This past week - well, it looked hard. Really rough. So rough that I don't think I'd wish that upon anyone.
For one thing, it's been raining a lot, and they're complaining about it. A lot.
Then we had poor Boston Rob, trying so hard to be nice to his tribemates, trying so hard to bite his tongue and not rip their heads off. He's stuck with a bunch of bozos who don't seem to care that they're getting soaked every night, so he's basically been trying to rebuild their shelter, every day, by himself. You could see his morale withering. This is a tough guy who's done this twice before, who knows what struggles, both physical and mental, are involved with Survivor. Never once had we seen Rob crack under the pressure.
Until now. Mumbling something about needing more water, Rob stumbled off into the bushes and collapsed. While the cameraman filmed on, Jerri came across him and tried to revive him. He croaked out feebly, "Get help." Jerri ran to get the medical team while the cameraman filmed on. (Seriously - what would it take for one of them to put down the camera?!)
It was one of the scarier moments I've witnessed on Survivor. Boston Rob's eyes kind of had this glazed look. He struggled to sit up, and was having trouble responding to Probst and the medical staff. They offered him a bottle of water, and he couldn't even get it to his mouth, water spilling everywhere. Probst looked seriously concerned, but the doctors assured him it looked worse than it was; that Rob likely had a flu and just needed rest and water.
In the aftermath, Rob - big, strong, tough Rob - broke down and shed a few tears, commenting on how the game was getting the best of him. But in true Boston Rob fashion, he got to his feet, cracked his famous mischievious grin, and claimed he wasn't quitting.
May I just say...PHEW!!! If he'd been med-evac'd out, this season would have lost one of its biggest characters. I mean, a day after he collapsed, he was leading the Villains to another win over the dysfunctional Heroes, even holding up one of those massive blocks for their puzzle staircase on his back, pretty much all on his own. You might love Rob, you might hate Rob - but in that moment, you had to admire Rob.
So the Villains carry on their victorious ways while the Heroes continue to flounder. It got really bad this week in their camp, as alliance lines were becoming clear and people were scrambling to get the last few stragglers - Cirie and Candice - on their side.
At the challenge - a combined luxury and immunity competition - they agreed to allow JT to lead them and listen to him, as he had competed in this event in his season of Survivor. However, their egos got the best of them, and a few people tried to speak up during the competition. Once again, their big lead in the physical portion dwindled as the mental side of putting the puzzle together got them all bogged down and confused. James began accusing Stephenie of not listening, and several times angrily told her to shut up and listen.
Steph knew this was bad news, as she already had Rupert against her. Following their failure at the challenge, James blew up at camp, ordering them that they had to listen at challenges and forget about talking. "One voice, y'all! One voice!" But his "y'all" was clearly directed at Steph, and she, along with her alliance of Colby and Tom, felt severely threatened.
Tribal council was an all-out brawl, with James and Steph going toe-to-toe, and eventually both Colby and Tom jumped in to defend their alliance member. At the end of the day, though, their efforts to sway Cirie and Candice to their side were fruitless, and Steph was voted out, leaving the two 'good guys' of the tribe in a rather precarious position.Tensions are high. Attitudes are outta control. Alliance lines have been drawn. And as far as I can tell, war has been declared.
If you'd told me that was what would happen to the Heroes after a week in Samoa, I would've laughed.
Should make for yet another interesting episode this week!
