Surviving Palau, Episode 6: To Be or Knot To Be

Well, a number of you certainly disagreed with my statement last week that it was a mistake for Koror to give Ibrehem immunity. I’m not sure I’ve ever received so much e-mail about a matter of opinion on Survivor! Most of you said Koror caused more strife in camp by forcing Ulong to vote out somebody else – but this is Ulong we’re talking about! Their camp was already filled with strife all the time. Heck, it seems almost every interview I’ve done has had the person talking about how they couldn’t work together. Plus, Ulong has done almost everything wrong so far – so if they wanted Ibrehem out, you could pretty much bet it was likely a wrong decision! Let ‘em do it and destroy themselves. By taking away their option, it might indeed cause more strife – but it might also cause Ulong to unite more against Koror for denying them the chance to make their own decision. OK, so it’s hard to write “unite” and “Ulong” in the same sentence without laughing, but you never know.

Anyway, the point is that I still maintain that, in that situation, they should have let Ibrehem get voted out. The great thing is, we don’t really have to debate it much more because in a few minutes we’ll find out what happens! Join me, won’t you.

It’s night 12 at Ulong, just after their Tribal Council. Ibrehem says that it was the craziest Tribal Council he’s ever been at. And let’s face it, if there’s one thing every member of Ulong knows, it’s Tribal Council!

Stephenie and James say that at the next challenge, everybody has to have great listening skills. Well, as the book said, everything you need to know, you learned in kindergarten. These guys should have learned “listening skills” a long time ago!

Stephenie tells us that even though Ibrehem got immunity last time, he’s still going next – she’s not changing her vote! James tells Ibrehem that he was pissed at him for costing them the challenge by not listening and not being honest enough with them to say he couldn’t dive. Ibrehem shoots back that they weren’t listening – he said he dove down but just couldn’t pull the bottles loose (funny how nobody else seemed to have that problem). James says all they really know is he dove down three times and never came back with anything to show for it. Stephenie chimes in that they just need to win now.

Bobby Jon doesn’t agree with the way James put Ibrehem on the spot – you win as a team, you lose as a team. OK, so they didn’t get beef stew – who cares? Bobby Jon says they just need to get over the beef stew.

The next morning, Ibrehem goes off by himself to pray. He also tells us that he knew he was likely gone if it weren’t for the immunity, and that he feels God had a hand in it. Um, well, only if God is on Koror! I mean, I know they keep winning, but that may be going a bit far. Anyway, with the game almost being taken away from him, he appreciates it that much more.

Over on Koror, Ian talks about having to vote off Willard and eating their stew. Everybody woke up refreshed and is working hard. Coby calls it “craft day” – well, only for Katie, because everybody else is working. She just think this is Wickedly Perfect, as she appears to be making some sort of braided twine necklaces. At least it’s not a ribbon flower. (If you didn’t watch Wickedly Perfect, you won’t get that. If you did, no further explanation is required.)

For her part, Katie says she feels great and thought it would be harder than this! Oh, she knows it will be, but she’ll be able to survive.

Caryn calls Katie an entertainer, but she doesn’t appear to have any other role. She sings, she makes jokes, and she appears to be putting on a sock puppet show making fun of Ulong, too. Caryn does not look amused, though several of the others do.

Katie and Janu get treemail, and they come back excited. Katie wants the others to guess what is with the clue – it starts with a P and ends with an “ul” is the way she describes. They look at her, dumbfounded. “Pringle!” Oh. The clue seems to indicate a shooting competition that requires no strength. They split the Pringle and enjoy the small taste of salt and oil.

Both tribes arrive for the challenge and Jeff Probst goes into the description. There are 16 tribe-colored tiles, eight for each team. They each also have a replica of a 50-caliber small class cannon. Holy crap! They want to knock out their own tribe’s tiles, and the first tribe to do so wins reward. What is that reward? Pringles! And they will also board a unique Japanese boat to have chips and drinks. They will cruise to Jellyfish Lake, where there are millions of jellyfish. They will snorkel there but won’t need to worry because these jellyfish have lost the ability to sting!

Koror sits out Katie, Janu, Jenn, and Ian. Ulong shoots first, and Bobby Jon misses low. Gregg aims and misses just high. James is next, and Probst asks him if he shoots a lot of guns. “Yup.” But he misses with this one. Coby misses low. Ibrehem misses. Tom is the first to score a hit!