Survivor: Tocantins Recap
The Strongest Man Alive
By David Mumpower
March 6, 2009
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Following Tribal Council, the losers at Timbira cannot wait to turn upon one another. Coach wastes no time in being a total hypocrite, discussing how Erinn must go because she has become a cancer to the tribe. Why does he say this? Before the vote, she indicated to Jeff Probst that she sees more leadership potential in Brendan than Coach. That's it. That's what has set the psycho off. She correctly noted that a stable dude provides better leadership than a homicidal maniac. Everyone reading this is a team cancer if that is the main criteria. But the damage has been done. Erinn has hurt Coach's feelings. That poor, poor baby now has to deal with the ramifications that others may view Brendan as the Batman and him as the Robin instead of the other way around. This is the worst kind of outrage to Coach! The kind that affects Coach!
The following morning, Brendan shows leadership by having an open, transparent discussion with the group about the important nature of Probst's comments. He feels that a leader should be chosen and that Tyson and Coach are logical choices other than him. At this point, the camera monologue shows Tyson offer his commentary on the whole matter, which is that he wasn't paying attention to all that talky talk his tribemates were doing. FYI: it's kind of a strategy game, Tyson. Things other people say matter.
Recognizing that the entire group agrees with Erinn's assessment, Coach swallows his pride for a brief instant. He publicly professes his consent to Brendan's leadership. Almost immediately afterward, he tells the camera that were Brendan voted off tomorrow and Coach placed in charge, the tribe would see instant improvement. He also offers this arcane assessment of why it's not good for him if Brendan is voted off. "I want iron that sharpens iron." Coach is that crazy neighbor that all of the other neighbors talk about the instant he leaves the yard where everyone is hanging out. And he's the one that all of his exes have restraining orders against. We expect The Smoking Gun to back us up on this point any day now.
At Jalapao, Spencer is most concerned about Mrs. Eddie George. He notes that when she is sent to Exile Island along with Brendan, she does not have food, comfortable bedding or the other resources that the dominant tribe enjoys at camp. Instead, she has to see how the other half lives. Given the fact that she is older and less fit than some of her counterparts in the tribe, he wonders how she will hold up as the situation deteriorates in coming weeks. Little does he know that the Sister With Voice has a plan of her own that has her thinking VERY long term.
In fact, she is already considering how to seduce Stephen into joining her super-secret dual-tribe quadratic alliance. She has the sales pitch perfected by the time she makes him the offer. "This is going to change your life, okay? Do you want to be a part of the biggest upset on Survivor history?" Without hesitation, he says, "Yes, I do!" As she explains all of the moving parts, euphoria sweeps across his face. She cracks him up by dismissing Exile Island as a breeze and tells him that if they pick Sierra to go to Exile Island, she will pick Stephen to join her. There, the two of them can hammer out the details of what is now being referenced as the Exile Alliance. The only problem is...Brendan hasn't gotten around to telling Sierra about such a deal yet. Oh yes, this will end well.
Probst Sighting! It's time for a reward challenge, and it involves one of those brutal weight-carrying events. Substantive weight is placed in a pouch and that pouch is attached to a pole. How many pouches are attached is up to the opponents, meaning that the weakest links of each group may be targeted. Counteracting this somewhat is the fact that members of each tribe are allowed to sit out the event since only five are able to participate. Timbira sits Sierra while Jalapao makes the odd choice of having Stephen and Spencer take a seat. Clearly, Jalapao is thinking long term toward the immunity challenge, but the winner here gets to poach items from the opposing camp. This is not the best time to blow off a challenge as a loss should prove quite detrimental.
Brendan is targeted more than anyone else. He sustains 200 pounds of weight in impressive fashion. Taj, a participant in the challenge rather than a strategist, points out that he is wobbling and cannot sustain further weight. She is proven correct when the next 20 pounds sets Brendan. He should hold his head up high, however, as Probst points out that Rupert is the only contestant who has ever held that much weight previously. In terms of physical accomplishments, that's the guy contestants should aspire to be compared to.
Immediately afterward, JT impresses by successfully maintaining 220 pounds. Meanwhile, one of his opponents, Tyson, collapses under the weight of 140 pounds. This is dreadful news for Timbira as Debra, their only female contestant, is the only remaining player. Before the next round begins, they do catch a break when 220 pounds eventually gets the best of JT. Almost instantly after that, Joe's shoulder pops under the weight of 140 pounds. This leaves Taj and Debra mano y mano (or the female equivalent of that term) with both of them at 80 pounds.
20 more pounds are added, but both women hold their ground in impressive fashion. Right as Probst calls for 20 more pounds to be thrown on top of the pile, Debra's pole slides off, making Taj and the rest of Jalapao winners for the fourth consecutive challenge. Taj shows tremendous sportsmanship by running across to reassure her fallen opponent that she did "a hell of a job". Gameplay becomes a factor again when Taj instantly selects Sierra to go to Exile Island and Sierra returns the favor by selecting Taj, who is a little sporting this time. "Oh, you little bitch," is her exclamation, and her surprise that it was not Stephen chosen is unmistakable. Brendan admits to the camera that he may have screwed up by not talking to Sierra first. He's hoping Taj can work a deal on her own that he can confirm once Sierra is back at camp. There's a decent chance this surprising alliance falls apart in the next scene.
The games are afoot after the challenge. JT and Joe from Jalapao invade Timbira's camp and seek out some of their best items, which is the right they won in the challenge. The members of Timbira realize that they have little of value at this point, which makes them all the more protective of their one substantive item, beans. They try to hide it, and that serves the purpose of only making it all the more obvious to JT and Joe what it is the members of Timbira do not want to lose. While Debra tries some of the worst reverse psychology ever, they grab the beans and some water. JT mentions that they intentionally left one sack of beans in case there were to be a switch among players in each tribe, a surprisingly savvy piece of forethought. Despite his youth (he's only 24), JT is looking more and more like the total package. He's strong and personable, we know, and he may be a genius in lurking.
The producers of the show take this opportunity to reinforce JT and Joe's strategy. When the gentlemen return to their own camp, they explain to the other members of Jalapao that they intentionally left a bag of beans behind in case of a player swap. Sandy, the anti-strategist of the group, immediately seizes upon the idea that not grudge-humping the other group is a huge mistake. She then explains it in terms of leaving 25 guns for the opposing army to use to shoot you with, which makes us wonder how dangerous Sandy is with a belly full of beans. It's best not to think about it any further, which is what the other members of her tribe realize as well when she starts discussing potential usages for said beans. Closed captioning believes her to describe them as "far thing beans". We'll go with that. Several exchanged looks of horror indicate Sandy has worn out her welcome at Jalapao.
A humorous moment occurs at Exile Island. Taj innocently asks Sierra what she and Brendan have worked out at their tribe. Sierra blithely replies that she and Brendan haven't talked strategy at all. When Taj sits her down and explains the strategy, Sierra states, "I just got goosebumps." We have a tendency to believe her. She thought she had been voted off the show before ever reaching camp. Now, she sees a path that could lead her all the way to the final vote, possibly even victory. What a huge reversal of fortune that could be. Of course, before that happens, she'll need to verify with Brendan that Taj isn't just making stuff up.
There is a lot of filler in this episode. The highlights of it are simple. Debra misses her husband. Some dude destroyed Erinn by dumping her. Tyson is a bastard who enjoys seeing others suffer. Everyone watching this episode now despises him except for Corinne from last season, who is currently fantasizing about their wedding day. Their child will bear the number of the beast. Seriously, it's not just creepy to go on a reality show in order to be the super-villain, it borders on being a would-be criminal who is too scared of their potential jail roommate to go whole hog on a life of crime. Man up, Tyson. Then, suffer the consequences when you get passed around for cigarettes.
Probst Sighting 2: The Probstening!
Like so many of the challenges these days, tonight's immunity challenge is competition of race and puzzle solving. Contestants must run out to the opposite end of a field wherein they retrieve triangular block...like...thingies that they will rotate to unravel a portion of the puzzle. There are eight pieces in total that must be retrieved before the contestants may begin to decode the puzzle. The physical portion of the challenge is effectively a draw. Timbira returns with their final piece only a moment before Jalapao returns with theirs. Then, a shock occurs when Timbira finally does something right and bungles (I may only assume it's not skill) into the correct answer, thereby ending their losing streak at four. Somehow from Jalapao is going home tonight.
It's time to play It's Anyone But Sandy...but let's be honest. It's going to be Sandy. I blame the far thing beans. Some lip service is given to the idea of voting off Sydney or Stephen. Who are they trying to kid? Heck, the guy they have saying he might vote off Stephen is JT, who is already the dude's BFF. That doesn't even pass the laugh test. Everyone knows it's Sandy.
Skipping to Tribal Council, Sandy discusses how fortunate she feels to have lasted 12 days when she, like Sierra, almost hadn't made it to camp the first day. As she tries to describe her assets, she finds little to talk about, causing her to have to attack instead. She criticizes Sydney for wearing short shorts as a way to distract the boys. Sydney grows overly defensive at this and Taj's face plainly displays the fact that she thinks the attractive woman is just a few singles away from gleefully mounting the stripper pole...and anything else she can get her legs around. Sydney's status in her tribe is not clearly not good, but at least she's not Sandy, who gets all of the other votes and is eliminated from competition. Carolina should be retroactively reinstated. She would have been a much better contestant over the course of the season than disruptive, abrasive Sandy proved to be.