Surviving One World, Episode 6: The Gamechangers

Christina tells Jonas that she has a better chance with the guys, and if they ever find her a threat, they should vote her off. “I appreciate that,” responds Jonas. However, Tarzan takes a walk with Leif and calls Christina “sycophonic,” whatever that means. Apparently, it means “sycophantic,” in that she tries to suck up and say the right things to get people to go with her. Well, sure. Wouldn’t everyone? Leif says that’s how he feels about Alicia, and Tarzan says no, that’s not so. Actually I agree with Tarzan for once; Alicia doesn’t say the right things at all. She always says the wrong things.

So now Leif is in the middle because Tarzan is saying that he and Alicia will be voting Christina and they need Leif to go with them. Geez, these alliance shifts are making for strange bedfellows. Leif tells us that he’s “stuck in between two hard places.” Yes, but consider Leif: You were dead meat at Manono before the swap. Now you’re a key swing vote. Boy, has your stock gone up! This is a nice dilemma to be in. Alicia is still pissed that Colton didn’t give her the idol. She knows she needs it.

Everyone arrives at Tribal Council, and Salani gets there first. They watch Manono enter and slowly realize that Colton is not among them. Probst explains to everyone about Colton’s medical evacuation. The gravity of the news about Colton’s acute appendicitis is nicely tempered by Kat’s question, “What is that?” Oh Kat. God bless you, sweetie. Even Jay and Tarzan can’t help but crack smiles. Alicia shows Kat where on her body she would have appendicitis. This is a fantastic moment. Leif says he’s had his appendix taken out, and it’s a world of pain.

A question to Troy: How does this change the game? He feels sad for Colton because he knows how much the game meant to the kid. Still, Kim notes (with some prompting from Probst), it’s another person gone from the game … which increases everyone else’s odds of winning, of course. Kim has also had her appendix removed and can attest to the pain (Kat looks terrified, as if the appendix boogeyman might come to claim her next … maybe in a mall), and also hates it for Colton since he was such a fan.

Alicia asks to speak on Colton’s behalf, and tells Sabrina that Colton told her, “Thank you for the souvenir,” because he did not give anyone the immunity idol. Everybody laughs about this. Probst digs deeper, asking if Sabrina believes this or does it raise suspicion. Yeah, she believes it in her gut. She knows how excited Colton was to get it, and wouldn’t have wanted anyone to play it but himself. Chelsea plays along though, saying that even if Colton didn’t give it away, Manono would want to keep it a secret. She doesn’t buy Alicia’s remarks.

Was it a tribal decision to come in and reveal these things? Jonas coyly says he can’t reveal that information. Heh. Jay admits he isn’t sure who to believe, and Tarzan points out how Alicia is laughing about all this. It’s nervous laughter, people. We’ve been through this before. Tarzan says that Colton told Alicia to inform Sabrina of all this, so she’s just doing what Colton requested. “Maybe,” responds Probst.

Probst then prods Kat to agree that this isn’t the first time someone has lied in this game. Her response is once again typically Kat: “Touché.” Not sure that was the most appropriate word choice for the prompt, but whatever. It does get big smiles out of the others though. Kat admits she’s less worried about the idol and more worried about how she can keep from getting her appendix hurt. Ha! I knew she was obsessing over this!

Probst says leave it to Colton to leave an imprint on that game even after being medically evacuated. Then he says the game is about to get complicated one more time: It’s a merge. Everyone drops their buffs and Probst throws them new black ones. (Incidentally, the new black buffs are now available, with some other cool new stuff, at the official CBS Survivor store.)

Troy is told that first he finds out Colton is gone, then that there may be an idol, and finally that it’s an individual game. Troy admits that he’s already trying to figure out the numbers, who’s with whom and who isn’t, and notes that everyone has their own agenda. Probst remarks on all the eyeballs darting back and forth, and Kim says that everyone’s trying to feel out the people they were previously with on their original tribes. “This is gonna be really interesting.” She admits that she’s nervous, but in an excited way. Tarzan simply repeats his catch phrase: “The game is afoot.”

The merged tribe will go back to the original “one world” beach and Manono’s items will be waiting for them. Probst advises them to take time to celebrate, then get their heads back in the game.

Next time: Alliances are shattered (Jonas and Tarzan get into it). Tarzan leaves the men’s allegiance. Kim is still hot.

In his final words, Colton says the hard thing about leaving is that he’s so used to getting his way, and this has not gone his way at all. He had a plan from the beginning to Day 39, and the injury has thrown a wrench into it all. He promises that he could run this game.

Wow. Doozy of an episode, huh? I had a feeling Colton would be the unlucky evacuee, and from an entertainment standpoint, I’m almost sad to see him go. Almost. There will be plenty more articles and analysis in the week leading up to the next episode, and David will be back next time to recap the first post-merge episode of the season. It’s been a pleasure!

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Chris Harris is a newspaper journalist from Somerset, Kentucky, and wishes Colton good health in the future, no joke. Appendicitis is a very serious deal. You can email Chris at wokosaurus@msn.com.

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