Suddenly, there's no use predicting who does what on Survivor: Samoa--who plans what, who eliminates who, you get the drill. Since the merge, Galu found its influence crumbling, with two of their own eliminated, one after Natalie widened the purple crack, and the other after Russell played the immunity idol. Tonight, there's no telling what happens to who. Or is it the opposite?

The last Tribal Council saw Kelly eliminated, and Russell is beaming with happiness. "My work is done," he says, before comparing his master plan to a Picasso artwork. Laura is, obviously, the complete opposite. "We should've known better," she says. That shock became some sort of punch line for Shambo.

The following day, Russell starts looking for the hidden immunity idol. Must be easy, he says, since he's "drawn to them" like magnets. Shambo, still hoping for a breakthrough to kick Laura out, approaches John and tells him everything. "There is no purple," she goes, in an unexpected flash of poetic brilliance.

This week's reward challenge is a pretty treacherous one. Two teams of five are formed: one of them will lie face down in a board of sorts that's suspended in the air, while the remaining four pull ropes to maneuver the board across the playing area. There are 15 flags, and whoever's floating must grab those flags and put them in their assigned slots. The prize: a trip to Suvai island, where they have a picnic by the waterfall--and, of course, a Palm Pre to take photos with.

John leads the yellow team, being pulled around by Shambo, Jaison, Monica and Mick. They get an early lead, but the challenge takes a while to learn, and eventually the purple team--Dave, Brett, Laura, Russell, and Natalie suspended--got ahead. Natalie's not scared to put her entire body on the edge, which helps them win the whole thing. She almost falls off, though. Strong little girl.

The picnic's making me hungry, as always: hotdogs, macaroni and cheese, and pie. Piiiie. Natalie and Russell's just happy that they get to eat--it is their first reward, after all--but they get to work quickly when they realize that a clue to the hidden immunity idol is on the phone. Even more helpful: a video clue, showing the idol hidden under a mossy stone.

Back at camp, Jaison and Mick approach Monica, and discuss what's happening. They allude that they have two members of the Galu tribe on their side. Russell and company returns, and the search quickly begins. It's a pretty awkward sight: everybody is looking either with Russell, or for Russell. Dave, in fact, was tailing him, but he lost him when he made a mad dash for it. Turns out he's already figured out where the idol is, and he finds it near a wall. His third hidden immunity idol. I cannot believe it.

Two days later, Monica tells Laura about what Jaison and Mick told her. She's right in presuming that Shambo is one of those two on their side--after all, Shambo's always wanted Laura out--but guesses correctly about John. Laura gets it too.

The immunity challenge is split into two parts. Part one involves a set of tiles, three assigned to each castaway. All ten will have to throw just one rock at their tiles, but there is a risk of one contestant breaking another's. That's what Dave just did, breaking Monica's tile. In the end, only Monica, Mick, Jaison and Brett break their tiles, and they get to play the second round--the one that's really for immunity.

The second part involves shooting a spear towards a target: whoever hits closest to the center wins immunity. Brett, having broken two of his tiles, gets two shots; the rest get one. Mick hits closer to the center, and Brett's second shot to reclaim the lead for himself went nowhere. As Mick won immunity, Shambo rejoices: she believes Laura is destined to be eliminated at this Tribal Council. And then things get rolling.

Russell's plan, as it's always been, is to eliminate Laura as soon as she loses immunity. That's Shambo's plan, too, from the very start. She tells Brett about her plan, playing the Galu-is-no-more card again. Laura and Dave's plan is to eliminate Russell again. They tell John, who thinks they should vote Natalie out, because she isn't working hard enough--but not before taking a dig at the "pathetic" analytical skills of his former tribe.

Monica's plan is to vote John off, but the plan changes once she tells Dave and Brett. The new plan: the purples will vote for Natalie, taking advantage of the fact that Shambo will vote for Laura no matter what. Monica will go to Foa Foa and convince them that they're voting for John. The problem is, nobody among the yellows were buying all of Monica's words.

Brett tells John about Monica's plan, but he isn't really happy about it. He doesn't want those four votes against him, adding that Laura isn't worth saving with his life. He then talks to Russell, and they strike a deal: she'll vote for Laura today, but she'll vote for Foa Foa next time. Still, he isn't that sure. His best hope is a tie-breaker, or worse, for a random rock pick after a deadlock.

The talk before Tribal Council wasn't much, really: there's Shambo claiming (correctly!) that Galu's no longer a single unit, and Laura denying such an observation. The possibility of a tie is floated, and Laura doesn't want it. The votes weren't much either, with the usual music being played. Russell did not play the immunity idol, and Jeff read out the votes: Laura, Natalie, Laura, Natalie, Laura, Natalie, Laura, Natalie, Laura, Natalie. We have a tie.

Now's when that dramatic music over the past couple of weeks have kicked in. It's a tie-breaker, so Laura and Natalie cannot vote, and the rest can only vote for the two girls. The results were pretty predictable, at least until the very end: Laura, Natalie, Laura, Natalie, Laura, Natalie, Laura... Laura. John flipped his vote and went against purple lines. Laura has been eliminated. Shambo is happy, Russell is happy, and Erik is happy.

In two weeks, Russell gets evil again by letting the chickens go, and Shambo hatches a plan. Shambo hatches a plan? Looks like that flash of poetic brilliance isn't just a flash, but something much bigger. Until then, happy Thanksgiving, everyone.





- Henrik Batallones, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
(Image courtesy of CBS)