Survivor Redemption Island: Loved Ones from Home
Our story began with some male bonding out on Redemption Island. Surprised to see Steve show up immediately after Ralph, he was met with great adulation. Steve looked like a beaten man. He had been through the trials of Survivor and was about as enthusiastic as a rock. I got the feeling he just wanted to leave. Poor Steve.
The Ometepe Six are back at camp too and celebrating their domination of Zapatera. Unfortunately it all starts to sink in that it is now just the six of them and they will all soon be parting ways with someone that has been solid and trusting for the past 31 days. All of this, plus some hormones, caused my beautiful Natalie to break down crying. Poor girl. I felt bad for her, but then again any woman in tears causes Sir Griffin to break down. I just can’t handle an upset woman and am apt to give into just about anything that a crying woman wants. This has caused some problems in the past and has led to me doing some odd things like getting up from a deep sleep for some pancakes at Perkins in the middle of the night. Thus I can only imagine what I would have done for Natalie as she cried like a little girl.
Anyway, tree mail came the next morning in the form of a phone from Sprint. What kind of phone? I have no idea because I am no fan of blatant product placement and I purposely try to know as little about the product as possible in said situations. Each member of the tribe saw a short video of a loved one and most got weepy. Of course, knowing that Amber was pregnant with her and Rob’s second child at the time of filming meant that we would not see the lovely Amber, but instead got Rob’s sister. They were instructed to go to the arena for the RI challenge.
Of course those on RI got their own phone and their own videos. Ralph’s friend mentioned something about a couple of chickens being killed, but other than that it was all just a blur to me. Kind of like if you look at Ralph quickly when he has his shirt off it appears as if he is wearing a very fuzzy sweater.
The challenge was simple: four tiles to be smashed with a ball and the first one to smash them all would win time with their loved one. The next two to finish would also stay in the game, but the last one left would be eliminated. It all went well I guess, but it sure looked like Steve was hardly even trying to hit a tile. The guy was weak, tired and I think he was putting in less than a half hearted effort which led to his being ousted and sent to the jury. Mike won while Matt & Ralph remained in the game.
Because Mike won he automatically won some time with his mother. But, as always there was a twist. He could give up his time with mom and let his pals from RI, Matt & Ralph, get some time with their respective loved ones or he could give the same loving opportunity to the Ometepe Six. In my mind there was only one option and that would be to try and win some favor with the people that voted you out and hope you somehow get a chance for them to vote you as the winner. Thanks to some divine guidance (Matt is really pushing that God stuff at RI) Mike selected the Ometepe Six to get the loving. Ralph was not happy, but frankly I could not figure out why except that he just wanted to be a grump. Ralph had to know that those six are the key to winning the game and this is a game for a million damn dollars. Plus, Ralph only had a friend from home. It wasn’t a wife or child or sibling, just a guy from the farm. Now I am not trying to belittle the bond that Ralph has with his friend, but I see the bond of family as being stronger. Maybe that’s just me, but if you don’t have your family what do you have left?
So the Six went back to camp and Ashley showed her mom how she kept track of the days and Natalie cried…again. Phillip told his sister that he was prepared to go crazy if he had to. Wasn’t crazy a racist term just a couple of weeks ago? Now it is okay I guess since Steve is gone. Anyway Phillip saying he was prepared to go crazy struck me as a little odd since he has been absolutely nuts since day one, but whatever. I’m sure sis knows now that Phillip was bonkers the whole time. What I really wanted to hear was Phillip’s sister say “you told them you were a federal agent? That’s hilarious. By the way, your manager at Chuck E Cheese said to tell you that he expects you to work some extra hours on the weekends when you get back. He has a lot of birthday parties scheduled.”
Rob told his sister that he is in full control of the game, which he is, and that he has it all in the bag unless the others wake up and start talking to each other, which they won’t. Andrea spent some quality time with her dad and I still can’t figure out whom or what he reminded me of. Possibly Tweedle Dee or Tweedle Dum. For our sakes the producers ended the sappy love fest and led us right into what appeared to be one of the most physically difficult challenges of all time.
On paper it must have sounded really cool, but in the 110 degree heat of Nicaragua it pushed our tribe to their limits. Each person had to untie puzzle pieces and create a giant staircase. The first to get all their puzzle pieces correctly placed and get to the top and raise their flag would win immunity. The challenge came down to only three real competitors as Natalie (who was probably still crying) Phillip and Ashley were non factors. Whenever the word puzzle is involved you know Rob will be at or near the top. Andrea and Grant also were right up there until the bitter end. The heat and the strain of going up and down the stairs proved almost too much for Rob to handle and after he won he basically collapsed and left a really gross sweaty spot at the top that is probably still there. Rob tried to stand, but his knees buckled and he called for water which Natalie quickly raced to give him. My gosh is Rob the king or what? He calls for water and suddenly he has a hot girl rushing to give him some. That has never happened to me, but then again I try to avoid physical activity as much as humanly possible. A while later Rob was awarded the immunity necklace and the discussion to see who was going home was soon to begin.
Last week we had heard the Robfather decree that Andrea was the next to go and he essentially confirmed that back at camp. However, Phillip started going a little nutty again and it got Rob thinking. But Rob knew from the performances today that Phillip was no threat and Andrea was definitely a threat so it was just drama for the sake of drama as far as I was concerned.
At Tribal Council our jury walked in and Steve looked a little better. Yay Steve! Jeff asked Phillip why he should be kept around and then instead of playing along and saying that he is no threat, Phillip proves his craziness by telling everyone that he is a threat. Jeff also egged Phillip on (Yay Jeff!) and asked him what good old Jessum Harry would tell him. Oh Jeff you are the master. But the scariest part was the fact that everyone there felt completely safe which meant that someone would definitely be blindsided. Would it be Phillip or Andrea? Well, despite the best efforts of the producers we all knew it would be Andrea and it was. This is sad because Andrea is so cute, but good that she will reunite with Matt at RI. It’s also good because Phillip has promised us that he has some secret plan that he will be revealing at the end that will knock everyone’s socks off and get everyone’s vote. I don’t know what it could be, but I really want to find out. I’m guessing that he has been wearing a mask this whole time and is really Coach in disguise.
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