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Previously on Survivor, with the order of Boston Rob's reign as ruler of the Villains a thing of the past, chaos ruled. No honor among thieves was the theme of the episode with Jerri quickly realizing that the maxim about the devil you know has stood the test of time for good reason. Her new allies, Pavarti and Evil Loser Russell, capitalized on their opportunity to eliminate sworn enemies Sandra and Courtney by...voting Jerri's deserted island boyfriend, Coach, out of the competition. There's loyalty for you.

The particulars of how ELR came to turn on previous ally Coach are where our interest lies. Sensing that Courtney and her were in a lot of trouble, Sandra casually went over to the reality show troll and manipulated him like she was Jim Henson and he was Miss Piggy. She slyly pointed out a conversation Coach was having with Courtney, describing in detail the pertinent information about it. What ELR should have done was wonder how she could know this about an ongoing discussion. What he did instead was start ranting about how he's blah blah blah and Coach better watch his blah blah blah else he'll *yawn*. Look, if you're still paying attention to what ELR says at this point, you're demonstrating more focus than the two of us are willing to expend on Mr. Napoleon Complex.

There was one important development during the episode that should bear fruit this week, though. As it happens, this permutation also involves ELR. Upon noticing that Boston Rob had been voted off the show, the Heroes immediately jumped to the conclusion that there must be a women's alliance at play that led to his demise. Television viewers know this is not the case and if the Heroes spent even an hour at camp, ELR would repeatedly let them know that he is running the show (he isn't) and that he outplayed Rob (he didn't). Since there was no merge last week, that couldn't happen and this quirk caused J.T. to pounce on the idea that if they can swing ELR to their side, the Heroes can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

In reality, the move J.T. needs to make is to reach out to Sandra, but the teaser for this week indicates that he goes an entirely different way with it. He unearthed a hidden immunity idol last week that the commercials indicate he is going to give to ELR in order to save him from the majority alliance at the Villains camp...his own. We find it difficult to believe that they would strongly tease this possibility unless it comes to fruition since that sort of bait and switch advertising is pointless for a show that will win its time slot anyway. More harm than good would be done in denying viewing the promise offered by the advertising. As such, this promises to be a fascinating episode.

As the episode begins, Jerri is being her typical, self-centered self. Although she's devastated that her only true ally, Coach, was voted off, her real concern is that her name not be written down next. Danielle and ELR assure her that she's safe with them, and she admits to the camera that her crappy collaboration with Evil Loser Russell, Danielle and Parvati is all she has so she's stuck with it. Hey, you know what could have helped you not be stuck with them? That's right, not voting off Boston Rob! The fruits of Jerri's betrayal came to pass much more quickly than even we could have anticipated.

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