The Newsroom

Still in Botswana, teams drive themselves to a village. The Country Singers get the "deep personal" moment at the beginning of the show, which is the usual CBS trick to tell viewers that they're going home at the end of tonight's show. The Hockey Brothers, in first, struggle without having anyone to follow. Seriously. And then the Country Singers get a speeding ticket doing 95 kmh in a 60 zone. They were fined 820 pula (which Google converts to $99.38 US). The clue box had the Fast Forward and the Hockey Brothers went for it. The task was waterskiing for a mile in a crocodile-infested body of water. They accomplished the task without getting eaten. The Roadblock was using a canoe to transport two goats. Meanwhile, the Country Singers went to pay their speeding ticket only to discover that local police forces in foreign countries don't take American currency. So they gave $100 to a total stranger and asked him to change the money because the cops wouldn't

Just a test post to see if I can post a Vine video on my blog via iPhone

We more or less kick off the show with the Reward Challenge, which is a Survivor Coffee Bar. The challenge was the teams linked together carrying sand bags, chasing each other around a water course. The younger team won (the Gota tribe). Secret Agent Man's team lost. He did poorly. At Gota, Malcolm got the Alpha Males together in an alliance so they wouldn't get picked off in the merge. Back at Bikal, Julia and Dawn chatted about Secret Agent Man, and whether he could be toppled. Immunity was another weird mishmash of skill sets - rowing boats, diving, keys, statues, grappling hooks ... Gota won. So Bikal is off to Tribal Council again. Secret Agent Man pulled Cochran aside and told him that he threw the challenge to get rid of Julia. Cochran didn't believe a word of it. Can you tell from how little I've written tonight that I'm just not into tonight's episode? The "Secret Agent Man is crazy but his tribe can't be bothered to vote him out&qu

The teams were off to Botswana. Everyone was on the same flight. Once they arrived, they had to sign up for one of three safari charter flights. It was very pretty and there were lots of cool animals. Teams then drove themselves down an old road where they had to dig for scorpions with a bushman. That was far less cool. The bushmen putting the scorpions to sleep in their mouths was the freakiest thing I've ever seen. The teams then had to drive their bushmen and jarred scorpion back down the road. The Detour was either lighting a fire using 2 sticks (which is more than most participants on Survivor can do) or catching a guinea fowl in a home made trap. The latter was considerably easier than the former, and a number of teams switched from the fire detour. From there, it was off to the pit stop. Huh. That's it? Oh well, the bushmen totally stole the show tonight. The hockey brothers were team 1. Pam and Winnie were second. Team Mullet staged a big comeback into third. Yo

Both teams get summoned before Jeff for a Tribe Switch, which is going to force me to have to learn actual names of people because it's not Fans vs. Favorites anymore. And, worse, it was pretty much a half-and-half split, so I'm totally confused. Erik and Malcolm and Andrea and Brenda are on the "Fans" tribe with Reynold. Matt, Julia and Michael joined the "Favorites" tribe. Secret Agent Man immediately tried to sway Julia into his wacky Alliance. She looked at him like he was crazy. Good judge of character, this one. But she decided to play along. He tells Corinne about this, which makes her upset for reasons I don't fully understand due to not paying attention and being too lazy to rewind the PVR. The immunity challenge involved rolling giant crates and then building a staircase with them. The orange "Fans" team easily won against the Purple former Favorites tribe featuring Secret Agent Man. Secret Agent Man targeted Julia for tribal c

Teams are off to Hanoi, Vietnam to find a theatre. Dave and Connor have been told that the ruptured Achilles Tendon needs to be repaired in seven days, so they figure that this is going to be their last leg. Of course, the theatre is only open until 6 p.m., and the first three teams arrived at 7:30 p.m., so the great equalizer rears it ugly head again as all the teams end up at the theatre before it opens. Dave and Connor weren't with the rest of the teams. There was great mockery of Jessica and John's elimination holding the Express Pass. Dave and Connor went straight to the Pit Stop, where they pulled themselves from the game due to the injury. I'm placing pretty good odds that this now becomes a non-elimination leg for the rest of the teams. As they waited for the theatre to open, the Roller Derby Moms and YouTubers worried they were being targetted for the U-Turn. The Roadblock was required teams to watch a theatrical performance to get a verbal clue that was

Russell Hantz's Nephew talks about how selfish he feels leaving his wife and two kids behind to play a silly game. And he volunteers to be voted out of the game next time they're at Tribal Council. Reward challenge was for barbecue. Favorites won, as the Fans tribe disintegration continues. Given that Reynold played his idol last week, everyone on the Fans tribe went looking for the newly rehidden island. Hey, Reynold found it! How about that? He's not going to tell anyone this time. That sounds like a good plan. Back at the Favorites tribe, Russell Hantz's Nephew had an argument with Secret Agent Man. Corrinne declared that RHN is "unstable." Really? What was the first clue? RHN declares that as long as he can keep himself under control, he'll be fine with Secret Agent Man. Now there's some quality foreshadowing. Secret Agent Man considered having his tribe throw the challenge to get Russell Hantz's Nephew out of the game. Word got bac

So the whole "Will he or won't he" with Dave and Connor lasts, oh, 4 seconds and they take their clue and it's like, "We're off to Bali!" And so they are. Where a monkey will give them the next clue. The teams had to give a coconut to a monkey, who would, in theory, open it and show them their next clue. Except for the monkeys who ran off with the coconut or just ignored them. The clue was for the Detour - collecting sand from a river to a brick maker, or building a religious shrine of fruit. Pam and Winnie and Dave and Connor were the first to finish the fruit task and were off to a surfing beach for the next clue. The Surfers headed to the wrong place and built a different kind of religious shrine in front of a confused man. Someone helpfully pointed them in the right direction. Over at the surfing beach, the Roadblock had one team mate having to find a specific surfboard with the image of the Tahitian priest from the last leg. And then they ha

Following last week's Tribal Council, Eddie had a meltdown at camp over Hope getting voted out, and declared his hatred for the rest of his tribe. Hey, that plan ALWAYS works. At the Favorites tribe, Secret Agent Man inducted Russell Hantz's Nephew into Stealth R Us, and was given the name The Conqueror. And then Erik - the Silent One. And then Brenda, who is now Serenity. Like I don't have enough trouble remember their REAL names. Good grief. Maybe give them cool superhero costumes or something. That would help. There was an actual reward challenge that didn't involve immunity. They were playing for a local bushman, who will bring chicken and vegetables and improve their camp life. Cochran sat out the challenge due to uneven numbers and the fact that his skin was peeling like a moulting snake. Gross. Favorites won a challenge that involved all of them having to stand on a platform approximately six inches across. Group hug! So at the Favorites camp, a little Yoda

When we last left Dave and Connor, Dave had ruptured his Achilles Tendon, and the previews for tonight's show strongly hint that it's a game ender for him. The doctor tells him that the muscle is torn and he needs to see a specialist. Teams are off to New Zealand, where the Orc problem, has, thankfully, been licked by some plucky Hobbits. Dave and Connor depart in second place, but are, apparently, going to be heading to Tahiti to see the specialist - although it's unclear whether they're actually on this leg proper or not. The teams have to connect through Tahiti. Where, apparently, the airport is closed. Dave and Connor see the doctor there and the Achilles Tendon was totally torn. Dave gets himself a stability boot and hobbles around on his crutches to try to get as far as they can in the race. Team Mullets end up on the last flight out of New Zealand, while Pam and Winnie are in the lead. Teams have to drive themselves to a gorge and take a jet boat tour. P