Dagnamit vs. Boo-ya: Compare & Contrast

Oh my, where to start? 

Let's compare the tribes a bit, shall we?  The real tribe names don't matter, we know them as tribe Russell & tribe Rob.  Right? 

The Russell Tribe

Over at Tribe Russell, we had our first Alpha-Male Pissing Contest.  Hurrah!  We knew this would happen eventually & I'm actually quite surprised that our other on-paper-alpha-males (Mike the war vet & Steve the NFL dude... Sweater vest David doesn't seem very alpha to me)  haven't made much noise yet. However, our farmer, Ralph, likes to stir the pot.  Ralph - who I forgot to mention last time has the distinction of being... uh.... quite hairy.  Mike gave him the nickname, "Steel Wool", which I thought was hilarious...and someone else commented on his "man sweater."  Hee.  So if you don't watch, you have to picture man sweater + overalls.  Yep.  Appealing, right?  Anyway, Steel Wool goes out collecting rocks (for what reason, I'm not sure.... perhaps he's building a fancy Japanese-inspired rock garden?) and stumbles upon the hidden immunity idol (and actually says something like, "dagnamit").  Now, these idols obviously aren't super well-hidden, are they?  I seem to remember they used to be a little tougher to find... am I wrong?  At any rate, it's more fun when people have them than not, so I'm good with them.  Hell, just throw one up all schoolyard-styles and see who comes out on top of the pile! 

So after winning immunity + reward mainly thanks to Steel Wool's awesomeness at the ball toss game, Russell dives into the reward basket o' fishing gear & snatches the immunity idol clue.  Some people see him do it, one of them being your very own Farmer, SW, who decides it would be fun to confront Russell.  Because confronting Russell has worked out really well for a lot of people, right?  Heh heh.  So Mike & SW go see Russell, who's busy gloating about his new-found clue with his girls (Stephanie and the blonde one.... Krista maybe?)  Russell half-assed denies having the clue and tells the fellas that really, this is how the game is played (he's got a point - everyone knows the clue is up for grabs & it's not in the rules that it's for everyone to share.)  But, 'cause he's already got the idol, SW figures hey, why not get in Russell's face about it.... Russell gives him the whole, "I don't like how you're coming at me." And SW doesn't really back down. Has Russell met his match in our hairy friend?  Love it... and I love how Russell has just finished calling him the "dumbest player ever" right when he's kinda being out-played.  Delightful.  And our farmer's being hush-hush (so far, at least) about the idol unlike loud-mouth panicker, Krisina on the other tribe. (But seriously, enough with the rooster crowing noises, Steel Wool.)

And Russell... geez.  He's got his 2 girls now, as mentioned and says something like, "I don't need their stinking votes."  Really?  YES YOU DO!  That's the reason you haven't won the last TWO times, you idiot! Sigh.... Human behaviour is consistent, if nothing else, non?

And finally in the Russell tribe, I need to mention how much I hate Stephanie. It started with the green pumps. Then I didn't much care for how she thinks she was "staring down" Russell... now this episode. After they WON the challenge, we hear Stephanie complaining about Sarita & how awful she was at the challenge. Now, Sarita... we haven't heard more than a word or two from her yet, but she's a bit older (and by older I mean she's 36 which in Survivor years is like 80. Steph is 25 and figures she knows everything & has clearly been told she's special a lot.)  Where was I?  Right.  Steph goes on & on about how bad Sarita was at the swim in the challenge & goes on to say.... "She sucks at life."  Really?  'Cause I'm fairly sure that's not something you should say about someone you have only known for 4 or 5 days.  Ugh.  Terrible.  Respect your elders, child!  And if you really want to complain about people you don't know, get a blog.  Heh.

The Rob Tribe

Over in Tribe Rob, things are pretty happy.  Rob is King. The only other males are Grant, who's pretty quiet so far,  happy to let Rob take the lead.... same thing for Jesus-Fabio-Matt and Crazy Philip.  Everyone loves Rob, save for Kristina, who no longer  has any friends.  Way to go! 

Philip.... well, there was no shortage of lunacy there.  Still running around in those loose, fuscia Y-fronts. This time hunting itty-bitty crabs with a javelin, finally getting one with a rock, yelling "Boo-ya!" or some such weird thing. Now, this provides a great deal of entertainment for his tribe & as long as they can put up with him, he's easy to keep around.  He works hard, and has promised his vote to Boston Rob.  (Who, by the way, lives in Pensacola, Florida. Did you know that?  I guess Pensacola Rob doesn't sound as good.) So, after they lose the challenge, mainly because Phil couldn't throw as good as Steel Wool... Rob is the first one to say, you know what? We lost as a team... don't sweat it Philip.  Later on at Tribal Council, he backs Phil again.  Bringing me to the brilliance of King-Pensacola.... he knows how to control the crazy.  Much like with Coach... you just have to know how to deal with them... Rob pulls Philip aside & tells him that things are going down, the vote is not for Philip, and that he'll put his hand on the shoulder of the person he wants Phil to vote for at Tribal Council.  Two birds, one stone.  1) Phil can't blurt out who's getting the vote, 'cause he doesn't know, and 2) Phil feels Rob is looking out for him while at the same time tipping his Red Sox hat to the "Former Special Agent"...  What FSA doesn't like the sneaky spy nature of the secret signal?  Right? It's sheer brilliance.  (I was a little bit hoping for Rob to say to Phil that he can't tell him who they're voting for because, "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!" but alas... didn't happen except in my brain.)

Meanwhile, what is with the show putting the question mark after Phil's job description?  Former Special Agent? it says...  So is he, or isn't he?  He certainly seems to believe it, so is he delusional, or a really good actor, or is it so secret that the show couldn't verify it?  (Again, parallels to Coach... "It's so secret you can't even Google it!")  Then thanks to poolster Lori who caught Rob saying to Phil, "You're an Actor, you can pull it off."   What up?

OK, so then Matt is the one who gets voted out. He's getting too close to Ashley (right? Again with all the girls who look the same!) and Rob cant' stand it when our good Christian boy goes over to shake the hands of the winning Tribe Russell.  Seems kinda trivial when he's in the alliance, but if you're Rob, who else are you going to gun for?  Philip is crazy and entertaining and big & strong & has promised his vote.  Kristina is going to use her immunity idol.... leaving all people on your own tribe.  From his own experience with lovely Ambah... you break up the couple.  Now next week, it looks like Ashley doesn't take it very well.  Oh dear. I'm sure Rob can talk her down. 

At any rate, next week we get to see Fabio II face off against Fransessqua in a 'duel' to see who gets to stay on Redemption Island.  Sweet!  My money's on Fran, but the Lord's backing Matt.