Survivor Gabon - Ep. 3

We open with Kota returning to camp after eliminating Paloma. Kelly addresses the camera and tells us she has lost her closest ally. Cut to the others gathered around the fire. Ace says tribal council was one of the most difficult things he has done and compares it to having his wisdom teeth yanked out. It’s all a façade for the others. He loved evicting Paloma.

Morning. Day 10. The Fang tribe is running out of rice. Randy is feeling insecure. Matty, Randy, Dan and Susie formalize an alliance with GC as their first target. Matty addresses the camera. He is greatly relieved.

Tree mail. Tribe members assume they are being called to the day’s luxury challenge. They arrive on a beach where painted logs have been stuck upright in the sand. They are arranged highest to lowest in 2 sets. Jeff tells them they will be ranking their tribe members based on their value to the group. When the results are announced, tribe members will stand on the log that marks their rank. Tablets and pencils are distributed and the contestants scatter along the beach to do their rankings in private.

The rankings are added up and averaged and the players assume their positions. In order from highest to lowest, Kota has ranked itself as follows: Marcus, Ace, Bob, Charlie, Jacquie, Corinne, Sugar and Kelly. Kelly takes her low ranking with good grace. Cut to Ace trying to convince us she whined about it. Hey Ace – yeah, you are an excellent Machiavelli, but hey: there are camera’s around you, you know? Don’t try and bullshit us because, #1, we don’t care, and #2, IT’S ON TAPE ya wing nut!

Interesting that on Kota the 4 men all outrank the 4 women.

As for Fang, the rankings are Matty, Dan, Randy, Crystal, Ken, GC and Suzie. Track star Crystal is pissed that her tribe-mates rated her lower than 49 year old wedding videographer Randy. Jeff asks Randy what insight the rankings give to the internal dynamics of the other team. Randy surprises not just me, but everybody else with his insightful response.

“This shows friendliness,” Randy says, “this shows physicality in challenges, but this doesn’t show a thing about who’s hooking up with who.”

Jeff announces that they are picking new tribes. Poor Matty had just solidified his alliance and now it is all a bust. The highest ranking members of the tribes are made captains and the choosing begins.

Marcus picks Fang member Dan to join him in the new Kota.
Matty picks Ace.
Dan picks Charlie.
Ace picks Crystal.
Charlie picks Randy.
Crystal picks Jacquie.
Randy picks Corinne.
Jacquie picks Ken.

Kota huddles to consider the next choice. Randy bad mouths GC to Corinne (“He is so negative that he will rip that tribe apart.”) Corinne chooses Susie. That leaves GC as the last remaining Fang member. Choice goes to Ken. Bob, who was ranked 3rd, is surprisingly still on the block. Ken nonetheless picks Kelly. Susie picks Bob. Kelly picks GC. This leaves Sugar to go to Exile Island until after the next tribal council, after which she will join the tribe that has lost a member. That neither Marcus nor Matty used their first vote to pick Sugar makes me think they might like Charlie more than they are letting on.

New tribes;
Fang: Matty, Ace, Crystal, Jacquie, Ken, Kelly, GC.
Kota: Marcus, Dan, Charlie, Randy, Corinne, Susie, Bob.

That’s 4 Fang to 3 Kota on new Fang, 4 Kota to 3 Fang on the new Kota.

Cut to luscious Sugar on Exile. She’s already got the immunity idol, so she takes the apple, which means she’s going to be spending the next couple of days inside a lovely, well built and stocked shelter, munching on fresh fruit and sleeping in comfort.

The jockeying begins on the new tribes. Kelly quickly reveals to the Fang members that she wants in with them. Ken, GC, Matty and Crystal are happy to take her.

Kota, day 12. Tree mail. The message tells them to practice for an immunity challenge that is a cross between water polo and lacrosse. A piece of equipment halfway between a lacrosse stick and a canoe paddle, and a ball halfway between a baseball and a soccer ball in size, come with the note. They practice under Marcus’ direction. I hear Ivy Leaguers like Marcus are big on lacrosse (and strippers).

The challenge puts each player in a small round raft. The goals are maybe 30 yards apart. Jeff tosses the ball into the center and the players are off. First team to score three times wins.

Both teams quickly find the round rafts are difficult to maneuver. Randy takes up the Gretsky sweet spot to the side of the net. Margus hits him with a long pass and Randy drills into the net past goalie Ace.

Ace abandons the goal to go on the offensive. Too bad he didn’t tell someone. Marcus hits Randy with a long pass (I could have copied and pasted that, couldn’t I?) and Randy lobs it into an empty net. Kota is up 2-0.

For the 3rd time Marcus gets to the ball first, but for the first time, Ace steals it from him. But it is all for nought. Marcus steals it back, throws it to open water between Crystal and Ken, beats both Fang members to it and passes to Randy/Gretsky, who bangs one off the goal post. Dan gets the rebound but Matty makes a great diving save. The dive takes him out of position. Randy pulls it in and gets a hat trick. Fang is headed back to tribal.

Back at Fang Ace describes the challenge as “sleek weasels against legless chickens.” The scheming begins. The old Fang members, who eagerly embraced Kelly when she offered to join them (moving the old Fang members alliance into a 5-2 power position) are appalled by her lack of participation in the challenge compared to Jacquie. GC starts scheming to dump her, reasoning that they have to stay competitive in the challenges and can't afford to dump Jacquie, who performed well. The wild card is Sugar, who will join the tribe after the eviction.

Ken breaks the bad news to Kelly and tells her to talk to Crystal. Cut to Jacquie working Crystal. Cut to Jacquie working Ken. Cut to Jeff snuffing out Kelly's torch.

Kelly gets evicted. Sugar will join them and it will be right back where it was - old Fang 4, old Kota 3, but with a difference. Jacquie owes old Fang. Will she honor her debt?