EPISODE ELEVENWhat a cunning
ly superb mastermind Cirie is. Hee! Not only has she saved us the eye-stabbing agony of putting up with Courtey's drivel but she's zinged up the show by thinking in ways no-one else ever has.
Spotting that Courtney's so extra dangerous 'cos of needing such a massive slap and then targeting the power players through her has to go down as one of the most insightful Survivor moves in the history of the show.
The different levels of understanding the episode ended on was hysterical, with Courtney saying she was obviously seen as a threat - not realising that it's true but for reasons totally different from what she was meaning.
It was a whoppingly good news episode all round. Casaya have eventually been forced to bludgeon each other, Poo Boy's alive and looking chilled on the jury after lightening his load, Terry's getting more bionic by the second (even though it seemed impossible), Cirie's feeding the tribe and stepping up as one of the most sculldugerously fab players ever and Shane's genuinely beyond certifiable.
This is how things started - with Shane gurgling and pushing buttons on a piece wood that he's currently calling his Blackberry while saying that he's talking to people who aren't on the island.
I reckon he's an example of what happened to people years ago when their attention wasn't constantly being entertained by the millions of things that currently grab ours. Also, he's defs suffering from not being around people he feels he can trust or talk openly to and without his cigarettes that reinforce his personal habits and make him feel comfy he's lost all his understanding of who he is.
Add to his the fact that his head's looking four times the weight of his body because of him never winning any food and he's actually knocking on death's door. Not that I mind, it's just really interesting to see.
In contrast Terry's turning into a leaner, meaner, more focused fighter piloting machine. Danielle and Courtney are also looking quite fit still so it was no surprise that their threesome won the highly physical water-obstacle Reward Challenge.
The way the Car Challenge came as an afterthought to it was perfect I thought. Last season the car was built up so big-time and was such a central focus of the episode it happened in that just chucking it in like they did was the best way to go.
It doesn't mean the Curse Of The Car isn't true though, which is why I was iffy that Terry won it. Out of the three of them I wanted him to, considering how solo's he's been and how toughly he's persisted without letting any of it get to him.
More and more I want him to have a shot at the million because of this so when he won the car I was uncomfortable - what if the curse is true? I know it sounds like superstition but what if it's just one of those unexplainable things that exists on a level we can't understand or see?
I can't help feeling that Terry's gonna be the person to prove it one way or the other. He's beaten the odds so consistently that if it isn't cursed he'll be the best person to prove it.
Danielle and Courtney were quite nice about his winning I thought. You could see they were disappointed but didn't hold it against him and even went so far as to discuss an alliance with him over their barbeque - which Courtney surprisingly stuck to.
While the three of them plotted against Aras, Cirie and Shane were watching snails and chatting about what their next move would be.
This is when Cirie told us in confidence that she was planning on getting rid of Courtney because of both Terry and Shane seeing her as the perfect loser to go up against in the final-two. Then she proceeded to catch the biggest fish anyone's ever caught.
I'm fully convinced that her success had something to do with those excellent flipflops she had on. Gimme, gimme, gimme - I lurve how you can wear them as slippers or to the beach or even out and about and how you'd feel as if you were bouncing walking in them.
I also liked how Shane and her kept the fish for Courtney, Danielle and Terry's return, despite them having had a feast. Was it just me who missed something or did none of them mention Terry winning the car?
Once they were all back together they faced an arm-killing Immunity Challenge that involved everyone holding themselves up above water while having extra weight added to their load.
I'm sure Courtney's hat had something to do with helping her hang on as long as she did. You never think that a hat could save you but looking at how it filtered the sun it really did protect her. It wasn't tough enough to beat Terry though who beat her to seal his fourth Immunity in a row.
Just before and after the challenge there was lots of strategic wheeling going on. Cirie told Courtney and Terry that she was joining their alliance with Danielle to vote out Aras while telling Shane she was sticking with him to get rid of Danielle.
She also told Aras and Danielle exactly what was happening with everyone as they sealed their alliance to get rid of Courtney.
And so it was, when they got to voting, things turned out as Cirie had planned which shocked Courtney out of the game and Shane out of his madness. Seeing his powerless confused mug was very satistfying as was Courtney's stumped gawk back as she stumbled out of the shot.
Cirie
so deserves the million bucks for those two final expressions. Without a doubt this episode's sealed who I want the final two to be - Cirie and Terry. Of course this is a conflicted situation.
As contrasting as they are I really admire both of their strengths and wish they'd get together for an alliance to make it happen. That's the sucky thing - they're on opposite sides at the mo and it would be brilliant if it were otherwise. Still, it doesn't matter - it is very possible that they could each fight their own battle and then face each other for a brave and fierce showdown in the final two.
What's your ideal final two?