Dawn has shown that she's comfortable in water. And certainly shallow water. Why didn't she just catch her breath, put on the goggles, and swim down there to get the retainer? I understand she was upset, but why did she need Brenda to fix the situation? If she didn't want the tribe to know that she was missing teeth, why bring attention to it and show the entire nation?

At any rate, my goodness she's annoying.

From what they showed, she was sleep-deprived and paranoid. Her outburst wasn't about a retainer, it would have manifested eventually in some other manner. She did seem to recover from it, though.

my wife elbowed me in the ribs for saying it, but i blamed it on hormones/menopause

Great play by Malcolm. I wish that the guys hadn't said who they were voting for, though, just to see what would have happened between the SRU alliance. Also, if they had pulled out the 2nd idol right before they went to vote, that would have been outstanding.

GR,
To answer your question, I was talking about Malcolm keeping an idol even after Erik made the comment about the three guys possibly keeping one. You're right...the official vote ended up being Eddie-4 (0), Phillip 4, Malcolm 2 (0).

The reason I said it would've been ballsy and epic is that if Malcolm had indeed kept the idol he would've been safe. It was a huge risk in the moment and, obviously, he had no idea of knowing the vote at the time - BUT if he had held on to it, Phillip would've gone home 4-2 and Malcolm would still have an idol which would've been legend (wait for it)...dary. Legendary.

Absolutely. Would have been incredibly ballsy and yes, legendary. He had no way of knowing about Erik's vote and we've obviously got the benefit of hindsight, but yes that would have been awesome.

Wish that Erik hadn't gotten that info out. Malcolm would almost certainly have held onto his idol.

Excellent episode in spite of Dawn's breakdown.

there's no way they could have known that malcolm would not get the 4 votes. at best, it would have been a guess. not worth taking that risk when you can absolutely ensure that all 3 of you stay.

choosing phillip was also the best move, imo. while everyone kinda hates him, he instills just enough fear in everyone that they stayed loyal (at least with that much of an advantage). now that he's out, the rest of that alliance is really just a set of suballiances. 2 people could easily say "you know what? we're better off trying to make it with the guys". Also, the fact that they had to figure it out in the moment almost assures us that someone's feelings are going to be hurt. they're no longer a tight alliance, which means malcolm, eddie and reynold are back up for grabs as a potential alliance.

given how easily malcolm and reynold have found the idols, i don't think it's a bad assumption to think they can continue to find them.

of the remaining players, I think these are their likelihood's of defecting:

cochran- little; he knows he doesn't have a chance against the bros
brenda- who the **** knows? is she playing the game?
dawn- maybe, just because she is so wishy washy
sherry- high
erik- reasonably high, he seems to like those guys, and obviously voted for phillip.
andrea- pretty high, she has to know she was a target if they had to vote for each other, and she likes eddie. I could still see her feeling she has no chance if it's her and the bros.

there's at least 3 people that would seriously consider it, and if any of those people are tightly aligned enough with someone else, then they could pull them in.

it's a wide-open game now, and the last 3 eps have definitely redeemed the season.

I might be reading WAY to much into this but did Malcolm throw the II Challenge?

He came up pretty slow as if to let Reynold win. The play then would have been to reveal his II AFTER the vote. He could have drawn all the attention to himself and picked up all the votes. Im sure the 7 would have still split the votes but that seemed like the way he was leaning.

Either way what an awesome couple of tribals by Malcolm. If Im on the bottom of the remaining 6 I’d think about flipping. Hes not in control yet he is controlling the game. Amazing.

I love that he said they were voting for Phillip. They just didnt get the blow up they wanted from him. Im sure they expected him to start slinging mud but he didnt.

Pull in Eric and Andrea and eliminate the others. Then have a battle for the top 3.

Cochran should also be a candidate since he respects the game and may want to be a part of something like this.

Malcolm is one of the best combinations of brain and brawn they have had on the show in years.

I don't think Malcolm threw the challenge, although I have no way of knowing this. My best guess is that Reynold had a little bit more stamina/energy after enjoying the reward, while Malcolm succumbed to fatigue.

I was hoping for something BIG last night and the bro's came through. I had seen that Reynold, Malcolm, and Eddie were hosting a viewing party at Blackfinn Ameripub last night, but I was afraid that meant Reynold might be going home. Really glad that wasn't the case...

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=266659653470844&set=a.234413823362094.59506.220545318082278&type=1&l=8b0b79c2b5&theater

(edit to fix link)

[This message has been edited by 10Aggie10 (edited 4/18/2013 12:34p).]

[This message has been edited by 10Aggie10 (edited 4/18/2013 12:34p).]

LHIOB, good points

I was thinking Malcolm wanted to win the II challenge to preserve his hidden idol one more time. My wife also pointed out that Reynold won reward (and got to feast) so he had more energy and was able to edge Malcolm out in the challenge. I wasn't expecting Malcolm to give up his hidden idol to Eddie, but it was the only way to save his alliance and secure Eddie as a jury vote.

Getting rid of Phillip was the right move. Though he is easy to beat in the final, he was holding that alliance strong. Now I think it's more likely for that alliance to have fractures. However, I think it would have been better if the 3 bros wore their idols throughout camp the whole day prior to the vote. Hopefully that would make the remaining 7 pick sides and create animosity between each other.

disagreed, by them revealing at tribal they were able to watch the other alliance start to make their moves. They gained a ton of information where every single player in the other alliance had their back against the wall and had to come up with a plan in front of them.

Also...if I'm on the favs, I don't care where I think I sit in the alliance I'd try to rally the cause and vote the other three out. There is a legitimate shot that nobody except those three will sniff immunity from here out. Reynold really is in another class as far as how good of an athlete he is, guys like Malcolm were considered elite survivor athletes and this guy has been really impressive when going head-to-head.

When it gets down to 5-6 left it becomes imperative to win the II to stay in the game as alliances fracture and reform every day. If I'm a fav I wonder how I'm going to realistically be able to do that if all three of the bros are left, with only 1 you at least have a shot.

Cochran has been awesome this time around and I'm glad that he's been able to be more comfortable because he really does has a lot of insight and is generally pretty witty during confessionals.

Brenda got to speak, I thought for sure she was going home.

I think the difference in this game for Cochran versus the last game is that he was severly bullied his first time around.

Cochran was clearly not comfortable in his own skin during his first go on Survivor. He so desperately wanted to make a big move, but he had to get over very real issues for a guy of his age and build, like taking his shirt off and being around beautiful women (not being sarcastic here).

With some degree of celebrity now under his belt and perhaps a boost of self-confidence, he's really relishing the second tour of duty, talking to the camera, making Jeff Probst laugh, etc. He reminds me of a younger version of Jonathan Penner in that way - he's grasped that he's on TV and that his sense of humor, self-deprecating and acerbic, can make him quite popular. I've really enjoyed him, reminds me of Rob C. from Survivor Amazon.

agreed, he was rather ostracized from the beginning that season

What a great freaking episode and what a tribal

Malcolms timing was impeccable...it was awesome watching sru scrambling like that

Looking forward to the next episode more than i have been the last few years

I'm a little surprised it took this long for someone to use HII like that to protect their alliance. And good on Malcolm for keeping it secret for so long. (Though if Reynold and Eddie have any sense they'll be more suspicious of Malcolm in the future.)

This long in thw game? hii has been used many times to protect an alliance.ost recently was Parvati in Villians vs Heros.

any predictions for tonight's episode?

Despite the teasers, I just don't see Sherri flipping. She may be on the bottom of the favorites 'SRU' alliance, but she didn't like Eddie/Reynold from the beginning. Other reasons come to mind including being on the bottom of a very strong challenge alliance, meaning she's most likely only able to make it to the final four with the amigos. Also, she'd probably upset a larger number of folks on the jury since she'd help by sending favorite to ponderosa. I keep thinking it might be Andrea that flips, if anyone (besides Erik). I'm looking forward to the episode, talk to yall after

My prediction: Less than 30 seconds into tonight's episode, someone will say how nice it is around camp now that Phillip is gone. Everyone will agree enthusiastically, but then Cochran will explain privately how this damages his overall chances of winning.

I don't think that the Bros get a 5th to flip unfortunately, so I'm guessing either Malcolm or Reynold is out this week.

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I don't think that the Bros get a 5th to flip unfortunately, so I'm guessing either Malcolm or Reynold is out this week.

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The immunity challenge is endurance. That bodes well for Eddie, Reynold and Malcolm. They have to hold a rope with a log tied to it.

Watching the preview, there was was a perfect "That's what she said," when Dawn says, "This is hard!"

I'd have a hard time flipping because no matter what happens, if you stick together, you knock out either Eddie, Malcolm or Reynold tonight. And more importantly, you knock out either Malcolm or Reynold - Eddie is sort of the Chris Bosh in this whole equation to me - probably be really good on his own, but he's the third option when it comes to physicality in this season.

If SRU sticks to its guns, the odds are that they'll be able to knock out at least 2 of those 3 before it's end-game time.

The real question is, if the final involves Malcolm & Eddie, do they get Eddie Griffin and Theo Huxtable to show up at the live finale?

Well, Malcolm had his moment but it was fleeting.

He missed on the idol, but it would have been cool if he told the other two, "Dudes, if things go bad at tribal and I'm not here tomorrow, here's where the idol is...".

Andrea and Cochran know where Malcolm was digging.

Why did he stop digging? Who cares if Andrea is watching? The risk of getting voted out was far greater than Andrea swooping in and snatching the idol.

typical survivor hubris mistake

they got cocky and over-confident

you never ever pass on the immunity challenge advantage if you're in the minority

dumbasses

Cochran is getting REALLY cocky

The only reason I can think that Malcolm would stop digging is that he feared Andrea and Cochran would start digging 3 feet away and maybe find it before he did, even though they didn't know that he didn't know exactly where it was.

Still really dumb on his part. The minute he made his big play with the HII the week before, he became the obvious #1 target. With no idol to play this week, he was done.

Like someone else said, they were idiots to think they could sway 2 people in 3 days - all they did was get rid of the most annoying member of the other alliance and still be down 6-3.

To me, the person who has benefitted the most in this has been Erik. He's voted out 2 guys (Phillip and Malcolm) who could give him trouble in future II challenges and is in position to do the same with Malcolm and Eddie going forward.

If he gets those two out, he needs to get fellow dummies Brenda, Dawn and the Fan to take out Andrea and Cochran, because those two would be the cagiest in front of a jury. From there, he knocks out Dawn and takes Brenda and the Fan to the final, where he then wins $1 million.

Unfortunately, this strategy is based on Erik not being an idiot, which he has proven multiple times to be.

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Unfortunately, this strategy is based on Erik not being an idiot, which he has proven multiple times to be.

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LOL. Yep, I fully expect Erik to do something completely stupid and destroy his chances, ultimately leading to him being the 5th or 6th member of the jury.

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Cochran is getting REALLY cocky

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Why shouldn't he be? He is winning challenges and has enjoyed an alliance that has been pretty solid so far.





[This message has been edited by zap (edited 4/25/2013 8:58a).]

Malcolm was hanging on by the skin of his teeth for so long. He made some dumb mistakes, and paid for it.

What hurts Malcolm is the same thing that hurt Russell - you go straight from your season to an all-star season without beinga ble to take time and reflect on what you did right/wrong by virtue of watching yourself on TV and seeing what everyone else was thinking about you when you weren't around.

Hantz played the same game twice and finished lost both times because of it. Malcolm lost to Denise even though he played a great game, so he decided to change things up on the fly the second time around and it backfired.

As fun as it was to take out Philip the way he did, he should have hung on to the 2nd HII, and then bid for the third one. Use one last week, another this week and STILL have one left. People would start thinking he was the devil if he played 3 in a row, plus every time someone got voted off, his chances of winning II that week would go up.

Is there a rule against leaving a challenge rather than staying with the group until a winner has been decided? I was thinking that as soon as the rope slipped from Malcolm's grasp, he should have sprinted back to the well and started digging.