Survivor Tocantins: 4.9.09

Jalapao is feeling defeated after Tribal, saying "We're just Jala. We lost Pao."

The editors pulled out no stops, setting Coach's yoga on the beach to crazy music and thunder. The rest of the tribe looked on like he was insane. Because he is. Then, he gave back rubs, saying that he is going to pacify the tribe. Erinn was digging New Coach, and the back rubs. Brendan brought up that Coach claimed to have "started the Samarai thing." Um, no.

Over at Jalapao, Joe's leg is terrible infected. He swears it's getting better. Taj doesn't think so. I wonder if they are regretting getting rid of Sydney now.

It's Tree Mail time, and they are promised a feast and getting away from camp if they win. Taj is drooling immediately at the thought of food in any form.

Is it a Challenge, or a Merge?

It sure looks like a merge to me. There is a giant table with all sorts of food, sweets, drinks, and a new green flag, green buffs, and all the good stuff. They get a note that they are going to live at Timbira's camp. Everyone toasts to the merge. Coach says the merge is like getting a new girlfriend, with all sorts of new things to explore. He is feeling completely in control. They contemplate Dingus, which means will to overcome in Portugese. Coach suggests Forza, which means strength, and that is better. Dingus does not have a good ring to it in English.

While everyone was enjoying the feast, gameplay was running through their heads.

Back at the new merged camp, JT was disappointed in the "doghouse shelter," and Stephen was nervous about the former Jalapao members placement in the tribe. Coach went out fishing with JT, and declared him a kindred spirit. They talked about gameplay, and Coach wants to keep it confidential between him and JT. JT says he noticed cracks in the tribe, and he just wants to make sure everyone hates each other, to exploit the cracks. JT told Coach that he was pretty sure that Brenden has the Idol. He does not tell about the idol Taj has.

Coach went to go chat with Tyson, who wanted the alliance to be the two of them, JT, Stephen, and Debbie. And they want to take out Brenden. Tyson chatted with Stephen, who has some decisions to make...

The next morning, Tyson and JT were fishing and decided they could trust each other. Taj was feeling unsure about the secret alliance, and Stephen was getting crazy eyes when thinking about it. Brenden said that he was thinking about the Secret Alliance all the time, but it isn't really effective until the numbers get lower. So, he didn't talk to them about it. Bad idea.

Tyson met with Brenden and told him that he would vote off Joe at the next Tribal. He had no intention of doing any such thing.

Erinn and Joe went in search of the Hidden Immunity Idol and saw that it was gone (the clues were too easy this season). Dah-dah-dah.

Immunity Challenge

It's a version of the classic stand on a stick challenge. They have to cling to a pole (with lots of levels of foot and hand holds) for as long as they can.

Joe had troubles right off the bat, and so did Stephen. Stephen fell first, but Joe didn't last much longer. I think he should have his leg looked at. So does Probst. The Challenge goes on. Brenden, Taj and Erinn went down in quick succession. Surprisingly, JT was out next. Coach was out next. And Sierra, who was looking so strong though the beginning of the challenge, slid down insanely quickly and was gone.

Tyson won the first individual immunity, but Debbie held on right up until the end.

And Joe's leg got looked at by medical. Thank you, Probst, for insisting on that. Medical thought his leg looked really bad, and Probst asked if Joe wanted to stay in the game. Joe says he wants to know if he is going to lose the leg. Medical said that he is risking infection spreading to his bone, or his blood, which could be deadly, and it isn't going to heal itself overnight.

Everyone back at camp was worried about Joe. Tyson had a couple sound bites about how much he hates Sierra and Brenden, and I have to admit, he's funny. He made mention of kissing Brenden's neck and the small of his back.

While Stephen was trying to chat with JT (and he mentioned his alliance with Taj and Brenden), Tyson walked up to chat with them. Hope he didn't hear. Taj is not feeling secure with Brenden, because he hasn't talked to her at all. It's one thing to be covert, it's another to be silent.

Coach told JT that the others were thinking of voting for JT, and JT brought it up to Stephen, who did his best bug-eyed look again. They think they should split the votes, in case Brenden plays the idol, and they decide on Sierra as their secondary target. Boo. Coach says "if it goes the way I planned it to, it will shake the hell out of the foundations that were Timbira." Um... I think Stephen came up with the current seemingly prevailing thought... he declares himself the Dragon Slayer.

Probst showed up at camp (sans umbrella in the pouring rain. Go Probst!), and that's never a good thing. Joe is out. No tribal council. Coach is disappointed. I hope that something changes in the next episode to make Sierra and Brenden safer, because I like them both.

Next week - Brenden "wages war" on Coach. Coach continues to rant about being a dragon slayer and the chosen one. I hope that Brenden takes him out.

Hope that Joe recovered well. We hardly knew him.