Surviving Thailand, Episode 6: Dude, Where's My Vote?

We begin at Sook Jai (SJ) on Day 16 as Rob is staring out into space. Ooooh. Cool, man. It's like, air…

But the calm doesn't last long. Penny says you take things day by day and trust shifts. Robb says he doesn't want to base opinions of people on what they do in the game, but he knows that will happen. Penny recounts that Robb asked her after Tribal Council if she had been planning to vote him out; she said no; he said that's funny, 'cus Ken said she was. Robb says there is no reason for people to lie to him and thinks that Ken is playing both sides.

So Robb confronts him, retelling what he said and suggesting that Ken is playing the game harder than anybody else even though he'd said he played straight-up. Ken asks him who everybody else had said they were going to vote for. Shii Ann. And who did they vote for? Stephanie. Who did Ken tell him he'd be voting for? Stephanie. So, Ken says, he was the only one who told Robb the truth. Then there's enough swearing to make the Osbourne family blush (okay, maybe not that much) as Robb goes over stuff that apparently happened a week and a half ago or more. Ken wants to know why the hell Robb is bringing this stuff up now, and says he doesn't even know what Robb's talking about anymore.

Going back in time again, Robb asks Ken if the first vote was between him and Jed. Ken says yes, because Robb was annoying (was?) and wouldn't shut up. Robb says he trusted him early, but now… Ken says Robb has some set of balls coming over and biting the hand that feeds him (interesting mixed metaphor there). He says he's the only one who has been honest with Robb. Then Robb utters the line made famous in the previews about how he's "not f***ing stupid!" Ken just mutters, "unbelievable," and walks away.

Over in Chuay Gahn (CG), they are still having to swim to get their water because the boat is still missing. The guys decide that maybe the boat has floated to a small island across the way, so they're going to swim on over and take a look. Helen notes that, over water, land looks a lot closer than it really is. And the guys soon find this out to be true. They swim and swim and swim, and Brian is really the only good swimmer out of the three of them (probably comes from playing the ever-present "pool guy" in that particular genre of movies he's made… um, not that I know anything about those kinds of movies… wow, look at the time, I'd better be getting back to the recap!). After a while, they get to the island, look around, and find nothing. Well, that was fun, wasn't it?

Back in SJ, Robb is annoying people (especially Ken) even more. The tribe had apparently agreed not to touch the remaining bananas until they ripen. But Robb walks over, grabs one, and munches away, right in front of Ken. Ken mutters, "unbelievable," again and stalks off to go ask the others if they had understood the same agreement about the bananas. Yes. So he confronts Robb, who just has a little hissy fit and says that they won the bananas, they should enjoy the bananas, so there. He's hungry. He's going to eat one. Nyah, nyah, nyah.

Shii Ann gets in the middle of the Ken/Robb argument and Penny cautions her to avoid it. Penny adds that Ken and Robb were acting like children. Well, she's half right, I'd say.

Without further ado, it's time for the reward challenge. In this game, one member of each tribe launches a ball off of what I'd describe as a big slingshot (two poles with big rubber bands between 'em). There are four stations where each of the other tribe members have to stand, one from each team. The idea is to catch the ball shot by your own teammate and block the other team from catching theirs. First team to five catches wins. Oh, and each team gets one timeout to strategize and/or switch stations. The prize is a big Thai feast. Shii Ann sits out for SJ.

In the first four shots, Sook Jai - or should I say Robb - goes four for four, while CG only gets one. Timeout for CG! (Why did they wait so long?) They switch so Ted is paired up with Robb since he is the only one Penny is shooting for (Helen is shooting for CG). The strategy works as Ted blocks Robb several times - as Robb gets angrier and angrier - and Clay, Brian, and Ted each catch one to tie up the score. SJ takes a timeout and Robb and Ken fight briefly until Penny says she will be shooting to the middle of the stations and everybody should run for it. Ted blocks Robb again, but eventually SJ pulls it out with the new strategy (though not Robb, finally). Sook Jai wins!