Friday, April 8, 2011

Survivor: Redemption Island, Ep. 7 - Rice Krispies

Last week, we discovered the one job Natalie and Ashley will do around camp: protect Rob's portion of the crispy rice. I don't blame them for embracing the assignment. After all, Rob doesn''t ask them to get fire wood. Rob doesn't complain when they spend the afternoon in the beach chairs. Rob doesn't make them babysit Phillip on Redemption Island. Rob asks nothing from them, and they're already standing around the pot - the least they can do is save him his share of the crispy rice.

This doesn't mean Philip wasn't wronged. That camp is in a low-starvation survival mode. That means everyone knows exactly how many grains of rice everyone else is eating (and whether they were crispy or not). But, if Philip wants to spend his afternoons yelling at Natalie to tend the fire, he shouldn't expect Natalie to make sure he gets his fair share of crispy rice. This is reciprocity at its most pure. Of course, Natalie and Ashley might be pushing Philip into a position where he could flip. So, the argument wasn''t smart for any of them. They still need each other for a few more days past the merge.

Matt's nickname should be Cool Hand Luke, This guy does not panic in challenges. Someone asked me who I think he'll align with if he makes the merge. I don't know. I don't think he does either, which could make it interesting.

I would have kept Sarita and sacked Dave. I know Dave is better in the challenges, but the risk of him flipping are great enough that I'd rather have the weaker, but more loyal, player. Many of these challenges come down to the actions of one person any way - and for the second week in a row, Grant dominated it. As I said before, Grant's an athlete. We'll see how much of a target he'll now have.

Sarita's decision not to pack her stuff might reflect her own loyalty to her alliance. I think she believed them when they said they would vote out Dave. Also, her animosity towards Dave was so strong that she couldn't fathom that not everyone shared her level of loathing.

So, tonight should be interesting. There are lots of people who could swing after the merge (Matt, Phillip, Andrea, Dave). More importantly, Rob knows where both hidden immunities are, giving him a huge strategic advantage. He should be able to survive tonight. But, the issue which might cause him problems is how his tribemates handle the fact that he hid the idol from them. I'm curious as to how that might play out. If he plays it, he might have to pretend he just found it.

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