Surviving Africa, Episode 6: Hitting the Target

At the end of last episode, host Jeff Probst hinted that there might not be a merge when the tribes were expecting it. This statement has its intended effect when Boran gets back home and wonders if it might be true. They try to convince themselves that it couldn’t possibly be right – that if anything, they would have merged sooner rather than later. I’m not sure where they got this idea – I always thought they could go another two votes before voting without a problem. I don’t think they will, mind you, but it just looks like they’re rationalizing.

Meanwhile, they’re thinking they won’t have enough food if they don’t merge because they’ve been rationing with the plan that they’d run out of food at just the right time. Oh, of course they have the chickens, though. Can’t forget the chickens. And believe me, in this episode, we won’t forget the chickens.

Over in Samburu, we see that Lex and Tom are getting tired (both literally and figuratively) of taking long night watches which the kiddies sleep. As they are talking with Kelly and wondering who they should vote for if it should come down to it, one of them mentions that Lindsey is a sweet girl. Apparently they have a different definition of “sweet” that includes whining somehow. Or maybe Tom was just thinking about her ass, which he got a nice view of last episode. In any event, sweet or not, they recognize that the kiddies still think they are on a resort vacation.

Lindsey thinks that Boran certainly voted out Frank at Tribal Council. Sure, because obviously she disliked him so much that everybody must feel the same way. Or not.

As day dawns at the Boran tribe, Clarence can’t stop thinking about food. Gosh, there’s a shocker. Teresa wants some eggs from the chickens, but nobody knows if it will actually happen. They decide to wait until the day’s reward challenge is done before deciding the fate of the chickens.

That challenge looks like a cerebral one from the treemail, so Kim studies the survival manual they were all sent with. (I’m guessing this is not the same Survivor Manual that is actually being sold with a preface by Mark Burnett.)

As they arrive at the challenge, Lindsey realizes that Frank is still there – but Silas is not. “Oh my God.” Yes, it’s true – your fearless kiddie leader is gone.

The challenge is for each team to stand at the top of a set of bleachers (‘cus you see a lot of bleachers in the heart of Africa) and to answer questions about Africa. The first tribe to get to the bottom gets a big lunch of Mountain Dew, pasta and vegetables, Mountain Dew, sandwiches, Mountain Dew, cookies, and, of course, Mountain Dew. They each get a taste of Mountain Dew -- with many oohs and aahs appropriately following. Tom sits out for Samburu since they have an extra person.

1. True or False: The closest ocean to Kenya is the Atlantic. False – the Indian. Both get it right.
2. True of False: To save the elephant population, rangers are ordered to shoot to kill any ivory poachers. True. Both get it right.
3. On safari, the big five animals are the elephant, rhino, lion, buffalo, and what? A) Leopard; B) Tiger; C) Giraffe; D) Hippo. Leopard – Samburu gets it right, Boran guessed hippo.
4. Diurnal means: A) Animals that eat plants and meat; B) Animals that hunt in groups; C) Animals that are prevalent by day; D) Animals that do not eat humans, but pose a threat through disease. C is the answer – both get it right, moving Samburu to the final step.
5. True or False: Kenya’s Lake Victoria is the world’s largest saltwater lake. False, it’s neither the largest nor saltwater – both get it right, which mean Samburu wins.

Samburu rushes to the table and begins stuffing their faces in front of poor Boran. We get treated to some more nice shots of the Mountain Dew and are left wondering why Boran didn’t shout, “Lindsey has four votes!” But we won’t wonder for long…

After the meal, Kim feels sick to her stomach. Jeez, don’t these people learn anything from watching previous shows? How many times did we see the Outback folks getting sick from eating too much? Anyway, Lindsey later shows some introspection as she discusses her feelings in realizing Silas was gone. She says that she realizes they – and in particular herself – treated Frank and Teresa poorly. She gloated and felt like she was the queen of the land. So it’s not surprising that Frank took a bit of revenge. You’re right, Lindsey – it’s not surprising at all. What is surprising is that you actually realize how you were behaving.

Speaking of Frank, he is over in Boran realizing what the original Boran folks knew a while ago – Clarence has the biggest problem with the food situation. He wants those chickens dead – and fast. He makes fun of the people in the tribe who think they will lay eggs, including Frank for making a little play area for them. But he says if they lay an egg by morning, he’ll spare them.

Morning comes and Kim actually finds an egg (did the chicken lay it or did Mark Burnett sneak in and plant it? The world will never know). She places it out on a tray so Clarence will see it when he wakes up. When he does, he can’t believe it: “Oh hell no!” He sticks by his word, but the rest of the tribe decides they’ll kill one for dinner anyway. As they all chow down, Frank has a huge smile on his face. Indeed, he notes that he has been smiling since he arrived at Boran, and wishes he’d been there since Day 1.

Meanwhile in Samburu, the previous night we saw Lindsey thinking she was getting along really well with Kelly, as if that might mean something come voting time. Brandon still thought he had them snowed and wasn’t going out of his way to be nice, so the ex-Borans would focus on him.

We also find, that morning, that Kim J. had been giving a sign to Kelly – making an “L” with her hand. Maybe she was trying to signal that Lindsey has votes. Aha! But she was also making another sign that Kelly thought might be a “B” for Brandon. D’oh! And the ex-Borans are still convinced that Brandon must have drawn votes from Frank, so they’re going to still focus on him. This is fine with Brandon, who plans to lead his team in voting against Tom. Brandon figures he can outwit Tom on any question from the Survivor manual.

Moving on to the immunity challenge, each team is given a bow and arrows ahead of time, so it’s obviously an archery test. Frank takes on the role of teacher for Boran as he shows proper technique to everybody.

When they get to the challenge, we see five targets for each team, spaced at different lengths from the shooting line (ranging from 30 to 70 feet). They have to go up, one at a time for each team, and shoot an arrow that has been lit on fire. If it lights up the target, it’s a hit. The first team to light up all five wins.

Samburu takes an early lead but Boran quickly catches up at two a piece. Along the way, Brandon is shown making the most stereotypically “gay” shot I’ve ever seen. You just know they wouldn’t have shown that if it were any of the other guys. As they move along, they eventually tie at four each, with Ethan already being the hero of Boran while Frank hasn’t hit a target yet. He misses again when it counts, but luckily Ethan comes through yet again (by my count he hit three of the five Boran targets), giving Boran the win.

So now comes the big question – will the ex-Borans of Samburu figure out that Lindsey is the one to hit? They blew the signal they received during the reward challenge, and if any was given during the immunity challenge, we aren’t told about it. Luckily, stupidity steps in to cure the problem of, well, stupidity.

The kiddie alliance is talking and Kelly walks up on the other side of the hut. She overhears something about Lindsey making it through this okay, and they finally realize that maybe Lindsey has votes already. Lindsey, meanwhile, blames Brandon for being the loudmouth (because, of course, Lindsey is perfect). She uses this as justification to try to get Kim to turn on Brandon – they would save Lindsey’s ass by voting with the ex-Boran against Brandon. They suggest it to Tom, who says it would work if they actually would do it. Later, Kim decides she can’t do it, but Lindsey hasn’t made up her mind. I’m thinking, “If I were an ex-Boran, I’d still vote against Lindsey, because you sure can’t trust somebody who is apparently willing to sell out her own friend.”

At Tribal Council, Probst asks some of his usual inane questions. Lex says things are working out fine post-twist. Brandon says you can’t trust anybody. Kim says the game is ethically challenging. Kelly says the old Samburu and Boran are not gone since there are still loyalties, but now that she knows the other people it’s more difficult.

So they vote. As Lindsey casts her vote (which is hidden, like all the others), she says she hates having to vote for this person and would rather vote for herself right now. Oooh, looks like she voted against Brandon, right? Wrong. It’s a tie – three votes for Tom, three for Lindsey. The ex-Borans didn’t believe she would vote with them, and they were right. Brandon, who apparently also blames himself for being overheard, says, “I’m so sorry” as Lindsey gets up to leave. Probst has to tell her to sit back down – she’s not voted out yet.

First they have to give the other tribe members the opportunity to revote. Tom gives a short and sweet speech – he’s who he is and isn’t going to change. Lindsey says she originally thought she would vote for Brandon, but then on the way to Council her dignity took over (it’s about freaking time!). She says she doesn’t care if she’s voted out because she didn’t vote for a friend and she’ll be leaving with her pride (well, after seeing you whine for five weeks, I certainly wouldn’t go that far).

Not surprisingly, the revote is tied at two each. Lindsey has four votes to her name from earlier while Tom has none. So now she can leave.

As the others head back home, Probst gives no hint as to whether the merge will come as scheduled or not. The promo for next week indicates they are all sitting around waiting for it to happen, but I’m betting that’s just for the first 15 minutes or so, and then it will go as usual.

In her final words, Lindsey says she was somewhat surprised because she thought the others would vote for Brandon. Oh, yeah, like they were going to trust you? She says she doesn’t know if she could have stayed around longer anyway because of the serious emotional roller coaster. She says she’s an athlete but not used to all the malicious behavior (um, much of it came from you). Alright, whatever.

Once again, we see that a rumor started before the show aired – that Lindsey would be injured – was wrong. Disinformation again by Burnett? Quite possible. And a lot of people still fell for it (including me, I’m afraid). When will we ever learn?