5. A Very Brady Tribal Council – The writing was on the tribal council walls that Russell’s alliance mates were going to be in deep trouble once he was gone. Unfortunately for Stephanie and Krista, it was only a matter of Zapatera selecting which one of them should go home. Krista said there was no point in scrambling but it seems like some cracks do exist in Zapatera. David and Sarita are butting heads, Mike and Steve have a separate alliance and Julie seems to out there on her own.
Before getting voted out, Krista described the Zapatera tribe as the Brady Bunch gone camping. I didn’t really see how Zapatera was like the Brady Bunch, so I started thinking. On the one hand, they both have a leader named Mike and Julie does bear some resemblance to Ann B. Davis who played Alice. However, unlike Zapatera, the Brady Bunch never fought over who should get to put together a puzzle. Also, on the Brady Bunch it was bad luck when Bobby found the hidden tiki idol in Hawaii and tried to get rid of it – a storyline that I’m sure was upsetting to a young Russell Hantz.
4. The Sweet Taste of Victory? – Boston Rob and friends were able to taste victory this week for the second time this season. In my opinion this victory had a lot in common with the dozen donuts that they won as reward. While it must have tasted good to win the challenge and avoid tribal council, come merge time this victory might be one that leaves Boston Rob feeling sick.
Going into this weeks challenge, Zapatera had 8 members compared to only 6 for Ometepe. We then learned this week that Stephanie and Krista were ready to jump ship to Rob’s team giving Rob’s team 2 additional votes while taking 2 away from Zapatera. Had Ometepe gone to Tribal Council, they would have surely eliminated Phillip, the most likely member of their team to jump ship. The merge isn’t likely to happen next week, but by “losing”, the remaining Ometepe Five would be enjoying a 7-6 advantage right now. Instead, Phillip stays in the game, waiting for his chance to betray Boston Rob as one of Rob’s potential swing votes leaves the game. This could be the recipe for a Boston Cream.
3. I’m a Hustler, Baby – We all know that Boston Rob is a great Survivor player, but could he be playing his best game ever this season? The switch-up with the immunity idol clue was just another example of Rob putting his extensive Survivor experience to good use. Giving out the old clue to an idol that you already found has never been done before on Survivor. In Grant’s mind, he and Boston Rob have a secret pact to find the hidden immunity idol. Meanwhile in reality, Boston Rob is working solo keeping the idol he already found for himself.
2. The Other Woman – Of the three women in Rob’s alliance, Andrea is the one who appears to be the most formidable player. Andrea still hasn’t forgotten the blindside of Matt and now she has a new ally in Phillip. Being in a secret alliance with Phillip is dangerous because you never quite know when he may have a “Phillip moment” and expose you to the tribe. As we all know, Phillip has no problems with being either exposing or being exposed.
1. El Mattador – Over on Redemption Island, Matt triumphed in his third duel in a row over Christina. Both Matt and Christina were struggling with putting the heavy puzzle pieces together until Matt found inspiration. Matt started talking with Boston Rob and Grant to ask them why he got voted out. Instead of making Matt rattled, somehow this calmed him down and allowed him to finish the puzzle. Craziest of all, Matt said he wants back in the game to potentially re-align with Rob and Grant. You know everything is going right for Boston Rob when even the players he blindsides want to come back to help him out.
Do you think that Boston Rob is playing his best game to date this season? I’m always interested in hearing what you have to say so send me your thoughts on twitter to @robcesternino
