It’s been a few weeks since Survivor 19: Samoa has delivered any true drama. Sure it was crazy to see Russell S. pass-out and be taken out of the game, and Russell H. is always good for some witty banter, but this show is about trust and strategy and until Episode VIII the two tribes pretty much played nice.
Well it’s definitely game on now.
There was some issue early on in the episode between Shambo and Laura (who returned to camp after attending Foa Foa’s latest Tribal Council) regarding a missing canteen. Truth is, so much happened in the rest of the show that the little spat seems rather insignificant now…so on to the merge.
The two tribes are invited to a neutral beach where they receive a treasure chest with new blue buffs and a note explaining that they have merged and will inhabit the old Galu camp where they will have a feast. Russell begins to notice his tribe making inroads with the old Galu group and he is even fed grapes, like a king he says, by Monica.
The new tribe goes through the motions of picking a new tribe name – they land on Aiga which means extended family – and paint their new flag. This could be a sign of things to come, as my extended family never lasts too long at my place.
The next day, Russell begins to work his magic by showing no less than four members of old Galu his immunity idol and vowing to let them use it if they keep him in the game. Laura and Monica are skeptical of Russell’s true intentions, but John is interested and Shambo is lured by her hatred for Laura to team-up with Russell to get her out of the game– the plan is working perfectly, he says.
This week’s immunity challenge is Survivor’s version of T-ball. Hit a coconut-like ball with a wooden stick at numbered targets on the field. Player with the highest score wins immunity. Jeff also informs us that there will be a male winner and a female winner, which should make things interesting as Laura has the target on her back. John wins for the men and, low-and-behold, Laura somehow pulled out the victory on the women’s side leaving Shambo with a sinking feeling in her stomach.
What happened next was classic Survivor and perhaps some of the best scheming, strategizing and backstabbing we’ve ever seen.
At first, all of the heat was on Russell as Galu appeared to be sticking together to get rid of the crafty Foa Foa member. Then, Erik suggests the plan be changed to make it seem like Russell was the target in order to get him to play the idol, but in reality they would target Jaison with their votes. John doesn’t agree and suggests that they break up the women’s alliance by voting out Monica now as they still have numbers over Foa Foa. Erik believes all of old Foa would go for that and he agrees.
After Erik informs Foa Foa of the plan, Jaison suggests that the team try to get rid of Erik by letting Monica and Laura know his plan to get rid of them. Nathalie plants the seed with Laura and she tells the girls and Dave who question Erik’s trustworthiness – the blindside is in the works and Russell and his idol don’t have a clue what’s going on.
At tribal council Erik helps dig his own grave by arrogantly dismissing Foa Foa’s chances of having any impact on the game. He and Russell trade verbal jabs and then Jeff calls for the vote. Prior to reading out the votes, Russell reveals his hidden immunity idol and Jeff reads out 10 votes for Erik – WOW! He didn’t see that coming at all! Priceless! Erik is gone and the Foa Four remain in tact. Now to bring Shambo over to their side and really turn this game around!
The Scribe Has Spoken…
How could anyone NOT find this season's show absolutely compelling???