Tube Talk » Blog Archive » ‘Survivor’: season of blindsides continues (spoilers) By Gail Pennington

Of all the seasons of “Survivor,” do you remember one with more Tribal Council blindsides? It’s an art, and it’s one this season’s players have perfected. But blindsides don’t get better than the fake-idol fakeout perpetrated Thursday night by unlikely conspirators Bob and Sugar.

The whole thing started, of course, when Bob — has there ever been a quirkier “Survivor” player than Bob, who looks like an absent-minded professor and kicks butt in physical challenges? — created an immunity idol while stuck on Exile Island. But not just a stick like last season; this fake immunity idol was a thing of beauty, more real-looking than the real one. I still can’t imagine how he did it unless a crew member handed him a Martha Stewart craft kit and a glue gun. But in any case, he did it, and for some reason he told Sugar (who has the real idol) what he did. Possibly to get a hug. (Another thought on Bob: Has he washed since he’s been there? Even once? He doesn’t look as if he’s been near water.)

Immunity idol? That’s no immunity idol! - Survivor- msnbc.com By Andy Dehnart

Fake handmade idol blindsides Randy on Survivor Gabon.

Randy Bailey was not only voted off “Survivor Gabon,” but he was fooled into thinking he held the immunity idol.

The tribe has spoken: Once again, a fake hidden immunity idol was played, and once again, the gullible person who played it went home. Randy was given Bob’s hand-crafted idol at Sugar’s prompting, because Sugar told us that “Randy is an ass and I loathe him with every inch of my being.” Before that, Randy thought he was being strategic and crafted a plan: He’d act worse than usual around camp, hoping to draw votes, and then convince Exile-visiting Bob to give him the immunity idol, which would allow Randy, Corinne, and Bob’s votes for Susie to prevail at Tribal Council. But since the idol was fake, Randy was instead voted out, and Sugar laughed out loud, having gotten her revenge.

No hard feelings: Randy took being voted off well, at least for Randy. “Being voted out by these bozos is probably one of the best accolades anyone could get. The hell with these frickin’ people,” he said, but then added, “I hope they get bit by a green mamba.”

When Sugar asked him to play along, pretending that his fake idol was real, offering it to Randy and humiliating the future jury member in the process, it was kind of surprising he went along.

Maybe he had some regrets about it: Because Bob went along and voted for Susie as if the idol were real, the votes for Randy would be thrown out, and the minority plan would work perfectly.

He’s earned in his treachery the everlasting admiration of Sugar, which might help him limp along to the finals.

Yet in the previews for next week’s episode, old Bob looks to be on a Lying-About-the-Immunity-Idol tear, convincing Corinne that the idol that Marcus threw into the ocean was actually kept by Marcus and hidden near camp and he knew where it was.

As it happened, Randy’s ouster did lead to one of the great bitter kiss-offs in “Survivor” history (I’ll be writing that book too):

Randy's ouster did lead to one of the great bitter kiss-offs in Survivor history

Being voted out by these bozos is the probably one of the best accolates anyone could get. To hell with these frickin’ people. I hope Corinne does well if she was not in on today’s plot and I don’t think she was. Most of the others, with the exception of Matty, I hope they get bit by a green mamba.

Survivor Gabon: Surprise! Surprise!

At tribal council, Jeff asks about the cookie, and Susie tells him that she gave it away. Randy says that it was actually his cookie that he offered her and he offered her twice when he could have stomped them in the ground. Randy says that he was angry at how it all went down. Jeff continues to ask about Randy’s situation and Crystal thinks that it is sad. Randy says that he is not ready to go.

Jeff sends the tribe members up to vote.

Corinne votes Susie.

Sugar votes Randy saying he is a mean drunk.

Sugar votes Randy saying he is a mean drunk.

Randy votes Susie saying his vote is not strategic but totally personal.

Crystal votes Randy saying that he has made her life hell.

Jeff calls for the immunity idol. In what might become a Survivor Gabon classic moment, Randy gives it up. The others try to avoid smirking.

Jeff says that the rules state that if the idol is played, the votes will not count and the next highest vote count will come into play. Jeff then states that this is not an immunity idol and all votes against Randy will count. Sugar collapses in laughter, Crystal hides her grin, Corinne is shocked and Bob looks somber.

Susie, Randy, Susie, Susie, Randy, Randy, Randy, Randy. The eleventh person voted out of Survivor Gabon is Randy. He brings his torch. He never said a word as he left.  Jeff sends them home with words about trust, saying that he is looking forward to seeing how this plays out.

Next episode of Survivor Gabon:
Bob tells about the throwing of the idol into the ocean in a bottle, and then tells that he didn’t actually put it into the bottle, but hid it around camp. Bob tells that he was told where it was and he begins to unwrap something from a leather skin.

Bob is a straight-up genius. Evil or otherwise, his fake immunity idol is freaking classic genius. And, he very smartly decides to fess up to Sugar that he did this. I think distancing himself from Randy and Corinne is his best bet to stay in the game. I’ve never been a huge fan of the Nutty Professor, but he is growing on me with this one.

Speaking of Randy and Corrine, I hate ‘em. Nuff said.

Speaking of Randy and Corrine, I hate ‘em. Nuff said.

Since the tribes are all merged up, there isn’t much in the way of what’s going on early in the episode. Kenny, Crystal, Sugar and Matty are pretty much running things, and Bob & Suzie are along for the ride.

Reward Challenge is the famous auction for food. Randy gets Beer & Peanuts a whole lot of money. Kenny bids on the second item and sends Bob back to Exile – oh and he gets his cash too. Sugar spends $340 on a mystery item, and scores big with a bowl full of peanut butter with a half dozen chocolate bars sticking out of it.

Item 4 is a bath with a set of the winner’s clothes. Suzie wins, and Sugar tells Kenny he should’ve taken it ‘cause she would’ve cuddled with him. Item 5 is a burger and fries, Matty takes it.

Item 6 is a mystery item, and Kenny gives it to Randy – it’s a bowl of Spaghetti, glass of wine and Garlic Bread. Kenny gives up a bottle with a sealed clue for the next immunity challenge to Corrine. Randy pays $20 for the tribe to get cookies for everyone. Kenny misses out on everything when Probst abruptly ends the auction.

For some reason, Randy turned into a serious dick over the cookies, and made a big deal about Sugar wanting to give her cookie to Matty. He swears she hasn’t seen the worst of him yet, and he seems even more pathetic and miserable than usual. He admits he was drunk and pissed off when he left, but it doesn’t seem to have worn off – I’m pretty sure that’s just his personality.

Seven Survivors Remain on Gabon - E! Online

Randy, sure he’s going to get shafted, stays up all night devising a scheme to make his last day on Gabon as miserable as possible, all while convincing Bob to give him the Idol (ah, the fatal flaw in his plan) so he can take revenge on Susie the flip-flopper.

Crystal would much rather get rid of Randy, and Matty seems to see her side after Randy puts his lets-alienate-everybody plan into action by sniping at Susie.

Immunity Challenge: Race across a series of balance beams carrying a bag of blocks. Repeat three times. The top two finishers advance to the putting-the-puzzle-together round, where they arrange the blocks, domino-style, along some slanted beams—all the while avoiding trip wires that could topple the whole thing.

The bottle Corinne bought at auction comes in handy—it’s a pass into the second round, guaranteeing her a 1-in-3 shot at winning.

Kenny and Matty move on to face Corinne. Kenny’s first try at knocking the blocks down fails. Then all three try it together—and this time Kenny’s attempt is successful. He wins immunity.

Sugar suggests to Bob that he should give that piece of nothing he made to Randy and just tell him it’s the Idol—and Bob digs the idea, figuring it would behoove him to get on Sugar’s good side.

And so he gives the faux Idol to Randy, pretty much ensuring the foulmouthed castaway’s doom, for which Randy promises Bob his vote if the sinewy physics teacher is in the final running for the $1 million prize. Sugar promises Crystal, Kenny, Susie and Matty one hell of a twist at Tribal Council.

Sure enough, Randy plays the ersatz Idol and looks ready to bust some heads when he finds out. Bob looks none too proud, but Sugar and Crystal dissolve into giggles.

And the third member of the Survivor: Gabon jury is Randy, whose sound strategy was squashed by a bit of resin and a few beads.

“Being voted out by these bozos is probably one of the best accolades anyone could get,” the cantankerous castoff said afterward. “To hell with these freakin’ people. I hope Corinne does well if she’s not in on today’s plot…Most of the others, with the exception of Matty, I hope they get hit by a green mamba [snake].”

Survivor: Gabon - Episode 10 Predictions

A number of my friends watch Survivor, and we’ve all agreed that the last two episodes have been as good as any Survivor episodes in history.  Survivor: Gabon has the chance to become one of the best Survivor seasons ever.  For dramatic purposes, let’s all hope that the dominant alliance doesn’t just pick off the old Kota members one by one.  We need traitorous activity out of somebody.  In other news, did you see that Ace got arrested a couple days ago?  How about that?  He also believes he’s famous, which is a wonderfully laughable assertion. 

It’s prediction time.  Which, for me, means that in a couple days I can look back and see how wrong I was. 

Ken Will Get Caught in His Lies

Ken, as much as you want to say he’s been a confident game play genius, has not been subtle with his lies.  First, it was about Ace, then it was about Charlie.  He spouted all sorts of nonsense to Sugar about Charlie being the mastermind, the puppet-master.  If Sugar can catch him in one of these lies, then things could get interesting.  Sugar, already upset that she believed Ken regarding Ace, could become irate if she learns that Ken pulled the wool over her eyes once again.  Corinne, Randy and Bob will be able to corroborate the story of Ken’s lies.  Ken needs to get lucky or, perhaps, just lie a lot more.

Sugar Finds the Hidden Immunity Idol on Exile Island

So, yeah, again the tribal council will come down to where Sugar lands.  It seems that the Sugar/Ken/Crystal/Susie/Matty alliance is strong, and if they want to, can go ahead and pick off Corinne, Bob and Randy.  But, Sugar can tie up the vote if she goes to the other side, which might be a distinct possibility given what Ken has done.  Sugar is easily persuaded, and hasn’t shown much intestinal fortitude.  The fate of the merged tribe will once again be up to the pin-up model.

THE SURVIVOR AUCTION IGNITES AN EXISTING RIVALRY, PROMPTING A HEATED ARGUMENT THAT PUTS THE WHOLE TRIBE ON EDGE, ON “SURVIVOR GABON — EARTH’S LAST EDEN,” THURSDAY, NOV. 20

“Nothing Tastes Better Than Five Hundred Dollars” - One Castaway devises a dangerous plan that hinges on the hidden immunity idol, while another Castaway considers betraying their alliance in order to avoid elimination, on SURVIVOR: GABON - EARTH’S LAST EDEN, Thursday, Nov. 20 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

CASTAWAYS:
Castaways competing on SURVIVOR: GABON - EARTH’S LAST EDEN (in alphabetical order) are:                                               
 

NOBAG TRIBE
	Randy Bailey
	Crystal Cox
	Robert “Bob” Crowley
	Ken Hoang
	Corinne Kaplan
	Jessica “Sugar” Kiper
	Susie Smith
	Matty Whitmore

Voted Out:

Michelle Chase (1st Voted Off), Gillian Larson (2nd Voted Off), Paloma Soto-Castillo (3rd Voted Off), Jacquie Berg (4th Voted Off), Danny “GC” Brown (5th Voted Off), Kelly Czarnecki (6th Voted Off), Ace Gordon (7th Voted Off), Dan Kay (8th Voted Off), Marcus Lehman (9th Voted Off, Jury Member), Charlie Herschel (10th Voted Off, Jury Member)