The Jalapao tribe had a good run. They started out this week by beating Timbira once again in the reward challenge. This week they had the sandbag challenge with three people having to hold bars on their shoulders as members of the opposing tribe place 2 ten pound sandbags on the bars. The record for most weight had been held by Rupert from Pearl Islands at 220 pounds - that was matched twice this season. In the end, it came down to the two women - Taj and Deborah. I will say this, some of these women are stronger than a number of the men! When all was said and done, Taj had won the reward for Jalapao.

This win led to Sierra going to exile and Taj got the pleasure of joining her. This allowed Taj the time to explain the "secret alliance" that crossed tribal lines for the first time in Survivor history (not counting seasons where they did tribe switches). It will be interesting to see if the 2 pairs can survive long enough to make it to the merge.

Timbira actually managed to win the immunity challenge - their first win in 5 challenges. The question before Jalapao was : do we keep the woman who kicks butt in the challenges or keep the chick who does nothing but rub the guys butts to get ahead? Of course, they booted Sandy tonight. Sometimes these people amaze me with their stupidity. Why keep dead weight around - which could make you LOSE challenges - and get rid of someone this early who has helped you immensely in the challenges?

Dumbass of the Weak : Taj and Stephan. If you're trying to keep yourselves safe until the merge, why would you vote out Sandy who would VOTE WITH YOU. You knew she would do whatever you told her. Why not help protect her long enough to be of use to you then dump her when she is no longer needed?

Surprise of the Week : Deborah. I expected Taj to be able to hold a lot of weight but I didn't think Deb had it in her to last very long. She did tremendously well in this challenge - holding 100 pound on her shoulders. She didn't win the challenge but she did her tribe proud.