An “Insider” Look at Survivor: Samoa, Episode 7, Part 2 – “The Shambo Volume Has Been Turned Up from About a Three to an Eight… and I Can Only Handle a Two”

Monica Becomes Paranoid

Monica is in a thoughtful mood as she muses about recent developments in Galu. She's confused because the plan was to send Shambo home at Tribal Council last night, then she was elected as the new leader this morning.

“It's just very strange for me. I don't know if they're just trying to, like, increase the target on her back. That just seems weird that the one person everyone claimed they wanted to go home, they now want to be our leader and make decisions? I don't know.”

Monica doesn't know who to trust between Dave, Brett, and Erik. Notice that she has already eliminated John (and the feeling is mutual). She doesn't know if Erik is being truthful with her. In the long run, it would be better for him to stick with her. She says sooner or later John will be looking to eliminate his biggest rival and Erik will be number one on his hit parade. If Erik can't see that, he's just screwing himself over.

Monica wants to talk to Kelly because she seems to be “in the know” about things. She wants to know who John has on his side. He has Shambo, she thinks. That's going against what he said, but she's not surprised. She never trusted John. She had a gut feeling and she was right.

Liz's Conflict with Natalie and Laura

Liz takes a break on the beach to tell us about Laura's visit to Foa Foa. She explains that she and Mick had a very hard time starting the fire because of the rain. They were getting sparks and flame, but they could not get the wet wood to stay alight. They have to work very hard to keep the fire going with palm fronds long enough to dry out wood so they can burn it in turn. It takes two or three people and constant care and attention.

Natalie is normally very helpful but today she was waylaid by Laura. Natalie and Laura were talking about spiritual authors, books, and music. Liz was feeling lightheaded from blowing on the fire. She was afraid she might pull a Skupin and fall in the fire. All Natalie could do was talk books. “I just wanted to, like, take that damn book and throw it into the fire and have something dry to burn.”

All Liz could do was tell Natalie what to do since Nat was taking no initiative in her distraction. Liz had her and Laura go get more palm fronds. As soon as they were gone, Liz and Mick shared a moment of empathy. “I was like, 'Who are these people?'”

Liz thought that they were just trying to survive and the number-one priority has to be fire. “There is no time for tea. There is no time for, like, book club. This is not the time or place.”

Laura's Grudge with Shambo

Laura says she's one of the main reasons that Galu won the reward challenge, but she doesn't get to enjoy the fruits of the victory. She's pretty bummed. However, the tribe is getting stronger since the others ate. According to Shambo, no one will ever be sent to the other tribe two times in a row.

“Heck, yeah, I hold a grudge against Shambo,” she laughs. She was freezing at Foa Foa. All she had to wear was her tank top. She's upset about that because Shambo could have given her advance warning so she could bring extra clothes.

Laura feels she did better than anyone else in the reward challenge. She wasn't being punished for missing a match because she didn't. John missed a match and he never succeeded even once. There were so many others who could have been sent. Shambo said she picked Laura because she was the strongest. “That makes no sense whatsoever.” She definitely has a grudge against Shambo but not so bad that she will mess up her own game.

Electing Shambo

John tells us that they elected Shambo as DR's (Dreadlocked Russell S.) replacement after his medical evacuation. “I think it's a good move for me. I think it's a good move for the team. I think it's a good move for Shambo. I think it's a bad move for some of the power-hungry girls.”

Shambo was elected for several reasons, he says. First, she's not one of the guys. They did not want one of the guys to grow a target on his back as the leader. Second, Shambo was once a Marine and she knows how to give orders and get things done. No one wants a tyrant, but sometimes people need to be told what to do. Hopefully she can make those decisions. John hopes Shambo can handle not being liked all the time. Thirdly, the guys hope she can keep Monica and Laura from gaining in power since she is (and they are) aware that those two are working hard in the game.

I think that the guys worked this election perfectly. They decided to move swiftly and decisively and they made it happen. By announcing the election and holding it immediately, they kept the opposition from having time to work out their own plans. The girls had no chance to decide as a group who they wanted so they did not vote uniformly. By making it an open ballot, Shambo now knows who was for her and who wasn't, which let her know that she really was in good with the guys (supposedly). The guys pulled off a textbook example of rigging an election.

Life Without Russell

Erik lounges in the crook of a tree and muses on life in Galu without DR. DR being gone hurts them most around camp, he feels. Fortunately, most of them have taken to heart the things he said: his motivational pep talks, his thoughts on working hard around camp, his desire to dominate in every competition. Because of this, they are still getting things done, even with DR gone. “His mentality and his spirit is still here even if his body's not.”

There are two things they miss the most about DR. First, around camp, his workload and his attention to detail made things better. He was always keeping the fire going and keeping supplies stocked. He kept them warm and dry and showed that he really cared for his tribe. The caretaker is gone.