Survivor Tocantin: Week 6: "On the Verge of the Merge"

After a 2 week break (I didn't watch the recrap episode from last week), it was a little weird to see everyone again. They were all skinnier and more beaten-up than I remembered.

The episode opened with another "Coach" scene, in which he basically messed up a big batch of beans by taking control of the cooking. It just underscored that he has no true allies in the game. Everyone who is on his side is clearly just stringing him along so that they can cut him loose when they feel safe.

Timbira eked out a reward challenge win when they were more adept at throwing ceramic pigs through a maze of beams put together by the opposing team. It was a fun challenge, and came down to the wire, which is always exciting. Notably, JT seemed to choke during the closing seconds.

Joe and Erinn wound up on Exile Island together. Erinn decided to share the location of the hidden idol with Joe, while Taj put together a fake idol for Joe to find back at camp (which he did). Meanwhile, JT found Taj's actual secret idol, and Stephen did some fancy footwork by convincing JT that Taj was about to voluntarily reveal her idol to the two of them, which she did (on Stephen's secret advice).

Timbira won the critical immunity challenge, which should theoretically give them the 6-4 advantage going into the merge. The challenge required one team member to break a series of ceramic tiles, while other team members put together a puzzle for the win. Tyson outshot JT, who is starting to look like he's always going to just barely lose each challenge.

It was time for Stephen to put his money where his mouth is in regards to the secret four alliance. Up until now, he's been able to pay lip service to the idea without breaking a theoretical alliance with Joe and Sydney. He appeared to be conflicted when Joe refused to vote Sydney out over Taj. One thing that came out during the ensuing scrambling is that he and JT are very close. They didn't even seem to consider breaking up their twosome. So doesn't that make the secret 4 alliance a secret 5 alliance? Or is it just a new pairing that might turn on the secret 4 when the opportunity arises?

There are so many ways that this could go-- I can't wait to see what happens when the merge happens next week.

The Pool:

You're seeing the scores in this format:
Current Score (+/- Sydney Boot in First Set, +/- Sydney Boot in Second Set, + Immunity Pick Bonus)
So, the first number is your actual score, and everything that comes after shows what affected it this week.



1st: Matt 301 (-4, -2, +12)
6th: Dawn 285 (+5, +5, +0)
3rd: Paul 281 (-5, -8, +12)
2nd: Carl: 278 (-3, -10, +0)
7th: Brian 275 (-1, -6, +12)
5th: Stats 272 (-4, -2, +0)
4th: Kim 263 (-5, -10, +0)
9th: Mom 249 (+5, -10, +0)
8th: Mike 236 (-9, -20, +0)

This Week's Winners:
I built on my lead from the previous episode, mostly because I was one of three players who picked Timbira for the immunity win (along with Paul and Brian). The other big winner this week was Dawn, who had Sydney's 11th place ouster predicted in both sets of picks, which earned her a total of 10 bonus points. After a shaky start to the season, Brian jumped up a couple of notches, while Mom got out of the cellar.

This Week's Losers:
Mike plummeted into the cellar with his set of random picks. He also lost his #1 finisher in Sydney, so he's going to have a really hard time getting out of last. Carl dropped two slots to fourth place, while Kim went from a healthy middle of the pack 4th to a mildly worrisome 7th. The good news for both is that the distance from 7th to 2nd is only 22 points, which means it's really anyone's game. Well, at least second place is anyone's game. I've reserved the top spot for myself.

Next week, we will probably have our first individual immunity contest. So please send me your Immunity Pick (IP) by choosing from the 10 remaining players.

Good luck, everyone!