'Survivor: Samoa' has gone from zero to hero

Tonight on "Survivor: Samoa," this season just keeps getting more awesome.

Aiga
Following tribal, Danger Dave has the good sense to know that they got played and he very graciously congratulates the Foa Foas about the move they just made. Laura, on the other hand, is acting like Russell just killed her kitten with a tack hammer. It's not personal, you crazy woman.

The next morning, Russell goes Idol hunting again. Shambo talking-heads that she's with Foa Foa and she goes after John about aligning with them to get Laura out. John says he can't guarantee he'll vote for Laura and then she asks him to keep his mouth shut about her even broaching the subject. Hmmm.

Reward Challenge
Two teams of five. One person is in a cradle being swung around by the other four members. Cradle person collects flags and whichever person gets all 15 first wins a flight to a picnic and a camera phone... because DVDs of this experience aren't enough, I guess? They don't even get to talk to their families? Weak.

The teams are Shambo/Jaison/Monica/Mick/John and Dave/Brett/Laura/Russell/Natalie. Interestingly, on the first team John is in the cradle instead of Monica (who is presumably the lightest). Predictably, the second team is at an advantage because Natalie weighs like 90 pounds and the first team is not only adding John's weight but also giving up his strength on the ropes.

So Dave/Brett/Laura/Russell/Natalie are off to the reward. Somebody in the sound department goes a little wild on the xylophone while they take pictures of each other in the plane. The Survivors then get a huge picnic of hot dogs and pie and stuff.

While they're on reward, Jaison and Mick approach Monica about flipping. She says they'll need one more and they assure her they have someone already. Monica wasn't born yesterday on the turnip truck, and she suspects Shambo of flipping. But she uses this approach by Foa Foa to suggest they get John out.  If Foa Foa is smart, they'll go along with whomever Monica wants, as long as a Galu member goes.

The reward folks get a club about the Idol. It's hidden under a rock with moss on it. When they get back, Russell mobilizes Jaison and Mick to find the next Idol by describing the rock they saw on the phone video. Dave and Laura follow Russell around, so he starts jogging through the jungle and loses them, only to double back to where he thought he saw the right rock and with no one there, he turns the rock over and finds the Idol. HOLY CRAP, Y'ALL.

Immunity Challenge
They first break tiles with a rock to earn spears but you're aiming for YOUR tiles. The spears are used to shoot at a target. Jaison gets one, Mick gets one, Brett gets two and Dave breaks one of Monica's so she gets a spear.

Brett gets his first shot on the board, Jaison misses completely, Monica hits the target but outside Brett's shot,  Mick hits closer than Brett, so it's down to Brett's last shot. Brett can't do it, so Mick wins immunity.

Tribal Council
Laura finally lost immunity, so Russell wants to do her in. Shambo tells Brett about her vote as the plinky-plunky strains of "There is no more Galu" play. John, Dave and Laura get together and decide to vote for Natalie. Meanwhile, Monica, Dave and Brett talk about making Foa Foa think they're voting for John.

So Monica goes to all of Foa Foa about voting for John, but they seem suspicious. Russell says they have to let John know that Galu is after him. Meanwhile, Brett and John talk about Monica's plan and John is NOT happy about it.

Russell and John get together about Monica's scheming and John says if he's going to give them a Galu, they have to give him a Foa Foa in return. Apparently, this season's rules are that if there's a tie, they re-vote. If there's another tie, they draw rocks out of everyone left and the two people voted for are safe! Holy crap! So John thinks he should vote with Galu both times, then let the rocks be drawn and pray it goes to a Foa Foa. Wow. I don't think I'd hang my hat on that, John.

At Tribal, John says he was surprised by both the last two votes, which is total crap because he VOTED for Eric! Are you kidding me, liar? That wasn't a surprise! Anyway, Jeff (and I) are totally excited to see how the vote goes.

We see a Shambo vote for Laura and somebody vote for Nat, but they don't show us who. Probably Laura or Monica. Anyway, the votes go Laura, Natalie, Laura, Natalie, Laura, Natalie, Laura, Natalie, Laura, and..... NATALIE. We have a tie.

So now Laura and Natalie will not vote and the survivors can only vote for them. We see Dave vote for Natalie and Jaison vote for Laura. The votes go Laura, Natalie, Laura, Natalie, Laura, Natalie, Laura and... LAURA!!!!

Shambo has the biggest s**t-eating grin, Eric whispers, "So good," Dave looks shell-shocked and Laura's jaw hits the ground. SO AWESOME! That was just EXCELLENT!

Thoughts & Tidbits

• Russell is too much. Seriously, what is going ON this season? If next spring really is an all-star season (rumors have said it is), I hope they get Russell to play again.
• I don't blame John at all for flipping, I wouldn't leave it up to chance either. Plus Laura is sour and bitchy.
• My boyfriend comments, "Man, they may not win challenges but having Russell on their team? He doesn't just sniff out Idols like he's a little ferret. He didn't buy that 'vote for John' stuff for a second. He couldn't have played that any smarter than going for John when he sussed that out."
• Russell: "That was almost as great as my kids bein' born."

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