I stand by my thought after the premiere of Survivor: Philippines – this is going to be a good season. I like the cast we have here, and after only two episodes there’s already plenty of drama. Last night’s show provided plenty for us to talk about!

But first, I’m sure you’re all (maybe, like, two of you?) wondering who I got in the office Survivor pool. After all, I have won the past two times in a row. I’m going for the triple crown here, and that’s unprecedented. Well folks, it could have been better but it could have been worse. Rob and I ended up with Katie Hanson on the Kalabaw Tribe. We’ve barely seen her, which I’m going to take as a good sign.

My top five picks were Malcolm, Angie, RC, Carter and Denise – and I’ll count it as a blessing that we didn’t get Angie. We were drawn tenth to make our selection, so I think we were pretty lucky that we were able to snag Katie. My poor Grandfather was drawn last and got stuck with Russell Swann.

Now, onto the show.

Couples’ Territory

After losing Immunity once again, Matsing was left to choose between voting out Angie or Roxy and there were good cases for both. Angie and Malcolm are totally coupled up and snuggling at night, which is indeed very dangerous. And Angie isn’t exactly a powerhouse in challenges, which made her a very viable candidate for elimination. But Roxy is even worse in challenges, and the rain made her cry, and she’s lazy around camp, and she prays in strange languages. Plus, let’s face it, she’s a total B.

Denise found herself in the bittersweet position of swing vote, but she wasn’t choosing between two individuals – she was choosing between pairs. Angie and Malcolm might be snuggling at night, but Roxy was very loyal to Russell. I think, ultimately, Denise made the decision to stick by Malcolm – that was at the heart of her decision, it had nothing to do with wanting Angie over Roxy. So Roxy was voted out, and no one will miss her.

That said, I’m disappointed in Malcolm. As a fan of the show, he knows couples get targeted. He’s a smart guy, but he is not thinking with his brain, that’s for darn sure.

Under Your Nose Out of Joint

And what of the dramas at the other camps? Since they haven’t been going to Tribal Council, we don’t get to see them as often. Over at Tandang, RC found the clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol and shared it with Abi-Maria. Bad move, sister. I like RC and I think she could go far, but I think it was a major mistake to share the clue with someone that soon. I’m a fan of the Boston Rob method of keeping it completely to yourself. But if you are going to share the clue, it should be for a reason. RC just wants Abi to trust her, but showing her the clue won’t accomplish that. Abi could totally stab her in the back with that information.

Furthermore, Abi seems kind of crazy. She flew off the handle at RC for no reason. How will she act once the game actually begins for their tribe? I’d be careful of that alliance if I were RC – she may be better off joining forces with the older people in her tribe.

At Kalabaw’s camp, Penner finally found the Hidden Immunity Idol. That’s good, because he’s definitely on shaky ground with his fellow tribemates. But the Idol can only get him so far. I like Penner, so I really hope that by the time Kalabaw goes to Tribal Council everyone will hate someone else – maybe Jeff “Bum Knee” Kent will lose a challenge for them.

Puzzling

The Reward/Immunity Challenge this week was pretty basic – teams ran out in pairs to retrieve heavy puzzle pieces, and then two team members would assemble the large, triple-layer puzzle with the help of a caller. Since Matsing was down a member some people had to run twice, and both Angie and Roxy turned their noses up at that challenge. Pathetic, the both of them.

Angie ended up being the one to go out on the course once, and it exhausted her. She collapsed on the ground while everyone else was solving the puzzle – and they lost. Tandang came in first, winning pillows, blankets and a tarp. Kalabaw won a tarp for their second place finish.

Glass Houses!

Back at camp, Roxy had several choice words to say about Angie behind her back. I’ll admit it – Angie is a dolt, but I really hated Roxy. First of all, what right did she have to criticize Angie’s performance in the challenge? None! Roxy refused to go twice, and she was just as weak. Almost as week as she is around camp. For someone who isn’t exactly an asset to the tribe, Roxy was talking a big game.

Now, that’s not to say that everything she said was false. She was totally right about couples in the game – they’re dangerous.

As I said, it all came down to Denise and I think she made the right call. If she voted out Angie, she’d be left with Roxy and Russell, who are a pair, and Malcolm, who would feel betrayed. She could very easily be the next one out. By voting out Roxy, she’s eliminating a weak player and also ensuring that if the tribe loses again, Russell is more likely to be voted out than her. Then she can deal with the Malcolm/Angie situation – the tribes could be merged into two by then.

Cookie Monster

Tribal Council was pretty quick, but one incident merits discussion. Probst asked Roxy what she’d like to change about the tribe, and Roxy essentially said that everyone works too hard around camp. I sighed and rolled my eyes, because Roxy had developed a reputation for being lazy around camp and it’s moronic of her to draw attention to that at Tribal Council. And like Denise said, in order to succeed at challenges they need things like firewood and water. Roxy herself had refused to run twice in the challenge because she hadn’t had enough water to drink.

The Probst asked Angie the same question, and she hummed and hawed and then replied with “cookies would be good”. Yes, it was a stupid answer. She looked like a total dumb blond. But Probst tore into her! Honestly, I thought it was cruel. I often find Jeff Probst to be rather sexist in his dealings with Survivor contestants, and I feel like this was an example of that. OK, so maybe Angie’s answer was dumb. But maybe that was a decision. Maybe she didn’t want to give a real answer that would piss other people off. Maybe she just wanted to say something ditzy and inoffensive like “cookies” so that no one would, oh I don’t know, vote her out.

Or maybe she’s a moron. That’s entirely possible as well. But I thought Probst went over the line.

Alright, what did y’all think of the episode? Should it have been Angie or Roxy?