Survivor: Fiji
This Isn't Survival, It's a Thrival
By Jim Van Nest
March 1, 2007
BoxOfficeProphets.com
The haves vs. have-nots plan is not working out nearly as nicely as the racial tribes or boys vs. girls or old vs. young or...well, really any other plan they've had for this show. Let's see, last week one tribe was really hungry while one tribe lived like kings. There was a challenge and the spoiled tribe came away victorious and the hungry tribe jettisoned Macy Gray. The previews for this week have hinted to someone possibly injuring himself out of the game. Dare I guess Boo? I somehow have the feeling that those previews will turn out to be misleading and we will, in fact, be stuck with all of these people for several more weeks. Oh well, here's hoping.
We begin at Ravu after Tribal. Yau Man is telling us how hard it's getting for them and how they're not very connected as a tribe. Rita and Michelle say they're gonna try to start fire tomorrow. Rocky tries to get everyone to agree to talk one at a time during the next challenge. This tribe is just hurting in almost every possible sense of the word. Cue the opening theme...
At Moto, we get to see the flip side. They're actually painting their shelter. The thought is it will seal the wood and keep the ants out. I think these people just have too much frickin' time on their hands. What follows is a montage about how great it is at Moto, complete with Boo naming this episode, "This isn't survival, it's thrival." I really don't like these people.
Back at Ravu, Big Earl returns from Exile Island to find his tribe as messed up as it was when he left. He gets grilled about hidden idol clues and he gives no info. Michelle and Rita get started trying to make a fire. They wait for the sun to be high in the sky and Michelle uses some glasses to try to ignite some coconut threads. After a short time, we have flamage. Michelle passes it off to Anthony, who nurses the tiny flame into a blaze. And Ravu has fire. And they didn't need Jeff and his little flint to get it. Speaking of...
Probst sighting! Jeff asks Ravu how things are going. Rocky tells them that Michelle started a fire and they boiled some water. Jeff praises them as one of the few tribes to ever start fire on their own. Since they have fire, they earn their flint and no longer have to play for it in every challenge. And across Survivor universe, there is much rejoicing. With the celebration over, it's time to get to the challenge.
This challenge is a race. They will race down a slippery course to get a numbered ball. The number of the ball will be randomly chosen by Jeff. First person to get their ball in a basket gets a point. First tribe to get six points wins reward and a choice. They can either take their luxury items, a duplicate set of fishing gear that Moto won, or the third choice, which is a whole bunch of fresh fruit. And we have the Exile Island thing. Except the person sent to Exile will not be immune at Tribal. Lisi will sit out for Moto.
It's Anthony versus Gary (he's the older guy they call Papa Smurf) in Round 1. Anthony starts off diving and sliding down the course, while Gary stays upright and takes a couple of nasty spills. With the different approaches, they both end up at the basket at the same time. After a couple of misses each, Gary scores the first point for Moto. Round 2 is Rita v Cassandra. Cassandra takes a nasty fall but her momentum carries her to the ball, where she gets her own and knocks down Rita's. As they both take their shots, Rita scores the first point for Ravu. Round 3 is the battle of stupid nicknames as Rocky and Boo square off. They take off and Boo just goes like a madman and is up with his ball and scores before Rocky even got to his ball. I'm kinda surprised he didn't spike himself or something. Michelle and Stacy are Round 4. They're in slo-mo compared to the rest. The girls are pretty even and Stacy finally makes the shot. 3-1 Moto. Alex and Mookie hook up for Round 5. They emulate Boo down the course with Mookie taking the lead and scoring the point. Sylvia and someone named Liliana are in round 6. Sylvia takes a tough spill and is essentially out of the running almost immediately. Liliana gets several shots before Sylvia gets to the line and finally hits. 4-2 Moto. Earl and Edgardo (who?) are next. They're pretty even with Edgardo making the lucky shot first. 5-2 Moto and Dreamz is up against Yau Man. That should be close. Amazingly enough, they stay neck and neck and it comes down to who can hit first. After several tries each, Dreamz finally connects and Moto remains undefeated. And in an odd twist, Moto chooses more fishing gear and sends Sylvia back to Exile Island. Is this a "Red Sox sign the guy just so the Yankees can't have him" situation and they're hoping that there won't be a third set of fishing gear? Seems silly to me...why not take the luxury items for a bit of home away from home?
We come back from break to Sylvia on Exile Isl...zzzzzzzzzzzz. Huh? A clue? The third clue tells Sylvia that the idol is hidden deep under the cave in the middle of camp. How about telling her right where it is? Very interesting indeed...especially since she's the most likely to be voted out at the next Tribal. Now, will she be able to search without anyone seeing her...that is the question?
At Moto, this tribe is actually becoming more annoying than they already were. In the middle of the celebration, it becomes apparent that Gary is not right. He can't breathe and is pretty dizzy. He says he's had broken ribs before and this is what it felt like. They call in the medics to check him out. Gary tells them how disoriented he was for a minute. Cassandra tells us he said he didn't want to die in Fiji. He's apparently real scared. The medics check him out and determine it's nothing major and they give him something for the pain and he stays in the game. The tribe decides to just let him rest and check him again in the morning.
We come back to Moto getting tree mail. The clue suggests a test of will rather than brawn. Alex is really concerned about Gary - in particular, his health and its possible affect on the tribe. Decently, he does mention that his health is more important than the tribe, so that was a pretty decent thing to say.
Probst sighting! And more importantly, GROSS FOOD CHALLENGE!!!!! The players will go head to head in a food eating challenge. The first one to get the food down wins a point. First tribe to four points wins immunity. Round 1 is Liliana against Rocky in a giant clam eating contest. And in a photo finish, Rocky gets the first point. Round 2 is Sylvia and Dreamz with one octopus tentacle. Another close one and it's who can swallow fastest. Dreamz wins. 1-1. Next up is Lisi versus Mookie eating two peanut worms. Um...gross. Lisi having a hard time and Mookie wins easily. As he's winning, Mookie taunts Lisi a bit and apparently that doesn't sit too well with Boo. He comments about them showing bad sportsmanship and that the Ravu tribe is losing any goodwill from the Moto tribe. Rocky tells him he needs to chill out that it's all fun and games, to which Boo disagrees. Rocky comes right back with, "You vote out two people and then you tell me how you feel, bro." Earl and Alex square off with sea cucumbers. Alex jumps out to a quick lead and takes Earl easily as Earl has a hard time getting it down. 2-2. Next up is Michelle versus Edgardo eating fish eyes. Edgardo gets them down lightning fast and Moto is one point away from extending their streak. Anthony and Gary are the next tandem and they have to eat pig snouts. Jeff even points out the hair on the snout. They have to eat four each. Gary has no problem with this while Anthony is having a hard time. This one isn't even close. Gary sucks them down in no time and Ravu is stuck going to Tribal Council for the third straight time. I guess the pressure is really on Sylvia to find that idol. She was on the block last time and she has done not one thing to help her tribe since she's been there.
We come back to camp with Ravu and it's time to play It's Anyone But Sylvia. She decides to speak up to apologize for her performance in the reward challenge. She feels like she's a target and she has to find the idol. Anthony and Yau Man are discussing whether or not Sylvia has the idol. They determine that she does not, but they're still not sure. Rita and Rocky are talking about Sylvia, but they have Anthony as a backup plan, in case she has the idol. So they're basically splitting the votes between the two of them. Rita, however, doesn't want to vote for either one of them, so she's going to do something against the tribe. Mookie is also ready for Anthony to go. He doesn't think Anthony is putting forth a very good effort. Michelle and Sylvia are brought into the Anthony plan with Mookie. So as it is, I have no idea who's actually voting for who at this point. All I do know is that Sylvia has decided to dig for the idol in broad daylight no matter who's watching. Yeah...good luck with that.
Tribal starts off with a poll. What's the state of the tribe? Tired. Bad. Hungry. Tired. Mookie states the obvious...this tribe has to win a challenge. Jeff then points out how Sylvia was bad in the reward challenge. She agrees. He then asks Anthony about his match-up with Gary. Anthony says he simply couldn't swallow it that he had no saliva. Um, no. You were pretty grossed out, dude. Rocky is asked about trust. He says trust becomes more important to help you pull out a win. Jeff then asks Anthony if Mookie is trustworthy. Anthony says yeah he thinks so. Jeff asks Mookie about that and he let it out. He says that he was frustrated with Anthony after that challenge. He says that Anthony had a little piece of snout and he should have willed it down. Naturally, Jeff goes back to Anthony and tells him that Mookie just questioned his will to win. Anthony takes the high road and says he has the will to win and that he's sorry he pissed him off. Last thing to talk about is the hidden idol. He asks Rocky what the mood was, knowing that Sylvia has three clues to find the idol. Rocky says that of course they're concerned about it, because no one knows. And it's time to vote.
Mookie votes for Anthony, saying it's his attitude not his will. Michelle votes for Sylvia, saying she wants to know if she has the idol or not. And now, Jeff will tally the votes. He asks for the idol and after some very dramatic music, no one cops to having it. Sylvia, Anthony, Sylvia, Anthony, Sylvia, Anthony. We're tied 3-3. Next vote, Earl (okay, Rita...that makes no sense)???? One vote left. The third person voted out of Survivor: Fiji...Sylvia. And it's about time.
Next time on Survivor: Gary's health is not improving. We finally learn who Liliana is as she tries to woo the men. And Anthony gets some more verbal abuse. Yay! So, until next week, take care!