Survivor: The Amazon, Episode 10 MVP: So You're Learning How to Play

Well, thanks to the recap episode I only had to miss one week with my MVP article. Thanks so much to Jeff for filling in for me. He did an awesome job and definitely picked the same person I would have. For those of you who thought I may have given up on the whole MVP thing, I'm back to reassure you that I was only feeling a little under the weather. I know you are more than excited to see me back. Try to contain the chuckles. Anyway, the matter at hand is who is the MVP this week? It took some time for me to pick this week. There were two people in particular who I thought really deserved it. After some careful deliberation though, I decided that one will get the honorable mention and one will be the full fledged MVP. Who are these people? You should know the drill by now, read on!

First off, I need to state that Alex being voted out made my week. He was starting to get really pompous. I think of all the people so far this season, he has gone through the biggest change. Rob stated he was there to play, and he has the whole time. Deena showed up as a huge competitor, and that is exactly what she was the whole time. Alex seemed to be this nice guy in the beginning, that wasn't exactly sure what side he wanted to be on. By the time he was voted off he had changed into this jerk who was so full of himself and his position in the game that he actually laid around and did nothing. I'm sorry, but this cannot be acceptable. He was downright rude about it. However, that is not saying that Jenna, Heidi, and Rob do not deserve to be scolded for this too. Don't they realize that nobody is ever safe in this game? Did they forget that the same people they are shunning will be the ones deciding who will get the money? Sometimes, people don't think before they act in this game. Rob redeemed himself by joining up with the other three outcasts when he found out that he may be the "extra" in this VERY loose alliance. I say very loose because that is the way it seems. Jenna and Heidi would never turn on one another, who the heck even knows when Alex got in the alliance, and Rob was only there because of the grace of Deena. I'm sorry, but it was way too dysfunctional to last that long. I, for one, am glad it collapsed. Those four as the final four would have been rain on my parade. And now, on to the good stuff!

Since becoming the MVP last week, Rob has gone back to being just an honorable mention this time. I think it was a very smart move for him to join up with Butch, Christy, and Matt. However, it may also come to haunt him if he has to face the jury. When I wrote my article on why I wanted Rob to win, I said it may be bad for him to have so many allies. If Rob makes the final two, he better hope it is against someone of pure evil, like Jenna. He has stepped on many people to get to where he is. Now he has to hope that people are going to be forgiving of him. I do think it would be a smart move to get rid of either Heidi or Jenna next and join up with Matt and the one who is left. That way, instead of being assured a final four spot, he would have a final three spot. There is no way to figure out how all this is going to turn out. Rob is much smarter than the goofball that many people pegged him as. I know that I have gained so much respect for the way he is playing the game. It has been a little risky at times, but I always notice that Rob never takes a chance. He only goes with the plan that he knows is foolproof. We saw this twice recently. When it was time to get rid of Roger, and when it was time to give Deena the boot. He tried to save her, but when he saw that he didn't have the votes, he stuck with the majority. That is a smart way to play this game. No reason for anyone to suspect that you may be playing both sides, so just stick with the majority. That is what I think Rob has been doing and it has been working for him. It wasn't enough to get him the MVP this week but he came oh so close. I could only think of one other person who finally stepped out of the dark this week to be the MVP. This person is Matt.

It took until episode 10, but Matt finally had his defining moment. Too bad it took all four members of the alliance to be sunbathing instead of doing work, but at least he eventually got the message. I picked Matt as the MVP this week because he was smart enough to rally Christy and Butch, and to an extent Rob, into realizing that they were not going to last long if Alex, Heidi, and Jenna held all the power. I give him credit for realizing that Rob was on the outs when it came to that alliance.

Now, there is something else I think Matt did this week that I think many people will disagree with me on. I think Matt intentionally lost the immunity challenge so that Rob would win. Why do I think he did this? Well, like I said above, Rob is not the kind of guy to execute a plan unless he knows that he is safe. By winning immunity, he knew that there was no way he could be touched if something went wrong or someone caught wind of his plan. Matt let him win immunity knowing this as well. When Rob won immunity, Matt made his move and made sure that Rob was on board for their plan. Rob was smart to join up with them, but Matt was even smarter for making sure Rob was safe from the vote in case Alex got wind of what Rob was up to, just like he did with Deena. Alex was more powerful than anyone thought. Matt put it together though, and that is why I named him as the MVP.

It is hard to figure out where to go from here. The four that I have picked to be in the final four have all been voted out of the tribe. I had some really bad picks this time around. I said Heidi, Christy, Butch, Rob, and Matt wouldn't even make the jury. I guess this was all bad planning on my part and pre-picking people like Janet, Jeanne, Roger, and Ryan all to do well. Shows you how good at this I am! Anyway, I'm thinking Rob and Matt will join up with either Jenna or Heidi, whichever is left after the next episode. I don't want that to happen though because I'm a fan of Christy and Butch. But, it's a game, and they are all there to win. How awesome was it though to see how excited Christy was when she found out that she was in the majority. I wanted to stand up and cheer for her. She is my girl, just like Trenyce on American Idol. Don't get me started. Matt has finally wised up and he was totally deserving of the MVP this week. He is going places. Rob is still playing well too and I still want him to win. I guess we have to see next week and figure out who will get the boot next. After that happens the battle lines will be drawn, and that's when it gets interesting.

Phil Kural is a junior at Temple University, and can be reached at pkural@astro.temple.edu with any MVP suggestions.

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