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by Jim Van Nest Published: October 4, 2002
NOT SUCH A HAPPY FAMILY AFTER ALL So we start off in Chuay Gahn after voting off a second member and Clay is telling us what a family this tribe has become and losing these challenges is only making them stronger. Ghandia discusses how much she misses her husband and how happy she is that Ted is there. It's kinda like having her husband there. And besides, he's so good to hug. Oh, he is, is he? Very interesting considering what happens a little later. Over at Sook Jai, things seem to be just the opposite. Stephanie is still sleeping by the fire. According to Robb, everyone is getting very weak and drained from lack of food. They have the fishing net but can't seem to figure out how to use it. Jed and Stephanie or Robb out fishing all the time and they only manage to catch one fish. So, they cooked it and ate it. Shii Ann discusses how the tribe is just not very good at surviving, or camping or anything necessary for this portion of the game. So, we come back to Chuay Gahn early the next morning and Ghandia is telling us how tired and depressed she is. She didn't get much sleep last night because in the middle of the night, Ted put his arm around her and started "grinding up against her." She felt like he was trying to engage her. Now, both of them are married, so you can see the kind of situation this becomes. I mean, that's pretty darn disrespectful to both his wife and family and to Ghandia and her husband. So, first thing, Ghandia confronts him about this. He very much back peddles on the issue. He's very quick to offer an apology and say that it will never happen again. His excuse is that it was the middle of the night, he was half asleep and put his arm around a woman sleeping next to him and in a half-awake, half-asleep haze thought he was with his wife. He admitted to doing it. He never denied doing it. All he did was give an explanation and apologize profusely at least 3 to 4o times. He says it's best that he not hug her anymore and to keep his distance. She is very grateful for his apology and forgives him. Writer's aside: Just to throw in here, in case you don't watch the show, and just check out this column...in my opinion, his apology was VERY sincere. Also, while some people may think his excuse was BS, I don't. How many times have you sorta woken up in the middle of the night and forgotten where you are? How many times have you been in that exact kind of "fog" that Ted mentions where you're just out of sorts? I mean, they've only been there for 6 nights at this juncture. I can very much see how he would be out of it and just assume that this is a night like any other. He's at home, in bed with his wife lying next to him. Maybe he's lying, but I bought his excuse and I think he's sincere. REWARD CHALLENGE #2 It seems to me that we got to the reward challenge awful quick this episode. But given what happens the rest of the way, I can certainly understand why. Anyway, this challenge is very easy to understand and watch, but very difficult to explain, so please bear with me, while I sort this out. Ok, first Jeff explains to everyone that as recently as 1960, the island they're on was inhabited by pirates. So, it is in that spirit that the next challenge was created. In the ocean they have set up a bamboo course. At both ends sit 2 boats. One for each tribe on each end. On one end, the boats are filled with baskets. The other boats are empty. The idea is to navigate the bamboo course from your empty boat to the other tribe's full boat and take one item from them and bring it back to your empty boat. First team to "steal" 10 baskets wins. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, that's only part of the rules. There cannot be more than 2 people from one tribe on the course at one time. You can only bring back one item at a time. If you fall in the water, you have to go back and wait for your next turn. If you were carrying a basket when you fell, tough rocks, it's gone. And the capper is right in the center of the course. A black section outlined in gold is the "attack zone." If you are in this area, you can knock someone from the other tribe off and set their team back. The catch to this is, if you initiate contact and are not in this area, you are out of the game. Not only are you out, but one of the baskets in your boat, gets transferred to the other team. The reward this time...the services of 2 Thai soldiers (Red Berets, to be exact) who will spend 24 hours with your tribe teaching you to live off the land. How to build a shelter. What's edible and what isn't. Basically, they will give you every bit of information you could possibly need to survive out on this island. Since Sook Jai is 2 people up, Erin and Jake sit this one out. Ok, this goes pretty quick and I lost a little track of who scores what and when sometimes, but trust me, I got all the important stuff. Stephanie and Clay start it off for their respective teams, followed by Jed and Ted. Ted takes about 4 steps and falls off. Back to the beginning with you. Clay gets a basket and he falls in. Back to the beginning with you. Meanwhile, Jed and Stephanie have both made it back with a basket. Sook Jai (SJ from now on) 2, Chuay Gahn (CG from now on) 0. CG finally gets on the board, but Robb and Ken make it through in a breeze for a 4-2 SJ lead. And finally, we have our first confrontation in the middle. Robb is heading back with a basket, and Ted has gotten down on all fours right in the path. Robb mumbles something unintelligible (but likely ending in 'dude') and charges. Ted brushes him aside like he's nothing. In the meantime, both teams have scored again and it's 5-3 SJ. Then Shii Ann tries to take on Brian and he dumps her in a heartbeat. Penny and Brian score to make SJ's lead 6-4. As easily as Brian threw Shii Ann, Ken dumps Brian overboard as 2 more come in for SJ. 8-4 now...looking like an easy victory for SJ. But then the bottom falls out. Fresh off his destruction of Brian, Ken takes a shot at Helen knocking her overboard. Problem is, he had stepped back out of the attack zone. Ken is gone for the duration of the challenge, and CG is now trailing 7-5. Then it's like the domino effect. Robb grabs Clay by the throat and flings the small man likes he's nothing. However, Robb wasn't in the box either. He's gone. And just like that, we're all tied up at 6. Ted then throws Stephanie off, and before she swims back, she trips him and takes him down. She's gone and all of a sudden, CG is up 7-5. After Ted takes out Shii Ann, Brian and Jed meet up in the middle. Brian begins to charge, Jed does also...however, when they actually collide, Brian is in the zone and Jed isn't. So that makes it 8-4 CG, with Stephanie, Ken, Robb and Jed all out for SJ. At this point, you can tell that Probst is beginning to get pissed. The rules were pretty frickin simple and 4 people have had to be disqualified. Penny and Shii Ann are the only ones left for SJ. And I could be wrong, but I don't think they got even one more basket. Clay crossed the line with # 10 and Chuay Gahn went nuts! IN WHICH ROBB AND GHANDIA MAKE THEMSELVES LOOK LIKE IDIOTS So, we're back at a really bummed out Sook Jai camp. And Robb is just going off. Clay's a whiny little punk and they didn't lose to a better team, they lost to some rules, dude. For about 15 minutes or more, Robb runs his mouth about losing this challenge. Shii Ann was very annoyed by it. And Ken was looking at him like he had some sort of problem. And at Chuay Gahn, the Red Berets have landed. These guys are good. Apparently they are the Thai equivalent of our Green Berets. They are quick to show the tribe everything they can eat in their surroundings, and amazingly enough, it's quite a bit. They are also the masters of making utensils and bowls out of coconuts and bamboo. As a precursor to the explosion to come, Brian is heard talking about what a family this tribe has become and how well they all get along and how nice and genuine everyone is. As he finishes up his statement, we see and hear Ghandia telling Helen and Jan all about the incident with Ted. She's actually trying to drum up support to get rid of him the next time they vote. Now, keep in mind, a few hours earlier, she was so happy that he didn't deny his action sand apologized for it and everything was cool. Now, she's "had time to think about it" and has decided that she doesn't believe his apology/excuse and is going to start trashing him to the rest of the tribe. For that matter, as she's explaining the incident to the other women, she doesn't bother to tell them about her conversation with Ted earlier in the day. Could be me, but that seems like a pretty big piece of the story to just, you know, leave out. And back at Snooze Jai, I mean, Sook Jai, everyone is sleeping. Again. Seems like that's about all they do. Anyway, Jed is the first to wake and he realizes that the fishing net doesn't seem to be in sight. He wakes up Robb and they begin looking for it. According to Jed, he delegated his duties to someone before he went to sleep. One of those duties was keeping an eye on the net. They had the idea of leaving the net in the water for several hours to see if that would help them catch something. So, when Erin, Shii Ann and Penny get back from fig gathering adventure, Jake gives them the good news about the fishing net. Of course, first thing they do is blame Jed. Shii Ann is especially blasting him for it. As we see Jed and Robb in the ocean giving up the search, the Survivor cameraman got a great shot over Jed's shoulder. About 50 feet out, you could see the net floating. If only he'd have looked out to sea, he would have seen it. Course, they weren't catching anything with it, so how important was it really? And back at Chuay Gahn, here we are 8 days in and Helen just now realized she's on a game show. She was so concerned about surviving, that she forgot about the game. Amazingly enough, she proved that she's a quick study. With her new knowledge of the Ted/Ghandia thing, she goes to Brian to try to recruit a 4th person against Ted. Helen tells him that the next time they vote, they're taking Ted out. Ya know, I'm not even there and I know that Brian and Ted are getting pretty tight. Hell, I only see 52 minutes of footage out of every 72 hours spent out there. How hard is it to see these things? Not surprisingly, Brian refuses to pass any judgment on Ted until he talks to him. So, Brian sets off to get Ted's side of the story. Ted doesn't want to go into details, but breaks it down by saying that a mistake happened and he rectified it. So Brian says, "So nothing happened then?" Ted says, "That's right." Well, bad move, Ted. At first he says something happened and he fixed it...but Brian left the conversation with the memory of Ted saying nothing happened. So, Brian goes back to Helen and tells her that Ted said nothing happened. And in another show of brilliance by a Survivor, Brian is actually surprised when Helen goes straight to Ghandia. For crying out loud, what's wrong with these people? This is basic 3rd grade mentality at its best. Anyway, so Helen tells Ghandia that Ted is denying anything ever happened and naturally Ghandia is pissed. She goes running down to the beach where she basically throws a temper tantrum. She screams, is hitting a log and throwing large rocks into the water. With this, she now has the entire tribe's attention. They had been busy getting everything they could out of the Red Berets. So, it's time for the Ted and Ghandia confrontation, part deux. Ted calls the entire tribe together as he wants there to be no mistakes about what happened. So Ted goes through the story. How he was half asleep and began to grind on Ghandia. How he realized very quickly that he wasn't at home and she wasn't his wife and he stopped. He then mentioned the apology conversation they had earlier, which I know was news to some of them. However, over the course of the day, Ghandia's story has changed. Now, not only was he grinding on her, but he was nibbling on her back, and kissing her back and running his fingers through her weave...er, hair. Now that he flatly denies. Also, all of a sudden, she doesn't believe his excuse and doesn't really accept his apology. Ya know, just a few hours earlier when it was just the two of them, she was crying and telling him how important it was to her and how hearing him say those things was just great. Now she doesn't believe them at all. So to end the little meeting, Ted apologizes again, in front of and to everyone in the tribe. Writer's aside: Not sure how this will go over, but I have to say something. Sexual harassment in any form in any setting is absolutely appalling. However, I find falsely accusing someone of sexual harassment just as appalling. I truly believe what Ted said. I don't think he meant to do what he did and had he been all the way awake, he wouldn't have. I'm sure of that. But that's not the part that really bugs me about this whole thing. What bothers me is that they talked it out, he apologized, she accepted and everything was cool. Hell, if you ask me, he's an awfully big man to admit what he did at all knowing his wife will be seeing it. At this point the situation was over. But, fearing for her own existence on the show, she chose to take back her forgiveness and punk him out to the rest of the tribe. And without giving him a chance to voice his side of the story. What bothered me about that was that she specifically left out the whole apology conversation. How can the other tribe members make an educated decision without all of the facts? They can't. And in my estimation, that's exactly the way she wanted it to be. And with one quick stop at Sook Jai before the Immunity Challenge, Erin hints at the fact that many members of her tribe are kinda ready to go to Tribal Council and boot some of these folks off. IMMUNITY CHALLENGE #3 This immunity challenge is simple enough. It's a logic puzzle. Each team has a setup of 3 platforms. On one of the platforms stands a little temple. Each temple is broken into 6 pieces, getting larger as they get closer to the bottom. The object is to move the puzzle from one platform to another. The catches are, you can only move one piece at a time and that a larger piece can at no time sit on a smaller piece. Ken and Penny sit this one out. And they're off. The Chuay Gahn team takes off as a team. Everyone giving suggestions. For Sook Jai, Jed pretty much takes over. Problem is, Jed isn't very good with logic puzzles, it seems. This tribe never really got it moving and Chuay Gahn pretty much blew them away on this one from the get-go. Just goes to show ya what a little teamwork can do. SO, WHO WILL IT BE? For the first time, the Sook jai tribe will be making the trek to Tribal Council and voting someone out of the game. Robb is extremely pissed that he's lost 2 challenges in a row. After he calms down, he starts talking to people about booting Shii Ann. He starts with Jed and then moves on to Ken. Ken doesn't agree about Shii Ann and seriously feels like Jed didn't do enough work and is really lazy. Erin suggests that the tribe really needs some harmony or unity. TRIBAL COUNCIL So after we do the ceremonial lighting of the torches, Jeff sits down to get to know the Sook Jai tribe. His first question goes to Shii Ann and he asks her what's been the biggest surprise to her. She says the lack of food. Oh and the lack of help with the shelter. (Had to get that dig in there.) His next question was for Robb and was really good. He asked Robb what his role in the tribe was. Robb said he felt like he was the happy-go-lucky kid who was trying to keep everyone's spirits up. Then Stephanie was asked if the food situation is something that could end up dividing the tribe. She said it's possible considering the bad moods people have been in lately. Everyone's been pretty grouchy. Last question is for team captain, Jake. He basically got the "how hard will it be to vote someone out" question. And he takes the typical answer of it will be tough as he loves them all so much. But he's going to use his strategy and just go on up there and vote. We only get to see 2 of the 8 votes. Ken casts his vote for Jed saying that if he would have done half of the work he tried to delegate to other people, this vote wouldn't be necessary. Robb casts his vote in typical Robb fashion, by making absolutely no sense at all. He voted for Shii Ann because she gets on his nerves, but he says she's a real sweetheart. Huh?? Is she on your nerves, or is she a sweetheart...dude. Ken, Erin, Jake, Shii Ann and Penny all voted for Jed. While Jed, Stephanie and Robb all voted for Shii Ann. Which means, Dr. Jed is the first Sook Jai voted out of Survivor: Thailand. This week's QotW was quite easy. It came from our old buddy Clay. While Ghandia was down at the beach throwing her temper tantrum, Clay was more than a little annoyed. In fact, here's what he had to say, "Ghandia's gonna go down to the beach and cry, holler and carry on. My 2 year-old did that one time, I whooped its ass and put it back in bed." Well said, Clay. Well said. Predictions Ok, so the pick of John to go first can now be looked at as sheer luck. This week my predicted winner met his demise. Oh well, this is a good thing, I think, as it shows that not everything changes. Some things do stay the same. And one of them is that I suck at predicting this game. Becca: Wrong Ghandia! Wrong Ted! I wish theyd just explain what the words nothing happened meant to each of them in front of the group. Both their stories were, and I heard this word enough tonight, disingenuous. Watching Ghandia and Ted tonight was depressing. What was MB thinking when he allowed those particular conversations to air? Initially, I was annoyed at him for doing so. Well, its understandable considering that this incident is a pivotal one thats most likely going to affect the tribes dynamics. In the preview column, I indicated that Ted might be a reckless person with people, which could be his downfall in the game, but he did apologize and wants to move on. On the other hand, Ghandia does not seem to want to move on and her tribe may soon grow tired of her issues. Clay already is. Speaking of Clay, hes still looking good, but Im worried about the possibility of him being in a tribe with Robb later. Robb is always gonna be after his throat, it seems. How surprised I am to find myself quietly cheering Brian on right now! What a surprise hes turned out to be so far. Im keeping a big eye on this clever wolf in sheeps clothing. Anyway, Chuay Gahn was great during the reward challenge, especially seeing Teds good moves, so he is safe from the next vote. For the second time in a row, Im predicting that Ghandia will be the next to go on CG because she again seems to be the obvious choice for them. I dont believe that CG will continue their winning streak and although they may get another reward challenge, theyll lose the immunity challenge next time. Jed, Jed, Jed. Ill cherish the initial misconceptions I had about him. I almost included him in my final 4. Whew! Jed could not win this immunity challenge on his own. The tribe sabotaged the challenge, as they were eager to get to Tribal Council already to vote someone off. Could it be the person who lost the fishing net and kept to himself mostly? Duh! They all looked like fools during the reward challenge. How could you not laugh after hearing Jeff Probst announce every 5 seconds that one of them wasnt in the Zone? That was rich! Stephanies physical health seems to have improved. She had the strength to pull Ted in the water, although her brain cells havent caught up in the get-well area yet. Im wondering when Im going to see more of Penny, Ken, Jake, and Erin. I especially would like to see more of Ken please. Robb and Stephanie arent in synch with the rest of the tribe and they therefore seem likely to leave soon. Im not going there. If Sook Jai should lose the immunity challenge, Im predicting again that Penny will go. She doesnt give me the impression that she has connected well with any of them and its bothering me. Plus, since her looks reminds me of Elisabeth and Neleh, its a rare chance that shell go far as well. Jakey: Ok, so here we are after 3 episodes and 3 of the people who I selected for final 4 are toast. Am I happy? Hell yes! Finally tonight justice was done. The pompous preppie snot, Jed, got his just desserts for his laziness. This guy never had a clue did he? The Immunity Challenge was priceless entertainment. To watch the so called backwoods hick lead the Chewie tribe through the puzzle while fumbling frat boy was spinning his gears as his Sookie mates let him swing in the wind was classic! Just remembering the look on his face will make me chuckle throughout the week. Erin called the set up and Shii Ann was hilarious in her description of the puzzle. It was a good move on Sookies part to throw the challenge and lose the deadwood and an extra mouth to feed. Jeds behavior in the reward challenge also cost the tribe but more importantly his losing of the fishing net sealed his fate. So the delegating ditzy dentist got deleted! How delicious! Seeing the votes at tribal council it looks like the tribe has definitely settled on an alliance with Robb and Stephanie out of the loop and in the lineup for bootee barracks. The sooner the better as far as Im concerned. Stephanie has turned out to be a total sourpuss while Robb has reverted to his dudester lingo and limited mentality. Watching his behavior tonight made me think of how nice it would be to put this knuckle dragger in a room with Hannibal "the Cannibal" and see how long this skateboarding turkey would last. Now for the Chewie tribe and their Drama! YUCK! Who needs that crap? I cant say much about it. It was/is a he said she said issue involving some very serious allegations. I will say however that perhaps Ghandia has gone over the edge in the drama department and this could very well be her downfall should they lose the next Immunity challenge. The reward challenge was different, allowing the possibility of physical contact between opponents. This time the Sookie tribe blew a big lead by the stupid overly aggressive tactics of the "brat pack Jed, Robb and Stephanie, leading to the Chewies winning the services of 2 red berets. How much the tribe learned from the red berets remains to be seen as it seems more time and attention was spent on the Ghandia/Ted drama then on the 1001 ways to use bamboo that the berets were trying to impart. Looks like this tribe will have to deal with the Ghandia/Ted situation and the next Tribal Council could see Ghandia gone. I would put Brian out for inventing the word Genuineinity.' HUH?? But that is just me. The sight that will also remain with me for a long time is that of Shii Ann crouched over fearlessly confronting Ted in the reward challenge! Dang I like her style!! Also, Erin continues to impress me on many fronts----errthat doesnt sound right but what I mean is she has come to play also and should be good to make the merge. Now for next week-----will there be a switch? Will the dummy at Chewie tribe be replaced with a Sookie member to even out the tribes, or is the dummy just for that lame carry a wounded person challenge? Hmmmmm. Will Sookie lose another challenge and dump Robb or Stephanie? Stephanie I think will go first----Playboy here she comes! Will we ever hear from Jan? Helloooooo are ya there Jan?!?!?!? Cheers! Below you'll find an up-to-date vote counter. And if you have any questions, comments, complaints or compliments for me or becca and Jakey, please feel free to drop me a line anytime! Keep an eye out for the S-Ratings right here at The Trades. This is where a panel of Survivor Expert Wannabes all give their thoughts on who will be the next person voted out of Survivor: Thailand. Until then, take care and God Bless.
Survivor: Thailand Recaps at The Trades: Preview | Ep 1 | Ep 2 | Ep 3 The S-Ratings at The Trades: Episode 2 | Episode 3 On the Internet: CBS.com | SirLinksalot.net | SurvivorNews.net |
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