May 3, 2007: Chewing the Fat and Capturing the Flag
I've said it before, but it bears repeating: This is one flimsy alliance. These two-faced, yet strangely honest, Syndicate members are working together, but they've each got one hand in their pocket and its fingers are crossed. Everyone is out for themselves, as it should be, yet no one is willing to do anything risky, like say hook up with Alex and vote out He Who Holds the Hidden Immunity Idol. This is why Boo's nonstop chatter was the best (actually the only) gossip to come out on the show during days 31 through 33. Mark my words, after the past few weeks of whirlwind activity, tonight's show was the pre-storm calm of an alliance on the verge of collapse. What a perfect time to assess the remaining seven players.
Stacy: This girl is trouble. Right after voting out Mookie, little Miss I-want-to-make-things-right is talking up Alex. Stacy may seem weak but the look she gave Boo when he came to corral his stray teammate said otherwise.
Yau-Man: Is he starting to seem just a little selfish to anyone else? I respect the fact that he called out Cassandra's bond with Dreamz as his reason for wanting Stacy in the Core Four. Dreamz is too unpredictable a player to rely on for the final four, but give it a rest already. You have the HII so if anyone should be worried, Yau-Man, it's those in your alliance and not the other way around.
Dreamz: What is this hold that Alex has over Dreamz? Why can't he realize that in reality, there were always only three horsemen and let this weird allegiance to the so-called "Four Horsemen" go? Of all the remaining players, Dreamz is the one most playing the game on the fly, and that's because he's been torn between the two sides. What is most touching about Dreamz is the potential Cinderella story. Now that his letter from home reminded him (and us) of what a
Survivor win could mean in his life, he has refocused on his goal. That's reason enough to root for him.
Earl: Mr. Chess player. Mr. "I'd rather just vote your a-- out now and take my chances." He's likable, smart and getting a little cocky. Surely Earl can't still believe that Yau-Man would ever share his HII? Does that mean that Earl has a second super-secret alliance with Boo, the man who sent him back to Exile Island? As one of two players with clues to the re-hidden HII it is quite possible that Earl has already found it; otherwise his confidence at tribal council and during Alex's attempted last-minute coup is misplaced.
Cassandra: Can anyone trust a woman who speaks without moving her lips? She's allied with e-v-e-r-y-o-n-e and so consequently with no one. Like Stacy and like Boo, Cassandra is everywhere
but on the radar. Surely The Syndicate noticed that she didn't even try to dig for her steps during the immunity challenge. Why bother winning immunity when no one's gunning for you?
Alex: Playing tetherball alone is about as much fun as trying to win a pork-on-a-rope reward challenge all by your lonesome. But that's what Alex is: all alone. I give him credit for working it until his torch snuffing. He made his case and, though his exit wasn't as take-no-prisoners as I'm sure he would have liked (the vote was 6-1), he did convince Dreamz, the floater Stacy and Cassandra to switch sides for a while.
Boo: I like him more and more. He's been marked for elimination (to steal a phrase from
The Amazing Race) for a while now, but he is still here and this week he easily won both challenges. Was Boo's bumbling all an act? He didn't fall into the water while rafting, nor did he come close to getting clipped by the helicopter's rotors. We could chalk up his immunity-winning pole climb to his construction-worker background, but maybe we should consider that Boo has been playing the fool all along.
Now that Alex is gone, it's time for this loose Syndicate to implode. They all know each other's hands, though I'm not convinced that a player or two hasn't been dealing from the bottom of the deck. This should make for an interesting show next week. As
Jeff said, "It's time to start sharpening the knives."
