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Previously on Survivor: we got a two-week break thanks to March Madness. It was awesome. Also, a bunch of people we don't like went to an isolated location and tried to live by only their wits. We can't really be bothered to remember who any of them are except for Eddie George's wife. *sigh* Back to the grind. At least some sort of country music awards show is pre-empting Amazing Race on Sunday.

Okay, so the scenes from the previous show remind us that a couple of people have hidden Immunity Idols and also that there is a super-secret cross-tribe alliance. So there is plotting and scheming afoot. Some of that scheming includes Joe & Sydney from Jalapao Tribe. They're discussing who would be next to go home, and basically it comes down to Joe saying, "You're pretty hot. You can stay." Sydney thinks this is quite fine.

The next segment - at Timbira - is the longest, most involved discussion of beans we have ever heard. It's like Blazing Saddles, but without the payoff. We won't bore you with the details (seriously, this is a discussion about beans), but let's just say that Coach wanted them cooked longer than everyone else and burned them in the process. This doesn't sit well with Sierra, who just wanted to enjoy a nice bean meal. Coach is not ingratiating himself to Timbira at all, which ordinarily would just mean they have good judgment. He's going beyond annoying when he causes food to be inedible, though.

Of course, Brendan, one of the players in the super secret merge alliance, notes that Coach is irritating and in it only for Coach, but also says that he is predictable, which plays right into his own plans. This is a pretty astute observation, actually. Brendan is a smart player so far, but we've seen similarly strong strategists get blindsided when they make the wrong chess play.

For some reason, Eddie George's wife decides that she wants to tell JT (note: not a person in her super-secret post-merge alliance) that she has the Immunity Idol. When she shares this information with Stephen (note: a person in her super-secret post-merge alliance), he looks perplexed and wonders aloud if she really believes that's such a great idea. She seems to think that JT is somewhat on her side already, and if she can rope him in by showing him she trusts him, she won't receive votes at the next Tribal Council. She has no intention of carrying the alliance past the merge, but will use the hell out of him to get there. Stephen is probably right to be skeptical of this idea's practicality, though. JT is likely as not to try to force the idol to be played. Eddie George's wife might be guilty of trying to play too many pieces on her game board.

Probst time! We've missed you, Jeff! Actually, we haven't even thought of you as we reveled in the joy of basketball. But that's okay. It's time for a reward challenge. Each tribe will have a limited amount of time to build a barricade. Once this is done, the teams will try to toss ceramic pigs through the barricade built by the opposing tribe. The first team with xx pigs tossed through the barricade wins a trip to a lovely waterfall, where they'll be served the perfect All-American picnic, including burgers, drinks, and other delicious treats.

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