Surviving the Pearl Islands, Episode 5: Not Gross Enough

Drake, night 12. A drunken Jon leads them back and gloats that he had informed Shawn, on the way to Tribal Council, that Burton was leaving. He told Shawn he could vote however he wanted, but he suggested he write, “Burton.” For his part, Shawn claims that even though he’d been in an alliance with Burton, Michelle, and Jon, he had been annoyed by Burton and was looking for a way to get rid of him. Riiiight. Trish has about the same feeling I do and wonders who Shawn thinks he was fooling. But Shawn goes right along, saying Burton thought he was better than everyone else, etc. Privately, he says he was tight with Burton, but this isn’t a game about tight, it’s a game of strategy.

He says his vote shocked some people, not the least of whom was Michelle. She’s hanging by a thread because she was the only one aside from Burton who voted against Christa. The others tell her that everything is fine but she doesn’t believe a word of it. I wouldn’t either.

Over on Morgan, the next day, Rupert decides to make a break for it and swim back to Drake! OK, no. But that would have been kind of funny. Anyway, he immediately realizes what the Morgan tribe has been denying – when it’s the tide vs. your shelter on the beach, the tide will win. He says that as the moon continues through its phases, the tide is going to rise another couple feet. The logs they are using to try to stop it just isn’t going to work.

Ryan says that they’ve decided, based on Rupert’s advice, to move the shelter today. Damn, not even 24 hours and he’s already taken over leadership. Osten, showing his wonderful planning skills, says that since the water hasn’t actually washed their shelter away yet, they should wait until it becomes a problem and then deal with it. Yeah, good idea. Wait until Rupert is gone and takes his skills and muscles with him. Great plan. Go back to your corner and whine about pneumonia some more or something.

Oh, wait, he is whining – about bugs and snakes and all the other things that scare him in the jungle. Rupert says this tribe works very hard at not working. They argue, bitch, moan, bicker, etc. and it takes forever for them to do anything. Now he knows why they don’t do well in the challenges and aren’t a good team.

Eventually they take a vote and Osten’s idea of keeping it away from the jungle, but having to move the firepit and bunches of other stuff loses. He takes it about as well as you’d expect.

Back at Drake again, Trish is worried that Rupert is giving away Drake secrets without realizing it. Jon thinks Morgan is buttering him up – could he be laying out a path to get Rupert booted? Sandra wants Rupert back to find out what’s going on at Morgan. She says everybody is wondering if he went to “the other side.”

Back at Morgan, Rupert is thirsty and hungry, so he’s going fishin’! He is going to take Ryan and show him what to do. The Morgans, it turns out, had no idea how to even work the spear gun. Oy. Rupert says Ryan is a nice young kid who wants to be the provider but didn’t know how to do it. The first fish that Rupert spears, Ryan accidentally lets get away when trying to get him in the bag. Whoops! But Rupert comes back with a bunch more. Andrew calls Rupert a godsend and send it was probably the smartest thing the tribe ever did to get him over to their camp. Well, duh – it’s not like there are a lot of smart things to compare it to!

Day 14, Rupert gets the treemail, which includes an oar. The note says it’s the best reward yet, something about getting clean. Rupert tells the others that he loves Drake and doesn’t want to beat them, but on the other hand he wants to beat ‘em bad and show them that the reason they’ve been winning might just have a lot to do with him. Heh.

Uh oh, it’s another swimming reward challenge. Morgan is dead. Eh, we’ll go through the exercise anyway. They have to row out to a series of four wooden crates. Under each crate is a piece of a ladder that they have to retrieve. Gather them all, row back, and put the ladder together the right way. Meanwhile, another tribe member has to run into the jungle and get a golden idol (good thing JoAnna isn’t here) out of a well. Then one tribe member has to get up the ladder with the idol. First one up wins.

And what do they win? Glad you asked. Host Jeff Probst calls it a “water reward.” It includes a pot to boil water, stuff to carry water, personal cleaning supplies, rain jackets, etc. And of course, the chance to loot. Oh, and for Morgan, a piece of the treasure map.

Drake is out first with Morgan close behind – they move ahead largely on the strength of Rupert’s rowing. He then dives in to get the first piece, and then the second, and third… Rupert, er, Morgan has a huge lead while the Rupertless Drake tribe is literally adrift off the course while Jon is using the rudder as if it’s a paddle rather than for steering. D’oh!

Morgan gets back to shore and Andrew heads into the jungle. Drake finally gets a clue as Shawn takes over the rudder from Jon. Andrew returns with the idol as Drake finally makes it to shore and Probst makes several snide remarks welcoming them to the challenge. Morgan has the ladder together and Andrew heads up to win it all! Ryan and Rupert share a big hug. Hmmm, that won’t help Rupert with the others on Drake, who already were wondering if he was a traitor.