Surviving Exile Island, Episode 8: “You’ll Always Deal With Nuts”

Previously on Survivor, the tribes merged and Terry chose not to use the hidden immunity idol, confusing many viewers. Casaya is apparently in a position to Pagong La Mina, though we know at some point Terry’s gonna have to use the idol. Will it be tonight? Will we get a clue as to what his strategy is? Beats me – we’ll just have to watch (or read along with me) to find out.

We begin on day 19 and Austin can’t believe he’s still in the game. And since Austin so openly admitted he had faked weakness, Courtney is afraid they sent the wrong person packing. And Austin feels incredibly stupid for letting them know his plan! Eh, I don’t think it matters that much – he was going to be the next to go anyway.

Aras, Courtney, and Danielle talk about how evil and horrible La Mina is. Wha? I wonder if they know the story about people in glass houses… They say Austin is going to try to work everybody and they have to make sure they don’t fall for it. Well duh. What’d they expect him to do, lay down and die?

Terry and Sally talk about how Casaya will be targeting Austin, so he wants to try to pull one of the girls over. Just one? Good luck. Terry admits it’s going to be tough. He tells us he just needs to draw two of them to his side. Like I said, good luck. But he’s hoping to turn it around.

Treemail! It’s a coconut with the clue written on it:

That last line sure fits Casaya! Since it sounds like a challenge involving political decisions, Sally figures it’s should be great for the La Mina members. They’re hoping it will create some conflict in Casaya’s alliance and shake things up.

They arrive at the challenge and host Jeff Probst launches into the description. They will divide into three teams of three each. Each team will have one boat and 100 coconuts. On go, they will race to put their coconuts in the boats of the other two teams. The more they put into another team’s boat, the more it will slow them down later. Once they are done with the coconuts, they need to paddle out and retrieve a flag and fishing net. They will use the net to carry all the coconuts from their boat to the bin. The first tribe to get all their coconuts in the bin wins!

And what do they win? Tomorrow, they will be picked up by boat and taken to a “lovely little spot” with a bed and breakfast awaiting them. Also, the winning three decide who goes to Exile Island.

The teams, picked randomly, are: Shane/Terry/Austin, Bruce/Aras/Sally, and Danielle/Courtney/Cirie. I’m going to take a wild guess here and say that Shane/Terry/Austin have the edge here (though the others could gang up on them), while Danielle/Courtney/Cirie are in deep trouble.

And they’re off! Austin is first to pick up a lovely bunch of coconuts. Austin and Terry throw their coconuts into the women’s boat while Aras aims at the three guys. All three of them repeat the next time around. While running back, Aras tells Danielle his team won’t put any coconuts in their boat, so they should focus on the three guys. Now just about everybody is following Aras’ lead, so Terry and Austin change over to loading up Aras/Bruce/Sally’s boat.

The women are falling behind in unloading coconuts, while Terry and Shane are picking up the last of their team’s coconuts. Sally/Aras/Bruce do likewise, and both teams hit the water. As Probst says, “The girls are so far behind, they have to put their coconuts in their own boat!”

Aras/Sally/Bruce are in the lead and grab the flag and net. Shane does likewise for his group. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the women are still picking up coconuts. Even Probst, who is known for telling people they can still do it, says they have “no shot in this challenge.” Guess I was right in my prediction about this challenge.

Both teams still in it get to shore and start offloading their coconuts. Terry/Austin/Shane decide not to do it in one trip, hauling a big load but needing to come back for more. Bruce/Aras/Sally, though, get all their coconuts in one load. Terry/Austin/Shane return to pick up their remaining coconuts while Bruce/Aras/Sally arrive at the bin. Just then, Probst reminds them they need their flag to win, and Sally realizes they don’t have it. She runs back as the other two unload coconuts.

Shane/Austin/Terry bring their remaining coconuts and need to unload ‘em before Sally makes it back up the beach. It’s a close call, but it looks like the three guys just run out of gas and can’t get it done in time. Sally, Bruce, and Aras win!

So who is going to Exile Island? They have to choose one person from each of the losing teams. Aras takes the lead in choosing, sending Austin and Danielle. The two head out immediately.

Back at camp the next morning, it’s raining and flooding. How shocking. Sally tells us how interesting it will be to have breakfast in bed with Bruce and Aras. They are waiting for the boat. And waiting. And waiting. Meanwhile, Aras tells us he may have exposed himself a bit in the challenge, both physically and mentally. Finally, the boat arrives as the weather clears a bit, and the three winners head off.

They arrive at a sandbar with a canopy bed in the middle of nowhere – and it’s raining again. Sally is upset that this is her reward. The sheets are wet, the blankets are wet, they’re drenched, they’re cold. All three of them pile into bed and wait for breakfast – pastries, orange juice, bacon, coffee, etc. Suddenly, Sally’s mood completely changes and she’s incredibly happy. Food, glorious food! Bruce calls it a meal fit for a king. Sally says she never thought she could be so happy being cold, wet, and in a bed with two strange men. Heh.

Meanwhile, back at camp, Terry is trying to get information out of Shane. He’s hoping to figure out who the final four will be, which would mean two players are on the outside and might be persuaded to join him. All he gets out of Shane is that it could be interesting. Shane does say, though, that Terry could have the idol. Terry says if he does, it can only go so far.

Just when I’m thinking Shane has finally shown some brains, he tells Terry he expects the final four to be him, Aras, Cirie, and Courtney. Terry plans to use that info to try to swing Bruce and Danielle.

The boat returns with the challenge winners and Cirie hopes they brought bacon with ‘em. As I said to Terry earlier, good luck. The three of them talk on and on about the food, how good it was, how much they ate, etc. Shane makes a snide – and funny – comment about how terrible a problem it is that Sally couldn’t eat any more. Bruce is rubbing Sally’s stomach to show how full it is (I kid you not) while Cirie is seething about it.