Survivor 39: Episodes 4 & 5

I have so many thoughts about the last couple episodes, and not enough time to share them. Regrets for not posting sooner? A few, but then again... too few to mention. So here's a few highlights:

• I loved the "this is Plan Z" speech by Missy. That _____ (I need your help finding the perfect word for it, please vote on the options below, or provide your own!) quickly elevated her in my power rankings. Well strategized, defended at tribal council, and then somehow perfectly concealed from Dean in the next episode
• Choose from the following nouns:
1. soliloquy
2. closing argument
3. monologue
4. diatribe
• Why did Missy really do it though? Wouldn't Karishma have been a better option? Or any dude? Maybe this was just a really good opportunity to build her resume, I'm not sure.

Episode 5 begins with Dean's unsuccessful attempt to uncover the mastermind behind Chelsea's demise. Then they do a tribal swap and a new gang of misfits is presented with the same dilemma that Orange, aka Lairo, has been battling all season long. Keep worthless Karishma around who you know you can beat post-merge, but lose every challenge between now and then? Or cut your anchor and see if you can compete in the next couple challenges?

Aside: my personal favorite moment in the episode is during the reward challenge when Probst describes Noura dragging an exhausted and non-participatory Karishma through the sand as "great teamwork."

My theory on this decision is that the Vokai majority decided that they have sufficient fodder in the original Lairo minority that it doesn't matter if they win. They can lose every challenge, remove the threat of an Original Lairo Alliance, and strengthen their own original alliance.

In the end, Tom gets voted out. While his early demise seemed inevitable, his unbelievable gracious and respectful exit interview was not. Tom does not have the instincts necessary to succeed at Survivor. But he is clearly good people.

Power Rankings:

1. Baggins - 3 players are quickly emerging as the biggest threats to win this game: Missy, Tommy, and Kellee. Missy and Tommy are both on Baggins' team and his supporting cast looks to be a pretty big physical threat too. Great for raking up the points in this league.

2. MoonBee - see above, but note the small hiccup of having drafted Vince. Also the bottom half of their team mirrors mine, which is ominous....

3. Eric - I like Eric's team, despite his double-Tom dinger. Kellee and Aaron I think are both doing really well. Jamal is over-performing considering when he was drafted.

4. Michal & Ben - our players aren't just dropping like flies. They are doing so with idols in their pockets. Stupid flies. And despite that, I have hope for our team. A hope that rests solely on Kellee and Aaron's shoulders as any solid performance from Jason or Touchy Dan will help MoonBee just as much as us.... But you gotta have hope, right? (Note that I am similarly delusional about my 3-5 record in my fantasy football league - brace yourselves for the greatest comeback ever!)

5. Phil - It's kind of insane and completely indicative of the strength of Phil's team that he still has all his players in the game, and yet his total score is abysmal. There is little hope for Dean surviving the next vote, barring some kind of deux ex machina move from Boston Rob & Sandra.

6. Doug & Bri - The only things worse than a double-Dean are a double-Noura or a double-Karishma... and one of those is real! Not a great start to their season. At the same time, I said probably literally the same thing around this time last season. And we know how that went. So I'm not writing them off completely. But it is pretty hard to see a path to victory right now for this team.

DoW:
I've got a perma-vote on Noura going for now. I'll let you know if/when that goes away.