(S13E09) It's merge time. It's a bummer for me since I really was hoping they'd just let little Aitu fight it out to the finish. But instead we now have Aitutonga which is a bit like a frat keg party mixed with a meeting of the chess club. The best thing about this season is that there are a series of small paired alliances and then a few mercenaries. No one likes a mercenary but they sure keep things interesting.At the merge feast, Yul offers the first olive branch saying that he looks forward to getting to meet the other tribe. "You've got class," answers Nate enthusiastically. He's enthusiastic, of course, because he is drunk off all the beer at the merge feast. Jonathan is increasingly frustrated with the "youngsters" of Raro who don't seem to care about winning the game and act as if the are on The Real World instead of Survivor. So it seems natural that he should hook up with Yul again.
Clearly it's an obvious choice, Yul and Becky make a move toward Jonathan even though he already abandoned them once. Jonathan immediately negates the alliance unless Yul has the idol. They talk vague hypothetical scenarios, which aren't so vague or hypothetical. Yul then tells Sundra and Ozzy he has the idol and is working on Jonathan which gives a big boost to their alliance. It's sad to seem them giving this rat a second shot but hopefully this is just a temporary alliance. This may be the moment in which Yul's sense of honor and rightness begins to do him in.
The first immunity challenge is simple: hang from a pole. This eliminates the strategy element and the strongest are at a disadvantage due to size. Adam is the first one out. Yul charmingly gives the technical explanation for why the challenge is tough for larger people. Jonathan, Nate and Sundra are the next to leave. Yul falls leaving Ozzy as the remaining man with three women. Becky falls and it becomes Ozzy versus Candice for the win. Since these two aren't fans of each other and are both athletic and stubborn it's a tough battle for first. Candice drops and the man who spends his days in trees wins the first immunity challenge.
Unfortunately Ozzy's win makes Yul the Raro target. Yul goes on the offensive and shows Jonathan the idol. Jonathan tries to tell Raro what's going on but Nate is insistent that he knows best. You have to hand it to Jonathan for really trying to make it work with Raro but they just are just too confident that numbers equals victory. Meanwhile, poor Adam doesn't like that this game makes him think all the time but he does seems to enjoy that it provides plenty of facesucking time with Candice. Candice always seems so much more intelligent when she's not attached to the president of Keg House. Can kissing a dumb boy make you stupid?
At tribal there is much talk about tribes and alliances. But the big question is just how much of a rat is Jonathan. Answer? Super rat-tastic. He votes for Nate sending him home without Yul having to break out the idol, which still means that Yul is the strongest player in the game (even taking into account Ozzy's nature boy skills).
Nate's goodbye speech ranks high in all time great parting shots second only to Sue Hawk's iconic "rats and snakes" speech. He calls Jonathan a "dirty whack fruitcake" and a "trading bastard." Given everyone else's shocked looks, I think that Jonathan will have some explaining to do. One thing I wonder is if Parvati, who seems to always be sidling up to the nearest strong man, will try to work her wiles on Yul or Ozzy.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-24-2006 @ 4:50PM
LC said...
I can't say I blame Jonathan for the strategy he chose. He must have realized he was at the bottom rung on his alliance with Yul since every week everyone was floating his name to be booted. Now that he pissed off Raro, he seems to be positioning himself to be the Richard Hatch in that people will want to take him to the finals because everyone else hates him. He isn't going to beat Yul Ozzy or Adam, so he has to play strictly to strategy.
Anyone who has won this game has had to play the rat at one time or another and betray an ally. Those who try to play with integrity usually wind up home or on the jury.
It was fun to watch Nate's whiny speech at the end. This is the guy that booted his former alliance member a week earlier and kept the two "traitors" instead.
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11-24-2006 @ 7:16PM
Jake said...
I HATE jonathan and I don't understand why Yul would go after him to swing the vote when he betrayed them all. Jonathan has also made some derogatory comments that can be construed as racist. why wouldn't Yul ask Nate who is close with Ozzy (why would Ozzy vote out his friend Nate?)
anyways, it's all Nate and Adam's fault for keeping Jonathan so long when they could have gotten rid of him for weeks now. Even up to the last minute, Nate refused to budge and still wanted to vote for Yul.
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11-24-2006 @ 7:45PM
Design said...
Jake, I guess we didn't watch the same episode. Yul clearly told Jonathan that he wanted to go to the final 2 with him. He said to Jonathan you have everyone mad at you, it's better for me to take you.
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11-25-2006 @ 3:03AM
Allon said...
I think Yul's "I'll never get a date" speech is one of the funniest survivor moments ever. I think any geek like me can identify with saying something like that and than realizing how super uncool it was.
Anyway, I think Jonathan is a smart player, and even though almost everyone hates him now, at the end of the day he has the numbers on his side, coming from a "no chance in hell" situation a few weeks ago.
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11-25-2006 @ 4:44AM
Flexo said...
Deidre, I think it's unfair to call Jonathan a rat. What he is guilty of is having a blind spot for Candice who has tried to throw him under the bus at every turn. Jonathan would not have jumped to Raro had Candice not jumped first. He still waited to the very last second before going. It appears from next week's previews that he has finally figured out that she's not an ally.
I don't know what it is about Candice but she got to Billy, Adam, and Jonathan. IMHO she's not very good looking in relative Survivor terms.
Nate just wasn't a good player and neither is Adam. If a challenge wasn't just about brute strength, they just didn't do very well. Nate got what he deserved and Adam is next.
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11-25-2006 @ 11:16AM
LC said...
"Jonathan has also made some derogatory comments that can be construed as racist. "
What did Jonathan say that was derogatory or could even possibly be construed as racist in any form?
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11-27-2006 @ 12:42AM
quang said...
I don't think he's said anything that could be construed as rascist. He talked with Candice about having an all-white final four, and that's it.
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11-26-2006 @ 11:38AM
LC said...
Exactly and that was only because he(mistakenly) thought they all had an original alliance that would not be broken. Nothing racist about it at all. I suppose some people see things that just aren't there.
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11-27-2006 @ 1:13AM
LC said...
Ooookay. Not sure why my response to your post wound up listed before yours Quang.
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