Surviving the Amazon, Episode 6: Revenge, Irony, Joy & Happiness

I know that those of you in the Mountain and Pacific time zones probably did not get to see this episode, so I hope this recap provides you with the details as if you were watching it on your TV. Let's begin.

It's still night 15, after Tribal Council shown last week, and Tambaqui is back in camp. Christy is shocked that Jeanne was voted off as she felt Jeanne was one of the strongest in the tribe. She says she's not upset with Heidi but wants to know why she did it.

Apparently, Christy just asks in front of everybody rather than privately. Roger answers that Jeanne went because they felt that she brought assets to the tribe that they already had, mostly in Butch. Privately, Dave says that isn't the reason they had discussed before - rather the reason was that Jeanne was next to go on Jaburu anyway. Heidi says she did what she did so they didn't come in three against three, split. If they had done that, they wouldn't be sitting there right now talking to each other as a team.

Christy is glad to hear the reasoning because she thought she was the weakest, but Roger and Butch say no. Butch adds, "we're a team."

The next morning, Heidi is full of anticipation for a team working together as a team (no, I'm not being redundant - that was Heidi). But instead, the first thing is that Roger says the guys will go netting while the girls dig a new latrine. Yippee. She says this is not what she was expecting as a show of teamwork - in fact, it's a bunch of crap. She wonders if she made the right decision.

At Jaburu, Matt is using some of the stuff won by the women to brush his teeth for the first time in 16 days. He also says privately that he felt his head was on the chopping block over at Tambaqui, so it's good to be in a new tribe (yeah, that's what Jeanne said…). Rob brushes his teeth and asks if anyone wants to make out with him. One of the other guys says he will. Heh.

Deena says it's a brand new tribe and her world is rattled. She's an easy target as she's the oldest and has little in common with them. It's time to readjust, and she does adore the guys.

Matthew talks to the others about how the guys on the other tribe are very tactical and strategic, but it's a breath of fresh air in Jaburu. Deena says that's because girls are different from guys. Yeah, and because Matthew is blinded to the tactics and strategy around him. But he says they all seem genuine and it is a very comfortable atmosphere. Alex likes it too, especially since he's lying with his head on Shawna's stomach while she scratches his head and plays with his hair. Awww.

Alex says he loves to flirt and so does Shawna. She says she enjoys taking care of others out there and they instantly clicked even though he's seen her at some of her worst moments.

Treemail announces a reward challenge, so off they all go. This challenge will require strength and coordination. They have a revolving log over a mud pit and they have to square off against each other, one-on-one, members of the same sex only, randomly chosen. The first person to fall loses and the winner gets a point. First tribe to five points wins. What do they win? Glad you asked - spices like garlic, salt, pepper, and a fresh fruit platter. Jaburu has to sit out a woman, and so Deena doesn't compete. Here are the matches:

• Roger vs. Matthew - Matthew gets Roger off the log easily, and looks comfortable standing there while doing it.
• Heidi vs. Shawna - OK, this just ain't fair. I mean, Heidi has a disadvantage… well, two. She's way too top-heavy to keep her balance, and falls. Jaburu up 2-0.
• Dave vs. Alex - They battle each other for a while in what turns out to be the best match-up of the challenge. Eventually they both end up falling but Alex hits the water first by very little. Tambaqui gets a point.
• Butch vs. Rob - Rob goes in the mud, Butch wins. It's all tied up.
• Christy vs. Jenna - You just know that Christy is relishing the idea of facing off against her arch-nemesis, Jenna. It's even better when she wins. Tambaqui is up 3-2.
• Roger vs. Alex - Roger is in first, but then Alex falls hard. Ouch. Tied again.
• Heidi vs. Shawna - They get paired up again and again Shawna takes advantage of Heidi's inability to balance with that extra weight on top. Jaburu up 4-3.
• Butch vs. Matthew - Matthew looked great against Roger, but not so much this time. Butch somehow manages to win, so it's 4-4. Next one wins.
• Christy vs. Jenna - You couldn't ask for a better match-up for the finale. Can Christy pull through again and put the swimsuit model back in the mud? She sure can! Christy gets redemption! Tambaqui wins!

Jaburu gets back and they're depressed. But Alex says hey, it's all about immunity, not rewards. So they decide to take a communal bath.

Deena describes the bath as lots of brushing and monkey grooming. Eh, she's just jealous that nobody wants her to wash their backs. Alex does say the highlight is Shawna scrubbing his back twice (it must have been really dirty). Shawna says privately that if her bikini helps keep her go farther in the game, she's all for it - she'll play the role of eye candy. Besides, guys always think about bathing in an Amazon river with three half-naked girls. Well, um, I don't know about other guys, but that's not what I think about. I think about… oh… wait… Never mind.



Getting back to Survivor, we see that, well, Rob obviously does think about that. He says he just took a bath with two hot chicks (only two - Deena must be crushed), one of whom is a swimsuit model. In case we missed that, he repeats the swimsuit model part again. Deena is just sitting back watching it all and says this is how the women play the men.

Over in Tambaqui, Heidi says winning was important because it shows they are strong as a team. Christy is, needless to say, happy to have beaten Jenna. She also tells Butch she could tell that he believes in himself (remember Butch's banner). Heidi says they really came together in two days, they pulled that off as a team - says the woman who lost both of her matches. No wonder she doesn't want them concentrating on individual results…

Butch wants to share something. He says that in his life he has had maybe five or six defining moments. Last night and today he added to them. Last night when Christy realized that they kept her for her talent and smiled. And today when she climbed out and knew how important she was to the team. He tells Christy that she doesn't have a disability, and Christy just beams. She says she has strived throughout her life to prove that there is nothing wrong with her.

All I have to say is, Go, Christy!

Sorry, I'm usually much more objective than that. (Yeah, right.)

Back to Jaburu, where Rob is discussing his plans. He had an alliance with Alex back in Old Tambaqui, but now Alex is more interested in making friends. This, Rob says, is "stupid." He could have stayed home to make friends. So he approaches Deena.

Rob says she is as hungry as he is, and nobody would suspect that they have anything in common. He says his plan before the switch was to stick by the guys and then turn on them at the merge. Deena says he came to her and said he needs help, she said she does too. A match was made.

Rob wanted to get rid of Matthew, who annoys him to death. But he's going to suck it up because they need his vote and he catches fish for them. So Rob goes to talk to Matt. He feeds him a story about how they should go to the merge and say they kept the guys intact and went for the girls, and they should keep doing that. Then, when they divert the votes of Roger, Butch, and Dave, they go in for the kill against Dave or Roger. Matt says at Tambaqui Rob had maintained his distance, but now he's made a genuine offer to him. He asks Rob if there is anything shifty going on. Rob says no. Next, Matt will go ask the fox how hen-house guard duty is going. Sheesh. Rob privately says Matt has no idea he's being played - he's "a complete idiot." He knows further that Matt is a physical threat, but as long as he keeps catching fish and doing what they tell him, they'll keep him around.

That night, to entertain themselves, they play a dating game with Shawna. Each of the guys has to describe what kind of date they'd take Shawna on. Alex talks about climbing and having a picnic. Matt provides a limo and a hill with a view. Rob takes her to NY on Christmas, a matinee on Broadway, and ice skating. Rob wins.

Shawna says privately that she's still weak but her mind has taken over her body - the guys saved her from the women. They are great guys and make her laugh.

Day 18 comes and Alex and Shawna are lying together. Matt decides to horn in on it so he lies down using Shawna's stomach as a pillow and she scratches his back. This does not sit well with Alex. Deena just notes once again the miraculous recovery with the boys around. She's working Alex more than Matt, but she's still flirting with both. With all of them circling around her, that makes her a threat to Deena.

Enough of that - it's time for the immunity challenge! It's a feeding frenzy (kind of like the guys around Shawna, actually). Each tribe has a piece of beef hanging on a rope. They have to attack it like piranha, hands tied behind their backs, and bite off chunks. They have to get those chunks into a basket. The tribe with the heaviest amount of meat in the basket after 10 minutes wins. Jaburu has to sit somebody out so they of course pick Jenna, the one with the least experience eating. Either that or she volunteered because she might have accidentally swallowed some meat, which would have likely disqualified her from future swimsuit competitions.

It's kind of hard to recap them tearing apart the meat with their teeth. Butch does his best to hold it steady with his neck so the others can more easily bite at it. Roger has a piece that gets stuck in his mouth, and Butch takes it out. Probst says, "Now that's teamwork!" Later, it happens to several others, including with Heidi, from which we got the preview that made it look like she was making out with one of the guys. I'm surprised they didn't use the one when Christy grabbed a mouthful from her, as that might have gotten even more viewers. Well, male ones, anyway.



After a little while, they get to the point on both tribes where they can really tear into it and get some huge pieces. Back and forth it goes. They are pretty well tied with a minute left. And then it's done.

They weigh the meat. Jaburu has just under nine kilograms. Tambaqui has just over nine kilograms - Tambaqui wins!

Back at camp, Jaburu is obviously depressed. They all sit around and eventually decide to discuss the vote. Deena starts by saying she's going to make a selfish statement - she doesn't want to go. Shawna says she doesn't want to either, but the other women shouldn't go before her. Alex says Shawna had a 180-degree turnaround, which is awesome. But he says the reality is that it's him or Matt and so he has to vote against Matt. (I'm not really sure where this "reality" came from…) Matt says that obviously he has to do the same back. Jenna privately notes that she doesn't want to vote against Shawna, as she likes her better than Matt. Shawna tells the group she would have to vote against Matt. Rob tells the viewers that he thought this meeting would have Shawna saying they could vote her out, but instead it turned into a Matt thing and now Matt has two votes against him! A little while ago, he'd have been happy with that, but he has spent so much time and effort with Matt and has him in the palm of his hand - he doesn't want Matt to go now!

To the group, Rob says it sucks that all the people he wants to vote out are on the other tribe.

But like it or not, off to Tribal Council they must go. Host Jeff Probst immediately notices that they are not happy campers and says he sees a look that he hasn't seen before. Shawna says that nobody wants to be there (well, duh), they have a phenomenal chemistry and nobody wants to see anyone go. It's a total bummer.

Alex is asked if there is anyone he wishes he'd met at home. Totally - if he had met Shawna at home, he'd have asked her out. Did Deena notice this? Yes, she jokes about the sexual heat. She says they call camp the Love Shack - there is a lot of positive energy and it's fun.

But, Probst notes, you still have to eat and stay dry. What are the roles? Matt says he relishes the role of provider - they need to eat well. What about Rob, is he good for a laugh? Yes, Rob says he keeps 'em entertained with games and songs.

Back to Shawna, Probst says she's had her ups and downs - how does she feel now? Awesome - she had some of her darkest hours but has been picked up by the infusion of the guys. Is she in it for the long haul? Of course!

Deena is asked if it will be a hard vote or if she can step back because she's older and not really part of the group. She says fortunately she is part of the group (I think she's saying it more as in they all have fun together and enjoy each other rather than anything strategic). It will be the most difficult vote to date.

With that, voting is what they do. We only see the votes of Rob and Alex. Rob votes for Shawna and says he thinks she's one of the nicest people he's ever met. She puts what is good for others ahead of what is good for herself. Unfortunately, that makes you a really terrible Survivor player! Alex votes for Matt and says that later he may be a threat.

The votes are counted with the result being two for Matt (Alex's and Shawna's) and the other four for Shawna. It's one Tribal Council after she asked to be voted off, but she gets her belated wish. Ah, the irony.

Shawna's final words are that she loves them so much, great experience, yadda yadda yadda.

Next week it looks like they have to play strip Survivor as they all end up standing on log pillars in the water while Heidi and Jenna take off their tops, etc. Lots of blurry areas shown. Oh, and they finally get the key to the box, too.

Could this be the merge? It looks like it might be an individual immunity. Hmmmm. I guess we'll find out next week - which is again supposed to be on a Wednesday. But since war will probably be ongoing then, it's hard to say when anything might be on.

Make sure to follow up with rno@pobox.com.

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