“That was nice of you. And a mistake.”
Those were important words, what Lisa’s brother Justice told her on the beach during Survivor this week. Hearing from her brother, a person who knows her in real life, that it’s OK to play a hardcore game of Survivor, was what Lisa needed to set her mind right. No more Mrs. Nice Lady – Lisa is a fan of the game, she came to play, and she finally gave herself permission to do it.
So of course, the fact that Lisa was getting advice from her baby bro (who I may or may not have a crush on now) meant that this week was family visit week! Always a good time. Before that, though, we got a dose of foreshadowing when Abi told Carter that people would want to keep her around over him. She was right – the closer to the end we get, the more desirable it becomes for people to keep around a toxic presence like Abi Maria.
Mudslinging
Everyone always gets 
really emotional when their family members come to visit, and this group was no exception. Lisa ugly cried, Denise jumped into her tall husband’s arms like a tiny monkey, and even Malcolm’s strange brother Miles teared up a bit when he met the one and only Jeff Probst.
The Reward Challenge relied heavily on the skills of the loved one, begging the question “Who would you bring?” Obviously, I would have to either bring my mom or my fiance Rob. The advantage to bringing Rob would be that he’d be better at helping me actually in the challenge. But I think I’d have to bring my mom because she’s such a major Survivor fan. Rob will have to be satisfied with his role as my hopefully not hypothetical The Amazing Race: Canada partner.
OK, so in the challenge, the player had to throw mud-covered bags to their partner, who would then catch the bag and throw it to try and knock a pin off a pedestal. I knew immediately which teams would be contenders, and Abi and her mama weren’t one of them. That was just sad. Malcolm and Miles ultimately won, and he chose Lisa to also get to bring her loved one back to camp. His second choice surprised me – I thought he’d choose Denise, but Malcolm is too smart for that. Instead he took Skupin. Those are two votes from the jury if Malcolm plans on sitting next to Denise in the finals.
As the other loved ones left, Skupin repeatedly said “One heck of a guy!” to Carter’s mom. Seriously? What have we not been seeing about this kid? Why do people like him? I mean, I’m sure he’s fine. But he has barely appeared on screen this season and when he does I fall asleep.
Fresh Eyes
As discussed earlier, once everyone was back at camp, Justice gave Lisa some crucial advice. I’d love to see this guy play the game, actually. I loved how into the game he got, orchestrating with Lisa and Skupin for them to vote Malcolm out. His idea wasn’t original – people have been talking about voting Malcolm out for weeks now. He’s too likable to keep around, and he has an Immunity Idol.
Now, here’s an interesting question: In the plan to vote out Malcolm, they were counting on votes from Abi and Carter. Otherwise it would have been a 3-3 split. Would Carter have voted out Malcolm? He made such a stink about being voted out over Abi, who is less deserving of anything in life, but I think he would have done the exact same thing had he had the chance.
Stick It To The Man
I knew Malcolm des
perately needed to win the Immunity Challenge this week – if he didn’t, he might not have known to play his Hidden Immunity Idol at Tribal Council and I really didn’t want to see him get voted out. It was a close challenge, too – various people were ahead at different points in the challenge.
First, everyone had to fish backs of sticks out of the water with a hook. Then they had to swim ashore and assemble the sticks into a pole, which would be used to push a button and raise a flag. It was an exciting challenge with a lot of room for error and, indeed, Malcolm did finally come out on top. I can’t believe this was his first Individual Immunity win. But the challenges this season have been varied and the competition has been stiff.
As soon as Malcolm won, I made a note that the smart move would be to take out Carter. The kid is too likable, and wins too many Immunity Challenges. This was the chance.
Threat in the game vs. Threat to everyone’s sanity
Everyone was pretty much on the up-and-up when it came to the voting – Skupin and Malcolm were honest with Carter and told him that he was being considered for no other reason than being a threat in the game. I love how this season has gone and I have really enjoyed these players…but I wish they weren’t quite so apologetic. Yes, it sucks to vote out a nice dude over a crazy bitch. But that’s Survivor! That’s the game you signed up for.
Carter asked Skupin and Malcolm to keep him out of respect for the game, which was really all he could do, and then he let them continue their discussion. And later, as everyone sat around camp, Abi managed to simultaneously make the best argument for why she should stay and why she should be voted out. She really is just awful to be around, and everyone wants her gone. But everyone also knows that that’s exactly why they should keep her around. Even Malcolm admitted that he knows the strategic decision is to vote out Carter, but he just hates Abi so much that he was considering voting for her.
Abi’s little play with the fake Immunity Idol was so heavy-handed and cheesy that I knew no one would buy it. But it was worth a shot, I guess.
At Tribal Council, the tension between Abi and Denise continued (thanks to Probst stirring it up a little) and I thought it was pretty clear that everyone was very much playing the game – therefore, Carter would be going home. I was right, and I was glad. Carter was one of the few boring characters on this season, bland but not unlikable. He easily could have won his way into the finals if he wasn’t voted out now, and I would have been disappointed if the other players hadn’t taken advantage of this opportunity.
Now, with five left in the game, things are going to get REALLY interesting. Abi is hateful, but she’s now an incredibly important swing vote. I’d be shocked if she didn’t make it into the final three, and I won’t be surprised at all if she’s sitting in the final two. Here’s how it could go down:
Option one: Malcolm plays his Immunity Idol, anyone other than Denise wins the challenge, Lisa, Skupin and Abi vote Denise out.
Option two: Malcolm plays his Immunity Idol, Denise wins the Immunity challenge, Abi is voted out.
Option three: Malcolm wins the challenge, he gives his Immunity Idol to Denise, Abi is voted out.
Of course, there are more than three options. But Abi really seems to hate Denise, and Denise seems pretty committed to taking deserving players to the end. Would Abi really team up with Malcolm and Denise to vote out either Lisa or Skupin? It seems like a more unlikely situation. There are only two episodes left, and I. Can’t. Wait.
What do you guys think?
Can I just say how idiotic it was for Abi to keep going on about that Idol? Really? Does she honestly believe people would buy that her advantage that she bought was a once in three chance at that Immunity Challenge PLUS a clue to the Idol on top of that? Really? I almost felt embarrassed for her.
Also, I can’t get over how amazing Malcolm and Denise are. I loved the Harry Potter reference! It will be so very frustrating if Denise is voted out before Abi. I was sad she wasn’t voted out now, although I know it’s best Carter got voted out now.
She really oversold it, it was pretty embarrassing. But she has no shame.
I forgot to mention the Harry Potter reference, so awesome! Another reason to love Malcolm.
I AM SO PUMPED haha. I’m really glad they kept Abi around – although with Carter gone she how has zero chance to win.
I’d like to see a Lisa/Abi or Lisa/Skupin final two, and I really want Lisa to win this season. She’s played a good game I think, she’s obviously made many mistakes, but if she’s able to successfully make moves in the next few weeks she’ll definitely deserve it.
I’m actually really disappointed that Malcolm won immunity, I find myself rooting against him for some reason, so even though I like Denise I’d like option one to happen because I don’t want Malcolm to make it to the end.
I’m rooting for Malcolm and Denise, but I wouldn’t be disappointed with Lisa winning. I agree, she has made mistakes but overall I’ve liked her game.
This episode was just brilliant! I really loved the “loved ones” challenge, and I actually thought for a few seconds that it would have been better if Justice had come to play instead of Lisa. I’m kinda sad that there won’t be a final two, I have to admit that when I discovered Survivor I preferred the final three over the original format because there would be a strong possibility of a final with a well-liked player and a hated one (and thus, a boring votation), but after researching Survivor history and past seasons, I have to say that the final two has grown on me. That makes for a THRILLING final Immunity Challenge.
All the theories I had made up involved a final two (and most of them were involving a Skupin/Lisa, Skupin/Abi or Lisa/Abi kind of scenery) now have to be adapted to a final three format. I think that if they managed to bear Abi’s antics for 33 days, they will realize they can do it for six more days. It all comes down to the next IC, where Denise/Malcolm HAVE to win otherwise she’ll probably be the next to go. If Denise wins, well, Malcolm can’t be voted out, so unless Lisa betrays Skupin (and no matter what her brother told her, she will never do it) or viceversa, I think Abi will be the next to go. Then there is another IC which is probably even more significant, but I guess I’ll tell you my opinion after the next episode, because the game is so open that making predictions about what can happen in two episodes’ time is kinda pointless.
I loved the Harry Potter reference made by Malcolm, too! My mother and I literally burst out clapping after that! I’m not really sad about the elimination of Carter. He seems to be a nice guy; hell, he probably IS a nice guy in real life, and probably that is the reason he was seen as such a target, because he was generally seen as a very likable guy. No one ever mentioned that he probably didn’t play the game at all, apart from physical challenges where he was an obvious threat (I love the fact that his Ponderosa interview was shot in front of gym equipment, by the way.)
So much as happened, that it makes for an EXTREMELY EXCITING final of the season. My money is on Lisa to win the whole thing, we’ve seen her FAR too much, but deep in my heart I’m still rooting for Skupin. Congratulations (by now it kind of goes without saying) for the wonderful recap!
I still wonder if maybe there will be a final two. The numbers really seem to suggest there would be. I can’t wait for the final two episodes!
I haven’t been commenting but definitely been reading your recap about Survivor!
Such a difference between the competition on here and TAR, eh? Malcom is a strong competitor that I think that (IF) it’s him/Denise in the final 2 he’ll get the edge and win over her.
I’m hoping that it is, but that’s because I haven’t seen any strategy from Lisa/Skupin, plenty of camera time though. Twice she’s (once her brother!) had a grand plan to get Malcom kicked off, neither time worked and then she just ho-hummed, and went with the general consensus to remove someone else, didn’t try anything else I guess is my complaint.
With Abi having such a hate for Denise, I can’t see those two + Malc working together at all so if there’s going to be a top 3 with Abi it’ll be with the other two I agree.
Also: Was it just me, or was there almost no camera time for Malc’s brother compared to Lisa & Skupin? Just because the latter two talked strategy I guess?
Thanks so much for reading!
I was also surprised at how little screen time Malcolm’s brother got, especially because the previews suggested that he’d put Malcolm’s game in jeopardy. But instead it was Lisa’s brother that did that.
I agree with you about Abi, but she seemed to like Malcolm so I still wonder if maybe he can convince her to vote with them.
I loved how Abi thinks that the reason no one likes her is because she’s too honest, when she’s repeatedly shown to not enjoy hearing everyone’s honest opinion of her. But my favourite part was when Lisa and Skupin were having that big serious talk, and Skupin interrupted her to say “Look at the size of that ant on that tree!” What? Malcolm’s Harry Potter reference was pretty awesome as well. This season has been the best.
I know, Abi is so quick to flatter herself. She can’t admit people think she’s rude so she has to say she’s just being honest.
I can’t believe I forgot to mention “Look at the size of that ant on that tree!” it was hilarious.
I love the “4″ alliance! I would be happy to see any of them win. Malcolm and Denise have impressed me by how far they’ve come after having a rough start in their original tribe. Lisa’s strategies don’t always seem to pan out, but who knows, maybe next week she’ll have her moment! I’m interested to find out how everyone will react when they find out her “Facts of Life” identity. Skupin is a strong player and likeable, so it’s a tough call! Abi just needs to go home next week…and watch, she’ll probably end up winning immunity yet again.
Can’t wait til next week!!!
You’re right, as long as Abi doesn’t win it will be a pretty decent outcome no matter what!