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Previously on Survivor, the contestants did the smart thing and…oh, who are we kidding? No one’s done the smart thing all season. We’ve been engaged in some contentious debates this season about whether people are employing strategy in this game. Some people we respect believe that several Survivors are competing hard in terms of the mental game. We disagree in that we consider a lot of the moves up to now to be placing too much focus on the end game and not enough on what is necessary to make it to the end. Never eliminate allies when you still have enemies remaining in the game. Alina and Kelly B. were with the younger tribe. You don’t vote them off until everyone you dislike on the older tribe – particularly Marty – is gone. Alina might have been dangerous in four votes. Marty is a problem now.

Also, for the love of God, will someone please eliminate Dan? The Road Runner isn’t this hard to blow up.

Night 22 at Libertad sees Chase and Brenda consoling Jane, who is livid over Marty’s behavior at Tribal Council. As viewers, we only see a small portion of what goes on during those things as they generally go on for multiple hours. It appears that Marty’s personal attacks against Jane crossed a line. Even NaOnka says so. When she thinks you’ve gone too far, it’s time to repent your sins.

While Jane vents, Marty appears to be eavesdropping, taking the temperature of the room. The following morning, he presses Sash regarding the identity of the other person who voted for him the previous night (besides Jane, of course). His paranoia gets the best of him about the second vote. Amusingly, the person who did it, Alina, is no longer there.

Soon after this, Marty tries to sell Dan and Benry on the idea of telling everyone they will vote for NaOnka, but then blindsiding Jane at Tribal Council. He points out that three members of the jury would definitely vote for her, presuming in the process that Holly and Jane are about to be eliminated. We just don’t like any of Marty’s decision-making in this game. We acknowledge that we’re pro-Jane, but his actions seem to come from the fact that he wants to be the person making all the decisions even though he’s shown no ability to make sound choices so far.

Of course, Jane is a little more blunt about it. “I’d like to take him to the woodshed and whip his ass.”

Probst sighting! Today’s Reward Challenge has the Survivors split into two teams, which will compete against each other in an obstacle course that has three stations where they will retrieve three keys. Once the teams have all three keys, they will have to unlock some locks to raise their flag. Winner will get to zipline over a gorgeous area of Nicaragua before having an amazing, filling meal. In an odd twist of fate, when teams are randomly drawn, the setup is all guys versus all girls. There is one outlier in Chase, who is the extra person who doesn’t get included in the challenge. Instead, he can pick a team to back and if they win, he will join them on the challenge.

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