Surviving Thailand, Episode 9: NYC-Ya

It's night 24, and Chuay Gahn (CG) are waiting for Sook Jai (SJ) to return from Tribal Council. Ted says they deserve to be where they are (rather than voting somebody off) because they have worked their butts off. A lot of people didn't think CG was this good early on, but now they are in a great position. In the discussion of who will be voted off, they decide it will either be Ken or Erin. Helen and Jan imitate Penny the cheerleader talking about how horrible it will be to have to stab Erin in the back. Brian imitates New Yawker Ken the police officer. Pretty funny in both cases, actually.

SJ comes back and Erin is missing. Penny notes privately that it's tough to come back when they only have three and CG has five. Jake says they are two separate tribes still and they need to find a way to win an immunity challenge and get ahead on votes. But they thank the CG folks for waiting up for them and for mourning with them. Penny says it will be tough because Erin was her sleeping partner for 24 days, and she's like a sister to her. Yeah, a sister you throw out when it becomes convenient…

The next day, Jake says he is going to figure out how to best fit in. But instead, he just annoys the heck out of everybody by telling his "adventure" stories to excesses that rival Helen's recipes. He talks about the first deer he shot with a bow & arrow, about parachuting, etc. Jake wants them to know that he is an adventurer, like them - just an older one. Ted says Jake is telling his stories as if they will be warmed by them and finds the parachuting one particularly far-fetched. Clay says he's sick of the Roy Rogers tales and Jake thinks he's being smooth and will such them in as if he's a good ol' mountain man. But, Clay adds, if Jake thinks they're biting, he's crazy. Heck, even Magilla yawns.

Later, various of them discuss how they miss their families, which is a sure sign that videos are coming soon (even if we didn't already know that because of the previews). Helen sings "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" Even Simon Cowell would approve (though he'd probably toss her anyway because she doesn't have the right "look" for an American Idol). Clay tears up, though he denies it.

Time for the reward challenge, which is, of course, for a video of their loved ones. What a shocker! Another non-shocker (for those of us who saw the gold buffs on the previews and for sale on CBS's website) is that the merge happens right then and there. Before the first individual challenge, they each get a sneak peak of the video. Jake sees his wife, Jenny, who says she "loves" him about 20 times in only a few seconds. Brian sees his wife and son. Jan sees her kids, Clay sees his wife and daughter, Helen sees her husband and daughter (and cat), Ken sees his mom and brothers (and dog). Almost all of them tear up at the sight of their respective loved ones. Next, Penny sees her fiancé, his brother and sister-in-law, and their kids. She says she can see how much in love people are with their loved ones (er, that's why they're called "loved ones," Penny) and she wants to get married and be an awesome wife and - with some help from Helen's recipes - a great cook. Sheesh, what a suck-up. Ted is saved for last and host Jeff Probst prompts him to explain that he had a daughter just a couple days before leaving; his daughter had to stay in the hospital an extra day, which was the day he left for Thailand. So we see his wife and daughter.

The reward for this challenge will be one person seeing their whole video and having a drink of something (didn't catch it - not terribly important). The challenge itself is an obstacle course run in pairs - as in one pair against another. They have to cut down a wicker ball, push it through a fishnet tube woven through a horizontal ladder, go over a cargo net, and get to the finish. Then, the winning pair face off against each other in a mental challenge to get to a single winner. The pairs, chosen randomly, are Jake and Jan, Clay and Ken, Ted and Penny, and Brian and Helen.

The first heat features Jake and Jan vs. Clay and Ken. Clay and Ken take an early lead and never give it up, winning the race. Similarly, Brian and Helen take an early lead over Ted and Penny, and easily win. In the final race, Clay and Ken take an early lead over Brian and Helen, but Brian and Helen manage to come back for the win. So it's Brian vs. Helen in the finals.

The mental challenge involves making a pyramid of wicker balls that have been glued together into different shapes (so, for example, one shape might be a row of three balls, or a group of five, etc.). Brian figures out the way to get it together and wins the reward.