Luckily, Aitu hit a second target, tying them up with Raro, which had suddenly stalled in the water. They not only missed, but they seemed to be getting sloppy, causing Jeff to make some remark about them losing momentum. Shockingly, Jonathan had the temerity to actually mutter back, "Oh please, Jeff." NOBODY SASSES COACH PROBST! Jeff asked him to repeat himself, and when Jonathan said again, "Oh PLEASE, Jeff!", our intrepid host snapped, "Jonathan getting frustrated by ME!" This could lead to one prickly Tribal Council!

In a great turn of events, Aitu managed to hit their third target (thanks to Yul's new reverse-periscopic strategy), and soon, the tribe was paddling to shore! But would Raro launch a comeback? They dropped a cannonball... and missed again! They then dropped a second cannonball... and missed a second time!!! Cosmic justice!

Well, you can imagine how this all wound up. Once Aitu got to shore, they quickly figured out the puzzle (the clue: what was the most famous mutiny. The answer: Bounty). Just like that, Aitu redeemed itself again, winning its second challenge in a row with its newly depleted numbers. What a wonderful, wonderful turn of events.

After the commercial break, we headed over to Camp Raro where the first order of business was Candice selling out Jonathan. Despite his earlier claims, Candice told Adam that she was not in fact super tight with Jonathan at all. Not even remotely. Well, looks like Jonathan was a goner! But wait... Adam actually had a pretty smart strategy. He figured that they might as well keep Jonathan around because they knew he wouldn't flip back to his old tribe -- they'd never take him back. Brad, on the other hand, had already expressed displeasure in subtle ways. He could very easily flip-flop after the merge; so why not get rid of him? This caused Nate to then proclaim that Brad was definitely a goner. Keep in mind this was like the tenth time this episode that Nate had authoritatively announced the next ouster to us. Which one is it, Nate? Brad or Jonathan? Make up your mind, NATE.

Nevertheless, Nate said he was going to hone his inner-Denzel and fool Brad into thinking everything was cool. However, I'm not sure his inner-Denzel would be winning any Oscars because immediately, Nate's voice raised about two octaves, and he began acting so shady and aggressively friendly that I was shocked that Brad didn't catch on. Candice, meanwhile, continued to scheme against Jonathan, saying that he had talked all sorts of shit against Adam. Well, Adam certainly did not appreciate that. He clearly was used to only kind words, on account of the Aaron Eckhart face. So what should he do? Get rid of the crafty Jonathan or the ambiguous Brad?

At Tribal Council, Jeff asked the group about having extra numbers heading into the merge. "We're just going to pick 'em off like zits," Jenny announced, drawing the disgust of Probst. Silly girl. Don't you know the cardinal rule of Tribal Council: Thou shalt not discuss acne in the presence of Probst!

Moments later, as the tribe goofed around and joked, Candice noted that one of the reasons why she switched sides was because Raro seemed to enjoy themselves so much more. WELL. Probst was not about to let her off the hook with that. He sarcastically said, "So you're telling me, CANDICE, that you stepped off that mat because you could just sense that Raro was a lot more fun???" He then added, "Don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining!!!" Okay, he didn't say that, but it really was raining, so even if they did piss on his leg, they wouldn't be lying. In fact, the precipitation was so intense that everyone was soaked through, especially Jeff who was all slick and wet. It's always funny when Probst gets wet. Kind of like when a cat gets stuck in the rain. I feel bad, and yet I can't help but laugh.

Nevertheless, discussion soon focused on Jonathan and whether or not he was assimilating well with the gang. Nate said that Jonathan's only problem might have been that he was leading the tribe too much, and in Raro, if you're a leader, "we'll cut you up!" Yes, leaders are terrible. Just look at how well Raro's done without them...

Well, I was starting to think that Jonathan might be doomed, but then Probst asked Brad if he trusted anyone on his tribe, and for whatever reason, he said "No." GREAT. Granted, it's fine for him to not trust anyone, but that being said, if you don't trust anyone, why would you then trust them with your honesty? DUMB MOVE. Best part of all, however, was that when Brad said he didn't trust everyone on his tribe, we then cut to everyone else who had an absolutely appalled look on their faces. Maybe they forgot how earlier they were plotting against Brad behind his back. But seriously, they're all trustworthy.

Finally, it was time to vote. Jonathan unsurprisingly voted for Brad, and in turn Brad voted for Jonathan (in tiny, tiny, tiny handwriting. Literally, it looked like a line). But how did the rest of the tribe vote? Sadly, Jonathan was safe. Everyone voted out Brad, who later said he didn't see it coming at all. Technically, it was a smart move for Adam, Candice, and Parvati because it kept Jonathan indebted to them, but for the rest of the non-whites, they better wise-up and realize that they're on the outside of a still-strong alliance...

Posted by B-Side on November 10, 2006 5:00 PM