Surviving Vanuatu, Episode 11: Panic Player?

Hello and happy Thanksgiving! I know I said last week that I wouldn’t be here for this recap and that Mike DeGeorge would be doing it in my place. But surprise! Here I am! Between 75% of my family being ill and six inches of snow in a few hours making travel somewhat slippery, it turns out that I’m right here where I am every Thursday.

So if you went out to your family or just stuffed yourself full of turkey and were unable to get to the TV set, I’m here for you – just sit back and read and you’ll know everything that happened as well as if you had seen the show yourself.

Last week, of course, Scout tried to stage a coup. It didn’t work and Chad was sent packing, leaving Chris as the last man standing. This week, Chris will try once again to break up the female alliance. Will he succeed? I’m guessing no. I think they’ll still toss him before they vote out one of their own. Let’s find out!

Following Tribal Council, Eliza has apparently learned nothing. She starts blathering on immediately, saying they really had her going and that she really thought she was headed home. We could only dream it, Eliza.

Now it’s time for scary stories around the fire. Chris tells his tale of the two ladies, Scout and Twila, who (that’s scary music, in case you’re wondering) tried to go against the alliance. The horror! Eliza’s mouth drops open (or maybe it’s just stuck that way by now). He tells us that he tattled on the two of them because he just wanted to shake things up and see what happens. Leann says it’s hard to know whether or not to believe him (but, he swore it was true!) because if he gets them mad at Twila and Scout, it would help him last longer. Good observation. Now let’s see what she does with it.

The next morning, Leann confronts Twila with the information. First, Twila says Chris is just trying to cause strife. Leann says it doesn’t do him any good. Um. What? Wasn’t I just congratulating you on figuring out that it does do him good to spread that? Did that leak out of your brain while you slept?

Leann continues that Twila is striking her as a “panic player” and she’s worried. I don’t know what Leann is seeing that I’m not, but Twila doesn’t look panicked to me right now. Before Tribal Council? Yeah, a bit.

In fact, it has been suggested to me by readers that if she hadn’t panicked about the tie, the foursome (Twila, Scout, Chad, and Chris) could have forced one of the other women to change their votes to Eliza. If they had simply said they would not switch, the others would have either had to dump Eliza or face the Purple Rock of Death. It would have been an interesting strategy to adopt, if a ballsy one.

In any case, as soon as Leann brings out the “panic player” accusation, Twila, um, panics. She points the finger right at Scout, saying she was the one trying to pull a coup. Leann tells us that she didn’t think the women would turn on each other this soon – that they would have at least waited ‘til the guys went out. Um, well, that would be kind of dumb, if you actually think about it. Some of the women obviously know they are not going to the end. So why would they wait ‘til all the guys are gone to make a move? Of course, no moves were actually made successfully, but they should have been.

Already time for the reward challenge? Wow, that’s quick. Host Jeff Probst says for this challenge, they will recall how much they remember from the past 28 days. He will ask five questions about past challenges. At the end, the person with the most points wins a reward. What is that reward? A one-hour real-time e-mail chat with a loved one via a computer and satellite dish set-up.

Before they begin, each person gets a one-minute exchange. Twila is already crying, so Probst has her go first. Problem – she doesn’t know how to type! She doesn’t use computers much (though we hope she is using one now and reading RealityNewsOnline!) so she is wondering if somebody else could type for her. Turns out, they don’t actually need to type – it’s a video link. Son James shows up on the screen and says hello. She tells him she was being tough ‘til she saw him, and he says she’s still tough. Lots of tears all over the place during these 60 seconds.

Leann chats with Terri, her best friend. Eliza gets to talk to “Mommy” Susan. Wow. Eliza in a one-minute conversation – who would have thought it possible? Julie talks to Justin, her best friend. Much of the conversation appears to consist of “Dude!”

Scout talks to her partner, Annie. And Ami talks to her girlfriend, Chrissy. Both exchange “I love you”s as the majority of people in red states squirm uncomfortably.

Chris chats with girlfriend Laurie and they discuss how they are getting married. It doesn’t seem to be a proposal, but rather seems to have been planned already. Still, it’s an announcement, at least.