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All they would need is to gain the influence of one other duo for the next two votes to control Survivor completely. While such an elimination would impair our enjoyment of the rest of the season, Josh really should be the target tonight. Jon concurs, noting that they should have seven for the night’s vote. Of course, the plan requires them to count on Missy, who Jeremy believes has been with him since day one. Remember this conversation the moment that Jeremy’s torch is extinguished.

As Josh notes that Jeremy is the opponent he has to prevent from getting the numbers, several tribe members debate the name for the merged dozen. Putting absolutely no thought into it, they do it relationship style, taking Coyopa and Hunahpa and turning it into Huyopa. At least it’s not a fake word like a couple of seasons ago. Then again, why were we expecting creativity from this group of players? It would have been the first time this season for most of them.

Like Jeremy, Josh quickly embarks on a plan to acquire the requisite seven votes. The difference is that Jeremy is only starting with three, and we are not as sure about Natalie as he is. Conversely, the LEAST number of members in Josh’s alliance is three and, realistically, it’s five players. They are Josh, Reed, Alec, Keith and Wes. All they need to do is persuade one couple in order to manipulate tonight’s vote. Josh zeroes in on Baylor, who he notes does owe him from earlier in the game.

This is the moment when Baylor finally begins to think about the game of Survivor. She notes that while her mother has several allies, Baylor technically only has one. And Josh carried her through the early stages when she was the odds-on favorite for elimination each vote. As expected, Baylor is mercurial, flippant and rather ungrateful in discussing her sentiments toward Josh. We think she wants to sound sympathetic about the matter, but the tone and phrasing isn’t within her skillset. Josh is blunt about the fact that her nonchalance hurts him. Gratitude is not a valued commodity in the game of Survivor.

The next segment involves Missy talking about Baylor. During this segment, we learn a lot about how screwed up Baylor should be. Her mother is major league crazy and selfish enough that she should consider running for Congress. We feel the need to note that Baylor actually comes out of the conversation seeming like a much better person than she should be after that upbringing.

After instinctually recognizing that Baylor is not all-in on an alliance, Josh moves along to the next couple on his list, Jaclyn and Jon. Two of the best three players this season are involved in this conversation. Also, Jon is there.

For the first time this season, Josh really blows it. We will quote him exactly. “Just, in a perspective thing, who do you think they’re going to give a million dollars to, two Broadway guys who are very successful or a fireman who has two kids.” What Josh is trying to argue is that Jon and Jaclyn would be favored over the former but not the latter. His wording, however, is indicative of someone who is looking for patsies along the way to his personal glory.

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