Survivor: The Amazon – An Ax (or Machete) to Grind

Now where does Rob fit in the grand scheme of things? Is he the most obnoxious, narcissistic player in the history of the game, or is he playing the game as brilliantly as Rich or Brian? Most likely, a bit of both. But one thing is for sure: He makes the most of his time in confessionals, and like him or hate him, he's one of the few players in the game without a vote against him, so he's doing something right.

One thing that's disturbing, however, is his tendency to let his libido rule him. He has admitted jealousy of Dave's way with the ladies. Will he be able to keep that jealousy under wraps? He told the camera that he had a strategy in mind that would leave him, Heidi and Jenna as the final three. But that wasn't a strategy for winning so much as a strategy for being alone with two twenty-something ladies in bikinis (or out of them, if his fantasies come true). Yet next week, he's shown complaining that Dave is "sleeping with the enemy," referring to Heidi. Uh, if she's the enemy, why do you want to be in the final three with her? My gut reaction is that Rob is simply mad that Dave beat him to the punch.

Here's another question about Rob: Is he correct in his assessment that the other men have no idea what's going on around them? Obviously, he pulled a fast one on Butch, Dave, and Roger. And he's already bragged about Matt being his pawn. As for Alex, Rob said the triathlon coach hadn't had his head in the game, but that seems to have changed, as Alex joined Rob in voting off Roger. Rob may be right for the time being about the rest of the males. But what about his prediction that he'll be the last male left in the game? Well, Roger thought he had it in the bag as well. Rob may very well be overplaying, and if people start to compare notes, he could find himself pulling jury duty.

One other thought on Rob: Was his Casey Kasem imitation the best moment ever in tribal council? Usually during a vote, even if someone's comments are shown, they aren't on camera more that 10 seconds at the most. But Rob's "long distance dedication" to Roger earned him over 20 seconds of camera time. Like Charlie Van Doren on the ill-fated $64,000 question, the producers probably want to keep Rob around as long as possible, in this case because he makes for such good sound bites.

Now, where do Butch and Dave stand from here? They were obviously shocked to see Roger's torch put out. Will they be able to figure out what's going on enough to recover? Dave had previously said the women knew they were going to be quickly eliminated. Uh, right. Now it's on to Plan B – wait a minute, what Plan B? From the looks of next week's previews, Dave's at least smart enough, and charming enough, to schmooze with the ladies. And why haven't we seen much in the way of confessionals from Butch this week? Is that a sign he'll be around awhile? Or is it because he has nothing interesting to say? My guess is when he does confessionals, he doesn't bad mouth anyone or say anything much more controversial than "believe in yourself."

What about the four ladies left? First let's start with Christy. Could her star shine any brighter? She seemed surprised and grateful to make the merge. Well, Christy, here's a guess that most of the viewing audience is glad you made it as well. Your desire to help out on the shelter was admirable, and the way you and Deena outlasted the others in the immunity challenge further showed your ability to play the game. But hopefully that won't cause you to be seen as a threat.

What about Heidi and Jenna? Why exactly did they strip? Did they really do it for peanut butter? More likely, they did it to impress the impressionable guys and keep themselves in the game. In a dual confessional, they said the guys thought they would slowly pick the girls off, but obviously, it isn't that way just yet. Uh, pride goeth before an immunity ejection.

Finally, there's Deena, Rob's alliance partner and apparently soul-mate. She's gone from alpha female to back of the pack and back up to the top. But was it a good idea for her to win immunity? Did she need it? Judging by the way people were ready to boot Roger, probably not. Of course, being that she's perhaps the strongest, and definitely the oldest, of the females, I'd say normally she was in deep trouble, but she seems to be making the right alliances.

But is she playing the game as well as she thinks she is? She talked about how the guys were "so stinking cocky," but she showed a tendency towards cockiness herself this week, declaring, "The game is mine." Uh, let's hear you say that a few weeks from now. She declared that the game is no longer the battle of the sexes, but rather, the weak vs. the strong. So does that mean she'll be targeted by the more physically weak? She also claimed that staying in the game didn't depend on her winning immunity, but she chose not to assign it to someone else when she won it. It will be interesting to see how she fares in future challenges.

Finally, one last question about Roger, who wasn't an eviction dodger. Was there a more prophetic moment in the show than when he said everything was falling into place, and it was "too good to be true"? He didn't realize how right he was when he said that. Hopefully, if next week's goner says something as ironic, it won't be so obvious they're about to see their million-dollar hopes get fed to the piranhas and crocodiles.

Ken can be reached with any comments, criticisms, or money orders at YourNextOfKen@aol.com.

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