Philippine: Ep 12

Unfortunately, the moment I gave Carter credit was the moment he got voted out. I think that getting rid of Carter was the smart move, but the entire jury is going to hold it against them after all the things they've said about Abi-Maria, and the original Yellow Tribe in general. But, as Ben said, the jury can be mad at all of them, but they'll still have to vote for one of them if they leave the jury no choice. This means voting Abi-Maria out next episode, though, and I'm not sure that will happen.

For once I wish they'd done the stupid move & kept Carter around. Sure he's a much bigger threat at challenges, but wouldn't it be great if the alliance actually followed through on their "final 6" bond? It would have been so entertaining to watch that! It's also horrible to have Skupin say things like "voting Carter out is like voting out my own son" right before writing his name down. If he'd really meant that he never would have voted for him. DoW candidate for sure.

Previews for the next episode are concerning. Lisa has no long-term vision for the game & she's as flaky & wishy washy as she claims not to be. Also, her complete meltdown when her brother came out was terrifying to watch. That sort of 5-minute-long dry-heaving, stopped-breathing, dangerous-to-your-health sobfest is not appropriate in that context. It really freaked me out. That was beyond normal, there's something weird happening there.

My ideal next episode is that Lisa does switch over to the Dark Side (or Brazilian Side) & drags Skupin with her. Anticipating the shift, though, Malcolm gives his idol to Denise to play & they knock out Lisa instead. Vindication!


The Standings:

Giant Bloody Brazilian Cola - Moon: 98 points
[1. RC (21.5 pts)]
2. Skupin (22.5 pts) 
[3. Jeff  (21.5 pts)]
4. Abi-Maria (32.5 pts)

Love Line: Old Balls & Tiaras - Doug/Bri: 84.5 points
[1. Penner (41.5 pts)]
2. Denise (14 pts)
[3. Artis (23.5 pts)]
[4. Katie (5.5 pts)]

The Clap - Bag/Leah: 83.5 points
[1. Pete (27.5 pts)]
[2. Carter (39.5 pts)]
[3. Angie (0 pts)]
4. Lisa (15.5 pts)

I'm on Dregs! - Michal: 30 points
1. Malcolm (31 pts)
[2. Dana (-4.5 pts)]
[3. Dawson (3.5 pts)]
[4. Russell (0 pts)]

Power Rankings: 

1. Giant Bloody Brazilian Cola - Moon is now the only team with 2 players remaining - and is anyone else as shocked as me that one if them is Skupin? I thought that guy would have been med-evacked by episode 6! It's all but guaranteed that at least one of them will make the finals, maybe even two with the way things are going.

2. Love Line: Old Balls & Tiaras - Denise is still in it, but no one can be sitting very comfortably right now... except Malcolm I guess who's guaranteed himself a Final 4 spot. I'm still hoping for a Denise victory! She needs to start making some moves to leverage a strong position in the finals, but it might already be too late. Has she flown too far under the strategic-gameplay radar to win enough jury votes?

3. The Clap - Lisa's emotional journey storyline is running incredibly thin. She's betrayed pretty much everyone and is now going against everything that she's said to the jury are her priorities. I think she's likely to make Final Tribal, but I don't think she can win. There are going to be too many bitter jury members & too many of them who won't give her any credit for the strategy she played. I hope Penner shares her child star story, too -- be one of the bitter ones, Penner!

4. I'm on Dregs! - OMG Malcolm actually won something! Better late than never I guess, and it couldn't have come at a better time. He was about to fall into the "I feel like I'm in control & am getting complacent so now I'm getting voted out" trap, but saved himself with his first immunity win. Congrats Malcolm, you've managed to salvage some dignity here at the end, but you still are getting outscored by Abi-Maria in this pool. And you've only tied her for immunity wins.   


Douche of the Week:

My vote this week goes to Lisa. Her claims of loyalty being her #1 priority are annoying considering how often she switches sides, plus her out-of-control sobbing when seeing her brother was quite distrurbing.