Previously on Survivor: Micronesia - Fans vs. Favorites, Natalie and Parvati formed an all woman “Black Widow Brigade” with the goal of ousting all the men.  Their first victim was a hapless Jason who found the hidden immunity necklace then fell for Natalie’s lies and failed to play it to save himself.  James and Amanda watched from the outside and failed to make a move to save Jason or themselves from a future exit.

James Gives Them The Finger

As you may recall, Jeff told James to have medical check out his finger after Tribal Council.  It doesn’t look so good.  They tell him the usual stuff about how infection could set in and cause him to lose the use of his finger.  He asks how long he has and they say they’ll check on him again in the morning.  James works with his hands so he’s going to need his finger when he gets back.  They say if it doesn’t look better tomorrow he’s off to surgery.  I think we all know where this is heading.

A Second Injury

The next morning we find out that Alexis got up in the middle of the night and busted her knee somehow.  She’s in a lot of pain and it’s all swollen.  Cirie gives us an update on the injuries and says she knows it looks bad because she’s a nurse, but that’s two less people she needs to fight against for a million dollars!  Gotta love it.

Reward Challenge

The medics were a no show in the morning for some reason but the tribe goes on to the reward challenge.  At the challenge they are amused to find doll likenesses of themselves hanging from a sort of gallows.  We’ve seen this challenge before.

Three ropes hold back a smasher.  The survivors will all individually answer questions about the tribe and then Probst will ask them all the same questions and this time they will answer with what they think was the most popular answer.  Whoever gets it right gets to chop someones rope.  After three chops the smasher is released to crush the doll likeness and put the survivor out of the challenge.

What are they playing for?  The annual family visit.  They all have a family member who comes out and greets them.  Erik is hilarious as he shows off his beard to his brother and points out that the real Jeff Probst is right there in front of them.  The winner will go to a non-stinging Jellyfish lake and swim with the fishes.  In addition a loser will be sent to Exile Island where a new immunity idol has been hidden.  I immediately think that I would throw the challenge to go to Exile Island.  It’s been so easy to find the idol, it’s almost a free pass.  It doesn’t seem to dawn on anyone else, though.  Not terribly surprising.

So anyway, they answer questions and nothing is too very surprising.  The only thing we really learn is that everyone thinks Parvati is the one who mistakenly thinks she’s in control of the game.  She doesn’t seem to like that very much.  At the end it all comes down to a chop by Cirie that will decide if Amanda or Alexis wins the game.  Cirie chops Amanda’s rope and gives the win to Alexis.  I’m not sure that was a very smart move on her part as it was a big signal to Amanda that she isn’t to be trusted.

As expected Alexis is able to bring two others with her.  She, of course, chooses Cirie and Natalie and their family members all come along.  When the time comes for Alexis to choose someone for Exile Amanda volunteers and Alexis isn’t smart enough to say no.  She quickly agrees.

Say Goodbye To The Gravedigger

As the others leave for the Reward and/or Exile, Jeff has James go into the jungle with medical to have his finger checked out again.  James says his finger is fine, but the doctor doesn’t really agree.  She pushes on it and puss and liquids are squished out. 

Jeff comes over and asks for the status.  It’s not good.  There’s a chance the infection could spread to the whole hand.  Jeff says it’s up to James to stay unless medical says it’s too big of a risk.  What does medical say?  It’s too big of a risk.  The jungle is too dirty and the finger is already infected.  James has to go.  He looks pretty devastated at first, but quickly recovers.  He is, after all, James.

James gets a chance to say goodbye to everyone…all two of them…Parvati and Erik.  Parvati is really upset.  She tells us, “James is like one of the toughest guys I’ve ever met in my life, and I just have so much respect for James and who he is as a person.”  I’m not sure how she’s so upset about someone who she had already screwed over once and was about to screw over again. 

As James leaves Erik points out that he’s the last man left.  Well, I don’t know if I’d say man, Erik…

The Reward

Sometimes the rewards are really fun to watch.  This time it wasn’t.  They go to a lake and swim with a bunch of jellyfish.  I’m sure it was cool to be there.  I wasn’t.  Nothing of important was discussed.

Exile Island

Amanda wastes no time in looking for the idol.  The clues are maybe slightly better this time as Amanda has to dig a hug trench in the sand for one clue that must have taken a pretty long time.  She finally finds the third or fourth clue and it says that the idol is buried under the tribal flag back at camp.

Day 33

The Rewardees came back the night before and Parvati told them about James.  Alexis is immediately worried because she thinks of her knee and how she could be sent home too.  Cirie grasps the real magnitude of the situation and realizes that if Erik wins the immunity challenge that they’re going to be in a bind because they women will have to start turning on one another - much sooner than they had thought.

Anyway, on day 33 Alexis is kind of hobbling around on her knee.  She says it’s kind of shaky and she doesn’t have any stability in it.  Parvati asks her if she can do the game for seven more days and Alexis answers yes without hesitation.  Then Parvati says, “So you don’t want us to vote you out?â€Â?  Um, no.  I don’t think Alexis was too happy about the question.  Parvati sort of tries again by pointing out that it looks like Alexis is in excruciating pain.  But no, she’s okay.  Alexis tells us she feels a little threatened by Parvati’s statement.  I can’t imagine why.

So, Natalie, Alexis and Parvati decide that Erik should be the next to go.  Of course.  Then Natalie says if she were in the final three, she couldn’t win against Amanda.  Now, there’s something completely stupid about that statement.  Read it again and see if you can figure it out.  Yeah, she’s sitting with her two allies and talking about a possibility of them NOT being the final three.  Not a smart presumption to make right in front of them.  Anyway, Natalie says that Amanda has played a good game and everybody is on her side.  Parvati, however, says that she and Amanda have been together since like day one so she can’t have any part of a plan to screw her over “at this point.”  She doesn’t really say it can’t happen, she just makes it a point to say that she can’t have a part in it.  Real mafia of her.

Immunity Challenge

Amanda rejoins the group and is told about the loss of James.  She’s in shock.  But there’s no time for that as we have to get to the challenge.  It’s another one like we’ve seen before.  They’ll each take turns firing a high-powered rifle at colored sake bottles suspended by ropes.  There’s three of each color, a different color for each person.  First person to hit and break all three of their bottles wins immunity.

It’s a fun little game to watch and the crew did a good job of somehow getting shots of the sites of the gun lining up on the bottles.  I’m not sure how “high-powered” the rifle was as you could actually see the bullet flying through the air.  It starts off well with Natalie, Parvati, and Erik all hitting on the first shot.  Then it drags a little as Erik seems to be the only one with any luck.  It really doesn’t make a lot of sense because if the women really wanted to keep Erik from winning immunity they could have just all aimed for one person’s bottles and helped one of the women win and kept Erik from winning.  They didn’t think of this, of course, so the worst case scenario for the women actually happens.  Erik wins immunity!

Back At Camp

Back at camp, Amanda makes a smart, if not a bit dramatic, move.  She announces that she doesn’t have the immunity idol and proceeds to empty her bag completely so there can be no doubt.  She doesn’t have enough clothes on to be hiding it on her body so the women believe her. 

She says she had trouble with the third clue because it was in the water and the current was too strong - so she lied right there, but not too bad.  It’s a smart move because she honestly didn’t have the idol, but she will have the idol by the time it’s time to play - assuming all goes well.  So, she sort of lied, but really it’s just smart gameplay and everyone will know it.

They decide to kill and eat one of the chickens.  I didn’t even know they still had one.  Is this the last one?  I’m not sure.

Anyway, Amanda and Parvati go out into the jungle and Amanda spills the beans.  Now, getting Parvati’s help isn’t a bad idea because she’s probably going to need it to distract the others when she gets the idol.  However, I’m not sure I would have told her exactly where the idol is hidden which is what Amanda did.  There was too much potential for backstabbing in that bit of information.

Anyway, Parvati wants to use the idol to take out Alexis because she’s a threat in front of the jury.  Amanda argues that she would rather take out Natalie because she’s a bigger threat in the game.  Amanda is right this time.  Alexis is injured and doesn’t pose a huge risk in challenges.  Heck, she might even get pulled from the game at the rate people are dropping.  Parvati says it’s a toss up.  Um, it’s really not.

Parvati tells Amanda that the girls are talking about taking her out.  Parvati suggests Amanda try to swing Erik to her side.  And that she find the idol.

Getting Rid Of Amanda

Erik and Alexis are talking about Amanda.  They think she would do really well in the final three.  They don’t have the benefit of having seen Amanda reach the final three in her season so they don’t know how well she didn’t do in front of the jury.  Right now she seems a serious threat.  They both agree that they should take her out now since she doesn’t have the idol.

Erik goes to Cirie and tells her they’ve decided it should be Amanda.  Cirie agrees.  Cirie tells us that she’ll be sorry to see Amanda go, but it’s not a bad thing strategically because she doesn’t think Parvati or herself can beat Amanda in front of the jury.  Voting Amanda out saddens Cirie, but the game must go on.  It must!

Laying On The Guilt

Amanda has a little talk with Erik to try to make something happen.  Erik says he’s voting for either her or Parvati.  Amanda does a good job of trying to make Erik feel guilty by playing the “I’m kind of the one who has helped keep you in this gameâ€Â? card, but he says he feels like she can beat him.  She continues laying on the guilt by saying that she’s the one that helped him when he needed it and now he won’t return the favor.  She asks if he will at least tell her if he’s going to vote for her.  He says he feels like he will.

A little later Amanda talks with Cirie who tells her what’s going on.  Cirie wants Alexis to go, but Erik is against it.  Amanda suggests that they could tie the vote, but Cirie points out that if they tie it and the revote is a tie then they do the “purple rock of death” where everyone picks a rock and the one who gets the purple one is sent packing.  Cirie says with her luck she’d be the one who got the rock and she doesn’t want that. 

Amanda thanks her for her honesty then sets Cirie up for some future guilty loyalty by asking her if it “wasn’t like this” if she would stick with her and Parvati?  Of course she would.  Cirie thought it would be the three of them to the end.  Amanda seems okay with that answer and gives Cirie the okay to not tie the vote.  Another smart move by Amanda to have Cirie make that statement knowing that things soon won’t be “like this” and Cirie will have to make a choice.

The Dig

As Parvati keeps an eye on the others in the cave who are eating, Amanda goes to the tribal flag to dig for the hidden immunity idol.  The others ask Parvati where Amanda is and Parvati says that she told Amanda to go wash her armpits because she stinks.  I think this explanation sounds completely moronic, but the women seem to buy into it without a second thought.

We see Amanda digging and talking about how if she doesn’t find it she’s a goner, but we don’t actually see her find it.  Of course, why wouldn’t she find it.  Even if everyone found her there digging and asked what she was doing she should keep digging.  I mean, she’s gone if she doesn’t get it.  Even if they watch her pull it out of the ground it’s still worth finding it no matter what.

Tribal Council

The final six survivors come in and then the jury enters.  James isn’t with them but Jeff has him come in from the other side.  He’s bandaged up and hooked to an IV.  It’s apparent that he hasn’t yet been to see the other jury members as they seem to be shocked to see him.  Jeff fills them in on what happened.  James said it’s pretty bad, but as long as he’s hooked to the IV he’s good.

Jeff starts off the questioning by asking Amanda if she looked for the hidden immunity idol on Exile Island.  Amanda turns on her acting and says that she wasn’t able to find it and that it was really frustrating.

Jeff points out that there’s two kinds of threats: physical threats and likable threats and asks who the physical threats are.  Cirie says Erik and Amanda.  Jeff points out that they can’t vote for Erik so that points the finger at Amanda.  She says that everyone except Parvati has already said they’re voting for her.  Parvati says Amanda has become like her little sister and she can’t and won’t vote for her.

Amanda then takes Erik to task for not being on her side.  She says they’ve gone through a lot together and that when he needs someone, he comes across as trustworthy, but when you need Erik, he’s not there for you.  Yeah, I’m not sure about all of that.  I think she’s just really playing it up now.  Almost too much.  Erik tries to defend himself but isn’t very successful.  Amanda says that she’s “pretty pissed off right now.â€Â?

Jeff then asks Natalie who concerns her the most in terms of not wanting to let them get to the end or they will win?  She says Amanda.  She says Amanda hasn’t done anything wrong to anyone in the jury so she’s a threat.  Alexis adds that they adore and respect her, which is why they’re telling her.  Then she adds that she respects every person that is still in the game right now.

It’s now time to vote.  We see Natalie and Alexis both vote for Amanda.  Amanda is still playing the victim even holding Cirie’s hand like she’s about to be executed.  Jeff goes and tallies the votes.

When Jeff comes back he does his usual bit about this being the time that one would want to play the hidden immunity idol should one have the idol in one’s possession.  Everyone just kind of sits there waiting for him to get on with it when…  Amanda says, “About that, Jeff,â€Â? and reaches into her bag.

Alexis and Natalie are beyond shocked.  They are completely blown away.  Cirie is surprised but actually smiles after a few seconds.  In the jury, Jason and Eliza openly celebrate while Ozzy has a big smile on his face.  Amanda immediately turns to the others and says that when she told them she didn’t have the idol she wasn’t lying because the idol was at camp and she didn’t have it then.  She has it now, though, and practically sings “I got it” as she whirls it around and takes it to Jeff.  Just a classic moment in Survivor.

Probsts points out what we already know.  Whenever a hidden immunity idol is played any votes cast against that person do not count and the person with the next highest votes goes instead.  Any votes against Amanda will not count.

Jeff reads the votes: Amanda, Amanda, Amanda, Amanda, Alexis, Alexis.  And with that, Alexis is voted out of Survivor.

I think I should note that the producers obviously assumed Amanda was going to play the idol because Jeff pulled all four of the votes against Amanda out first leaving the votes against Alexis until the last.  Had Amanda not found the idol or had not played it, the four votes would have voted her out of the game and the players wouldn’t have seen the other two votes which is something they don’t do.

Anyway, Alexis hobbles up to Jeff and he snuffs her torch.  Amanda smiles at the jury.  She’s practically giddy.  I can’t say I blame her for being happy, but I wouldn’t overdue it just yet.  Jeff sends them back to camp by telling the remaining players that they “are perfecting the art of the blindside.â€Â?  He finishes by saying “that is the good news and that is the bad news.”

I thought the whole Tribal Council was so entertaining I found some video of it so you can watch it if you haven’t seen it:

Final Thoughts

Although Amanda’s blindside of the other girls was incredibly satisfying to watch, it was pure folly on the part of the other players that allowed it to happen in the first place.  They made the classic mistake of telling the player who was going next that they were the next target thus allowing that target to make plans to turn the tables.  The mistake proved costly for Alexis and has now changed the dynamics of the game for everyone else as well.  Amanda made up for some of her foolish moves in the past couple of episodes by making some pretty smart moves in this one.  It should be interesting to see if she can keep it up.

Merged - Dabu

Natalie Bolton, Cirie Fields, Amanda Kimmel, Erik Reichenbach, Parvati Shallow

The Jury

Alexis Jones (Ep12), James Clement (Ep12), Jason Siska (Ep11), Ozzy Lusth (Ep10), Eliza Orlins (Ep9)

Favorites - Malakal

Jon “Jonny Fairplay” Dalton (Ep1), Yau-Man Chan (Ep3), Joel Anderson (Ep5), Chet Welch (Ep6), Tracy Hughes-Wolf (Ep7), Ami Cusack (Ep8)

Fans - Airai

Mary Sartain (Ep2), Michael “Mikey B” Bortone (Ep4), Jonathan Penner (Ep6), Kathleen “Krazy Kathy” Sleckman (Ep7)

Television
fans vs favorites, Survivor, Survivor recap, Survivor strategy, Survivor: Micronesia

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