Survivor: Gabon

For those that might not have caught all of this last episode of Survivor, here is a breakdown of Thursday night's episode. It actually contained info. I didn't know, like Sugar took the hidden immunity idol back.

Survivor Down to a Dirty Dozen

Another week on Survivor: Gabon, another week for the steadily disintegrating Fang tribe to gripe at each other over tiny portions of rice.

So, did the remaining members of Fang finally pull it together tonight, or did Kota continue to wipe the jungle floor with its tempestuous rival tribe?

Here's how it all went down, from the first stab of the back to the final extinguishing of the flame:

Matty Whitmore's making "a ring-type thing" to remind himself of Jamie, his girlfriend back home. Awww.

Ace Gordon thinks people—people, not just Sugar Kiper—like him. Figuring it's not the worst idea ever, Matty, who's sweet if not exactly brilliant, swears on his girl that he won't stab Ace in the back. And Ace swears on his mother's life—we're supposed to assume that means something to him—to maintain their newfound alliance.

Over in Kota, Bob Crowley and Corinne Kaplan are peeved that Dan Kay seems to think it's OK for him to take multiple servings of his tribe's luxuriously spiced food.

Ace pushes exactly the right button and Sugar offers to give him the Immunity Idol for safekeeping. "Ace is a snake—but he's my snake," she says.

Randy Bailey gives a fist pump when he sees that G.C. Brown is missing from Fang. Because…he was such a fierce player?

Tonight's reward challenge: Six members of each tribe (Corinne sits out for Kota) are tethered to a 20-foot-long, 200-pound stuffed snake. Carrying the snake on their shoulders, the tribes start running in opposite directions with the intention of eventually catching the other, like a big arcade game.

Kota's killing it. Then Sugar and Kenny Hoang both bow out, actually helping Fang's chances. Then Kelly drops it. Susie Smith gives up for Kota. Crystal Cox ditches Fang. Unsurprisingly…

The five remaining members of Kota close in on Matty and Ace. Tag! You're out!

Kota wins sweet, sweet sustenance: Fruit tarts, chocolate éclairs, croissants and everything they need to make coffee and brew tea.

And then the winners send Sugar off to Exile Island...again. This time, the pinup model doesn't feel so great about feasting on fruit while her fellow Fang members are practically starving.

Ace and Kelly Czarnecki suspect that Crystal, who's looking more and more beaten down, is "heading the way of G.C." Crystal, meanwhile, says that she's hoping everyone doesn't compare her to G.C. by mistaking her tears as a sign of weakness.

Immunity Challenge: Each tribe splits into three pairs (Susie sits out for Kota), the members of whom are tethered together, of course, and have to crawl under a cargo net splayed out like a huge spiderweb, navigate an obstacle and grab two pieces of a flagpole. Then crawl back under the net with the pieces before the next pair sets off.

So…Kelly and Sugar are in the lead after the first crawl but, unsurprisingly, Bob and Randy make up the difference and more, giving Kota a huge lead after the first leg. Crystal and Ace struggle, as well, and Corinne and Charlie Herschel keep Kota's lead safe. Finally, Matty and Kenny give 'em heck, close the gap and make it a race.

Unfortunately for Fang, Kota remembers that they're seemingly preordained to win every challenge and manages to hoist their flag first. Maybe it's just us, but we were kinda looking forward to seeing a crack in Kota's facade for a change.

Back in the hall of shame, Ace is all for booting Kelly, who was also ripe for the picking last week. Matty is more concerned about Sugar playing the Idol, which, obviously, Ace doesn't have to worry about, so he keeps pushing for Kelly. Meanwhile, Crystal would rather blindside Sugar or, joy of joys, see Ace go, figuring that Fang's been no better since the supposedly strong fashion photographer joined them. Both she and Kenny warn Matty about the perils of trusting Ace.

Sugar tells Kenny that she gave Ace the Idol, and he's reasonably shocked. Thinking better of it, she goes and grabs the Idol out of Ace's jacket. Nice!

At Tribal Council: Kelly expresses concern for Crystal's motivation after seeing her cry—and tells the tribe that Ace said the same thing. Ace defends himself, Kelly rolls her eyes. Jeff Probst points out that Matty's probably the only one with nothing to worry about. Time to vote.

Sugar hangs on to the Immunity Idol. Good decision—Kelly's voted out, about three weeks too late, 5-1.

Not much of a surprise, was it? What can Fang possibly do to pull itself out of this downward spiral? Maybe it doesn't have to do anything—both tribes have to drop a member next week! So, while Fang has been self-destructing and could pretty much lose anyone besides Matty and Crystal without making a dent, who do you think should be kicked out of Kota?

Misti wrote:

[color=red]Thinking better of it, she goes and grabs the Idol out of Ace's jacket. Nice!

Really???? I totally missed that too Misti! The only time I missed any of the show was when I was getting our dessert, and I think the family would have filled me in on that! Did anyone see this?

Ok, so Sugar's not so dumb after all!

Yeah, Kenny made sure that Sugar understood that she should have the immunity idol with her at all times.

I saw that conversation between Sugar & Kenny, but I didn't realize she'd actually taken it back.

I think I remember Sugar talking to Ace about it, but I don't think they actually showed her taking it back.

Yes, a merge may be on the horizon, considering Fong's tribe is withering away.

Teresa wrote:

I think I remember Sugar talking to Ace about it, but I don't think they actually showed her taking it back.

Seems like a pretty important thing to just edit out, huh? I have to wonder if this review actually reviewed something from the next episode??? Maybe the person reviewing it was privy to it early? I don't know, but this seems really strange. I just talked to the hubby and he didn't see it either, and was sitting there the entire time.

Survivors Ready?!?!

Oh, of all the dumb things! I left my VCR on, so of course it didn't record Survivor.

:alright:

Thanks. I'm over it now.

Rob, I'm so sorry!! What a bummer! Spoiler for you, if you want to know:

Dan was kicked out of Kota & Ace is out of Fawng!! I know he's a snake but he was kind of fun to watch/listen to, I thought. Sugar knew what she was doing though---smart move!! And, ahem, this is Sugar we're talking about! :unsure:

Amy wrote:

Rob, I'm so sorry!! What a bummer! Spoiler for you, if you want to know:

Thanks, Amy. And thanks for the spoiler! I did want to know.

No problem!

Rob wrote:

Oh, of all the dumb things! I left my VCR on, so of course it didn't record Survivor.

You could probably watch segments of it on the Survivor website thru cbs.com.

Thanks, Beckie. If I have some spare time I might check it out. But I'll probably just wait and watch the next ep on Thursday.

Bye, bye, Ace. Don't let the torch burn you on the way out. LOL!!

Schwing!!!!!!

I was very happy to see Ace leave. Is Randy bugging anyone as much as he is me?