Looks like Tom is back at work. What is he going to do with the $million he won on Survivor?

CBS News

On Sunday night, Tom Westman was a reality TV star and the winner of a $1 million-dollar prize.

On Thursday morning, he was just another New York City fire lieutenant.

Westman returned to work at Ladder Company 108 in Brooklyn today, after winning the top prize in CBS’s “Survivor: Palau.” And, despite his instant fame after spending 30 days on an uninhabited island, he says he’s just one of the guys.

He returned to the well-disguised admiration and good-natured ribbing of his colleagues.

As he puts it, “They don’t suffer prima donnas too well in a New York City firehouse.”

But Westman says his fellow firefighters were amused by the physical prowess he demonstrated on “Survivor.”

He won more immunity challenges than any other contestant, and while his social skills might have earned him a spot in the final four, his physical prowess certainly helped him earn the title of “Sole Survivor.”
Westman may be leaving the fire department soon. Not because of “Survivor,” but because as a 20-year veteran, he’s already earned a pension.

He says the show has opened up a lot of doors for a second career.

Despite winning one million dollars, Tom said that he planned to continue working with the New York City Fire Department, and once again true to his word, he has returned to work.

I know this post is not about Survivor, but I’m a big fan of American Idol also. Going into last nights final compitition, I was really not excited about either Bo or Carrie. I should like Bo becuase I like long haired, Southern Rock kind of guys. I’m not a big Country Girl fan. They’re all OK though. I do like both styles. Cariie has the Girl Next Door thing happening and I like that. Bo has the cool, “hang out and drink beer together” thing happening and I like that.

I’ve been bummed since Constatien was thrown out. I thought he’d win the whole thing. I’ll alwasy miss Scotty, the Body! You know I picked Ian to win Survivor too, so my track record is not looking very good on these reality shows.

Going into last night, I really didn’t care. Bo’s first sing put me off. I really didn’t like it. Carries song was good, but not spectacular. They both seemd really nervious, even Bo, who never get’s shaken. He lost a few notes in there because of nerves.

Bo’s second didn’t do anything for me either, but everyone else seemed to like it. It wasn’t great. Carries second was really good and I was starting to learn towards her. Simon said it was tied at that moment, 1 to 1. I was leaning toward Carrie.

The final two songs made my decision though. Bo did one that Carrie had already sung earlier and he did a pretty good job of it. I thought that was sort of “in your face” and thought he might pull it out and win this thing. Everyone went wild and really liked it.

Then Carrie sang her last song. The nerves were gone and I thought she nailed it. When that girl sings country and let’s it go, she can sing some notes. “That girl can blow!” She had a couple long notes that just amazed me with how good they were. She “really brought it home, Dawg”.

Simon’s comment was that she was good enough to win this thing. I think he’s right. Carrie will win it all. Carrie will be the Survivor on American Idol. Sorry Bo.

What do you think? Click on the “comments” link below.

We’ll get back to Survivor after the finals tomorrow night. Stay tuned!

UPDATE: Carrie Underwood wins American Idol! I was right in my prediction. Maybe I should stay away from Survivor predictions. Bo is still a winner too. Sweet Home Alabama with Lynard Skynard. It doesn’t get any better than that. This was the best season of American Idol, just like it was the best season of Suvivor.

What do you think about Carrie winning?

I’m amazed at the amount of emotion that’s been poured into the comments on this site. You really cared about this show. I’d like to hear more details about what you thought about the Survivor TV Show. Please leave a comment. Click on the “comments” link at the end of this post.

I’ve got to say that it was one of the better episodes, overall, I thought. There were definitely some weird things happening on this one. Tom won more individual challenges than any other person in any Survivor episode. His team, Koror won more team challenges than any other team in Survivor history. They CRUSHED Ulong, the cocky team of young, stupid punks

…except for Stephanie, I mean. I dare not say anything against her. She’s the most popular woman to ever play the game. I personally really liked her a lot. She showed a lot of heart to go down to a one person tribe. That was amazing.

Janu laying down her torch voluntarily was pretty strange too. Not a minute too soon, but it was still amazing.

There was a lack of real lying and backstabbing on this one. I can remember some people in other episodes just lying about everything, just for the sport of it. Ian gets guilted into losing just because he was stupid enough to get caught lying. He couldn’t lie well enough. There really wasn’t anyone who was a good liar in this one. Gregg was probably the best. Who do you think was a good liar?

There were also people who just couldn’t help but to go tell everyone the truth. Caryn! What was she thinking?

I missed Angie. She got voted off too soon. I think she fought hard and did a good job at everything, but was the victim of a stupid team and bad timing. She should have stayed longer.

I loved Coby. I can totally relate to the whole “I was never on a team growing up” emotion, but I bet a fair amount of people reading this, or watching the show could too. Pulled at my heart. Then he got pissy like a little girly man and threw a tantrum. Ha! Even that was fun to watch. He’d be great to invite to a party. I like Coby a lot.

I still think that Ian should have won. At least he got a Corvette! He was a nice guy and I was rooting for him all the way. He fell apart at the end, when the lying began, but if he was a better liar, man, he could have had it all. I lost respect for him when he jumped off that buoy.

Tom was a nice guy, but really too good to be true. I’m sorry he won. I just can’t relate. NY fireman, I mean, come on. Gung ho, blah, blah, blah. Whatever…

So, tell me who you liked and didn’t like. What were your favorite moments and what did you hate? What will you always remember? Talk to me!

Click on “Comment” right there… Thanks!

The beginning of this evening’s Survivor show was a 10 minute recap of the whole season. Ulong sucks, Tom wins imunity, everyone loves Steph, etc. Then we’re down to the final four, Ton, Ian, Katie, and Jenn.

They get back from the previous tribal council and are shaken and amazed that it’s just them left. They go to sleep and wake up on day 37 to a cooler full of food, fresh fruit, etc. They are all happy and have a great breakfast as one big happy family with full tummies and hugs all around.

Ian does have a conversation with the girls that if Ian gets immunity, then Tom is the first to go. All three agree. The first immunity is played in front of a Chevy SSR (I wish I had one) but this one will go to the ultimate winner of Survivor along with the million bucks.

The challenge is a long complicated one. I had to replay it to get all of the instructions. Basically an obstacle course, then various things to get get from one level of this tower to the next one up. First two to the top then face off for the win. Now, who do you think are the first two? Bing, bing, bing! You are correct. It was Ian and Tom. They slide down a zip line into the water to grab a bag of tiles with numbers on them and run back to shore. They have to use the numbers to unlock a padlock to get a flag and raise it. This is pure chance as to which combo to try in which order. Tom wins this one…again. Even the pure chance challenges, this guy wins.

Everyone is sitting around before Tribal council talking about the long day they had. Tom says something about how he is solid with taking Ian to the final two and that that was his agreement since day two and that he would be voting for Jenn, but there was no hard feelings, blah, blah blah. Jenn is obviously getting voted out, per everyone’s plan that everyone knows. Ian says “Yeah, I’m glad you won today because I would have had to make a hard choice if I had won”. Tom nods his head and you can see the wheels turning. He talks to Jenn a bit later and she tells him “Oh, yeah. We all agreed that if you didn’t win immunity that we were all going to vote you off.” Tom’s angry and confronts Ian. Ian says “Yeah, I said that, but It’s just a game.” Tom says “What do you mean, you would have had to make a choice, Ian? I thought you and I were solid and now I find out that you might have voted me off?”. Tom is very angry now, just before Tribal Council.

At Tribal Council, it all breaks loose between Tom and Ian. Katie’s not happy that she is being played by Ian. Ian stutters around that “he’s just playing a game. People say things, etc”. He’s just a bad liar and doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut. Tom votes for Ian. Jenn votes for Ian. Katie votes for Jenn. Ian votes for Jenn. It’s a tie.

Ian and Jenn do not vote again. Tom votes for Ian again. Katie votes for Jenn again. It’s another tie. They go to the challenge. This challenge is to a build a fire to burn the rope strung a couple feet across the top of it. Ian, of course, wins and Jenn goes home. OK, that’s over. Final three are Katie, Tom, and Ian. This is not a shock.

The next day, the three of them go remember all of their other survivors that went before them. They take their torches and paddle out in a boat and one by one, drop them in the water, while saying nice things about each person. It seemed like they had a hard time thinking of nice things to say about a couple of them.(I’m hoping that the producers go pick them up again, because they dropped them on top of wrecks and cool stuff underwater. I’d hate to be diving over there one day and discover a torch with the name “Amber” on a sunken WW2 airplane.)

Day 38, the final challenge. this could mean the whole thing, right here. The three of them had to stand on small, round platform on top of buoys floating in the water. They are probably 6-8 feet up off the water, but the little platform they have to stand on is maybe 6-8 inches in diameter. It’s hard on the feet.

A storm comes up with lightening and rain. Clouds go over. Time passes. More time passes. A few hours into it, Katies bails. She can’t deal with it and jumps in. The two guys (and how did we know it would come down to these two guys?) are just hanging out for hours on this challenge. It gets dark. Katie lays down and takes a nap. More time passes. The tension here is not just who will win the challenge. Everyone dumped on Ian pretty good the night before. Tom is angry at Ian and will vote him off if he wins. If Ian wins, who knows what will happen? Ian is trying to stay alive.

Jeff finally asks why they haven’t made a deal yet. Tom offers Ian the deal that if Ian jumps off, then Tom promises to take him to the final two. Ian thinks about it for a while. More time passes.

Then the “Ultimate Shock” thing happens that will “go down in Survivor history”. Ian tells Tom that if Ian jumps in, Tom has to NOT take Ian, but take Katie instead. This is the opposite of what Tom offered. Ian feels guilty about it all and says that friendship is better than a million bucks. Are you sure? Yes, he’s sure. Ian jumps in, ending his chance to win the game. After the stupid things he’s done the last few days, I’m not really surprised that he does something this stupid at this point in the game.

If he betrayed Tom and Katie, which he did at various occasions, and he got caught, which he also did, but shouldn’t have if he had kept his mouth shut, then what does bowing out of the final two get him? Does that “un-betray” Tom or Katie? I don’t get it, but Ian’s a big hero and everyone loves him once again. Wahoo! They all stand on the pier next to the challenge and have an impromptu Tribal Council. This whole challenge took a record 11 hours and 55 minutes. Yes, folks, Jeff sat on that pier for almost 12 hours.

Tom asks Ian to confirm that he really, really doesn’t want to go to the final two and he says yes, so Tom picks Katie go to with him instead. Ian! Ian! Ian! I thought you’d make it to the end. I told everyone that you’d win it and you let me down! Arghhh!

Now the jury gets to grill the two of them, Tom and Katie. Coby has a few choice things to say, as do a few other people, but it’s pretty tame. Katie, you’re fat and lazy, didn’t win any challenges and lied to me. Why should I vote for you?” “Um, well, I’m nice and um, well, I’m funny, and um, well, you aren’t voting for me anyway, so I don’t need to answer your question.”

One thing that I want to thank ther producers for was that this time, they didn’t do the typical cheezy Survivor video montage of Jeff taking the votes in the bucket and climbing on the helicopter, flying to the jet ski, then riding it into New York harbor, getting into a limo and walking through the doors of the Survivor show studio. It was always sooo hooky when they did that. You really think we’re that stupid?

This time, Jeff says he’ll see them in New York and takes the votes away. Then he walks through the back door of the studio, into the final Survivor Reunion show. Much more believable. Thanks, Mark.

They read the votes. It looks like everyone, except Coby, voted for Tom. Tom wins Survivor, the million and the Chevy SSR.

Reunion show to follow.

The server is getting hammered today, but try to leave me a comment anyway. I’m interested in what everyone else thought about how this turned out. I was disappointed in Ian bailing and in Katie making it so far. Tom was such an obvious choice to win because he never lost anything, it seemed. I got bored with him winning. What do you think about the ending to Survivor?

From Fbrunner:

After a 10 minute overview of SURVIVOR so far, the final days begin! Now that it’s down to Tom, Ian, Katie, and Jenn, there isnt many left to get knocked. It begins with a coolor full of breakfast laying their for them when they awake. With oranges, pinapples, and more, the 37th day begins with full stomachs. But GAME ON and minds are working as they enter the first challenge looking at ta Chevy SSR Pick-up.

NO NO NO to the reward because thats for SURVIVOR’s winner. THIS reward is for immunity baby! And this obstacle course is the bomb! Starting with tons of tires with colored ropes woven through, they must follow their rope to find which tires contain the 3 keys that they must untie…and use to unlock poles above them holding a door shut that then need open to take them to the next level up. On the 2nd level, they must untie 3 more knotts to open the next door and climb to the 3rd level. On the third level they used grappling hooks to get 4 ladder rungs from the ground. They need those to make a ladder and climb to the last level and hang their flag.

Tom and Ian hang their flags first but it aint over yet!! becuase now they wait for the go from Jeff to fly down ropes across the water to bags that they need to carry back to shore. In their bag is 3 numbers that make the combo to a box lock holding the final flag they need to raise. Tom wins immunity.

Back at camp, sappy tears fall as they know its about to end. Ian’s mouth is always slipping the wrong words and now he had Tom wondering how strong their alliance really was. Could Ian have been planning on voting¬®?úfor Tom to leave? Who cares! why not vote him off and not have to worry about it. After all, he stuttered and rambled on at¬®?útribal councel when Tom confronted him. The delight on Jenn’s face during the confrontation was priceless. Then it was Katie’s turn to confront him which lead to more stuttering.

But what a shock, Katie held true to Ian though he backstabbed her and caused a tie at tribal. Stubborness prevailed and the tie couldnt be broke so Ian and Jenn went to a challenge just like Steph and Bobby Jon. Except this fire challenge didnt involve a torch. Instead the flame had to burn through a rope. Ian won and Jenn went home.No sleep at camp that night though as chaos continued …making Ian sink lower and lower into his grave. His tears just wet the soil to help the grass grow on his grave as they threw the dirt to cover him. Ian new he needed immunity.

The team paddled out to have a remembrance as they threw the tribes torches in the water one by one. and on day 38, the last challenge began. They each had a bobbing buoy that they couldnt fall off of or sit on. Katie needed sleep after a little while and said good luck to Tom and Ian as she got off to go lay with Jeff. Darkness was apon them all when Tom offered a blunt choice to Ian. He told Ian if he won, he was taking Katie but if Ian steped off he would take him. AS IF!!! But later, Ians heart got the best of him and he made a deal to step off if Tom DIDNT vote for him as his way to show he did care about his friends.

39 days…Katie and Tom burn most of the things at camp so that no one else could ever use them because they felt those things belong to their “family”…

4 votes for Tom make him the million dollar winner

This evening, I’ll write up a detailed recap of the final episode, the reunion show, as well as an over view of the entire season, but I need to run off to Jury Duty right now. LA County Criminal Court in downtown LA, where the OJ case was.

Come back and read it later.

Are you glad that Tom won? What was Ian thinking? I’m so disappointed in that boy. Katie… what can I say? Gamed her way to the final two. Ah, well. What did you think? Leave a comment. Fill in the details for everyone else while I’m gone.

Coby and his daughter? Janu? Stephanie? Ian? What do you think?

THE WINNER OF “SURVIVOR: PALAU ” TO BE REVEALED LIVE FROM NEW YORK CITY AT A SPECIAL EVENT SUNDAY, MAY 15, ON THE CBS TELEVISION NETWORK

The Two-Hour Sunday Night Finale Will Be Followed By A LIVE Reveal Of The Winner And A One Hour Reunion Show, Hosted By Jeff Probst

The 20 Castaways Will Reunite For The First Time Since Being In Palau

“The Ultimate Shock” — After 39 days on the island, the Ultimate Survivor is revealed, on a special night, Sunday, May, 15 (8:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT), on the CBS Television Network. Immediately following, Jeff Probst will host a LIVE reunion show ( 10:00-11:00 , ET/ Tape delayed PT), from the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City .

The final four castaways begin to rethink their strategies when a once solid alliance unravels with the slip of a tongue. In the aftermath of an emotional Tribal Council, arguments abound, feelings are hurt and friendships are questioned. A shocking development during the final Immunity Challenge promises to go down in SURVIVOR history. Tears and harsh words fuel a tense session between the jury and the final two castaways. Who will win and become the Ultimate Survivor?

After the Ultimate Survivor of SURVIVOR: PALAU is revealed, tune in for more shocking revelations during the LIVE reunion show. In addition, Jeff Probst will officially announce the location of the next SURVIVOR, set to premiere in Fall, 2005.

SURVIVOR: PALAU is produced by SEG, Inc. Mark Burnett and Tom Shelly are the executive producers. Mark Burnett, Tom Shelly, Marilyn Seabury and Stuart Schreiberg will serve as executive producers of the LIVE reunion show.

Interview after Caryn was voted off of the Survivor TV Show.

Julie Chen: Caryn Groedel, good morning.

Caryn: Good morning.

Julie Chen: You’ve had a shower and a nice meal since then. Are you still stewing? Are you still mad?

Caryn: Well I’m angry that there was so much deception and everyone was making it seem like…oh everything is so happy and peaceful at Koror. And really there was so much scheming going on. More… »

Caryn was unbelievably stupid tonight and got voted off. It wasn’t a plot against her as much as it was her making people mad at her in the Tribal Council. It wasn’t a minute too soon, either. She said she was “just telling the truth”. When was THAT ever the right thing to do on Survivor? I’m shaking my head in amazement.

It started when Katie is upset that she got told they were voting Gregg off, right before council, without enough time to think about it, but then Ian calms her down. It’s hard to tell if they are really loyal to each other or not. It seems like they’ve both taken opportunities to hurt the other. It’s not looking good for them.

The reward challenge was for a new, red Corvette. In an effort to give away a vehicle that doesn’t suck, they gave away something besides a Pontiac G6 or an Aztec. Props to the producers and GM on this one. The challenge was paddling a little boat out to a series of posts that have mileage markers tied them in little bags. One bag per trip from the dock to the poles. Once you get all of the markers, you hang them on the correct city names to signify how far those cities are away from Pulau. The winner gets the new Corvette and an over night trip to a mansion on top of a hill with the best view of the entire world. It looked amazing.

There was the tense competition where Ian and Tom seem to be ahead of everyone else (I’m shocked!). It’s not really even close and Ian wins it. Now, before the challenge, Tom and Ian agreed that whoever won needed to take along Katie to smooth her feathers. Gregg’s big mistake last week was who he DIDN’T take and that cost him the game. Ian walks over to his car and tells everyone that he had a deal with Tom that if it was a car reward that he was going to take Tom. We never saw that conversation, so I’m not sure it’s true or what was up. It was a stupid choice on Ian’s part. I wanted to withdraw my opinion that he will win the game when I saw that move. Stupid move, Ian!

Now, when the boys are away, so the girls will talk and talk and talk. Caryn tries to get a woman’s alliance together. Everyone tells all. Caryn tells that she has a deal with Tom and Ian. Katie says that she has a deal with Tom and Ian. Jenn is surprised that anyone has any deal with anyone. All three feel betrayed by the boys. This is not good at all for Tom and Ian. Stupid Move, Ian!

At the mansion, Tom tells him that they need to get Katie back onto their side. They are worried that the women will gang up on them (and the women should. Just ask Stephanie.)

When they get back from the trip, Caryn confronts them on the beach and asks Ian flat out, “what’s the deal”. “Is it You, Tom, and Caryn or you, Tom, and Me?” Ian stumbles a bit and says he doesn’t really know, he hasn’t decided, blah, blah, blah. This makes Caryn mad and I think she makes up her mind at that point. Stupid move, Ian!

They go back to camp and Katie doesn’t even want to talk to Ian. She finally relents and they have a big emotional blow up, yelling and all hurt feelings and stuff. They both are crying and waving their hands in despair. “Oh, be my friend!” “You hurt my feelings!” “I’m so sorry” “Boo hoo.” “Let’s be friends”. This is all followed by a big, long hug…and we’re out. I was laughing all the way through this scene. It was the battle of the drama queens. They are both great, bad actors.

The immunity challenge was to go across these rope bridges to the other end where there was a rack with a bunch of tiles with symbols on them, arraigned in a pattern. They have to go across, memorize the order, come back and recreate the order on this end. People fall, Katie looks like she almost broke leg at one point. Caryn crawls slowly. Ian runs. Tom has a hard time, but in the end, almost by sheer luck, Tom wins immunity.

Now, let’s update the politics. Ian and Tom want to go to the final 4. The women might get together against the guys. Caryn is not sure if she can trust Ian and Tom, because Ian didn’t tell her that he would stick by her. Katie isn’t sure she can trust Ian either. Jenn is hoping to not get taken out and will do whatever anyone else wants her to. Hhhmmmm…

Tribal Council was dramatic. Caryn blabs her mouth about how Ian didn’t trust Katie enough to tell her sooner about Gregg last time. Tom tells everyone that Caryn told on Katie and Gregg last time. Caryn is appalled. Katie is angry. Caryn keeps telling everyone everyone else’s secrets. Colby, in the jury, was smiling like a school girl with his hand up to his mouth in mock horror, laughing at them all.

During the vote, Ian votes for Caryn and says “it’s not a second too soon”. Caryn votes for Ian and everyone else votes for Caryn. The jury all shake their heads.

In Caryn’s farewell speech, she seems upset that people have lied and feels vindicated that she is “just telling the truth”. Stupid move, Caryn!

The final 4 are Katie, Jenn, Tom, and Ian. I think tonight was the most fun of all of them so far. It had the most drama, stupidity, and lying that we’ve seen so far. Very cool.

Will Ian ever make it to the final two? Will Tom ever lose an immunity challenge? Will Katie ever pick a side? Will Jenn ever get a personality?

Leave me a message and we’ll see you back here next Sunday night at 8:00pm.

Ian wins reward challenge for a new corvette and takes Tom with him to a mansion to eat and drink all they want. Big mistake when u let three girls alone and u have fake aliances with all. So now Katie decides to tell all about alliances because she has nothing to lose. Ian has just broke her trust after he promised to take her if he won the challenge and she promised to take him. When Ian and Tom get back, Karen straight up jumps Ian and confronts him on the alliance… Tom about dies after Ian doesnt make Caryn think shes in the alliance and instead, he tells her he isnt sure who hes with. After Tom tells him how stupid he is,,, he tries to push Katie to stick with them. Debate goes on till immunity challenge where Tom wins. So who is voted off? of course, Caryn is because they need Katie to get Jen off so they can go to the final two without the women.

Caryn goes…

A New Corvette!!! Heck, I’d be on the show for a new Corvette.

It must be Sweeps.

Here is the promo for the final shows. Make of it what you will. Personally, I’m shocked!

The Two-Hour Sunday Night Finale Will Be Followed By A LIVE Reveal Of The Winner And A One Hour Reunion Show, Hosted By Jeff Probst

The 20 Castaways Will Reunite For The First Time Since Being In Palau

“The Ultimate Shock” — After 39 days on the island, the Ultimate Survivor is revealed, on a special night, Sunday, May, 15 (8:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT), on the CBS Television Network. Immediately following, Jeff Probst will host a LIVE reunion show ( 10:00-11:00 , ET/ Tape delayed PT), from the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City .

The final four castaways begin to rethink their strategies when a once solid alliance unravels with the slip of a tongue. In the aftermath of an emotional Tribal Council, arguments abound, feelings are hurt and friendships are questioned. A shocking development during the final Immunity Challenge promises to go down in SURVIVOR history. Tears and harsh words fuel a tense session between the jury and the final two castaways. Who will win and become the Ultimate Survivor?

After the Ultimate Survivor of SURVIVOR: PALAU is revealed, tune in for more shocking revelations during the LIVE reunion show. In addition, Jeff Probst will officially announce the location of the next SURVIVOR, set to premiere in Fall, 2005.

The end is near! This is the last Thursday show until next season. The Season Finale is this Sunday night, then it’s over. We’re about to enter into a Survivor TV Show frenzy, so stay tuned and come back here often.

I still think it’s going to be Ian. This week it will be Jen, the lame duck. Katie and Ian will have some big emotional blowup, but who cares? The final four will be Tom, Ian, Katie, and Caryn. Caryn will go early, then Katie. Final two will be Ian and Tom. The vote will come down to how much people liked Ian or Tom. Tom ruffled some feathers, but Ian’s been a nice guy the whole time. There’s always been some respect for the player who lies and backstabs the most (Boston Rob comes to mind, as does Chris, the winner from last year). Ian is becoming the backstabbing master with the Gregg ambush. He’s nice and plays the game well. He’s gonna win. I’ve been saying this for weeks.

REMEMBER!

If you live on the East Coast, remember to email me what happens right after the Survivor TV show on Thursday night, so that we, on the West Coast, will know what happens before we watch it. Send me the whole story at episode12@survivor.com and you’ll be published here! Thanks!

Paula Abdul

While we’re on the subject, should Paula Abdul be fired? Do you think she really did that guy? or is he just a lying slimeball looking to promote his own career? Who do you believe?

Leave me a comment.

We’re finally getting some backstabbing and scheming! The game has begun. I’m surprised that it’s coming from Ian. With Steph gone last week, everyone thought that the game plan was firmly in place. Everyone agrees that it will be Caryn this time around.

The reward challenge was a series of questions that everyone had to answer. Everyone had a lantern hung on a rope over the water. Three drops and it’s in the water and you are out of the game. When you get an answer correct, you have to drop someone else’s lantern once. This brings out who is on whose side, who can be trusted. Gregg wins this reward, which is food on a yacht. Gregg gets to take one person with him. Who will it be, except Jenn? Then there’s a big twist! He can take another person also! This gets a little tricky, but he picks Katie. They go have a great time and meet friends and family from back home. They also talk strategy and decide that the “five” of them, wink, wink, would vote of Caryn tonight, per the plan, but then vote of Tom next. The three of them would go to the final four with Ian, then vote of Ian.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch… Ian is mad that Katie, who he swore allegiance to, dropped his lantern and was willing to throw him to the wolves during the challenge. He sits down with Tom and Caryn to have a talk. They all realize that Katie will turn on them and join with Gregg and Jenn. They make a pact to turn on Gregg. ?á?í?Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures?á?í?. Katie will either vote with them or face the dreaded purple rock. The rules say that if there’s a tie during tribal council, the two people who tied are then immune and everyone else has to pick colored rocks out of a bag. Purple rock goes home. Ian and Tom are willing to risk the rock for the plan. It’s their only way to make it to the final four.

Gregg and the girls get home, say goodbye to all their friends and talk with everyone (except Caryn) about how they are going to vote off Caryn that night. “Oh yeah. Definitely!” Caryn is acting all depressed, like she knows she’s going home, but it’s all an act.. Gregg’s cocky, feeling good. Pride goes before a fall, sucker.

The immunity challenge is another bargain basement recycle of previous challenges to save production money. The girls lose first, with tom and Ian into the final two. It’s the shooting at tiles game and Tom is terrible, so Ian wins immunity. They are both glad that Gregg did not get it.

Just before the tribal council, Ian takes Katie aside and tells her that he, Tom, and Caryn, are voting for Gregg, not Caryn. She’s shocked and angry, but has no time to talk to the loving couple. She realizes that she must vote for Gregg also or risk going home herself.

Jeff is pretty predictable at council. How are you guys doing, blah, blah, blah. They vote. The vote is read. The first two go for Caryn. Gregg smiles. Then it starts to go towards Gregg. He gets one vote after the next. He’s shocked! Colby is grinning like a baby in the jury. Jenn is upset and confused! Gregg finally gets it as the final vote is read. Gregg is going home. He laughs and tells them that they got him good. He takes it well and they snuff out his torch.

“No one is safe! Now grab your torches and head back to camp.”

In the tease for next week, Katie is furious at Ian. Ha! Deal with it sweetheart. I’ve said that Ian will win it all and I still believe that. He and Tom will win all of the immunities from now on and eliminate the girls, Jenn and Katie first. They will get into the final two. Ian has not made anyone mad and he will win the whole thing in the end.

The best comment is “Jenn is the new Janu”.

Please leave a comment.

• K- Katie Gallagher, 29, Merced, Calif.; ad executive
• K- Caryn Groedel, 46, Ohio; lawyer
• K- Jennifer Lyon, 32, Encino, Calif.; nanny
• K- Ian Rosenberger, 23, Key Largo, Fla; a dolphin trainer
• K- Tom Westman, 41, New York City; firefighter

Episode 12

• K- Gregg Carey, 27, Chicago; business consultant

Episode 11

• U- Stephenie LaGrossa, 25, Philadelphia; pharmaceutical sales rep

Episode 10

• K- Janu Tornell, 39, Las Vegas; show girl
  

Episode 9

• K- Coby Archa, 32, Athens, Texas; hairdresser
  

Episode 8

• U - Bobby Jon Drinkard, 27, Troy, Ala.; waiter

Episode 7

• U- Ibrehem Rahman, 27, Alabama; waiter
  

Episode 6

• U- James Miller, 33, Mobile, Ala.; steel worker
  

Episode 5

• K- Willard Smith, 57, Bellevue, Wash.; lawyer
• U- Angie Jakusz, 24, New Orleans; bartender

Episode 4

• U- Kimberly Mullen, 25, Huber Heights, Ohio; graduate student and former Miss Ohio USA

Episode 3

• U- Jeff Wilson, 22, Ventura, Calif.; personal trainer

Episode 2

• U- Ashlee Ashby, 22, South Carolina; fitness counselor

Episode 1

• U - Jolanda Jones, 39, Houston Texas; lawyer
• Jonathan Libby, 23, Dallas, Texas; sales and marketing
• Wanda Shirk, 55, Ulysses, Pa.; teacher

Fbrunner6 says this:

Reward challenge includes eating on a yacht

each person has a flame hanging from rope and 3 levers holding their lantern up

everyone is asked a question and correct answers get to pull someones lever down

every lever lowers your flame closer to the water ….once your flame is out… u r out

gregg makes a deal with katie to save her if she saves him… so she saves him and he lowers her lever

he wins reward and takes jen… shes so conceted that she was excited before he even said she was going with him…. cant wait till she goes… shes geting off to easy playing innocent

he gets to take one more and picks katie telling tom and ian he will pay them back later

tom says..”oh no gregg, we’ll pay YOU back later” truely funny!!!!

gregg is getting his massage on the yaht and they switch up and sneak his best friend to finish the massage…later on.. someone came to visit each of the girls too

tricky tricky game tables get turned and gregg goes home after a complex immunity challenge involving several minor challenges illiminating one person per round… ian won immunity… talk about shock on jens face….and u can laugh at the jury too as coby shows his girlish charm with the shock

and this from HiMY SYeD in the comments:

Halftime report boys and Girls?á?í?

The young?á?í?ôuns won the reward challenge and stupidly the two girls get picked up by the reward winner.

This pisses off Tom and Caryn and Ian.

They come up with a plan to tie the vote. As per the rules, the remaining four at tribal council pull out coloured stones in sudden death?á?í? sorry, gotta hop.. it?á?í?ôs back on tv now?á?í?

he producers get lazy this week and recycle six of the past immunity challenges into a 6 then 5 then 4 then 3 then 2 then 1 Immunity winner elimination rounder set up.

At three down Greg can?á?í?ôt finish his dinner and he?á?í?ôs eliminated. Tom and Ian share a quick glance and grimace which is priceless, as the plan is now set for the Caryn-Tom-Ian alliance to vote block off Greg.

Ian?á?í?ôs win immunity?á?í?

Ian gambles (?) at the last minute on the beach before heading out to Tribal Council and tells Katie of the plan to boot Greg. She?á?í?ôs shocked and the unfinished argument begins about trust and betrayal, an open would that the teaser for next week confirms. But Katie?á?í?ôs got no time to talk it up with ?á?í?öthe couple?á?í?ô.

At tribal, the usual blah blah blah from Jeff with the usual yadda yadda yadda and cutaways to the Jury.

When Greg?á?í?ôs name shows up on the chits, his mug becomes a deer in headlights, then again, his mouth drops, then again, his girlfriend looks worried, and the next person knocked off the island is?á?í?. ?á?í?.drumroll phuuuulleeeezeeee?á?í??á?í??á?í?Greg.

The jury looks so sweet when they?á?í?ôre surprised. Steph with that hand to the mouth ?á?í?öoh my it?á?í?ôs poetic justice!!!!?á?í?ô look is nice.

Ian?á?í?ôs last minute gamble by ?á?í?öplaying the game?á?í?ô with Katie wins big as the pull the purple stone you outta here sudden death move is mute.

Jen is the new Janu.

Grab your TiVo?á?í?ôs.
Head back to camp.

“Jen is the new Janu.” - That’s hilarious!