Survivor: Vanuatu – Or Is That C.S.I.: Vanuatu?

If you’ve ever watched any of the C.S.I.s or Cold Case, you know that at the beginning of the episode, we’re shown a scene of a person engaged in some activity, and in the next shot, we see that person lying dead. The next hour is spent examining the evidence and looking at flashbacks, and at the end of the episode, we find out what really happened.

Similarly, one minute, Leann was stating in tribal council how the immunity challenge wasn’t a matter of life or death for her, and soon after, we saw her torch snuffed out. First of all, kudos to Mark Burnett for keeping under wraps a twist ending any forensics-based show would be proud of. And more importantly, many thanks to the reality TV gods for giving us all something to be thankful for—mainly, the likely end of Queen Ami’s man-hating reign, and a series that actually looks somewhat interesting after weeks of being such a turkey.

At the time of Leann’s ouster, how many of you could best describe your reaction as “pleasantly stunned?” I know I certainly could. Now, unlike the shows mentioned at the beginning, we got to see the reality equivalent of a slaying at the END of the show, without seeing exactly what happened beforehand. But as they say in the NFL, upon further review, it all makes sense, and rather delicious sense at that.

Let’s start with the time after Ami’s immunity win, but before tribal council. Did it dawn on Eliza that there may be a reason her entire alliance went off without her? It was hard to tell for sure, but it sounded like one of them said something about going to get water. If so, they must’ve known that as little work around camp as Eliza did, she wouldn’t be too inclined to join them. Thus, they had their opportunity to plot and scheme against her.

In a nutshell, here’s what may have happened: Julie, Twila, Scout, Ami, and Leann got together and agreed that Eliza should go. But then, Scout and Twila realized that if this happened, Chris would be the next target, and if they aligned with him, it would be three on three, and they’d have to rely on the dreaded purple rock. They also knew that if Chris went, they’d be outnumbered 4-2 by the rest of the women.

Meanwhile, Julie informed Chris that he was not on the chopping block after all. Chris and Twila started talking, and she told him he could turn the game around, and he knew what he had to do – turn to Eliza instead of on her. That way, Scout, Twila, Chris, and Eliza would be in position to make the final four and overthrow Julie, Leann, and Ami.

Chris did a little smooth-talking to Eliza, who understandably, couldn’t help but wonder if she could trust Chris, Twila, OR Scout. In the end, she decided to take her chances, and it ended up paying off. The irony is that she and Scout can’t stand each other, but ended up voting together. This brings to mind Pearl Islands, when Burton said you can hate someone’s guts and still have an alliance with them if you have the same goals.

Thursday night didn’t seem any more exciting than the episodes before it, but ended up having one of the best conclusions of the season, and certainly one of the most surprising in the history of the show. Footage that seemed meaningless and not worthy of viewing a second time took on new meaning after tribal council, prompting another look.

Let’s start from the beginning: Think back to Eliza’s comment that everyone conspires against her but she’s still here. It would be easy to say that if everyone really conspired against her she wouldn’t be there. But when you get right down to it, she’s absolutely right. The key is that they don’t all conspire against her AT THE SAME TIME. Think about it: Last time, Chris, Chad, Twila, and Scout conspired against her, but Ami, Julie, and Leann didn’t. This time, Chris, Twila, and Scout didn’t vote against her, but Ami, Julie, and Leann did. Eliza, just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean everyone isn’t out to get you. Of course, when she said this, she didn’t know her former alliance would be turning on her.

Soon, we saw Chris’ conversation with Ami and company, where he told them of the previous plot to overthrow Eliza. He admitted to the camera that he mixed the details up, and frankly, I don’t blame him. After all, what did he have to lose? He knew he was on the chopping block like a turkey amongst a group of starving Pilgrims, so he might as well go out fighting.