Survivor: Micronesia - Fans Vs Favorites
Like a Wide-Eyed Kid in the Candy Store
By Jim Van Nest, Survivor Analyst
March 25, 2008
BoxOfficeProphets.com
We begin the show at the Malakal beach the day after the Chet vote. Once again, Survivor is having a chicken issue. Tracy is complaining that the chickens are not laying enough eggs and that they should just kill them. Ozzy refuses to do that. He says they lay eggs every day, and why get rid of an every day resource? Tracy then tells us how Ozzy is the kingpin of the tribe and he tells them what to do, when to do it, what to eat and that he will win this game if they don't do something about him soon.
We come back from the credits to see what Airai is up to. James is working, as usual. The rest of the tribe is hiding in the cave because it's raining. Kathy is whining up a storm. James is getting annoyed listening to the girls complain. He mentions that they're playing a game called "Survivor." Kathy then tells us how terrible her day is. She's been thinking of home a lot and she's getting very homesick.
Back at the happy camp that is Malakal, Ozzy has a stalker. Ozzy has a stalker. Erik is just in awe of Ozzy. But, I don't think he wants to be like Ozzy. I think he wants to Mark David Chapman him and become Ozzy. We get a scene of Erik climbing a coconut tree and Cirie making fun of them. She suggests that if Ozzy were to propose marriage, Erik would probably say okay. So, Ozzy gets the bright idea to move the boat to the other side of the island, because there's more fish back there. So naturally, he asks Cirie, because she loves the water so much. So Ozzy, Erik, Amanda and Cirie head out to sea. Cirie tells us that Ozzy is all about Ozzy and no one else.
Probst sighting!! Today's challenge is for four people to be blindfolded as they push a giant money stone through a jungle course. The other two people will guide them. As they go, they must roll through four puzzle stations, break a ceramic tile and free two smaller money stones. Once they have all four sets of stones, the final two people will put them together on a puzzle board. Wanna know what they're playing for? They're playing for sponsor plug, sponsor plug** Herbal Essence Great Escape Spa. All kinds of cleaning products and some food. Natalie will sit out the challenge for Airai, and we're on.
Cirie gets her tribe out of the gates fast. After confusing the fact that her left is everyone else's right, she quickly gets them on their way. Airai has one problem tile, which allows Malakal to get all four sets of pieces at the same time Airai gets number three. Erik, Cirie and Ozzy work the puzzle for Malakal. James, Eliza and Kathy work it for Airai. It's really hard to tell who's winning as pieces can fit but still be wrong. After a whole bunch of different camera angles, Malakal finally breaks the skid and wins their first challenge as a tribe. Now comes the part where they have to send someone to Exile and exclude one of their own from the reward. They send Jason back to Exile and then very quickly, Ozzy asks Tracy to take one for the team and with everyone staring at her, she really doesn't have much of a choice. I have to be honest; if I were Tracy I would have thrown a complete fit. I might still have gone to Exile, but come on, girl. You're bottom man on this totem pole. What do you have to lose? Call Ozzy out right on the spot. Let everyone know what a tool he's becoming. Worst-case scenario, you go to Exile and get booted next. Best case, maybe someone else volunteers. Or even better, maybe the ladies see what a tool he is and approach you later on about making a move. But after all these episodes of dragging Chet's dead carcass through the game, the fact that she did nothing to stand up for herself tells me she's pretty much checked out.
We come back from break to join the victorious Malakal tribe as they reach their "spa." There's a table of food waiting for them. Erik is extra excited because this is the first reward he's won this season. Amanda heads over to the shower. So does Ozzy. And Ami comes in right behind. And I swear...the commercials are absolutely correct. It must really be a "totally organic" experience. As the swimming suits come off, there are two distinct reactions over at the food table. Cirie is treating it like it's late night Cinemax. And Erik is sitting on the sidelines watching and wishing he could be in the middle of that sandwich. We can call this segment, "In which Padewan Erik realizes he still has a lot to learn from Master Ozzy." So everyone gets all cleaned up and full bellies and everyone's happy, right?
Well, wrong. Over at Airai, Kathy is finally having her breakdown. She's had enough rain. She can't handle being wet and cold all the time. It's nothing like what she's seen on TV. She hates it there, misses her family and is tired of eating raw clams because there's no fire. She has most definitely hit her breaking point. One more night in the cave with the bugs, bats and rats is about all she can take. She tells us that this is the stupidest thing she's ever done. The next morning, waterlogged and looking completely ragged, Kathy tells us that she got no sleep the night before and is no longer feeling a connection with her family. So she gathers up Alexis, Natalie, Parvati and Eliza and tells them that she's done and that she can't be there any more. She's bawling, as usual, hoping that they won't hate her for leaving. They try to talk her down, but in all honesty, they don't try too hard. This type of emotional breakdown on a daily basis has got to be rough on the rest of the tribe. Sure, you don't want to lose your numeric advantage, but you also can't have someone constantly bringing the team down with talks of how miserable she is.
Probst sighting! Jeff comes to the beach and asks her what's going on. She says she just can't do it anymore, she's homesick and this has been horrible. He tells her he's not there to talk her into staying but he wants to know what happened. She says that she's been doing this for all the wrong reasons and for everyone else. She says this is the first decision she's made for her. And with that, Jeff has her pack her things and she jumps on a boat and becomes the eighth person out of Survivor: Fans Vs. Favorites. As she heads in to the sunset, Alexis reminds us that the game is still on and that with the sun going down, they need a fire and water and food. And there it is in a nutshell, the meaning of life on Survivor. Sure, you hate to see someone break down like that and leave the game, but tick tock, sun's going down and we still have to get dinner on the table.
We come back from break to Malakal beach and Cirie and Amanda are talking about Ozzy. Amanda is starting to see the arrogant side of Ozzy. As Ami joins them, the talk turns to Ozzy and Erik's fascination with him. Cirie begins discussions of booting Erik. They all agree that Ozzy won't vote for him, but Amanda is on board. If Cirie, Amanda and Ami join forces, Erik could easily take that walk.
As the tribes come into the Immunity challenge, Jeff introduces the new Airai tribe and announces that Kathy has left the game. They bring in the Exile folks and Jeff explains it all. Now, to the challenge (see? Life goes on.) Today's challenge has one person running out across a bridge into the water dragging a long rope with them. When they get to the end, they will connect the rope to a set of puzzle pieces and the rest of the tribe will then crank them back to shore. Once the tribe has all five sets of puzzle pieces, they must make a puzzle that will be a perfect square. Survivors ready?
Naturally, Ozzy starts off for Malakal against Eliza for Airai. Not so naturally, Eliza stays pretty much in step with Ozzy. But Ozzy is much quicker getting his pieces connected and pulled back to shore. Ozzy heads back out for a second set of pieces and Jason heads out for Airai. Ozzy chooses Erik to go out for the 3rd set as Jason finally gets pulled back. Parvati heads out for bundle three and Ozzy heads back out for number four. As Parvati struggles to get her pieces, Ozzy has almost caught her. And he heads back out for the final piece as Natalie heads out for piece bundle number four. He actually laps her and has Cirie and Amanda working on the puzzle as Eliza heads out for the fifth piece for Airai. Eliza makes it back and she and Jason take over the puzzle duties. Malakal has a huge lead built up, but Eliza is the puzzle master. Will she have enough to catch up with the big lead of Malakal? As Cirie and Amanda struggle, Jason and Eliza gel and really get to work on their puzzle. After several minutes of flipping and weaving, Eliza and Jason find themselves with a perfect square and another Airai immunity win.
Conventional Survivor wisdom dictates now should be the time to play "It's Anyone But Tracy." However, this season, they haven't made the smart vote very often, so we're really in a place where Erik seems to be the biggest target and maybe even Ozzy. As the tribe gets back, Amanda apologizes for not putting the puzzle together. As she, Cirie and Ozzy talk about the vote, Ozzy is real quick to mention that Erik has to stay and that Tracy needs to be the one to go. Ami does not like that plan at all. She says that sometimes you have to play the dirty card. So she goes to Tracy and hatches a brilliant plan. She tells Tracy that the girls want go get rid of Erik and that Ozzy wants Tracy gone. But if she, Tracy and Erik bond together to vote Ozzy, he'll never see it coming and they'll take control of this game. Tracy tells Erik that she's voting Ozzy. He's not thrilled about that, as he seems to think that his status in the game depends on how he votes. She tries to tell him that he'll be next after her. As the four girls talk, Ami and Tracy tell Cirie and Amanda that they're willing to vote Erik with them. Amanda tells us that if she wanted Erik gone, he'd be gone tonight, but she can't decide what she wants to do. Ami tells us that the indecision of everyone is making her quite nervous and might be enough to have her stay with the favorites and vote out another fan.
As the group gets to Tribal, Jeff starts with Tracy and asks her who is leading this tribe. She says Ozzy is leading and that he tells them who's going to compete and who's going to eat and what they can eat. Ozzy says he's surprised that she feels that way and that he doesn't see himself as the leader of the tribe at all. On to Cirie, he tells her that SOMEbody has to be leading this tribe. She says that she sees where Tracy is coming from. She says that about 90% of what they do goes through Ozzy. Jeff moves on to Erik and Erik just gushes about how great Ozzy is and how their tribe would be falling apart even worse then they are now without him. On to Ami, there are two types of thinking right now, short term (We need to win challenges) and long term (I need to take out people who could possibly beat me.) She says that you definitely have to be thinking long term and decide when is the good time to get rid of the biggest threats. He asks Ozzy if that makes him nervous. He says that he definitely is but that he's going to do his best in all the challenges and be loyal to those that are loyal to him. Jeff then asks Tracy why they should keep her tonight. She says that she thinks she'd be better to keep than someone who will demolish you when they get to the merge. She says that she'd be less of a threat to Ami, Amanda and Cirie than Ozzy will be. And with that, it's time to vote.
We see Ozzy's vote for Tracy. We see Tracy's vote for Ozzy. I'll go tally the votes. First vote: Tracy. Second vote: Ozzy. The rest of the votes come up Tracy and she becomes the ninth person to leave Survivor: Fans Vs. Favorites.
***PROGRAMMING NOTE*** Due to the NCAA Tournament this week, there will be no Survivor. Please be sure to tune back in NEXT Thursday, April 3rd at the regular time for the next new episode.***
Before we get to the previews, I want everyone to take a second to continue my quest to get on this show. I can guarantee you that I will never, NEVER, EVER quit this game. The only way I come out of the game is if the medical team drags me out. So, take a second and send a quick shout out to the CBS Feedback Forum and help me get on the show! CBS.com Feedback. It dawned on me the other day that the only way for them to reach me is through the BOP feedback here at the site, which goes through everyone on staff here. So I'm going to start including my personal email address: vannestjc (at) gmail (dot) com. So that they can hit me directly without letting anyone else know. See? I'm so smart...I definitely should be on this show!! Thanks kiddies.
Next time on Survivor: Ami and Cirie go out hunting in the middle of the night and Parvati makes a move on a chick. She's talking to Natalie about her Alexis and Amanda as the final four. And there's another injury as Erik takes a hard fall during a challenge. He jumps off a platform and as he comes down lands chest first on the next platform. Honestly, if he didn't break several ribs right there, I'll be quite amazed. We hear Probst say that "Erik takes a hard hit, he's out!" I will not be surprised one bit to see medical called in to remove another player from the game. This is a brutal looking injury. And that does it for me this week, so until NEXT Thursday, take care!