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Others seem to think similarly to Zane, because Angie and Roxy would rather vote out Russell. Angie complains so much about Russell telling her what to do and not listening that she cuts off Roxy, who was about to tell her something worth listening to. Angie then goes to beg Zane not to leave, telling him that he needs to vote for Russell and “we need some laughter." Zane thinks this is all going according to his master plan, boasting that “we ain’t never seen a move like this in Survivor history." I’ll say.

Zane is talking with Malcolm about tossing in the towel. Zane asks Malcolm if he is talking about blind-sides, and assures Malcolm that Russell already has the hidden immunity idol, implying that it's time for a blind-side on Russell. Malcolm thought Zane was going home by his own free will, but is considering voting for Russell because of the idol. He also thinks it’s sketchy that this info comes from Zane. And this is the flaw in Zane’s plan. If everyone thinks Zane was ready to quit on Day 3, the narrative is that Zane is a quitter, not Zane is a strategic mastermind. How will it look at Final Tribal when someone asks Zane about begging to be voted out? Malcolm talks with Denise.

In interview, Russell admits to making his first mistake by clicking into chief mode and falling back into horrible, horrible leadership. Only his first? Oh, Russell.

Tribal Council! And there’s a cobra, just hanging out on the Tribal Council pavilion. It’s like we’re supposed to believe that the castaways might be surprised by a poisonous snake in the ballot box next time they vote! Although that would be pretty funny.

Probst gives the “fire represents life” speech, then asks Denise about the returning players, and she blandly says that she had wanted “a pure game” but it has been an asset to have someone around to give tips and so on. Zane says that the returning players may have experience, but they are also better players. “It’s like an onion – the more layers you peel back, the more you start to cry." This loses Probst, so we get to hear more of this onion metaphor as Zane gives more reasons to vote him out and keep Russell by describing him as “a killer athlete."

Probst asks Russell if it sounds like he’s getting voted out because he’s a better player. Russell, who talks about Russell 2.0 and Russell 1.0 as though he’s a piece of software who can easily be re-programmed, says he has some concerns. I doubt we'll be seeing a Russell 3.0. Everyone agrees that Russell came on too strong before the challenge, and Russell goes on to say it would be like a dagger in the heart to be medevac’d out, and then to come back and be voted out first. True enough.

Within this discussion, Roxy basically says that because of her military background, when Russell took charge and started giving directions, she went right into taking directions. So anyone listening should include Roxy in their alliance, because she'll do what she's told no questions. And Angie is still gunning for Russell, because Russell forced her to solve puzzles even though she ran track, and also because she mentioned that he said, “if we lose, it’s [Angie’s] fault." Zane agrees that Angie could have been running, because the day he arrived in the Philippines was also the day he quit smoking, so running ain’t the deal for him. That’s great timing. If only he'd known he'd be competing in several athletic events over the next 39 days.

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