Surviving the Marquesas, Episode 5: Paradise Lost

It’s Day 13 in the game of Survivor: Rotu -- whoops, I’m sorry, I mean Survivor: Marquesas, of course. But we go into this episode with the question of when Rotu will finally falter – or, indeed, IF they will.

Right off the bat, we are reminded of the differences between original Rotu members and new ones. Tammy is exercising; Rob is whining that he used to be in control and now he’s in the minority. Um, Rob, yes, you were in control – of a losing and dwindling tribe. Without the switch, you would have been dead at the merge. Now, however, you have a chance – though small – if you are smart enough to figure out how to use. Big if.

Anyway, Rob says Sean is done with the game – so he’ll be the first to go. After that, it’s a toss-up between himself and Vee, although Vee is better at kissing ass than he is. Still, he wants to get in some sort of alliance with an original Rotu. He starts off all wrong by asking some of the others if he is less a Rotu than the original Rotu. Well what the Hell does he think they are going to say? “Yeah, you are. We hate you. You’re outta here.” No – of course they tell him that he’s on Rotu and that’s all that matters right now.

But Gabriel isn’t terribly happy. He is there to build a society of people from different walks of life, and they were doing just fine, thank you. Now the ex-Maraamu brought the game in with them and is ruining his experience. Hmmm. Gabe apparently thinks this is a National Geographic special or something.

Tammy, however, knows where she is. She says the other team has been cut-throat from the beginning. John and Robert talk about how the Maraamu were lying from the beginning, not forming real relationships. Still, John says this isn’t a 60s commune, like Gabriel thinks it is. People are there to play, and it should be game-on for everybody with the swap.

Over in Maraamu, they begin the day with a little prayer circle (emphasis on “little” since the tribe consists of only four people now). Gina says they have bonded and are a complete team now that Sarah is gone (that’s called addition by subtraction). At Paschal’s urging, they go on a crab hunt. This is difficult because, as I said, Sarah is gone now so they no longer have a crab call. (“I’m tired. I’m bitten. Waah. Waah.”) Luckily for them, they find the crab city and the little buggers are pretty easy to catch. They bring home about a dozen, boil ‘em, and take out all the meat to cook up nicely. Notice that in all the days the original Maraamu was there, we never once saw them go looking for a decent meat source like this. Even though it turned out fairly easy, it might have been too much like work.

After Maraamu assures us that they will win the challenge, that’s exactly where we head – for a reward. Perhaps the best reward ever, in fact. The winner gets to raid the opposing tribe’s camp. Well, if Rotu wins there ain’t much they could take, but it could be a goldmine for Maraamu.

The challenge involves three blindfolded tribe members and one caller. For Rotu, Sean, Rob, Vee, and Zoe all sit out. Gabe is the caller. Kathy is the caller for Maraamu (well, of course – it’s not like she’s going to take orders from somebody else!). The blindfolded people have to gather 14 pieces of a tiki (a tall idol). Once they get ‘em all, they can take off the blindfolds and they have to put them together in order.

Rotu, as usual, takes an early lead, bringing in nine to Maraamu’s seven. In fact, they get all 14 first – or do they? Nope. Host Jeff Probst counts only 13, but Gabe can’t find the other one! Maraamu catches up, gets all 14, and starts to build. Finally, Gabriel sees the 14th and they start to build, but they can’t make up the time. Maraamu wins its first challenge ever! Needless to say, they are ecstatic. But Rotu doesn’t know what to make of this feeling, called “losing.”

Everybody is brought to the Rotu camp and Probst says they must leave one knife, one cooking pot, the magnifying glass, one water container, and all personal items. Everything else is fair game – they have two minutes for the raid while the Rotu look on helplessly. The Maraamu grab the scuba gear, spears, blankets and pillows, a pot, lanterns, hot peppers, and pretty much everything including the kitchen sink, as Paschal says. Now Rotu feels really dejected for the first time. As Robert says, everything they have worked for and won is gone. But Vee sees it as a good time for a bonding moment – the opportunity for everybody to really mesh. (Read: I hope they won’t vote me off.)

Arriving at Maraamu, Kathy says she relishes every item and is happy the Rotu could finally experience loss. On top of that, she says this win tops anything she had with old Rotu. Gina, who was a challenge victory virgin, is hysterically happy.

Back at Rotu, they are trying to pull themselves together. So what do they do? Gabriel starts rapping. ARGH! It’s Mike Boogie 2! (Remember, Gabriel actually works for Mike.) Anyway, Gabriel says the new members really are part of their tribe – they are one. John doesn’t agree and is afraid Gabriel is bonding too much with the other three. Hmmm. At this point I’m thinking that perhaps the Star story about Gabriel knowing Sean (from the same bar where he works for Mike) might be true. Perhaps that’s why he’s bonding with ‘em so well…

So John talks to Gabriel, who insists he’s not playing a game. John won’t accept this answer – he’s playing some game, and John just doesn’t trust him anymore. But Gabriel says he’ll tell him how he plans to vote.

Tammy thinks John pushed Gabriel a bit too far, but John is convinced that Gabriel is his biggest threat and he has to go right away. Talk about two people on completely different planes. Gabriel really does seem convinced that this is some sort of documentary and he just won’t play to get ahead. John, on the other hand, is convinced that Gabriel is up to something with this strange attitude.

So John goes one-by-one to pull together a four-person alliance. He makes an agreement with Robert and then with Zoe and then Tammy – though Tammy threatens to kick his ass if he’s playing her, but he swears on his mother’s life (somebody should check to see if she is still alive or not).

Yes, the game has finally arrived for Rotu. It only took two weeks.

But will it matter? There is still an immunity challenge, after all. And as in previous Survivors, it’s a “build a rescue signal” challenge. They aren’t allowed to use fire, but anything else is fair game. So Maraamu immediately sets to using the stuff they took from Rotu. Gina wants to win, of course, but is even more driven by the hope that she can send Rotu to Tribal Council where they will likely vote off Rob or Sean.

Over on Rotu, Robert, John, Gabe, and Tammy have to sit out (because you can’t sit out two challenges in a row). They are not even allowed to speak about it. Robert does privately note that Maraamu may well have won two challenges in a row because he realizes how useful the stuff that was taken would have been. He adds that they don’t exactly have the most creative people working on this one. Zoe is okay, he says, but the others, well…

Indeed, he’s right. It’s hysterical to watch these guys try to brainstorm when Rob can’t even muster a drizzle. Ah, but Vee does lead them in a prayer to thank Jesus for inspiration – or something like that. I didn’t realize the Big Guy took a direct interest in Survivor. But I guess if He takes sides in football games (which some people seem to think He does), maybe He’s a big fan of this show as well. But wait – the Maraamu prayed earlier. Uh oh, which side will He take?!

Before the boat comes to evaluate their signals, John talks to Sean about trying to get Gabriel voted off. What?! John, you idiot, you don’t tell one of the people who Gabriel is buddying up to! As expected, Sean immediately tells Rob, and they both decide it was a mistake for John to say anything. Now, they say, they have the upper hand.

Once the boat finally arrives, we see just how poor the Rotu signal looks. It’s mostly black, and blends in with the vegetation behind them. But at Maraamu, they use white sheets with a red circle, plus Paschal runs around with his American flag. There is no doubt who wins this one – Maraamu finally avoids a trek to Tribal Council!

So, the next day, with Rotu knowing for certain they will finally have to vote somebody off, John continues his discussions. He tries to talk Rob into voting for Gabe, but Rob thinks John is just too slick and doesn’t believe him. He has a plan to get rid of John. Oh, yeah, we’re all waiting for this one, Robbo.

Sean says if they can get Gabriel to vote against John, they can cause a shakeup that they might survive. So Rob asks him if he’s happy with how he wants to play and tells him that he is likely to go at Tribal Council. Gabe mulls over whether he wants to have another chance to stick around by joining the ex-Maraamu.

Meanwhile, John is finally starting to have second thoughts (or maybe we should say “first thoughts”) about laying out all his cards to Sean and Rob. If the plan works, he’ll be in a good position, but… He says it’s the most pivotal vote of the entire game.

So they get to Tribal Council, where the original Rotu are introduced to their torches for the first time. And they get to answer Probst’s questions, too. Tammy is first as she is asked about the mood. She says it’s very upbeat – they knew it was only a matter of time before they’d finally lose, but they’re still optimistic.

Next Zoe is asked if there is a jester in the group. She says Gabriel can always make them laugh with his little giggle. Speaking of Gabe, he is asked if he trusts the others. He says that trust is not the biggest member of the tribe, and that people have to win so trust is fleeting.

John is asked if there is a leader, and he says that, if anything, he has stepped up, though not really as a “leader” per se. Does that make him a target? Well, it does put him at risk. How confident is he that he will not be going home? John says he’s pretty confident but anything is possible.

Finally, Probst asks Rob what the voting criteria will be. Rob says it will be based on his own best interest – all votes are individual, because everybody is for him- or herself.

And so they vote. The only two shown are John’s vote for Gabriel, saying he has proven untrustworthy, and Tammy’s, also for Gabe, saying she knows he didn’t come to play the game and doesn’t care about the money – but she did and she does. Hmmm. I’m thinking, “Why didn’t they show any other votes?”

Well, the answer is that everybody voted against Gabriel – except Gabriel himself, who apparently voted against Rob, of all people. It looks like Sean, Vee, and Rob decided that without Gabriel’s promise to join them, they would be better off going with the group. Actually, a smart idea – so I’m rather surprised they thought of it. And I guess even if Sean and Gabe did know each other from the bar, it sure didn’t stop Sean from voting him right out the door.

After Gabe leaves, Probst observes that they voted off a strong, hard-working guy who kept their spirits up, so it should be interesting to see how it works out.

In his final words, Gabriel says he misses them already (awww), and reiterates that he came to have the experience, not to play the game, so it’s really perfect timing to be voted off. Hmmm. I guess so. Of course, if he didn’t want to play the game, he could have just stayed home and let somebody who wanted to play come instead…

Next week: Paschal is stunned that Rotu voted off Gabriel. And Gabe’s departure leaves John in charge, but Rob is not buying it. One clip shows Rob asking, “Do I have ‘stupid’ written on my face?” Ooooh, oooh! Can I answer?

Oh well, I guess we’ll have to wait ‘til next week to see what that’s all about.

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