Surviving Guatemala, Episode 11: "This Is a Lie. 'Hey, Guys, the Idol Is on the Ground!' That's a Lie!"

One drawback – some might call it an advantage, but I’ll leave that to the individual reader – to working the day after Thanksgiving is that it limits your options for the day. Having all your relatives out of town limits you even further. So when you’re needed on Thanksgiving, you’re available.

The point is, with regular Survivor recapper David Bloomberg spending some holiday time with his relatives, he asked me to fill in. In this case, it’s an advantage because I definitely consider it an honor.

Previously on Survivor, Jamie was blindsided (although he now claims to have seen it coming all along) by his friends Lydia, Stephenie, and Rafe, and voted out instead of the original target, Gary. Judd was the only one not in on the vote, and did not seem to be too happy about it. Will the alliance of six crumble further? Will Gary’s charmed run, reminiscent of Chris in Vanuatu, continue? Who will go home tonight? According to the previews, this episode will contain one of those “show the pecking order/caused the downfall of the Rotu-4” challenges, so it should be interesting. I predict everyone will figure out that Steph is a threat and vote her out.

They return from Tribal Council. Stephenie asks Judd if he’s OK. He just wishes they would have told him. She says she didn’t want to put him in an uncomfortable position. He just says he was shocked. He tells us he’s pissed off, although he’s telling Steph otherwise. He tells us he wonders what the hell is going on now.

Meanwhile, Gary tells us he dodged a bullet and thanks Lydia and the rest of his old tribe, even though he says Jamie did him a favor by driving them crazy. People discuss how quiet it is.

Next day. Lydia wonders if the alliance is strong, but she has to be careful or she’ll be the next target. Is this that foreshadowing stuff all the wacky kids are talking about lately? Gary asks her what the order is and who is making the decisions. He thinks the tightest four will go places, obviously inferring she’s not among that number. Judd wakes up and hears all this. He tells Rafe and Stephenie what Gary is doing, and Steph says as long as Cindy is with them, they’re good. Rafe thinks Gary can sway Lydia. Steph doesn’t want Gary to win immunity or even reward.

Judd complains that Gary said that Lydia and Cindy shouldn’t even be in the game, but now he’s trying to make an alliance with them, and that’s a lie. How so? If he tells them he thinks they’re the most deserving, that’s a lie. If he’s trying to make an alliance of the wretched, it’s good gameplay. Judd says Gary pretends not to lie, but the person you would least expect to lie is the biggest liar.

Later, Gary is still working on Lydia, telling her they have to have four. To us, she seems to indicate that she’s still with the five, but she’s considering going with a better deal if it will get her further.

With that foreshadowing, it’s the reward challenge. It’s a trivia challenge featuring, naturally, trivia about Guatemala and Mayan culture. Each Survivor has three pots of corn hanging on ropes, and every person who gets a question right gets to destroy one pot. No cool Rube Goldbergian smashing of masks or anything clever this year, just pure destruction. Last person with a pot wins reward.

The reward? They will be taken to a waterfall, but not just any waterfall. This is a hot springs waterfall that cascades into a cool lake, creating a spa environment. There will also be chicken, shrimp, skewers of meat, drinks, some food item I couldn’t figure out, and a massage.

First question - the Maya recorded their stories by carving hieroglyphics into stone monuments known as: A. stella (?) B. origami, C. sanskrit, D. docurock. The answer is A. Everyone answers correctly but Steph, who answers C. Judd hits Gary. Lydia hits Steph. Danni hits Steph. Cindy hits Gary. Rafe hits Danni. Gary hits Cindy.

In the Maya courtball game, members of the losing team were killed. True or false, they were often decapitated and the heads of the losers were wrapped and used as the ball in future games. The answer is true. Ew. Lydia takes Steph out of the game. Jealousy, she says. Lydia says she wants to eat, she hasn’t eaten and Stephenie has. Steph says Danni and Gary have too. Boy, way to be a poor loser, Steph. And usually when people say others are jealous of them, it’s their ego talking. Get over it. Danni to Judd. Cindy takes out Gary with a mighty swing.

The maya believed the gods fashioned man from which crop. A. Coffee, B. cocoa beans, C. corn, D. ramone nuts. Corn is correct. Everyone but Judd gets it, as Judd answered cocoa beans. Lydia hits Judd, and Danni takes him out. Cindy hits Danni, Rafe takes out Danni. Lydia and Rafe still have three, Cindy with two. Everyone else is out.

Which of these countries does not border Guatemala? A. Belize, B. Honduras, C. Costa Rica, D. El Salvador. It’s Costa Rica and Rafe is the only one correct. Rafe breaks Lydia’s.

True or False, some certain temples were the only ancient Maya structures to be built with modern machinery. It’s false, of course, since there were no modern machines in ancient Maya. Everyone gets it right. This was like the molten lava question in Vanuatu, except no one here was as stupid as Ami and her crew.

Cindy hits Lydia, and Rafe takes out Lydia. Lydia still has a swing, and hits Rafe.

True or False, there are thirty volcanoes in Guatemala? True, Cindy gets it right. Cindy has two left, Rafe one. If Cindy gets the next question right she wins.

True or False, the most active time of day for crocodiles is at dawn? It’s false, Cindy gets it right, Cindy wins reward.