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A very peculiar episode. I was looking forward to the double-TC, and althought JP's decisions seemed reasonable, there was an element of discomfort. Okay, he stopped the challenge, but one team was clearly ahead (and yes, the other team could have made a stirring comeback). Do they just sit, maybe for hours, waiting to see if RS is airlifted or can continue? So stopping it may have been arbitrary, but there was no reasonable alternative. Then he tells them regardless of what happens with Russell S, there will be a double boot that night.

And then there wasn't. It surely helped some players (and, alas, there is no way that the producers couldn't have some inkling of who was helped and who would be booted.) Fishy? Not exactly. Just uncomfortable. The integrity of Survivor should always be above reproach, and any time the rules and edicts are changed on the fly the explanation should be clear and accurate; JP provided no explanation as to why the double elim shouldn't take place (one suspects that the simple reason was: eliminating 3 people in this one episode would have screwed up their schedule.) This is a peculiar season in a lot of ways, and this just adds to it.

Nevertheless, the back and forth at TC was pretty funny, like elk bulls in rut bugling at each other. I wish one of them, in response to the other's "we're gonna smash 'em" would have just said, "I expect no less" or some such, in other words: Both of us will talk smack, boost ourselves and diss the others. What else would you expect?

What struck me is that both side's guard seemed to be down, much more so than at a normal TC with only one tribe. The normal circumspection one sees at TCs was replaced by something both primal and silly. I enjoyed it. Much smoke, not much light.

A few things. There was one female voice-over confessional that lasted quite a long time (Galu in the soaked shelter). I asked spouse who was talking, spouse had no idea. Neither did I. It was female, and there was never a shot of Laura (or whoever) talking to let us know that this confessional was Laura's. It was just Generic Female Voice. If it was so indistinguishable, should it be counted? And who do you ascribe it to? How does that contribute to a person's visiblity if the source of the voice is unknown?

Ratings - for the most part I don't really care if John was P or neutral; thanks to the horrid early-episode edit of Galu I still have a hard time figuring out which white guy on Galu is which. Brett's the quiet one... okay. And it's very frustrating that we're seeing some entertaining strategy from the menfolk over there - FINALLY!! - but seems so irrelevant thanks to this being (in the words of spouse): The Russell Show, also starring Shambo.

However, they aren't thinking through having Shambo as their dumb fifth wheel - and boy oh boy, did they stress the "she's so dumb she could screw this up" bit... notice how they had to repeat to her, several times and in simple sentences: Don't. Talk. About. This. Okay? The problem is that Shambo has been edited to have no loyalty at all to Galu. Probably the smartest thing the guys there could do is to vote Shambo their leader. She might think this is a glorious sign of reconciliation, and is also probably the kind of woman who dislikes the younger chicks a lot more than the younger men. Nevertheless, this was the first strategy talk in the entire season that I thoroughly enjoyed... contrast to the "I'm the best" strategery in Fi Fie Foe Fooey via Russell H.

Russell S? Not that it matters much, but give him the PP. First off, he had perhaps the most peculiar shot in the season, and one of the oddest in the entire show's history: The opening scene post-intro was GALU: And in that entire scene there was no talking. Just Russell S fishing in the morning at the seaside. Then a cut to Foa Foa. Very peculiar, but I'm sure at that moment we all thought, oh crap - he's the guy who gets hurt. Anyway, the opening stuff with him working and the others SPV'ing him was OTT. It wasn't exactly N, not exactly neutral. They weren't dissing him, but talking with a tone of astonishment mixed with admiration. Then his collapse, and JP's worry (that alone gets it very close to PP - it was clear JP liked the guy a lot), and his final statements. And the end shot was not the people leaving TC as it always is, but a flashback to Russell's departure. It reminded me most of Jonathan's exit from F v F, and that was PP all the way. We even had SPV from Jeff! We were supposed to feel for him and admire his moxie.

The other Russell: I don't see the mixed. The stuff at the TC was bull - he provides bull every time he goes there, but all of his confessionals, the voiceovers, the 'previously on Survivor' stuff was just a rehash of the same old crap from him. There just wasn't a hell of a lot of honest P. It was like giving Johnny Fairplay a P for crying so well when he found out his granny died. The fact it was fake mattered, didn't it? Russell's edit is still a one-trick pony, and until I see something other than the same old RH, it's hard to change up his rating or tone.

Everyone else? Mick was MOR, maybe even UTR. Nothing wrong, but we're to the point where we're beginning to want to see more. Still, nothing at all wrong with his edit. Shambo? More interesting. For much of the ep she was invisible. But she got N SPV from the chicks, and also N SPVs from her supposed allies, the men. Yes, we're supposed to sympathize with her - the intro sort of force-fed that idea into us - but overall it's getting hard to hide the fact that she's screwy.

And what about the chick alliance? The SPV from the men about the mother/daughter thing going between Laura and Monica was out of the blue - they're a known pair? We finally find that out in episode 6? It was clear the guys had known this for a long time - so thanks, editors, for clueing us in. Monica's getting the same edit as previously- they're doing their best to paint her badly. Her statements to Shambo were not very politcal, but they were honest. And although the edtiors finally(!) gave us a hint as to the dude's strategy, what is the chick strategy? We have no idea. That's another reason Monica's edit seems so bad. She's weak, she doesn't like Shambo (legitimately) but we have no inkling of any jostling for position that the chicks might be doing now. We see no depth to her. She's just weak and mean (at least according to the editors.)

Everyone else? Holding pattern. Liz is worried. Jaison is uncomfortable. Natalie is Natalie.

Winners - Mick. Then Jaison, RH, Sham. At least the latter two aren't INV or bit players. But I still think RH and Sham are the distractions.

ETA: why doesn't yuku allow the plural of dude? And in case that is turned into mush, the word is one used to describe a cowboy camp that people can go to in order to re-live the old west. d.u.d.e.s