Survivor: Gabon - Earth's Last Eden

It finally dawned on my who Crystal reminds me of.

You be the judge:

Very clever !!

Bob....Bob....Bob....

Please.

You are correct. Matty ain’t that bright and the rest suck.

Who’s the hot chick on the left?

SURVIVOR RECAP!

Nobag (Merged Tribe): Bob, Crystal, Ken, Matty, Sugar, Susie

The Jury: Marcus, Charlie, Randy, Corinne

Losers: Michelle, Gillian, Paloma, Jacquie, GC, Kelly, Ace, Dan

CORINNE VOTED OUT

In the wake of Randy’s blindside at Tribal Council in the previous episode, things heat up as the Nobag Tribe returns to camp. Bob immediately becomes agitated with Sugar for immaturely laughing hysterically at Randy after he played the fake immunity idol. He expresses his sorrow for lying to Randy, but scolds Sugar for taking things too far by humiliating him in front of everyone. Corinne joins the argument, calling Sugar a hypocrite for judging her when it is Sugar that should be judged. Sugar retaliates by stating that Corrine is guilty of constantly talking about people behind their back. The two erupt in an aggressive shouting match until Corinne bites her tongue.

REWARD CHALLENGE: NOW OR NEVER

The Nobag Tribe members arrive on their mats as host Jeff Probst explains the rules of the challenge. The tribe will divide into two teams of three. The teams will then race out into the swamp, tethered together, to retrieve sprocket-shaped puzzle pieces. Once they’ve collected all seven pieces, they must then arrange the pieces so they work together allowing them to raise a flag. The first team of three to raise their flag moves on to the final round where they will square off against each other to solve a slide puzzle. The first person to solve the slide puzzle wins reward. Before the competition commences, Jeff brings everyone to tears when he passes around a Samsung Instinct phone by Sprint that includes video messages from their loved ones. After everyone has seen their heartfelt messages, Jeff reveals that the winner of the challenge will receive pizza, beer, brownies and the opportunity to watch their loved ones’ message in its entirety.

Everyone draws stones for team captains and Crystal and Susie are the winners. Crystal picks Sugar and Bob, and Susie picks Matty and Ken. To her disappointment, Corinne is not chosen, and must sit out of the challenge. Both teams dash out into the swamp, making their way to the puzzle pieces. Crystal, Sugar and Bob are the first to make it, with Matty, Susie and Ken right behind. Both teams head out to retrieve their second set of sprocket pieces. Ken, Susie and Matty make it first, with Crystal, Sugar and Bob lagging behind. Ken, Susie and Matty extend their lead, and are the first ones to make it back to their final station. Crystal, Sugar and Bob finally grab their second set of sprocket pieces and make it to their final station. Matty, Susie, and Ken struggle to put together their sprocket pieces, and are defeated by Crystal, Sugar and Bob, who were quickly able to assemble their sprocket pieces and raise their flag. In the final round, Crystal, Sugar and Bob race to solve the slide puzzle. Bob solves the puzzle almost immediately, winning the reward.

BOB’S REWARD

In a remote picnic area, Bob sits on a bench and views the entire video phone message from his wife, Peggy. In the message, Peggy tells Bob that she wants to show him something and steps away off camera. Bob stares intently at the phone, pondering what she wanted to show him, as Peggy herself sneaks up behind Bob and surprises him. The two lovebirds embrace and erupt in uncontrollable laughter. Peggy comments on the food Bob won, and he jokingly offers her termites to eat. “I was completely convinced, as was everybody else, that the loved ones sent a video,” Bob admits.

A SPECIAL VISIT

The Nobag Tribe screams in shock as Bob and his wife, Peggy, stroll into camp. Bob introduces everyone to Peggy, and then whistles loudly. Suddenly, everyone else’s family members appear from around the corner and greet their fellow castaways. Soon everyone is weeping as they embrace with their loved ones. Corinne reflects on how she felt when her brother, Chad, arrived at camp. “Seeing my brother and seeing somebody who loves me and who knows me and who gets my sense of humor and who knows how mean I am and loves it was such a cool…like, I was overcome with emotion.” After the initial greeting, the castaways and their loved ones scatter. Ken spills the beans with his sister, Jenny, telling her that he is the mastermind in the game, and boasts about orchestrating five recent blindsides. At the dock, Sugar and her sister, Rena, scatter some of their Dad’s ashes across the lake as Sugar pays her respects. “I didn’t speak at his funeral because I was a big mess, so it felt good to say a few words because I really needed him here and I feel like he’s, I already felt like he was here but, I feel like, um, I brought him to Africa and he got to stay.” Matty escorts his girlfriend, Jamie, down to the dock, where they hold each other and take in the beautiful scenery of Gabon. Matty gets down on one knee and asks Jamie to marry him, and gives her a necklace that he made for her while at camp. She immediately shouts, “Yes!” and the two tearfully confess their love for each other. At the end of the day, the loved ones say their goodbyes and depart from camp.

THE DEVIOUS INVENTOR STRIKES BACK

The next day, Corinne and Bob separate from the others as they get treemail. Bob suggests that this would be the perfect time to blindside Matty if he were to lose at the next immunity challenge. Back at camp, Sugar instills confidence in her fivesome alliance by stating the obvious fact that either Bob or Corinne should be voted out next. In the meantime, at treemail, Bob tells Corinne that during the tribe switch feast, when Marcus and Randy threw the immunity idol into the ocean, Marcus actually kept the idol for himself and hid it around camp and showed Bob where it was. Bob then holds out something wrapped in cloth, and Corinne asks if it is a legit idol. Bob laughs and tells her that it is not, but uses that story as his pitch to improve their positions in the game by fooling the fivesome alliance. Bob’s plan is to instill fear into the others so that they will think twice before voting either of them out. Corinne points out that in order for the plan to work, one of them must win immunity at the upcoming challenge.

IMMUNITY CHALLENGE: Q&A, BOMBS AWAY

The Nobag Tribe arrives on their mat as host Jeff Probst explains the challenge. He will ask questions about Gabon. Each tribe member will receive one ball for each correct answer. They will then takes turns throwing their balls over a cliff toward a target divided by zones. The person who lands their ball closest to the center wins immunity. Jeff asks four questions about Gabon, and the castaways each take their best shot at answering them using their answer cubes. In the end, Sugar winds up leading with four balls, followed by Bob and Corinne, each with three balls, Ken and Matty with two balls, and Susie and Crystal with only one ball each. In the ball-throwing half of the challenge, Ken sets the first mark to beat, sixth zone from the center. Matty beats that by getting his ball into the fourth zone from the center. Sugar, Susie, and Corinne attempt to beat Matty’s mark, but are unsuccessful. With his first toss, Bob beats Matty by getting into the third zone from the center. Crystal, Ken, Matty, Sugar and Corinne are unable to beat Bob’s mark. Bob is up again, and is able to improve his mark by rolling his ball into the zone adjacent to the center. Corinne, Bob and Sugar all make attempts to beat the new high score. In the end, Sugar is the only one to come close, but fails at setting a higher mark. Bob wins immunity, thereby executing the first crucial step to his devious plan for keeping himself and Corinne in the game.

THE IDOL CONSPIRACY

After winning the immunity challenge, Bob brings Corinne into the jungle to work out the logistics of their plan to fool the other five Nobag members into thinking that they are in possession of a legitimate immunity idol. Corinne proposes that Bob puts out hints around camp that Corinne will use this idol at Tribal Council so that after hearing this, the other tribe members will not cast any votes against her. Their ultimate goal is to blindside Matty. Corinne executes her plan by manipulating Ken into thinking she has the idol that Marcus supposedly threw into the ocean. Ken buys it, and discusses taking out Matty. Bob asks Ken to bring Crystal into their alliance, and soon things are in motion. Bob gets to work constructing his second fake immunity idol. He then shows this idol to Crystal, who is shocked by Bob’s story about the idol. Ken conspires with Crystal to vote for Corinne in order to flush out the idol, and use their other three votes from Ken, Bob and Corinne to vote for Matty. Ken’s hope is that when Corinne uses the idol, it will flush it out and send Matty home.

TRIBAL COUNCIL

At Tribal Council, paranoia sets in for Corinne and Bob as they admit to being on the outs. When asked if she is paranoid, Sugar smugly claims that her only hope is that her alliance does not get duped by believing lies. Ken reveals that the vote tonight is very important, and that several people are going to be shocked, asking who voted for whom. In the end, Corinne does not play the fake idol as Ken expected, sending Corinne home instead of Matty. With four out of the seven votes cast against her, Corinne Kaplan, the 29 year-old sales rep from Los Angeles, California, became the twelfth person voted out and fourth member of the jury of SURVIVOR: GABON: EARTH’S LAST EDEN.

Contestants in order of how much I want them to win: Bob, Matty, Susie, Ken, Crystal, Sugar

Contestants in order of how likely I think they are to win: Sugar, Ken, Crystal, Matty, Susie, Bob

I'll be back next Thursday with next week's preview and picks.

Thanks again, Jill.

Presenting

THE TOP TEN MOST PAINFUL ELIMINATIONS IN SURVIVOR HISTORY

#10: LEANN, SURVIVOR: VANUATU

At the Final 7 in Survivor: Vanuatu, the six-woman alliance led by ice queen Ami had managed to pick off Rory, Sarge, and Chad, leaving Chris as the last man standing. When Ami won immunity, Chris thought he was a goner. But it was not to be. First, the women's alliance decided that Eliza should be voted off before Chris. Chris could have just sat back and bought himself just three more days in the game, but instead he formed an alliance with the target, Eliza, and two lower-ranking members of the women's alliance, Twila and Scout. At Tribal Council, Leann arrogantly stated that she hadn't tried hard at the immunity challenge because she knew she was safe. Because Ami had immunity, Chris, Eliza, Twila, and Scout targeted Leann, the second-in-command of the women's alliance. Not five minutes after she proclaimed her safety, Leann was blindsided with four votes against her. In her final words, she said that she "felt like the world's biggest idiot." Chris went on to win the game.

#9: JAMES, SURVIVOR: CHINA

At the Final 7 in Survivor: China, James thought he was in the perfect position. He was a member of the dominant alliance, was physically strong, and, most importantly, had two hidden immunity idols in his possession. Unfortunately for him, alliance member Amanda recognized that since hidden idols were only good until the Final 5, this would be their last chance to vote James out until after he got a free pass to the Final 4. Amanda cleverly convinced the rest of her alliance, as well as outcasts Erik and Peih-Gee, to vote for James. It worked and James was blindsided while holding two (now useless) immunity idols.

#8: OZZY, SURVIVOR: MICRONESIA

Ozzy was confident of his position at the Final 9 in Survivor: Micronesia. He had the hidden immunity idol. He excelled at challenges. And he was in a dominant five-person alliance along with Amanda, James, Parvati, and Cirie. They had Natalie, Alexis, and Erik as lower-ranking members, and all signs pointed to odd man out Jason as the next to go. Cirie, however, recognized Ozzy as a huge threat and saw a golden opportunity to blindside him. Gathering Parvati, Natalie, Alexis, and Jason as allies, she successfully argued for Ozzy's ouster to them, while keeping it a secret from the remaining members of the tribe. At Tribal Council, Ozzy was blindsided with five of the nine votes against him, and was voted out unused idol in hand.

#7: JASON, SURVIVOR: MICRONESIA

At the Final 9 in Survivor: Micronesia, Jason narrowly dodged a bullet when Ozzy was blindsided with five votes to his four. However, his continued safety was not to be. Jason had already shown the world that he wasn't too bright when he was exiled, found the stick Ozzy made, and thought it was a real hidden immunity idol. Exiled again, he succeeded in finding the real, re-hidden immunity idol this time. Unfortunately for him, a powerful women's alliance set him in their sights. Vixen Natalie convinced Jason that the women were on his side and got him not to use the immunity idol. Learning nothing from Ozzy's error just three days before, Jason was blindsided and voted out.

#6: JAMIE, SURVIVOR: CHINA

Jamie, a perky blonde sorority girl, had alienated many fellow players (and Survivor viewers) when she and ally Peih-Gee threw an immunity challenge to get rid of Aaron and protect ex-tribemates Frosti and Sherea. The plan backfired when Sherea was voted out and Frosti abandoned his loyalty to his old tribe. By the time of the merge, Jamie's alliance was down in numbers, 7 to 3. Jamie set her hopes on the hidden immunity idols, which were discovered by Todd and given to James. Finding a square piece of wood on the ground, Jamie foolishly assumed it was an idol. At the Final 10 tribal council, she presented it to Jeff Probst right before the votes were read, thinking it was real. Jeff informed her that it was not a real idol and threw the piece of wood into the fire, utterly humiliating poor Jamie, who was then promptly voted out with seven of ten votes against her.

#5: RANDY, SURVIVOR: GABON

Grouchy old jerk Randy of Survivor: Gabon knew he was in trouble at the Final 8. His alliance was outnumbered five to three and he was marked as the next to go. He had a plan that he thought would work. Not knowing that Sugar had the real hidden immunity idol, he believed that currently exiled tribemate Bob would find the idol and give it to him as Bob was also outside the main alliance.

Bob, not being able to find the idol as Sugar already had it, made a very convincing-looking fake and planned to use it as a bluff. When he spoke to Sugar about it, however, the conniving witch convinced him to instead use the fake idol to trick and blindside Randy. Bob gave the fake idol to Randy and convinced him it was real. Randy arrogantly proclaimed that he and his allies would use the idol to blindside and get rid of Susie. At tribal council, before the votes were read a smiling Randy handed the fake idol to Jeff Probst as his tribemates, who except for Corinne were in on the trick, snickered. Randy's smile turned into a horrified frown when Jeff informed him that his idol wasn't real. Jeff tossed the idol into the fire and an utterly humiliated Randy was voted out as his opponents laughed at him.

#4: EDGARDO, SURVIVOR: FIJI

At the Final 9 in Survivor: Fiji, Edgardo was in an alliance proclaimed the "Four Horsemen" along with Alex, Mookie, and Dreamz. The four shared among themselves a hidden immunity idol. The traitorous Dreamz informed the other side about the Horsemen's idol. Alex, feeling nervous, asked for the idol to protect himself. Dreamz saw Alex with the idol and told the opposite alliance, who then decided to target Mookie. Stacy, a member of that alliance, decided that Dreamz's double-sided dealings made him untrustworthy and convinced her allies to switch the vote to Edgardo without telling Dreamz of the change. At Tribal Council, Alex played and wasted the immunity idol as no votes were cast against him. Instead, Edgardo was brutally blindsided and voted out. The initial smirks on the faces of Edgardo, Alex, and Mookie slowly changing to horrified frowns will remain one of the most enduring and hilarious memories in Survivor history.

#3: ERIK, SURVIVOR: MICRONESIA

At the Final 5 in Survivor: Micronesia, Erik was in trouble. With James gone due to injury, and a powerful women's alliance having picked off Ozzy and Jason, he was the last man standing. As if that wasn't enough, his two-faced dealings had made all four remaining women upset with him. Luck seemed to get on his side, however, when he won immunity at the Final 6 and again at the Final 5. He held in his palm an open path to the Final 4 and an opportunity to force the women's alliance to eat one of their own.

It was not to be. Natalie, the lowest ranking member in the women's alliance, was convinced she was going home. Cirie suggested that she try to talk Erik into giving up immunity. Natalie laughed at the idea at first, thinking it would never work. After all, who's stupid enough to give up immunity? After deciding to give Cirie's idea a try and pleading with and charming Erik, vixen Natalie discovered the answer to that question. At Tribal Council, Erik, to the shock and disgust of the jury, gave his immunity necklace to Natalie and was promptly voted out, earning him the title of Dumbest Survivor Ever.

#2: JOHN, SURVIVOR: MARQUESAS

At the Final 9, John of Survivor: Marquesas was confident. Very confident. He was the self-proclaimed leader of the "Rotu Four" alliance, consisting of himself, Tammy, The General, and Zoe. The alliance also had two lower-ranking pawns, Paschal and Neleh, who John arrogantly referred to as "two free passes."

It seemed inevitable that Sean, the loudest mouth outside the alliance, would be the next to go. Unfortunately for John, he and his allies forgot two very important things - four is not a majority of nine, and never reveal the pecking order. At the coconut chop immunity challenge, the Rotu Four, in an amazing display of sheer stupidity, did just that, revealing the pecking order for the world to see - first Sean, Vecepia, and Kathy, then Paschal and Neleh. Paschal and Neleh, realizing they would be stuck in fifth and sixth place in their current positions, switched sides like the Irish in Braveheart and joined with Sean, Vecepia, and Kathy to vote out John. In the next three episodes, Zoe, Tammy, and The General were voted out in rapid succession, completing the destruction of the cocky Rotu Four. John, in his final words, showed the world how far he had fallen by crying like a little girl.

#1: SILAS, SURVIVOR: AFRICA

From the beginning, it was obvious that Silas' Samburu tribe in Survivor: Africa was highly dysfunctional. The tribe split almost immediately among generational lines, with oldsters Frank, Carl, Linda, and Teresa pitted against mallrats Silas, Lindsey, Little Kim, and Brandon. Although the tribe managed to win the first two immunity challenges, when they lost the third it was obvious that the vote could be nothing other than a 4-4 tie. Sure enough, the vote ended up tied 4 each for Lindsey and Carl. A tiebreaker quiz was held, which Carl lost.

With his elimination, the mallrats took control of the tribe and disgusted the world with their laziness, cockiness, and immature behavior. Silas, as self-proclaimed leader of the Brat Pack, would display his hubris through actions such as talking down to his tribe like a football coach, and attempting to order Frank, Linda, and Teresa to help one of the mallrats win the game, while offering no incentive to the oldsters. After Linda was voted out, he arrogantly boasted, "You might as well write the million dollar check and hand it to me," and "There's not an event in the future that would alarm me."

The very next episode, he was forced to eat his words when each tribe was instructed to send three players to a location where Jeff Probst would meet them, without giving a reason why. Silas, Frank, and Teresa went for Samburu. At the meeting point, Jeff announced that they were switching tribes and that Silas, Frank, and Teresa were now members of the opposing Boran tribe. A shocked Silas marched off to his doom, while Frank and Teresa smirked, overjoyed at the new life they had been given in the game. The Boran members greeted Silas with hostility and if that wasn't enough, Frank and Teresa told them about all the nasty things Silas and the rest of the Brat Pack had done. While the rest of Boran threw the immunity challenge, a desperate Silas tried and pathetically failed to win the challenge all by himself. At the campfire, the other five Boran members sat around it and laughed at the stupidity of the mallrats, while a humiliated Silas sat all alone in the dark. At Tribal Council, Silas was unanimously voted out. He literally went from being the most powerful player to the least powerful player in the span of a single episode. Never before had any Survivor fallen so far so fast. And it couldn't have happened to a cockier, more irritating player.

I like your picks - Bob and Sugar as bookends either way.

I see that Dec 14 is the finale. So we have 6 left, one leaves next Thursday, bringing 5 to the finale. Is the jury voting on a final four this year? Would be a bit of a twist for the players expecting a different end game. Kinda like blindsiding them with a final vote.

After seeing Sugar during the "re-crap" episode, and after Sugar's behavior during the elimination of the odious Randy, I have to agree with you. Sugar is no longer my fave, she has a mean streak.

Bob's my new favorite; whoever picked him earlier was right.

You have to ask yourself - what IS it about Africa that makes Burnett need to throw monkey wrenches in the game? I can remember Lindsay’s panicked “Silas is gone! Silas is gone!” when they arrived for the reward challenge. And Kelly signaling and “L” to Tom so taht they’d know Lindsay had received prior votes.

In this edition of Africa, you see Burnett doing not one but TWO switches. Get the feeling he didn’t like the Onion alliance very much either?

Most final episodes have two eliminations, starting with four players and ending with the final two. This season, it looks like they’ll start with five and end with a final three.

SURVIVOR PING!

Nobag (Merged Tribe): Bob, Crystal, Ken, Matty, Sugar, Susie

The Jury: Marcus, Charlie, Randy, Corinne

Losers: Michelle, Gillian, Paloma, Jacquie, GC, Kelly, Ace, Dan

Episode 11: "The Good Guys Should Win in the End"

One castaway finds himself scrambling to secure an alliance, having attempted unsuccessfully to blindside one of his allies. A stunning reward allows some castaways a rare glimpse of Gabon and it's most majestic inhabitants. A power hungry castaway uses guilt to gain to control of an ally, but his pushy demands may land him in hot water. A simple plan is hatched to put the hidden immunity idol into play, resulting in a shocking turn of events at Tribal Council. I think this one is going to be really good!

Reward Challenge: The contestants will run through a course, picking up colored balls along the way, and then shoot the balls through a hoop.

Immunity Challenge: The contestants will have to go through an obstacle course blindfolded and retrieve pieces of a mask, which they must assemble. (This was what I mistakenly thought was the IC last week).

Spoilers (highlight to see):

Reward challenge winner: Bob

Exiled: Susie

Immunity challenge winner: Bob the challenge machine

Voted Off: Crystal

I'll be back after the show with the recap.

Tonight should be interesting to see Kenny scrambling around trying to explain his vote for Matty. Just how smart is this gamer? We shall see tonight.

Go Bob! Go! Win the million smackeroos!

Go Bob

Got my fingers crossed

Voted off...please, please, please.

Way to go

I think Suger is starting to hit her stride. Nice play with Matty and her Idol

Whoo hoo?

Right?

You nailed it. Yes!