Survivor: Palau commentary

Stephenie, Stephenie, Stephenie. I know there are some who don’t get the whole Stephenie love, but when I see her breaking down during her last moments as Ulong, I was ready to rush out there and give her a shoulder, a handkerchief and a hug. She is such a strong woman, physically and mentally. How many people could still soldier on despite the adversity that is Ulong? When they have butted into dead ends all over? Janu would have just rolled over and died. We would no longer be subjected to Anonymous Jenn’s creepy laughter because she would have dissolved into a pile of dust in Gregg’s snuffed out torch. Steph didn’t give up. It was so difficult seeing her coming back to camp alone, keeping the fire alit alone, going fishing alone, struggling alone with coconut-picking. Some have criticized her for not thinking ahead and only plucking one coconut, but I wouldn’t even have made it halfway up that tree before deciding I preferred starvation, at least for the moment.

And then Steph quits the immunity challenge for a pizza? Oh boy, this is going to bother me. I don’t blame her for wanting the pizza; she’s had nothing but Pringles with Ulong unlike the luxury of shark steaks, MREs, giant clam feasts that are Koror (that’s why I have no respect for those Kororians who jumped off for food). I’ve thought and pondered and mulled over and came up with a few possible reasons. (1) She feels that there’s no way she can beat Tom, which she has mentioned during tribal council, and which is probably true. But I still think she could still have tried a little longer. (2) She trusts that Tom, Ian and Katie will be on her side. Well, she was right for this vote, but I think she needs to be more cautious about this as they haven’t really promised her a final four spot, and we all know where promises end up in this game. She needs to find the other weak points in Koror to secure herself in case this alliance fails and to go further than fourth place. (3) She knows that Coby is already going off with his suicidal game moves. For that, she has to trust Tom, Ian and Katie, and that goes back to the previous point, though you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to see that Coby has just painted a target on his own back saying “Send me home!” even larger than Janu’s. I really hope they show us some more credible rationale why Steph gave up that challenge, as I still think she’s not a quitter, and that she rocks, and that she should still win, and that I still hope she wins this whole thing just like Chris did in Vanuatu. The way they’ve been portraying her seems like the right edit for an eventual final two spot, but they’re doing the same to Tom and Ian, and we all know what happened to Rupert on Pearl Islands too (not that I really want to mention him again, but he appears to be the best example). Steph, just for me, please win this game, OK?

For some reason, Katie is less annoying by the week. Maybe it’s the fact that she’s aligned with Steph that by default I don’t feel so much animosity towards her anymore. (OK I retract that view immediately after I said it.) And Caryn is really sliding under the radar big time after her earlier knock out with Katie. I don’t think she’s a free vote for the others at this point, since I think the other major alliances are more at each others’ throats now, and once that happens she has the ability to go much farther in this game than she seems now. At least, to give some unpredictability (and better entertainment value) to this season, that’s what I hope. And I really am starting to love Ian. I actually feel insulted that Probst didn’t take up Ian’s offer of parodying Jenna and Heidi because “no one wants to see that”. I’m sure there are many out there who find him cute and lovable. (I sure hope so for my own sake.) The more he stays around, the more I think he’ll win Tom in a final two vote just because of his likeability. As for Anonymous Jenn, we finally get to see more of her besides her creepy laughter, unfortunately she’s either proclaiming disgust at learning of Jeff and Kim’s hooking up, which I find completely ironic, given who she’s hooking up with herself; or she’s bitching about how Steph is a threat and needs to be eliminated immediately. Well, at least after Coby anyway.

Next week: Janu goes home after another bitchfest with Katie! Someone gets literally marooned? That would be an awesome challenge to watch. No prizes for guessing who it might be.