Survivor Philippines - Episode 12 - Family Time

This is always one of my favorite episodes of the season!

After Tribal Council, back at camp, it was fairly calm and Abby was determined to stay on her game plan.  At the reward challenge everyone got a family member to participate with them.  As expected, everyone was emotional to see their family and Lisa especially.  The challenge consisted of the Survivors throwing muddy bags to their family member who then had to knock down 5 targets and the first one to do it gets to spend the evening with the rest of the tribe.  It was close down to the end but Malcolm's brother won the challenge.  After the challenge of course Jeff says to pick one more and Malcolm picks Lisa, after all she has been through emotionally and then someone tells Malcolm to ask for another.  Jeff allows it and Malcolm picks Skupin.  Of course his plan is to show love to his alliance mates.

While the family members are back at camp, Lisa's brother Justice convinces her that she needs to play this game and blindside Malcolm to get him out.  Skupin is on board with it as well and the four of them have a prayer session asking God to bless their plan, if it is His will.  The others are sitting near the fire and thought who knew they would come together over Jesus.  Malcolm did express concern that Justice might talk some sense into Lisa, but was still pretty confident.

At the immunity challenge the Survivors had to cross a bamboo balance beam, use a hook to get 3 bags out of the water and then build a stick out of pieces of wood and string.  The first to push over their target and drop their flag wins.  Everyone but Denise got through the balance beam fairly quickly, but Denise quickly caught up on the bag portion of the challenge.  Carter and Malcolm were the first to get their bags with Lisa close behind and it was a race to the end.  Malcolm pulled out the win though which ruined Lisa/Skupin's plan.

Back at camp the discussion was whether it should be Carter or Abby and Carter even came up on Malcolm and Skupin talking about it.  Carter respected the game but of course wanted to stay.  Abby meanwhile was making no friends as her and Denise had another confrontation and it seemed like everyone wanted to vote here out.

At Tribal Council there was talk about the obvious of Carter and Abby and both stated why they should stay.  In the end Abby stayed and Carter went, which considering the remaining players, that was probably the best move.

In the preview they show Abby and Lisa joining up again and that would also include Skupin, but will it work.  The trick is that Malcolm will play his idol next week and if he wins the immunity challenge, my guess is he would give the idol to Denise, to protect her, which is a very smart move on his part.  If he doesn't win immunity then obviously he would want Denise to win it.  If you are Skupin, Abby or Lisa, assuming they do decide to switch it up again, then you want to target Denise at the next TC and then hope Malcolm doesn't win immunity at the final 4, then you vote him out.  The only other possible scenario I see is that Abby gets voted out at the next TC.  I don't see Malcolm or Denise turning on Skupin and Lisa, although it also would be a smart move to break them up, but I don't think they will.  From the editing tonight, I think they are editing Lisa for the win.  I think they will succeed and vote Denise out next, then Malcolm and Lisa will beat Skupin and Abby in the finals.  But I can see that anyone but Abby can win this game.

Everyone is talking about final 3 and I too was thinking that, but as I mentioned in my last too posts, it could be final 2 and I'm thinking that is where we are going.  I think every season, except maybe season 2, there have been three tribal councils in the final episode.  We are at 5 players going into next Thursday's episode and then 4 players going into the final on Sunday.  If you have 3 tribal councils then two more people will join the jury and there will be a final two.

To wrap up on how I think each should play, to benefit themselves the best, assuming I'm right about a final 2:

Malcolm's best bet is to make a move and split up Lisa and Skupin, so at 4 there isn't a tie.  He will need Denise to do that, along with Abby.  I think he should target Lisa.  Then he needs to target Denise, as she is his biggest threat and then he needs to win immunity and take Abby over Skupin.

Denise's best bet is to play exactly the way I laid out for Malcolm except taking Malcolm out after Lisa and taking Abby to the end, if she wins immunity. Although if the final 2 is Malcolm and Denise, that would be a great final 2.

Abby's best plan is to do whatever she can to stay in the game.  The previews show her doing that.  If she can make it to the final 3, then she is guaranteed a final 2 spot, IMO.  Because if the others don't want her in the final 2 or 3, then she will be the next to go.

Skupin's best plan is to play with Lisa and Abby and take out Denise first and then Malcolm.  He needs to win the final immunity and take Abby, if he wants to win.  I don't think he would beat Lisa.

Lisa's best plan is to play with Abby and Skupin and take out Denise first and then Malcolm.  She needs to win the final immunity and take Abby, if she wants to guarantee her win.

Now will it play out any of those ways, only time will tell.  So until next week... the Tribe has spoken.

Survivor Philippines - Episode 11 - Sunny Side Up and Sucking Eggs

After tribal council Abby is obviously still upset and the next morning Skupin and her have a talk.  Denise and Penner overheard and thought it was funny.  Then Malcolm and Abby go to tree mail and there are envelopes and Abby's first thought was it is letters from home and starts to cry again.  Malcolm comforts here and then she realizes it is for the Survivor Auction.  Abby goes in with a plan and that is to save the money and use it for something that will help her out.

At the auction there were lots of good food that several won.  Carter's first successful bid gave him a choice between food for him or rice and beans for the tribe.  He did the honorable thing and chose the rice and beans.  The second to last item was what Abby was waiting for, the advantage in the next challenge and immediately bid all her money, thus winning the advantage, which allowed her a 1 and 3 shot of winning it.  The final item Carter won again and it again was for the tribe.  They had 60 seconds to all partake in the food.

Back at camp everyone was happy and then Abby and Penner start talking and Abby expects Penner to apologize for how he and the others treated her at the TC.  He didn't, other than saying he was sorry it was her turn.  I thought he handled the situation very well.  Then Abby goes off and reads note.  She adds an element to it by saying she as found another immunity idol, when she was talking to Malcolm and then at the challenge she does a pretty wise thing and says there are two parts to the note.  The first part related to the challenge and the unsaid part was eluding to an idol.  Of course the second part wasn't really there, but she knew Jeff wouldn't play along if she said it.  So she played it well.

At the challenge, there was a wrinkle where at the start of each round everyone answered a question and if they got in wrong they had to carry 5% of their body weight with them.  Round one Lisa and Denise got it wrong.  4 of the 5 would advance and Lisa was the one that didn't.  The next round, Denise, Carter and Skupin all missed the question and added 5% weight, making Denise have 10% of her weight.  The top two advanced and Carter and Penner advanced.  Carter missed the question before the final round, so he was wear 10% now.  The final part of the challenge was different in that they had to untie knots where the previous two rounds they were clipped to a rope maze.  Abby took a quick lead and Carter was right behind her, but in the end, Abby won the immunity.

With Abby safe at TC, Penner was the next obvious choice of the final 4 alliance of Malcolm, Denise, Skupin and Lisa.  Lisa was conflicted and told Penner what was happening and he was flabbergasted, but he knew that Lisa would stick to her word.  He talked to Skupin and it seemed like he may flip and I think he would have if Lisa would have too.  And at TC it came down to Penner and Denise and Penner got voted out 4-3.

The preview for next week shows it is the family challenge and Malcolm's brother talks to much and Malcolm worries it may hurt his game.

So with six remaining, will the final four alliance stand or will Skupin and Lisa switch to Carter and Abby.

I think Denise and Malcolm have the best shot of winning, if they are in the finals.  Which of the two will win is tough, but Denise is a better talker, so she may have an edge.

I think Skupin has a descent shot if he makes it.

Carter could pull out a win, but it depends who he is sitting with.  I think he beats Abby or Lisa, but I'm not sure he beats Skupin.

If Lisa makes it to the end, then I can see Penner bringing up the Facts of Life part of her past and I think the jury would hold that against her, which I think is stupid, but it is what it is.  Also while she has played a pretty honest game, she hasn't played a great game.  It really depends on who she is with.  She beats Abby, but I'm not sure about anyone else.

I don't think Abby has a chance to win, but then again if she makes it to the end and it is not by luck, then she may win.  Of course it depends on who she is sitting with.

The question still remains is it a final 2 or 3.  Either a final 2 with 9 jurors or a final 3 with 8.  I suppose there is the chance they may do something crazy and do a final 4 with 7 juror, but I doubt it.  My guess is it will be a final 3 and there will be only 3 more episodes remaining.  Next week, the following Wednesday and then the finale on Sunday.    Either way it should be fun, so until next week... the Tribe has spoken.

Survivor Philippines: Episode 10 - Social Grace of a Mack Truck!

Abby and Pete discuss how they lost control and Abby couldn't understand why Tandang wasn't strong.  She is obviously not a rocket scientist.  Pete said they fell asleep at the wheel, but I think they just expected the speed bumps to stick with them instead of slowing them down.  Skupin says that he is going to control this game for himself, as much as possible.  He and Denise say they should all be final 6, then the best ones win.

Lisa and Abby talk and Lisa basically says she doesn't trust Abby and it will be hard to stick with them.  She would rather be sixth and feel good.

At the reward challenge it was a race to get three of your teams discs flipped over all at once before the next team.  It was close but on the last round Skupin pulled an Abby an flipped the wrong one giving the red team the win.  Carter, Pete, Abby and Malcolm get a spa reward and the rest go back to camp.

The reward was very nice, lots of nice food and a bath and massages, but not to carry on like Abby, that's all there is to say about that, since they didn't talk about strategy.  When they arrived back at camp, Abby wouldn't shut up about how great the reward was.  They asked Carter what he liked and Abby didn't even let him finish.  Then to top it all off Abby said she is done cooking for the rest of the time there.  She expects to eat, but not cook.  Denise is looking forward to sending her home.

Skupin and Malcolm talk final 4 and Malcolm was determined to make a final 4 that day.  Skupin talks to Lisa but she isn't sure and says she prefers Penner, but Penner won't commit when they talk.  So Malcolm, Lisa, Denise and Skupin agree final 4 and it will be interesting to see if it lasts.  There will be two groups of two when they get to the final four.

At the immunity challenge it was challenging, but the two they want out didn't get past round 1 so it didn't matter.  It came down to Skupin, Carter and Denise and Skupin had a lead until the last knot, but Carter caught up and finished the challenge first.

What they should do is split the vote, just in case Abby gets a wild hare to save Pete and that is exactly what Penner suggests.  Pete and Abby do their best to get someone to flip and take out Malcolm.  Skupin was the only one that considered it, but I think the combination of the plan coming out to Malcolm and the beating the Abby took at Tribal Council convinced him to stay with his word to Malcolm.

At Trbial Council Abby got hit by that Mack Truck.  Even Jeff gave her a earful.  Denise is a great communicator and she tried her best to help Abby understand, but Abby couldn't keep her mouth shut.  It will be a mistake to take Denise to the final 3 or 2, because she could easily win.

In the preview it shows Penner upset at Lisa, because she made the final 4 plan with Malcolm, but that is entirely Penner's fault.  Abby says she is going to fight.  Even if she can pull out an immunity, her chances are slim.  If the final 4 of Malcolm, Denise, Skupin and Lisa holds strong, then Penner's only option is to align with Carter and Abby, but that still leaves them down one.  Can he guilt Lisa to flipping, maybe.  Here is how I see the game playing out from here:

Abby will go home next unless she wins immunity.  With the final 6, that is the perfect time to blindside Malcolm, but will Skupin and Lisa break their word to do it.  I don't think they want to be sitting next to either Malcolm or Denise at the final 2 or 3.  My gut says that Lisa and Skupin will stay with the alliance and they will target either Penner or Carter next, depending on immunity wins.  When they get down to five it only makes sense to take out the last person, leaving the final 4.  The reason is at that point it will be tough to get Malcolm out, but they could take out Denise, if Malcolm doesn't give her the idol or she doesn't win immunity.  But that is risky too, because at least if the final 4 stay together, then Malcolm can only use his idol to reach final 3 and then it comes down to a tie, unless Malcolm decides to betray Denise.

There are still a lot of variables and really at 7 is the best time to make the move.  Penner, Skupin, Carter and Abby blindside Malcolm.  Then they take out Denise, if she doesn't win immunity.  Then Skupin, Lisa and Abby blindside Penner or Carter and ride to the final 3.  That is Skupin's (and Lisa's) best play.

Penner and Carter have the toughest road, but if they can get Skupin to join them, then they could have a shot.  Malcolm and Denise would be tough to beat and I think the only person that may legitimately have a chance to beat them might be Lisa, but I doubt it.

What would be interesting is to have a Skupin, Penner and Abby final 3.  would they give Abby the win over the two returning players or who would win between Penner and Skupin.

So many possibilities to ponder before next week, so until then... the Tribe has spoken.

Survivor Philippines: Episode 9 - The Big Mouth Sinks the Ship

Lisa starts off the show fighting her inner demons and beating herself up over her move.  Penner does an amazing job of connecting with her and comforting her.  Many of the other players also are very kind to her, but she still wants to stay loyal to Tandang.

At the reward challenge, it works out that Tandang, minus Abby who sat out, got put together and the rest got put together into two teams.  Skupin and Penner are the first to go and Skupin gets a quick lead, but not by much.  When they get to the part where they are to search for the bags of balls, Penner decides to stay and uncover all 4 bags so the rest of his team would just have to pick them up and go.  The strategy pays off and Penner's team wins.

The reward was awesome. They got to deliver toys and schools supplies to a nearby village and it touched all of them.  Malcolm taught kids in Malaysia for a year and then left that to be a bar tender.  This experience made him wonder why he left that.  Penner had a great time playing with the kids.

At camp, Pete, Artis and Abby talk to Lisa about keeping Tandang strong and going forward, but Abby opens her mouth and calls Lisa naive and gullible.  Of course that doesn't make Lisa happy nor Pete.

At the immunity challenge, each member had to get six balls to balance on a paddle, one at a time by rolling it up the handle in getting into one of the six marked places.  Skupin and Pete both were neck and neck through the first 4 balls and no one else was even close.  Skupin got his fifth ball and Pete started to panic and lost two of the balls he already had.  Skupin won easily from there.

Back at camp, Penner talks to Lisa about switching to vote with them and then he talks to Skupin.  Mike is on board with it but wants to confirm with Lisa, since they have been strong since the beginning.  It still doesn't seem that Lisa wants to switch.  Meanwhile Malcolm, Denise and Carter agree that it has to be Artis, because they figured Abby may give Pete the idol and she wouldn't have given it to Artis.

At Tribal Council, Lisa starts off with a long speech on how she tried to play the game but basically got poop blown back at her.  She did say that she received grace from many people when she returned and Abby asked if she gave her grace.  Lisa responded that the non-Tandang members gave more grace than the Tandang members.  Then Abby sealed their fate by saying that she was worried most about Lisa switching and Lisa replied that maybe it is time for a decision.  Of course that decision was made and Artis went home in a 5-4 vote.  Lisa stayed true but Skupin switched.

The previews show that Lisa wants to switch now but Abby pulls the guilt trip on her and breakups have never been easy for Lisa.  Also Mike talks to Lisa and has a plan for final four.  What could that plan be?

If I'm Skupin, I would take Lisa, Penner and Carter.  I say that because if they get Penner and Carter out and stick with Denise and Malcolm, that would put a tie at the final 4.  The bigger problem is the idols.  My guess is Abby won't give it up to Pete, especially since it appears the numbers won't be in their favor, so as long as Pete doesn't win immunity, my guess is he will be the next to go.  If Pete wins immunity, they will target Abby, who of course has the idol and would probably play it.  That means the 5 others need to split the vote, but that also means one of them would go home.  Who would that be?  If I was playing it, Skupin, Penner and Lisa should agree to split the votes with Denise and Malcolm voting Abby and thinking Carter will vote Abby too, Abby and Pete probably voting Lisa or Penner and Penner, Lisa, Skupin and Carter should vote out Malcolm and blindside him, since he has the idol.  The problem with that is Lisa probably wouldn't go for it, since Malcolm was so nice to her about calling him out on the idol, so it may have to be Denise.

If Pete or Abby don't win immunity then you split the vote 3-3 between them and it doesn't matter which one plays the idol, the other will go home and the idol will be out.

After that, Skupin, Lisa, Penner and Carter should team up and get out Denise and Malcolm, although, Penner and Carter could stick together, I don't think they are as tight as Denise and Malcolm.

There are lots of possibilities and at this point anything can happen.  What we don't know for sure is if it will be a final 2 or final 3.  It will either be a final 2 with 9 jury members or final 3 with 8 jury members, neither of which have been done before.

So until next week... the Tribe has spoken.

Survivor Philippines: Episode 8 - The Facts of Life

At the start of the show, Penner is of course worried that he is next and he is correct and talks to Skupin and says that he has to win immunity and then Skupin is on the block.  Lisa and Skupin are talking and Lisa spills the beans that Malcolm has the idol and she talks about getting rid of him on a blindside at some point.

At the reward challenge the divide them into two teams and it is a race into the water to release puzzle pieces and then dig for a key before assembling the puzzle.  The yellow team starts off fast and takes an early lead since the blue team sent Abby first and she wasn't too fast.  Carter catches up to a slow Lisa to give the blue team the lead but ultimately Denise takes the lead back when Skupin has trouble getting the last set of puzzle pieces.  Penner makes short work of the puzzle and the yellow team wins the reward.  Penner of course talks about turning on Pete and taking him out.  Lisa likes the plan but thinks it is better to stay with the old Tandang tribe.

Back at camp, Pete and Abby are talking and Pete says after Penner goes, he would like to target Jeff and keep Skupin around.

At the Immunity Challenge, the top three players to untie their puzzle pieces advance to the next round.  Pete, Penner and Jeff are those three.  The next round is assembling the puzzle and Pete and Jeff get off to a quick lead over Penner, but Penner then starts to get it and makes a huge run and ends up winning immunity. Of course Penner has a respectable celebration.

Back at Camp, Lisa goes into game mode again and tells Pete about Malcolm's idol and says that they need to blindside him.  Pete agrees and that was the plan until Malcolm and Pete start talking and Pete confronts Malcolm about the idol.  Malcolm denies it and Pete throws Lisa under the bus.  Meanwhile Penner gets a group to go after Pete and Pete now targets Jeff.

At Tribal Council, the fun happens.  Jeff starts talking to Skupin asking if he was worried when Penner won immunity and of course he said yes.  The conversation steers towards Malcolm when Lisa confesses that she threw Malcolm under the bus.  The talk continues about how Malcolm was a target and then he pulls out the idol and says he is playing it and someone will be getting the brunt of it (smart play on his part).  Jeff then asks if anyone else has an idol they want to tell everyone about and Abby opens her mouth and then shows everyone (that was dumb in my opinion).  She says the idol will be used to keep the alliance strong.  Lisa points out that she played both sides but never left the original alliance and that is why she told them about Malcolm's idol.  Penner then rallies the troops to exercise his plan.

After they all vote and Jeff comes back and asks if anyone wants to play their idol, no one does.  Malcolm was very smart here too, as he put enough fear that he will use it that they don't vote for him, then holds onto the idol.  In the end Abby gets one vote, Jeff gets 5 and Pete gets 4.

Jeff's closing statement as classic about how he has made so much money at baseball but the 1 million from this game was something he really wanted (actually $600,000 after Obama takes his share) and he is not happy.  I think he is just pissed the game didn't go his way, not that he is being a sore loser.

In the preview it shows Lisa playing again and thinking of now switching away from the original Tandang alliance.  Will it happen?  We will find out.

So now that all hell has broken loose in all the alliances.  Pete was very close to going home, Abby was an idiot and Malcolm played it well, but now is a target just because of the idol, it leaves the final 9 people in an interesting place.  I don't think any alliance is safe, other than Malcolm and Denise and Peter, Abby and Artis, and that leave 4 people that can go where is best for them.  Malcolm will probably have a difficult time trusting Lisa now, but if he gets Penner and Skupin on his side and string Lisa or Carter along, then they can take Pete out next.  it is going to be a fun episode next week and obviously with this week's developments, you can pretty much disregard my prediction last week.  So until then... the Tribe has spoken.

Survivor Philippines: Episode 7 - Drying the Clothes

Back at camp after TC, Penner was surprised to see his name come up.  Jeff K. told him Katie was just determined to get him out. He also said that he can get Penner before he goes after Jeff.

At Tandang, Michael makes the observation that they are at the same day when he fell into the fire in Australia.  They respond for him to stay away from the fire.  Then we see a boat arriving telling them they are merged and they have 10 minutes to gather the stuff they want to bring along.  They are excited.  At Kalabaw, they also have a boat show up with the same message.  Jeff K. says that he has two priorities, get rid of Penner and Skupin.  Denise wants to stay with both alliances she has, Kalabaw and with Malcolm.  Abby encourages RC to get info, but RC says she will but they aren't a big happy family.  Skupin says he and RC are free agents.

At the merged tribe's camp, Lisa feels the need to be helpful while the guys build the shelter and lays out everyone's clothes and finds Malcolm's idol.  He takes her aside and she says that she won't tell anyone and didn't find it on purpose.  Malcolm tells her that him, Denise and her will be the final three.  Lisa isn't sure about that.  Then Lisa and Penner have a chat and he recognizes her but says he won't rat her out.  Penner approaches Skupin about joining forces, thinking he has the 4 Kalabaw strong.  Skupin and RC are receptive.  Jeff K. talks to Pete and the gang and talk about taking out Penner or RC and splitting the votes, just in case Penner plays the idol.  This could get interesting.

At the immunity challenge a very tough challenge in holding 25% of their weight.  Denise and Carter lasted the longest, each winning immunity.  Carter and Jeff were the final 2 and Jeff let go with the understanding that Carter owes him one.  Artis says the vote will split and Penner or RC will go.  Somehow I don't think that is going to happen.

RC and Skupin are switching to Kalabaw.  Jeff and Carter are talking strategy and Penner walks up.  Penner assures them that he is with them until the end along with Skupin and RC.  Jeff tells Pete he is with them. Which way will it go.

At TC there was lots of talk and Lisa is very well spoken.  It came down to Pete and RC, because Penner played his idol.  Penner got 5 votes, that didn't count, RC got 4 votes and Pete got 2 votes, sending RC to the jury.  The vote was as follows:  For Penner (Abby, Skupin, Denise, Malcolm and Lisa ), RC (Artis, Pete, Jeff and Carter), Pete (RC and Penner).

The preview shows Penner as betrayed and determined and it will be interesting to see if he can form another alliance or if he will be sent home next week.  The edit of the preview makes it look like he may win immunity, but that doesn't mean he will.

Here are the alliances that I see:

Pete, Artis, Lisa and Abby

Malcolm and Denise, but Malcolm is in with Pete.

Skupin voted with Pete, but is on his own.

Penner is on his own.

Jeff and Carter are together and voted with Pete.

So where does that leave everyone in terms of the game.  Pete's four should be strong for now and my guess is that Malcolm will also stay strong and bring Denise in.  Jeff and Carter made a bad move by switching because I think they will be left out on this, but Pete may not say anything until after Skupin and Penner are gone.  So here is my predicted order of boot, barring any immunity wins that mess it up.

Penner
Skupin
Carter
Jeff

Then the question will be will Lisa stay strong with Pete or will she go with Malcolm and Denise.  I think it is too early to tell, but I would say that Lisa is the bottom of that alliance and she could make final 3 with Malcolm and Denise.  The tough part is that Malcolm and Abby have idols and that could throw a wrench into things, as well as Malcolm, Denise and Pete all can win immunities.  Penner is also a threat and skupin not as much.

As far as the final, there were 11 going into tonights episode and RC is the first member of the jury, so that means there will either be a final 3 with 8 jury members or a final 2 with 9 jury members.  Neither of which have been done before.  We have historically had 9 jury members with a final 3 or 7 jury members with a final 2.  I don't recall any other ones.  8 for 3 or 9 for two make more sense, since it totally eliminates any possibility of a tie (well not all, because the 8 could vote 4-4-0).  It will be interesting to see.

So until next week... the Tribe has spoken.

Survivor Philippines Episode 6 - Blindsides are the way to go

After TC back at camp Katie is concerned about being the weekest link with her girls gone.  The next day Katie and Denise discuss who has the idol and both assume Penner has it.  They agree that they need to get him out next.  That should ensure they both make the merge.

At Tandang, Skupin has been eating too much of the rice.  He is expendible according to Artis and Pete.

So at the challenge the two tribes go for reward and the first tribe to get three points by rolling a ball into their goal gets a nice lunch.  The first group out there go for over an hour and then they start talking and in the end Kalabaw is giving their rice to Tandang in exchange for the win.  Kalabaw will now have to fish to eat in less than ideal conditions.  Artis was against the deal and it seemed like some others were too.  Abby and Lisa left it up to Mike and Pete and they decided to do it.  It will help Tandang since they are low on rice, but I think Mike has hurt his game even more by accepting it. I think the same goes for Penner too.  The preview was a misdirection and Penner was reaching between Skupin's legs, but only to grab onto the ball, not to do anything crazy, as they edited it to seem.

After the reward challenge Kalabaw was confident.  Jeff K. said that in a couple days without the rice it will hit them, but it was a good move by Penner for his tribe.  With the little rice they had, it wouldn't have lasted and this gives them some much needed energy for the immunity challenge.  Plus they got the letters from home which also gives them an emotional boost.

At Tandang, Artis and Abby are pissed and it looks like Kalabaw only had a days worth of rice, at least at the amounts that they have been eating.  They are blaming Skupin, but according to the conversation between Skupin and RC it was a group decision.  Mike asked everyone and they all said yes, except Artis.  Morale was low and Lisa described it a double low because you gave up and you didn't win.

At Kalabaw, Carter is expressing his displeasure and Katie is agreeing with him.  Penner tried to go fishing and caught two very small fish.  Penner said they must win or it will be bad.

At the immunity challenge Kalabaw starts off strong with Jeff's baseball skills paid off, but then Skupin told Lisa to send it to Malcolm and he caught 3 in a row to give Tandang the come from behind win.  That sends Kalabaw back to TC.

Back at camp Jeff K. is thinking Penner should go, but is thinking Katie is a no brainer too.  He first decides on Penner but then has second thoughts.  Penner tells Katie it's Denise right off the bat and of course she is suspicious of it.  Jeff tells her that it is Penner.  Carter also had a tough time with going with Penner.

At TC, there was a lot of talk about blind sides and everyone knew one was coming.  It is easier than the confrontation, they said.  In the end, Katie came up short and was voted out.  Jeff P. concludes that if the four of you are strong, then you never know what can happen.  The preview for next week show a twist.  Is it the merge?  Is it something else.  Mike says it is new territory for all of them.  That is true for a merge, for him, but it may be something else.  Kalabaw better hope it is the merge, because it is not looking good for them.  I think the twist is that it will be the merge, but they are going to a new beach.  It will either be a neutral location or it could even be Matsing's old beach.

Also this leaves 11 in the game and usually when there is a final 3 there are 9 jury members.  Jeff did not say that Katie was the first member of the jury, so that makes me think that they are doing a final 2 and only 7 jury members.  They could do a final 3 with 7 or even 8 but that hasn't been done so far.

so that is all I have for this week, so until next week... The Tribe has spoken.