Survivor: Palau, Episode 8 MVPs: Alone!

Wow. What an intense and surprising turn of events. The Ulong tribe has been whittled down to just Stephenie, with no twists or surprises to save the tribe from the fate of its own ineptitude (and an induction into the Reality TV Hall of Shame for the whole tribe). What a strange moment when Bobby Jon left tribal council, leaving Stephenie all alone. She told Jeff how weird it would be to go back to camp all alone, and I kept waiting for her to say, “Don’t worry about it, Steph, because you’re in Koror now,” and tossing her a brown buff. But no such luck. I thought it was interesting in the first season of Survivor that the two tribes pretty well alternated immunity wins,, but it’s equally compelling to see one tribe so completely dominating.

I have MVP trophies to give out, and I’m sure it will surprise no one that Stephenie wins the MVP award for Ulong. Sure, she’s the only one who has won an immunity challenge at this point, but she wins by more than just default.

For one thing, I have nothing but respect for her almost unflinching optimism. After she and Bobby Jon came back from tribal council, she declared that she was “ready to win.” And maybe, just maybe, her hope won’t be totally unfounded. Over in the paradise that is Koror, Ian and Tom revealed that they have a secret final four alliance with her and Katie. Sure, the two of them might not keep a promise they made way back in the beginning of the game before the tribes were divided up, but it would probably be a good idea. Too bad for Gregg and Jenn, the two of them are smart enough to figure out that they need to break up such an obvious couple. Stephenie may just survive yet.

Stephenie also did a great job at both challenges in this episode. She handled the balut eating as well as she could (at least to the extent that I could handle watching that absolutely disgusting challenge). And I can’t help but wonder if Ulong would have done better if she’d done the final tie-breaker instead of Bobby Jon. And in the immunity challenge, Bobby Jon briefly got a lead over Coby, which Stephenie then expanded. And I don’t blame her one bit for peeking over at Koror’s board when they were working on the puzzle. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Stephenie is now the last of her tribe, so she must have all kinds of room around camp for her many well-deserved MVP trophies. I hope that if she joins Koror next week that she finds a way to survive, because she is one of my favorite players.

Another player who is becoming one of my favorites is Koror’s MVP for the week, Coby. Koror should be grateful to have Coby around to think of practical matters like that the rotting shark’s head and coconut crumbs might not be attracting the best forms of wildlife. If getting rid of the shark’s head was the only thing Coby did this week, I’d seriously consider giving him the MVP for that alone.

However, Coby did more to earn his MVP award for the week. He tried to create a compromise in which they used some of the reward water for showers and the rest for drinking. He walked the fence in such a way that people on both sides probably appreciated him. And he did a great job in the immunity challenge, catching up to Bobby Jon despite the lead Ulong MVP Steph had expanded. And he was the one smart enough to cover up the puzzle board to avoid giving Steph a free show.

I have to admit, it really touched me when Coby said how happy he is to be part of a team. I’d like to think that all of the people who made life so miserable for him in school are watching this now and realize that there is not a single thing about him that’s wimpy. Too bad they’re probably all too narrow-minded to see it. He can take comfort in the fact that right now, he’s gaining the respect of lots of people watching the show. Go, Coby, and enjoy your MVP trophy. You earned it.

Is Stephenie a lock for the next Ulong MVP, or will there finally be a merge? Will Tom and Ian team up with her? Will Koror implode when they finally have to go to tribal council? We’ll find out soon!

Betsy Wasser is the Associate Editor of Reality News Online. She can be reached with comments and MVP nominations at betsywasser@gmail.com.

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