and Malcolm with Sherri sitting out. Seriously, how did that happen? How did all the guys end up on one team? We will never know.
Brenda gets the idea to loft the ball up over the defender's head into the goal and it works, so pretty much everyone does that after her and gets it into the goal. The goalie was useless once they figured out that strategy. Great challenge, guys. Anyway, the purple team wins. It's super boring.
The winning team heads to the waterfall to rappel. Cochran is understandably apprehensive since he's teamed up with all these jocks, but he gamely gives it a try and good for him. Reynold, of course, bounds right down and compares himself to James Bond. What a dick. Reynold interviews that this was like a locker room after a big win as we see him belching loudly. I love a good belch, so let's not pretend like that's a dude thing. Michael tries to bring up strategy talk, and how the last Fan vs. Favorites was dominated by women at the end, so it would be cool if this one were dominated by the men. Reynold throws in, "Hope's gone, so there's no one worth fucking anyway." No, he said that. Why bother with the women? They're all ugly. First of all, it's telling that he considers the measure of a woman's worth whether or not he would fuck them. Second, Brenda? Andrea? I can see a dick like Reynold not even considering Sherri or Dawn since they are over 30, but Brenda is one of the most beautiful women to ever play the game, if you ask me. And who says shit like that in 2013? God, I hate him.
Wait, then Reynold gets worse. He explains that they're pitching Cochran to join their all-guy alliance, but he says they are going to "bro down" and "get these scheming, crazy girls that keep flirting with all of us out of here." Did he really just say BRO DOWN? He is the absolute worst. I've never been a big fan of Cochran, but I nearly get off my couch and cheer when he interviews that Reynold must not know him well if he thinks he can be swayed by "masculine tomfoolery with these numbskulls." Yay, Cochran!
Back at camp, no one is that upset about the loss. Malcolm interviews that he was psyched to have a chance to talk to the two people he thinks are on the bottom of the Favorites alliance: Sherri and Dawn. Really? Dawn? I thought she was pretty tight with her alliance. I think they would get rid of Brenda before Dawn, but what do I know? Anyway, Malcolm pulls Sherri aside and talks to her about joining him as part of a final five, which he thinks would be more appealing to her than being number eight in a final eight. Then he tries to get Dawn involved as well with a quick conversation in the jungle.
So this is Malcolm's pitch to Dawn: You and I flip and go with Eddie, Reynold, Mike and Sherri. I've got the three guys, and I just talked to Sherri and she's in. That will give us the numbers over Brenda, Erik, Cochran, Phillip and Andrea. But we need to make our move now or we won't have the numbers after the vote. Does he not know that Dawn is tight with Cochran? Dawn's reaction isn't, "Wow, what a great idea!" Because, seriously. Why would she want to be in an alliance with all those guys that could beat her in immunity challenges? And then vote her ass off quickly? None of them would take her to the finals. They've got too many enemies and she's too well-liked. Dawn says she needs to talk to Sherri and will let Malcolm know. But really, Dawn interviews, this discussion has made her realize that they need to take out Malcolm, because he's dangerous.
Sherri and Dawn take it to Andrea and Phillip. Interesting that Phillip claims to be the leader of this alliance, but it's Andrea who immediately comes up with their counter plan. Malcolm is counting on the Favorite splitting their votes between Eddie and Reynold in case of an Idol. Andrea suggests that they keep telling Malcolm that's what they're doing, but instead, they blindside Malcolm. So when Malcolm comes back to the camp after a swim, Phillip tells him that they are splitting the vote and the plan is in motion.
The day, Andrea and Eddie sneak off to the lagoon together for a swim. At first, it seems like Andrea is into him but then she interviews that the more she flirts with him, the more likely he is to give her information or vote for her in the finals. Anyway, Eddie tells Andrea he'll vote however she says, except he won't vote against Reynold. Andrea doesn't give away much, although she does tell Eddie that she trusts him but not his allies.
Andrea asks Eddie if he knows anything about an Idol, and Eddie says he's doesn't (but we know that he knows Reynold has one). Andrea's offer is that if Eddie can get her information on what Malcolm has planned, she can keep his name off the ballot in the vote and after that they'll go vote-to-vote. Andrea admits that she would vote for Eddie in the finals, but Eddie knows he won't make it that far. Andrea interviews that she's definitely playing Eddie, but she's trying to figure out if he's doing the same to her. He is.
Immunity Challenge. They have to hang from a grate in the water as the tide rises, so they will have less and less space for their heads above water. Eventually, they will have no space and die. Or drop out. The last person still alive and also hanging on the grate wins immunity. Then Probst makes a crack that Cochran will never win Immunity again and now I hope that Cochran goes on a massive immunity run because fuck off, Probst.
People have different strategies, but it seems to me that the best one is to expend as little energy as possible and stay as still as possible to stay calm. Like a few of the guys are kicking their legs or using their arms to hold themselves up instead of basically doing a back float for as long as possible. Some of the women have their legs hooked through the grate, which also seems smart, because then you're not using up all your arm strength before it's needed. Then again, I'm sitting on my couch and they're trying not to drown, so I'm talking out of my ass as usual.
After an hour, the water starts to crest above the crate and people start getting snoots full of water. Phillip is the first one out, and then Sherri and Erik. Dawn goes out . Everyone who's left tries to make snorkels with their hands with varying degrees of success. Malcolm goes underwater, looks around to see who's left and decides he's okay (I guess?) so he opts out, followed quickly by Mike. The leg hooking thing now seems crucial, as those who didn't do it are struggling to keep their heads up close enough to the grate to breathe. And just like that, the remaining guys ditch: Cochran, Eddie and Reynold.
So now it's down to Andrea and Brenda. Andrea is really struggling and Brenda is calm and collected. Andrea actually lets go of the grate and goes underwater, then comes back up and returns to the grate. She lasts a bit longer, but then has to quit and Probst tells someone to let Brenda know that she won. How about you, Probst? Why not get your ass in the water? Reynold and Eddie both jump in, unleashing a wave that nearly kills Brenda. Good job, guys! They yank her out and she's kind of like, "WTF?" but then everyone cheers and she realizes that she won, so it's cool.
After everyone returns to camp, they congratulate Brenda on her win. The viewing audience is like, "Who is this BRENDA?" because she's barely been on this season so that we can see more of Phillip's nonsense. Anyway, Malcolm resets the situation for us in an interview: he needs to make his move with this vote, because he knows he's on the bottom of the Favorites' alliance. He has the Fans on his side, but after this vote, they won't have the numbers to do anything. But he also has to make the Favorites think he's still with them. Complicated!
Andrea and Dawn tell Malcolm the plan: girls vote for Reynold and guys vote for Eddie, so it will be a four-four tie. Hopefully, if either of them have an Idol, they will play it. And then on the second vote, everyone votes Reynold no matter what. This is an interesting conversation because they're both lying. Malcolm plans to vote for a Favorite (he hasn't named the person yet) and Andrea plans to vote for Malcolm. Layers, man. This conversation has layers. Malcolm interviews that everything's going according to his plan, because he's got Andrea snowed. Andrea interviews that she knows Malcolm is lying, but so is she and so is Dawn. Andrea is impressed with Dawn's lying ability. At this point, I was pretty sure that Malcolm was screwed, mostly because he doesn't seem to have any idea that Andrea isn't fooled by his lies.
So then Malcolm lays out his actual plan for Dawn once Andrea walks away. Dawn thinks he wants to get rid of Phillip, but Malcolm says that he actually wants to get rid of Andrea, because she's the real leader. Malcolm explains that this is their only chance to make a change and reveals that Reynold has an Idol. Dawn says that if Reynold shows her the Idol, she'll join them. Dawn interviews that she can't believe Malcolm trusts her after Dawn was the one who blew up Corinne's spot and got everyone to blindside her.
Malcolm finds Reynold and tells him what Dawn said, so he wants Reynold to show Dawn his Idol. Malcolm assures him that he doesn't need to play it, and that they will be voting out Andrea since the others are splitting their votes between Reynold and Eddie. Reynold grabs his bag and sidles up to Dawn at camp. He slyly shows Dawn his Idol, and then says that if she doesn't follow through he goes home, so he begs her not to screw him over. Dawn interviews that she hates bullies and she thinks Reynold is one, because he told her that if she screws him over she'll have hell to pay. Look, I hate Reynold, OBVIOUSLY. I am a human being. But that's not at all what he said. He wasn't trying to intimidate her; I think he was going for pity/human decency. Like, please help me out here -- I am putting my game in your hands.
Reynold, Eddie and Mike sit around the fire talking about their strategy. Reynold explains that Dawn is with them. Eddie wants to talk to Andrea, but Reynold isn't into that idea. His plan is, once Andrea is gone, Cochran will join them (what?) and they can "bro down to the end." Why would Cochran join them? Because he has a penis? Reynold is seriously a dummy.
Eddie pulls Andrea aside and asks if they're splitting the vote tonight between him and Reynold. Andrea says she won't give him information about her plans for Reynold, because she's not working for Reynold. But she promises him that he's not the target. Eddie is an idiot and can't figure out what she's saying (which is that he's going to get votes to force a tie, but then they're voting out Reynold). Andrea keeps trying to dodge his questions and give non-answers, and she begs him to trust her. Eddie accidentally says that Reynold has an Idol and then tries to backtrack, saying he doesn't know if Reynold has it or not. Finally, he basically tells her that Malcolm is planning to vote her out. He doesn't say it, but Andrea is no dummy and she figures it out. And her face falls, because apparently even though she knew Malcolm was planning something, she never thought he'd vote her out. Who did she think the target was? Phillip?
So suddenly Andrea is crying because she might be going home. Nothing has changed! She knew Malcolm was trying to flip people, but Malcolm is counting on Dawn and Sherri's votes to make his plan work. Without them, he only has four votes. Andrea knows this. She needs to step back and think this through instead of flipping out. She heads to Cochran and suggests that they just do the safe vote and get rid of Michael, since they know he doesn't have an Idol. Then she tells Phillip the same thing. Cochran is disappointed that they're going with the safe thing instead of the smart thing. Dawn is even more disappointed and she promises Andrea that Malcolm doesn't have an Idol. Heh. He does, but if they blindside him, it doesn't matter. They just have to keep it together, but good luck with that when you've got emotional Dawn and Andrea figuring things out. Anyway, we don't see if Dawn and Andrea agree on where to place their votes before...
We head to Tribal Council. Probst wants to know if Michael has hope after a Favorite was voted out last time, and Michael says that he is happy that some of the Favorites are realizing that they have threats within their own alliance, and he's happy to help them get rid of the threats. Then Phillip babbles about Stealth "R" Us and announces that Sherri has been inducted. No one cares.
Probst points out that Eddie, Reynold and Michael are left hanging, and Eddie says he'd rather play his own game than be a puppet. Reynold is also like, "Aw, shucks. One of us is going home and there's not much we can do." Probst wonders if someone has an Idol since that would change things. Phillip interrupts to say that if they think someone has an Idol, that person will get votes. Not sure who he was targeting with that statement. Reynold? Even Phillip wouldn't be dumb enough to tip Malcolm off, would he?
Probst asks what happens when Stealth "R" Us breaks down, and Michael points out that it's already started to, since they voted out Corinne. Phillip says that an alliance that sticks together can make it to the end. What is he even talking about? Why is he talking? Zip it, Phillip. Probst points out that, when you have a big alliance, all it takes is one person to make a big move. Andrea agrees. Then Andrea totally gives away their whole strategy! Instead of saying, "I'm confident that our alliance will last until all the Fans are gone," she goes on about people who are on the bottom of the alliance might try to make a move by joining up with the Fans. She basically details what Malcolm is doing. What was that all about? I guess they're not going to blindside Malcolm.
Probst points out that if "the right person gets the right numbers at the right time," it could change the game. Isn't that always the case? Phillip adds that he expects someone to make a move, but he thinks that to do so would be arrogant, because anyone who does so will get flushed out and eliminated. Malcolm looks like he wants to puke. I guess he just realized that they're onto him.
Voting begins. Malcolm actually votes for Reynold? I guess his idea was that his vote wouldn't matter because they had five for Andrea anyway, so four for Reynold wouldn't do anything. Or he knows that Reynold is going to play his Idol, so his vote wouldn't count. I wonder if Reynold knew that Malcolm was going to vote for him. Was that part of their plan? When he votes, Malcolm says that it was supposed to be a throwaway vote, but after hearing Phillip's speech, now it might be a needed vote. We don't see any of the other votes yet.
Probst tallies the votes and then makes his usual speech about playing a Hidden Immunity Idol. Reynold stands up and then Malcolm tells him to wait. Everyone is like, "Jigga wha?" Malcolm says that the Favorites all voted for him, and that's what Phillip's whole speech was about, so he asks Reynold to give him the Idol. WHOA. That's some balls, right there. I mean, Malcolm HAS an Idol. He's acting all scared and nervous when we all know that he has an Idol. We don't know if he brought it, of course, but he does have one and he'd be an idiot to leave it at camp ever at this point.
So anyway, Reynold is like, "You're fucking kidding me, right?" and plays the Idol on himself. HA HA, NO HE DOESN'T! He actually gives Malcolm his Idol and Malcolm plays it. Brenda has the most hilarious "OH NO HE DID NOT JUST DO THAT!" face.
Probst starts reading the votes. There are three for Andrea, obviously from Reynold, Eddie and Michael. Then Malcolm's one vote for Reynold. And then a vote for Michael and Malcolm is like, "Oh, shit. Miscalculation." And then the rest of the votes are for Michael, because the Favorites are scaredy-cats. So will Reynold be pissed at Malcolm for taking his Idol for no reason? Or will he not care since he was going to play it anyway, so it's not like he would have still had it? Did Malcolm just expose his alliance with Reynold in an undeniable way? Or will he try to spin this? For the first time this season, I'm actually interested in what happens week, and it may not be entirely predictable. Also, Probst says that there are ten savvy players left. Did he miss what Reynold just did? Come on.
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