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So now Phillip is down the beach talking with Brenda. He goes through everyone in the Stealth R Us alliance, including the two people who aren’t really in the alliance, and then christens her Serenity. Phillip is an idiot if he thinks that Brenda is convinced by this, since he just explained to her that Stealth R Us consists of all nine “favorites”. But he thinks this will help everyone pull together so they continue to win challenges. Anyway, it gets Phillip his camera time for the week.

Probst sighting! It’s reward challenge time, and Probst misses a golden opportunity to say “’Favorites, getting your first look at the new ‘fans’ tribe, which has no Hope.” I bet Cochran would make that joke if he were hosting – which would only ever happen in his wet dreams.

So, the challenge. Each tribe will select two members to stand on separate platforms out in the water. The other tribe members will untie planks from the first platform, and holding the planks in place, will use them to transport the tribe member on the first platform to the second platform, and then both those tribe members to a third platform. Then everyone on the tribe will swim out to a taller, smaller platform, and balance themselves all on top of it.

Probst’s “want to know what you’re playing for?” gets the least excited “yes” I have ever heard on the show. Like, “Class, have you all done your homework?” “Yes.” Reward is a visit from a “local bushman” who will “improve every aspect of your life." If the “fans” win, what is this bushman going to do to Shamar? “Favorites” are one tribe member up, so they are sitting out Cochran.

The challenge begins, both tribes quickly untie their planks, and Julia and Brenda start balancing on them. Things are pretty much tied up when they reach the second platform with Laura for the “fans” and Andrea for the “favorites”. However, Laura has difficulty balancing on the planks while the “favorites” have a better technique of staying low while crawling from one plank to the next. The “favorites” get Andrea and Brenda to Platform #3 and then they all swim out to the final platform that they all have to balance on.

Phillip is the biggest guy on the “favorites” so he acts as the pillar that the other “favorites” have to grab onto. The “fans” are at the final platform now, and unsurprisingly, Shamar will act as the pillar. More surprisingly, he decides to kneel down and have people stand on him – which I think is a bad move because now he is giving his tribe mates nothing to hang onto and is taking up most of the room at the top of the platform.

The editing makes it look pretty close, with both tribes needing to get one leg up. Corinne finds enough room to squeeze in, while Matt cannot find enough room to get up and keep his balance. The “favorites” manage to hold position for the required five seconds, and “favorites”! Win! Reward! “That’s what I’m talking about!” yells Shamar in triumph, until Phillip informs him that once again the “fans” have lost. Anyway, before we go to commercial, Reynold wants to tell us that they should be getting rid of Laura if they want to win challenges.

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