You've got to wonder what shade of red Natalie turned when they showed the shot of her running her undies up the tribal flag pole. Good hygiene is nothing to scoff at. All I'm saying is that when she sat down to watch the episode, I'm sure she wasn't expecting America to witness her yellow lace at half-mast. I was tempted to play a bugle call and salute her shorts, and no, that's not a metaphor.

The producers did their best to put lipstick on a pig this week, turning two very predictable votes into a watchable episode. I liked the idea of a Flintstones bowling challenge, although it looked like the game pieces could have used a little jiggering to cut down on gutter balls.

Unfortunately, the series has once again lost the focus on emotional relationships, sympathetic heroes and despicable villains that made this season's early episodes some of the best in years. The past few episodes have offered blindsides, last minute Hail Mary power plays and bragging villains. Even though they were action packed, I'm not emotionally connecting with the bored and exhausted characters. Only one or two seem like plausible winners.

The problem isn't Russell, who is a great player. It's the other characters. We can't identify with them or respect them, and none of them seem like plausible threats. We root for or against people because we're not sure how their story will turn out. But who is the story setting up to take Russell down, Brett "The Invisible Boy" or Mick "The Incompetent Leader"? Will Shambo win despite having been shocked at every Tribal Council to find out everyone knew what was going on but her? Would we want her to?

This week's twin bill format was interesting, with two mini episodes squeezed into a one-hour package like break 'em and share 'em popsicle treats. Part one was a makeup game, rescheduled from Russell Swan's eviction and the producers' impromptu decision to cancel the double elimination that week.

The more obvious scheduling choice would have been to have the contestants vote two people off at a single Tribal Council tonight. Since there were only two challenges this week it's doubtful the twin bill was a logistical choice to carry-off expensive challenges the art department had already constructed.

I can only assume the producers scheduled the hour-long double bill because they thought the confusing time frame would send the contestants scrambling twice and increase the chances of a shakeup. Although in practice, I'm not sure if they would have been very happy if Monica and Brett had been able to flip Mick to blindside Russell. That would have been a ratings blunder and Jeff Probst would have lost his man crush.

How long until Survivor: Villains vs. Heroes starts?



-Henry Jenkins, Guest Columnist
(Image courtesy of CBS)