Original Airdate: July 19, 2000
Below are the remaining contestants.
Rattana:
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| Sean - Doctor |
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| Gervase - Youth basketball coach |
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| Kelly - River guide |
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| Colleen - College student |
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| Rudy - Retired Navy Seal |
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| Greg - Recent Ivy League graduate |
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| Richard - Corporate trainer |
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| Jenna - College student |
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| Susan - Truck driver |
The morning after Tribal Council, Sean ponders the vote, stating both "last night was a very strange vote," and "there's really no good reason, other than strategy, to vote Gretchen off." Jenna believes that an alliance has formed and is targeting former Pagong members. Sean tells Gervase and Greg that his fellow Tagi members may have formed an alliance, but it's also possible it was a one-off situation. Gervase in particular wants to bust up any potential alliance, but wants to wait until after the next vote to make sure one actually exists.
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| Sean pondering the vote |
Jenna feels her best strategy is to bond with the women and create an all-female alliance. While Susan enthusiastically agrees with her to her face, she states in a confessional that she's "comfortable and happy" with her alliance, being the Tagi Four. Meanwhile, Rattana's rice is low, and so they decide to ration their food, and rely even more heavily on Richard's fishing ability, which pays off as he brings back four on his next outing.
Richard's worried about Greg - not only does he believe that Greg's the one who cast a vote for him the night before, he sees him as a clever young man, and while Richard believes that he can outsmart him, he does view him as a threat. Greg believes that Richard, above any of the other players, is playing a long game despite him claiming otherwise. Jenna's growing wary of Greg - he's changed a lot since the tribes combined, and likens him to a chameleon. She believes Greg's playing Richard, subtly flirting with him, and as Greg already has Colleen wrapped around his finger, she sees this as troublesome. Greg himself discusses his dispassionate view on friendship on the island - while he's with Colleen right now, he would have zero problem getting rid of her if it benefitted him.
The Reward challenge is an archery competition, and as the clue alluded to "something from home," Jenna's desperate to win. Recently, she's been really missing her children, and being able to somehow read a letter or see them would do her a lot of good. And when Jeff brings a television onto the island, each member does get to view a short clip of their loved ones, and whoever wins gets the whole video, along with the ability to send a video back to them. All of them besides Jenna, though - her family apparently was unable to get a video back in time, and miserably, Jenna doesn't get to see them.
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| Jenna learning her family didn't send a video |
She also doesn't get to send a video back, as Greg wins the competition pretty easily. Watching the full video his sister sent really boosts Greg's spirits. Richard found it amusing also, and Sean is pleased to see that Greg's not the only "screwball" in the family. On the other hand, Rudy doesn't quite get it - it seems to him that Greg is implying incest in his video he's making for his sister, and Rudy jokingly says that if he has to put up with Greg for 15 more days, he'll kill him.
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| Greg's winning shot |
With this recent heartbreak, Jenna's not been doing well. She moodily sits alone, or practices with the bow and arrow. Greg doesn't even know if she really wants to be here anymore. Gervase is annoyed, as Jenna's a single parent like himself, and if Jenna can pull at people's heartstrings and avoid getting votes, it's a threat to Gervase. More a threat to Gervase is Susan, however, who constantly refers to him as a slacker. Greg's impressed that Gervase has been able to easily adapt to the island, and Richard finds him pretty charming (a viewpoint that Susan does not share in the least).
Enter Immunity challenge: a jungle-rope course/maze that's designed to be confusing. Greg gets lost multiple times, and many people fall behind. Gervase blazes through the course, and comes out with the immunity talisman around his neck, keeping him safe from the next vote.
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| Greg's pitiful Immunity challenge performance |
It doesn't do his overall position a whole lot of good, though. Colleen believes that at the moment, former Pagong members have the upper hand, despite Gervase pushing to form an alliance. Because any potential alliance of four still stands in a tribe with nine people, Colleen sees them as safe. Gervase wants to be more proactive, though, and says that they should have banded together and taken out Rudy at the last Tribal Council. Alliances are fair game, he puts forward, and thinks one should be formed.
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| Gervase arguing with Colleen (offscreen) about alliances |
Things aren't perfect on the Tagi Four though, either. While Richard, Rudy, and Susan are fully committed to the alliance, Kelly seems much more wishy-washy, according to Susan. In fact, Kelly herself says that you can't stay true to yourself and your integrity and still be in an alliance, hating the deception aspect of the game.
At Tribal Council, Jeff informs the remaining contestants that from this point on, everyone voted off will join the Jury, who will decide the winner of the game at the final two. Richard and Susan deny the existence of any alliances during Tribal Council. Gervase admits that he's winging it, and taking it day-by-day. With that, it's time for them to vote.
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| Sean's alphabet strategy in play |
The vote count, with those who voted in the brackets:
Greg: 6 [Sean, Richard, Kelly, Jenna, Rudy, Susan]
Jenna: 3 [Gervase, Colleen, Greg]
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| A bemused Jeff about to snuff Greg's torch |
I think it's pretty much official that every former Pagong member is screwed.
Technically speaking, former Pagong members make up three of the eight remaining members, but they could also potentially pull Sean over. Hell, even Kelly's a choice - she's not as committed as the other Tagi Four members, and she could possibly be convinced by Jenna and Gervase to switch over, which might even be in her best interest.
But that's not going to happen.
Colleen's naivety when discussing alliances is mind-blowing. Number-wise, she's right - at the time, they did have the upper hand. But the longer you wait until you get an alliance together, the more screwed you are. Gervase was correct in trying to get something going, but even he doesn't follow through, as he threw a vote Jenna's way. Former Pagong members are in a bad place, and it's not even the Tagi Four's doing.
It's Sean's.
Sean's confessional read like this:
Sean: "Keeping with my strategy of alphabetical order, I'm voting for Greg tonight because it would have been Gervase's turn, but we won Immunity so I had to skip him and the next person in order is Greg. I don't think this vote is going to mean very much."If Sean had no way of knowing that an alliance existed, maybe his cluelessness could be excused. But at the last Tribal Council, when six tribe mates got an individual vote apiece, Gretchen received four. That should be enough for anyone to see that something's afoot. And need I mention his quote at the beginning of the episode? "There's really no good reason, other than strategy, to vote Gretchen off."
Sean's not really cut out for this game. He doesn't seem to have any desire to play strategically, and he doesn't even recognize that others may be playing the game differently than he is. Like Susan said bluntly last episode, "Sean is dumb." I expect that he'll realize the folly of his "alphabet voting strategy" next episode, but to be honest, it could take two to three more. As much as it may be beating a dead horse, Sean's an idiot, and while Collen's naive nature isn't cut out for Survivor either, Sean is so much less a player than she is.
Greg's departure isn't surprising once we found out that Richard was worried about him. Apparently, Rudy lobbied for Gretchen to be voted out last Tribal Council, and I'm guessing Richard lobbied for Greg this time around. The cohesive unit of the Tagi Four made short work of him, and the heart and soul of Pagong is now gone. This bodes very well for Richard and his allies. Colleen might be willing to team up with Jenna and Gervase, but Sean's a loose cannon, and if he does indeed vote for Jenna next episode (as she is alphabetically next), then there's really nothing that Gervase and Colleen can do.
The Tagi Four have this game on lock - at least, it appears so. But as the preview for the upcoming episode states, a crack may be forming in the alliance in the form of Kelly, who may be courting a new arrangement with Jenna. I don't know if that's how it will play out, but it could potentially save Pagong if the person voted off next episode is a current member of the Tagi Four. If Kelly gets together with Jenna and Gervase and gun for Sean, then talk about a waste of a vote. I think that Susan and Richard will be able to keep Kelly in line, but it does appear to be a valid threat. As soon as the final four comes around, if they all make it, I'd get her out first.
Greg was certainly an interesting cast member. I've said before that I didn't really understand him or much of his behavior. And his sister, who spoke in what amounted to gibberish and obscene gestures in the video he won, seems in much the same mold. At the same time, Greg seemed to know how to have a fun time. He enjoyed the experience, and perhaps more importantly, made the experience enjoyable for others. Well, aside from Jenna - she voted for him this episode, and for the third time, he voted for her. But besides that, he seemed to genuinely enjoy his time on the island.
Colleen, Jenna, and Gervase's collective fate in this game depends on two people: 1) Sean and 2) possibly Kelly. Sean's no one that you'd want to rely on (which makes the fact that he's a doctor all the more terrifying), so it really comes down to Kelly. Will she make a play and switch over to a newly-cohesive alliance of Jenna, Gervase, and Colleen? If she did, and they voted together, they could tie things up (assuming that Richard, Susan, and Rudy vote with Sean for Jenna), which would really shake up the game.
As much as the previews try to suggest such, I just don't think such a play is in the cards. Colleen, Jenna, and Gervase have almost no way to win this game at this point, and I think the eventual winner is currently in the Tagi Four. If Pagong had been cohesive, if they had listened to Joel, or if they had listened to Gervase, they might have stood a chance.
The door's still open for a chance, but that door's almost shut, and they're too far away to grab the handle.
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