Termites and Snakes in the Grass

Termites. Jalapao's first protein in this competition came from a giant termite mound where they found giant worms and other bugs inside. I always think it's funny when they start eating weird shit right away. How long has it been since they've eaten though? A couple of days. I would have been hungry after just a few hours probably, so I guess I can't blame them. At their camp, everything seemed to be going well. Not much drama and everyone getting along. At this point, now that Carolina is gone, looks like Sandy is still the one on the chopping block.

Timbera is another story. Drama abounds. Candace certainly has let her personality come out this week. She's rude to the women, flirtatious with the men, but she's definitely wanting it to be her way. Coach is also hard to handle. Meanwhile, Sierra went looking for the hidden immunity idol with Brant and while they were digging on the beach, and someone found them. Sierra quickly covered by saying they were building a massive fire pit. I can't believe someone actually fell for that.

Back to Jalapao, Taj let slip the truth about her husband. His name is Eddie George, former Heisman Trophy winner and very famous football player. It seemed like most of the tribe was looking at her like a celebrity, but some of them were sitting back thinking, "This chick's got money. She doesn't need the million dollars." Her simply telling the truth about that was her downfall, I guarantee it. No one will vote for her to win now. Period.

Challenge: Rainy Days

As the rain started to pour, Jeff greeted the tribes for their very first reward challenge, but when he announced that it was also immunity, I was confused. There is usually a reward first, then a second challenge in the episode for immunity. Not this time. The teams were playing for fishing gear.

Three members of each tribe run to the water, get a ball and try to score by getting it through a basketball hoop while the other team tries to block. First team to three points wins both immunity and reward.

Taj, Stephen, Sidney against TImbera tribe. Immediately things got brutal. Sierra, Tyson and Candace were for Timbera and damn, Candace is competitive. She was seriously throwing Sidney into the water. She was also the first one to score a point for her team. Timbera 1.

2nd round. JT fighting with Tyson, things are really getting brutal. Sandy was cracking me up because she was just holding onto Erin's top and wouldn't let her go. Tyson scored for Timbera. 2-0.

3rd round. All women. Taj was proving that she was tough by grabbing it from everyone, but after three tries, Taj could not get it into the basket. Sidney redeemed her, though, by scoring Jalapao's first basket. 2-1.

4th round. Let me just say that for someone named "coach" he was sucking balls in this challenge. JT on the other hand tied it up for Jalapao. 2-2.

5th and final round. You can tell everyone is getting tired. Everyone had several chances to get it into the basket, but people were missing like crazy. Stephen got the ball and pulled through, giving his team, Jalapao a comeback victory 3-2.

Exile Island: Brendan sent

"Choose one member of the winning tribe to join you at exile island."

That is the twist Jeff announced, and Brendan chose Taj to go with him. On exile is a hidden immunity idol, so this could really be Taj's chance.

It was surprising to see that once they got there, they actually were given water and rice. That's a twist. Then, once they made it to their primary location, they each had to choose an urn. Taj's had nothing inside, but Brendan had one that said, "Open in private." Obviously, his had the clue and it said it was up to him whether he wanted to share with anyone else.

Another twist for him is that at the end of exile, he has a choice to switch tribes, but he said right away that there was no way he was changing tribes.

Taj proved to be quite the pushy one. She basically talked him into showing her the clue, but there wasn't much in there except it saying that the idol is in their "tribal homelands" which means back at camp. SO, exile is pretty pointless.

Fishing: Jalapao

JT emerged as the tribe leader. The good ol' southern boy is proving his worth through his easy going attitude and his knowledge of the outdoors. There seems to be bonding going on between Stephen, the big city jew, and the southern boy, which is a bit unexpected, but refreshing at the same time.

Timbira: Who do we send home?

Right away, Candace calls Coach out to the others, saying that he didn't work hard at the challenge. Behind her back, some of the others went straight to Coach to tell him. Coach's response? Candace is a cancer that will ruin the tribe.

When Brendan made it back to camp, he lied and told everyone that Taj got the clue, not him, but meanwhile, he's looking around for the clue right under their noses.

Candace and Erin plotting, but so is everyone back at camp. Giving them almost 2 days to decide who is going home is a bit unnerving. Coach said that they should follow their "original" plan and vote for Sierra, but to the camera he was saying Candace. He seems pretty confident that he's in control of his tribe. At this point, it'll either be Sierra or Candace going home. Everyone was forming little groups behind everyone else's backs, proving that this season of Survivor is bound to be riddled with blindsides and surprise votes.

Tribal Council

At tribal, trust already has come to the forefront of the game. Candace seems to trust that the tribe likes her. Coach seems to think he can trust that Brendan was telling the truth about not getting the clue. Erin's advice? You have to be careful, we don't know these people. I agree with her for sure.

Time to vote. As everyone was voting, you could tell Sierra was nervous, but Candace seemed to be happy and smiling. THe votes surprised her a bit. Her eyes got so wide and she was just shaking her head, but most of the votes were for Candace, proving that attitude and talking crap right off the bat are the worst things you can do at the beginning of this game. SHe doesn't have any friends or people she can trust, yet she was willing to talk plenty of trash. In my opinion, she deserved to go home simply for not having a clue how to play the social game of survivor. As Sierra said when she cast her vote, "You played a good physical game, but no one likes a snake in the grass."

Two down. Who will be the next to go?