Survivor: Vanuatu, Episode 9 MVP: Winging It

It was a shame to see Sarge pack up his many MVP awards as his torch was snuffed this week. I liked him a lot and thought he was a tough and interesting player. Of course, for those very same reasons, it made perfect sense that the women voted him out.

I am intrigued by Chris’s declaration that his vote against Sarge was really a vote for him. What is Chris up to? Does he think that by voting with the women, he’ll be able to worm his way into their alliance? Is he hoping that his long hair will convince them that he’s female too, despite the stubble? I can’t wait to see where his head was on this one.

But enough dilly-dallying. You clicked on this article for a reason, and that was to find out who the Most Valuable Player was this week on Survivor. Well, raise your yellow knee socks in tribute to this week’s MVP: Leann.

Leann did a great job at the reward challenge. If these “snuff another player’s torch” types of challenges reflect a pecking order in the tribe, Leann, as the winner, should be feeling pretty confident. And when Jeff gave her the opportunity to bring someone else with her on the reward, she made a good choice picking Julie. Since Julie and Twila spent so much time with the men’s tribe, their positions would be the most precarious in the all-female alliance. Leann seized this opportunity to get to know Julie a little better, ingratiate herself to her, and figure out where she stood. The two of them also decided privately not to make Scout part of the final four, which also probably made Julie feel more secure with Leann.

Then, when the women returned to camp, Leann revealed herself to be an evil genius. In a sack tied around her gigantic yellow knee socks (I know I’m not the only one distracted by those socks), Leann had a bunch of leftover chicken wings… but only enough for the women. Leann was sneaky enough to feed her core alliance and to give them the added bond of a secret from the men. Then, when the men returned from their canoeing expedition, she offered them the nasty gnawed chicken bones and they were grateful for them!

Can you imagine how Sarge, Chris, and Chad were seething on Thursday night when they watched this episode along with the rest of us? I only hope that Jeff asks them about it at the reunion show.

Leann did make one mistake this week, which was being too cozy with Julie later on. It’s hard to convince the rest of your tribe that you’re not a twosome when you’re dancing cheek to cheek through camp. But even with that mistake, Leann still played extremely well this week. Congratuations to Leann for being this week’s MVP!

Next week, will Chris or Chad be able to change the tides against them? Will anyone turn Lord of the Flies and kill the pig? And who will be the Most Valuable Player? I’ll see you all here next week with the answers.

Betsy Wasser is the Associate Editor of Reality News Online and used to have a big fluffy pair of maroon knee socks. You can reach her with any comments or with MVP nominations of your own at betsyw42@hotmail.com.

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