Another towel thrown in, another fan thrown out on 'Survivor: Micronesia - Fans vs. Favorites'
It's the first week of Survivor: Micronesia -- Fans vs. Favorites without Chet darkening our doorstep, and I am hoping that there will be more ass kicking on my TV now that he isn't there to drag the average down. Will someone take up the mantle of crappiest survivor ever? Or can we leave that dark period of history in the past?
Can ya count, chickens? 'Cuz your days are numbered! It's a dreary morning at camp Malakal, and the girls want to alleviate the boredom by killing a chicken. Ozzy sagely points out that each chicken lays an egg every day, and they will therefore not be killing any fowl today. Tracy is bristling under Ozzy's leadership and expresses her desire to get him out. So basically, stuff we already know.
The color of money? Malakal purple. Things don't seem to be that much better at Airai, as the women complain about the wet, the dirt, and the smell of their surroundings. Kathy is taking the conditions particularly hard, and despite her I Dream of Jeannie-esque attempts to "blink" herself home, she remains at camp.
Back at Malakal, Erik engages in a bout of hero worship with Ozzy, drawing comparisons to Simba and Mufasa from The Lion King. Cirie is fielding offers to be their wedding coordinator as the man-love duo, Amanda, and herself take a fishing trip out to the reef. Cirie expresses her reluctance to venture to far from shore, but relents after Ozzy takes the piss out of her. Yet more resentment for Ozzy's leadership, hmm.
That's the sort of excitement which leads us into the reward challenge. Survivors compete for a trip to another island to get cleaned up and enjoy a nice meal. During the competition, the teams must roll a five foot diameter stone, the ancient currency of Micronesia, while blindfolded over clay boxes to free puzzle pieces. Malakal makes things interesting by taking an early lead, putting them in the position to win their first challenge since the tribal remix. Malakal's lead lasts, and they enjoy their first challenge win as a tribe. Jason and Tracy are sent to Exile Island. This should do wonders towards repairing Tracy's opinion of Ozzy.
Exit stage left, don't forget your hanky. Malakal makes their way to the reward, a sugar-infused picnic by a waterfall, followed by showers for all. Ozzy is happy to win a reward for his little fan, Erik, and even happier to take a shower with a topless Ami and Amanda while the smitten Erik drools on. Drooling over boobies? Or over his idol? Only his lockable diary knows for sure.
Meanwhile, the rain is taking its toll on Kathy. After a meal of raw clams, she is visibly upset. Clearly this woman is not dehydrated, as her supply of tears seems endless. Yet somehow, even to these jaded eyes, her plight seems far more genuine than Chet's. Kathy's tribe members are sympathetic, and a
visit from Jeff ensues. Jeff quizzes Kathy on her motives for requesting a one-way trip off the island before finally granting her request to leave. Kathy says goodbye to her tribe and leaves, headed towards the comfort of the mainland and the family she misses. Airai appears none too concerned about the loss, and well pleased to see Kathy's misery come to an end.
The Malakal jinx has it's revenge. Cirie and Amanda have a little confab over Ozzy's growing arrogance. Ami joins the pair and they conspire to vote off Ozzy's shadow, Erik. They agree that keeping Ozzy in the dark about their plans is key.
At the immunity challenge, Malakal and the returning Exiles learn of Kathy's departure, but have little time to process the news as they must compete hauling puzzles pieces off a barge using a huge winch. Ozzy, captaining four of the five retrievals for Airai, gives his tribe the lead going into the solve. But just when it seems like Malakal is on the verge of stringing together two victories in a row, Amanda and Cirie drop the ball, their puzzle-solving abilities paling in comparison to Eliza and Jason's. Malakal is headed to tribal again.
A delicious twist in the offing, mmm twists... At Malakal, Ozzy wants to keep Erik, as expected. And Ami, Amanda, and Cirie make their plans to vote off Erik. But, lo! Ami displays a flair for classic Survivor blindsiding, planning to vote for Ozzy, assuming that Tracy and Erik will do the same. Erik seems a little shaky on the idea of voting Ozzy, worried about his position should the Ozzy vote fail. Ami sees the inherent dangers of her plan to rid Malakal of the threat of the godling as well. Also, there's the fact that Ozzy has the immunity idol.
Once in the presence of Probst, the tribe singles Ozzy out as the leader of Malakal. Ozzy is reluctant to 
accept the mantle (and the bulls-eye that goes with it.) Ozzy's defenses are up, and one can only imagine his trigger finger is itching to pull out the immunity idol. The tribe goes to vote and Ozzy declines to play his trump card. Once again, Ozzy's odd prescience prevails, as holding onto the idol proves to be the right move. Tracy is sent packing with a nearly unanimous vote.
Next week -- More heroic bloodshed is promised, our appetites whetted by a gruesome shot of Erik getting a chest full of wooden platform after taking a tumble during a balance challenge. Whoa, maybe I'll just watch a snuff film instead! Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Parvati realizes that she hasn't manipulated anyone in days and rectifies the situation by making new alliances. Good, we were all getting worried.
I asked a question too late last week, so as the first in this comment, the questtion and talk about chet last week was if he could vote himself out and better the chances of going home. Can a survivor vote themselves out is there a rule about it? If there is, wouldn't it be the same as when Kathy just gave up?
@ Jason
It's pretty much been established from the start that a player cannot vote for themselves. Yes, it's a rule. So no, a person who wants out cannot vote for themselves, but only strategize to have a majority vote for them.
OK....where do we find the un edited version of the shower scene? I don't blame the Ice Cream Scooper for drooling.How old is this kid anyway? Scooping ice cream as a profession? He couldn't come up with anything better than that?
After this show is over, I think Ami's cheekbones should get their own show. She makes me think of a cl***ic (like the 30s or 40s) movie star. Ozzie is a modern movie star.
I forgot to add: I read somewhere that Erik is actually a student, but the show for some reason decided to call him "ice cream scooper."
Great re-cap Andrew.
What was up with Kathy? This season needs to be re-named: "Survivor: Micronesia-Favorites VS Losers".
Too bad Ami's plot didn't work. It was the perfect time to blindside Ozzy. It's Ozzy's game to lose.
I'm rooting for Ami, Cirie and Eliza. Once the merge comes, they'll all be going after Ozzy.
Peace.
It's going to be a looooooong 15 days until the next episode. Thanks a lot, NCAA!
i'm sure they put erik's occupation as an ice cream scooper to make him seem even more cute and little-boyish. it worked, because he's hilariously adorable.
It appears there was more going on the Malakal camp prior to tribal council than they showed us. Perhaps Amanda was lying (or exaggerating) when she claimed to be willing to vote out Ozzy this early in the game.
In retrospect, I doubt Ozzy or Erik was ever in danger of being voted off given the nearly unanimous vote for Tracy at the show-ending reveal. Ozzy must have had a follow-up chat with most of his tribemates and brought everyone back to reality.
You have to admit that Ozzy is at least keeping this tribe within striking distance of Airai in each and every challenge. If not for Amanda and Cirie's inability to solve the final puzzle, Malakal would have won immunity.
If Ozzy is voted off before the merge, then I'm going to stop watching this edition of Survivor. From what they show us, he does more work and competes harder in each episode than the rest of the Malakal tribe combined.
Ozzy lost the one million in his first trip to Survivor because of his failure to put together a strong, convincing, articulate and concise closing argument at that final tribal council meeting (similar to the way Amanda bombed in front of the jury in China).
Regardless of how much strategizing, hard work or success a player has brought to a tribe, once in the final 3, it all comes down to making a compelling and successful speech to the jury and handling the Q&A's with some level of confidence and conviction.
Wow Cirie has really stepped up her game compared to her first season. I am really excited to see that. The same for Ozzy. If he played this game in the Cook Islands Yul would have been toast.
Ami..... I love you and I love how you play the game but I'm glad you didn't vote for Ozzy! I want to see him go head to head with James for the immunities after the merge. Can you imagine? ...
Tracy was a good player but for some reason this season IS ALL ABOUT THE FAVORITES!! Kathy, Tracy and Mikey B were my only favorites from the fans.