Bloggin' Ep. 13: "The 'Survivor' Car Curse Lives On"

Five are left. Who will be voted out tonight? (Um... last night.)

After recapping Judd's loving departure, the episode began with the remaining five talking about Judd. No surprise. He made his departure talkworthy. Cindy is a bit leery. She sees a pattern. Jamie was blindsided. No one told Judd. Judd was blindsided, no one told her. She's very concerned that she'll be next. The camera cuts to a howling monkey who seems equally concerned.

Rafe is in his element -- last man standing, the women like him and almost consider him "one of the girls", he thinks of them as Rafe's Angels which must be some sort of play on 'Charlie's Angels' in his mind. Is he old enough to remember the series? He feels all who are left are very close. But, as the game of 'Survivor' goes, close friends mean nothing in the long run as you go for that million dollar prize being the Sole Survivor. I snickered a bit when Rafe referred to Judd as one of the 'cool kids' gone leaving the dorks to have fun. I personally wouldn't list Judd as a 'cool kid' but that may be just me. I thought he was a bit dorky! (Hey, I myself am dorky... takes one to know one!)

In the Tree (MAYAN JUG) Mail, all they got was a car key. Gee, do you think they're competing for a car? ;-)

As the castaways got excited, we found out tidbits like Stephenie has never owned a car at all, new or old... and Lydia would give it to her son. They were all psyched for the challenge.

The challenge was called Second Chance. It took elements of previous challenges and was done in three rounds. In the end, Cindy won. What did she win? A 2006 Pontiac Torrent and an overnight barbeque excursion at the local archeologist dig site. Jeff gave her a speech about the Survivor Car Winning Curse -- not one person who ever won the car has gone on to win the show. Four more Torrents drove in and Jeff told her if she sacrificed her win, the other four castaways would each get a car. [Hmmm... this makes me think. They've already procured five vehicles to give away. I have a feeling that if she had given up the car to let the others have them, the show probably would have given her hers, too. I could be wrong. But, a previous season had this sort of scenario with family visits and the one who gave up the prize received the prize. What do you think?] Cindy chose to keep the car for herself and chose 2nd place in the challenge Stephenie to accompany her to the overnight barbeque.

Important note: The four remaining Torrents are being given away. If you want a chance to win one of them, head to your local Pontiac dealer and ask for the 'Survivor' scroll. Then you go to the CBS website where you can find out if the code on your scroll is the winner of a 2006 Torrent. You only have until 12/12 to do this. Scoot along, but bookmark this page to finish reading!

Ah, you're back! Did you win?

Stephenie seemed almost as excited as Cindy was and said she would have kept the car, too. Cindy seemed too excited to be having second thoughts. She wanted to break the curse.

But... back at the camp, Rafe wasn't so thrilled with her choice. He insists he would have given the car away so the remaining four could have cars. My thoughts about this? He probably would have. While I think Rafe is a tremendous player and a nice person, I think he lives in a different world from the others remaining on the show. Well, perhaps not so much different from Danni, but very different from Stephenie, Lydia and Cindy who don't seem to have come from any sort of privileged backgrounds, plus weren't raised in an environment such as Rafe was (read his bio on the website). So, while the girls are away, Rafe plants the seeds and Danni sows 'em. Lydia seems very quiet. I think she would have loved the car if given to her, but if she won the challenge she wouldn't have given away the cars... just like Cindy. She later told Rafe that she thought Cindy made the right choice.

Cindy's determined she will beat the odds and come away with both the car and the million. Yeah, right. As Stephenie and Cindy talk at their sleep away and eat until ya bust, the talk turns of ousting Rafe! Yep, Cindy is pushing that angle and Stephenie seems receptive. They talk of getting Lydia to join the Darkside against Rafe of Goodness and Light. Will it happen? Hmmm...

Upon returning to camp in the morning, Cindy made the fatal error of going on and on (and on and on) about the car. Tsk, tsk. If her fate wasn't sealed prior to that point, it would be soon. Danni and Rafe didn't say much at all to her and Lydia just worked around the camp. Shut up about the car, Cindy! Sheesh! I thought while watching that her only chance to stay after the car would be to win Immunity.

So... off to the Immunity Challenge! This was yet another physical tasks one and now the players (except Lydia) are more equally matched on that level. Rafe may have an edge, but Steph, Danni and Cindy are all pretty tough. There were shackled hands and feet, ropes, keys, knots and running at the end to raise a flag. Finally, Stephenie won something on her own -- for the first time. She was in happy tears. She's made the Final Four.

Scheming time comes, as per usual. Rafe and Danni commit to each other that they want to be the Final Two. Rafe says he trusts her and won't vote for her. Meanwhile, Danni seems to have a trick or two up her sleeve. I think in the past week or two she's proven to be excellent at the Outwitting and Outplaying aspect of the game. Will she Outlast? Rafe is a good player, but I think Danni may have the edge on him. She's shrewd, yes she is.

They made it look like Rafe would be voted out, but in the end all voted for Cindy to leave. So, for the Final Four, we have Stephenie, Rafe, Danni and Lydia. In my mind, though I think she's probably a great lady, Lydia doesn't belong there. Will she be next to go? Who do you want for the win? I think Stephenie has redeeemed herself a bit, but I'm straddling on a Rafe or Danni win. I was a huge Rafe supporter all along... but now I'm thinking Danni could have it in the bag if she makes it to the Final Two. Rafe will be seen by many on the jury as deceitful as he was part of their leaving and was supposedly a friend. Danni, on the other hand, was on the "other tribe" and her actions weren't technically those of a "friend." We'll know Sunday night!

What do you think?