Surviving the Marquesas, Episode 3: The Hunted

We begin episode 3 pretty much right where episode 2 left off – right after Tribal Council. Sarah is not terribly happy that she was almost booted, and complains bitterly about it. If people think she’s lazy, she says, they should ask her to do more work. If she’s asleep, wake her up.

Hunter tells her to quit being so sensitive, but she retorts, “Apparently, I have to be.” Gina explains that she was trying to decide between two people, but Sarah’s comments at the Tribal Council about saving her energy made Gina vote for her.

Sean pipes in that there is a lack of respect and communication. Oh, please. Gina privately notes that Sarah and Sean don’t want to be asked to do anything, but then they complain that they should be asked if there is something to do. Hunter tries to explain this bit of logic to Sean, using the example of a previous time when Hunter asked him to get water and he got pissed off. To the camera he says the complaining bothers him – after all, these people signed on for this.

The next morning over in Rotu finds the tribe soaked and cold. It had rained and the shelter leaked. In a bit of foreshadowing, Kathy complains about having no blankets. But the tribe, as usual, pulls together as a team in order to repair the shelter. Gabriel notes that the tribe is held together by good deeds and kindness. Even Kathy has turned things around and, as she says, is playing it more low key.

We finally get to see a bit more personality from the Rotus this episode as we find a Rodger/Elisabeth sort of thing going on with Paschal and Neleh. He says Neleh reminds him of his two daughters. She says he has the greatest heart. The tribe calls him Pappy and her Sweet Pea. Aren’t they just the cutest?

But all is not happy in the Rotu camp. There is a very angry sea urchin who decides to have a little chat with John. Well, “chat” may not be the right word – how about stinging him with 12 needles? Because they have been told that the best handy solution for a sea urchin sting is human urine, he calls for somebody to pee on his hand (now there is a request you don’t see every day – well, most of us don’t, anyway). Paschal rushes to help but is not up to the task. Kathy describes it as performance anxiety. She, however, is ready to drop trou and do her duty. I was going to add some humorous commentary here, but what else can I possibly say about this that would make it more absurd than it already was? I guess I could note that in this case, it’s better to be in Rotu and be pissed on than to be in Maraamu and be pissed off.

Speaking of Maraamu, Vecepia claims the tension has been washed away by the rain. Yeah, right. It’s been put aside because you all know there isn’t another vote for at least three days. Still, while they don’t have to worry about each other, they do have to worry about the biting nono flies. We got some nice pictures of scabby skin. Thank you, Mark Burnett.

This excitement is interrupted by host Jeff Probst showing up in a boat with 50 stalks of bamboo and 300 feet of rope. He says they have to build a raft that will hold all of them plus items they’ll have to pick up along the way in the upcoming reward challenge. After he leaves, the Maraamu players pretty much stand around with a “now what?” look on their faces.

Rotu gets to work on their raft, but Robert quickly injures himself by getting his big toe slit open by a rock. John – now acting as nurse (which he is, actually) rather than patient – treats the wound as Burnett provides us with several wonderful shots of Robert’s skin hanging off his toe and having to be cut off by John. I sure hope nobody was trying to eat dinner during this episode.

Anyway, Rotu is making a sort of pontoon raft, which was Gabriel’s plan (we know because the almost-invisible Zoe popped up to tell us so). Robert, although he could easily have sat on the sidelines to nurse his toe, says he’s not about to let his teammates down, and keeps on working. Besides, they’re all having fun. See, this is what separates Rotu from Maraamu.

Why? Because back in Maraamu, Hunter says that while everybody acted like it was a new beginning, he doesn’t see it that way. Sean privately says he has no problem with Hunter leading, but doesn’t like his overconfidence and refuses to let the golden boy get away with it. For his part, Rob says he’s 100% like Hunter in the real world, but won’t let it show here because he knows it will annoy people.

While the Maraamu are still busily backbiting, Rotu has yet another injury from a real bite. It’s John as the patient again, this time because he was bitten by an eel while looking for food under the rocks. He has a nice laceration and broken nail, and again we get some bloody pictures. Not a good day for Rotu health.

But it’s a great day for the Maraamu – other than Hunter, that is. They decide it’s break-time. They’ve been working soooo hard. Hunter says he would definitely not have picked this bunch of kids to go camping with – they all think it’s a vacation. OK, who let Frank go back on Survivor?!

Sean whines a bit about various things, including the raw fish they have to eat (okay, I’m confused – they have fire, so why are they eating it raw?). Hunter tells the camera Sean needs to just suck it up and deal with things.

Then it’s off to the reward challenge. Five containers are anchored to the bottom of the ocean and they have to row their rafts to each, bring ‘em into the raft, and then race back. The reward is a choice between a comfort package of blankets, pillows, and lanterns, or a week’s worth of rice. Because they are two ahead, Rotu sits out Neleh and Paschal (I’m sorry – Sweet Pea and Pappy).

Rotu takes an early lead in the race, but Maraamu pulls ahead. The rafts actually crash as they criss-cross on the course, but nobody takes a swing at the other team with an oar as they push themselves apart. Maraamu gets to box 4 first and Hunter dives off the raft to get it. Rotu gets to the fifth one a bit ahead. As they both finish getting containers, it’s a neck-and-neck race to the finish. At some point we see Sean pretty much giving up, though I couldn’t tell if Rotu had obviously won yet by that point, but until they actually made it to the finish, he should have kept pushing. Indeed, Rotu does win their fourth challenge in a row (which would be all of them so far), and they choose the comfort package (remember the foreshadowing I mentioned earlier?).

The following day in Maraamu, Vecepia states the obvious when she says they badly need a win. Hunter says privately that he knows the problem – winning is an attitude that should be carried around 100% of the time. He thinks they would win if all of them worked as a team around camp, but he’s in a position where people are unwilling to do that.

And, POOF, just like that it’s already time for the immunity challenge. The two teams face off at giant boards that are similar to the game, Labyrinth (see right). Except, unlike the game, which has multiple holes that you don’t want the fall to fall in, this one has only one hole and you need to guide your coconuts to it. Specifically, the first one to get three in wins. Only five from each team play – one caller and four people to move the corners. The caller stands up above the game and tells the others what to do. When each coconut makes it, the players rotate so there is a new caller.

Gina sits out for Maraamu, and John, Robert, and Tammy sit out for Rotu. Vecepia and Gabriel are the first callers. Maraamu pulls ahead and Rotu follows as Sarah and Paschal move into the caller positions. Maraamu keeps its lead and puts Rob as the caller. Rotu catches up. It’s close at the end as the Maraamu coconut keeps coming close to the hole but rolls right around it. Almost… almost… Nope. Rotu plops their coconut right in and has yet another come-from-behind victory. Five in a row – unprecedented!

And now a brief break. Normally I don’t mention commercials, but as regular readers know, I’ve liked the Snickers commercials that use previous Survivor footage. This one shows a number of shots of Rich Hatch walking around naked (and blurred). The announcer then says, “Forgetting your pants – another side effect of hunger.” I really do like these!

Getting back to the show, Hunter and Gina are out getting fruit and talking about how they want the vote to go. Hunter is confident that Rob will do the right thing to keep the team strong. It would be stupid of Rob to get rid of him or Gina. Yeah, well, so far Rob hasn’t exactly proven himself in the brains department.

But if you ask Rob, he’s the brightest guy on the island. He tells Sean they make the decisions. When Sean asks him if he has feelings for Sarah, Rob says no – he’s just playing the game. Privately, Rob says it’s important for people to do what he says without them knowing they are doing it because he told them to. It doesn’t matter if the team is strong mentally or physically – just that they do what he says. It’s all in how smart you are, because fear keeps them loyal. Ah, okay. Thanks for that strategy tip, Rob. I’m sure you’ll lead your merry band of five right down the path to victory against the full team of eight that is up against you.

At Tribal Council, Probst is fairly brutal in asking question after question to point out that Maraamu is a bunch of losers. He asks Sarah if everybody is getting along, and she says they have been since their last trip to Council. Hunter is asked if Rotu is stronger, smarter, or working together better. Hunter demurs a bit, saying he doesn’t know, though they might be working together better (ya think?). To make the team effective, the five who remain on Maraamu will have to rebuild from the ground up.

Probst asks Rob if he is surprised at Maraamu’s inability to win. Rob, unwilling to admit to reality, says all the challenges have been close and it’s just been bad luck. Vecepia says at some point the attrition rate weighs heavily, but they have to dig deeper to find something, as she does with Jesus. Thanks for the sermon, Vee. Sean says he’s sick of losing but it’s nobody’s fault. Um, yeah it is, actually.

So they vote. Hunter casts his for Sarah again, saying she’s not taking the game seriously and he needs to help protect a valuable person (that would be Gina). Sean aims at Hunter, saying he may be the strongest, but Sean’s going to outwit him. No hard feelings, of course.

And indeed, Hunter is outwitted. By a vote of four to two (Gina also voted for Sarah, the rest went for Hunter), the big man is gone – though he leaves with some dirty looks as his name is read again and again by Probst. So, yes, it’s just like Survivor: Africa. The lazies are booting the workers. Good plan!

Hunter leaves the viewers with a rather angry final speech. He says he doesn’t understand the logic of those who voted him out, but they got him. He was camping with a bunch of knuckleheads and he will tell them to their faces when he sees them again. As a favor, he’ll call the Red Cross so they can airlift the rest of the tribe out after they die from starvation and dehydration. He does, of course, have a few kind words for Gina, telling her to “hang in there.”

Next time – which is a Wednesday again – Gina fights for her life while the players can take their fate into their own hands. How? We dunno. But I’m betting it’s another sort of twist episode. This time, though, the players might know it’s coming. Hmmm.

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