Survivor Survival Guide: “Running the Camp”

“I personally don’t think he can beat me physically, much less mentally. So I’m still playing my game the way I’ve been playing it.”

—Jane

“It’s just frustrating to play a game with people that are so stupid.”

—Marty

Back when the original La Flor and Espada tribes shuffled members, I wrote that the contrivance only moved up the season’s defining battle between Marty and Brenda, which I figured had to take place before the merge.

Well, I was wrong on multiple fronts.*

*Yeah, I’m used to it by now.

Brenda and Marty had their moments—such as the back-and-forth about Jane at Tribal a few episodes back—but it never boiled down to a me-against-you tête-à-tête the way it had between Boston Rob and Russell, the way I hoped it would here. In its place, though, we got as personal a feud as I can remember on Survivor, between the technological executive Marty and the down-home dog trainer Jane (bless her soul).

Real World/Road Rules Challenge: Cutthroat, Week 6 Power Rankings

“To me this is the worst decision I’ve seen so far this Challenge. I really don’t understand throwing in your guys’ best player over and over again when he keeps proving himself time and time again. I think it’s time for a change…but it’s not up to me.” —TJ Lavin

“I wouldn’t have said that if I were you. That’s the point of going down into the cellar and casting your vote anonymously, not so that you can come up to me afterwards and say: ‘Hey who’d you vote for? Oh, my husband? Now I’m going to kill you.’” —Laurel

As last night’s episode opened, the Red Team seemed like it was the strongest team on the Challenge. They lost the challenge last week but won the two before that. Not only that, but Chet’s return from the hospital meant Red still had nine players, including all five of its original males. By the end of the episode, the Red Team was down to six players, who were already turning on each other.

So, in the immortal words of Mike Lafontaine: Hey, wha’ happened?!