All in the Family SE01 EP04 - "Archie Gives Blood"

Episode Name: Archie Gives Blood
Original Airdate: February 2, 1971

Archie, Edith, Michael and Gloria are playing a game of Monopoly, and aside from Archie's rude comments to his wife every now and again (calling the woman he loves a "dingbat" appears to be a hobby of his), all seems to be going well. But then the idea of going to donate blood heats Archie up - he doesn't want his blood to go to any "radicals." Unless he knows who would get his blood, he simply won't do it.

And from here, Archie and Michael argue about donating blood. Michael, with the help of Gloria, try to explain to Archie that "blood is blood." Doesn't matter if a person's black, Chinese, whatever, blood's blood, and as long as the types match, nothing else matters. As you can imagine, Archie takes a different stand. He claims that the idea blood is as interchangeable as it is, regardless of race, is "Commie propaganda." The argument becomes quite heated, but is calmed down as Edith tells them a story about how a blood transfusion she had in the past involving Katharine Hepburn.

Talked into donating blood, Archie goes with Michael to the clinic the next day, surprised to see an Asian man (or "Chink"/"oriental" according to Archie) at a "white man's clinic." When told that people of all races come here, Archie again becomes upset. But before long, Lionel, an African-American friend, pops up, and begins egging Archie on, claiming that he agrees blacks' blood differs from the blood of whites. Archie also ridiculously disagrees with heart transplants. Come the time of the donation, it goes over pretty well, though Archie did pass out at the end of the procedure.

Archie blames this on the doctors, as they "took too much blood" out of his arm. And this is further explained by Edith by the fact that Archie doesn't like doctors. In Archie's eyes, doctors look at people as nothing more than spare parts, and not for the people they are. More so, when they try to prolong life, it goes against God's will, which Michael of course (being the atheist he is) takes issue with. After another, shorter, argument, the episode ends with them all playing another game of Monopoly. 

Lionel, Michael, and Archie

This episode was a decent one. Like most we've had so far, it's was pretty singularly focused, the title explaining the plot - Archie decides to give blood. While it's a positive thing that Archie did this, he is still unable, it seems, to comprehend the science behind blood. And truth be told, Michael's probably never going to get Archie to admit that he's wrong (and Lionel's egging Archie on only worsens the situation). So Archie's bigotry doesn't go on unchecked, but it will remain unaffected.

Michael's trying the best he can, it seems, but his situation is not an easy one. Talking to someone like Archie about something like the concept that no matter the race, blood is blood, is likely to amount to nothing. Still, he tries, as does Gloria. Maybe sometime in the future, they'll be successful.

The now-dated references to Marcus Welby, M,D, and Mannix (both shows I plan on reviewing) were amusing, but I noticed that no quote or line in this episode really stood out as they had in past episode. Because of that, I can't really provide you with a quote of the episode. Still, this was another pretty solid episode, though I would like to see the introduction of more characters in the future to spice things up a bit.

Rating: Above Average

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Survivor: Borneo SE01 EP05 - "Pulling Your Own Weight"

Episode Name: Pulling Your Own Weight

Original Airdate: June 28, 2000

Here are the remaining contestants.

Tagi:

Sean - Doctor

Kelly - River guide

Rudy - Retired Navy Seal

Richard - Corporate trainer

Susan - Truck driver

Dirk - Dairy farmer

Pagong:

Gervase - Youth basketball coach

Colleen - College student

Gretchen - Teacher

Greg - Recent Ivy League graduate

Jenna - College student

Joel - Health Club consultant

Pagong's feeling their numbers decrease, and they're in a bit of a rut. Greg has an ear infection. Their camp is a disorderly mess. Gretchen's been down. Joel's noticing the lack of people, and it's sort of messing with him. Overall, the mood is not that great.

Tagi's seemingly doing pretty well, though. Problems lurk on the surface, however, in the form of Dirk and Sean. When they're not sitting around chatting, their sitting on the boat, fishing. Or as Kelly sees it, they go out to fish only to appear like they're actually contributing, and it's starting to irritate her. Rudy sees their efforts as "useless." And Susan, of course, does not mince words: she lets them know to their face that they're wasting time, and shouldn't spend time during the day fishing when they could be looking for salvageable food in the forest.

Sean and Dirk hard at work

It comes down to this, really: Kelly isn't impressed with those who don't pull their weight, while Dirk states that the only reason he came out to Borneo is to "have fun and grow in his faith with God." Rudy mocks Dirk's Luxury Item, the Bible, in a confessional - he would only bring one out here for toilet paper.

Jeff brings them news of the challenge tomorrow: it's a target practice, using three different weapons which three members per tribe must master in order to win. The weapons are a blowgun, a slingshot, and lastly, a spear. He also allows them to practice by providing the weapons for them.

Sean's apparently quite good using a blowgun, Richard a slingshot, and Susan a spear, which brings her to the happy thought that she may be able to defeat a guy on national television, providing Pagong chooses a male to toss their spear. On the other tribe, Jenna's got the blowgun on lock, Gretchen's decent with a slingshot, and while Joel's not overly good with the spear, he does better than the others.

Come the Reward challenge (the reward being food in the form of both fruit and chickens) starts out well for both tribes. It's only on the spear tossing round in which Pagong truly gets ahead, Joel manages a clean center shot, and while Susan puts up a valiant effort, she's not able to do as well, allowing Pagong a needed victory.

Joel's mastery of the spear toss

Joel's spears (in yellow) - the winning shot near the center

Now in better spirits, Pagong returns with the fruit and three live chickens (appropriately named Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner) - Jenna has hope that they'll lay eggs, but Gretchen's not to sure, citing the cramped living quarters and pressure. One thing is sure - when they do consume the chickens, Pagong will be a happy bunch.

A portion of Pagong's reward

Susan, on Tagi, is disappointed that she lost the challenge, but doesn't believe that the chickens were that big a deal. Richard catches an eel for the tribe to eat, almost as a replacement for the chicken, but it's close to completely inedible, and the meal is, for the most part, tossed aside.

Leadership is discussed on Pagong - Gretchen has long considered Greg the leader, but Greg wishes they didn't. He has no interest in being the leader, and would prefer spending time alone in the woods. Well, not always alone. Greg sleeps by himself out in the woods at night, away from the tribe, and recently, Colleen has been joining him, spurring conversations back at camp about the nature of their relationship. Jenna believes there's definitely something romantic going on, and while Colleen jokes that "it's all about sex" in a confessional, Greg affirms that their friendship is purely platonic.

Dirk and Sean have been helping out more around Tagi, but Susan believes it to be a bit late. The news of the Immunity challenge arrives - one member of each tribe must row a boat, and the rest must swim. The choices for each tribe for rower comes easily - Kelly is a commercial white river guide, and Gervase isn't overly competent in the water. Greg also breaks out in song, but it seems a common occurrence, and isn't commented on.

Greg singing a Disney-esque tune

The challenge is a blow-out, to the dismay of Kelly. Gervase rows far quicker than does his female counterpart, and it's barely a competition. Kelly's unable to restrain her tears and Pagong happily doesn't have Tribal Council to attend.

Jeff talking to Gervase and Kelly before the challenge

Despite her failure, Kelly doesn't believe herself to be at risk. Sean, if he had to guess, would say Rudy's at stake. Richard has both a plan and an alliance, and lets us know via confessional that he'll stick with the alliance he has until the final four, before the "free for all" begins.

At Tribal Council, it's a moderately pedestrian affair. Kelly apologizes for her efforts at the challenge, Sean admits that he hasn't found his niche yet, and Dirk states that he cannot think himself into being more effective around camp than he already is. Amusingly, Richard is asked about intra-tribal alliances and their potential effects on voting, and he skirts the question, wisely so, stating that the whole tribe is the most important alliance, and the smaller ones don't detract from that.

With that, the voting begins. And of course, given Richard does have an alliance, the results aren't overly surprising.

Below are the results, with the individuals who voted each person in brackets:

Dirk: 4 [Kelly, Richard, Rudy, Susan]

Susan: 1 [Dirk]

Rudy: 1 [Sean]

Dirk being voted out

Sean's reaction to the vote

On Pagong, not that much in the way of strategizing has been going on.

Greg and Colleen's friendship is an interesting one. While I don't believe sex to be a component, it certainly does seem to be doing wonders for them. Colleen's just as happy as she's ever been, and Greg's literally bursting out into song. As I've said before, Greg's a bizarre character, and his actions here only further my belief in that. If you noticed, when he did begin singing, many began laughing, some slightly uncomfortably - from this, I don't think this is considered odd behavior anymore. It's simply Greg being Greg.

And apparently, he's seen as the leader, which is something I didn't expect. Gretchen herself sees him as a leader, and while Greg wishes he wasn't in that role, it seems that by now he has no choice but to stay in that role. And really, aside from Gretchen, no one else comes close. Gervase or Colleen, a leader? Laughable. Jenna? I barely remember who she is half the time, and we're down to 12 people already. And Joel? Ha ha ha.

But Greg can probably make a good leader, being urged on by Gretchen and assisted by Colleen. In fact, the three of them could make a good alliance. I don't know how close Jenna is to any of them, but I suspect Colleen could help pull her in.

It's all speculative, though, because one thing is very clear right now: Pagong doesn't do alliances. There's no Joel/Jenna/Gervase vs. Greg/Gretchen/Colleen - the idea would seem simply foreign to them. They've only been to Tribal Council twice, and neither time was a landslide - the closest was voting off B.B. and if you recall, Greg voted for Ramona, and not with the majority. So Pagong has no clear alliances, and right now, I don't even know if any are being discussed. If there were to be alliances, who would even propose the idea? Gretchen, a teacher, certainly wouldn't. Colleen's smart, but the picture-perfect definition of naive. Greg would rather spend time in the woods than scheming against his tribe.

I'd say Jenna is the most likely person. And I don't say that because we've seen anything so far that indicates such, I say that because I get the vibe from her that given a more cutthroat environment, like one provided in Tagi, she might be a bit of a mover and a shaker. I have no idea if she'd be good at that, but I do believe without a doubt she'd be better than almost any of her tribe mates, aside from maybe Joel.

And while on Joel, I wanted to say this: I know I've not given him much time in my analysis of episodes, but so far, Joel's been pretty much a non-entity. Oh, he did great in the Reward challenge today, but that was more luck it seemed than skill. Either way, he did help win it. But what's his plan in the game? What is he willing to do to get to the million dollars? I'm not entirely sure he has one. Could he be as foolish as Dirk and Sean? It's possible, but then again, in his environment, which is safe from the threat of alliances, strategic thinking like that, which would have helped Sean and Dirk, just doesn't seem necessary. What's Joel planning on doing? In short, we don't know. He has a good thing going, and for now, he seems pretty secure in his placement.

One last question to pose prior to moving onto Tagi - who would Pagong vote off if they went next to Tribal Council. Based on what we know now, that's a really hard question to answer. Greg did once vote for Jenna, but does he actually harbor any ill will toward her? Unlikely. Gervase, along with then-member Ramona, voted for Colleen, but does Gervase still want Colleen off? Very doubtful. So who would they vote for? Truth be told, I don't know. Obviously, anything could happen within the period of the upcoming episodes to switch things up, but for now, it seems that Pagong is quite a solid, unified tribe, and their two victories this episode will only allow them the momentum to keep this up.

Tagi, on the other hand, is a fractured tribe, thanks to Richard's alliance.

Voting off Dirk was a good way to go. Sean certainly seems to be stronger insofar as body mass in concerned, and it makes sense to keep him on. Though as Dirk and Sean were such good friends, and Dirk leaving bothered Sean greatly (just look at that last picture - Sean's never appeared more dejected), maybe Sean will realize that there's a game to be played, and there are things he could likely do to ensure his survival. Because right now, it's not looking too hot - there's a four-person alliance in a five-person tribe, and Sean's not in the alliance. Next time Tagi loses Immunity, unless Sean schemes something up, he's gone.

What's funniest about Sean's oblivious nature is just how out of tone he is with his tribe. Prior to Tribal Council, he stated that he believed Rudy was the most likely to go (when he voted for him, he gave the - gasp! - logical reason that come physical challenges, Rudy wouldn't be that useful), and yet Sean is the only person to vote for him. For a doctor, he certainly doesn't have his fingers on the pulse of his situation. Not even his friend Dirk voted with him, meaning that Dirk and Sean likely didn't even discuss who to vote for. So why does Sean think Rudy was the most likely to go? Well, Sean also thought a few episodes back that the seas were overfished, and that no fish was to be found, right before Richard brought back a bunch of them. What I mean to say is, for the most part, Sean's an idiot, and if he's voted out next, it's more a mercy for him than anything.

Richard's alliance, or the Tagi Four as I will from now on refer to them as, is doing very well for themselves. Dirk is their first victim, and given the way Pagong's playing, he may well be the first of many. Is Rudy officially in the Tagi Four? Well, he may as well be, as I don't see him turning on Kelly or Susan when someone like Sean is still around.

Obviously, Richard has this thing together. Rudy's loyal, Susan's smarter than you might expect, and Kelly, while the weak-link, isn't likely to run over to Sean and help him out. Sean's fate, provided they lose next the next Immunity challenge, seems sealed. There's not a whole lot he could really do by this point. His one ally is gone, and so even if he had come up with some strategy (though this is Sean, so it's not likely), he has no one to turn to.

Perhaps I'm being a bit harsh, because Sean seems like a nice guy, but I don't much care for him. He's oblivious to almost everything around camp. Sure, he's starting to help out more around camp, willing to do more work, but you see where that late-shift got Ramona. I don't overly like Sean. And I certainly didn't like Dirk. Susan sort of grates on me, but at least she has my respect, as does Rudy. Kelly and Richard are the only two Tagis which I actually like, though I admit, Kelly's arrogance can get a bit old. I also don't believe her overly loyal to the Tagi Four, but right now, it's the only choice she has.

Over on Pagong, we have a more likable bunch. I still don't understand Greg, but he's a fun character. Colleen's always of good value, as is Gretchen. Gervase is a mostly amusing guy. Joel and Jenna are sort of background characters right now, but there's still plenty of time to shine, especially for Joel, as he's probably one of the strongest competitors left.

On paper, Pagong appears a stronger tribe. But what they have in strength, they lack in strategic thought. It's not too late at all for them to come together and vote as a whole, but so far, we've seen no indication of that happening.

Hopefully they start to learn before it's too late.

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Survivor: Borneo SE01 EP04 - "Too Little, Too Late?"

Episode Name: Too Little, Too Late?
Original Airdate: June 21, 2000

Before we get to the summary, here are the contestants who remain.

Tagi:

Sean - Doctor

Kelly - River guide

Rudy - Retired Navy Seal

Richard - Corporate trainer

Susan - Truck driver

Dirk - Dairy farmer

Pagong:

Gervase - Youth basketball coach

Colleen - College student

Romana - Biochemist

Gretchen - Teacher

Greg - Recent Ivy League graduate

Jenna - College student

Joel - Health Club consultant

During the torrential downpour, Pagong had a miserable night. And Gretchen has had enough. From the very beginning, she wanted their shelter to be under the canopy as opposed to on the beach, but was outvoted (partially by B.B.). And she's not backing down, as she states: "You want to vote me off? Fine, but we got to organize this."

And so they work together and move their camp. Or most of them do, anyway. Ramona's still not quite pulling her weight, and it's grating more and more on people. Jenna doesn't believe that she can really function. Greg, in a way, defends her, stating that the "only person Ramona can be is herself." Ramona doesn't believe that she can do anything more than she's doing already. Gervase had faith in her, but is losing it: "Every chance she got, she was making it worse."

A overly-dejected Ramona

On Tagi, Sean spends his time creating a bowling alley, while Susan and Kelly try to find food. Both equally valid goals, I'm sure. Susan's tired of pulling Sean's weight, and if she had to vote someone off, Sean would be number one of her list.

The Reward challenge is a unique one - both tribes must create a distress signal on their beach, something an overhead airplane could see. The tribe that creates the most visible signal gets the reward, being towels, pillows, and something extra a single member from each tribe choose - a spice rack and a filet knife.

Both tribes argue about what they should build. Gretchen wants a simple bonfire, but Colleen wants to sell it, likening it to advertising. Dirk doesn't want anything "classless" (including condoms, nudity, etc.), while Susan wants to get going. Sean shoots down ideas without presenting much of his own, bothering Richard.

And it bothers Richard so much that he wants to deal with it. The best way to deal with it, in his eyes, is to begin building alliances. The main goal would be to gather the votes necessary to ensure he moves past Tribal Council without risking being voted off. More on that a bit later.

Ramona begins busting her ass the morning of the challenge, working with the tribe, claiming she's feeling better, and more so, she is beginning to feel like an actual member of the tribe, which she didn't feel before. Greg moderately annoys and/or creeps people out by talking into a coconut and pretending it's a cellphone - the escapism seems to help him keep his edge.

The results of the challenge are below:

Tagi

Pagong

Tagi ends up winning, their members more visible in yellow, which sways the reward in their direction.

After the challenge, we see an alliance begin to form. Richard spoke to Susan, and pulled in Kelly (though Kelly says that she and Susan pulled in Richard). To Richard, sticking together will be a way to control their fate. The three of them consider pulling Rudy into it, but for the time being, it doesn't seem like he's interested, as he sees it as ganging up unfairly on people. Susan states that as far as the three-member alliance goes, it's the three of them "against the world."

Alliance of Richard, Kelly, and Susan

Ramona's fitting in much better in over at Pagong, and working far more, but Jenna sees it as "too little, too late." Gervase thinks the redemption is going pretty well, though admits that others could see it differently.

The Immunity challenge upcoming is an important one - Tagi's down one member, and if they lose one more, then Pagong would likely have the upper hand. If Pagong loses, it's a stalemate, as both tribes would have equal members. In many ways, at least for Tagi, it's do or die.

The challenge is a relay divided into five parts - a swimming portion, a balancing portion, a rowing portion, a running portion, and a digging portion. From the beginning Tagi gets a strong lead, when Sean proves himself a far quicker swimmer than Colleen. Pagong has a chance to catch-up, but on the running portion, Gervase fails them, losing his breath multiple times and seemingly giving up, walking half the way back to his team.

It was, in many ways, do or die for Tagi, and they did. For now, Richard's plans of alliances is on the backburner, as Pagong must vote out one of their own.

Jenna really doesn't want to vote anyone off, and gets teary-eyed when thinking about it. Colleen fears for her safely, as she fumbled the opening of the challenge. Jenna doesn't know if she dug as quick as she could. Gervase states that he'd vote for Jenna over Colleen, as Jenna was "more annoying." Greg, unlike Jenna, sees the vote as far easier to deal with. You boot someone out, and move on. Simple as that.

The Tribal Council goes moderately smoothly. Gervase makes a small, somewhat amusing stumble, saying he believe he's not vulnerable, but then almost immediately takes it back. Jenna believes that taking anyone away would create a weaker tribe, but they've no choice - they must vote.

Below are the results, with those who voted for the individual in brackets:

Ramona: 4 [Jenna, Gretchen, Colleen, Joel]

Colleen: 2 [Gervase, Ramona]

Jenna: 1 [Greg]

This was a very busy episode with both tribes, so let's jump in, starting with Tagi.

The formation of a feasible alliance is pivotal, I feel, to the direction of this tribe, and more so, to the security of Richard. Because it's not just Richard now - it's Susan and Kelly also. Well, and Rudy, because while he may not officially consider himself part of an alliance, he'd likely take Richard's words into consideration before casting a vote, and hence is a de facto member. Richard likely doesn't trust any of these people, but for the time being, it's a good idea, as the three (read: four) of them could outvote any of the opposing members, and those members would have no recourse. This is only mildly important now, but should the tribes merge into one down the line, it could become a force to be reckoned with, especially as Richard seems steps ahead of everyone else.

That's not to say that Richard is the originator of this idea, though. Kelly makes it sound like she and Susan were already in a two-person alliance, and Richard latched onto them. As Susan and Kelly have never voted once for the same person, though, this strikes me as doubtful. Regardless, the alliance is a good idea, even if they can't wrangle Rudy into joining them.

Sean's clueless to all of this, most likely, and Dirk's probably not far behind. Neither one is playing strategically, and for that matter, neither is Rudy. The difference is Rudy has friends in Richard and Susan, and respect from Kelly (as he's one of the few blunt people out there). Dirk and Sean have themselves, and that's not likely to amount to much at all. The divide is now set in stone, really. And I don't think Dirk or Sean even realize it.

Things aren't rosy over in Pagong, either.

Ramona's last-ditch attempt at pitching in around the camp impressed some (and by some, I mean Gervase), but you can't be at 30% for nine days, and 95% for one and expect it to save your butt. She wasn't guaranteed to go, though - both Colleen and Gervase should have been on the chopping block, and so was Jenna.

Colleen's folly, in my eyes, wasn't a huge one. She swam far slower than did Sean, and Pagong got terribly behind, but that should have been canceled out by Gervase (a basketball coach) who was Pagong's runner. And yet his failure in this challenge, along with two past challenges (as Jeff brings up at Tribal Council) is swept under the rug because he's (theoretically) stronger. Not a soul voted for him, or even discussed voting for him, so perhaps Gervase is right: at this moment, he's nowhere close to vulnerable.

Why did Gervase change his mind, though? Gervase votes for Colleen, which is the exact opposite of what he said he'd do five minutes before. Why the change? It's likely that both Colleen and Jenna were on the chopping block for him. It could have been either one, and by the time he got up there to cast his vote, Colleen just struck him as the weaker of the two. It may simply have been a flip-of-the-coin type decision. We don't know.

Another thing we don't know is why Greg voted for Jenna. Or for that matter, why Greg does much of what he does? Strange quotes, strange behavior. He's a treat and a half to watch most of the time. His vote for Jenna seems pretty random. Perhaps he believes her the weakest on their team? Or perhaps he views Colleen as the weakest, but given their platonic relationship, refuses to vote for her. But if that were the case, wouldn't he tip Colleen off to this, so Jenna would get two votes?

Unless Greg knew that aside from Colleen, he could get two more votes, it'd be too much a risk for Colleen to take. Could he have maneuvered others to vote for Jenna? Possibly, but two things would possibly prevent him from doing that. One, he knew the tide was too heavily against Ramona to get them to consider going after Jenna, and two, it's possible he just wasn't all that invested in getting Jenna off the tribe, and voted for her just as a way to waste his vote.

Truth be told, I don't understand much about Greg - his actions, most of his words, or this vote. He may well be a big player coming up - he doesn't strike me as the leader type, but it could be argued he's half the soul of Pagong (the other half being Gervase).

Which tribe is stronger at the moment?

Well, Tagi has a clear division arising, while Pagong has no clear alliances. Physically, Pagong has a slight advantage, but losing two challenges this time around, along with living off rats, is making that mean less and less. Gretchen seems a fair leader, but Richard seems a better one. Right now, with equal members, I'd say Tagi has the advantage, but who knows how quickly that could turn?

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Survivor: Borneo SE01 EP03 - "Quest for Food"

Episode Name: Quest for Food

Original Airdate: June 14, 2000

Before we get to the summary, below are the remaining contestants.

Tagi:

Sean - Doctor

Kelly - River guide

Rudy - Retired Navy Seal

Richard - Corporate trainer

Susan - Truck driver

Dirk - Dairy farmer

Stacey - Attorney

Pagong:

Gervase - Youth basketball coach

Colleen - College student

Ramona - Biochemist

Gretchen - Teacher

Greg - Recent Ivy League graduate

Jenna - College student

Joel - Health Club consultant

At Tagi, Sean doubts the existence of fish in the nearby waters. While Susan, Stacey, and Kelly are looking for fish, Rudy is brought up - none of the three women are particularly impressed with him, though Susan, in a confessional, states that she's far more likely to vote out Stacey than Rudy. Susan's under the impression that the three of them are an alliance, but nothing else indicates that. No fish were caught.

Dirk's also driving people up the wall with his constant religious talk. Specifically Susan and Richard aren't interested. Ironically, while he's talking about his religion a lot, he criticizes Richard for talking about homosexuality as much as he does. Being religious, Dirk likely doesn't see the hypocrisy.

Food isn't to be found at Pagong either, though they do find a mud-hole and relax as a tribe, something they may not have been able to do if B.B. was still there (though I suspect they were still doing such). Gervase, who is not a strong swimmer, worries about the upcoming Reward challenge, in which swimming is likely to be a huge component.

The challenge is simple enough - as a team, they must retrieve a treasure chest underwater, and bring it back to the mat. Things are moderately even at first, but Tagi pulls ahead, and Richard's delighted when the reward turns out to be fishing gear - masks, spears, the whole works. Things are looking up.

Sean's doubtful, however - he's been out fishing with his Superpole 2000 and hasn't caught anything yet, so Richard catching fish strikes him as ludicrous. In the first time out, Richard catches three rays (though Sean doesn't believe they count, as they're not fish). Happy with his success, and the tribe pleased also, they all eat well that night.

Richard's second catch

Fish is not on the menu for Pagong. They feast on rats, Greg even coming up with a creative trap to catch them. Joel cooks them up, and despite Ramona and Gervase's reluctance, they try the cooked rat. Greg's concern is slightly different. He explains: "I'm concerned it'll be a bit gamy. We won't have quite the gravy we're looking for, which would really be helpful. When cooking rats, I would imagine the sauce is of the utmost importance." Still, meat is meat, and Romana and Gervase both enjoy the food.

Pagong's dinner

The next challenge, Immunity, require each tribe build a stretcher and carry their smallest member to a finish line. Whether it's because Colleen was lighter than Kelly or Tagi was naturally slower, Pagong won easily, attaining Immunity.

Prior to going to Tribal Council, multiple people state their intentions.

Stacey believed it to be a "done deal" that Rudy was going home, but now is not so sure. Rudy believes the younger people will band together and kick him out, and let's us know "I'm going to vote Stacey out at the Council tonight because I don't like her and I never will." Susan told Stacey she was going to vote for Rudy, but is strongly considering casting her vote for Stacey instead. As always, Richard will base his vote purely off who has contributed or who can contribute most to the Tribe, but gives no clear indication of who he'll vote off.

At Tribal Council, during intense downpour, Richard lets Tagi know that he's providing them food. Sean believe he's providing occasional entertainment. Stacey reminds everyone that she ate two bugs in the prior episode to save them from the Council, and that she has worth.

While that may or may not be true, Tagi didn't see it as such, and she was booted.

The vote count, with the names of who casted the vote in brackets:

Stacey: 5 [Sean, Rudy, Richard, Susan, Dirk]

Rudy: 2 [Stacey, Kelly]

A drenched Jeff telling Stacey she's off the island

Let's examine Pagong first, if for no other reason it'll be pretty quick, as we saw very little of them or their group dynamics this episode.

Despite losing the Reward challenge, no one in the group seemed any more down than they already had been. Ramona's not been at her best for the whole time they've been there, and scoffing down the rat is perhaps the happiest we've seen her. Greg's ingenuity with the rat trap proved helpful, and may help show his worth to the tribe, and they may think twice before voting him off (though at this point, I'm guessing no one on Pagong is thinking about what they'd do at Tribal Council).

They do seem happier as a tribe, though, without B.B, which I guess is the most important note to make of them. Joel, Jenna, and Gretchen were mostly silent throughout the episode, and very little actually seemed to happen with the tribe as a whole. Gretchen, the leader figure, seems to be running a tight ship there, and even in defeat, they're keeping their spirits up. But they did win immunity, so perhaps next time around, they won't be so joyous.

Tagi is a different question entirely, as we see quite a bit of group workings.

Stacey doesn't like Rudy. In fact, verbatim, here is what she said as the credits were rolling:

"They [Tagi] kicked off their bug-eating hero instead of their food-stealing, stumbling, ornery old Navy Seal. Probably the guys said, 'Well, we need to vote a woman off. We need physical strength and, you know, who do we think is the least productive and that would be me' and yet I was much more productive than the four guys."

I think this demonstrates well why she was kicked off, along with her conversation with Susan and Kelly near the beginning of the episode. She was cocky, sure that her successes in the past would make up for her lack of helpfulness in the present. Instead of stating what she can do for the tribe at the moment, she complained about Rudy and his mannerisms. And she was, as well as she could be, manipulative.

Trying to get the girls to come together and vote Rudy off (where that fourth vote would come from, she never says, and I don't think she knows) failed. Even after she knew she was gone, her last words to Susan were chiding her for changing her vote, letting everyone in Tagi know that Susan isn't to be trusted (which she said in a confessional earlier in the episode, so I don't see why she was surprised).

Stacy tried to vote Rudy off before, back in the first episode (Kelly joined with her, and again, Susan said she would but chose not to), but that failed. She tried here again, and failed. We never got to see a whole lot of Stacey, truth be told, but this episode really casts her in an unfavorable light, especially her final confessional, as far as I'm concerned.

Sean, who, for most of the episode demonstrated how idiotic some doctors can be, really had a solid reason for voting for Stacey. It's a shame that thought process doesn't seem to be used in anything else, and from the looks of it, that will continue as we see in the previews for the next episode that he's working on building a bowling alley.

...

Because if there's one thing all castaways need at their camp, one vital thing, it's a bowling alley.

Perhaps there's a good reason that we don't know yet, but knowing Sean, that benefit of the doubt isn't well-placed.

But back to Stacey, and by Stacey, I mean her shadow, Kelly, she seems sort of screwed. Kelly voted with Stacey against Rudy twice, and Susan likely knows that to be true. Susan doesn't seem to be in cahoots with anyone but herself; even so, that fact doesn't seem to bode well with her. If Susan let Richard and Rudy know that Kelly's gunning for Rudy, they'd likely pull either Sean or Dirk (though if Dirk has a crush on Kelly, it's unlikely) to their side and vote her out.

That's if they lose immunity next week - if not, then Kelly may very well have new friends and be in the clear.

Richard, for the most part, kept his gameplay talk to a minimum. His plan right now seems to be keeping providing fish, and remain a strong competitor, which will probably work for the time being. I'm not concerned with his place in the tribe, and nor is he, for good reason. Only interesting thing to note is this: last episode, he said that he was confident that Rudy would be the next to go, yet here, there's no indication of that, and instead votes off Stacey. Why the change of heart? I'm not sure, but something seems afoot.

Dirk, to be honest, annoys the hell out of me. Preaching to the tribe about Jesus isn't anywhere near a smart move. It could rub some people the wrong way. It could just annoy people. And it's not working toward any type of goal (unless Dirk's plan is to save as many souls as he can). Richard knows what he's trying to do - he has a route forward. Rudy does too - keep consistent, keep near Richard, and he'll be fine. Even Susan has demonstrated some workings of a vague plan. Dirk hasn't (nor has Sean, for that matter).

In short, Dirk and Sean really may want to consider stopping going on fishing trips together - I don't think it's doing anyone any good.

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