Surviving the Marquesas, Episode 4: Booby Prize

Well, we all knew the twist was coming – we just didn’t know how they would handle it. Turns out, the promos were completely misleading. They said the future would be in the hands of the contestants. In one (very limited) sense, it was, but let’s face it, it was totally random. But I’m getting ahead of myself here. First let me repeat something I said in an earlier recap, but which I’ve gotten a number of questions about recently. Many people think that the Marquesan folks did not know about a potential tribe switch because they were already on the island by the time that episode of Survivor: Africa had aired. I thought this too, originally. However, Mark Burnett said in an interview that the Marquesan group saw the “switch” episode the night before they were dumped in the ocean. So, yes, they had already left the U.S., but they were not away from their TVs yet. They knew something could happen.

The episode itself starts on night 9 in Maraamu, after the Tribal Council vote. Rob, in a voice reminiscent of Silas from last season, talks about how it’s his game and he’s controlling it. Note that I said this was reminiscent of Silas, not of Rich Hatch from the first series. There is a reason for this – Silas was booted. Rich won.

Gina is trying to figure out why she is still there. She says it was stupid of the other four to vote out Hunter, but it’s obvious that Sean and Rob were tired of having somebody else in a leadership role. Still, she asks them all why they did it and pretty much gets no answer. Nobody had a good reason, she says. And while Sarah tried to make up an excuse, it’s pretty obvious that she just voted for whomever Rob told her to vote for. Gina knows she’s next to go if they lose again.

Day 10 dawns in Rotu, the big family tribe. How many ways can we be told that this is a family? Frankly, I lost count. Paschal, Tammy, Gabriel, etc. all talk about how much they love each other, etc. OK, OK – we get the idea!

But then there is the twist. Both tribes are called to meet for what host Jeff Probst says is not a challenge, but an activity. He has everybody stand on a disc of wood. Here is what I was talking about earlier. Sure, each person is able to choose which piece of wood they stand on, but that’s hardly putting their future into their own hands. Hell, they don’t even know what they’re doing!

One by one, they get off their discs and lift them up to find new buffs with the color of their tribe. Zoe stays in Rotu, Gina stays in Maraamu, Gabriel stays in Rotu – so far, it’s pretty boring. Ah, but the first change – Neleh ends up in Maraamu. When all is said and done, Vecepia, Sean, and Rob have ended up in Rotu with original members Gabriel, Tammy, Zoe, and Robert. Gina and Sarah stay in Maraamu with new members Neleh, Paschal, and Kathy. (They kept the same numbers in each tribe as they had before.) So the Rob/Sarah twosome is split and she is screwed (or perhaps I should say she is longer screwed, but that’s another issue…). The Pappy/Sweet Pea combo sticks together. Oh, and just to make everybody feel better, Probst assures the tribes (and, probably more importantly, the viewers) that the switch was planned before they ever got on the island. Looks like Mark Burnett might have been a bit defensive about accusations that the switch in Survivor: Africa was engineered to kill off the kiddy crew. (I never thought it was, but plenty of others did.)

So, the new Maraamu get to their beach and Gina shows them around. She says it’s exhilarating to be with people who don’t just want to sit around and be lazy all day. For their parts, the ex-Rotus are impressed with the amount of fruit available for the picking (though later they are less than impressed by the water source, which doesn’t hold a candle to their waterfall). It turns out both Gina and Kathy plan to go back to school in environmental studies, so they have a connection there. In one particularly amusing scene, Sarah discusses what happened with Hunter getting voted off and Gina gives her a nice evil eye. Payback time, little girl.

Later, Gina can’t believe it when people actually want to go get water – she says the three new tribe members totally kick butt. Indeed, she wouldn’t mind at all if the original Rotus pick off the original Maraamus one by one – especially in the new Rotu tribe. They deserve what they get.

Over in Rotu, Tammy is happy to see new people. Vecepia is showing a good measure of the laziness we’ve been associating with Sean, Rob, and Sarah, by saying when they first arrive there is a genuine welcome, but the Rotus expect them to jump right in and help out with jobs and actually work! She describes them as being like ants, running all over the place. In Maraamu, they’d be chillin’. Indeed – perhaps that’s the reason Rotu has won every single challenge.

Rob, Mr. Puppetmaster, is not sure how to overcome the numerical advantage held by the original Rotus. He needs to figure out how to bond with them, but then goes over a laundry list of insults: Gabriel is not as smart as he thinks he is. John seems like a “big time queer” and Rob won’t sleep next to him. Robert is big and tough, but probably has a “little sausage.” Tammy is engaged, so there’s not much hope for Rob there. Yeesh.

But Rob and Sean are, at least for the first few hours, actually working. Rob says life here is two degrees shy of Hell – they’re all workaholics (I can hear Hunter laughing now). All this work is “bullcrap” according to him. Sean feels similarly. Of course, with him it’s got to be a racial issue, not just a laziness issue. He says he feels like the master is watching over him, but slavery was supposed to be over. You know, Sean, I suspect African-Americans across the country are shuddering at the way you are behaving. I know I would be.

As Sean and Rob rest, Tammy brings them some food. Rob says she’s good as long as she keeps serving them. What a complete ass. Tammy, for her part, says they won’t let those two go hungry if they stop working, but they will be voted out quickly. Good!

Day 11 on Maraamu brings a nature hike, led by (of course) Kathy. Unfortunately, she gets them a bit lost, which annoys Paschal and Neleh (and I’m sure Sarah as well). Gina sees this and thinks she may be able to break the bond there if necessary.

But then they find a nice brook with a small pool and some nice-sized shrimp. Most of them join in trying to catch some supper – except, of course, Sarah, who sits around doing nothing. Then she decides to leave (poor thing is too weak and has a lot of bug bites). But she gets lost almost immediately and comes back to join the others.

In Rotu, Sean has taken all he can taken, and he can’t take no more! He says the original Rotu group is tight, and figures the original Maraamu will be picked off (brilliant deduction, Watson). So since he figures this is a foregone conclusion, he’s not even going to try to prove himself – he won’t kiss butt. He flat-out tells a rather stunned Gabriel that he will rest when he wants to rest and (here comes the “S”-word again) are not going to work like slaves. He’s tired of all the work (they’ve been there all of one day, remember) and so if they’re going to vote him off, so be it!

Hold on a sec. while I copy this into my future “Why Sean Lost” article… What a moron.

Back in Maraamu, we see Sarah showing the proper respect for Paschal’s flag by using it as a blanket. They are notified of the next immunity challenge and Kathy thinks Rotu may throw it just to vote off an ex-Maraamu. Yeah, keep dreaming.

The challenge is similar to puzzle challenges of past seasons, but with a twist. They have a big woven tapestry that is scrambled. The weave is looped around the bottom, and the idea is to pull each part through to unscramble the design. First to do so correctly wins. Since Rotu has three extra people, they sit out Sean, Rob, and John. But, frankly, they could have sat out another two or three people and they’d still have won. Kathy takes the lead role in telling the other Maraamu what to do, but Paschal and Neleh just kind of look like deer caught in the headlights. Rotu wins without even a real challenge.

Neleh, who has never been on the losing side of a challenge, says it doesn’t feel too good. For Gina, it’s yet another trip back to Tribal Council. But she thinks Sarah has given up and probably knows she will go – then again, she might be clueless. For her part, Sarah does seem to understand that she will probably be next, but she says she’ll vote for Kathy because she’s too overbearing and motherly (it’s Patricia all over again!).

At Tribal Council, the questions all revolve around the switch. Paschal says he was initially shocked but the women have been taking good care of him. Gina, of course, thinks it’s awesome – one of her better days on the island. Kathy was not happy at all. Neleh says she had a tough time at first but once they got to their new home, she was okay with it. Sarah says she was shaken but glad to get to know some new people (yeah, right).

The vote is not at all surprising, with Sarah voting for Kathy and everybody else voting for Sarah. Her last words are that she’s feeling emotional and hope her four original teammates – especially Gina – do well. Especially Gina? Not especially Rob? Hmmmm.

Next week, we’re back to Thursday again. Maraamu finds new spirit and the Rotu love tribe falls apart (yeah, well, Sean and Rob would do that to anybody). In a reward challenge, the winners get to raid the losers’ camp.

My prediction is that Rotu will finally lose an immunity challenge, and Sean will be booted. Or maybe that’s my hope…

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