Back at camp, other schemes were brewing. Cirie told us that she wanted to get rid of Courtney because in her eyes, she was a very dangerous player. Lots of people would want to go against her in the final two, including Cirie's sometimes ally Shane. If Cirie wanted to do any better than third place, she'd need to knock out her biggest competition. And as we saw way back in the first episode, Cirie certainly knows how to take out the top dog, especially if she's a bit nutty (bye, Tina!).

Anyway, enough scheming. Time for food. Cirie announced that was gonna go fishing. "How hard can it be?" she asked us. Well, apparently VERY HARD. It seemed like this whole fishing adventure was destined for failure right from the start. Cirie didn't even have the heart to kill a snail with a rock, but after a few screams and screeches, she bashed the escargot and turned it into a juicy bit of fish bait. Then the miracle happened. She actually caught something. And she caught something that wasn't a puffer fish. This then led to general euphoria as Cirie squealed with delight, occasionally letting out a yelp of fear whenever the fish twitched on the line. She may have been psyched about catching a big fish, but Cirie certainly wasn't going to touch it. Remember, this is the woman who once professed to a fear of LEAVES. And so she brought her bounty back to camp, dragging it behind her in the sand, lest it come anywhere near her person.

Shane was super excited about this catch, especially since it was apparently his birthday. What a wonderful gift. I'm surprised he didn't text the good news to his son. You know, with that sweet Blackberry that he found. Actually, I was more surprised that Shane didn't then enter into a conversation with the dead fish. You'd think at this point he'd be talking to anything with a mouth, and that includes smiley faces drawn in the sand.

Not long after, the three reward winners came back to camp, and I know Cirie was excited to show off her fish, but I hope to hell that she didn't share that thing. If those guys ate any of it, that would be totally obnoxious. We never found out what the fate of that fish was because we then got right back into the scheming. Danielle pressed Terry about the final three, asking him if he'd take her to the final two. Unfortunately, the former Navy man couldn't commit to anything, and his general hesitation sent red flags up in Danielle's head. She did not want to go home third. That wasn't good enough for her. And bravo to her for realizing this. I get so sick of people who blindly float along with alliances and then act shocked when they're out fourth. It's about anticipation, people.

Sensing that Danielle was not happy, Terry then came up with a silly arrangement whereas whoever came in first and second in the final immunity challenge would then go to the final two. It seemed like a fair-and-square, let's-all-hold-hands sort of plan, but Courtney was not for it. You see, she was banking on Terry taking her to the final two. If she now had to work for that top spot, it would totally harsh her buzz, man! But Danielle insisted that it would be better to work for the top two because it's not really fair if someone just gets carried to the top. WELL. Courtney did not like the insinuation that she was worthless, and soon mild bickering broke out. Ladies, ladies, ladies. Don't you see what's happening? Terry's playing you like a fiddle! This was the time when Courtney, Danielle, and Cirie should have joined forces and simply cut Terry out of the equation (assuming he lost immunity at some point).

Well, Cirie had a better idea. She overheard the whole spat and realized that Terry was angling to take Courtney to the final two, thus reinforcing her fear that Courtney was a dangerous player to have around. Screw an all women final three. Cirie needed to get rid of Courtney now, and her best move would be to play up Danielle's paranoia of being stuck in third place. This was very high level scheming. We here at the TVgasm offices were more than impressed.

"You can't let [Terry] dictate what y'all should do," Cirie told Danielle. She then told her that Terry had fed her a line -- he was totally going to screw her over and take Courtney to the finals, despite the outcome of the immunity challenge. Oooh. Well played, Cirie. This totally took Danielle aback, and we could tell this game was about to get a whole lot trickier very soon. Me? I felt like a McDonald's commercial: I'm lovin' it!

We then headed out to the Immunity Challenge, which was another painful endurance test. This time, the survivors had to kneel at the end of a long plank and hold onto a rope in each hand. Attached to the ropes were weights -- 20% of each player's body weight, to be specific. The survivors had to hold on for as long as possible. If they were to let go, their platform would buckle, they'd topple into some water, and they'd be eliminated from the game. Oh, and every fifteen minutes, more weight would be added to the ropes. Doesn't sound painful at all!

Posted by B-side on April 28, 2006 1:52 AM