Survivor: Exile Island – Survivor Live Recap, Episode 4

The show starts with Dalton complementing the new theme song, “Last One Standing” by The TrailerChoir. As we first see Ruth Marie, may I state (with apologies to her kids) that Ruth Marie looks like one yummy mommy! She also has a Carolina accent that I find charming.

Dalton asks Ruth Marie if, when she made her comment about alliances while voting last week, the show was shown partly out of order. She thinks it was. Before they arrived at their beach she was sizing up the situation and within an hour of landing, she talked to Dan and they agreed to ally. Within 24 hours, she had handshakes from the other three guys.

Ruth Marie was in fact very comfortable at tribal council last week, as she knew she wasn’t in jeopardy. Her name was being bandied about just to keep the younger women off guard. On Big Brother, they call it “being put up as a pawn.”

Dalton says, “So, Terry is calling the shots?” This sets Jenna off. She sees Terry as another Tom Westman type, one who is overly confident and very obvious in his way of ruling the tribe. Ruth Marie says she was fine without Terry around and it may have even been a little more relaxed without him. She can’t speak for Austin, though.

Dalton calls for the clip of Austin and Terry discussing strategy, turning against Ruth Marie. They also show Dan sticking by Ruth Marie. Nick is right – the decision to keep Sally instead was “an easy, hollow rationalization” to what is really a dirty double-cross. Jenna feels confident Sally will switch sides at some point, and when she does it might actually be the smart move for her.

Ruth Marie tells us she talked to all but Austin about the vote. She is of the opinion that there might be repercussions of the young guys seeing Terry overrule Dan by taking Austin’s advice. I think it may bring Terry’s reliability as an ally into question.

Ruth Marie admits Sally “out-gamed” her on the last day in convincing Austin to keep her in the game, while Ruth Marie was unable to work the same trick on Nick. She surmises that she probably didn’t work hard enough at gaining Nick’s vote, and the clip indicated he may have been open to such a discussion. Ruth Marie suspects Terry didn’t really care which of the ladies was sent packing.

Washington’s Mark is the first caller of the day. He thinks Terry has “broken the spirit” of his alliance by listening to Austin instead of Dan, and Dan had the best interests of the group at heart. He feels Terry has shown that maybe he can’t be trusted to stay true to an alliance. Ruth Marie agrees, naturally. She doesn’t see what Terry’s planning. She feels she most probably would have stayed loyal to the alliance, but the game changes as time passes and it may have reached a point where it became to her advantage to hook up with others.

Dalton points out that as an outsider, a fifth player has a lot of power if they lose one more challenge. Well, if the four men aren’t smart enough to gang up on Sally, that’s true. I can’t see any aspect of this whole discussion being good news for Dan’s future.

Dave from Atlanta says he didn’t see any strategy from Ruth Marie and wonders what it was. Ruth Marie reminds us that within the first hour, she allied with Cirie. After some initial hesitation, Melinda joined them a little later.

Ruth Marie might have reiterated her alliance with Dan next, but Dalton jumps us to the next feature, the “Time Capsule.” Essentially, contestants recorded a message to themselves two days before the show started and it’s being played back now. Ruth Marie had told herself not to be too talkative and annoy people, not to get caught up in friendships, and to remember that it’s a game for a million dollars. Ruth Marie quickly comments that based on the last call, it’s obvious she didn’t talk too much! Also, she became friends with Cirie right away. The first time Cirie ever went in the ocean is when she had to leap into it in a challenge. All three are impressed with Cirie’s game.

Fred from South Carolina is the next caller, and he asks about the “Febreeze Family Moment.” It’s her brother! We don’t get those ads here, so I cannot comment. There’s no actual question, just a big ole howdy.

Anthony from Connecticut asks if she knew she was being voted out. Yes, she had about a two-hour notice. She hoped Nick might be waffling, but, no. Jenna can’t understand this new trend of telling people when they are being voted out. Jenna says if she knew she was going home, she’d sabotage the camp out of spite. I believe her!

Ruth Marie realizes that Dan wasn’t just being sweet to her when he lobbied for her to stay; he realized she was a better fit in their alliance. However, she did call him “a real gentleman” earlier, and it seems like they have an honest friendship there.

The segment ends and we’re treated to a Charmin commercial. I HATE those damn bears, but at least this week, it fits the theme of what’s to come.