Survivor: One World – Ep 10 – The One Where They Remember Leif Was On The Show

It’s Kim’s world, and we’re just watching her dominate it.

This episode was all about Troyzan and his efforts to get back in the game – and it was interesting to watch him do smart and dumb things at the same time – but the underlying theme remains this…Kim is TOTALLY dominating this season. The best part of it is – I really don’t think the other women even understand how much she is dominating.

But this was Troyzan’s episode from start to finish – even though he was not the person in charge and he was not the person going home. We open with Troyzan reacting to the elimination of Jay – and in a deleted scene on the show’s website, an explanation to him from Kim as she lays out what’s what. Troy now knows the women are a tight six, and the dudes are in trouble. If he doubted he was on the outs, the reaction to his question of Cha by Alicia sealed it. If you watch, Troyzan was not being aggressive, loud or mean to her. He simply pointed out to Cha that she’s been on the block several times, and she is sixth out of six with the women. He asks her if she ever even considered his proposal to join up. Before she could answer, Alicia yelled at him and told him not to attack Cha. Voices raised as a result. Troyzan even talking to their weakest member resulted in a quick attack against him. He was alone.

And the other dudes were no help – Leif doesn’t speak, and while this was going on Tarzan was excavating his nasal passages. Perhaps looking for a clue.

However, Troyzan’s attempts at getting back in the game were not successful. And compounding his failure, Troyzan stamped out any chance he had of winning the season. Because, for some reason, he thinks that mocking the other Survivors is a good way to ensure their vote. I just don’t understand the logic, Troy. Let’s argue for a moment that Troyzan pulls this out of a hat. Or Tarzan’s nose. Who knows. He wins immunity this week. Tarzan goes home. At F7, he tries to shave off three women to get a 4-3 advantage (likely to fail), and wins immunity. Cha goes home. At F6, he tries to convince Alicia, Kitten and Sabrina to flip. He fails and wins immunity. Alicia goes home. At F5, he tries to get Kitten/Sabrina or Chelsea/Kim to go with him to the F3. He fails, but wins immunity. I think that elimination is up in the air. At F4, again, he tries for a F3, fails, and wins immunity. That puts him in the finals after winning six consecutive immunities. Maybe he has Leif, Jay and Sushi on his side. Mike can’t stand him. He and Tarzan are not allied. The women now all hate him. At best he gets three votes, and his only hope is the two women next to him split the other six and we have the uncharted territory of a 3-3-3 split vote.

And that is his ONLY realistic scenario where he can win. Now, if he didn’t openly mock them, well, that might have helped, no?

This season has closely mirrored Vanuatu in many ways – and might I add, Vanuatu is one of the most underrated Survivor seasons in the show’s run.

However, despite the thematic similarities – strong women’s alliance rises from a fake co-ed alliance formed during the tribal shift – there are major differences. On Vanuatu, there were some very, very good players – Chris (of course), Ami, Scout, Eliza, even Twila, Julie and Sarge had some good qualities. All of who would be good choices (some already have) to return for another season. Chris was able to make his move in that season because there was more than one woman trying to win, and he had the skills to take advantage of that and then carry it from there. He did that because people liked him. 

Get that, Troyzan? Chris won because he stuck around and was able to fracture the alliance, but more importantly because he was able to win their votes. And he actually screwed over a couple of them – but they still voted for him. Do you think you can win by getting in the face of all of these people and shouting boasts at them? That’s not a Chris Daugherty move, that’s a Russell Hantz move.

More on Vanuatu – while the similarities are there, there are no Scouts this season that would have the ability to make the move she made. To recap – when that season got to the F7 with six women and one man, they could have taken out the last guy once he lost the F7 immunity. However, knowing that Ami, Julie and LeAnn were the power and that she and Twila would be out quickly once the men were gone, Scout gathered up Twila and approached outcast Chris and pariah Eliza to form a new power alliance.

Can you see Kitten doing that? Alicia? Maybe Sabrina can, but basically, there is no Scout this season. No matter how good of an argument either Zan makes, they are doomed minus an immunity run, barring some very unexpected breakdown. To me, the season is closer to Redemption Island. Rob dominated that season, just as Kim is dominating this one (although the first half of this season was all Colton, Kim has been calling the shots from Day 1). His was more impressive because of the built-in target on his back from the first moments of the game; hers is not to be shrugged off. If she closes the deal as he did – hers will go down in Survivor lore as one of the best executed game plans in show history. Made especially so by a collection of characters who never, ever posed a real threat to her. 

But enough of that – I want to talk about my favorite challenge the show has to offer…The Auction. I love, love, love the Auction – and I only regret that they did away with the pooling of money and sharing. I mean, how else could Sugar give Matty Randy’s cookie? But the Auction still rocks. Each get $500 to bid and here’s a rundown of the fun….

1 – Donuts and ice coffee. It starts of slowly, as Chelsea goes the full Homer Simpson route for this one.

2 – Chips, guacamole and a margarita. Amazingly, Sabrina goes $400 for this one. She is someone to hang out with on Cinco de Mayo.

3 – Chocolate protein shake and bananas. Leif throws $100 at this one. Meh.

4 – Shower and toothbrush. Amazingly, Kim gets this for $40!! That’s how amazing she is – she even manages to get bargains.

5 – BLT, chips and ice tea. $180 to Kitten, who is stunned that there is bacon on a BLT. What did she think that stood for? Bitchin’ lettuce and tomato sandwich? And Kitten – that ain’t a bacon sandwich, THIS is a bacon sandwich.

6 – Peanut butter and chocolate. And may I add, a giant bowl full of peanut butter! I mean, who eats that much peanut butter in one sitting with no milk? Anyway, Kim emerges from the shower long enough to spend $240 on the snack. Unlike Heidi and Jenna – she didn’t have to get naked to get PB and Chocolate, she was conveniently already naked.

7 – Something I didn’t know…they could choose to pocket the cash if they wanted to! Has that always been the rule? Tarzan claimed to want to buy new shocks. In a deleted scene, Alicia said that she was saving her cash to spend at home as well. I had no idea they could do that – and wouldn’t you think that two people who need cash that badly would actually be trying harder to win the million?

8 – Letters from home. And no shopping sprees at home!! Alicia changes her plan and spends all her money on her letters. No bidding – no negotiation- all of it. Meanwhile, Tarzan has perhaps his most endearing moment on the show as he begins to weep and also matches her bid to get his own letter. And classily, he chooses not to read it in front of everyone. I have given him crap this season (NOTE – I mistyped that and said carp instead of crap, and noticed it on my review. That would have been a strange development), but that was a good moment.

9 – Advantage to the Immunity Challenge. Troyzan has been smartly waiting for this. He remembers the story of S11 winner Danni Boatwright, who used the unexpected clue at the auction to win a key challenge and trigger her reversal of fortune. Other cast members have not watched this show nearly enough – not that we really needed any clarification of that based on their strategies. It was basically Troyzan vs. Cha for this – as she was the only one who could match him. Except she backed out at $420, allowing him to win. In a deleted scene, she explained that she didn’t want to make a potential jury member angry at her, so instead, she angered five potential jury members. Good one.

10 – Mystery box. $160 to Kitten. It was revealed to be a giant cake that they call could share, but had to eat in 60 seconds. Whatever, just an excuse to see faces covered in frosting.
Love. The. Auction.

Elimination Challenge – Troyzan earns a free pass through the first stage of the rehash challenge. First stage, untie a giant rope. Second stage, the Top 4 bounces the coconut off a trampoline and break three targets. Last two use a slingshot to win a coconut tic-tac-toe game. Troyzan, Tarzan, Kim and Cha move past the first round. Cha isn’t in it, but the other three all hit two. Troy is the first to get his third, and then Tarzan. The Zans battle for the necklace!! It is surprisingly close, but Troyzan gets it, wins, and does some weird chicken dance before double fist bumping Probst. Even Tarzan notices and tells him to chill. Troy is frustrated, and the others are irritated.

Lastly, um, well, oh yeah, Leif got voted out. I had to remind myself at times that Leif was on this season. He’s the male, little person version of Purple Kelly, except without the quitting. Troyzan did what he had to do – as if he was reading my columns. He approached Tarzan, Leif, Cha and Alicia to join together. And he did it well – he presented it as their four-person alliance which he would join. He’d be the fifth. Very smart – worry about the F5 when you get there. However, watching their reactions to him – and his seemingly oversized hand – made it clear that the proposal failed. Alicia looked like we all do when stuck in a conversation with our uncle that likes to stockpile canned goods and keeps his cash in the freezer.However, it did work on Leif. And as a result, Leif got the ax. Leif voted with Troyzan to vote out Kim. That left seven votes, and the women split their votes to account for any hidden idols (because they had enough numbers to cover that scenario) – three for Tarzan and three for Leif. And here is where it turns. (Might I add – Kim’s brilliance…she knew votes were coming her way, but knew that she was safe in a revote. She was willing to put herself in that position, solidifying her power). Tarzan went for self-preservation, while Leif blindly followed a failed alliance. So, Tarzan’s vote was the difference and Leif is gone.

Treemail Top 10
• Arrogance may be setting in for some – Chelsea actually told Troyzan to chill and accept his fate. Because Jay “took it like a man.” Wow. And amazingly, Troyzan stamped out all sympathy moments later when he said they were like women in real life who took your house, food and stuff before deciding they don’t need you. Um…issues?!?
• Kitten upon the Letters from Home reveal – “Somebody wrote me?” Seriously, does she even know where she is?
• Sabrina and Troyzan are the new rivals. As Troy ranted, Sabrina added, “We’re still gonna vote you off.” My bets are on Sabrina in that battle.
• Troyzan at the challenge – “You cannot mess with Troyzan…they’re very scared!” Editor’s note – They are not.
• More Kim smartness – As Troyzan searches, Kim watches. And notes, “There are eight of us, and one of him.” Quite true. However, based on the fact that all were searching and none found it, it may not be there.
• Note to future Survivors – wear clothes with lots of pockets. Troyzan made a smart move by pretending to have the idol. He just has to wear those shorts at all times now. Of course, even if his bluff works, let’s say he loses immunity this week. The women can vote three at each Zan, knowing that only two votes can come at one of them. No worries about that idol now. But still, good bluff.
• Tarzan wanted to pocket the auction cash to pay for his truck’s shocks. Um, isn’t he a plastic surgeon? Why is he saving up for shocks? And why is he driving a truck?
• Where did Leif get the face paint? No one else was wearing it. Did he have this hidden stash of war paint? And is he really that boring that the show chose not to show the little person putting on face paint before a challenge? When no one else was doing it? I question these things because I care.
• Tribal Council – Sabrina and Troyzan bicker. It was tedious. Troyzan sarcastically called himself the ultimate terror. This coincidentally is the wrestling name I was going to choose for myself when I go pro. Sure beats the hell out of Mrs. Truth.
• In a season where Matt couldn’t count to five, it seems Chelsea can’t either. She couldn’t figure out that if Troyzan’s new alliance had formed that it would have spelled doom for her Core Four. Really, where do they find these people?

Votes – Leif 4 (Chelsea, Sabrina, Kitten, Tarzan), Tarzan 3 (Cha, Alicia, Kim), Kim 2 (Troyzan, Leif)

Next Week – Kim and Kitten seem to have a rift, and Troyzan tries to take advantage of it. My skepticism rises.