Surviving Africa, Episode 8: Snakepit!

As indicated in the previews, Day 22 dawns with Lex on a hunt for the person who dared to vote against him. He thought it would be unanimous against Clarence – though he did realize Clarence would probably vote for him. But another person? How dare they?! He is “furious” and “pissed off!” The person who would do such a thing and then hide really torques him off. He won’t live with such a snake. He’ll find them, cut their head off, slit their throat, and do various other hideous things to them. They are like a cancer that is rotting their plans. They are scheming against him and he won’t allow it!

Some of this Lex shares only with the camera, some with Kelly, who nods her head as if she agrees totally and what he’s saying is the most important thing in the world. What she’s really thinking (she tells us later) is that he’s a jerk. Mr. Ego can’t handle the fact that -- gasp -- somebody voted against him. She thinks he should just deal with it and stop yelling at her. I agree. I mean, what did he think, he’d never get a vote cast against him?

Brandon notes that one little vote is so inconsequential, but it just hurts Lex’s ego and screws with his head. It makes him wish he’d been the one to cast it. Teresa, the person who did cast the vote against Lex, is distraught. She didn’t think it would have such an impact. Although he doesn’t appear to suspect her, she is quite worried. Even worse, she’s played straight all along, and now she has to keep quiet about it; that bothers her.

After this bit of witch-hunting, we head straight into the reward challenge. Each player has a basket on a little tower and a see-saw-like board that they have to use as a springboard. They put items on one side and jump on the other to launch ‘em up into the basket. First one to get all nine items in wins two goats, which they will then take to a small village to trade for whatever they can get.

Ethan gets the first one in, then the second before anybody else gets any. It’s a sign of things to come as he pulls ahead and ends up winning, beating Lex who was down to only two items left at that point.

The next day, the others give Ethan various items to trade for trinkets and sweets (they give him mostly hats, which didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me since it seems in the heat of Africa you’d want a hat on pretty much all the time). Host Jeff Probst comes to get him and has the team walk him (and the goats) to the truck that they had used when they were originally dropped off over three weeks ago. At the last minute, Probst tells Ethan he needs to bring somebody else along. Ethan picks Lex because, he says, Lex came in second. I’m sure the fact that Lex has been the leader of their alliance has nothing to do with it.

Lex describes the truck trip, on which they have to keep the goats calm, as a “ballbuster” (can you say that on TV?). But they eventually make it to a small village with maybe one street of stores. They manage to wrestle the goats off the truck, but acquire a small crowd in doing so. While everybody is staring at them, they eventually are able to shop the goats around, haggling for a higher price. They end up settling on 1600 Shillings, which is about $25, according to Lex. They thought the buyer would take the goats to join a herd, but instead he heads straight for the butchery. So long, goats!

While their entourage mostly follows them around staring, one takes some initiative and offers his services. He leads them to a restaurant with approximately two items on the menu. Lex and Ethan decide the meat might be a little risky (especially since they see lots of cats wandering around), so they go with the french fries and a drink (not a sponsor to be found…yet). They get huge platters with fries dripping in lots of oil. Lex is in heaven. Ethan is in the bathroom.

So they have about 600 shillings left (they traded two goats for little more than a single meal? Did these townfolk know a mark when they saw one or what?). They use that money plus the hats and other items to trade for trinkets and sweets. Ethan even trades the Reebok shirt off his back. (You had to know there was a sponsor in there somewhere.)

After playing hacky-sack for a little while with the local kids, it’s time to head home. Ethan says it’s a day he’ll never forget. He brings home candy and cookies and trinkets for all, and is King for a Day at camp.

But meanwhile at camp, people could talk without Lex looking over their shoulders. Teresa still won’t tell anybody she was the one who voted for Lex, but she does gather Kim P. and Brandon together to form a Samburu alliance. Frank says he can’t trust ‘em, but he has little choice. Kim decides to talk to Kelly, who they think is most likely to break from the Boran alliance. Kelly says thanks and good luck, but she feels she needs to stick with her own team. Kim decides not to push too hard until after the immunity challenge.

So what is that challenge? Mostly a test of brains, not brawn. They begin by studying nine items in a barrel; the barrel is split into compartments like a tic-tac-toe board, with each item in one spot. Then they go to their own versions of the barrel and Probst tells them to get item number seven (a leaf and seed pod, though they aren’t told that – they just have to remember) from the area about 150 feet away, bring it back and put it in the barrel. Brandon, Kelly, Lex, Teresa, Tom, and Ethan get it right. Frank and both Kims are wrong and therefore eliminated. Next they have to get item two (elephant dung). Brandon, Lex, Tom, and Ethan get it right. Kelly and Teresa are eliminated.

This brings them to a final round. They have to study a new barrel and then they have one minute to find as many items as they can and put them in the right place. Brandon gets six, Lex five, Tom six, and Ethan is the big winner with eight. It’s definitely his week.

Of course, once immunity is determined, it’s back to the old witch-hunt for Lex. He puts together all the “evidence” – including a statement from Brandon that he claims to have overheard Kelly saying she was a “free agent” – and decides that Kelly is the snake that stabbed him in the back (yeah, I’m mixing my metaphors and a snake can’t stab, but deal with it, okay?).

He manages to convince Tom, sort of. Tom says all indications point to her, but he’ll feel like Hell if he kicks off somebody based on Lex’s gut and they’re wrong. If that happens, they’ve done both Kelly and themselves an injustice.

But who will replace Kelly in their alliance? Well, since Brandon gave Lex that bit of info, Lex invites Brandon into their group as the fifth player. His gut tells him he can trust Brandon. (His gut also told him it was Kelly who cast the vote against him.)

Kelly eventually figures out that something’s up and asks Lex about it. He doesn’t come right out and tell her she’s being voted off (unlike he did with Clarence last time), but he definitely hints that it will happen. The man is just not very smart. He should have told her that everything was fine and that they were going to vote against one of the Samburus (doesn’t matter which one – he should have just picked one). Instead, he let on that something was amiss.

Kelly therefore reconsiders Kim P.’s offer and decides to join the Samburus in a coup. But what about Brandon? Is he still solid? Well, he isn’t sure yet. He says his old tribe wants him to vote against Lex, but Lex wants him to vote against Kelly. This puts him in a position of power and he’s not sure what he’ll do about it.

This strikes me as a bit odd. He obviously had to be up to something if he told Lex that Kelly was a “free agent.” But he didn’t consider what he would do if Lex bit on the bait? Either Brandon is brilliant or he’s an idiot – I’m not sure just which yet.

So Tribal Council comes. Probst asks Ethan about his day and asks Tom what went on when the two others were gone. Yadda yadda yadda. Finally, he asks Lex about the votes he got last time, and Lex says he was pretty surprised and it occupied a lot of his thoughts over the past few days (no, really?). Why was he surprised? It’s a natural reaction, he says. Even if you feel vulnerable (which, of course, he didn’t), it’s a natural reaction. No, Lex, it’s not – at least not to the degree you took it.

So we have the votes. Lex votes for Kelly (of course), saying if he is wrong, he apologizes, but he smells a rat and his gut tells him she stabbed him in the back and is playing both sides. If that is the case, good riddance. Kelly votes for Lex (of course, again). She signs the vote and says when it’s her voting against him, he’ll know it. She doesn’t want him to win and she’s happy to cast the vote against a guy who is just no fun to be around.

Then there is a surprise. They show Brandon’s vote. I thought to myself, “Why would they do that? Now it’s obvious who wins.” But I’m guessing they wanted to show his speech. He votes against Kelly and says he made a promise to Lex and he wants to make it at least to the final four. Hello? If he had stayed with his Samburu tribe, he probably would have made it to the final four. Now he is almost guaranteed (presuming the alliance stays together) to be booted out in fifth place. I’ve decided – he’s an idiot.

As I thought, Brandon’s vote gave it away. Lex gets four votes (Teresa, Frank, Kim P., and Kelly) and Kelly gets five (Lex, Tom, Ethan, Kim J., and Brandon). Teresa and Kim P. look around, trying to figure out who switches. Brandon isn’t very good at keeping a poker face as a smile crosses his lips.

Well, I certainly didn’t see this coming. Earlier today, in The RealityNewsOnline Survivor Post-Merge Review, I said Brandon ”isn’t Rich Hatch 2.” I still don’t think he is, but I think he might think he is. He is trying to scheme but he’s doing it the wrong way. Who will trust him now? Certainly not his old team. And his new team will also know that he can’t necessarily be trusted because he turned on others before. Even if they think he can, he is now the fifth wheel, and will go when they no longer need him.

This episode marked a Survivor first – a person from one tribe switched to another tribe’s alliance. Alas, it happened with two people, and it kind of canceled out, unfortunately for Kelly. I am kind of surprised she didn’t try to convince Kim J. to join her side, but I guess she and the Samburus didn’t feel they needed another person. I’m also kind of surprised that Kim J. apparently just went along and voted against Kelly, but she’s done that before, so I probably shouldn’t be. We did finally see Kim P. come into her own this week. It looks like she does actually have a personality. Interesting.

Kelly’s last words were not terribly enlightening. She tells Mom and Dad she loves them and notes that it was hard for her to stay in one group. Still, it was a lot of fun.

Next time: Tom’s body starts to rebel (who can blame it?), Brandon is in the dog house (who can blame the Samburus?), and Lex’s loyalty is questioned (who can blame the others?). Since they again focus on Lex, my prediction is that he is perfectly safe and the alliance holds, at least for now.

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