Survivor: Micronesia – Fans vs. Favorites – Episode 6, "That's Something They Can Take Care Of After I'm Gone"

Previously on Survivor: Micronesia – Fans vs. Favorites Ozzy found the hidden immunity idol on Exile Island and put a fake one in it’s place. A surprise tribe switch broke up some old alliances. Jonathan was seriously injured in a challenge and Joel was voted out in a blindside by members of his new tribe and his old tribe. Would this week see the old alliance stay strong or would new alliances threaten to take control of the game?

Say Goodbye To Strategy

All of the wonderful strategy we’ve seen in the previous weeks largely went out the window this week as a mix of stupidity, weakness, and injury left the former Faves looking like a bunch of newbies and the former Fans looking like they don’t belong at all.

I was saddened to see many of the strategic advances we’ve seen in the past couple of episodes were completely undone in this episode by complete blunders on the part of players who should have known better. Survivor is a game of patience and stamina and these Survivors are beginning to show that they have neither.

Remembering Who’s On Which Tribe

Malakal
Ozzy, Amanda, Erik, Ami, Tracy, Cirie, Chet

Airai
Natalie, James, Alexis, Jonathan, Jason, Parvati, Kathy, Eliza

And So It Begins

Erik is shocked (shocked!) that Joel was voted out. He can’t believe that the playing field has been lowered to lying to people’s faces… Ok, so Erik’s not really a fan of the show… He says the former Faves are tough as nails and he might have to try out some of that lying stuff for himself.

Tracy isn’t happy they had to get rid of Joel either, but since Joel wanted to get rid of her useful idiot, Chet, she didn’t really have a choice. She tells Erik that he will be the next target of the Faves (so he better do what she says – is implied). Erik doesn’t want to be the next target. Tracy says that all they have to do is flip one of the Faves and then they can vote out Cirie and they’ll have the numbers. She doesn’t trust Cirie so Cirie needs to go.

As luck would have it, Ami is sniffing around for a bone around this time. Ami gives Tracy a “pep talk” as a way of showing Tracy that she’s on her side. Ami says she needs an alliance so this might be the way to go.

Back at Airai, Jonathan is talking about how is knee is feeling much better today. James tells us they can’t afford to lose Jonathan. Uh oh, Jonathan’s a goner. James and Parvati might be too because Eliza and Jonathan are plotting their demise with glee. They know that the tribal switch was a huge opportunity for them to change the game and come out on top. Today’s a whole new day for them, yada, yada, yada… Yep, Jonathan’s gone.

Reward Challenge

Both tribes will swim out into the water and retrieve some bundles of planks, sticks and ropes that they will use to construct a blockade in the other tribe’s wooden tunnel thing. They’ll have ten minutes to build the barricades before switching and trying to tear down the blockade in their own tunnel. The first tribe to get all of their members through the tunnel and on to the finish mat wins a pair of Micronesians! No, really. They get two natives to come to their tribe and show them how to survive.

Jonathan convinces his tribe that he’s good to go so they sit out Tracy. Once the challenge starts, however, Jonathan doesn’t swim out with the others. Probst gives a running commentary on how many problems Jonathan’s knee is causing him. For most of the contest it looks like the tribes are pretty even. Once they start tearing down the blockade in their own tunnel, however, Airai finds a way to squirm through and begins to get all their people through and out. Malakal makes a go of it, but in the end Airai wins Reward!

Airai picks Chet to go to Exile Island, of course. Jason chooses to go with him as we already knew from the previews.

Medical Wants To Take A Look At Jonathan’s Knee

Before Airai can even enjoy their reward, the Survivor medical wants to take a look at Jonathan’s knee and leg. I’m sure this has something to do with Jeff calling him out on every stumble and gimpy move he made. Better safe than sorry, though.

Dr. Jessica takes a look at the nasty looking knee filled with puss and asks Jonathan how his groin feels (I’m 80% sure that had something to do with the knee). She tells him that the antibiotics aren’t working. The sore is infected. He’s going to need intravenous antibiotics and a surgical washout. This isn’t something that’s going to get fixed quickly in the middle of the jungle. Jonathan needs to go to the hospital. Jonathan says he isn’t quitting. The doctor calmly says that she can only recommend that he should go to the hospital and then calmly tells him that if the infection enters his bloodstream it could probably kill him.

Well, Jonathan wants the million bucks and he’s a fighter, but he’s not completely stupid. He could argue all day and there’s no way they’re going to let him stay in the game. Jonathan tearfully apologizes to his teammates who themselves are all pretty much crying (except James who I doubt cries very often at all). Before he leaves, Jeff shakes his hand and tells him it was a pleasure (and he looks like he means it). Jonathan said the pleasure was all his. Jonathan remains convinced he’s leaving on top and that he was about to turn his game around. Looks like we’ll never know now.

“It Hit Everyone Pretty Hard”

Despite the demoralizing loss of Jonathan, the game must go on for Airai. James says that he’s in a precarious (my word) position now because he’s the only man left in the tribe and he don’t speak so good while the women knows all kinds of good words…or something like that.

The Micronesians show up as Airai’s reward. Airai promptly cooks and eats them. I joke. The natives show the tribe how to catch coconut crabs (which is what the crabs eat and not how you cook the crab which is what I was assuming) and how to catch fish. Parvati shows the natives how we flirt in America. Some things are eternal.

Ami Makes A Move

Over at Malakal they are unaware of what is going on with Jonathan. They are mostly concerned with complaining about losing the challenge. The Faves blame the Fans, of course. They say Chet didn’t do anything (which, by now, we should just assume) and Tracy is a builder in real life and couldn’t even build a blockage in the tunnel. They want to get rid of Chet and Tracy.

Despite having plenty of strategic reasons for needing to keep them around, Cirie seems to be a part of the complaining group as much as anyone else. She says that she doesn’t want to have to play the game and teach the Fans how to play at the same time.

Ami, however, does not share the same opinion as her former Fave tribemates. She thinks that they were once in the same boat as the Fans and that the fans are coming around. To prove her point or because she thinks it’s such a good idea, Ami approaches Traci with the idea of joining forces.

Well, Traci’s all over this like a tick on a dog. What does Ami think about Cirie? Well, Ami was perfectly happy to vote Cirie out right after the switch. Ami doesn’t trust Cirie. Tracy suggests that if she, Chet and Erik will vote for Cirie and Ami will join them they will have the numbers to get rid of Cirie and Ami will be in a better position. Ami agrees.

Jason and Chet On Exile Island

Chet does on Exile Island what he does when he’s not on Exile Island – nothing. He tells Jason that he thinks Ozzy already found the idol so there’s no point in looking. Besides, he hurt is foot and doesn’t want to hurt it more by walking on it. Jason sort of agrees, but then lies really badly about looking around for something and goes searching for the idol.

Which he finds…sort of. Jason finds Ozzy’s retarded looking idol placeholder which looks like something a blind three year old carved from scrap wood from behind the shed. Jason even acknowledges that it looks a little odd, but that doesn’t dampen his enthusiasm. He’s found the idol! This is huge! Oh, poor Jason. Why must you look so foolish?

Immunity Challenge

Probst first has to catch everyone up on what’s going on with Jonathan. Malakal is stunned that he’s gone. Jeff says that Jonathan was taken to a hospital and they did surgery to clean out the wound, and now he’s doing fine.

Jeff then asks Chet and Jason if they looked for the idol. Jason says that he tried but gave up because he’s decided that Ozzy has already found the idol.

Now, let me just interject for a moment.

No player with an ounce of strategic reasoning would ever do what Jason did. No smart player would ever say if they did or did not have the idol because there’s nothing to be gained by answering the question and everything to lose. By saying that he didn’t have the idol he creates suspicion in the minds of some who now think that he only said that because he does have the idol. Those that believe he doesn’t have the idol will now no longer fear that voting him out could backfire if he uses the idol. If Ozzy plays his cards right the whole thing will turn on Jason and make it look like Jason has the idol (which he thinks he does) and make him an instant target. Jason has wasted half of the usefulness of having the idol (assuming he really had it). Since he doesn’t have the real idol he may have committed game suicide.

Okay, back to the challenge.

It’s pretty simple. Both tribes will use very narrow stepping poles (two) to transfer two tribe members from one large platform to another. Once the two members have been transfered, all seven tribe members must then swim out to a really small tower and get all tribe members on or above the top deck.

Off they go. Tracy and Ami will be transfered for Malakal and Eliza and Parvati for Airai. Airai almost immediately uses a completely different tactic than the challenge was designed for. Eliza gets on one of the poles and James carries it while the others steady it as they move her across the water. Jeff accuses them of trying to “outthink the challenge.” But it works! Jeff changes his mind and says that it wasn’t the way it was designed or the way they thought it would go but it was a great idea.

Malakal isn’t having any luck doing it the old fashioned way; using both poles for Tracy to “step” across. Meanwhile, Airai gets Parvati across only to see her fall at the last moment and have to restart. It’s no problem for James who just picks the pole up and does it again. Ozzy might be a superman at challenges but he doesn’t have that kind of strength.

This challenge is no contest. Malakal eventually tries Airai’s strategy and it looks like it might work but it’s too late. Airai wins! Malakal loses their fourth challenge in a row.

Chet Doesn’t Take It Like A Man

Back at Malakal, Chet is complaining about his foot again. He wants to use a fish hook to cut open the sore and drain the puss. He goes from asking for a fish hook to outright asking everyone to vote him out. Ozzy asks us, “Was there any question anyway?”

Of course, nothing in Survivor is ever really that easy. Tracy and Erik obviously aren’t happy about Chet’s decision to quit. It destroys all their plans. Erik says Chet wants to be voted out because he thinks it’s honorable, but Erik thinks it would be more honorable of Chet to help his allies and friends vote out Ozzy just in case he does have the immunity idol (which we know he does).

The Chet pandering goes on for some time. Ami joins in because, even though the target has changed, she knows she’ll have to deal with Ozzy at some point anyway so she plans to vote with them if they can get Chet on board. Erik continues to dramatically beg and plead with Chet to stay and vote with them. Chet continues to complain about the invisible sore on his foot (I never did see it). We don’t know what he’s going to do.

Tribal Council

Council begins with talk of Jonathan, of course. The Survivors are all equally disturbed and saddened to see him go. Cirie knows that he would still be there if he could have argued his way in. Jeff says he tried.

Talk turns to Jason’s announcement of his belief that Ozzy has the idol. Jeff wants to know if that concerns Ozzy. Ozzy says he isn’t concerned. He says if he gets voted off tonight, he will be “so blown away and so blindsided that I’ll just get naked and jump off the pier.” Ozzy says it’s time to get honest. Everyone knows it’s Chet who’s going home. Uh oh. Ozzy continues and says that he thinks that if somehow everyone isn’t voting that way, “I have no business being here.” Jeff is nice enough to remind him that he wouldn’t be the first person to be blindsided. Ozzy agrees.

There’s more talk. Chet blabs more about how it’s never the obvious one who’s voted out. I’m guessing he’s right since he’s usually the obvious one. Amanda says she never gets too comfortable because as soon as you think you’re not leaving, that’s when you leave.

Then, it’s time to vote. Everyone votes then Jeff tallies the votes. Does anyone want to use an Immunity Idol? The tension is thick but Ozzy sits still and doesn’t make a move for his back. I’m sure he’s a goner. Jeff reads the votes: Chet, Chet, Chet, Chet. Chet. And with that, Chet is voted out of Survivor.

In his interview, Chet says he decided at the last minute not to go with Tracy and Erik’s plan to blindside Ozzy. He says that’s “something they can take care of after I’m gone.” What an idiot. How are they going to do that?

Why Chet Is A Selfish, Worthless, Quitter

Last week I was feeling sorry for Chet when Joel was beating him up. Maybe Joel just knew Chet better than I did. Maybe we all owe Joel an apology…(probably not).

Still, though, how could you be any more selfish and worthless in the game of Survivor than Chet was? First of all, he was worthless at all challenges and didn’t contribute a single thing to strategy other than a useful idiot vote. Secondly, he decided to quit the game knowing full well that he would be leaving his alliance in a lurch. He hung them out to dry. There’s a chance that they couldn’t have succeeded with him there, but he knew there is little chance they can survive for long with him gone. Him leaving put them in a position of weakness from which they cannot possibly hope to escape without completely abandoning their game plan and going every man for himself.

As if that weren’t bad enough, Chet led them to believe that he might actually help them out by voting for Ozzy. All he had to do was go with the plan to vote out Ozzy then immediately quit the game. Survivor will not hold you against your will. He could have left the game at any time. He could have helped his alliance and then quit. That was one option. Another option would have been to suck it up and go with the alliance for as far as it would take him. What would he have to lose? He was already willing to quit? He could have sacrificed himself along the way for someone else. That would have been noble at least.

As it stands, Chet leaves the game as a loser and a selfish quitter.

Strategic Meltdown

Unfortunately for Eliza, Jonathan’s exit from the game leaves her in a slightly perilous position. She still has some options open to her, but none of them are as good as having a solid second vote on your side. She needed Jonathan as the voice (and the target later) to align with the Fans on Airai to gang up on James and Parvati. She can still align with them but she’s not going to have a very good position. It’s not her fault, but it sucks for her.

James and Parvati probably ended up better off than they think by Jonathan leaving. Unless Eliza can step up and follow through with the plan she and Jonathan had and convince the Fans to target James and Parvati, the Fans may not be smart enough to realize the danger they’re in. James and Parvati have a much better shot at making the merge with Jonathan gone.

Ami’s plan to align herself with Tracy, Chet, and Erik was foolhardy at best. That alliance was so unstable as to be unworkable. Ami should have recognized that fact. The pecking order was obviously Chet then Tracy so Ami was in no immediate danger. Although she doesn’t have an alliance and no clear path to victory, she wasn’t a target. Sometimes in Survivor, you just have to have patience. There’s been many times when simply waiting another day was all it took for something to happen that changed the entire game. Someone gets hurt or someone gets voted out that no one expected and suddenly alliances change. Ami risked everything so she could be the tag along in a weak alliance. She’s actually lucky that it didn’t work out because if Chet had voted with them and then dropped out she could have been left trying to answer some difficult questions from the other Faves who would never have trusted her again.

Ozzy was completely unprepared for a play by the Fans on Malakal. Apparently he thinks they’re just going to sit back and let him vote them out one at a time. It took guts for him to not play his Idol but he never should have let it get that far. He doesn’t have the control on the game that he thinks he does and it’s going to come back to bite him if he’s not careful. He’s not thinking strategically at all.

But the award for the worst drop in strategic thinking has to go to Cirie this week. Cirie went from having (possibly) one of the strongest positions in the game ever to totally dismissing one of her strategic options with nary a thought. Cirie should have lobbied to get rid of Ami so she could protect both of her possible five person alliances (that I spoke of last week). At this point, however, she’s obviously decided to throw her hat in with Ozzy and Amanda and the Four Lovers. It’s not necessarily a bad call, it’s just not the best call. It may not have worked anyway since Chet is a selfish quitter, but she should have tried. Since she didn’t even try to make the move, it shows that she isn’t thinking of the Fan alliance as a viable option.

Favorites – Malakal

Jon “Jonny Fairplay” Dalton (Ep1), Yau-Man Chan (Ep3), Joel Anderson (Ep5), Ami Cusack, Cirie Fields, Tracy Hughes-Wolf, Amanda Kimmel, Ozzy Lusth, Erik Reichenbach, Chet Welch (Ep6)

Fans – Airai

Mary Sartain (Ep2), Michael “Mikey B” Bortone (Ep4), Natalie Bolton, James Clement, Alexis Jones, Eliza Orlins, Jonathan Penner (Ep6), Parvati Shallow, Jason Siska, Kathleen “Kathy” Sleckman