Aras Wins Survivor: Exile Island

What a great season of Survivor. And what a fitting ending – a member of each of the original four tribes in the final four, and someone who was really deserving winning it all. Definitely the best show on television.

We started the finale with Danielle and Cirie’s battle to make fire. First, when did they implement the rule that a tie would go to an individual challenge? In early seasons, a tie was decided by votes cast in previous tribal councils. There was also the “pull a rock” tie breaker on several seasons. I hated the rock pulling thing, but I like going to previous votes cast before an individual challenge. It would have meant that Danielle was gone – she had several votes cast against her, while I don’t think Cirie did. Anyways, it was a good challenge – for a few moments I really thought that Cirie had it. But in the end Danielle won, and Cirie was the next one out of the tribe. Cirie leaving the game was huge for everyone – I think that she was the one person who could have beat each and every member of the tribe in the final vote.

I’m not sure if I liked the twist of having a final reward challenge that would potentially give the winner an edge in the final immunity challenge. It was a great challenge though – I love the challenges that combine mental and physical like that. Of course, it’s true what Aras said afterwards – yes, it’s a physical advantage to have that food and cot, but it can be a psychological disadvantage because now everyone expects you to win.

Oh – can I just say how much I hated Terry coming back from tribal council and showing off his hidden immunity idol? I don’t think that was a very classy move. Not that Terry has been classy through the whole thing. So many times he was a sore loser – I don’t know why that has been glossed over in the Terry-love-fest that happened on the reunion show and the talk shows this morning.

Anyways, after the requisite rite of passage tribute to their “fallen comrades,” we get to the final immunity challenge. And it was hard. The final challenge is always about endurance, and this one added the element of balance. I really thought that they would make it farther than they did, but I guess it was a LOT harder than it looked! I also thought that Aras would do better than he did with his yoga background. And what was up with Jeff counting down the minute between platforms? At the second change, Jeff kept giving time updates that seemed to give Terry way more time than he really had. Aras commented on that today on Survivor Live…it seemed that those last 10 seconds were a lot longer than 10! Aras also confirmed that even if Danielle hadn’t given him the nod to jump off, there was no way he would have won. Danielle was in the zone, and made Red Sox fans proud!

I wonder how close Danielle really was to taking Terry to the final two? I think she may be the first Survivor to ever actually sit down with pen and paper and write out the voting scenarios for each choice. She made the right choice…she had to know that she didn’t have the votes to beat Terry. It would be much closer if she chose Aras. I don’t even know how Terry could be surprised. Those Casaya members stuck together throughout.

How can I not mention Aras on the rocks? What was he thinking walking on the wet rocks after having champagne? And Danielle seemed so helpless. It looked like she just stood there for a minute or two before she fully realized what had happened. But I did love when she asked the medical team to drug him up!

It was a good final tribal council – just enough people who were still angry to make it interesting. I laughed out loud when Shane started talking. I understand that he was still angry, but the best part was when he talked about his alliance with Aras. Did he say that he swore on his son while Aras swore on his yoga? Really? Can you swear on a hobby? Who knew? It was clear why Cirie knew to get rid of Courtney – she would have been a dream to sit next to in the final two. And I liked Terry’s comment as he voted for Aras – “I’m just so used to writing your name down…”

In the end, I was glad to see Aras win. He played the game hard and he was kind and honest throughout. Yes, he had to lie when he voted out Shane, but that might have been the only time. He was strategic throughout, and really deserved to win. I think he’ll do good things with the money (outside of those goofy hats he’s selling…of course, if you made me one for the Red Sox…). Anxiously awaiting the fall and Survivor: Cook Island...

Somebody Call a Whambulence!

Another phenomenal episode tonight of Survivor: Exile Island. Of course, that is until the whole “to be continued” thing. I feel so used…

Regardless of what happens, I truly believe that Terry will be in the final two. I also believe that there is no way he can win. After watching his behavior tonight, there’s no way he can beat Cirie, Danielle, or Aras in the final. So either he’ll win the final immunity challenge outright, or whoever does will take him because they know that they can beat him. And why am I so sure of this? Well, first was his reaction when they returned from tribal council. Cirie dropped her torch in his way and he lost it. Sure, they are all tired and hungry, but there’s no excuse for treating her like that. Then there’s the reward challenge. Oh the reward challenge. It was a tough challenge – did you see the sweat pouring off of them? But the best part was Aras, uttering one of the best lines in Survivor history – “somebody call a whambulence, Terry’s crying on the course!” Perfection. And Terry was really whining about it – way to be a good loser.

This was one of the first episodes I can remember where the editing of the show was so telling. When Cirie was excited to make fire, you just knew that that was going to come into play later in the show. I was just hoping that it would come into play at the immunity challenge. It was a good challenge though – I was screaming on my couch for Aras to get it in gear! I’m just so sick of Terry and his attitude. Thank goodness Aras finally pulled it out in the end!

Speaking of Terry, no shocker that he didn’t actually give Danielle the idol. He didn’t give it to Nick, or Austin, or Sally – why would he give it to Danielle? And I he had given it to Nick at that first tribal council, the entire game would have changed. But while Terry is very strong physically, his mental game play is horrendous.

So we’re stuck with a stupid “to be continued” to find out whether Danielle or Cirie can make fire first. And only one episode left…oh Survivor, why do you taunt me?

Shane Never Saw it Coming...

I know, every week I say that this episode is the reason I love Survivor. And I’m sure it’s getting old. But I don’t care…get your own blog. Last night’s episode of Survivor: Exile Island rocked. THIS is why I love Survivor!

First was a phenomenal reward challenge. That was a beast. That, and the fact that the reward was not really clear made it interesting. They knew it was something with family (a HUGE motivation), but also knew that they would have the power to allocate time with family members. You could kind of see it in Cirie’s eyes that maybe she didn’t want to have that power again. Captain America won (of course), and I think he did an excellent job with the allocating of rewards. There was no question that he had to give Shane overnight time with his son. I might have switched Cirie and Shane (since maybe Boston would enjoy spending time at camp), but they are the two who needed the time. How could you NOT give Shane that time? I loved when Boston talked about how he and his dad were more like brothers since his dad acts like a kid. Really? I would have never guessed.

Terry’s wife clearly understood that even though her husband could win every physical challenge out there, he has no clue how to play the mental part of the game. Why would he go back to camp and announce that he didn’t do much sleeping (ugh…)? And did he need to explain to Aras that he chose Danielle to be exiled because it was “just her mom”? No one would have argued those choices – you just needed to say it was hard, say there was no question about Shane (I think everyone would have chosen Shane), and that he knew how much he missed his wife and wanted to give Cirie the same. I think we’re seeing the start of a Colby-like run…he’ll win all the challenges, yet won’t win the million. His attitude is just getting old. The only person he might be able to beat is Danielle…hmmm….

The immunity challenge was great too. Of course, my favorite part was Shane. Shane never shows up for the challenges…I don’t know if it’s because he thinks he’s safe or because he might just be the least physical person out there. But I laughed so hard as he continued to pour the water into the wrong tube. I truly thought that this was the challenge Terry would lose. Aras should have won…with all that yoga/balance ability, he should have rocked. But, of course, Captain America prevailed. Oh well, at least we got to see them all get off their poles…some dives, a strange bit of belly flop by Shane, then Cirie carefully climbing down with a “no diving for me” comment.

Cirie might be one of the greatest players ever. First of all, she’s in the Final Four after being told in the first week of being out there that she was next. But more importantly, she is running the show without anyone realizing it. The last two votes have been completely engineered by Cirie, and no one seems to be the wiser. Fantastic. (the look on Shane's face as he saw one vote for him was great...as the others were read was even better...he really is a cartoon character...and why was Courtney so upset too?) And if she makes it to the final two (which might actually happen…) she’s sure to win. How could the jury NOT give it to her? (and the more I watch the jury, the more I think that Sally & Austin aren’t locked in to voting for Terry if he’s in the final…) What a great game.

Another Immunity for Captain America

This is why Survivor is the best show on television. What a fantastic episode.

First is the craziness with Shane and his “Blackberry.” I’ll be honest – I can’t tell if he’s actually crazy or this is something that is just making him feel better. The thing is that I (and his tribe) really can’t tell. Got to love the Shane Show.

The reward challenge was a beast. I don’t understand how Cirie, Aras, & Shane got so tangled up in their ropes. They really should have been able to contend in that challenge. The other thing I didn’t understand is why they did the car part of the challenge after half of the tribe had left. Why didn’t they make the others sit and watch Terry win again? And why didn’t Jeff mention the “car curse”? Does he think that Terry can break it? Or did he just forget? (after all, it is pretty hot out there…) If anyone can break the curse, though, Terry is the one.

Speaking of Terry, it was a great strategy to get Danielle and Courtney into his court. If only it had worked…for all his athletic prowess, Terry just isn’t very good with the whole making alliances thing. Remember his awkward attempts when they first merged? And now he’s making deals about the final immunity challenge? I think that part of it is that he’s just not good at lying (which, although a liability in Survivor, isn’t really a bad thing). Part of it too is that he is so focused on the challenges that maybe other parts of the game are falling by the wayside.

And then there’s the whole fishing thing. I nearly spit water through my nose when Shane saw the fish Cirie caught, and commented that she caught a fish even though “Captain America has been swimming around here for three weeks with nothing.” You go girl!

The challenges department continued to out-do itself with tonight’s immunity challenge. It was fantastic. I really thought that Aras was going to win – at the beginning he seemed to be in the zone, using all his yoga training and all. I guess that being on Exile Island really did take its toll on him. And by winning tonight, Terry has guaranteed himself a spot in the final four. The question then becomes should he exert the energy to win next week, or should he save himself, knowing that next week is the last opportunity to use the hidden idol. Oh the strategy!

So, I had finally collected myself after the Captain America comment, and then there’s tribal council. Cirie Cirie Cirie! Oh my! That might have been the best strategic move of the game. She and Aras are running this game, and running it well. Courtney never saw it coming, and the look on Shane’s face as he realized that his was the only vote for Danielle was priceless. I might have rewound that and watched it a few times. Maybe. Totally worth missing part of the Red Sox game for…

An exciting night on Survivor: Exile Island

Where do I even start with tonight’s episode of Survivor: Exile Island? It seems like they really crammed a lot into the hour.

First, I hated the foreshadowing with Bruce and his…um…personal problem. As soon as he started complaining that he couldn’t poop, you just knew something was going to go wrong. And why did he pull Shane aside to tell him? Of all the people to confide in about that sort of problem, Shane seems to not be the best candidate. What happened to his relationship with Terry? Or how about Cirie – she’s a nurse!

So, now that we’ve been prepared that something might happen with Bruce, we get to one of my favorite challenges. They play variations of this on almost every season, and this variation is definitely my favorite. As Aras pointed out to his tribe, it’s designed to fracture the team. And it certainly did. Not only do you have the pecking order revealed, but you have the element of finding out what your tribe really thinks of you. It’s fantastic. And the reactions of some of the survivors were classic. I can understand where Courtney might be a little upset that she was the answer to so many of the questions. But Shane couldn’t have been a worse loser if he tried. Can you imagine how he would act if he lost something that was actually important? Yikes. What an example you set for you son, Shane. I was so glad when Cirie won and didn’t choose Shane to go with her. And he really shouldn’t be complaining about being hungry since he ate all those cheeseburgers and fries just a few days earlier.

Oh – if you were surprised that Terry was the first out in the challenge or that he was sent to Exile Island, please, somehow, pay more attention. My pet rabbits saw that one coming.

So, back at camp Bruce’s pains got worse and worse to the point that he had to ask for the medics. Now, I’m not going to say anything about Bruce needing medics – he was clearly in a lot of pain, and I’m surprised he lived with it as long as he did. But the question that I have is about Courtney and Shane’s reaction. First, while a song might not be the best way to comfort him, at least Courtney tried to sit with Bruce and make him feel better. Where was Shane? And why, when the medics asked for help, did Shane ask if the help was needed right away? And then he had to explain why he wasn’t wearing his wet pants? (and why, Shane, are your pants always wet?) So very strange.

So a melancholy end to the episode as Jeff Probst updated the tribe and told them that there would be no immunity challenge or tribal council. And you could kind of see the look in Terry’s eyes that even though he was sad that Bruce was hurt, he knew that it bought him a few more days without using the idol. I don’t see how Terry is going to lose. Aside from the fact that Shane has clearly lost it, there is an element that Terry is the only one left who has really been thinking and playing the game all along. He is in his element, and might just be unbeatable. Way to go Terry.

Where are the blogs?

Ok, so I know that there were some GREAT episodes of reality tv this week, yet no new blog entries. Well...it's Passover. So I spent Wednesday, Thursday, AND Friday nights with family. What an adventure. So I've been spending some quality time today with my tivo catching up on tv. Some thoughts...

American Idol...that might have been the cruelest results show ever. Did they really need to string those kids along for a full hour by showing family videos? And having everyone in the bottom three singing? (poor Elliott…he just didn’t know what to do with himself!) I was kind of surprised that Elliott was in the bottom three, but not shocked at all that Bucky went home. Idol does Rod Stewart does American classics should be interesting next week…

Amazing Race…LOVED the fact that Lake & Michelle are finally gone. I was so worried that it would be the hippies. Am I the only one who wonders what sort of impact Lake’s behavior has had on his dental practice? I certainly don’t want to go to a dentist that acts like that. And why haven’t we had a non-elimination round yet? Are we just not having them this season?

Unan1mous…yes, I wasted my time with this again. I am such a loser.

Survivor…this is the only show that I watched during the week…I just couldn’t wait! And it was totally worth it. The reward challenge rocked…I really thought that Shane’s team would win after he bawled from seeing such a short clip of his son. Him and Cirie seemed to be the most motivated to see videos from home (and a great food reward to go with it). Just a guess that getting to diagnose Shane’s “problem” wasn’t how Cirie wanted to spend her afternoon! And can I just tell you how much I love Cirie? She will be nearly impossible to beat in the final two. What I didn’t like was the immunity challenge…it was absurd that the responsibility of beating Terry fell solely on the shoulders of Aras. And I really could have done without seeing Shane’s mouth full of cheeseburger. I’m sad (but not surprised) to see Sally go. Hopefully she’ll cause some trouble on the jury.

American Inventor…ok, I’ve been saying all along that my biggest problem with this show was that they never explained what the next rounds were. And now that I’ve watched the next round, I still don’t know. It just seemed like they wanted to hear the presentations one more time to decide who the top 12 were. Although I did like that it wasn’t dragged out – we went from 50 to 12 in one night. Thank goodness. There are a couple of the inventions/inventors I really like. I like the receiver’s training pole, the bathroom clip, and the word game. Hopefully they will all make it to market. Personally, I’m just hoping that I’ll understand the competition before the show is over.

Phew! Can you believe that I had time to watch baseball too? What a weekend...

The Power of the Immunity Idol

Survivor: Exile Island tonight showed why it’s still the best reality show on television.

First, it was comforting to know that Terry and Austin are smarter than they sometimes seem. I was wondering last week why Austin would reveal his strategy of looking weak at tribal council. When he admitted that it was maybe the dumbest move ever, well, it made me feel a whole lot better about him. It was also good to see that Terry realized that their best chance was to figure out who in Casaya was at the bottom of the pecking order.

It was a little bit easier after the reward challenge. Challenges that reveal a pecking order in the tribe are always great. This one was really different then the usual “take a hit on someone else” challenge. Once the teams were drawn, it was clear that Terry, Austin, & Shane had a definite advantage. So Aras proved why he really is the brains behind the tribe. By convincing the girls to throw all their coconuts in the guys’ boat, not only will it slow down the guys, but it ensures that there are barely any coconuts in his own boat. Brilliant. Of course, I loved the challenge because of Jeff Probst yelling things like “he’s spreading his coconuts around!!”. How many times do you think Probst was reminded to not just call them nuts?

Not only did Aras show his strengths in the challenge, he then got to decide who to send to Exile Island. Of course, that in itself was interesting, since Sally and Bruce just let him take the lead on that. So Austin & Danielle get some real character building time by themselves. Does anyone but me think they hooked up? Anyways, they really did look miserable and beat down…and they missed what might be the best line of the season. After Aras, Sally, & Bruce got back from the reward (which, by the way, why couldn’t the producers send them somewhere dry?), they were talking about not being able to finish their breakfast – there was just too much bacon. While everyone else was giving them bad looks, Shane looked at Sally and said “that’s a real quality problem you’ve got there.” If only the entire tribe could have heard his wisdom.

The immunity challenge was one of the best ever. That was a tough challenge, and I felt really bad for Danielle & Austin – I don’t know how they had the strength to compete. And Sally-Knee-Socks kicked some behind…for a few moments it looked like she might actually win.

Poor Aras – how he got stuck is beyond me. I was thinking that he wouldn’t be trying as hard so he didn’t reveal his strength, but he had thought through the possibilities of the hidden immunity idol. And I really thought he was gone. Every scenario I could think of had Aras going. Terry could have saved his entire tribe…either by passing off the immunity necklace or the immunity idol or both. And it looked like Danielle and Bruce might flip, which would send Aras home as well. So when Austin’s name came up at tribal council, I was just waiting for Terry to hand over the idol. What a bummer.

I don’t know how Terry can’t win the game at this point. Everyone either knows or thinks they know that he has the hidden immunity idol. So on the off chance that he doesn’t win individual immunity, everyone is going to be very nervous voting for Terry, because they know that it will send someone else home. I just hope he can shake things up before then.

We’re down to ten on Survivor: Exile Island, and you know what that means – it’s time for a merge.

Now, if you’ve watched any season of Survivor, you know what happens when the tribes merge with uneven numbers. The tribe that has the number advantage always thinks that they are going to sail through. And they are almost never right. Even if one or two of them gets picked off, it’s unlikely that they really will all get picked off one by one. Don’t you remember last season in Guatemala? Dani ended up winning it all, even though she came into the merge seriously outnumbered. So it’s no surprise that the six members of Casaya are overly cocky (and they are really cocky – having a meeting to decide who to vote for might come back to haunt them…remember, there is a jury…); but I won’t be shocked when the numbers flip on them either.

The thing I am surprised about is how the tribes merged. To just have one tribe pack up and move to the other beach doesn’t help the situation with one tribe feeling like they are in power. And why did they pick Casaya beach? It seemed like camp at La Mina was a lot nicer.

So as soon as the “merger feast” (which, by the way, the contestants from Guatemala have got to be upset about, since they didn’t get one), the scrambling by La Mina began. Trying to get Bruce to flip was an easy move. But I’m surprised that they went for Shane and Cirie as well. It would have seemed like an easier move to try and get the girls to hook back up with Sally to vote out Shane.

Speaking of Bruce, nice hit with the machete. I don't know why his face was down there while Nick was cutting the rope, but he's really lucky that it just hit his tooth. And I guess that the scene that they showed us with someone being evacuated isn't until later. Drat.

The other thing I was really surprised about was the immunity challenge. It would have made much more sense for Terry to not win it. If Nick or Austin would have won, then the votes would have gone for Terry. (and a side note – did you see Nick’s abs as they were getting ready to leave for Casaya? Oh my goodness…) There’s a chance that Bruce wouldn’t have voted for Terry. But if he had, and the La Mina members had voted for Shane, then Terry could have pulled out the Immunity Idol, and Shane would have been gone. I think that it would get him further in the long run. I did think for about 4 seconds that maybe Terry would give the Idol to Nick, but in the end Nick is the last survivor voted out without getting on the jury.

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…

The challenge team worked overtime for tonight’s episode of Survivor: Exile Island. And for my money, they earned every extra dollar they made.

First was a reward challenge that didn’t look nearly as hard as it was when Probst introduced it. It seemed simple enough – toss the items from the boat to the baskets. But once it started, it was clear how hard it really was. They got tired – quick. A few stuck out – Terry was a champ again, no big surprise there. But so was Bobby (after a disastrous performance by Bruce). The other person that has been really strong in the challenges is Cirie – she is a lot stronger than people give her credit for. Anyways, the challenge was a close one again, and it was no surprise that Terry got sent back to Exile Island. And really, if it’s just going to be Terry and Bruce spending time there, it won’t be as much of a twist.

What was a surprise was what happened after the challenge. Over at La Mina, beans turned out to not be the best choice for food. While it was the better choice in the long run because of the added protein, the rice would have been much easier on their stomachs.

It was far worse at Casaya. It was already tense at camp, what with Bruce spending his time and energy on building a Zen garden. And when he faced off with Aras about the use of his time – very Zen. So when they got back from the challenge to find their camp was flooded, well, they didn’t cope very well. Oh, Bob Dog. Is it not enough that you don’t do anything at camp? But to go ahead and drink the tribe’s bottle of wine because the space you “reserved” wasn’t there? One of the worst Survivor moves ever. And Bruce, to not own up to it, that ranks right up there as well.

Next was a fantastic immunity challenge – diving for puzzle pieces in caskets. On Survivor Live last week they talked a lot about challenges that involved diving down. Apparently they are WAY harder than they look. Between diving in salt water, the waves, and the lack of food & water, they are extremely difficult. So I was surprised that Dan was on the boat diving instead of on the beach solving the puzzle. It would seem like his strength would be the puzzles. It turned out ok in the end, but it was still a strange choice.

So, finally, Casaya has to go to tribal council. And there’s no question that it’s going to be Bruce or Bobby. But, of course, there is the Shane element. There’s always the Shane element. So in the end, Shane throws a vote to Aras to keep with his promise (and who asks someone else to swear on his own kid’s life?). And we say goodbye to Bob Dog, who just didn’t seem to care. Can’t wait to see him on Survivor Live tomorrow.

You’ve got to give it to the television producers. At 8:00 tonight (at least on the east coast) was Survivor: Exile Island, the first results show of American Idol, the finale of Dancing with the Stars, and the gold medal round of ladies figure skating on the Olympics. If that doesn’t cause your tivo to explode, I don’t know what will.

So, we’ll start with Survivor, mostly because that was the only thing tonight I watched live. And I’m glad I did – it was well worth it. The drama tonight was excellent.

We started at La Mina, who appears to be pretty together, except for the whole food thing. I don’t understand why they’re not doing more searching for snails and fruit. And why can’t they seem to catch any fish. Even if the fish they catch are the darn poisonous ones, why aren’t they cutting them up and using them for bait? They’re not going to last long without some food.

On the other beach is Casaya, who does appear to know how to gather up food. But that’s all they appear to know how to do. Shane appears to have come out of the worst part of his detox, and now can criticize the other members of the tribe. And, to be fair, there is a lot to criticize. Courtney seems far more intent on doing yoga than helping out with the tribe. And even though they took shots at Danielle, at least she’s doing more than Bobby – he’s just worthless. Every time we see him he’s napping. Except, of course, when he’s using the bathroom (and what was up with that??). It’s ridiculous.

So, on to the challenges. I love the challenges like tonight’s reward challenge that combine a puzzle with a physical challenge (that’s something Mark Burnett has tried to focus on the past few years – trying to make every challenge have both a mental and a physical element). And this was a good one – the tribes seem to be so evenly matched. Of course, I thought the shots of the girls’ bikini tops were a bit gratuitous, but, as my husband says, it brings in the ratings.

The immunity challenge was great too – I love the element of strategy with how quickly to dump the buckets of water. If you go too quickly, the water splashes a bit, and it could cost you in the end. And it was so close – if La Mina had just made the choice to go with speed instead of accuracy they would have won.

And then there’s Terry. How could I leave out Terry? First, he gets sent to Exile Island. And his tribe is lost without him. I mean really lost without him. They don’t seem to know what to do, and this makes Terry a real power player. No one even thought about taking him out while they could. Of course, it wouldn’t have mattered – Terry somehow managed to dig deep enough to find the hidden immunity idol. And they really did hide it deep – wow. So while he’ll be going into the merge with a target on his back, he’ll be able to make it through the vote (which will probably even out the numbers game at the same time). I can’t imagine how he won’t make it to the final four. We might be seeing a run similar to Tom from Palau where he plays a dominating game all the way to the end. I also wonder if future players who go to Exile Island will still be given clues…how much will that suck to spend a few days looking for something that isn’t there. Hee hee!

So, no real surprise that Ruth Marie went home tonight. And I liked that Dan stayed true to his word, even if it meant splitting with his alliance. Being a man of your word is never a bad thing.

A little Survivor trivia for you. Every challenge on Survivor has a name. From “Fallen Comrades” (the trivia game about your tribe mates on the jury) to “Survivor Smorgasbord” (a.k.a. the gross food challenge), each carefully crafted challenge has a name. And I am so curious about the names of tonight’s challenges on Survivor: Exile Island.

First up was the reward challenge, which I would call “Survivor 500.” Surely you played “500” at the pool or on the playground when you were a kid. One kid would launch a ball, scream out a value, and all the other kids would try to catch it. It was really great playing in the pool, because you would have to dive to catch the ball. That was pretty much tonight’s reward challenge. But that’s ok, because of the fate of Bruce. Even though I was at home pleading with them to put Shane on Exile Island, La Mina made a strategic move and put Bruce back on Exile Island.

And what is going on with Shane? I understand he is going though some sort of detox, but you would think that 8 days in he would start to level out a bit. Maybe he really is just a nut job. (which would be where I would put my money) They have got to vote him off as soon as they get the chance. Oh – and a note about last week’s vote. On “Survivor Live,” Melinda said that the reason she and Cirie didn’t try to change votes last week is that there really was only about 10 minutes until they left when Shane announced he wanted to stay. Sorry girls – I guess you are smarter than I thought.

So that brings us to the immunity challenge, or “a reason for men to watch Survivor.” Come on. You really don’t think that that challenge was designed so that the producers and Jeff Probst could watch those girls wrestle in their bikinis? Anyways, even though I thought it was a bit gratuitous, I loved it. It was a great combination of physical strength and strategy. Because it was strategy that let Casaya win. Sure, Cirie was the gold medalist of that team (she actually sat on someone, and later just shoved Misty out of the way). But in the end, it was Bobby’s strategy that won it for them, as he let Ruth Marie run all the way before picking her up and touching the pad.

So it turns out that Misty didn’t find the hidden immunity idol (but I was SO hoping she had, simply because it would have meant that Bruce looked for it for 5 days…oh, Bruce). And the boys stick together to vote her out. It was probably a good move, both because it means that the alliance of 4 boys (men?) is really strong, and they realized just how smart she was. At some point, the challenges are mental, and they couldn’t beat her. Misty – I would take it as a compliment.

Until next week…

Tonight I was reminded of a very important fact – just because you are chosen to be on Survivor doesn’t mean that you know how to play the game. It really is incredible to me that before going on the show people don’t watch as many episodes as possible, read every book on survival that they can get their hands on, and get in shape for the physical parts of the game. But they don’t. And that was made abundantly clear tonight.

Before we get to that though, there was the tribal mixup. I’ve read that Mark Burnett plans out the twists and turns before the game starts, but I’m guessing he chose which beaches to put the two tribes on based on what happened the first three days. Yikes. Anyways, I loved the twist that put Bruce on Exile Island. And he wasn’t just there for a few hours – he was there for three days. He missed a reward challenge, an immunity challenge, and all the drama at camp. (It looks like all the stays on Exile Island will be for 2-3 days…Misty was there last episode for 2 nights). And thank you to the producer for the Exile Island portions of this season (yes, there is a separate producer stuck out on Exile Island). Thank you for not showing us Bruce searching for the immunity idol – it’s nice to not know if they have found it (or are even looking).

The two tribes seemed evenly matched at the reward challenge. But at the immunity challenge, I think Jeff actually called Casaya’s efforts “inept.” (wow) And the losing really didn’t stop at the challenges. Their “brain trust” has lost it as well. I understand why they would try to convince Shane to stay – if he’s part of their alliance, they need him for the numbers. (the same thing happened in the Amazon season with Shana) But Aras walking up to the rest of the tribe and telling them about the alliance might go down as one of the dumbest moves in Survivor. Why isn’t it the dumbest? Because the rest of the tribe didn’t do anything about it!!!! Melinda and Cirie (who deserves to be voted off simply for thinking that that bathing suit was a good choice) never talked to the rest of the tribe to get rid of Aras or Shane. It should have been easy to convince the tribe to get rid of either one of them. But they sealed their own fate.

This is where we get back to people who seemingly have no knowledge of the game before they arrive on the island. If you’ve seen even just one episode of Survivor, you know that the key to a successful alliance is making it seem like the alliance isn’t there! You don’t just come out and tell the tribe who is in your alliance. I’m guessing that the exclusive club of former Survivor contestants all groaned at the same moment. Somewhere, Amber and Boston Rob are laughing.

Anyways, I think that La Mina is clearly a stronger tribe (even with the loss of the fishing spear, which is a whole other discussion of survival skills). And it looks like Shane will really melt down next week. Is it no wonder why “next time on Survivor” is one of my favorite parts of the show? :)

If you heard a some sort of noise around 8:00 tonight, don’t worry. It was me. Shrieking with joy at the start of Survivor: Exile Island. I told you I was a reality television addict. You should have believed me from the start.

I am so excited about Survivor, I don’t even know where to start. Ok, how about the teams. I love the concept of dividing by age and gender. First, it riled people up from the start. There’s nothing quite like thinking you’re young & strong & and a player, and then being placed on the “older” team. And dividing people initially into smaller teams changes the voting for the entire game. Even when the teams are mixed up (which looks like will happen quickly – maybe even next week) it will change the alliances.

Then there’s Exile Island. I don’t know which part of being there is worse – the fact that you are stuck on an island by yourself, or the fact that you aren’t with the rest of your tribe. You know that they’re talking about you back at camp. And it looks like you will be stuck there without food or water for a day or two.

Of course, there’s the hidden immunity idol. I loved the hidden immunity idol in Guatemala. But this one is even better. The fact that you can keep it until after you’ve been voted off changes everyone’s voting strategy. There’s so many ways it could play out. Knowing that a person has been on Exile Island, and has the possibility of having that idol, I think I would think twice about sending a vote that person’s way. And if you had the idol, you could swing votes your way, send a vote or two a different person, and end up getting them voted off. I love Mark Burnett.

Before I continue to gush about how excited I am, you might not know how the schedule for shooting Survivor works. The season that airs in the spring is shot in the previous fall – usually while the fall season of Survivor is airing. The upshot of this is that this seasons survivors most likely did not see Survivor: Guatemala, and don’t know about any of the twists from that season. This is important mostly because they don’t know about the hidden immunity idol from last season.

Ok, so there were a couple of stand outs on this season’s cast. First, the younger men’s team – when you thought that people would make fun of you because you couldn’t make fire, well, you were right. Come on – when you knew you were going on Survivor, why on earth didn’t you practice making fire? And what on earth was the problem getting your raft untied? There’s no reason, other than your egos, that you shouldn’t have come in first in that challenge.

And what about the older men’s team? You’ve got an astronaut and a navy fighter pilot (and how cool is that?), and Shane. Did he really say that he smoked 3 packs a day for 20 years, and is now cold turkey on Survivor? What made that sound like a good idea? He’s going to crack…and it’s going to be great television.

Over on the younger women’s beach, they’re not really making a statement about the state of women today. Did they get anything done? I know they don’t have flint, but they should have at least tried to get shelter started. They do seem like they are a force to be reckoned with on the challenges, in spite of losing the first reward challenge (which was really more about luck than anything else).

And Daniela, who spent the first night on Exile Island did remarkably well. I’m shocked that she ate worms (she must have REALLY been hungry), but I loved how she came back into the game. Just leaving everyone with a hint that she might have found the idol was enough to ensure her an extra day or two when it comes down to it.

And then there’s the older women. I am not an outdoors woman. I don’t camp. In fact, I won’t even stay at an Econo Lodge. And that’s ok. I know my limits. But it doesn’t appear that Cirie has that same ability. She’s scared of leaves? Wow. But I don’t think she’s even the one on her team with the worst judgment. Why would they vote off the one person who has some actual survival skills. Sure, Tina was a bit strange. But she knew what she was doing. And when it’s a team game, the best strategy is to vote off your weakest link. They better hope that a team shakeup happens sooner rather than later.

So who do I like early on? It’s hard to say, since I barely know their names. But I like Sally on the younger women’s team (the one who couldn’t fake love of a dead turtle), and Dan (the astronaut) and Terry (the fighter pilot) on the older men’s team.

One last word – if you’ve never watched “Survivor Live” – the internet talk show that’s on cbs.com on Friday’s, you should give it a look. I think it comes on at 2, but you can watch it later in the day in the archives. If you’re as into Survivor as I am, it’s a pretty good show, and a neat look into what life was like for the Survivors.