Survivor - Zapatera Thows a Challenge

This is one wacky season of Survivor. I am thoroughly enjoying it while at the same time being frustrated by it. Although I think my frustrations come from seeing players I like being eliminated. More on that later.

This week we got to see our first Redemption Island dual. It was rather exciting. Kind of like watching a sudden death overtime period. For a while I really thought Francesca would win and Matt would be gone. Then out of nowhere Matt made a comeback. It was also a great idea to have two members of each tribe sit in to watch and then see what they reported back to the tribes. I think I am liking the whole Redemption Island thing.

Back at the tribes, Rob is continuing to play a good game. He is keeping his alliance strong and an eye on Andrea who is still upset at Matt being voted off. I love how he found the clue to the hidden idol. If it wasn't for Phillips fat ass...

The Immunity Challenge was a repeat of the water wheel challenge from last season. A good challenge with a puzzle at the end which Rob solved to win. What he didn't know was that the alliance of six in Zapatera was throwing the challenge. Russell was quick enough to pick up on it and so he went to work on figuring out a way to stay in the game. He was sure that the six would split the vote 3 x 3 and his three would create a 3 way tie. That would result in a re vote in which he would be the target. Their only chance was to convince Julie to vote with them. It looked like she might but it didn't happen and Russell was voted out.
I'm sure this will make some people happy, but not me. I enjoyed watching the way Russell played. Now he is not gone completely. He has the chance to beat Matt on Redemption Island and keep himself alive at least one more round. I am concerned about the girls in his alliance. They will clearly be the next to go. Stephanie probably first. I like Stephanie. I loved her line at Tribal, "...mouth is still moving." Unfortunately even if Russell survives on Redemption Island he will then have to take on Stephanie, meaning that we will not see the two of them in a final.

I do think that Zapatera made a mistake in throwing the challenge. They have given the momentum to Ometepe. Rob will use that momentum. By the way, even though Zapatera threw the challenge, Rob does not know that.

Another thing... If you are on Twitter and are following Jeff Probst, the past two weeks he has been live tweeting during the episode. Last week he did it on Pacific Time, this week Eastern Time. Either way it is worthwhile and fun to follow. He gives you some cool insights into the game. Below are a couple of examples:

"This tribal probably lasted 45-60 minutes in total. We only show you the 5 minutes that we need to climax the show."

"What is funny is that Rob is watching right now at home and this is the first he has learned of the challenge being thrown."

and

"You know that Amber is giving him a hard time right now! "You didn't win baby, they threw it!""

 

So get on Twitter and follow @JeffProbst

 

So that is it for this week, looking forward to next week.