Thursday, May 10, 2012

TV: Survivor - One World (ep. 13)

Last week on Survivor: One World, the women alliance showed its first cracks as Kat got everyone's nerves and ended up going to the jury. Tarzan continues to keep a low-profile, hoping to continue riding his last-man-standing status all the way to the finals. Will it work?

The title of the episode this week is "It's Human Nature". The previews indicate that an unlikely betrayal within an alliance puts one castaway on the defense, while another tribe member concocts an alaborate story to gain an advantage in the game.

Let's look at the episode...


After tribal council, Tarzan lays out a plan to Kim where she would take Alicia and Christina to final three if he is allowed to stay until four. Kim realizes that this is a good plan, even if it means taking out Chelsea. He even offers to talk her up at the jury to insure Kim the win.

Kim and he tell Alicia the plan. Tarzan then tells Alicia he will promote her to the jury over Kim. Oh, he's good.

Chelsea thinks that she, Kim and Sabrina are tight. Still, she works Christina to try to gain another ally. Christina later runs and tells it all to Kim, Alicia and Tarzan. Kim then goes and tells Chelsea what Christina said. Kim admits to the camera that she is playing both sides against one another, praying no two parties sit down and compare notes. Otherwise, she is burned.

The reward challenge is fairly simple: spin three dials to unscrew them (making yourself a bit dizzy as a result) to figure out a code to open a lock. Winner gets time on a yacht with showers, food and drink. Sabrina takes an early lead but everyone is really in it. No one falls down, sadly. Chelsea and Alicia are first to the locks, but Chelsea pulls out the win. She gets to chose someone to go with her. First pick is Sabrina. Jeff then tells her to pick another so she adds Kim to the trip. Big mistake.

On the reward, Chelsea feels renewed after a shower. While Sabrina is in the shower, she and Kim tighten their bond. At the meal, Kim says she is happy if the three of them go to the finals. But Sabrina clearly has Kim's number.

Back at camp, Alicia and Christina are ticked at Chelsea. They convince Tarzan that she is the next to go if she fails to win immunity. Tarzan suggests the three of them team to go to the finals, without Kim. They seem to agree with him, but Alicia thinks perhaps Tarzan needs to go as soon as he serves his usefulness to their numbers game.

Ah, no one trusts anyone. That is good for us viewers.

The girls come back to camp the next morning to find Alicia and Tarzan arguing. Alicia gets Kim alone and tells her that Tarzan is trying to mastermind a new final three. Kim tells her about what Tarzan said after the last tribal. The two compare notes and realize they both have been played. Christina joins them and adds to the Tarzan hate-wagon.

The immunity challenge is using fish hooks to snag bags of puzzle pieces. The three stage puzzle is a fish skeleton. The kicker is one hand has to be tied behind their back, which makes opening the knots of the bags challenging. Kim and Alicia lead the pack into the final stage. Kim gets stuck getting her bag, opening the door for Alicia. Alicia gets back to the puzzle first, but Kim comes up and makes it a close race. In the end, Alicia wins her first individual immunity.

Back at camp, I got confused (thank you, editors, you did your job right). I had no idea who was gunning for who, etc. Would Kim betray Chelsea? Will Alicia go after Kim? Will Kim consider playing the idol she is sitting on?

At tribal, Tarzan admits that he had a hand in voting out every one of the guys. Also, he lets slip that he is already a millionaire so why would anyone vote to give him the money? He certainly was trying to make a case for keeping him to the final three.

Clearly, too, Kat is a bitter juror. She mutters "bitches" to the guys while the women are talking to Jeff. Oh, I so bet she has poisoned that jury pool further.

The votes go down and it is a landslide. While Tarzan votes to take out Chelsea, all the other women gang up on him to vote him out 5 to 1. Well, he tried.

Jeff ends the tribal by congratulating the women for doing it - taking out all the guys. He says "may the best woman win".

So, Sunday for Mother's Day we get the two hour finale: five contestants, three tribal councils, one winner. Who will it be: Alicia, Chelsea, Christina, Kim or Sabrina?

Personally, the way this season has gone, it is anyone's game at this point. I am not sure who is going to win, how the jury will vote, etc. I do expect a lot of bitterness and backstabbing. All the good signs of a solid finale.

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