Episode 5 - Delayed, But Here

To Exile: Earl

Losing Tribe: Ravu

Voted Out: Rita

Votes:
Anthony, Earl, James, Mookie & Yau-man voted Rita
Rita & Michelle voted Anthony

Who's Left:
Moto: Alex, Boo, Cassandra, Dre, Edgardo, Lisi, Stacey
Rotu: Anthony, Earl, James, Michelle, Mookie, Yau-man

I was able to catch the episode in our hotel room in Washington.

Ravu continues its losing streak that must now be rivalling Ulong from Survivor-Vanuatu. Ulong, at least, won a couple of rewards as I recall. The preview seems to indicate there is a swap coming up next episode. Thank God!

Michelle and Rita clearly had some sort of relationship, but it was the boys calling the shots and they seemed to feel removing Rita left them with the most functional tribe. Over at Moto, Alex was trying to convince his alliance mates to treat Cassandra and Dre with at least a bit of respect as they could easily get burned by them flipping down the road. His pleads fell on deaf hears on all but Edguardo. Lisi seemed to actually enjoy the thought of a flip, never doubting for a second that they will end up on top. Bizarre! In a confessional, Dre said straight out that he will flip at the first opportunity and who can blame him.

HC's Take:

The boot was another lame one. I find it hard to disagree with, but it leaves a bit of a bitter taste as part of the equation of the boots seems to be trying appease Rocky (James). It's not that Rocky holds any real power in this tribe, but Yau-man and Earl see him as their workhorse in the challenges and the tribe is strongest if they can keep him functioning as well as they can. They're probably right, but it would have been interesting to have seen how this tribe would have fared if they removed Rocky right at the start instead of all the people he doesn't get along with.

Lisi's and Stacey's obnoxious behaviour towards Dre and Cassandra is incomprehensible to me, not just from a gaming standpoint (the pitfalls being clearly spelled out by Alex) but just from treating another human being with some dignity. It's sad. That the Moto Five will fall is obvious, but I hope that Alex and Edgardo aren't the first to pay the price for Lisi's and Stacey's arrogance.

I like the way that Earl was helping Yau-man to find hidden immunity, even though it didn't pan out. I hope these two will continue to work together, though with a swap coming it will be interesting to find out at which camp they will end up when each of them knows pretty much where hidden immunity is.

Looking forward to this week's ep. After the swap, this game should really begin.

HC