NAT!

Oh yes she did!  Natalie is the winner of Blood vs. Water - season 29. I'd like to say I called it, but I don't think I did. I actually thought it would be Jeremy or Josh for sure, until of course, they were voted out. It was the way Natalie handled Jeremy's voting out that made me think maybe she's got a good chance. Calm, cool, collected - rolling with the change and formulated a new plan that included both revenge for her sister, for Jeremy and a million dollar cheque for herself. And it was well-executed. As someone who has actually watched the show before (ummmm... Keith, take note), Natalie knew that the jury would respect big moves and good game play. The thing is - a lot of people - the Russells and the Tonys - think that that's ALL you have to do. You have to time those big moves right so they don't bite you in the ass later. And you have to have a good social game so that the people you voted out not only respect you for game-play but also for being a human. This is where Missy lost out. Reed called it (more on that in a bit.)

I thought Natalie had lost a couple of times. First Keith - that sneaky ol' spitter - won the reward challenge which gave him an advantage (practice) at the immunity challenge, which he then won as well. It looked like Jaclyn was going to go home with Missy, Baylor and Natalie being tight. But our Nat is a smarty pants. She played her immunity idol for Jaclyn, saying to Jaclyn, "Did you vote for who I told you to vote for?" (which she later says she doesn't remember doing, but uh, that's a totally wicked move in itself that tells the Jury that only Natalie is in charge of this particular big move.) Jaclyn and Natalie vote for Baylor, who likes Nat so much that she just praises her for the good move. Even Missy's not too mad and they hug it out back at camp. Natalie knows that putting one of them on the jury makes sense - they're dangerous together, they're a good story together and neither one of them is going to vote for her anyway on the jury because they'll vote for each other. So it's not like you're going to lose a jury vote by turning on your bestie. Brilliant.

Then it looked like Nat would lose when Jaclyn staged an amazing come-from-behind victory in the final immunity challenge that looked like it was a race between Nat and Keith only. Never underestimate the power of the puzzle to be a place to catch up at challenges. Jaclyn, you'd think, would take Nat to the end because she'd saved her butt the night before. But Jaclyn's pretty smart and she knows that Nat is a pretty wiley competitor. But Natalie convinces her that Keith is actually the biggest threat and he gets the boot.

Seriously, though, what a run from a guy who really didn't look like he's make it past day 3. Overall, I think I liked Mr. Duck Dynasty a bit more than I didn't like him. The spitting made me laugh (Jeff even asked his wife about this later - and yeah, she said he pretty much does that all the time.) Keith earned a lot of respect and as it turned out (as revealed at the reunion show) would have won at the end had Nat been voted out instead of him.

So, Jaclyn, Missy and Nat were our all-female final three. What I liked was that even though I thought Natalie had played the best game & deserved the win - it didn't look that cut and dry. It was hard to say whether the loyal mom card Missy was playing was working or not, and there seemed to be a fair amount of respect for Jaclyn's honesty. All three ladies were strong, had compelling stories and really, had a good chance.

It was a bit of a dull jury Q&A, though, right? I mean, there were no really interesting questions. Some congrats and a couple of "What was your biggest move that you did by yourself" questions (especially for Jaclyn, which is a bit insulting sort of, in that everyone assumes that Jon had to be the brains behind all their decisions... and then we can talk about whether it's a detriment to play as a couple - after all, Natalie played the whole game without her Twinnie and won). The most interesting comments came from Jeremy - who told the jury to vote for Natalie (YES!) and from Reed, who called Missy a wicked stepmother because of the way she treated people outside of her alliance while at the same time trying to play supermom. Truly, I think Reed called it and in the reunion show I LOVED that he didn't apologize. He did say that his comments should be taken in the context of the game only and that he's sure that Missy's a perfectly nice person in real life. Of course it made Baylor cry - that girl could stand to toughen up a smidge. (Uh, that's what happens when your mom defends you every time you hit a speedbump.)

The reunion shows are also pissing me off lately. They're spending way too much time chatting with people in the audience and not with the Survivors. With the exception of a couple of quick chats with the families (we chatted with Keith's wife, but not with Natalie's/Nadia's parents? Ummm... what?) and also I enjoyed the little boy who designed a challenge through the Children's Wish Foundation. Otherwise, get out of the audience!  Jeff didn't talk to many of the Survivors at all. Nothing from Nadia. Nothing from dad & daughter Kelly & Dale. Nothing from awesome Val on awesome Jeremy making it to the jury. Nothing from Drew on being a dumbass and throwing that challenge. Not surprisingly, nothing from Julie on quitting. I think that one is good. Quitters shouldn't get any screeen time. The rest, though, deserved a bit more.

Now, on to February and the next installment: White Collar vs. Blue Collar vs. No Collar!  Ha!  Brilliant work, Survivor producers. I'm in. Like I wouldn't be anyways, but very much enjoy that they're doing something new for the 30th season. Bring it on.

The Twinnie and Duck Dynasty Outwit Captain America

My Natalie just keeps on rolling. Can we agree that she's awesome? She's winning challenges, she's outwitting her competitors, and she told off John Rocker. Sigh...

She also deserves an Oscar (well, an Emmy at least? Golden Globe?) for her performance when she got back to camp after Alec got voted out. Whoops! I totally thought I was supposed to vote for Alec! Sorry guys, geez, I totally screwed that one up. You guys really should have talked to me a bit more. Heh heh. And from the beginning, Jaclyn, with her spot-on women's intuition, was suspicious. Jon, however, was not. Jon totally trusted his solid five alliance because Natalie has been careful to slowly build trust with him and to not play her hand too quickly. Had she tried to get Jon out right after Jeremy was voted out, she'd have gone shortly thereafter. Instead, she just outwardly shrugged off Jeremy's ousting and inwardly plotted her revenge. Delightful.

Also, Keith seems to have some respect for Natalie and Natalie seems to know how to talk to Keith. So when she told him how to play it at Tribal Council, he listened for a change and didn't ruin the plan.

Keith's a bit of an enigma, non? Are you the same as me where you love him and hate him depending on the show? The one where he & Josh went to Exile together? Love. The one where he was hanging out with Wes & Alec and being awful to Baylor? Hate. Where he beat all the young whippersnappers to win immunity? Love. All the spitting? Ummmm... love and hate. Being such a gentleman and helping Missy everywhere after she hurt her ankle? Love. Screwing up Reed's and Jeremy's plans entirely? Hate. Getting a spa day with Missy and Baylor? Yeah, kind of loved it, even though he kept talking about how 'girly' it was and how the 'guys back home' wouldn't approve. Still, hearing him say a few times, "I don't know what spa food is, but it's pretty good!" and then being excited that there were "goobers" on the plate (peanuts?) Yeah, Keith is pretty amazing. And have you noticed he's the last dude standing? First of all, yay ladies! Second of all, I would NOT have seen that one coming.

While Keith, Missy & Baylor were at the spa and Natalie went to exile, Jon & Jaclyn got to spend some 'couple time' together. Jaclyn still tried to convince Jon that maaaaaaybe the alliance of five wasn't as solid as he thinks and maaaaaaybe they should be worried that the others would try to get him out. Nope, says Jon. We're good.

So, Jon went home with an idol in his pocket. We knew he wasn't going to make it as soon as he started feeling cocky, right? Now we're down to five: Natalie, Keith, Missy, Baylor & Jaclyn. You know I'm rooting for Natalie. She's great at the challenges, but Keith and Baylor aren't slouches. Missy and Jaclyn are no competition in this regard. Missy probably will not be able to compete at all with a broken foot (but, uh, really wouldn't be a threat even with two good feet.)

Our jury is all men at the moment: Jeremy, Josh, Reed, Alec, Wes & Jon. None of them like Baylor, so she's going to be a great person to take to the final three. Jaclyn also. She automatically gets a vote from Jon, but does anyone else think she deserves it or do they all think Jon made all the moves? (I actually think Jaclyn got them further in the game than they would have with Jon making the decisions alone, but I think the dudes will all give Jon the 'credit' so to speak.) Missy's a tougher one to peg. It would be great to go to a final with Missy and Baylor because the one can't vote for the other one, and also one cancels the other one out. Also, I'm not sure how well Missy did with the social game. It didn't SEEM like she was super well-liked ('Are you calling my kid a BRAT?') but she sort of was at the same time. Jeremy, Reed & Jon all had alliances with her and she'll have garnered some respect for sticking in the game despite the broken foot. She made good alliances and played some good moves, but did she come up with any plans on her own? And, she sucked at challenges. Keith - again - is the dark horse to win this thing. One - he's a dude. Sometimes the dudes will just vote with the dudes. He's got Wes's vote, obviously, and probably Alec's. Jeremy and Jon weren't big fans. Josh and Reed are huge fans of the Game of Survivor, so wouldn't likely give their vote to someone who clearly didn't make any moves on his own. Keith got to the final five by sheer luck and a bit of talent at challenges. Natalie is the one who should win this thing if the jury is going to respect pure game-play, camp life, sociability and challenge prowess. Right? She's the total package. Now she just has to get there and as we've seen in past seasons, the ones who should win on paper don't always make it in the final days (I'm talking to you, Malcolm!) If I'm Natalie, I'd take Baylor and Missy to the final with me. Go Nat! (Ummm... wouldn't it also be fun if one twinnie was voted out first, but the other twinnie made it all the way to the end? That would just be cool, right?)

Would love to hear if you agree or disagree. Is anyone reading this thing? 

Season finale is next Wednesday. Don't miss it!

What Happens When Your Main Ally Has a Brain the Size of a Walnut

Those Duck Dynasty fellas make Alec look like a rocket scientist. For those two of you who are still reading this, you might know I've been referring to Alec as a mimbo. He's pretty, but not super bright. But honestly, Alec looks like a damn brainiac next to these two. Hoo boy. Then can we discuss how Keith spits constantly? Like, every time the camera is on him, he's spitting. Wes's thing is that he can't keep his tongue in his mouth. Have you noticed?

OK, so we'll get back to those yokels in a bit. First... Natalie. I was super impressed with how well she handled her bestie, Jeremy, getting blindsided. She stayed super calm and assured her alliance that she was still with them (even though she also said privately that she'd like to give Jon a taste of his own medicine.) That's where a lot of Survivors lose it - someone in their alliance gets voted out and they react emotionally, often flipping sides themselves & it bites them later. Natalie is smart. (Interestingly, I read that Jeremy thought that Natalie was part of the blindside and didn't find out 'til much later that she wasn't. Apparently she mouthed "I'm sorry" when he got voted out and he took that to mean that she was in on it.) Also, while some were at the reward (where 4 Survivors got to go be "Survivor Ambassadors" by giving out baseball gear to Nicaraguan kids. Fun, except for the part where the Survivors get to watch the baseball game while eating a bunch of food, that none of the other kids watching the game got to eat. Jon did give  one kid a bite of his ice cream, though. Gee, thanks.  Also, only the boys got to get baseball gear and play. The girls had to sit and watch and not eat food. Anyways... where was I?) Right. While some were at the reward, Natalie searched for the 3rd hidden immunity idol and found it! She was with Baylor, so her alliance knows about it.

The immunity challenge was a classic endurance challenge where Jeff brings out food rewards to try to tempt people off their ledge. Now, I like to think I would never give up in a challenge, but I've probably also never been as hungry as these guys so I try not to judge. But, candy? Come on. Jon stepped down first for candy. That's not even sustenance. I mean, Wes stepping down for a plate of wings and 2 beers, that makes some sense. (Though, probably less so when he got voted out.) Natalie stuck it out with Reed for over 3 hours before she decided she was going to slip up before he was. Wisely again, she asked Jeff if she could have wings, beer and a cookie to step down. Win! 

Then it gets slightly complicated and funny.

Reed has immunity.
Reed comes up with a plan where he, Alec, Keith and Wes vote for Jon.
Meanwhile he'll convince the Jon alliance that he and Alec are voting with them. Tells them that Wes & Keith are planning to play Keith's idol and that they should split the vote between Wes & Keith.
Notes that Keith doesn't have much smarts when it comes to the game.
Keith notes that Reed does have good game smarts... with the "math and stuff".
Everything looks good, right?
Tribal Council:
Reed continues to sell his story by saying that everyone's suspicious of Keith & Wes having an idol.
Remember - Reed's on Keith & Wes's side, but has to LOOK like he's on Jon's side.
Keith COMPLETELY FORGETS THIS and looks straight at Reed and says, "Well, I think we should just stick with the plan." Thus, selling out his alliance member, Reed, as a traitor.
Reed completely is dumbfounded. Cannot believe Keith is so dumb.
ALEC cannot believe Keith is so dumb. ALEC!!
Chaos ensues. Everyone starts talking about what plan to 'stick with'.
Natalie tells Jon he'd better play his idol. (Again, she's so smart!)
Jon plays his idol, thwarting Reed's plan.
Keith also plays his idol. Half-assed offers it to Wes, who doesn't take it.
Wes gets voted out.
Wes, bless him, is happy he got to play with his dad and probably even happier that he gets to go eat and then sit with his tongue hanging out.
Reed probably better continue winning challenges and stop allying himself with folks whose IQ is about the same as a duck's.

Another Good Guy Gone!

OK... ummm... so first of all, sorry I've been away so long. Is anyone still reading this? Let me know!

And second... I just wrote this whole thing, and then Blogger kicked me out without saving any of it, so I'm writing mad and now this post will probably be short. Sigh.

Right.  So we're down to the final bunch. The two leaders, Josh & Jeremy are the first jury members. Wasn't a surprise when Josh got taken down, but Jeremy? Didn't think his alliance would turn on him so quickly. Was it a smart move on their part? Yep. Do I like it? Nope. Does that make for good TV? Sure does.

What happened is that Jon & Jaclyn voted with Jeremy's alliance group to vote out Josh. To say thanks, Jeremy & Natalie gave up their spots in the reward when they won the challenge. Nice, yes, but also hoping that it's going to cement the love with Jon & Jaclyn. BUT, then they send Jeremy to Exile because he wants to go look for the immunity idol. Which, of course, he doesn't find because Jon already has it. Rather than fess up to Jeremy, Jon figures he should just vote him out now and goes to Missy & Baylor with the plan. Reed, who's desperate now to just stay in the game, pledges his support and the plan is hatched. Jeremy's out.

This will leave Natalie in a dangerous, but potentially good spot. She could be a swing vote, depending which side Reed sits on. Is Reed going to stick with Missy & Baylor (probably) or with the dudes? If the 2 couple alliance is smart, they'll try to vote out one of the other 'couple' - Wes  or Keith - before Natalie. Keith has an idol, which is dangerous... and makes for a trickier vote, but still can be done, especially if they use Natalie and don't just see her as an easy vote.

I've softened towards Baylor lately - given how badly she was treated by the Duck Dynasty boys and Alec, the mimbo, and how solidly she handled it. She did not engage & showed way more maturity than they were showing, that's for sure. Still, do I really want her or Missy to win? Not really. Though, I've got to give kudos where they're due - Missy's playing a pretty good game.

Jon & Jaclyn are somehow owning the game, but does anyone else find them a bit annoying? I don't really know why. I just do. And, I'm not certain that they're making any friends as they go.

How is Alec still in this game at all? Discuss.

So.. with my favourite two gone already, I'm left to cheer for their partners in crime - Natalie and Reed.

In Jeremy's own parting words, "They voted out one of the good guys." So true.

Josh & Jeremy for the next all-stars for sure?  Yeah!

Orange is the New Orange

The tribe shake-up!  Always fun. This one ended up with three pairs on one team (Dale & Kelley, Jaclyn & Jon, and Baylor & Missy) plus ol' Keith. That's the new orange. The new blue team features only one pair (Josh & Reed) plus a bunch of singletons: Jeremy, Natalie, Wes, Julie & Alec.

ORANGE is the new... ORANGE.

Kelley's not super pleased to be on the same team as her dad, who she's found out doesn't get along with Missy & Baylor. (Which makes me like Dale a bit more, actually. I think I'd have a pretty tough time getting along with Missy & Baylor.) Missy's going through rice like no one's business, which means the blue team has almost none while the orange team is still good... until Missy joins them and starts cooking double the amount... making Dale mad, understandably. Meanwhile, Jaclyn and Jon need to get a room. Lots of kissing & hugging, which seems to horrify Baylor until she's asked about it - when all of a sudden it's "super cute!"

So you'd think Keith would be in trouble - and he still might be down the road - but mainly the couples are looking to weaken another couple. Jon & Jaclyn find themselves in the middle of the two pairs who don't like each other and Keith will go with the majority.

BLUE and Brawny.

The blue team is definitely the fitter of the two teams. More dudes, all younger people. Jeremy off the bat sees Josh & Reed as a threat (did he read my blog?) because potentially Reed could now flip and work with Josh, Wes and Alec, leaving Jeremy, Natalie and Julie in the smaller set of numbers. Likely the blue team will just keep winning, but if not, expect Jeremy to try to make a move. I love that he and Natalie have decided that they will try to work Alec by appealing to his ego - telling him stuff like how he's so much stronger than Drew, etc. Heh. Jeremy calls it the "Surround and Drown" maneuver (from firefighting, when the firefighters can no longer go into a building to fight a big fire, so they just surround the building and try to drown it out with water.)  Natalie and Jeremy are going to just keep surrounding Alec and drowning him with seeds of doubt about any of the pairs, and especially Josh & Reed. Love it.

Of course the blue team won immunity, so the orange guys had to go to Tribal. I was surprised a bit that J & J chose team Missy/Baylor over team Dale/Kelley, but overall it's probably a smarter move. Dale and Kelley are generally well-liked and smarter. They are bigger threats in the game than Missy and Baylor (aside: I keep typing "Baby" instead of "Baylor" making me want to just call her Baby. Is that OK? I feel the keyboard is trying to tell me something.) So, they got rid of Kelley. Sad for her, because she'd have been fine and probably would have gotten far in the game had the tribes not switched up. However, that's how it goes. I did find it a bit off-putting to hear her say how she wishes she hadn't had to play on the same team as her dad, though. I mean, I get that it was a detriment in this game, but at the end of the day, isn't it cool to get to play Survivor with your dad? Isn't that how you got on the show in the first place? Bah.

The only other thing to note is that the blue team once again is trying to negotiate with my boyfriend, Jeff, because they're now so low on food. Jeff is going to bring them some food next episode, but "the price will be high!"  (Cue suspenseful music). What's it going to be? I think they'll have to go to Tribal in exchange, or at least get a huge disadvantage in the challenge given their relative strength.

What Happens When You're (Not) a Good Thrower

OH, so good. Our resident #1 mimbo, Drew, got voted out after making a series of crucial Survivor mistakes.

1) Referring to oneself using any of the following words/phrases: Kingpin, Boss, Without Me These People Would Be Nothing, The Best, Running This Show, etc. If anyone has ever watched Survivor EVER, they'd know that the minute someone thinks they are running the show, they are the ones to get voted out. See Sarah the cop from last season, and many others. The one notable exception being Boston Rob, but it took him four tries to ACTUALLY be able to run the show.

2) Throwing a challenge. This is never ever a good idea. For one, it shows that you are super cocky and too comfortable. (See point #1). Having your own tribe go to Tribal Council is never good. You can always, always be the one to go home. If the other tribe goes, not only do you automatically get three more days, but the other guys are a smaller group come the merge (which, incidentally is going to happen next episode. The blue guys will still be the bigger group, but now with loved ones in the mix, you never know how that'll shake out.)

3) Not being willing to negotiate.  Drew was dead set on Kelley going home over anyone else. Wouldn't listen to anyone else in his alliance. Jeremy wanted Keith out because Keith announced to everyone that Jeremy must have an immunity idol because he couldn't find it. This was dumb. First of all, he later did find the idol.  Second, he made a huge enemy out of one of his biggest allies. There was that whole firefighter bond. He should have gone to Jeremy first to ask him if he had an idol, but couldn't quite figure that out. Anyway, back to Drew. Wouldn't listen to Jeremy. Wouldn't listen to his buddy Jon, who said that Julie should go. Nope. Had to be Kelley. His way or the highway.

4) Seeing threats where there are none. Drew was so against Kelley that he tried to tell the dudes that there was a girl alliance...which there was not. There are only 4 girls and what... 5 guys? So, they did not have the numbers to vote as a block. Then again, the more you talk about it, and the more you notice that none of the men can agree on anything, the more a girl alliance looks like a great idea. Thanks for the idea, Drew! Basically, he gave the girls the idea on how to vote himself out.

5) Talking about who you're going to vote off right in front of them. At one point, Drew stands there talking about how much he wants to vote off Kelley, while Kelley is standing about 10 feet away. And yet, no one notices this fact, making Drew a lovely target for the girls.

6) Basically being a useless schlub. Aside from being physically strong, Drew had no redeeming qualities. Possible exception is if you're another kinda dumb dude like Jon (who, for the record, is not as dumb as Drew, and how could you not like Jon last night when he beat his girlfriend Jaclyn in a challenge (barely) and then said how he's not worried about her at Exile because she's so strong?) Anyway, aside from Jon who kinda thinks Drew is cool, Drew does nothing for anyone else. He doesn't pull his weight at camp, he isn't nice really to the gals, and he's a bit of a whiny baby about not having enough food. (At one point, they found the first "lost" flint and then Drew tried to negotiate again with Jeff, who basically laughed at him. Drew tells everyone that at least he "had the balls" to ask. Should that be another point: Telling your teammates you have balls and they don't?) So with no redeeming qualities except winning challenges, you'd better ummm... win a challenge. Drew threw the challenge, so now all he's accomplished is making his teammates think, oh well, now he's got nothin' to offer.

So, Drew pretty much dug his own Survivor grave. Over on the other tribe, his brother Alec isn't doing much for himself either. He bosses Baylor around telling  her to "not half-ass it" when she does stuff like clean a pot. Oy. New respect for Baylor for biting her tongue and not telling him to shove it.  Not sure I could do it.

With the merge coming up, the pairs will be targets first, and the clever pairs will ally themselves with other pairs, forming a voting block. Romance pairs are more dangerous than blood pairs, so they should (in theory) be picked off first. Jon & Jaclyn, Reed & Josh. If it was me, I'd get rid of either Reed or Josh first because they're stronger and people like them. Other pairs still in are Wes & Keith, Dale & Kelley, Missy & Baylor. Singles are Jeremy, Julie, Natalie & Alec. Makes sense for Jeremy, Julie & Natalie to stick together. Alec could be in trouble or if he's smart (doubtful), he makes  himself a bit of a swing vote somewhere. Also interesting will be that Dale doesn't have much allegiance to his original tribe so will likely join an alliance with Kelley and some original blue members. So exciting. Much can happen.

If You Were a Man, I'd Vote You Out! Let's Fight!

Episode 3 and the focus is still on a handful of characters: Jeremy, Baseball John, Josh, Baylor, Natalie. We don't get to hear a lot from folks like Dale, or Missy, or Alec. Kelly and Jaclyn are essentially this season's mute blondes that we don't hear anything from at all.

Drew continues his quest to be the most awesome mimbo ever. He gets a big idea in his head that the rains are coming and his tribe should get to work fixing up the roof of their shelter... which actually is a good idea. But then he gives up weaving palm fronds after about a minute and lies down for a nap, while everyone else works. Seems Drew is in for a career in politics? Perhaps. And scenes from next week look like Drew continues on his rampage... cannot wait!   I hope he stays around for a while, just for the comedy factor.

The other best part of the night was that Keith had to go to Exile after Wes beat him in a challenge. After the loss, Keith got all emotional and said how proud he was of Wes, causing Wes to then tear up when Jeff asked him if this kind of emotion was normal back home. Nope. Such good TV, right? That's why this Blood vs. Water thing works. Then, Wes sent Josh to Exile with his dad because, "I click with Josh, so I think my dad will too." And they did. Duck Dynasty and the gay Broadway performer got along great, though Keith noted, "There won't be any spooning going on tonight." Ha! Again - why Survivor is great, right? Two people, so different, but finding common ground.

The big story, though, was that huge drama happened around Baseball John. Baseball John has trouble finding common ground with anyone. First, he pissed off Jeremy (as predicted) when Jeremy found out about Val getting voted off. John hadn't bothered telling anyone on his team about his deal with Jeremy, but then goes ahead and announces it in front of everyone at the reward challenge. That kind of stuff doesn't sit very well with your teammates. On the blue team, Jeremy went ahead and told everyone about John's past indiscretions. The racist stuff especially got to Natalie. Poor Julie, who you can't help feeling a bit sorry for - just left and went off and cried by herself. Now, I haven't heard Julie actually defending her boyfriend to her teammates. That's the weird thing. Remember when everyone hated Brad Colpepper and his wife Monica was taking heat for what her hubby was up to? Monica stood up for Brad and told her teammates that he's just playing the game -  here's what he's really like... I wonder if Julie's doing any of this and we're just not seeing it? Or is she not bothering to defend him because she knows he's kind of, well... a dick? Discuss. I felt a little less sorry for her when she said something about how surprised she was that Survivor was this difficult and that she didn't think her bf would get her in so much trouble!  Seriously?

At the immunity challenge, things got heated right up. The blue tribe won (again) and Natalie started beaking off at the orange team that they should vote off John because he's a horrible racist. The team stands up for John and tells John to just ignore her. Instead, he opens his mouth. Says that if Natalie was a man, he'd knock her (his?) teeth out. Then says, clear everything away and let's fight!  Seriously. John Rocker has anger issues. Possibly women issues. Violence issues? Check. I'm not saying Natalie was particularly awesome for opening her mouth either, but she would have ended up looking like the crazy one if he would have just not taken the bait. But, he did. And you have to wonder how he deals with people in real life if he loses his temper at a girl that quickly on national TV. What happens when Julie pisses him off? If I'm Julie, I'm getting a bit concerned. Hopfully Julie is getting a bit concerned. Right?

So John's plan is to tell the girls to vote for Dale, but then vote for Baylor with the all-dude alliance. Everyone goes along and John thinks  his plan is solid. Josh, however, decides that John is too much of a wild card, given his secret plans with Val/Jeremy, and together with Baylor, Jaclyn, Wes and I think Alec vote off John instead. They kept it so hush-hush that John did not even consider playing his immunity idol. Jaclyn almost blew it by saying that she thought that different plans were going down (she speaks!) but why would he believe a girl? Pffft.  Oddly, no one thought to tell Dale, which makes me wonder why the dudes think they can't trust him?  Dale should be worried and should hope he makes it to the merge.

In other news, here's a fun article from 2008 that I have only just stumbled across about the behind-the-scenes stuff that goes on filming the show. It's pretty interesting - you likely know lots of it already, but it's a fun read:

http://www.today.com/id/26726792/ns/today-today_entertainment/t/last-secrets-survivor-revealed/