I didn’t see that coming.

Day 19, and Crystal spills some of Fang’s meager rice supply. Matty is very upset but he holds it in. Crystal says she can see it on their faces and so she stubbornly refuses to eat.

The next day at Kota Dan tells Marcus and Corinne that he’s feeling excluded. Corinne wonders if he’s insecure because maybe he’s a “former fatty.”

The Reward Challenge is three members of one tribe playing keep-away with a breakable ball against one member of the other tribe. There are two games going at once and the first “monkey in the middle” to get the ball to hit the ground and break gets a point. First tribe to three points gets a helicopter ride to a picnic. Corinne and Charlie sit out.

Randy and Ace are the “attackers” in round one. Randy plows into Kenny and gets him to throw the ball short. 1-0 Kota.

Bob and Sugar take the middle. Sugar says Randy is an “ugly person.” Bob hits people to no avail but Sugar is laughing and not doing anything. Bob finally gets the point. 2-0 Kota.

Dan and Matty are the aspiring ball-breakers. Dan manhandles everyone, quickly gets the point and Kota has yet another easy victory. Sugar has yet another trip to Exile Island, her fifth in a row.

Matty is very upset at Sugar and wants her out. More than Crystal? Does he realize he only gets one vote?

Later Matty tells Ace the rest of them could vote for Sugar so Ace doesn’t have to backstab her. But Ace argues they should keep Sugar so they know where the Idol is. Meanwhile Kenny tells Crystal they should blindside Ace.

Kota eats by a huge crater. Then they get letters from home. Stinks for Fang. Bob cries like a crazy person. It looks like Randy didn’t get any letters at all. That stinks worse than Fang.

At the Immunity Challenge Jeff announces both tribes will be going to Tribal Council and voting someone out. He then unveils the Individual Immunity Necklace.

The Challenge is logrolling, a.k.a. birling (thank you, Internet!). Castaways will be matched up one-on-one, even against their own tribe. Oh, and there’s a bonus twist at the end.

The first round goes like this:
Ace quickly beats Dan.
Charlie quicklier beats Crystal.
Marcus beats Matty.
Randy beats Susie.
Kenny and Sugar barely move, but Kenny eventually falls off first.
Bob says he won a logrolling competition in college, and he backs it up by beating Corinne.

Round two:
Charlie and Ace duel for a long time and both fall off but Charlie barely hits the water first.
Marcus beats Randy.
Bob and Sugar fall off at the same time and it’s very, very close, but the college champion touches first and is eliminated.

The final three compete at the same time. Sugar goes out first. Ace and Marcus engage in a long battle but Marcus finally wins. The twist is he has to give a second Immunity Necklace to someone from other tribe. He chooses Sugar. He tells us he’s hoping she’ll keep the other Hidden Immunity Idol so a stronger player like Ace, Crystal or Matty leaves.

Kenny wants to get Sugar to vote with him and Crystal against Ace. He lies to Sugar and says Ace wanted to vote her out because he said he could get her to give him the Idol. Sugar tells Kenny she’ll vote with them to blindside Ace, but she tells us she’s not sure what to believe.

Ace then asks Sugar for the Idol. She tells him he won’t need it. Now she’s starting to believe Kenny’s story.

At Tribal Council Fang talks about the spilt rice. Matty says they didn’t say anything about it. Crystal says if they cared about her eating they could’ve saved rice for her. Sugar says the tribe is holding “stupid petty things” against each other.

Crystal votes for Ace, and Matty votes for Crystal. Ace does not play the Idol. The tally goes: Ace, Crystal, Ace, Crystal…ACE!!! Wow. Best moment so far in a game lacking good moments.

Now the real question: What was blurred out from next to Ace’s name on the final ballot? I’m voting for “hole.” Send me your best guess: mail@dangfun.com

Now it’s Kota’s turn to squirm. Dan asks Marcus if they’re voting for him and Marcus says, “Not that I know of.”

Marcus says Randy has replaced Bob in their final four. They talk with Charlie and Corinne about voting out Dan or Susie.

Corinne tells Susie that it’s going to be Dan. Susie tells her she was going to vote for Corinne. Corinne tells us she hates Susie and wants to “stab her in her face.” Randy also wants to vote out Susie. The four of them worry about Dan having the Hidden Immunity Idol.

At Tribal Council Susie says she’s stronger than Corinne. Corinne takes it calmly with no face-stabbing. Dan is wearing a tie. He should be voted out just for that.

Susie and Dan vote for each other, and Marcus votes for Susie. There goes the suspense.

The tally reads: Susie, Dan, Dan, Susie, Dan, Susie (3-3), and….DAN! So much for that tight alliance.

Next time on…Survivor: It looks we get the much-needed merge, Randy says he’s the king, and lots of people are naked on the beach.

Well, well, well. From our perspective it looks like Sugar made a big mistake in voting off her only ally in the game. But when Ace accidently confirmed Kenny’s story you can’t blame Sugar for thinking she was in trouble and you have to give her credit for making a bold move to protect herself. She survived to the merge and she’s still got the HII, which gives her a chance to make something happen.

The Kota situation is more puzzling. Not that Dan was voted out (although it was the first time they deviated from the vote-off-the-weak strategy) but how it happened. Charlie and Corinne voted with Bob and Susie to eliminate Dan, while Marcus and Randy voted for Susie. What happened to Corinne wanting to front-stab Susie? And why isn’t Charlie voting alongside his loverboy? Lots of interesting questions as we get ready for the merge.

And we get naked people.

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