Greetings fellow Survivor junkies! Its Friday! So that means its time for your:
Warning: If you taped or TiVo’d last night’s show and haven’t had a chance to watch it yet. . .
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I mean it!
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This is your last chance!
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OK, don’t say I didn’t warn you!
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The Final Four: Ian, Jennifer, Katie, Tom
The Jury: Coby, “The Quitter”, Stephenie, Gregg, Caryn
The Losers: Jonathan, Wanda, Jolanda, Ashlee, Jeff, Kim, Willard, Angie, James, Ibrehem, Bobby Jon,
Well, we’re back to watching the tribe stumbling around in the dark as they come back from Tribal Council. Jenn is visibly upset about her cuddle bunny being gone. In fact she almost starts crying as she whines to the camera. Who is going to keep her warm at night? Blah, Blah, Blah. Ian then confesses to the camera that he thinks Jenn is a smooth operator. She must be furious for them booting Gregg, but she isn’t showing it. He closes by saying if he and Tom can avoid the girls turning on them in the next three days, they’re money. What’s that old saying about not counting your chickens before they’re hatched?
The next morning, Tom and Caryn are up bright and early and talking amongst themselves. Caryn wants Jenn voted next followed by Katie. Tom, in his typical non-committal way, replies that he sees no reason Ian wouldn’t agree to that. (But you just know that he is only saying what he knows she wants to hear.) Back at camp, Jenn and Katie kvetch while Ian tries his best to look non-committal. Jenn wants Tom to be the next to go, pointing out that Tom is Ian’s biggest competition. (If you only knew lady! If you only knew.)
Caryn then comments to the camera that she doesn’t know if she can trust Tom. Referring to all the scheming that has occurred over the last few days, she says that means you can’t really trust anyone. She ends by stating she is “guardly optimistic” about her chances of making it to the final three. (Now there’s a choice bit of lawyer speak for you.)
Next, Tom and Ian get Treemail calling them to Reward Challenge.
”Up the creek again,
A paddle could help you out.
Where in the world are you?
Far from home, no doubt.
Use your passion and precision,
And by the time you’re through.
You’ll enjoy the great tastes of home,
And Palau’s most amazing view.”
On their way back to camp, Tom and Ian decide that if either of them win the Reward, (and they get to take along another player) they want to take a girl to keep the three of them from scheming behind their backs. There’s only one little problem with this plan. Tom wants Caryn to go along and Ian wants it to be Katie. Decisions, Decisions, Decisions.
Jeff welcomes them to the Reward Challenge. And it’s not just any old challenge, it’s the final challenge. And here’s what you will win behind curtain number 1. The canvas drops to reveal a brand new, bright red, Corvette convertible, which the winner will drive to a mansion for dinner. Jeff then explains the challenge. It consists of retrieving five bags from poles in the water by using a Palauan raft. The players can only claim one bag per trip, so they will have to make five trips in all. The bags contain a wooden sign with a mileage painted on it. Once the player has retrieved all five bags, they can open the bags and hang the signs on a mileage post based on how far they think each city if from the Palauan island they are on.
Jeff says go and for most of the race it’s Tom and Ian neck and neck. That is until Ian cuts Tom off at the pier and forces Tom to toss his forth bag into the box. Tom misses and has to go back and try again. Ian wins the challenge, and the car, which he claims with a kiss. Jeff then informs Ian that he needs to pick one player to accompany him on the trip to the mansion. Katie get ready to go as Tom tries to inconspicuously hint to Ian that he should pick Caryn. Ian then shocks everybody by stating “I made a deal with Tom that if I son a reward with a car involved, I would take him. Sorry Katie” Katie looks as if she has just been stabbed in the back. Tom looks dumbfounded. While Jenn and Caryn look completely clueless. Jeff just smirks as he hands the keys to Ian. The two climb into the vette and drive off into the mountains.
Cut to commercial.
Ian and Tom arrive at the mansion. Once inside, they discuss strategy. They decide they need to bring Katie back into the original alliance and back under their thumb once again. (Well, ya should have thought about that earlier when ya had the chance to bring her along on the reward! But ya blew it bucko!)
Back at camp, the girls try to do exactly what the guys were afraid they would do. That is they try to discuss strategy, but it quickly turns into a war of words. Caryn tries to get Katie’s goat by asking her about her reward agreement with Ian. Katie explains the agreement and says it goes back to day one. She also states to the camera that she feels as if she has lost her best friend and biggest ally as well. Katie then asks Caryn about her deal with Tom. Caryn first says she has no deal with Tom when Jenn shoots her down with “So you’re expendable.” (mmmrrrroooowwwww! Pull your claws in girl!) Caryn’s lawyer instincts take over as she immediately shoots back that Tom promised her final two, but he also said he has a final three with Katie and Ian. Jenn looks surprised that she is completely cut out of any alliance as Katie admits to the final three plan. Caryn looks as if she has sealed her own doom. The three then try to discuss an all girl alliance but quickly realize they trust each other about as much as they trust the men at this point.
The next morning Tom and Ian are walking back to camp when they are accosted by Caryn. She demands that Ian tells her what his final three plans are? Is it her, him and Tom? Or is it him, Tom and Katie? Ian starts to say Katie’s name but quickly catches himself and says her, him and Tom. She shoots back asking why should she believe him after Katie confirmed what Tom said about a Katie, Tom and Ian final three? Ian starts stuttering and B.S.ing his way around the issue and finishes with a half hearted “I can’t give you and answer right now.” Caryn, isn’t buying the BS and tells him as much as she storms off. Tom and Ian continue on to camp. Tom tells Ian he just cost them Caryn’s vote, and that he better get real tight with Katie. (Ya think!?!)
Back at camp Ian tells Katie that they really need to talk. She responds with, “Well, actually, that’s the last thing I’d like to do this morning.” (Yep! She’s still P.O.ed! Let’s face it dude, ya blew it taking Tom on reward with ya!)
The camera cuts to the girls washing up down at the shoreline and snickering about Katie’s quick slap down of Ian. (If they were guys, they would be bumping bellys and high five-ing each other right about now!)
Back in the shelter, Tom lounges in the hammock while Ian compares his latest bout of girl trouble with the girl troubles he has had back home. (I half expected him to come out and say “Women! Ya can’t live with em! Ya can’t live without em!)
Later, the girls come back to camp and Ian asks Katie for five minutes to talk. Katie looks at him for a moment and with the most guilt inducing look she could come up with, agrees They walk the beach, trade sob stories, have a good cry, and end up hugging and almost kissing and making up. (It’s right about now that you finally realize that there’s a lot more going on here then just two players playing a game. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me on bit if these two get even more serious once they get back home.)
We next see Tom and Caryn retrieving Treemail:
You may have the memory of an elephant,
But you better move like a gazelle.
Brains and retention are paramount,
But agility is required as well.
Concentration is only half of it,
Losing focus would be a shame.
Either move smart and swiftly,
Or you could be next to leave the game.
Jeff welcomes them to the Immunity Challenge. The survivors have to run across a flimsy suspension bridge, floating pontoons, and a rope bridge. At the end of the course, is a half barrel with picture tiles, laid out in a grid pattern. They have to memorize this pattern, then run back across the course and duplicate the pattern on the other end. They can repeat this course as often as they need to correctly duplicate the pattern.
Jeff says go Ian, Jenn, and Tom all do relatively well. Tom eventually wins immunity. Back at camp, the tribe prepare for that long trip to Tribal Council. Tom comments to the camera about having immunity just when he really needed it. Ian and Katie have another crying jag/hug fest down at the shoreline and Katie tells him that she won’t make any promises. Caryn looks worried and Jenn looks clueless as usual.
Cut to Tribal Council. The tribe enters followed by the Jury. Jenn and Gregg exchange smiles. Jeff asks Katie about her opinion of Ian picking Tom to share reward. She rehashes the whole promise story all over again. To which Ian tries to explain it all away with “I made a big mistake, we’re still friends yada, yada, yada!
Jeff then asks Caryn her opinion and that is all Caryn needs to open her yap and let everyone have it. Bad mouthing everyone to the point I thought she was going to start in on the Jury next and end with giving Jeff an earful. Of course she doesn’t but nevertheless the damage has been done. The Jury looks on in stunned disbelief.
Jeff then asks Ian to defend himself against Caryn’s accusations. Ian, of course denies everything. Caryn pipes in with baloney. The jabs fly back and forth for a few minutes until Jeff says its time to vote. We see Ian writing down Caryn’s name followed with “Best three seconds of my day. Can’t wait to see you go home.”
We don’t get to see or hear any of the other votes. Jeff tallies the votes and just like that, Caryn is sent packing. (Psst! Caryn! If your gonna bad mouth everyone at tribal council without the ugly necklace around your neck, be prepared to get your torch snuffed.)
So there you have it! Your Final Four: Ian, Jenn, Katie and Tom.
Now, here are what the others said during their votes:
Katie (Votes Caryn): I think that I don’t know what to believe, but I think that this guarantees me a spot in the Final 4.
Tom (Votes Caryn): Caryn, it’s not that you didn’t know there was a game going on. You just didn’t like the hand that you were getting dealt today. Sorry.
Jen (Vote Caryn): Caryn, I really wanted to do the women’s alliance thing with you, but you just – it works out better this way. It keeps me in for a little while longer.
Caryn (Votes Ian): You told me that if I followed your strategy with Tom that we would go and we would control the game and that was a lie.
Caryn’s Final Words
You know, it’s a mixed baggage of emotions how I feel now that I’ve been voted out. I mean, I took a calculated risk to say everything and just get everything out in the open because there’s been so much going on. I’m so frustrated – and all the gossip and talking and backstabbing and planning and plotting! I’ve had it up to here! Including from myself.
So in one way, maybe I regret using that strategy because it didn’t work. But on the other hand, it is a relief because it is really intense right now – what’s going on at camp with all the twosomes talking and the threesomes talking and the foursomes talking, and everyone wondering what everyone’s saying. So on the one hand, it’s a relief, and on the other hand, I kind of wish that I hadn’t done that particular strategy and maybe played a little longer and made it a little further.
I am surprised I got this far into the game because I really didn’t connect deeply with anyone. Mostly everybody except for Tom and Janu and Willard, who got voted out early, were much younger. It was a much younger crowd.
So I’m really in a different frame of mind. I don’t talk about bars and guys and getting laid and all that stuff, so I didn’t connect with them on a lot of levels for a lot of conversations. I kind of felt more mature and just past all that stuff, so I didn’t really connect with anybody. Well, a little bit with Tom because he and I are both parents and we both have 3 kids. I did feel like I had some connection with Tom. And I liked talking to Ian. He’s intelligent young man, but I didn’t really have any bonds with anyone else, so it does surprise me that I got so far in the game.
By playing this game I really feel that I’ve learned that I can endure a lot more than I thought I could endure; That I am tougher than I thought I was; That I can sort of make myself fit in, while I can’t be totally phony and make up stupid jokes and do all that kind of stuff.
I can tolerate a lot more annoying people than I thought – like for example, Tom never stopped talking, Katie never stopped talking. I didn’t know if it would just drive me nuts being out here with people that were bugging me, and I realized that I have a very high tolerance level.
And of course, of course, of course, I realize – I mean, I always realized how much I love my family, but I think it’s like double, triple, quadruple enforced that I am one of the luckiest people in the world
In order to control your emotions when you’re playing the game, I think you have to – a couple of things: not think about things that make you sad, or that take you away from your focus. If I start daydreaming about my family or this or that, I really need to just – you really need to just stay focused on what’s the next challenge, how am I going to prepare, if I make it through the next day who am I going to align with, who am I going to talk to, what’s my plan, what’s my strategy?
I think when you let your emotion get into it, or you start trusting people or making friends or think you have friends or think you have an ally, and start thinking about, “Gosh, that’s so nice” or “Gosh, you’ve been so kind to me,” - When you let all that get in the way, you lose your focus. And when you lose your focus you get emotional and it’s like a Catch-22. So I would say stay focused on what is the next thing and don’t get distracted by, “Gosh, I really don’t want to lie to you. I really don’t want to do this.” Or careful how you’re couching words so you don’t hurt someone else’s feelings. Screw it. Just stay focused on the next step and don’t worry about other people’s feelings and don’t worry about if your feelings are hurt and don’t worry about what’s going on at home. And don’t read your letters too much from home. Just stay focused on the next thing and you try to keep your emotions out of it.
I walk away with confidence that, if god forbid something happened to me and I was stranded somewhere, I know I could take care of myself. I know I could take care of my family. I know if something happened really terrible I could come through it. I kind of always knew that about myself, but I think this maybe reinforced it.
It also reinforced that I’m a lot more emotional. Once it got to Day 30 and we got the letters from home I started getting really emotional and felt like I had a little disconnect with the game. I started thinking about my family, it’s Day 30, only 9 more days.
I realize now that if I am going to really be focused on something, I have to really stay focused. I can’t – what I was doing the first 30 days was just limiting my time, thinking about my family in the mornings and the nights. And when I started letting it seep in, I started getting a little more emotional, maybe not think as clearly. It might have thrown my game off a little bit. I don’t think it did, but I think maybe in some ways it did. So I have a renewed understanding of my sense of focus.
It’s not getting what you love, it’s loving what you get. And I loved my 36 day adventure. And I am now looking forward to going home to my friends and family who I love and miss very much.
I’ll be back, Sunday with my final picks. Till then,
Take care,
"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body,
but rather to skid in broadside,
thoroughly used up,
totally worn out,
and loudly proclaiming....
Wow, what a ride!"
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