Oh my... there's a lot to discuss today.... not sure where to start! It was a pretty huge episode.... Two people got the boot from Redemption Island and TWO more got sent there. I'm not sure I like the three-way duel. (Aside: Can you actually still call it a duel if it is between three people? Also, why are we still calling it Redemption ISLAND? I'm fairly sure it is not its own island... Yes, these are the things that keep me up at night.)
OK, so let's start there... Redemption Island. The "duel" between Keith, Ozzy & Jim was an endurance one where they had to hold up poles with the backs of their hands... which has got to be ridiculously hard. One of those things that's maybe easy for about the first 2 minutes and then excruciating. The determination by Ozzy to win this thing has me flip-flopping back to his side again. As much as I can't stand all the editing of him as a semi-religious figure (aaaaand we'll talk about Coach later), I also enjoy his attitude towards Redemption Island: Fine, I'll hang out here where it's peaceful and I'll eat super well while you starve and I'll be nice to people, and then I'll kick their asses, come back into the game and win it. And come on, you know he's got a good chance here. I'm going to go out on a limb and call it right now - Ozzy will win this season. There, I said it. He's got all of his tribe's votes for sure, and team Coach is going to have to start backstabbing each other soon, so you know there are people who'll end up pissed off and will vote for Ozzy out of spite. It's all about jury votes now, so it's harder to vote people out... uh... "properly"....
So obviously, you've figured out by now (if you didn't watch the show) that Ozzy beat Jim and Keith - who became the first 2 jury members. As much as I didn't like him on the show, I thought it was cute when Jim said he was hoping there was a "double redemption island"... Don't worry about Jim. He'll do fine with his medical marijuana business... or he'll end up in jail.
So with Dawn & Whitney left from the original Team Oz, they worked it the only way they could... which was to tell people their votes are for sale. Smartly, they went to Albert with it, knowing he's in a bit of a peeing contest with Coach over alpha-male status (though both deny this, we know it's true.) Albert's big idea is to vote out Edna because she's useless, using Dawn & Whitney plus Cochran and maybe Sophie. Sophie's not sure, though, and is wisely playing the loyalty game. My favourite is when they're discussing this strategy, they get to Rick's name and say, "Rick's not even playing..." Heh. As I've mentioned before, Rick hasn't even spoken more than a couple of times all season. And we're at the jury part.... Rick is this season's mute blonde girl, whose name from last season I can't even remember. Purple Kelly? Was that even last season? Whatever.
Sophie won the immunity challenge - Dawn was close, but didn't quite get it... so it looked pretty sad for Dawn & Whitney. But there's still the chance someone will shake it up. That's where Coach comes in. First of all, there were a couple of times in the episode where their tribe is referred to as a "cult"... which I think is hilarious. Cochran talks about "drinking the kool-aid" and I think it was Jim over on the island talks about their tribe being a cult as well. It's not so far off from what we've seen, right? All that "Down on your knees!" stuff.... the complete insistence on group loyalty.... Coach himself describing it as "the Family"??? Come on! You can't make this stuff up! Thing is, what Coach is going for is Scarface and what he doesn't know is he's ending up more Charles Manson. Hee. And all the while, like any good mob boss/cult leader, he denies being in charge.... insisting that everyone is making the decisions together. Riiiiiiight. Meanwhile, Ozzy gets to be Jesus of the Jungle. Coach will find this quite unfair.
(Let's look back at Boston Rob for a sec too... he had the whole cult of personality going on too, which Coach & Ozzy have in different ways.... and no one else playing right now has at all. Rob was more of an overt manipulator than Ozzy, but had the same likability in his tribe. They followed 'cause they liked following him. Coach doesn't exactly have that. Plus, he's a bit odd. Ozzy has the luxury of being the likable warrior that Rob was, without having to vote out his alliance like Rob had to do.... which was pretty tricky business, that I don't know if the Great & Powerful Oz could do as well as Rob.)
So Dawn got voted out - no real surprise. My take on it is that Sophie - with immunity - isn't willing to go against the family... yet. Then, my boyfriend Jeff announced a twist... which was that as soon as Dawn got the boot, there would immediately be another challenge, and another vote. It was a close one between Sophie & Whitney, but Sophie won it to the delight of her cult, who now could easily vote off Whitney.
Now, let's hear your predictions! So I think Ozzy will beat Dawn & Whitney, but both ladies have proven themselves to be pretty tough competitors - especially if it's one of those endurance-type challenges. I just don't think they can take on Jesus right now. So then we have the Group of Seven... not the painters but the cult. Who's going first? Is Cochran actually #7 in the pecking order? I say no... I think he's the swing vote. Where does the cowboy stand? No one knows 'cause he's mute. Obviously Coach, Baby and Edna have a thing... and Sophie & Albert have a thing... I feel that the cowboy's closer to Sophie & Albert, but I could be wrong (because how the heck would I know?) If I'm Cochran, I probably stick close to the leader (oh right, he's NOT the leader) and throw my lot in there. Coach and his #2 henchman Baby protect Cochran, right? He won't turn again at this point, as much as he likes to talk about "big moves." And with little room for two leaders (who aren't actually leaders) I'm thinking Albert will be the next to go. Coach is already nervous about him... If I'm Albert, I'm looking for a horse's head in my bed.
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