New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

We come back to camp as the helicopter lands. The winners get aboard and have a wonderful flight over the island and are all in awe of the sights. It only takes a few minutes before Boo starts annoying Dreamz by talking too much. About an hour and a half later, the chopper lands and they hike to the river. After a quick safety briefing, they climb into the raft and take off. This is that one challenge of every season that I would feel like I HAD to have. These guys are having a blast. Dreamz is like a little kid taking it all in.

From the ultimate excitement to the ultimate boredom....we leave the rapids to join Earl at Exile Island. Naturally, all he cares about is the clue to the location of the hidden idol. The new clue says that the idol is inside a tree near a lonely tower of rock on a path they normally walk. Frankly, I think that's enough for Earl.

Back to the rafters and they're eating massive sandwiches now. After lunch, the river guide comes over to them and gives them each an envelope. Inside each envelope is a letter from home. Yau and Boo read some of their letters out loud. Dreamz prefers to keep his to himself. He gets a letter from his sister talking about how great it is that he got to do this. If there's one person that really got something out of this letter, it's Dreamz.

We come back to camp and Dreamz and Yau are telling Stacy, Cassandra and Alex about how much Boo talks. So, this turns into a Boo-bashing session and Alex eats it up and starts stirring the pot. Looks like he's found his crack. He has to get them all annoyed enough with Boo to get rid of him. Alex goes to Dreamz and Dreamz confirms that Alex is next. But Dreamz would rather see Boo go than Alex. Alex knows he has to win this challenge to stay in the game. And with Boo having an advantage, this might be a tall order.

Hey! There's Jeff again! Boo opens his bag to find three climbing steps. Since he has those, he doesn't have to participate in the first round, he'll move onto the final. The rest will have to start digging to find their digging steps. The first two to find all three steps will join Boo in the final round, where they'll use those steps to climb a 12 foot pole. First to make it to the top and pull their flag wins immunity. Survivors ready?

Wow, each person has a huge lane and these things could be buried anywhere. This is as much luck as it is skill or strength. Dreamz finds the first paddle. Cassandra is having trouble and Probst is making fun. That ain't right. And Dreamz finds step #2. And Dreamz finds step #3 before anyone else finds any. Nice. Yau Man strikes next. Alex finds one finally. Always thinking, Alex starts dumping his sand into Yau Man's lane and he finds step #2. Cassandra basically quits and Alex finds step #3. Boo, Alex and Dreamz are in the final round.

Boo gets off to a fast start but Alex bails on the steps and just scales the pole. As he struggles, Boo uses the steps and skips past Alex and wins immunity. And once again, Alex uses brilliant strategy and gets screwed by poor execution.

And now it's time to play "It's Anyone But Alex". But I don't think this will have a good outcome for Alex. Yau confirms for us that Alex is going. Boo jokes about giving Alex the necklace. Yau is feeling really superior and content in the game. He tells us he won't have to use his idol. Alex is still laying low and expects that some people might come to him before the trip to Tribal. Cassandra is the first to visit, and Alex starts to plant some seeds. He tells her that he doesn't see Yau Man taking Dreamz to the end. She agrees with that. He tells her now is the time to make a power play. Of course, she realizes what he's doing, but he does make a strong case. He tells her that Boo and Stacy are better options for Yau Man. Alex moves on to Earl and Dreamz with the same strategy. Everyone seems receptive, but Earl tells us that he plans on sticking with Yau and risking it. Yau asks Boo where they all are and when he finds out Alex is there, he knows they're talking about him. Earl tells us that he doesn't think Cassandra and Dreamz are falling for it. We then join a conversation between them and they're not sure what to do. Dreamz is telling Cassandra that Alex doesn't matter. If they keep him, he's still expendable. Cassandra tells Dreamz that she has been with him from Day 1. Stacy tells them she'll follow Cassandra. So we could possibly have a Dreamz/Cassandra/Stacy/Alex vote for Yau.

Continued:       1       2       3