Schoonie, I've waited so long for this recap! First, I would like to say that Alex is like Kaysar from Big Brother, very confident but wholly unaware at the same time. You were right about Dreamz and all of his idiocy and now there is no alliance that will have him. There is not going to be any way that he can explain what happened to Mookie/Alex and basically, Stacy has cemented her position within the Syndicate alliance.

I think the episode as a whole was one of the best ever, but there are two TC's that I recall that were just as lively.

1) During the Marquesas season, when Kathy accused Sean and Vecepia of having an alliance just because they were both black (not because they were teamed together since day 1).

2) During the second Stephanie/Bobby Jon season, Judd and that lady got into a screaming match where Judd almost attacked her. She had said something along the lines of Judd needing therapy and he called her a bitch, and then it devolved into a screaming match. Basically, she was going to be voted off anyway, and she wanted to give Judd a piece of her mind before she left. It was the most intense TC that I can remember.

Great episode, and am curious to see how the rest of the season will play out.

Great recap to an awesome Survivor episode. Thank you, Schoonie, thank you.

Schoonie, great recap of what was absolutely one of the best episodes ever. Bless you for the YouTube clip of the vote, because some things are so awesome were words cannot do them justice.

Some real strategery there. Props to Stacy on using her head and also making herself trustworthy enough to make Dreamz expendible to the Syndicate. Can't wait for Thursday to see Mookie go off on Dreamz. Let's hope our heroes don't get too cocky with their awesome victory.
-JR

That was supposed to be "mere" words.

Awesome episode! The only thing I didn't like was when Jeff said the immunity idol would be re-hidden. Boo to that! (no, not Boo the drunk, bumbling idiot... boo as in 'that bites'.)

Legendary episode. Dreamz is so bizzare.

SO looking forward to your Make Stacy Feel Like Crap Day party next year. Awesome recap.

Great episode! Season still sucks!

Awesome recap! (Audience: WORD, Schoonie)

I seriously think this may be my favorite Survivor episode of all time. The speed with which the smirks turned to grimaces was priceless.

Yau is a Jedi. Wouldn't surprise me one bit. This season is awesome. I hope The Syndicate keeps some control and order next episode.

I have to go watch TC again. I will never tire of it.

This was truly an awesome episode. I was at home having dinner with my family and I ditched them so I could keep watching. I knew this one couldn't wait until it went on Innertube the next day. I do have to give it up for Stacy's coming alive this episode, but I have to give it to her grudgingly as I still find her super annoying.

I was surprised that the Immunity idol is going to be hidden again...do you think it's because they saw Yau make the fake one and wanted to create a possibility that it would be found? Not that anyone would believe that the other idol would actually be a clod of dirt or whatever it was, but damn it would be funny to see Jeff's reaction to it.

I'm so torn by Dreamz. His "my preciousssss" comment was hilarious, but he is just so clueless when it comes to strategy.

oh -- also, remind me what happened with Neleh? I think I was so irritated by her name and relationship with the elderly Paschal that I blocked everything else out.

This episode was so awesome, I even read a Schoonie recap so I could relive it again!

;)

Fuck, I'd read a Tabloid Baby recap to relive it again. Thanks for the clip, Schoons. As much as I love all the past moments you mentioned, I do believe this was the greatest episode of all time. Can't wait to see what Earl and Yau have in store for us this week.

Probst reveals the immunity necklace, which looks like it's made from giant sharp teeth this year. Somewhere in Fiji, a poor sabretooth tiger with a mouth full of gums looks longingly at a herd of gazelles, sighs, shakes his head and goes "Fuck."

PRICELESS!!!

Best episode EVER!

"Jeff, could I have the materials for a fake immunity necklace, please?"

WORD, Schoonie! Fantastic recap and well worth the wait.

Schoonie, I had a feeling the tardiness of this re-cap was due to the fact that you were hard at work crafting a magnum opus fit to this episode; you did not disappoint. You captured every aspect of why this episode ruled, as well as why Survivor is the greatest reality show OF ALL TIME!!! This has to be in the top two or three hours of Survivor EVER and proves definitively that, even in its 14th season, this show never gets stale. Mark Burnett, you are an evil genius.

And why does Survivor always manage to be great? One word: casting. Where did they find this Dreamz guy? Who could have predicted that he would be such a great character? So crafty, so duplicitous, and yet so lacking in self-awareness that he could simultaneously be the fool and the key insider in the greatest bamboozle in the history of competitive reality TV.

Compounding the hilarity is the fact that it came at the expense of three guys who, despite being sort of haughty and unlikable, were playing a relatively smart game. Their failing was in their hubris: once they thought they had the drop on Earl and his alliance, they appeared to have tuned out and neglected the need for a plan B. For instance: Alex seemed so confident that he was going to be the one the others voted for, but we never saw a scene of Alex pretending that he was really afraid of getting voted out or trying to fight for his life in the game. It probably wouldn't have mattered due to Dreamz' chronic case of verbal diahrrea, but Earl & Co. had to feel a lot more confident in Dreamz' word given that no one from the other side was trying to get them to vote for, say, Stacy, or at least trying to act as if they were working some other plan than the one the others already knew they had cooked up.

Similarly, while Alex deduced with that Harvard brain that, since Earl had been to Exile repeatedly and had seen all the clues, he had probably found the other idol, it never occurred to Mr. Fancy-pants Lawyer that Earl ALSO knew there was another idol and that whoever found it probably knew from the last two seasons that it is most effective if used to help an alliance rather than an individual.

Guess all that stuff I've been hearing about grade inflation and 'the Gentleman's B' at Harvard has filtered up to the graduate schools. Of course, whenever I get impressed by someone who graduated from Harvard, I just remind myself that Bush has degrees from Harvard AND Yale. Sure makes state school on a lottery scholarship look like the way to go.

Perhaps the most hilarious and pathetic aspect of the episode was Dreamz desperate need to be trusted and liked and his compulsive blurting of sensitive information when being scolded. I've never seen anything like it out of anyone over the age of four.

Earl: "I just don't think I trust you, Dreamz. You've just been a little--"
Dreamz: "Mookie got the idol!"

This one had it all: humiliation, competition, suspense; a drunk Cajun picking his nails with a boning knife; three arrogant, macho dickheads being served a cold comeuppance by an unlikely alliance rallied around a diminutive ninja who can probably use his pocket protector as a throwing star and a 'big strong black man' who is singlehandedly exploding every stereotype about African-American men that had been garishly reinforced by the likes of Osten, Gervais, Sean, Ibrahim, and the several other brothers who have flopped on Survivor in the past.

My only disappointment is that this was sort of like seeing Hendrix and the Who at Monterrey or Game Six of the '86 World Series for Mets fans. It can only go downhill from here.

I was sitting on my couch yelling at my tv the last half of the show.
It was SO awesome.
As soon as Alex was up and handing over the idol with that smirk on their faces.. OMG I could't help but keep laughing and saying how awesome the episode was turning out.
HILARIOUS how quick their faces turned from smug to "oh shit" hehe

Great great recap as well!

Oh yeah.. could someone please tell me why they all hate Stacy so much? I didn't really watch the first half of this season too much, but from what I did see, I didn't think they showed much of her?
What has she done that has put off every single one of them?

Definitely the best episode of an otherwise lame season.

The tribal council was awesome. Of course, we viewers already knew exactly what was going to happen, but that doesn't make it any less entertaining to watch.

LEGENDARY!

I didn't fully appreciate the facial intonations until reading your recap and then watching the clip. While I'm actully sad that it ended up being Edguardo that was booted, the strategy and execution was FANTASTIC. ...and here I thought I was going to start getting more and more bored over time.

excellent recap! best tribal council ever! watching Alex and Mookie's faces as they realized they just threw away the immunity idol was even better than watching Lisi's face-plant.

i love that everyone hates Stacy--she didn't seem all that surprised either--i think that would have to sting a little bit. i also think they need to keep a close eye on her--especially since no one seems to like her, which makes her someone i would want to take to the finals.

Alex--did he miss the part where the majority of other players thought that he MISTAKENLY thought he was in control of the game? i would have been a little worried at that point, but he kept going full speed ahead. way to completely underestimate your opponents.

yau-man is amazing. is there anything he can't do? the look on his face during tribal counsel was priceless.

Dreamz has no idea how to read social context clues--as evidenced by how annoying he was in the beginning of the game. he really has no idea who to trust--which i understand (although he should feel better about Cassandra)--but trying to ride the middle will only get him so far.

i kinda love Boo too!

In Survivor, no one who rides the middle of an alliance gets very far, thus, Dreamz's plan was going to blow up in his face. I think of Christy from the Amazon and other players who thought they could coast through the middle while the two alliances fought each other. Basically, each alliance is going to turn on the fringe players and then battle it out for supremacy. Dreamz did himself a huge disservice and is going to be a jury member shortly because of it.

I loved this epi, best ever. I've loved Yau and Earl for awhile now...Yau just so rocks.

Now if they could only get rid of Dreamz.....GOD he's annoying!! His number's probably up sooner than he can fathom....which isn't saying much.

Awesome episode and great recap. I laughed so hard at "Those two are the only ones we see, and then Jeff goes to tally the votes. What he does not say is that he is also about to arrange them for maximum hilarity effect." I was afraid I woke my husband up on the other end of the house with my loud guffaw. I need to rewatch the clip, but what you thought was Dreamz laughing, I originally saw as Dreamz being irked about no longer being in the loop.
Since other people are telling their fave moments: Rudy running through the jungle finding the questions, reading them and going, "I don't know" over and over. That was so hilarious we still talk about it.

Stacey was the bitch who wouldn't help Dreamz make coffee. I remember hating her for other various other reasons before I even started hating on Lisi.

Dreamz, homeless cheerleading coach. How can you not cast this guy?

You-Man is my favorite person. Like in the whole world.

Great re-cap.

Schoonie- it is SO wonderful to have you recap this show! Your true love of the game and the nuances involved in strategy (plus your understanding of the awesome Burnett and Co. editing crew) show in your writing. DUDE!- You rock! Not since the retirement of the legendary Joe and Ben have I enjoyed a recapper as much.

I told you last week that I'd be interested to see where Boo would go with his vote. He did himself a favor by approaching Earl and effectively deflected the heat off of him and onto the Four Horsemen. I don't think that I will ever see a TC as good as that one. Hopefully, Michelle went back to sequester and got her drink on after seeing how her old alliance avenged her ouster at the hands of those douchenozzles!

I hope tonight's episode has the Syndicate foiling any scheming as well. Go Yau-Go Earl- Go Cassandra!

"In Survivor, no one who rides the middle of an alliance gets very far"

I think Sandra, Jenna M, Danni, and Vecepia might have something to say about that, but you're right that they need to get rid of Dreamz soon. He's too much of a wild card to allow to remain; if there's one person more dangerous than someone who makes intelligent moves using logic working against you, it's someone who doesn't use logic at all. After Alex, he needs to be next.

And thanks for the propers, guys; it's been a really crappy month, so it's nice to hear positive comments.

My recollection might be wrong, but Sandra was aligned with Rupert and the other girl, Vecepia was aligned with Sean and Boston Rob, Jenna M was aligned with the bony girl who got naked for peanut butter, but you are certainly right about Danni, who only won because of a game twist! (Danni being a Survivor winner does NOT count.) But I understand your point. I just was trying to say that Dreamz MUST GO because he is unbelievably unreliable. I just think that there are no real ways for him to win, but I'd rather Dreamz go before Alex because Alex is limited in his moves as of now. We'll see more later tonight.

schoonie, my friend, that was an absolute delight of a recap... definitely in my top five survivor recaps ever!

I think Alex should go first to avoid a possible coup at seven. If Dreamz goes tonight, that could happen - Stacy and Boo could switch sides and guarantee themselves final four with Alex and Mookie, leaving Earl, Yau, and Cassandra in the dust. The smart thing to do is to take out Alex tonight and permanently cripple them, then take out Dreamz.

Schoonie - Awesome recap. I loved reliving that TC. I also caught Earl's expression behind Mookie on the rewatch. It probably took me longer this season to pick a side, but last week made it crystal clear that those 3 arrogant, smug SOBs had to go. Can't wait for tonight!!

Well...I too agree with everyone above. Great recap, and great episode! I'm looking VERY forward to tonights episode...

BTW, when you said 'ride the middle' I thought you meant someone who wasn't a decision maker/hangs on to an already existing alliance. Either way, Sandra switched sides multiple times, especially towards the end; Vecepia betrayed Kathy at the last second; Jenna M switched between a female alliance and an alliance with Rob C as it pleased her.

Great recap, definitely THE best episode of Survivor in recent years! Let's hope the season keeps riding this wave, and ends on a high note. I can't wait for tonight's episode for the aftermath! I wanna see Yau Man and Earl have a good laugh together over Alex, Mookie and Edgardo's look on their faces at tribal council, like we all did.

-Schoonie, your recaps rock! :)

I don't come around here like I used to but damn, that was an awesome episode of Survivor! I just had to come back and read the recap. Great job Schoonie!