Surviving Samoa, Episode 9: “Am I That Damn Good?”

Shambo gets her second bag and moves on. Only one more can join them. Russell snags his bag, as does Laura. It’s a race to pull it in and Russell loses his at the last second. Laura moves on! I think I see where this is going.

Shambo, Mick, and Laura begin the second round by untying their bags and getting the pegs out. Probst explains that one peg will fit and one will not. Mick is the first to get his pegs out, followed by Shambo. She gets the first piece in and then the second before Mick gets his first and before Laura even has hers out of the bag! Mick gets his first and Laura starts working the board.

Shambo is rocking the board as Mick does likewise. Laura gets her first piece and then quickly her second and third. She is on the comeback trail! Boom, boom, boom – Laura makes up lost time and pulls ahead. There is now no doubt in my mind that Laura will win this challenge… and indeed she does!

As they are sent back to camp, Laura voices over that the Galu will clearly vote out the Foa Foans, starting with Russell. She thinks Natalie will join the Galu in that vote to show that she’s in with them, so “tonight, Russell’s going home.” Wanna bet?

Aiga returns from the challenge and Shambo tells us the challenge sucked because Laura won and they can’t vote her off. Plan B is to vote off Kelly because “Monica is no threat whatsoever.”

Russell continues to go against his plan by telling Jaison he found the new idol. He fills Jaison in on the plan. Jaison knows if Galu gets wind of the plan, they’ll change their vote to somebody else on Foa Foa, so they need to make sure it’s Russell. He tells Natalie and Mick about the idol and that they need to make sure all the attention is focused on him. Russell joins them and re-summarizes the plan.

Mick tells us how astounded he is at Russell finding the idol. But more importantly, they hope to put a dent in the condescending attitude the Galus have for the Foa Foans.

But wait! There is some intelligence coming from a very unlikely place – Monica! She wonders if they should plan for the possibility that one of them has another idol. Dave says, “We can’t worry about that,” but John says if he were on Foa Foa, he would assume there was another idol and would have looked for it. Dave insists Russell probably doesn’t even suspect it exists.

Dave says the votes need to be Russell and then Natalie, or vice versa. The women want Russell gone first (of course, because they think they may be able to bring Natalie to their side). Just as Dave mentions Natalie, Russell walks by on the beach and overhears her name. Uh oh. He talks to Jaison and now they’re confused. He tells us, “I don’t want to be the dumbass that gets voted out with the idol in his pocket. And I don’t want to be the dumbass that uses the idol again and nobody votes my name!”

Laura tells us Galu is tight, except they don’t trust Shambo. But they need to vote out the Foa Foans first.

Now it’s time for the big, dramatic Tribal Council! Aiga arrives and Erik walks in as the first juror, holding out his necklace in a way that only those who watched the Ponderosa video (or, even better, read Dirk’s recap of it) would understand – it’s to show he’s Galu all the way.

Probst begins his questioning with Dave, asking about the vote against Erik last time – was that a sign that old tribal lines are gone and this is now an individual game? Dave says no – the tribe was weakened from within by Erik’s presence, causing Erik to look angry and punch at the air (because he’s not allowed to say anything) and it was a strengthening of their tribal unity.

Kelly says there was an ugliness in the tribe, a snake causing trouble, and it all came back to Erik.

What is it like for Natalie at camp, as part of the minority in the majority’s campsite? She says the Galu are still trying to make them feel welcome and all one tribe. Probst interrupts and asks how they could possibly make her feel like they’re all one tribe and she says they’ve welcomed her into their shelter. Probst interrupts again, incredulously noting, “you’re not all still one!” She says that’s true, but they’re not being mean to them or anything like that. Probst seems to accept that answer.

What does it say to the Foa Foans that the Galu were willing to get rid of one of their own? Jaison says the Galu are very tight-lipped, so it’s hard to figure out if there is a crack. Maybe there’s another Erik who just hasn’t been exposed yet – he’s holding out hope.

What is the state of the game from Shambo’s perspective? She says it feels like the original Galu is pretty comfortable and Foa Foa is holding on. Mick says their only chance is that somebody on Galu will see past tribal lines and make a big move.