Survivor: Palau, Episode 3 MVPs: A Man Among Men

This week’s episode of Survivor: Palau featured one of the coolest immunity challenges we’ve seen in a while. Lugging bags of sand in the rising tide, deciding when to shift your burden to someone else and bow out of the challenge, and chasing after the other team made for exciting viewing. It even made up for what wasn’t a very suspenseful tribal council. If I were ever on Survivor, if a member of my tribe asked to be voted out, I wouldn’t hesitate to grant his wish. For one thing, better him than me. And for another thing, why not make the vote an easy one, free of politics? I don’t blame Jeff for asking to be sent home. After all, he’s a physical trainer, and he mentioned that he’d had trouble with that ankle before. He probably knew very well that he wouldn’t be okay in a few days. It was a tough choice, but I’m sure it was the right one.

At tribal council, Jeff Probst asked Ulong why they lost the challenge. Ibrehem and Bobby Jon basically said it was because they didn’t have Tom, and that Tom is “a man among men.” I couldn’t agree more, and that is why Tom is this week’s MVP for the Koror tribe. Once again, Tom was awesome. He played a big role in killing the snakes and starting the shark hunt. He did a fine job in the reward challenge. And in the immunity challenge, not only did he weigh himself down with the sand of several of his tribe mates, but he also came up with their strategy of speeding up in the shallow water. That was a smart move, and was probably a big part of how his team won the challenge. And on top of all of that, Tom seems like a really nice guy. It’s too bad that he undoubtedly has a huge target on him now. But until that target is in someone’s range, Tom is the Most Valuable Player for the Koror tribe.

As for Ulong, before I give out the MVP award, I’d like to award some honorable mentions. Angie proved once again that there is nothing weak about her by doing an outstanding job in the reward challenge. And good thing, too – I bet the producers were glad her tribe got the sewing kit so that she could make that top and they could quit going to the expense of blurring the bits of her that were visible in that red bra of hers. Also deserving an honorable mention is Stephenie. In the immunity challenge, she was the last woman standing in a very difficult physical challenge. Her tribe ended up losing, but I bet Stephenie impressed her tribe mates.

The MVP for Ulong this week is none other than Bobby Jon. Bobby Jon deserves the award for several reasons. For one, he did an incredible job in both challenges. He and Angie teamed up well to win a point for the reward challenge for their team. And he carried quite a lot of sand in the immunity challenge. Plus, he’s a real asset to his tribe around camp. It’s tough being the worker bee in a group of slackers, and it might hurt him later on down the line. I hope for his sake that his tribe realizes how much he does for them and keeps him around for a while.

That’s it for this week’s Survivor MVPs. Congratulations to Tom and Bobby Jon. Both are strong players, and I hope to see them around for several more weeks. And I’ll be keeping an eye on Angie and Stephenie to see if either of them can score the next MVP award for Ulong. See you then.

Betsy Wasser is the Associate Editor of Reality News Online. She can be reached with MVP nominations at betsyw42@hotmail.com

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