Who Will Go in Episode 10?
Survivor: Fiji - Who Will Go in Episode 10? by Kari Kennedy -- 04/19/2006 Tribal shakeups after the merge are common, but will the Four Horsemen stick together or will they fall apart? Will old and new alliances be tested? Will we finally get to see one of the hidden immunity idols finally played? Well finally, last week's boot was a surprise for me and the first mis-guess this season. For the most part, the editing and clues have been fairly obvious as to who would be going next, but then again, I may have been lucky on a winning streak of figuring out who would be going. This week, I once again feel like there are very few safe and more who could be easily put on the chopping block. You know, last week's episode of Survivor seemed much like the old Abbott and Costello skit of "Who's on First?" Outside of the two solid dyads (Earl/Yau-Man and Edgardo/Alex), I found it difficult by the end to determine who was truly with which alliance and who switched up. Is anyone being true or are they all lying so much even they can't figure who among them is lying? So how will we determine who will be safe and who will go this week? The episode title is, "It's a Turtle?" which points to the fact that one of the hidden immunity idols is revealed. But in what way will it be revealed? Before Tribal Council? At Tribal Council? During a small huddle of folks? It's difficult to say. We do know that Earl and Yau-Man have tightly held their idol secret from everyone, except Michelle. Edgardo, Alex and Mookie know about the other idol. Mookie told Dre about it and, looking at previews for this week, Dre will spill the beans to Cassandra and Earl (who will then tell Yau-Man). Whew! So that being said, it seems that Boo and Stacy are the outsiders, for now, in knowing that Mookie has one of the idols. Let's talk about Mookie for just a moment, shall we? He has his fingers in several alliance pies, but are any of them turning up fruitful? He started off as a part of the original Ravu, then after the tribal switch-up, he watched his comrades fall quickly. He then was smart enough to realize that he'd need to realign his alliances (using his hidden idol as a shield) and team up with the big dogs from Old Moto, Edgardo and Alex. He also appears to have loosely connected with Dre, as evidenced by telling him about the idol. Will Mookie's double dealings catch up with him or will he finally set his sights on one particular alliance? Will he pass the idol off to someone in a show of allegiance? Dre is also one who seems to be working the double deals. On one hand he thinks he's part of the so-called Four Horsemen, which aligned pre-merge, but quickly started unraveling at the edges. He has said all along that he won't be aligning with the original Moto 5, but then last week, his vote was the tipping point to evict Michelle over Stacy, who he claimed needed payback. He had an opportunity to get rid of his antagonist and didn't. Because he did sway along with Alex's leading the votes, he also managed to put a wedge firmly between himself and Mookie. In this week’s previews we see him clash with Mookie about the vote. Even more telling is another preview scene where we see him telling Cassandra and Earl about Mookie’s idol. Does this mean that he’s playing them to get ahead or is he actually leaning towards their alliance? Chances are he’s finally got a clue that he completely lost a good opportunity to weaken his old alliance at the last tribal council and realizes he can take the spot once occupied by Michelle. I don’t know that Earl, Yau-Man and Cassandra will completely trust him, but they will take the extra vote if they think they can keep him swayed to their side. So where do Boo and Stacy fit into all of this chaotic fun? Last week we were privy to conversations within both alliances that Boo was the next target, who would be followed shortly afterwards by Stacy. I read somewhere in one interview (and I apologize for not having a direct quote or link) that Boo had basically given up and was feeling the pressure of not having a solid alliance. Nobody saw him as a valuable asset. Possibly, now that Michelle is gone, he may be able to sell his vote to Earl, as one of the clues on the CBS website alludes to the fact that one Survivor works to solidify an alliance. The one person dangling out the most seems to be Boo, so this might make sense. Earl should take him up on the offer for a vote and Boo should do what will keep him around in any way. Stacy seems to be blindly following Alex and Edgardo, thinking that they have her backside, but little does she know that they don’t have any strong allegiance to her other than to use her as a tool. She hasn’t shown any ounce of strategy or game play, other than to ride coattails. She isn’t much of a challenge threat so there isn’t much need to get rid of her just yet. Now before I get to who I think will be going home, let’s take a look at a couple of things we may see with the two challenges. In the previews we see highlights from Burnett’s trademark coconut chop challenge where ignorant players show their hands on the pecking order of who is within an alliance. Each season the game evolves and smart players pick up on the real significance of this particular challenge and find a way to circumvent revealing alliances and take out “the enemy” at the same time. Typically in recent seasons, the under-the-radar players seem to fare well on this challenge. Cassandra or possibly even Boo could win this one, based on that trend. The winner usually has to pick one or two people to join them on an offsite reward filled with food, massages, or showers. This may be where Mookie blows up at the fact that Cassandra didn’t take him for some reason? We know that the second challenge in previews shows that it’s one of endurance and patience as we see the Survivors trying to wedge themselves between a wooden frame and stay off the ground. This kind of challenge tends to favor the smaller, more flexible contestants. In one brief shot in a preview shown this weekend, we see Yau-Man in the background with what looks like an immunity necklace around his neck. He seems to be a perfect match for this kind of challenge winning, despite his seeming frailty. If this is true that Yau-Man wins immunity and his alliance manages to sway Boo and/or Dre, this could set up their alliance to subtly take the majority votes and probably not have to reveal their deeply hidden immunity idol. Also in the CBS website clues, we find out that there is a cat-and-mouse game at tribal council which causes all kinds of fireworks. Consider that everyone but Boo and Stacy know about Mookie’s “hidden” immunity idol, would it be out of the possibility that the majority from Old Ravu have the opportunity to flush it out if they realize that they truly are the majority? If all of this planet alignment happens, then Edgardo, Alex and Stacy are on the wrong side of the eight ball. Take Stacy out of the equation as a non-threat to anyone and that leaves Edgardo or Alex vulnerable. The cat-and-mouse game comes into play as Mookie tries to figure out if he’ll keep the idol or pass it to one of his boys to save them. If he decides to pass it to one of them, will it bounce back and end up causing the other to go? Now, stir in a little few of Dre’s usual Tribal Council antics now pointed against his former Horsemen and you have the makings for firestorm! This one may actually live up to the hype of “Best Tribal Council Ever!”. So which of Alex or Edgardo goes? Wow, it may be a toss-up as both men are strong mentally and physically, so it’ll be a matter of which the old Ravu thinks will be the bigger threat. Just for grins, I’m going to throw out there that Alex ends up without the idol and behind the snuffed torch. It’s a long-shot guess, but it’s the only real theory I have based on clues. Let’s see if it happens!
Survivor: Fiji - Who Will Go in Episode 10? by Kari Kennedy -- 04/19/2006 Tribal shakeups after the merge are common, but will the Four Horsemen stick together or will they fall apart? Will old and new alliances be tested? Will we finally get to see one of the hidden immunity idols finally played? Well finally, last week's boot was a surprise for me and the first mis-guess this season. For the most part, the editing and clues have been fairly obvious as to who would be going next, but then again, I may have been lucky on a winning streak of figuring out who would be going. This week, I once again feel like there are very few safe and more who could be easily put on the chopping block. You know, last week's episode of Survivor seemed much like the old Abbott and Costello skit of "Who's on First?" Outside of the two solid dyads (Earl/Yau-Man and Edgardo/Alex), I found it difficult by the end to determine who was truly with which alliance and who switched up. Is anyone being true or are they all lying so much even they can't figure who among them is lying? So how will we determine who will be safe and who will go this week? The episode title is, "It's a Turtle?" which points to the fact that one of the hidden immunity idols is revealed. But in what way will it be revealed? Before Tribal Council? At Tribal Council? During a small huddle of folks? It's difficult to say. We do know that Earl and Yau-Man have tightly held their idol secret from everyone, except Michelle. Edgardo, Alex and Mookie know about the other idol. Mookie told Dre about it and, looking at previews for this week, Dre will spill the beans to Cassandra and Earl (who will then tell Yau-Man). Whew! So that being said, it seems that Boo and Stacy are the outsiders, for now, in knowing that Mookie has one of the idols. Let's talk about Mookie for just a moment, shall we? He has his fingers in several alliance pies, but are any of them turning up fruitful? He started off as a part of the original Ravu, then after the tribal switch-up, he watched his comrades fall quickly. He then was smart enough to realize that he'd need to realign his alliances (using his hidden idol as a shield) and team up with the big dogs from Old Moto, Edgardo and Alex. He also appears to have loosely connected with Dre, as evidenced by telling him about the idol. Will Mookie's double dealings catch up with him or will he finally set his sights on one particular alliance? Will he pass the idol off to someone in a show of allegiance? Dre is also one who seems to be working the double deals. On one hand he thinks he's part of the so-called Four Horsemen, which aligned pre-merge, but quickly started unraveling at the edges. He has said all along that he won't be aligning with the original Moto 5, but then last week, his vote was the tipping point to evict Michelle over Stacy, who he claimed needed payback. He had an opportunity to get rid of his antagonist and didn't. Because he did sway along with Alex's leading the votes, he also managed to put a wedge firmly between himself and Mookie. In this week’s previews we see him clash with Mookie about the vote. Even more telling is another preview scene where we see him telling Cassandra and Earl about Mookie’s idol. Does this mean that he’s playing them to get ahead or is he actually leaning towards their alliance? Chances are he’s finally got a clue that he completely lost a good opportunity to weaken his old alliance at the last tribal council and realizes he can take the spot once occupied by Michelle. I don’t know that Earl, Yau-Man and Cassandra will completely trust him, but they will take the extra vote if they think they can keep him swayed to their side. So where do Boo and Stacy fit into all of this chaotic fun? Last week we were privy to conversations within both alliances that Boo was the next target, who would be followed shortly afterwards by Stacy. I read somewhere in one interview (and I apologize for not having a direct quote or link) that Boo had basically given up and was feeling the pressure of not having a solid alliance. Nobody saw him as a valuable asset. Possibly, now that Michelle is gone, he may be able to sell his vote to Earl, as one of the clues on the CBS website alludes to the fact that one Survivor works to solidify an alliance. The one person dangling out the most seems to be Boo, so this might make sense. Earl should take him up on the offer for a vote and Boo should do what will keep him around in any way. Stacy seems to be blindly following Alex and Edgardo, thinking that they have her backside, but little does she know that they don’t have any strong allegiance to her other than to use her as a tool. She hasn’t shown any ounce of strategy or game play, other than to ride coattails. She isn’t much of a challenge threat so there isn’t much need to get rid of her just yet. Now before I get to who I think will be going home, let’s take a look at a couple of things we may see with the two challenges. In the previews we see highlights from Burnett’s trademark coconut chop challenge where ignorant players show their hands on the pecking order of who is within an alliance. Each season the game evolves and smart players pick up on the real significance of this particular challenge and find a way to circumvent revealing alliances and take out “the enemy” at the same time. Typically in recent seasons, the under-the-radar players seem to fare well on this challenge. Cassandra or possibly even Boo could win this one, based on that trend. The winner usually has to pick one or two people to join them on an offsite reward filled with food, massages, or showers. This may be where Mookie blows up at the fact that Cassandra didn’t take him for some reason? We know that the second challenge in previews shows that it’s one of endurance and patience as we see the Survivors trying to wedge themselves between a wooden frame and stay off the ground. This kind of challenge tends to favor the smaller, more flexible contestants. In one brief shot in a preview shown this weekend, we see Yau-Man in the background with what looks like an immunity necklace around his neck. He seems to be a perfect match for this kind of challenge winning, despite his seeming frailty. If this is true that Yau-Man wins immunity and his alliance manages to sway Boo and/or Dre, this could set up their alliance to subtly take the majority votes and probably not have to reveal their deeply hidden immunity idol. Also in the CBS website clues, we find out that there is a cat-and-mouse game at tribal council which causes all kinds of fireworks. Consider that everyone but Boo and Stacy know about Mookie’s “hidden” immunity idol, would it be out of the possibility that the majority from Old Ravu have the opportunity to flush it out if they realize that they truly are the majority? If all of this planet alignment happens, then Edgardo, Alex and Stacy are on the wrong side of the eight ball. Take Stacy out of the equation as a non-threat to anyone and that leaves Edgardo or Alex vulnerable. The cat-and-mouse game comes into play as Mookie tries to figure out if he’ll keep the idol or pass it to one of his boys to save them. If he decides to pass it to one of them, will it bounce back and end up causing the other to go? Now, stir in a little few of Dre’s usual Tribal Council antics now pointed against his former Horsemen and you have the makings for firestorm! This one may actually live up to the hype of “Best Tribal Council Ever!”. So which of Alex or Edgardo goes? Wow, it may be a toss-up as both men are strong mentally and physically, so it’ll be a matter of which the old Ravu thinks will be the bigger threat. Just for grins, I’m going to throw out there that Alex ends up without the idol and behind the snuffed torch. It’s a long-shot guess, but it’s the only real theory I have based on clues. Let’s see if it happens!