Surviving the Outback, Episode 7: Foreshadowing

Kucha is talking about the upcoming fusion of the two groups as night falls on Day 18. They discuss how Ogakor was handed a gift by Michael's injury – Kucha fully expected to go into it with a six-to-four lead, where they could pick ‘em off one by one. Now, they're on equal footing. Much of the conversation revolves around how they have to stick together and how they could never feel any loyalty to Ogakor tribe members. Jeff notes that Mike said, as he was leaving, that somebody from Kucha has to win. So they're going to win one for the pigger!

Elisabeth picks Colby to go first and Jerri next; the others agree that those two should be first. Indeed, if they are going to vote according to my favorite strategy, Colby, the strong one, should be the first to go. Jeff says they need to find the weak link, the one who will turn. They all seem to agree that Tina won't turn on her own tribe member. Of course, they don't realize just how much she really dislikes Jerri. They do realize that, according to the rules, if there is a tie – and they think there will be – it goes by previous votes. Jeff thinks they will aim at him because Kimmi apparently mentioned to somebody on Ogakor that he had a vote cast against him earlier. Those of you keeping score at home: This is called "foreshadowing."

Day 19 dawns on the Ogakor camp, and they are still wondering what happened at Kucha. Jerri says, "You don't think Rodger had a stroke or anything?!" Tina gasps! A stroke? Of all the possibilities in the Outback, a stroke? C'mon, Jerri.

Treemail breaks the boredom and speculation, and tells them that there will be a boys' night out. The men will go to Kucha to scout the other camp before the merge, and the women will stay home and cook. Ogakor also realizes the importance of earlier votes – as well they should, since that's how Mitchell got the boot – and they decide to dig for information and try to figure out who's had votes cast against them, while at the same time keeping their own mouths shut about that very information. "Foreshadowing."

Over in Kucha, they get mail talking about a girls' night out. They assume this means the women of Ogakor will be coming to them, also, and decide to wine and dine them with their last chicken.

As the women show up at Ogakor camp, there are hugs all around and then laughs as the Kucha women talk about how the guys were expecting the Ogakor women over at their camp. Then they share information on what happened to Mike, prompting Tina to be thankful that it wasn't life-threatening – and later to note that they are starting on equal ground because of it.

The guys at Kucha are indeed surprised when Colby and Keith show up. Colby notes that the Kucha guys couldn't have been more disappointed. Well, can you blame them? Of course, if they knew Jerri's personality, they'd have realized that they were better off without her nearby.

Keith also thought the women of Kucha would be there to cook for them, but he is still happy that they had a good time together.

Jeff says, "All I saw from Colby were teeth." He just walked around with a big smile the whole time. Jeff also got the feeling that Keith is an outsider. I'm not quite sure how he figured that out, but, dang, he's good!

Keith says he thought the fact that they saved the last chicken for them was very gentlemanly – yeah, but that's because they thought women were coming over! He really enjoyed it and got caught up in the friendship.

Rodger recognized that while things are all "nicey-nicey" now, that will change and it will get more interesting.

As the rain falls on both camps, Jerri realizes that Keith has their matches in his pocket! Whoops! She is rather annoyed but knows she has to push that down and not let it show, lest Elisabeth and Alicia figure out that there has been a bit of infighting at Ogakor, and maybe Keith has some old votes against him. Remember: Foreshadowing.

Jerri makes her famous tortilla, and they even open up a can of tomatoes. Amber says she wishes they had more to offer, but Alicia realizes that when you have so little and open up a can of food, that is an honor. She just wants to get them back to Kucha camp and feed them – which surprises her, because she had thought she'd want to be more selfish.

Somewhere along the line, Jerri's favorite topic comes up: Food. What's her favorite? Yes, you guessed it, hot fudge. She forgot to mention the part about licking it off of some guy, as she detailed last episode.

Everybody seems eager to get to Kucha camp, but the producers throw them a curve ball. Unlike the first series, they won't pick one of the camps; they'll start a new one instead.

When the guys get the news, they are less than thrilled as well – to say the least. So they all take the long hike to their new camp, finding a crate with a note. They have to make a new flag for their new tribe. But they also get the contents of the crate: a nice layout of fruit, cheese, crackers, wine, etc. (I guess they weren't sponsored by any cracker, cheese, or wine companies, because no brand names were mentioned). The whole group goes nuts, which rather annoys Nick, who thinks things should be split evenly. But he backs off to avoid problems.

As they toast to everybody, Alicia and Jeff realize the game is still being played, even in celebration. While the Ogakors seem to be nice and Jeff thought it was all legitimate, he notices Jerri and Colby going off to whisper, then getting Keith involved as they point to the Kucha members and seem to be counting like they are figuring out who to pick off. Bingo!

Day 21 dawns as the new tribe tries to figure out where to build its shelter. Rodger wants it up in the trees, but the girls (mostly Jerri) wants it on the sand, where it's nicer to sleep. He's just worried that the dry river bed might not say dry!

The new tribe name is something like Berimundi. Whatever. The fact is that they're still Ogakor and Kucha as far as I'm concerned – and Keith notes the same thing: They are two tribes living as one.

But now it's time for the first immunity challenge to go to a single person. It's simple, and is similar to challenges we saw several times on the first series. There are 10 wooden pillars in the water; the last one standing wins.

After about an hour and a half, they start alphabetizing the states. Elisabeth talks about how much fun they are having now. What a cutie. Nick gives up – he says he's been sick for a couple days and was getting dizzy and knew he'd never win, so why bother to stick around. Instead, he takes a nap. Colby follows a bit later, doing a nice flip as he leaves the pillar. Sorry, Colby, the Olympics have left Australia.

Colby says he went out early to draw attention to himself and away from Jerri and Keith, both of whom have votes against them. Remember: Foreshadowing.

Four hours after the beginning of the challenge, host Jeff Probst brings out chocolate and peanut butter. When Elisabeth yells to Colby (why? I dunno), Probst says that's a great idea, and invites Nick and Colby to have some. Elisabeth chastises herself to keep her mouth shut. She really is a cutie. Ya just want to take her home with you. (No, not that way! You people have dirty minds!)

Probst offers the peanut butter to anybody who jumps in right then. Rodger bails and Jeff follows his lead so he can dig in as well.

Almost seven hours after the start, Probst brings out the ice cream and hot chocolate. BANG! Jerri and Amber are in the water in no time flat and gobble it down messily. Sorry, Jerri, no hot guys included.

Almost eight hours into the challenge, the four remaining contestants (Tina, Alicia, Elisabeth, and Keith) are starting to get cold and shiver. As Colby says, these four are pretty damned determined – he's never seen anything like it. Hey, "outlast" is part of the motto, Colby.

A little later, Probst lights some small fires to give them light, but not much heat. At about nine hours, Elisabeth negotiates a surrender for a boat ride to shore (rather than having to jump into the cold water). She is welcomed with a hug from Rodger.

At 10 hours, 17 minutes, Alicia gives in for some hot chocolate and a boat ride to shore. Keith tells Tina he really needs this one, and Tina gives up so he can have it. She says it's the hardest thing she's ever had to do – even harder than staying out there would have been – but she needed to do it for the team. Keith wins, and relief floods his face.

The tribe moves directly from the beach to Tribal Council, where Probst asks about the challenge. Alicia says she thought it would go on forever, and her sticking around there wasn't going to change anything. Keith says that if Tina hadn't agreed to step down, they'd still be there. He notes that she's become like a sister to him.

Tina agrees that she is still a team player and Keith needed it.

And so they vote. Everybody who is shown voting talks about how it's not personal, just strategy. Remember all that foreshadowing about tie votes? Well, it happens. All of Kucha voted for Colby, and all of Ogakor voted for Jeff. So, Jeff and Colby have the opportunity to plead for votes, but even Probst notes that he's not sure who they'd plead to, since it's obvious that the votes have been on purely tribal lines.

Jeff says there is nothing he can say to change anybody's mind. To the contrary – he should have at least tried. He could have told them that whoever switches will be allowed into the Kucha alliance, or something – anything – to try to change a single vote. But he didn't. Colby talks a little bit about how he is here to win and will play the game full-tilt; if that makes him a target, so be it.

Surprising precisely nobody, the vote comes to another tie. So Probst calls a deadlock and we again move to the tiebreaker: Whoever has the most votes from previous Tribal Councils loses. Colby has none. Jeff has one – the one Kimmi mentioned to Ogakor earlier. Jeff is outta here. Kimmi has her revenge. Hmmm. First Mike, the pig-killer, was burned and sent away. Then Jeff was voted off because of Kimmi's own big mouth. The tribal gods of the Outback must be pseudo-vegetarians.

Jeff's final words again take a look at the foreshadowing as he says he knew it was going to happen "because of the very big mouth of a former tribe member." Still, he says he had an awesome time.

So, what does this mean? Kucha thought they were going to go in and kick Ogakor around. Instead, the accident ends up costing them not just Mike, but Jeff as well. Could it cost all of them the entire game? It seems likely, but can Tina and Keith really stay loyal to Jerri? I can't imagine they will. The tribal aspect is going to break down, and it's anybody's guess what will happen next.

Though if Kimmi's revenge continues, Rodger, the chicken-killer, will be next.