Watching Reality TV

If you want to catch up on last week’s show, please read this post right here.

Everyone is reeling from sending James.  It was a singularly brilliant move that I still can’t believe they got away with.  The thing is, now Todd knows he’s a big target since he saw at least one vote against him.  PG is thrilled that she’s still in the game.   I’m rather amazed, to be frank.  She’s been doing better at challenges than I would have figured.  Todd wants Erik and PG gone, but he’s smart enough to know that he can’t trust anyone. And he admits that turning on him now would be a smart move on their part.

Time or the reward challenge!  It’s basically a giant maze, comprised of teams of two.  First team to make it through the maze (blindfolded!), will win.  And they’ll be paired with… loved ones!  Erik’s mom emerges and everyone gets really excited.  Amanda is joined by her sister.  PG gets to play with her dad.  Todd will be playing with his sister.  She tells him that their other sister miscarried her baby and OMG, how sad is that.  Courtney is joined by her father.  There isn’t a dry eye in the house.  Denise is greeted by her husband… awe.  Courtney’s dad is a little taken aback to learn he’ll be competing (he seems a little fancy).   Winner gets a boat trip and a call home.  I’m assuming the boat trip is with the loved one.  It’s an entertaining challenge.  And… Denise and her husband Robert win the reward!  I wish everyone could have won, spent more time with their loved ones.  But I’m glad she won.  Oh!  And she gets to pick two Survivors to come along with their loved ones!  She picks Todd (obvious choice) and Amanda.  They all bring their loved ones.  The remaining three look pretty beaten down to be saying goodbye to their loved ones.  The loved ones, after the boat ride, get to spend the night at camp!  Would be better if it were a resort or something. ;)  Just sayin’.

Everyone on the boat is just GORGING on their feast.  Denise is excited her husband came, since he’s afraid of flying.  Amanda loses her poop over the sight of chocolate cake.   Denise’s phone rang and it’s her daughter and she can barely understand her daughter for the crying.  It’s so sweet.  Back at camp, the mood is pretty somber.  PG is upset she wasn’t chosen.  Courtney and Erik both think that the story of the miscarriage was not true and was just played or sympathy.  Okay, bitter much?  It would suck if it weren’t true, but suck if it were true too.  Courtney better hope it’s not true, because she is looking like a MAJOR ass here.  Everyone returns to camp and the winners allow the losers to lick chocolate from their hands.  Okay, GROSS.  PG is still sulking and not wanting to talk to anyone.  She’s still upset that Denise didn’t pick her since she picked HER to go on her reward last week.  (insert much eyerolling here)  Todd admits he’s worried that people will think he’s lying about his sister.  He admits to the camera that it is true, every bit of it.  So yeah, Courtney is an ass.  I think Denise picking Amanda and Todd was SMART because they have more power in the game than Courtney and PG.

The next morning, the loved ones leave and it’s a tearful goodbye.  Todd comments that he can’t ever relax and trust people, he’s got to keep on his toes.  Denise tries to apologize to PG for not picking her for the reward.  PG isn’t entirely happy, but she appreciates Denise making the effort.  It’s time or another challenge!  It just never stops around here, does it?  It’s pretty much a puzzle type challenge.  Which isn’t to say it’s not physical at all, but it’s mostly mental.  If you’re good with the puzzles and trivia, you’re good to go.  First person to answer three questions correctly will win.  Woo hoo.  It’s neck and neck for a while, but PG manages to eke out a win and she is so happy that she cries.  She really needed it too.  I hope this stops her sulking about the reward challenge.

How does Todd get his hair to stand up like that without gel?  Todd is worrying about the vote that night.  Denise needs to put a top on or get a better bra.  That’s all I’m saying.  Anyhow, Todd wants to vote out Erik.  Erik, meanwhile, wants to vote out Todd.  Dilemma!  PG is with Erik and they plan to go to Denise and ask her to vote with them.  Denise finds herself in a very powerful position.  They give her a good argument, but as James said last week, it doesn’t make much sense to go with the minority over the majority, you know?  Todd still is stressing.  He asks Denise if they’re after her vote.  No pressure, of course. :P  She’s still unsure, as Tribal Council approaches.

Everyone marches in and takes their seats.  They get some hard looks from the jury, particularly James.  PG quasi-insults Denise by insinuating that she’s at the bottom of the pack, where she could really pull it out if she tried hard enough.   Anyhow, finally everyone gets down to voting and it goes pretty much as I expected it would.  Denise isn’t stupid and she votes with the group.  Todd gets 2 votes, Erik gets 4.  Erik gets sent to the jury.  Voila.

Now next week?  Amanda tries to unseat Todd.  Will she be successful?