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by Jim Van Nest Published: December 13, 2002
SCHEMES, SKATES AND MIRRORS So the show starts with Jan marking off the 34th day on the island. And we hear Helen saying that Day 12 was the last time they had to vote a CG out of the game. Been a long time and now is when the game really starts. Full speed ahead. Brian is talking about how the best "skater" will win this thing. The person that can "skate" around the obstacles and other players and can essentially turn on them and not look bad for doing it is the person that will succeed in this game. And so we get the first dose of tree mail that didn't signal a challenge. Clay goes over and finds a full length mirror standing there, along with framed pictures of everyone right before the game began. They can't believe how much weight they've lost. Especially Ted and Clay. In fact, they're so impressed by it, they hog the entire mirror hardly giving Jan or Helen a chance to look. And let the scheming begin. We start with Ted talking to Brian, making sure they're still "in play." Brian tells him yes, but that he doesn't know what the others are thinking and that this may turn into an every man for himself situation. Ted notices the wavering on Brian’s part and starts to wonder if their bond is as strong as he thought it was. Then during a lazy moment, Tad and Helen are writing each other notes in the sand. Ted writes BHT and then puts a J underneath it...as if to suggest that they keep Jan with them and dump Clay. Helen responds with "What does he do?" She was referring to the fact that Clay does absolutely nothing around the camp and hasn't from day one. Helen and Ted definitely seem on the same page on this one. REWARD CHALLENGE # 11 So, Jeff shows up for this challenge driving a brand new Chevy Trailblazer, tells the folks to hop in and then goes on to tell them that this is what they're playing for. But that's not all. They're also playing for a day at the spa, a massage and a Thai feast. The challenge, is to collect and unscramble 8 letters into two words that when put together spell out an activity. The letters are hidden throughout a race/obstacle course. They're standing on the first letter. They they'll head to a trough filled with dozens of tiles, most of which have Thai letters on them. They need to find the English letter and move to the next step. That step is a flagpole where a letter is tied up. Untie the knot, the letter falls and you're on your way to the cargo net. Climb the net, get your letter and move on to the hidden letters tied up in the trees. These letters are wrapped in silk and you have to keep picking one until you get an English letter. The 6th letter is at the end of a long rope. There are 17 ropes and only 5 letters. Each of the 5 letters has a key attached to it. So you pull a rope until you get the English letter and the key and you're on to the second to last stop. This stop is a treasure chest with 2 letters at the bottom of it. Once you find those letters, you come back to an easel and unscramble them. First person to have 2 words that describe an activity win the reward. Whew....got all that? Writer's aside: I just want to point out that both challenges this week involve a whole helluva lot of set-up for very little payoff. This reward challenge was pretty stupid and the immunity challenge may be the dumbest ever. But more on that later. So the race begins and every one of these lunkheads take off running completely forgetting the letter that they were standing on. And even after Jeff repeats himself about 5 times, some folks are still running. Finally everyone gets on the same page and Helen, Clay, Ted and Brian leave Jan in the dust. Not too long after, Clay and Brian take a lead. Brian and Clay get to the unscrambling at about the same time followed by Helen and Ted. Brian's on the move (like he needs another frickin car) and hollers to Jeff that he has it. His words are: R A O D T R I P. Jeff asks him, "What are you spelling." Rather loudly, Brian replies, "Road trip." Jeff tells him no and after hearing that Ted puts his letters together and wins the challenge. Of course, what's the use of having a nice dinner, massage and some wine without having to invite someone else? So, Ted says this person saved him in an immunity challenge and that he owes her. So he takes Helen. WHAT? TED DOESN'T DRINK? OH GEEZ! So, they're barely in the car for 5 seconds and Ted starts talking to Helen about how they're going to vote. He’s telling her that he thinks they need to get Jan with them to dump Clay. Helen goes on about how lazy Clay is and how he does nothing at camp. She also mentions that Jan doesn't like Clay either. So they arrive at their destination and awaiting them is a huge Thai feast including 5 bottles of wine. Now Ted, who has lost 60 pounds on the show, fills his plate like the old 310 pound Ted. He doesn't even get through half of it before he gets full. We also learn that neither Ted nor Helen are drinkers, yet they have 5 bottles of wine. Hmmmm...Can anyone guess what happens next? Meanwhile, back at camp, Clay is pissed off that he didn't win the challenge. Writer's aside: Why is Clay pissed off? He wasn't in any danger of winning. For crying out loud, Brian figured the dumb thing out...he just arranged his letters wrong in the excitement of it. Clay gets more and more on my nerves every show. The guy has done absolutely nothing to earn his place on this show, yet continues to think he deserves everything. And handed to him on a silver platter, no doubt. He's quickly moving up my list of most annoying Survivors ever. What a putz! Brian is then mentioning that he wishes he didn't say it out loud...I guess not. Then in confessional Brian says something that I find odd. He says he thinks Ted should thank him for 'giving' him the truck in the immunity challenge. I mean, sure he kinda did give it to him, but it's not like he TRIED to give it to him. Do you have to thank someone for accidentally helping you, ever though they were specifically trying NOT to help you? Anyway, so then Brian, Jan and Clay are talking about what Helen and Ted could be planning on the reward. To which Brian responds that he trusts Helen 100% and that he thinks Helen knows what needs to be done. 2 bottles of wine later, Ted is rip-roaring drunk. He's hollering and making a complete joke of himself. Writer's aside: Apparently Ted is a chatty drunk. I mean, he doesn't shut up. While Helen's taking a shower, he's talking. While Helen's getting her massage and he's taking a shower, he's talking. While he's getting his massage, he's talking. While Helen's trying to go to sleep, he's talking. This guy would have annoyed me to no end. He may be a big boy, but I still might have had to try to knock him out. He was THAT bad. At which point we find out how cool Helen really is. She was annoyed as much as any of us would have been, but her thought was that this is his reward, and she's not going to spoil it for him. And Helen and Ted arrive back in camp bearing gifts. They brought back two thermos' full of food and the last 3 bottles of wine. The gang wasted no time heating and eating that food. Ted was noticing quite a bit of envy/jealousy from Clay over the reward. He expected it and really doesn't care. So, while the guys play some post meal golf, Helen fulfills her promise to Ted by talking to Jan about the vote. Jan seems kinda wishy washy on it, and Helen reiterates to her how important it is to vote as a block or you never know what could happen. Writer's aside: It's at this point that Jan says the most intelligent and observant thing she's said all show. They're talking about Brian and Clay and she says she thinks there's a reason Brian keeps Clay so close to him. "You keep your friends close, and your enemies closer." Way to go, Jan! You really are playing this game. Up til now, I don't think anyone was actually sure. So, Brian and Helen head out in the canoe on a water run and she retells the day at the reward. She mentions how Ted kinda made an idiot out of himself. And how she listened to him and basically said, "Yeah, yeah, yeah" to everything he said. Brian is telling us that it's possible that Helen could be playing him, but he really doesn't think so. He says she respects him a great deal, that he's brought her along and that she owes him and she knows it. Helen then tells us that she is essentially playing both sides. She kinda thinks everyone out there is likely playing both sides. IMMUNITY CHALLENGE # 12 And here we are at a pretty lame immunity challenge. This time, each person has a flight of 10 steps in front of them. But each step is missing a piece. The survivors must get the 10 pieces on at a time and then build there puzzle-stairs from the ground up. Ok, ready? Pay attention, this is gonna go fast. They start, they run, they get pieces, Brian wins. Clay hung with him for a while, but in the end, Brian won very easily. Writer's aside: Did anyone else notice how when Brian got to the 10th piece, he kinda looked over at Clay to see where he was? Seems to me he was looking to see if there was a way he could lose the challenge and gain someone else's favors. Very shrewd...but he was so far ahead, he just couldn't do it. LAST MINUTE PLANS AND BRIAN'S AMMO So, who will it be? Ted is starting to get worried hat it's going to be him. The way he sees it, he's won 2 of the last 3 challenges and is a big threat to win every remaining challenge. He would vote for him. So, he goes to Brian and asks him if he's the next to go. Brian tells him no way. He's not sure what everyone else is doing, but Ted is not next on the list to go. The conversation ends with them agreeing on someone (and the name was said under Ted's breath) but it sounded like Jan to me. Ted said he went to Brian because he figured Brian would be the only one to tell him the truth. Meanwhile, Jan is feeling like the swing vote. Apparently everyone wants her vote this time around. As for alliances, Jan doesn't think there are any " I will not vote for you" type alliances on the island. She thinks everyone has agreements with everyone else, but she knows that no one can actually be trusted at this juncture. And then we get to Brian. Brian, Brian, Brian. This guy has a plan, but I tell you, I have no idea how he'll pull it off. The final 2 shouldn't be too hard for him. But how he thinks he's going to be able to stab 2-3 people in the back and still get their votes for the million...I have no idea. And frankly, I can't wait to see. Anyway, the way he sees it, he has 3 pieces of ammunition. The first is old Granny Jan. She's disposable. The second is his "loyal and trustworthy solider", Helen. And last is his good buddy, Uncle Clay. Helen and Clay want each other gone, and he'll use that a little later. TRIBAL COUNCIL # 12 All righty, we get to Tribal Council and the first thing Jeff does is point out that the entire jury, thus far, is made up of Sook Jai members and that when all is said and done, Sook Jai will have the numbers in the jury. He asks Clay what he thought about it. Clay said he thought it was a little scary. He just hopes he can be in the position of being voted on. Same question for Helen, and Helen said exactly what I was thinking. Sure, they have the numbers, but no matter what, they're voting for a Chuay Gahn, whether they like it or not. They're not going to have a choice. Other than this, the TC is pretty much meaningless banter. On to the vote. As they're voting we hear comments from both Helen and Clay. Helen says, "You're a fierce competitor and so am I. If it were down to you and me, it'll be you before me." And Clay says, "Nothing but strategy and it's time for you to go." And when Jeff comes back with all the votes we learn that Clay, Helen, Brian and Jan all voted together and took out Ted. Ted's vote? Jan. Writer's aside: Ok, I've been saying for weeks that I like how Brian's playing the game. He's using everyone and it's working for him. And I've liked him. Tonight, he really bummed me out. He may have backstabbed some people and may be playing everyone at once, but one thing he hadn't done and that was look someone dead in the face and lie to them. Tonight, he did that. Ted asked him straight up, "brother to brother", if he was next to go. And Brian looked him right in his eyes and told him no. That really sucks. I really liked Brian up until that point, now I just don't know. QUOTE OF THE WEEK Well, the QotW has to go to Brian. When discussing his 3 pieces of ammunition, he summed everything up and was pretty revealing in the way he did it. He held up 3 fingers on one hand. The pinkie, the ring finger and the middle finger. And as he lists, he puts a finger down starting with the pinkie. He says, "So there's my 3. There are my 3 ends. 1 disposable, the loyal soldier (looks over at his middle finger standing alone) oops, and the good friend." *chuckle* I think we may have just seen the pecking order right there. He's keeping Clay close, because he knows he's golden if he takes Clay to the finals. Too many people can't stand the guy and will give the money to Brian over Clay in a heartbeat. PREDICTIONS Ok, as usual, Becca and Jakey are here with me to help with what will happen next week. Since next week is the last show, I'm going to post their comments and at the end, I'll post the final 4 as we see them. You know, what order they'll go in next week. Becca: - Hello everyone. I want to do a happy dance so much now, but I gotta write something first. Being on the West Coast, I've gotten used to waiting for the show to end in my time zone before I read anything at any Survivor sites. This is because I don't want to know ahead of time, which one got voted off. Well, tonight was an exception. During the commercial break that comes right before TC, I went to the MSN site to find out who got the boot. I couldn’t take the suspense any longer! Thank you, Survivor Scott, for the thread that gave me the news I had been hoping for since episode 5. I should have known that Ted was gonna go due to all the air time he had, but you never know. Clay is the only one left of my original final 4 picks and I was very worried tonight. Whew! Clay did stay! I think that Ted fell victim to the "3 strikes, you're out" adage. In his case though, they were all lucky strikes. The first lucky break was looking like the better person in the Ghandia and Ted show. The second was being on a tribe that had a big winning streak of IC's, as he would have been gone sooner due to losing the boat. The third lucky strike was winning the car tonight. Thanks to Brian's dyslexic moment and both his and Jeff's big mouth, Ted overheard the answer and managed to spell 'road trip' correctly. Many of us were wondering when Brian was gonna stab Ted in the back and I'm glad he finally did and especially at this time. Ted didn't have to, but how can you not say 'thanks' to the person who helped you win that new car? Ted's thick in the head and reckless with people. I had that feeling about him before the show started. During several episodes, every time I started to think more positively about him, he'd do something else that would set him back a few giant steps in my book. He's not the worst contestant I've ever seen, but he's the most impossible for me to comprehend. He also gives me the creeps every time I see him rocking back and forth in his seat and he’s done that a lot. Aside from Ted getting the boot, my other favorite moment tonight was when many noticed how much weight they lost and Helen insisted that she still looks fat. Helen was also funny when she mentioned how bad the food was at the spa. Jim asked us to list the next three to be voted out, in order, and therefore, also predict the winner. I got my pieces of paper ready to help me out. Hey, the paper was right last week when it predicted Ted! I'm going with it! Really! One more show to go! This sure went fast. See you after the reunion! I'm counting on it being the best one yet since Jeff Probst is hosting it. Jakey - Hey folks! Wow. That was a good episode. It wasn't so much that the choice of bootee was a surprise but masterful editing that pointed out the turmoil that resides within these people as they dash for the cash. Brian has again showed that he is in control and playing a masterful game. So much so that he makes Richard Hatch pale by comparison. He played Ted for the fool tonight. Would the vote have gone the same way had Ted taken Brian on the "RAOD TRIP"? Maybe. Only Brian can answer that one. Helen is also playing a good game but will have to make a move on Brian next week if he or she doesn't win immunity. She has got to realize now that Brian would most likely take Clay to the final 2 as the best chance for him to win. Brian will use his soldier Helen to do the dirty work then throw her into the volcano. This leaves good old wrinkled Jan as the pawn. But hold on. What if Jan wins the 1st immunity next week? Would Helen be able to talk her into voting Clay off? I think so. They should toss Brian if Jan wins IC but I doubt they will. If Brian wins the 1st IC then I think Helen would be hung out to dry. If Clay wins the 1st IC then again Helen would go. If Helen wins 1st IC again Brian should be tossed. One very scary thing has become evident now, JAN HOLDS THE POWER! It is her swing vote that will set the tone. AND IF SHE WINS BACK-TO-BACK IMMUNITY? AARrrrgjhhhhhh!!!! Stay tuned folks because next week is going to be a real potboiler. Til next week, Cheers! FINAL STANDINGS Becca - 4th place - Jan 3rd place - Clay 2nd place - Brian Winner - Helen Jakey - 4th place - Helen 3rd place - Jan 2nd place - Clay Winner - Brian Jim - 4th place - Jan (Brian has a deal with Clay and a deal with Helen. He can dump Jan and still keep his deals with both Clay and Helen which will help him have votes on the jury.) 3rd place - Clay (I just have this feeling that Helen will win the final immunity challenge and will take Brian with her. Sure, she has a better shot against Clay, but I don't think she'd feel right giving him the $100,000 runner up prize, considering how lazy he's been.) 2nd place - Helen (I think the vote will be pretty simple. They'll vote for who played the game the best. And without a doubt, it's Brian. If he makes the final 2, he will arguably be the best player ever.) Winner - Brian (I think the others will recognize that and give him the money, because he has truly earned it.) And there you have it folks. Everyone has Brian in the finals and two of us have him winning it all. Very interesting. I can't wait to see how it plays out. One last thing, since next week's show is a 2-hour special, followed by the Reunion Show, you can bet that I will not have my final recap done that night. I'll do my best to have some of it done that night and the rest done the following night, but I can't guarantee anything. At the very, absolute worst, it will be ready the Monday following the show. So, if you show up and it's not here, have no fear, I'll be working on it. Well, until next week, kids, take care and God bless.
Survivor: Thailand Recaps at The Trades: Preview | Ep 1 | Ep 2 | Ep 3 | Ep 4 | Ep 5 | Ep 6 | Ep 7 | Ep 8 | Ep 9 | Ep 10 | Ep 11 | Ep 12 The S-Ratings at The Trades: Ep 2 | Ep 3 | Ep 4 | Ep 5 | Ep 6 | Ep 7 | Ep 8 | Ep 9 | Ep 10 | Ep 11 | Ep 12 On the Internet: CBS.com | SirLinksalot.net | SurvivorNews.net |
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