Mmm, pork. That reward challenge could have been even funnier if there were Jewish or Muslim contestants.

I think that Yau-Man will be forced to play his idol next week. No one would want to go up against him in the final three.

I was beginning to think they were going for the Yau vote. I guess the producers/editors needed to add some drama. I'm enjoying the season so far, but I don't think I've ever had my favorite win yet. It's making me not really want to pull for one person anymore. Too many disappointments.

I hate yau-man. Hes so annoying. But that could be because I live in Korea for a year right now and I am really sick of little asian people, but whatever I'll get over it only three more months. Has anyone else noticed how Cassandra (who I'll admit rocks at this game) has a vocabulary of mmmm-hhh, and mmmmmmm, or mmmmmmmmmh?

I can't say I like any of these people. Worst cast for me ever. And note to Cassandra - a sports bra would have been an excellent choice for yourluxury item! Damn I'm tired of seeing those things dangle.

I kinda like Yau-man, mainly because he's not your typical Survivor power player. He's old, kinda fragile, not very strong and a total nerd, BUT he's kicking alot of people's butt in challenges. He has a pretty good chance at winning this.

I don't understand why so many people cheer for Earl though. Him and Alex are very similar. They're both smart players and good leaders, but Earl is in the driver seat because his alliance (NuMoto) got in with the numbers. Their confessionals (like 90% of them) are the worst because they're always yapping about being in control and what their great plans are. Alex is a bit more eloquent in his speeches but that's about it.

He's gone now and I hope Earl follows soon.

Though I liked him in the beginning, I agree that Earl is nowhere near the Yul I had hoped he could be. In the last three episodes, we've seen him lording his "power" and "brilliance" over everyone, which mostly means that he talks to people in a patronizing tone with little respect, even Cassandra who is IN HIS ALLIANCE. I'm wondering why none of the Castaways have commented on it yet. That bs after the Mookie boot TC, where he was all "i told you so, from now on we do things MY way" was not smart behavior. That is not being a leader, that's being a childish asshat. Yul was able to lead without yielding to such base instincts.

Sigh. I don't know why Schoonie hasn't jumped the Earl train yet. Maybe he is just still astounded by Earl's remarkable meike dance.

It's time to get on the Boo train, because I've never seen an immunity necklace look so amazingly hot around someone's neck.

Earl and Alex are both cocky, but that's where the similarity ends. The key difference is that Earl and his allies work together to take action and change the game, whereas Alex and his allies tend to stand around quoting Scarface and talking about what geniuses they are without actually doing anything. Earl talks about how awesome he is after he has already executed a whole slew of strategically impressive moves. And then he actually backs his shit up with more action, which is why he rules, and why his cockiness is merited while Alex's is not. It may be in poor taste, but...big whoop. That's sort of how it works. Some people don't like it, some do. I happen to.

Earl didn't "get in with the numbers" at the merge as Zharak suggested, either, especially not after the Michelle boot. He worked diligently with Cassandra and Yau-man to come from behind, pull in middlemen like Stacy and Boo and take control of the game, for which he deserves to celebrate, which he is doing in the confessionals where it won't actually hurt his game. If I remember correctly, a few other people were cocky and celebrated too much in confessional as well, like Dr. Will, who I know for a fact that Commandarin finds extremely attractive. That smells a little double standard-y to me. Oh, and Boston Rob. Triple standard-y.

Also, upon second viewing, I didn't think that Earl was talking down to Cassandra. He was direct and absurdist with her about Alex's suggestions, which was a strategic attempt to squash the Yau-man boot. He may have overdone it a little (as he sometimes tends to do) but he was in no way condescending to her or talking to her like she was dumb. Go watch it again and check: just because he's direct to her and he is male and she is female does not mean that he's talking down to her. In fact, it means the opposite. He didn't walk up to her and start harassing her like a child;she approached him to ask what he thought, and he was forthright with her, as he should have been. As far as the "I told you so" thing goes, I thought that was stupid of him, but I'm not going to jump ship because of one dumb thing, especially do get on the Boo train, and especially for such shallow reasons. Sure, he is the conversational equivalent of a rhesus monkey and pushes his cuticles back with a butcher knife, but OMG, he's totally HOT! If you'll excuse me, I have to go scrawl his name in my notebook.

Oh, wait; I totally wanted to bang Parvati last year, even though I found her to be repulsive. Forget I said anything!

I never have felt that Earl was arrogant -- a big difference between Earl's and Alex's confidence is self-awareness. Earl is self-aware enough to always be a little bit tongue-in-cheek. At least, that's how I always see his confessionals. I mean, Earl Island? and his "poker face" early on? How hilarious was that?

Dreamz reminds me of the Tracy Jordan character on 30 Rock. You get the feeling that at any moment, he might freak out, crouch underneath a table and start emitting Chewbacca-like warblings. And I doubt he has someone like Dr. Spaceman to take care of him.

Earl was in NuRavu which came in 6-4 at merge time. Michelle got booted, it was still 5-4. That's numbers.

Meant NuMoto

My bad. Earlier I said I had never had a favorite win. The hot soccer guy (Survivor: Africa?) was my favorite. But that was it.

I completely disagree with you Zharek on the whole "numbers" argument. There was absolutely no certainty that Stacy and/or Boo would stick with the New Moto tribe after Michelle was given the boot. Personally, I was shocked when Stacy aligned herself with Earl/Yau/Cassandra. There was also the added uncertainty of the Dreamz situation - the tribal council where Ed got the boot was one of the best strategic moves ever (in a large part to Stacy, though). I think that the Earl love stems from his ability to see the game as a whole and for the most part play very logically and without emotion. There's no denying that Earl is an awesome player & I'm also still on the Earl Train of Awesomeness.

I, too, would vote out Dreamz the first chance I got - there's just no telling what the hell he's going to do week to week and he makes me nervous. Although, I guess they could just tell him he's the target at tribal council, make an argument about whey he needs to go, and he'd probably vote himeself off...

I completely disagree with you Zharek on the whole "numbers" argument. There was absolutely no certainty that Stacy and/or Boo would stick with the New Moto tribe after Michelle was given the boot. Personally, I was shocked when Stacy aligned herself with Earl/Yau/Cassandra. There was also the added uncertainty of the Dreamz situation - the tribal council where Ed got the boot was one of the best strategic moves ever (in a large part to Stacy, though). I think that the Earl love stems from his ability to see the game as a whole and for the most part play very logically and without emotion. There's no denying that Earl is an awesome player & I'm also still on the Earl Train of Awesomeness.

I, too, would vote out Dreamz the first chance I got - there's just no telling what the hell he's going to do week to week and he makes me nervous. Although, I guess they could just tell him he's the target at tribal council, make an argument about whey he needs to go, and he'd probably vote himself off...

Not to belabor the point, Zharak, but Boo and Stacy were both in an alliance with Alex and Edgardo before the tribe split. At the first post-merge immunity, Alex manipulated Dreamz to get rid of Michelle, who was in a tight alliance with Earl and Yau; this move indirectly saved Stacy--she merely chose not to repay the favor, and solely because she knew that Earl, Yau, and Cassandra were wise to Alex, Ed, and Mookie's plan. Alex's biggest errors were a) trusting Dreamz with sensitive information and b) assuming that Mookie's immunity idol would be the ace in the hole to swing the majority in his favor. Alex talked a lot about strategy and thinking ahead, but every time he thought he decided on a plan, he'd sit around congratulating himself instead of coming up with an insurance policy in case said plan backfired.

Earl has been the yin to Alex's yang from the beginning. They have similar personalities and have faced similar scenarios every week, and each time, with the exception of the week where Alex was essentially handed the knife to cut Michelle's throat by Jeff Probst when Earl and Yau weren't around to help her, Alex has been an example of 'what not to do' and Earl has acted shrewdly and had success.

It's also important to remember that Earl came into the game on the starving loser tribe, which is really, I think, why a lot of us have chosen our allegiance to Earl and Yau. Alex was the least of evils at the original Moto, but he didn't have the nerve to shut Lisi and Stacy up when they were being hideous to Dreamz and Cassandra and he gloated over victories that were essentially earned before the challenge got started, due to the fact that one team was fed and well-hydrated while the other was near the point of needing to be hospitalized. Similarly, he sat there and let Rocky browbeat poor Anthony endlessly at tribal council, which made him look like a moral midget to me (especially given his tendency to spout speeches about honesty and integrity and his many other hypocritical lapses, which Schoonie highlighted quite scathingly in last week's re-cap).

Earl, on the other hand, has emerged from the team that did not win one single challenge and did not eat or drink potable water for almost two weeks to be in control of the game. He kept his chin up, didn't whine, built a strong alliance, and waited. When the opportunity to change the direction of the game presented itself, he and Yau seized it. He's earned the right to gloat.

Also: as far as Earl's alleged 'talking down' to Cassandra: she deserved to be talked down to when she suggested prematurely getting rid of the man who is largely responsible for the fact that she is still in the game. Unlike Alex--who preached about loyalty and then wrote down his only ally's name--Earl found the idea of ditching his friend unthinkable, and refused even to pretend to consider it. Historically, backstabbing a strong ally before it's absolutely necessary is a bad move, as it sends someone to the jury nursing a grudge. Presumably, it would also put the second idol back up for grabs, increasing the chances that Stacy or Boo could find it. It was a terrible idea for several reasons, and Earl was right to react the way he did.

I was willing to give Alex the benefit of the doubt--after all, most of his more hypocritical moves came after he had no other options, and his immunity idol plan would have worked if Dreamz hadn't blabbed--but I just read a transcript of his 'insider' post-game remarks, and he was still preaching about how he played the game honestly and with integrity while everyone else was backstabbing, so I'm officially through with him.

Still, I'm with Schoonie: I have no idea what's got Earl and Cassandra so tied to Dreamz, who seems like a pretty risky person to carry along for various reasons: he switches alliances randomly, he's a good athlete with good odds to win any challenge involving balance, and he's got the homeless-kid sympathy angle, which could win him some votes even from people who got annoyed by him in the context of the game. He should be ditched immediately.

As for Yau-Man: who'da thunk the little pipsqueak computer nerd would end up being the biggest threat in the game? Yet another reason why I like Earl's chances: thanks to Yau's discovery of the idol and his challenge victories and general competence, no one is viewing Earl as the greater danger. Meanwhile, Earl is packing the jury with people who respect him and don't hold him responsible for their ouster. His moments of self-congratulation are mildly grating, but Earl has played a brilliant game and would be one of the more deserving winners in the game's history.

First of all, thanks for another great recap, Schoonie. I just don't know what I'm going to do when this show ends! Hopefully you will get the BB8 recap.

I have been on the Earl train from day 1 and I want him to win. I also really like Yau and I won't be too upset if he wins. I agree with what has been said about Earl earning the right to be cocky. He didn't start out that way, and he has put his money where his mouth is time and time again. I also don't think he was talking down to Cassandra. She had a momentary lapse in judgement and I'm glad she snapped out of it. I was thrilled that Earl didn't even try to act like he was going to go along with Alex's plan. He stuck to his alliance with Yau and that doesn't happen very often.

I agree with Schoonie that I think Yau and Earl have a gentleman's agreement. They both know this is a game (for a $1 million no less!) and they have both been playing it hard since day 1. They know there can only be one winner and I think they really respect each other. Earl proved that when he stood up for Yau.

I think this has turned out to be another great season and I can't wait to see what the big controversy is this Thursday.

Alex's biggest errors were a) trusting Dreamz with sensitive information

Mookie did that, Alex's mistake was to trust Stacy, who was with NuMoto all along.

I have no idea what's got Earl and Cassandra so tied to Dreamz, who seems like a pretty risky person to carry along for various reasons

Dreamz and Cassandra have no one else, an alliance of circumstances if you will. Dreamz has already 2 votes on the jury (alex and Ed), he could easily get Rocky too. Coupled with his physical abilities, he's the most dangerous after Yau I think.

Dreamz is a wild card, but he seems to be pretty solid with Cassandra--she wasn't there to keep him from voting off Michelle--she just needs to keep him close because he can't be allowed to "think" for himself.

i think Cassandra is playing a really good game--i think she threw the battleship immunity challenge too. unfortunately the way she plays the game is so subtle she would have a hard time getting votes from the jury, they don't see how she is manipulating the game. she could get Dreamz' and Stacy's votes, but then she would have to get rid of them without making them mad--and they are both too emotional for that. right now she is solid with everyone and no one seems to view her as a threat.

i'm sorry, but Boo is really hot--of course i do like 'em big & dumb (and clumsy) so he is right up my alley.

I want to see Earl and Yau-man make it to final 2. Whoever is 3rd I don't care.
I just don't want to see Cassandra win, or Stacy for that matter.

I don't think Yau-man is going to last much longer though unfortunatly. He's become too much of a threat in the game and they all recognize that they would never have a chance at winning in the end if he was sitting there next to them.
Unless he can win all the immunities.. which I doubt will happen... time to wave byebye to our lil asian fella.

#18- There's only two more tribals where he can be voted off, and he has an idol, I think it's looking pretty good for Yau.

Well...this was a good episode. No question. But, do any of you people work? I mean, you seem to be WAY into this game, I think some of you need to try out.

Good recap!

I hit enter too soon by accident....Anyway, someone might have already said this but my guess is that Stacy might stick around much longer than deserved b/c they might feel it's an easy win to take her to the finals. Anyone agree? After that challenge where they just dogged her, I don't think many of them have much respect for her therefore not give her any votes.

I understand WHY Earl is so popular on this board, but I think the problem with him this week is that he has been way too cocky. Part of being a good Survivor player is rolling with the punches. Ever since he had no control of Michelle's ouster, he has seemed a little more freakish when it has come to controlling alliance members, not trusting his alliance members.

Cassandra blew her chance at winning the game this week by not making a move on Yau/Earl. To break up that twosome is going to be key to anyone outside of those two winning the game.

At least Dreamz plays the game (we've discussed how badly many times before), but too many jury members are going to resent Yau and Earl's ego at TC, their hubris at camp, and their supposed "leadership" skills.

Now I look like a real idiot!!!! It's late where I am and it's past my bedtime - sorry.

I thought I had hit enter and posted before finishing a thought...what I had been saying is that Schoonie is a freakin' riot. When I was reading the Cassandra going all Ninja comments when she was consoling Alex & rubbing his back after the challenge had me laughing so hard, I was afraid I'd wake up my kids. All I can say is I vote Schoonie as the BB recapper. I'll be lost lost after Sunday without these hilarious recaps!

Earl and YauMan are both way too smart to want to take each other to the finals. I totally agree that Stacy is the one everyone will want at their side in the finals.

Yay that Alex is gone, just too smarmy for my. Yau is still my fav, but everyone realizes they are toast if they're in the final two with him.

Dreamz.....good God, PLEASE get rid of him, he's dumber than snot and I hate that. Along with the fact you can't trust him as far as you can throw him. He's such a freak he makes my skin crawl.

I'd love to see Earl, my Yau Man, and Cassandra in the F3. All deserving!

I have to agree, Boo is hot. From the start he had the southern weird nickname thing going for him, but now that his beard is growing in I'd have a pretty hard time resisting him. And really, whatever you may think, he has gotten pretty far in this game AND won two challenges in this episode.