Bloggin' Ep. 11: "Gay Mormon Boy Rules, Liars Exposed and Steph Explodes"

Seven are left. Who will be voted out tonight?

After the obligatory recap, the show opened on Xhakum, Night 27 where Judd was stuttering, stammering and confused by Joltin' Jamie's ouster in Tribal Council. He wished someone had told him, but as a viewer I can see why they didn't -- and it was a good move on the part of Rafe and Stephenie... Lydia to a lesser extent.

Gary is a happy castaway, but of course. he thinks Jumpy Jamie did him a big favor by driving his own alliance crazy.

When Day 28 dawns, Judd saw that Gary was grilling Lydia. No, not in a cannibalism kind of way! He was asking her who's the leader of the alliance, who she thinks should go next, yada yada yada. And, she seemed to be answering him honestly. She said Stephenie is making most of the decisions and she nailed that one right on the head. Judd ran to Stephenie to tell her what she heard. Judd, Stephenie, Rafe and Cindy think they have the tightest group and will make the final four. They're willing to lose Lydia to Gary and Danni, saying she should have been voted off weeks ago.

In confessional, Rafe talked how Judd has changed and can't really be trusted. He added that he will use him for the time being, though. Judd's confessional showed that he thinks Gary is the biggest liar as he said at the Mansion Reward that he felt Cindy and Lydia should be voted off and now he seems to be in an alliance with Lydia. Now, I think he didn't lie. I think Gary's just trying to do whatever he can, allign with whomever he can... to stay in the game. That's all. To me, that's not lying at all. I don't recall him telling Lydia he'd never vote for her or anything of the sort. Lydia herself is looking out for her best interests. She says she'll go with whoever is the better deal for her own advancement in the game.

It's off to the Rewards Challenge! Each contestant is represented by three clay pots (labeled with their names) full of corn and suspended by ropes. Jeff asked a series of questions based on Mayan culture. Correct answers got the opportunity to bust a pot of another player. Wrong answers sat out the round. The Reward? A day at a glorious waterfall with a feast and a massage. Food! Lydia was the first person to break a pot and went immediately to Stephenie's. Oh, no! Steph was ticked! She started making nasty comments about jealousy and just being downright mean to Lydia. She was the first clubbed out. Now, this is the kind of challenge which really shows who wants whom out of the game. But, the way they handle things may allow a bad relationship to at least cruise along a bit. Not in the case of Stephenie vs. Lydia. Lydia's rationale was that she hadn't won any food and was very hungry. Alas, Cindy turned out to be the winner and she chose to bring Rafe along with her. He came in second place.

Back at camp, Stephenie went on and on. I liked her last season, but not so much this season. She is a strong player and competitor, but the first part of this season we saw her whine so much and now it looks like the power of numbers has gone to her head! Argh! C'mon, Jersey Girl -- throw a bit of normality in there! Just a teensy bit! Please! I felt sorry for Lydia who was Stephenie's target and I wasn't too thrilled with her, either. She pouted like a child -- "Cindy should have chosen ME!" Dang it, what happened to Pep Rally Lydia? I liked her!

In confessional, Gary pointed out that Stephenie eats anything and everything and may be the only contestant there who hasn't lost weight. Lydia said that if she had won, she would have taken Rafe as neither of them have eaten. Um... then why is she faulting Cindy for taking Rafe? After all, she couldn't choose them both!

Cindy and Rafe tightened their bond during their outing and it's evident that they just might have the strongest bond of any two players outside of the Gary/Danni bond which is under the Numbers Game Target. They have final two plans a'goin', trust me!

Upon returning to camp, they couldn't help but notice that Lydia was not only in the role of an outcast, but was acting strangely, too. Cindy doesn't feel sorry for her and seems to think that's Lydia's game ploy with her behavior -- the Woe is Me Card. In discussion between Rafe and Stephenie, it's pretty much decided Lydia is no longer in their alliance at all. Gary tried his hardest to work on Rafe -- he wants in with the Inner Circle. Will he prevail? If not, he'll go down fighting 'til the end.

Could it be time for the Immunity Challenge? Why, yes indeed, it could and it was. This was more of a thinking one with a smidgen of running involved. Jeff told this long convoluted Mayan folklore story that I couldn't begin to explain right now -- the sun, the moon, sons who held the sky down and the ending was why the sun always hides from the moon or vice versa. There were seven stations, each contestant had a color. They had to run to a station, put together a puzzle which asked a question about the tale. Then there were two boxes with answers on the lids. The right one had flags in each color, the wrong had colored sticks. The right answer would run to tie the flag to their stand, the wrong had to run to throw the stick in a fire and then go back for the right answer. Gary gave a valiant effort, as did Cindy... but Rafe won Immunity once again. You go, Rafe! He's thrilled! He thinks he's doing the gay community proud by doing well athletically and mentally.

Back at the camp, Gary made his play for Rafe. No, not that way! Sheesh! His game play! Rafe admits that he doesn't trust Stephenie 100%, but doesn't really offer Gary much to go on with how he'll vote.

Of course, it was raining as the tribe headed to the Tribal Council. Jeff asked his Probsting questions starting with Lydia and the hostility betwixt her and Stephenie. It got quasi-heated right there at Tribal Council between them. Stephenie denied she was running the show. Meanwhile, Gary said that some seemed starstruck by Stephenie and should wait until after the show to ask for her autograph. That got the jury -- Bobby Jon and Jamie -- guffawing and slapping knees. I didn't guffaw, but I chuckled. ;-) Judd went on about how he has never lied in the game and that Gary is the biggest liar because of the Lydia/Cindy thing. Gary called him on the hidden Idol lie. I chuckled once again.

Darn. I'm going to miss him. Gary was voted off tonight. Sigh.

So, who am I liking? I really like Rafe. I think he's playing a smart game mentally, he's getting along with folks and that the only thing he has to watch is winning so much. He's going to have to keep on winning or he might be perceived as too big of a threat no matter how much folks like him. I've gotten so I like Danni, but I feel her days are numbered. I'd like to see Stephenie and Lydia out at this point, followed by Judd.

What do you think?