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As Survivor finales go, last night was up to par. There were no real surprises, but not many disappointments either.

The first immunity challenge was attacked warrior style in new dress and face paint as the tribe members saw fit. They decked out and made it memorable. Intricate mazes followed by a complex puzzle, and not surprisingly, Bob took the necklace. Ken's fate was sealed and he joined the jury.

The paying of respects to the fallen fellow Survivors was well done with masks collected, representing each face, and then burned atop a high point of land to African music. It was perfect.

Challenge two was a literal house of cards. I was sort of shocked that teacher Bob couldn't design a standable structure. Finally, a puzzle he couldn't complete. Sugar tried in vain and built several towers that toppled while Susie created a free standing skyscraper that allowed her to stick around, donning the immunity necklace. This develoopment led to disappointment on my part. The dream team of top three would have been Sugar, Bob and Matty, at least to this viewer. With this win, Susie forced a vote that would have booted Bob had Sugar not had a soft spot. Sugar saved him by casting her vote against her alliance, for Matty. This forced a tie breaker. Amazingly, Matty couldn't build a fire and due to this fault, he joined the jury and lost a million dollars. Bob was saved.

The typical last morning brought breakfast for the top three and the inspiration to have a bonfire in the way of torching the hut. Susie, Bob and Sugar made their way to the last tribal council. The jury sat and listened to final words and then passed out a few of their own. If looks could kill, a couple of jury members would be wanted for murder. If people could be arrested for being absolutely evil and spitting acid with their words, Corinne would have been taken away in handcuffs and hopefully a gag. How anyone can belittle someone for being emotional after a deeply personal loss is beyond me. Can you get any lower? Sugar's more than appropriate gesture to Corinne was applauded by me. The rest of the jury seemed to be bitter as well, and while that is to be expected to a point, this is a game and after being on the jury for a short time they should have been able to get over their hard feelings by the time of the final council. Apparently not. Voting commenced and Randy voiced his opinion even further, mimicking Crystal from an earlier tribal.

At the reunion show it was revealed that Bob took the prize. He also took the $100,000 viewer voted prize, which I feel he should have handed over to Sugar given that her tie inducing vote allowed him to stay in the game and thus take the title of Sole Survivor. On that note, I feel he should have at least acknowledged this fact and her generosity. Maybe he did and they edited it out. While Bob was a kick-behind player and participant in camp life, what I saw in Sugar was a person much more deserving of a million dollar reward for the efforts she made standing up to see that those who were deserving were given a chance. More than once, she spoke up and made efforts to see that good prevailed. To me, she is already a winner in her million dollar personality.

It was enjoyable to see Jeff Probst bantering with the contestants at the reunion show, and even better to see him call Corinne out on "the worst commentary in Survivor history." He asked her if this was her real personality, and apparently, it is. Yikes. I hope her parents are proud. Jeff also tried to explore Randy's persona and what he revealed was really not much more than a bitter individual. Reality TV doesn't give the real and total picture of a person, Sugar included, I am sure, but what some people let the world see of  themselves can be either really shocking, or really endearing.  

So the season ends. Until next time folks; the tribe has spoken.

People are switching it up at the last minute on Survivor: Gabon. Alliances that seemed tight at the beginning of the hour were unravelled by the end. And Ken, who thinks himself the mastermind, is left to scramble. When Ken confronted Bowtie Bob about his fake, he really played up the guilt trip. I would bet that Ken has played this game before with his parents.

Reward challenge seemed to give advantage to the men, though I could be wrong, and the girls could have just been a bit slow. An obstacle through swamp and ball toss didn't seem all that difficult but the three men battled it out with Bob taking the prize. And what a prize! A helicopter ride to a snack and a shower, new clothes, and a visit to a gorilla sanctuary, which I would lose my mind over. The Western Lowland gorillas were  orphaned due to hunters and the sanctuary allowed the visitors to get within 25 feet of the beautiful creatures. Bob was spiritually touched, as I would be. He was allowed to take some companions and chose Crystal and Ken, strategically. Susie was sent to exile where she ate her fill of fruit.

At camp, straight talk between Sugar and Matty got her thinking, but it wasn't until Ken and Crystal started going off on Mat that Sugar got her brain moving in a different direction. She'd cover for him if they would take Crystal down.

Crystal

The immunity challenge looked like a blast, with everyone blindfolded and put in an obstacle course. They had to memorize a mask and its features by touch and recreate it after making their way through the course. Bob wins again! Four in a row. He'd promised to give immunity to Ken if he thought it need be, but Sugar warned him that Ken would vote him off if he gave up the necklace.

Sugar

At tribal, Sugar messed with Ken's plan and handed Matty her immunity necklace - the real one. As a result, the rest of the group voted off Crystal. This is a season of blindsiding. Sugar seems to be in control...but her efforts really do seem genuinely good hearted to me - wanting the best people to be at the end.

And I just have to ask, what in the world is up with Randy's hair?  

This Sunday is the finale folks! Be ready to stay up late!

Before the reward challenge began, tribe members were given a taste of the prize with brief moments of video messages from loved ones via cell phone. Tears flowed and everyone got geared up to compete. Breaking into teams of three left Corinne to suffer the nasty girl school yard pick result…she sat alone and had no chance to win reward. The challenge involved being tied together and trekking through a swamp to collect cog pieces. Sugar, Crystal and Bob were together and Matty, Ken and Susie were the other team. While Susie’s group was quicker to slog through muck, Crystal’s team was faster at figuring the cog puzzle out and raised their flag first. This led to the three competing in a tile slide puzzle race, which Bob won. His prize: beer, pizza, brownies, and the longer video message from his wife. With a nice twist, she told him to hold on and then appeared from behind a tree in person. It was a very sweet moment.

Bowtie Bob and wife

Walking back to camp, Bob whistled to announce their presence. Then with another whistle, called the loved ones of the rest of the tribe down the trail. It seems that everyone won this reward. Two touching moments were Sugar and her sister spreading some of their father’s ashes and gaining some peace of mind, and Matty proposing to his girl on the dock and her saying yes.

Immunity challenge involved trivia and the tossing of balls onto a huge target. Bowtie Bob took the prize again. In a sneaky move, Bob decided to make fake immunity idol 2, and tried to stay in the game a bit longer by dealing with Corinne. They tried to sway Kenny and Crystal. The story was that Marcus never really threw the necklace into the sea, but hid it in his pocket and then at camp, telling Bob where it was. The effort was great and Bob’s handiwork impressive. But the plan didn’t work and Corinne was sent packing. True to her character, her last words to the camera were bitter and hateful.

Bye Bye Corinne

I'm not always a fan of the recap show but this one was different enough to keep me watching. With audition tapes and extra scenes we never saw, it was entertaining enough.

The tapes sent in by the remaining contestants can be summed up in just a few words each:

Ken - he's a kid alright, Sugar - fun, wild girl with a sweet personality, Randy - hates people, big surprise, Matty - beach baby, laid back, Crystal - medal bragging, but what happened to her professed ability?, Corinne - promised to be a flirt, turned out to be a back stabbing something else.

The extra scenes were fun enough with leeches, eating bugs, romance between Marcus and Jackie, Matty singing for his girlfriend, and Bob teaching science class out in the wild. Some character enlightening scenes we hadn't seen involved Corinne complaining about how people acted at the reward picnic and how she hated them all, and how Sugar really grew up in exile, proving to herself that she can take care of herself, but all the while feeling guilty for eating when others weren't (okay we'd seen some of that).

My favorite scene was back at camp with Sugar talking to Corinne, telling her she really shouldn't be so negative, even saying that she was "a cancer in my ears." Priceless! Though Corinne let out her inner b*#&h after that and ranted to Randy.

A nice repeat performance of Randy getting duped rounded out the evening.

Coming attractions left the viewer wanting more with a scene of blurred butts as the boys go skinny dipping. Even Bob dove in without his bowtie. Looks like it will be fun! And seriously more entertaining than past nudity on the show.

Cookies!

The fates were smiling though as Bob chose to share his handiwork with Sugar...the one person who could truly appreciate it.

It was auction time, Survivor style, with a few twists thrown in this season. Susie bought herself a hot bath and change of clothes, Corinne purchased a secret bottle to open at the next challenge, and Ken bought the rights to send someone to Exile...he chose Bob, and got to take his cash. Matty snatched up a cheeseburger and fries, while Randy slapped down the cash for a beer and peanuts. Sugar hit the sweet spot with chocolate and peanut butter. The controversy came in when Jeff offered up a tribe treat to the first person to cough up twenty bucks. Randy thought he was going to hold it over people's heads and "offered" up the plate to Sugar first, who turned him down. Take a sweet from a wicked man? She knows better! Corinne took one and half, and when it was down to one, Randy offered again to Sugar, who took it but handed it over to Matty. Randy was seriously irritated.

Back at camp it was all anyone heard, how Randy's offering was not appreciated and how Sugar took "his" cookie. Whatever!

At Exile, Bowtie Bob goes on his own personal African safari rather than hunting the missing necklace. He found his Eden.

The challenge was an interesting one with balance beams and a fun domino type course to raise the flag. With Corinne's secret bottle she was given a free pass to the head of the line and became one of three competing for glory, but even then could not grab the necklace. Ken won immunity.

Back at camp, Sugar convinced (pretty easily) Bob to hand the fake immunity necklace he'd made over to Randy and let him think it was real. The trap was set. At Tribal, Sugar prophecied, "This will be the funkiest night of your life."

The tribe has spoken.

During voting, Crystal was none too confidential and shouted to the camera, "Forget you! Go Home!" Which started the giggle fest. Jeff asked that anyone who had the immunity necklace step up and use it, and Randy chose to play his ace. His face and Corinne's were so smug and confident, while Sugar and Crystal and others were trying hard to keep from bursting out laughing. Even Jeff seemed to be trying hard to hold it together. And as he announced that it was not the immunity necklace, and tossed it into the fire, Randy and Corinne's faces dropped in shock. Priceless! The votes were read and Randy was sent walking the dark path as the laughs finally escaped. Even the jury found it amusing. Me? I was laughing out loud in an empty living room. Glorious! I did feel the slightest bit of schoolyard shame, but not enough to dampen the mood.  How about you?

Bowtie Bob

It was a night of desperate measures on Survivor:Gabon, for some. Going in circles, mock idol making, two faced talk and hand slamming fire sparking made for interesting television.

At reward challenge, Corinne and Charlie reacted hard to Marcus having been voted off. Corinne spoke up, saying that Marcus deserved to be there more than anyone else. Does that mean the rest of the tribe is full of losers who don't deserve to be there? Ken thought so. Turning the focus back to the task at hand, the challenge was a fun one. Slingshot golf on a large scale. I'd love to play that game! Fang won after a bit of an argument between Matty and Randy over how to get the ball in when it is just six inches outside the goal. Relax people! Bowtie Bob was exiled and felt truly on the outside. In a desperate measure, after not finding the idol that Sugar has in hand, Bob concocted an awesome fake to take back "home" to camp. Science teachers can be mighty creative it seems.

The reward seemed a good time with a village visit complete with adorable two year old girl to hold hands with. Talk turned to strategy even in the midst of fun.

Meanwhile, back at camp, Ken was desperate to get the boat unleashed from a hangup on a branch. Paddling in circles, he was truly pathetic. Sorry, but wow. He did bring home the bacon, er, fish, and made some points with Susie and Crystal.

The immunity challenge started out with the news that desperate Bob may not need to be so desperate, with the merge finally occuring. Relief? Or grief? Time will tell. The challenge was basic. Build a fire before anyone else and burn the string over it. Those who thought so much of themselves got pretty desperate as Sugar and Susie sparked flame and got the job done. Susie won individual immunity.

The combining of camps wrought a pile of food and even coffee, and the task of creating a new tribe name if not a true tribe unified. Randy gunned for Crystal, Corinne demonstrated her two faces to Sugar, and Ken got sneaky. At tribal, the gloves came off of Randy with Crystal challenging him to be upfront. He goes off on her "posse" and "gang" attitude early in the game. Open mouth and insert foot. Randy showed his true colors and he isn't pretty.

Sweet Sugar cried over her vote and in the end Crystal got four and Charlie got five. At least he'll get to hang out with his bud Marcus on the jury.

Is talk cheap television? Some viewers may have been bored by all the chatter last night on Survivor:Gabon but this is where the real social game comes to play. It's not all about strength of body.

Fang began the evening saying how they would stick together through a merge they all expected to be coming. While on Kota, Corinne was being vindictive over what Susie had said at tribal. Pretty high school if you ask me. Tree mail hinted at the merger that wasn't to be. The feast was on in a big way. I was drooling over the variety of foods and can only imagine how those starving people must have felt. Elation comes to mind. Yet there were temptations that were not to be touched. A Pandora's Box sat waiting for all to finish eating and hidden in plain sight was a clue to a close by immunity idol. Ken was first to spot it and Charlie second, but rather than keep it a secret, Charlie spilled the beans and shared. Randy dug up the thing and acted like it was the greatest achievement ever. It was practically in plain sight with a map pointing the way! Marcus seemed to convince everyone that it would be best to, as a group, toss the idol to Tritan, thus keeping an even ground among the tribe members. This decision was held over everyone's heads, but in the spirit of becoming (what they thought would be) one tribe, no one wanted to grab the forbidden fruit. Randy was a bit obnoxious in the presentation of the idol to the ocean, but maybe it was the wine talking. Back to the secret in the  box, everyone drew stones and new tribes were formed, evening out the numbers if not the odds.

New tribes: Marcus, Crystal, Ken, Susie and Bowtie Bob on Kota, Randy, Matty, Charlie, Sugar and Corinne on Fang. And the talking grew more desperate.

The biggest result of the chatter was Sugar being told by Matty that Ace hadn't been gunning for her, and her tearing up over it. Perception is the key though. Who was telling the truth last episode? Was Ken dissing Ace or being real?

The immunity challenge was interesting in a power of wills and arm strength. And just when Fang had seemed to decide to throw the challenge and vote out Matty, they are faced with a challenge that didn't allow for a fake out. Matty gained immunity for his tribe but also saved his own behind.

The talk at camp continued as Marcus talked to Susie and Crystal, and Crystal talked to Ken and Susie, and then talk at council had Marcus looking sort of bullyish to Ken. Two and two and then Susie's vote was counted to help Marcus get snuffed. Words seemed to be mightier than muscle in this episode.  So was it a cheap shot or classic Survivor style?

It was a night of spilling things on Survivor: Gabon. Crystal started it with a simple mistake of spilling the rice box, but then spilled her cool a little and while the offer to not eat her share that day was warranted, her attitude about it was more than needed. It came back to haunt her later.

On the Kota side Dan is the odd man out socially and loses it himself a bit, spilling his feelings and making himself vulnerable.

The reward challenge was a ball, literally. Keep the ball away from the other team or they will break it for you. One, two, three points go to Kota once again. Fang loses as Ace smashes the last ball into a post, but everyone seemed to blame the loss on Sugar. Kota sends her packing back to the Sugar Shack in an unprecedented string of visits to exile island. It's just not funny, and to me it even reeks of Lord of the Flies mentality. Harsh and cruel. Kota though, doesn't think twice and goes off on a picnic tour of Africa. Crater-side, they snack on cheese and fruit and feast on letters from home. Bowtie Bob is deeply moved.

Immunity challenge is good old log roll fun, but the spin is that both tribes go to tribal at the end, with individual immunity up for grabs. Showing her true colors, Sugar smiles sweetly at Bob as they battle. Marcus takes the prize and in another twist, is allowed to appoint a member of Fang immune as well. He bestows the honor on Sugar. Maybe he realized how harsh they had been on her? Maybe he's just using her as a pawn.

So, Ace tries to convince Sugar to give him the immunity necklace for the night, just in case, while Ken spills his plan to Crystal to blindside him. He takes Sugar aside and lets it all out, the way he thinks Ace has been treating her. She's not surprised. At tribal, Ace goes down the dark path to home.

At Kota, Susie spills her honesty and naivety that she would have voted a certain way and Corinne gets vindictive, losing her cool. These people aren't used to going to tribal. In the end, Dan the Man goes home.

Ace has a few aces up his sleeves….just in time. Does anyone ever really mean it on Survivor when they make a pact on their loved ones? It seems Matty did, at least so far. He and Ace swore to hang together till the merge, on their girlfriend and mother respectively, though not respectfully if you ask me. What is anyone thinking when they do such a thing?

Over at Kota things get a little hunger induced crabby as Dan the lawyer helps himself to more than his share of grub. A little spice goes a long way but some of these people are quickly going through their food, like they’ll be able to head out to the grocery store the next day. While Fang goes seriously hungry. The camera crew should get a nice tummy growl for effect.

Crystal

This all makes the food challenge timely. A nice twist to the tribe chase game, the teams must carry a huge stuffed snake on their shoulders to weigh them down while they run around a track and try to catch the other tribe. As the members of Fang drop out one by one, it’s plain to see who has food energy over at Kota. So much for being an Olympic runner…Crystal drops out, and Fang loses the race. It’s coffee, tea and pastries for Kota as Crystal tears up over the loss (Maybe feeling disappointment in herself in what one would expect from her in a running race.). And Sugar…gets sent back the shack.

Sugar

While Kota captures and cooks up a nice big turtle, Fang is still starving and Sugar feels guilt over being able to eat in exile. Not me! I’d eat up my fill. I suspect though that she smuggles some of that fruit back to camp in her bag.

The immunity challenge had folks teamed up in pairs to go through obstacles and build a better flagpole, but clearly Ace didn’t get the memo that it was a teamwork thing and lost it for Fang by insisting on fumbling the pole puzzle alone. Crystal is in a funk and blames Ace, but while some members want to try to blindside him, Matty had made that timely pact and Ace is safe. Kelly gets the boot after an ugly little scene in tension high tribal. Oh, the drama!

Sugar’s back from the Sugar Shack!  But for how long? She may have eaten well while there but Kota is living high on the hog with a bunch of fish caught in the net, including one with a shocking quality. Weird. They also still have beans and corn and rice. Where’s the survival challenge? These people are eating better than some Americans!

On the Fang side, we finally get a glimpse of human/animal interaction. Viewers always see nice shots of snakes and hippos, rats and crabs, but hardly ever do the cast members interact with the wildlife. A few exceptions come to mind, like the wild hog incident in a Lord of the Flies moment in Australia and  the disturbing of a nest of hatchlings a couple of seasons ago. This time, the survivors are in awe of nature, as well they should be. Matty spies a male elephant across the water and gathers the tribe to watch for awhile. The pachyderm was presenting, trying to scare them off, but that didn’t stop Ace and Matty from taking the canoe ever closer. Why do men do these things?

The reward challenge was smashing, literally. A fruit toss and smash for herbs, salt, and well, fruit. Matty and Ken did well but in the end Kota won by two pounds. Ace summed it up with, “This is so fun!” In a move admittedly made purely for comedic effect, Kota sends Sugar back to the shack. She happily dances her way to paradise and a full belly.

Lawyer Dan gathers Kota to talk about what will happen after the merge. No one really buys his “together forever” speech. On the other side, GC and Crystal knock heads and it is clear that GC is losing it. He needs to chill, and chill he does. He takes the canoe out and vanishes, causing the team to use energy worrying (or refusing to worry as Crystal ranted about) but reappears just in time to head to challenge. He didn’t care and really neither did I. Oh, the drama!

The challenge was a nice one, reminiscent of a carnival game I played as a kid. Huge wicker balls were tossed down a hill with two blindfolded tribe members trying to defend the goals. A teammate was able to voice directions but either Sugar didn’t yell loud enough or Ace just wasn’t listening (Possible relationship issue there folks) and he got mad. He did listen to Randy, who yelled out to him to stop in a tricky enemy camp move. And Fang will go to tribal.

The tribe snoops in Sugar’s bag and finds the idol…big surprise. Crystal is all kinds of nervous! Talk is to vote Sugar out now to blindside her, but GC claims he wants to go home. He just can’t cut it. Again, what did he think this was all about? They send him packing and my girl Sugar is safe for another round. Whew!