Survivor Tocantins: 4.2.09

Finally a new episode!

Sydney worried that she might get voted out next if Jalapao loses again, but Joe promised her that Taj would be going next. Joe admitted in interview that he's got a little thing for Sydney, and said that she has a free pass.

Uh oh. Foreshadowing, editors?

Over at Timbira, Coach (who likes his beans cooked softer than others) added dirty river water to the beans to make them cook longer, when everyone else would have been happy with them as they were. To be safe, they had to boil them for 6 minutes at least, to make sure they were safe. Then, the rain came, and Coach hid out under the shelter instead of stirring the beans. And they burned. And he got upset when Sierra and others were grumpy when they were inedible. She said "If you want your beans cooked a different way, maybe you should make them in a different pot." Zing.

Though Brendan finds him highly annoying, and mostly out for himself most of the time, he says that he likes Coach because he is a predictable player. I can see that.

Over at Jalapao, Taj wanted to tell JT about the idol, and Stephen didn't like that idea. He made sure that she wasn't planning on telling him about the alliance, just the idol. Nothing was decided (on camera)

Reward Challenge

Tribes will have 5 minutes to build barracades out of sticks inside the other tribe's frame. They will then toss ceramic pigs from one end, to one person on one side of the barracade, through the barracades built for them, to someone on the other side, and then to someone else by a bench, without breaking them or dropping them. Whichever tribe has the most pigs at the end of 10 mintues, wins. What do they win? An afternoon bbq by a beautiful waterfall... and Exile Choosing rights.

Erinn is sitting out the challenge.

Tyson and Coach have a good rhythm going on. Finally, Coach is looking useful. JT and Sydney got a good toss going, and Tyson broke a couple, and they tied it up. Coach fumbled and dropped one and Jalapao got into the lead. They were tied up to 10 seconds before the end, but one final catch brought Timbira the win.

Brendan read Taj's mind seemingly, because she said (in interview) that since the Secret Alliance is all set, she hoped they sent someone else. They sent Joe, who chose Erinn, thinking to use his charm and pull her in as a swing vote in a possible merge. Not a bad plan, since Erinn hates her tribe.

The Waterfall BBQ looked delicious. They ate burgers the size of their heads, and then went swimming by the waterfall. Coach said that it didn't matter that Erinn wasn't there, since he thinks she's just lucky to be there in the first place.

Over at Exile, Erinn got the clue, and the fuzzed out buns. After she checked out the clue, she put some pants on, and brought up the idea of a cross-tribe alliance. Too late? He asked her who her favorite was in her tribe, and she said "Can we have favorites out here?" She gave him the clue, and they decided to go looking when they got back to camp.

And Stephen and Taj decided to build a Fake Hidden Immunity Idol. They are not Bob, that's for sure, but Taj built something believable and put it in place. In order to do that, she grabbed the Real Idol from Stephen's pants, and put it back in the top of a bag... which JT then saw inadvertantly. Stephen tried to back-pedal about knowing about it, and had a chat with JT. Stephen told Taj that they should talk to JT about the Idol, so that he doesn't think she's hiding something. She then told him "If you need it, you can have it." Not sure if she should have made that decision without talking to Stephen first. She gave the idol back to Stephen to put in her pants.

Immunity Challenge

Each tribe will use a slingshot to break tiles to release sand, to drop bags. The bags have puzzle pieces, and the first tribe to get the puzzle right wins. Debbie sits out.

JT and Tyson took their places as shooters. They can change out or not, as they please. Tyson got the first tile broken, and kept shooting. JT got his first bag as well, and opted to also keep shooting. JT got the second bag for Jalapao just before Tyson got the second bag for Timbira. Unfortunately, JT didn't break the tiles completely, so he has a very small target for the third tile. Tyson obliterated his tiles, and the third bag was released for them.

Brendan and Erinn got started on the puzzle and JT finally got the third bag. Joe and Stephen got to work on their puzzle. Brenden and Erinn got it done first, and Timbira won reward. Coach was smug. I don't want anyone to go from Jalapao. Will the fake Hidden Idol come into play?

Back at camp, it seems that Joe has an infected cut in his leg. Ouch. He not-so-subtley went off "to get water" which was of course "off to be a sucker." The Fake Idol was good enough to fool him.

Joe wanted everyone to vote for Taj, and JT and Stephen looked in agreement, but I hope that they go to vote for Joe... but I think they are going to vote for Sydney, and that's a damned shame, because she doesn't deserve to go yet. Stephen actually brought up the fact that Taj has some connections with Brendan and Sierra on the other side, and they should keep her. Joe says he needs to honor his agreement with Sydney. He said (in confessional) that he might just hand the idol over to Sydney to make a point.

Then, JT got a crazy look in his eyes, because he realized that Stephen has the idol at this point and time. JT said "this is terrible, I'm going to hell." Will Taj be a victim of another blind side?

Tribal Council

Taj brought up the fact that she has some relationships with people on the other side, and could bring them in to give them more numbers. Sydney said that she is loyal to the tribe she IS in, not the tribe she COULD be in. Ouch.

I have no idea what is happening. And I like it.

No Idol was played.

Sydney is going home. I will miss her. I kind of wish they had totally blindsided Taj. That might have been Epic.

Next week - Merge!