You know, it’s called Survivor: Exile Island. But it really should be called “The Shane Show.”

Shane appears to have never watched the show before. First, early on, he made an alliance and swore on his son’s life to uphold it. Why you would make that kind of a promise in general on Survivor is crazy in itself. And to make a promise like that so early in the game is even crazier. So when Shane decided he wanted out of his alliance, he couldn’t just not vote with them (and it wasn’t even like the need to vote had come up). Oh no. He had to come back from Tribal Council and flip out.

Quick note – did anyone else notice that Danielle was cuddled up against Aras in the shelter? Hmmm…

Anyways, the girls realize that it’s time to get rid of Shane. Of course, with the set-up of the challenge, throwing the challenge might not have given them the opportunity to vote off Shane. And I loved the set-up. Win the challenge, and you win a huge reward, immunity, and the ability to essentially assign immunity to one member of losing tribe. It was a great challenge – a nice mix of physical and mental. The last time there was a puzzle challenge, I didn’t understand why they didn’t start to strategize while the pieces were being collected. So I was glad to see Sally & Dan figuring things out while their teammates were running. I really thought that they would just crush Casaya. Of course, it’s Survivor, so Casaya pulled out the win. That’s right, the astronaut couldn’t figure out the puzzle. Dan, you’re so going home. And no real surprise that Sally got sent to Exile Island.

Back to “The Shane Show.” To catch you up, Shane has quit smoking cold turkey. The first week or so of Survivor he essentially went through detox, complete with all the crazy withdrawal symptoms. So what does he do as soon as he gets the chance on the reward? He somehow gets himself a cigarette. Wow. Of course, he’s all hugs and smiles – can’t wait to see what happens once his mood swing rollercoaster goes back down the hill.

Over at La Mina, all four prove to be stand-up guys. They talk it over, and Dan knows he’s going home. And it seemed like they truly didn’t want to do it – they have so much respect for him. And well they should – Dan is someone who has really earned the respect of those around him. I’m sorry to see him go.

No new episode next week…looks like a recap episode and a week with no Survivor as March Madness has two weeks with games on Thursdays. It’s ok…I’ll be cheering for Duke until Survivor comes back…