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There is a final conversation between Mookie and Alex that is so deceitful it makes Brutus seem like an okay guy around Julius Caesar. Dreamz all but telegraphs the fact that he's double-dealing, but Alex is so busy fantasizing about the end game, he misses all the warning signs.

The only comment from Tribal Council you really need to hear is Dreamz's. "This vote right here is gonna determine everything. This vote'll separate the snakes and the rats."

Probst's reading of the vote strikes us as manipulated (more than usual). The group led by Alex and Edgardo can barely contain their glee. They are so proud of the machinations they have made that have brought them to this moment. Before the reading of the votes, Alex plays the immunity idol as planned. Then, three votes are read. All are for Cassandra. The camera shows Alex and Mookie sharing a celebratory smile of victory. A vote is read for Mookie, and confusion sets in amongst the now Three Horsemen.

The fifth vote is revealed, and when it says Edgardo's name, their three faces are crestfallen. Doubt sets in immediately. Each man would have bet his life that the fifth vote would have been for either Alex or Mookie. Edgardo's name had never been mentioned. (You know why? Because Dreamz never heard it.) The Three Horsemen simultaneously come to the conclusion that they've been had. The next three votes all display Edgardo's name. At this point, Edgardo looks back at Dreamz as if to say, "You betrayed me. You're betraying me right now." To his surprise, Dreamz appears equally confused. This wasn't the vote he was expecting either. On the other side of the row, Earl cannot contain his glee. He knows he has outflanked the opposition and his victory is about to become final with Probst's announcement of the last vote. By a count of 5-3-1, Edgardo is the latest contestant voted out of Survivor. Probst states that the immunity idol will be re-hidden, further muddying the picture in coming days.

Now we want to tie the entire house of cards back together. Here is how Alex and Edgardo are victims of circumstance. Dreamz had the opportunity to eliminate Stacy in the last vote had he followed through on his word. The idol would have remained a mystery had Mookie not said anything to Dreamz or had Dreamz not sold them out to Team Earl. Their immunity idol was lost because the intel they received from Dreamz was faulty. The enemy gave him just enough information for the Horsemen to draw a false conclusion. And Edgardo was eliminated because he was, paradoxically, the only one who was never in any danger of being eliminated. The odds of the stars aligning in this manner were staggering. With this type of luck, Earl should play the trifecta at Churchill Downs next month.

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