Survivor: Exile Island – Survivor Live Recap, Episode 10

Let’s begin, as usual, with a trivia question. Hmm, last week, crotch rot and this week, constipation. Although that initially tempted me to ask a Dr. Sean question, I’ll show a little class and go in a different direction. The question is: This season, Bruce was the last one to do something that is synonymous with Survivor. What was it? As usual, the answer will be near the bottom of this article.

Last week Jenna was in Africa and watched Ethan run a marathon. She had cookies. She admits to being a little jet lagged.

Dalton starts things off by stating that Bruce has been through a lot in his life, and asks how the pain of this episode’s problem compared. Bruce says that when a rattlesnake bit him, he just wanted them to take his leg off – and this was worse.

Jenna reminds Dalton that he thought the person on the stretcher was female, and had bet her $5 over it. Bruce is complimented that Dalton thinks his calves are shapely. Dalton refuses to pay off on Jenna’s insider information.

Jenna agrees that for him to ask for medical assistance, he had to be in pretty rough shape because he’s not one to give in easily. Bruce says it started to hurt ten days earlier, but he didn’t share that information with his teammates at that time. Jenna wonders if adding a cheeseburger to the mix may not have helped him any. Dalton uses this to segue to the cheery clip of Bruce rolling on the ground in agonizing pain while Courtney attempts to serenade him. It ends with his med-evac, in which I recall Shane assisted most reluctantly!

Dalton asks about Courtney singing to him. Bruce thinks Courtney has a big heart and she felt her songs would calm him down, but in actuality her questions were distracting him from his attempts to blank out the pain. He says he’d have preferred morphine.

Jenna compliments Bruce on his impressive flag painting, and on his sketching. Bruce wishes he’d had his sketchbook sooner, either it was raining or he was too sick to use it much.

Matthew from Michigan is our first caller today. When he says he was shocked to see Bruce leave the game that way, Bruce says, “That’s not the way I wanted to go out, but if I had to go, they gotta carry me outta there!” Matthew asks if Bruce ever felt accepted, or just manipulated at Casaya. Bruce says he felt he was an outsider all the time and knew he was being manipulated. He was wary of everything they said.

Jenna’s about to rant on Terry and Dalton calls it, “Tom Westman, redux.” She understands that Terry is at the bottom of the totem pole and it makes him mad, but sees no reason why he is coming across as so “abrasive and cocky.” She thinks it’s foolish play. By being unlikable to them, even as the Casaya tribe breaks down, no one will want to ally with Terry. Jenna calls his behavior “unnecessary” and knows that there’s always going to be a challenge you’re going to lose.

Jenna uses the example of Cirie, who has used her skills to come back from the brink of being ousted and work her way into the inner circle. Gosh, does that remind you of Lydia from last season?

Bruce says competitive Terry knew he was a target and needed to go all-out. Jenna is just discouraged that he’s burning bridges and cutting off all his options. OK, Jenna’s rant is over. I have to agree, you need to keep a lower profile when the numbers don’t favor your position. The craziest things can happen in this game.

Jeremy in Chicago asks how Bruce’s martial arts background helped him. He says he’s been training for 41 years and the “mentality” of it helped him focus through the difficult portions of the game. Bruce goes on to explain that he performs his katas every day and attends special training camps, which are intense. He calls himself “wimp” to push himself further and harder. No, Bruce is no wimp.

Dalton wants to address the issue of leaving the game and possibly coming back. He thinks once you leave the game, you’re done and wonders what options were presented to Bruce. Bruce relates that he didn’t talk to anyone until the next day, but he knew he was disqualified from the game, and describes himself as “devastated.”

That was why Bruce didn’t leave for medical aid when the machete hit him in the face. Nick was upset when he accidentally hit Bruce, and to calm him down Bruce told Nick, “I’ve had white belts punch me harder than that!” Bruce just wanted to show the young guys he was tough.

Dalton introduces the “Time Capsule” feature. Essentially, contestants recorded a message to themselves two days before the show started and it’s played back now. Bruce said he’s been training for adventures like this since he watched Johnny Weissmuller’s Tarzan as a kid. This year he worked hard to get on the show, and he’s proud to have done so. Back live, he tells us he is still proud and also honored.

Jenna asks Bruce if he would have been the next one to go. Bruce says no. He thinks Aras was the next to go and in fact would have gone in the last two weeks if Terry had been forced to play his idol. Jenna likes Aras and thinks he is the only one who can beat Terry. Me, not such a fan of Aras yet. And the segment ends with another Terry rant from Jenna, who doesn’t like men to act “like a he-man.” Ah well, looks like the old Jenna is back.

Segment two begins with Bruce’s “Open Letter.” In this feature the castoff is given the opportunity to rant against someone or something that the hosts figure ticked them off during the show. Bruce’s letter is to Casa de Charmin.

I could have given this open letter to any of the contestants,
But I chose you, Casa de Charmin!

I thought we had a bond.
Me and Bob Dawg are the only ones
Who ever spent the night with you.
You were supposed to take care of me.

I took care of you.
I cleaned the place,
Kept you dry…
Bob Dawg and I, we talked with you all night.

I thought you were going to take care of me
I thought you’d relieve me of my pain and problems
Man, I believed in you – I still do.

It was a scary memory and I had to leave
You didn’t help me and I’m off the show
I wish you could have helped me more.

Stacy from Connecticut is a Terry fan and wonders if he can bargain with his hidden idol to get further into the game, and suggests Shane might be the one to approach. I think Shane is absolutely the last one to approach, he’s already comfy with his deal with Aras and Cirie. Bruce thinks Terry will keep his idol and just keep trying to win the immunity necklace. He adds that Terry’s got the right mentality to keep winning.