It's Day 22, and the talk revolves around the secret Immunity Idol. Danielle is in the shelter with Courtney and Cirie and she tries to show them what Terry revealed to her, but it's not there any more. She then says she's not sure it was really the Idol. Now there's a scenario I didn't envision: Danielle not being smart enough to believe Terry when he gives her visual proof. Amazing.

Aras asks his team to send him to Exile Island so he can find out once and for all if the Idol is there.

Get out the hankies cuz here comes the Loved One Challenge. No in-person visits this season, only videos. Everyone gets a sneak peek and we learn that Courtney's family has "love signs" for each other, and Aras' dad has a teepee in the backyard, neither of which is all that surprising.

For the Challenge they're split into two teams of four and the winning team gets to watch the rest of their videos while they eat peanut butter sandwiches and drink milk. Your squads are Bruce, Sally, Terry and Courtney vs. Danielle, Aras, Cirie and Shane.

This Challenge is awesome. One person lies on her belly on a "cradle" and is suspended by ropes above the ground. The three other teammates then pull ropes to maneuver the dangler so she can pull small flags out of vertical posts and place them in numerical order in a post along the ground. Very creative game.

Aras' team has the lead but they knock out a couple flags with their feet and can't recover. He gets his wish and is sent to Exile Island.

Back at camp, Shane whips out his junk and asks Cirie to look at it but not to laugh. She tells him the redness is like diaper rash because his clothes are damp all the time, so he strips to dry off. Cirie says he's like "a nude cartoon character."

Aras can't figure out the clues so he has no idea where to look for the Idol. He concludes that Terry sent him to Exile because Terry already found it.

The Reward winners return and we learn they were given their luxury items as well. Sally has a journal, Bruce has a sketchbook, Terry has an American flag, and Courtney has some twirling things.

Day 24 brings the Immunity Challenge. There's a sunken plank with seven symbols on it. You have to dive down, memorize the symbols in order and replicate the pattern back on shore.

Here's the twist. You can skip the Challenge if you want and eat burgers and fries until the race is over. Every Casaya member but Aras takes the food. Ouch.

That makes it a three-person Challenge. Aras is the first onto shore but his guess is wrong. Terry is next…and nails it on his first try! Long live the king!

Terry's choices are pretty simple at this point. He can either keep the Idol for himself, or he can give it to Sally and send home one of the CaSix.

As far as the majority's plan, last week I had a smooth idea that would have worked brilliantly…except I can't count. The alert David emails in and says, "Sorry, Scott, but your math didn't add up…. A split Casaya vote can't be 4-3. That is SEVEN more votes, and there are only SIX Casaya in the game."

Yeah, I'm an idiot. Casaya can't beat La Mina's two votes twice. They have no choice but to give Sally six votes and hope she doesn't have the Idol.

Terry shows Bruce the Idol to confirm what he told him last time. Sally says she doesn't know what Terry's going to do but she's going to act like she has the Idol for sure. She talks to the women about guaranteeing themselves a trip to the final four.

Terry talks to Courtney alone but she says she can't commit to anything. Cirie later tells Courtney that Terry would be crazy to play the Idol now because he'd still have to win enough Immunities in a row to beat five other people. Good point.

Courtney lights her twirling things on fire and swings them around. Yay.

At Tribal Council everyone talks about Terry. Shane calls him a "47-year-old beast." Danielle is annoyed at his cockiness about the Challenges. Jeff reminds her of her tribe's cockiness in sitting out the Challenge. They all talk about how they have to beat Terry.

Sally and Terry vote for Aras. Cirie votes for Sally and says, "I hope you have the Idol."

The tally goes: Sally, Sally, Aras, Aras, Sally, Sally, Sally. They did what they had to do, and now we wait…..

NO! Terry keeps the Idol for himself and Sally is gone. It's Top Gun against the world.

I've been trying to figure out why this ragtag group of six has stayed together this long, and I think all the open talk is the reason why. There has never been a group this open about their alliance and their plans. Usually the majority tries to act like everyone has a chance and all the whispering makes people nervous, then someone panics and they jump. But with no attempt to hide things, all six feel secure that they aren't being blindsided.

However, two of them are going to prove to be very shortsighted. You can't take six people to the final four and beyond. Players 5 and 6 should be trying to find out where they stand so they can strike before getting stricken. I think Bruce especially is going to regret that he didn't take Terry up on his multiple offers.

Now what does the Beast do? Will he publicly display the Idol to try and swing people over to his side one last time, or does he just say, "Bring it on. I'm undefeated and you've got to beat me twice"? Actually it would go like this:

Terry: What's your problem, Powers?
Shane: You're everyone's problem. That's because every time you go out in a Challenge, you're unsafe. I don't like you because you're dangerous.
Terry: That's right, Shane...man. I am dangerous.

Don't anybody lose that loving feeling and I'll see you next week.

-Maverick

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