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Spencer

I wonder how much of a toss-up it was to keep Spencer and get rid of Shirin. Keeping Spencer was probably the right move because, as Varner pointed out, Shirin is more emotional and convincing, while no one is convinced by Spencer – not even Probst, who called Spencer out on recycling his “Baby, I can change, I swear it!” Tribal Council speech from his first season.

Anyway, Spencer’s big moment came when he got all blubbery at the thought of having to vote for Shirin. His small heart grew by three sizes that day.


Bayon

What can be said about Bayon? Not a lot, because they haven’t been to Tribal and we don’t get to see any of the intrigue beyond “everyone thinks Fishbach sucks except Fishbach.”

Joe

Joe is playing up his role as “tribe provider” by adapting the fishing nets into hammocks. Everyone likes hammocks!

Savage

Savage claims that his wife was a top model from South Africa, and they met when she won a beauty contest where first prize was a trip around the world. The “Canadian girlfriend” story is obviously not elaborate enough for Savage, but he is a handsome lawyer so everyone buys it.

Which leads me into my “rant of the week” about Savage, and his treatment of Fishbach. According to Savage, Fishbach is “playing the game 24-7,” “is all about the game,” “[has] no emotion,” “show[ing] you where his head is at”. Savage claims this means that Fishbach is “lacking in... morals, values, loyalty, dignity, courage,” which is all a complete load. Really, Fishbach is a weedy nerd who is not Alpha Male Savage’s type of guy. And that’s fine – Savage doesn’t have to like everyone on his tribe. But Savage is saying that because Fishbach is playing Survivor, that he is an immoral person. This is exactly what Savage did in his first season – ostracize the tribe wimps who don’t fit into Savage’s Survivor country club (like Little Ryan), call them names (like "Little Ryan"), and then tell them it is all their fault when he votes them out.

And as much as this bothers me about Savage, what annoys me even more is his pious, self-gratifying justification that Fishbach is a bad person while he is a good person, when they are both just playing Survivor. For example, immediately after bonding with Jeremy over the fact that they are both married and missing their wives, Savage casually mentioned that “Fishbach asked if you were looking for an idol.” That right there is taking advantage of an emotional moment to further your game in Survivor. That is “playing the game 24-7,” “no emotion”, “lacking in morals, values… dignity…” Shows you where his head is at.

Jeremy

Val is pregnant! Congratulations, Jeremy!

Kass

Kass gets a confessional where her big confession is that she actually likes the people on her tribe this season, so she won’t be able to justify manipulating them as easily as she did in Cagayan.

Tasha

Madam Not Appearing in This Episode.

Kimmi

Aside from hammock-lounging, she is Madam Also Not Appearing in This Episode.

Keith

Sir Not Appearing in This Episode

Monica

Madam Is She Even in This Season?

Ciera

Ciera didn’t feel good last episode and stood out of the challenge. That's worse than not being in the episode.

Fishbach

Fishbach is still the tribe outsider, and the one most in need of the upcoming tribe switcheroo. I offer a small sacrifice to the Survivor gods, that he may and Spencer end up on the same tribe. It would be nice for Fishbach to have someone to talk with.

There are the “power rankings” for this week. Tune in tonight to see a switch to three tribes with the added thrills of “less tension in immunity challenges” and “more people safe from being voted out.” Then come back later in the week for Jim’s recap.

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