For the second straight week, Survivor skips straight from the recap to a snippet of original programming. One reader last week suggested that this change of pace was a strategy to fight off Ugly Betty over on ABC.

I like that theory, but an even better way to fight off Ugly Betty would be for this season to become interesting on its own merits, rather than merely being known as The Season That Should Have Included Race Riots But Didn't.

The Raro women are lazy.
Before the credits, we're over in Raro, after J.P.'s eviction, the tables have turned. Last week, the men were lazing around celebrating their testosterone and the women were doing the work and whining about how useless their bulkier halves were. Now, the men are industriously prodding their teeth with sticks and looking for ways to remain necessary. They're fishing and gathering wood. Their new inspiration amuses Parvati.

"They're just so much more manly now that the top dog is gone," she giggles.

Women aren't working anywhere.
The women of Aitu are having an intense armpit-based discussion. It's unclear if they're debating relative quantities of accumulated hair or if they're comparing smells. Regardless, Candice, Becky and Sundra are very involved in the drama. Cao Boi warns the camera that if their labors don't increase, they'll be in danger.

Reward challenge.
It's got something to do with weights and hooks and endurance. The reward is fishing supplies, spices and bottles of wine. Given that I suspect that Parvati might be fun with a little wine in her,  I'm rooting for Raro and the tribe's remaining alpha males, Adam and Nate, figure they're unstoppable. Jonathan gets points for calling Jeff Probst on his "And now we wait [weight?]" pun. Flicka follows up with some pun involving whining and wining. Yul and Jonathan drop out first. Rebecca and Stephannie are gone next. Adam and Nate, carrying the most weight, hug each other and sing "Ebony and Ivory" in homoerotic solidarity. Sundra and Candice are gone next. Ultimately, Flicka and her partner go out and Raro wins reward. They also elect to send Jonathan back to Exile Island.

In Vino Nihil.
Whatever the wine did in Raro the night before, we don't get to see it. How very sad. Adam has an octopus crawling up his ankle. It's a clingy sucker and big enough for lunch and dinner. Cristina has decided that she's powerful because she does the cooking, but Jenny isn't impressed. And nobody's impressed when Cristina loses much of their dinner in an unfortunate wave-accident. She wins no friends by co-blaming Jenny.

Aitu Team field trip.
Aitu has been eying the island across the way. They figure the remote island might be a new source for food. Flicka, Ozzy and Cao Boi go off in the boat. Like Columbus "discovering" America, they're excited to see the bounty of the new island and eager to spread small pox to any indigenous inhabitants. And it turns out that the island is, indeed, inhabited... by Raro.

Are they greeted as liberators?
Um... No. The Raro squad is unhappy to be invaded. They don't like sharing their fire, listening to Cao Boi's stories or, in Parvati's case, explaining how to pronounce their names. Their request to harvest some of the island's resources aren't well received, particularly Cao Boi's desire to snag a few spices.

Poor Jonathan.
Stuck on Exile Island, Jonathan is digging a deep, deep hole in search of the idol. Unfortunately, the idol is wherever Yul hid it and not wherever Mark Burnett hid it.

"You could bury Yao Ming in that trench," Jonathan mutters. "At this point I have to assume that the idol's been found, otherwise I'm a complete moron."

Immunity time.
It involves transferring players to platforms using stepping poles, or something like that. In truth, it's a chance to go check on the NL playoff game and to wonder how, exactly, Jeff Weaver came to be a Game 1 starting pitcher for a playoff team. The last step of the challenge involves fitting the entire team on a tiny platform. It's a genuinely amusing twist, with dozens of people teetering and clutching and, in several cases, splashing into the water. Aitu, far behind for the entirely challenge, comes back at the last second and wins.

Weakest. Women's. Alliance. Ever.
Taking advantage of their position of gender power, the women in camp have decided to get ride of Cristina. But things get confusing when, for the second episode in a row, Stephannie decides to announce, at an inopportune moment, that she'd really just like to go home and get some mashed potatoes and gravy. Stephannie just doesn't understand how her comments get misconstrued. Last week she said she was the weakest player and should go home. And this week she says she wants to go home for mashed potatoes and gravy. These comments are easy to misconstrue. It looks like Parvati and crew have been persuaded to stay the course, though.

Tribal council.
A 0-0 baseball game is more thrilling than tribal council, as is the BC-Virginia Tech football game (Go Eagles). Only two votes are read out loud to the camera, Cristina's vote for Stephannie and Stephannie's vote for Cristina. That means this is gonna be a rout. Surely that means that Cristina is gone, right? Nope. In a slight editing twist, the votes all go for Stephannie.

Would you give up a million dollars for some mashed potatoes and gravy? How about for one of KFC's tasty new mashed potato bowls? Those suckers are good.

Comments

Great recap overall, with one small typo... I believe you meant - (Go Hokies!).

Matt | Oct 13, 2006 7:00:12 AM | #

---

Does anyone else remember how wonderful "Evergreen" was?

CW traded in one of the best shows ever for two shows that
are a complete waste of precious
time.

Shame on you, Dawn Ostroff.

Robbie | Oct 19, 2006 2:47:40 PM | #

---

Post a comment

Name:
Email Address:	optional
URL:	optional
Comments: