I know I am behind on my Survivor recaps. So, this is a condensed recap of what has been going on since Day 6.

Last time, it was Betsy who became the latest bit of collateral damage in Russell's quest to become the greatest villain ever on Survivor. The question then became, would it just be voting to get rid of people he wanted gone or would the tribe actually develop of a brain and vote for the better of the tribe?

Fortunately, Jaisson felt Ben needed to go and others finally listened. I thought the look on Ben's face was priceless when Jeff announced he was voted out. That "WTF?" might be the best tribal moment this season.

Over in Galu, most of the women seem to think they're at Club Med. First, Russell chooses towels and pillows over cooking items at the reward challenge, earning him Dumbass of the Weak. Next, this past week's episode shows them doing YOGA! Thank God for Shambo! If it weren't for her, I would write off all women this season.

Although. As much as I love Shambo, she did a stupid thing ... she told Erik how to find the hidden Immunity Idol! And he found it! Dumb move Shambo. It's not like you have an alliance with him. Or do you? We really haven't gotten to see much about the politics at Galu to know whom is aligned with whom.

The leaders were told to pick two tribe members to go one a quest with them. The 3 people from each tribe competed in a game of Survivor bocce ball. Naturally, Galu won on Dave's final shot. They won chickens and while Shambo was trying to get an egg out back at camp, one got away. What a shocker.

During the immunity challenge, the teams had to race across net obstacles while carrying blocks. They then had to stack the blocks into one tall stack. nce they completed that, they races across a rope bridge to get to another pile of blocks. Then, they stacked those in one super-tall stack. Shockingly, Foa Foa won its first immunity challenge!

Of course, the first thoughts of the boot went straight to Shambo. Like her or not, the woman is keeping their tribe going. Russell wanted Monica gone for tanking the challenge. Others wanted Yasmin gone for being a waste of space around the camp. Which is more important? Well, this is the tribe where towels are more important than cooking gear and yoga takes preference to getting water and food. Of course, Yasmin got the boot.

I apologize for the lateness of this ...

In what may be the smartest move ever in first 3 days of a Survivor season, Russell began searching for the hidden immunity idol - without a single clue. Obviously, this guy thought about how he was going to compete prior to arriving in Samoa. I'm not sure anyone else did, though. From the look of it, it didn't take Russell long to find the idol hidden inside a tree in the middle of Foa Foa's camp. Is he the only one who has watched this show? I'm with him - I'd be searching for the idol my own self.

Say what you want about Russell, but he is playing the smartest game so far.

The same can't be said for Mike (aka Verosi). He seems to think that he isn't the weakest person in challenges. I'm sorry but even the dumb blondes were more useful doing the puzzle in the first challenge.

In the Reward/Immunity Challenge, the tribes had 3 players fighting for possession of balls that they had to get to one of their teammates up on a platform. That player would then try to throw the ball into the opposing tribe's basket. First tribe to 3 won immunity and fishing kit.

You know just by the description that things would get physical - and they did. In fact, Ben was kicked out of the challenge for using a cheap shot - for the first time in show history. The other interesting point in the game was when Mike took a hit so hard, he looked like he didn't know where he was afterward. He just kind of walked around aimlessly with his pants hanging down. Such a strong player, huh? After the challenge, Mike was having trouble breathing and had a bp of 92/60. The doctor pulled him out of the competition. This is why you don't cast an old, overweight, nonathletic guy and throw him into the wild and expect him to be able to handle it.

Once again, Galu won the challenge. After this victory, Galu's leader, Russell, was told to choose someone to go to Foa Foa's camp and observe, interact with the tribe and to receive the clue to the immunity idol. He chose Yasmin to go and I was so glad he did. It's always fun to see people get cocky on this show and she did not disappoint. She actually walked in there and said she was there to help them with strategy because they don't want a cakewalk. Um, when did Jeff say anything about strategy? Besides, there's only been two challenges at this point and she hasn't done anything strategic! From there, she spent a lot of her visit having a toddler argument with Ben. I really wanted to see those two start hitting.

Tribal Council wasn't really exciting. Russell wanted Betsy gone because she questioned his tactics. So, she is gone.

Foa Foa is now down three members to Galu. They better do something fast.

The first episode of season is usually my favorite. I like getting to view the contestants for the first time and I can usually figure out who has a chance to make it as far as the merge.

You also get to see how stupid most of the people are.

To begin the competition, Jeff announced that each tribe would pick a leader based on first impressions. Russell from Galu and Mick from Foa Foa were the two chosen. Galu was perfectly fine with their choice but a couple of members from Foa Foa weren't too thrilled with their tribe's choice. Both Ben and Russell were pouting because they weren't chosen. When they have three people trying to take charge, you know they're doomed already.

Some impressions I got ...

In Galu, one guy was miffed about not getting chosen as the "smartest" tribe member for the opening challenge. John, a rocket scientist, comes off as one of those people who just love to hear the sound of their own voice. Shambo is probably my favorite of all the castaways this season. She makes the mullet look cool. Unfortunately, I think her tribe will try to get rid of her in one of the first few times they go to tribal. One I was really disappointed in was Russell, the leader. For a lawyer, I would expect more much leadership ability than he demonstrated in the first couple days at camp.

In Foa Foa, they have the trifecta of stupidity. Ashley, Marissa and Natalie make up what I call "The Dumbasses of Eastwick". They aren't the only dumbasses in this tribe though. Mike (aka Verosi) is the oldest contestant and somehow despite being terribly overweight, slow and lazy, he doesn't think he is the weakest member of the tribe. He is sorely mistaken.

And then there is Russell.

He was already being billed as the worst villain in the history of Survivor. He didn't disappoint. Now, I'm all for villains. Back in the first season of the show, I was rooting for Richard to win. He was very forthcoming with his strategy and made no apologizes for anything he said or did. He actually played with a lot of integrity. Now, this Russell guy isn't a villain ... he is just an asshole. He lost me at the point he told his story of tragedy during Hurricane Katrina. Fact is, he never lived in New Orleans and he is a billionaire oil company owner. If you're going to be a villain, at least do it with some integrity. Here's a clip of Russell doing some sabotage at camp and talking about his strategy ...

In the reward challenge, the teams ran a relay race with a puzzle at the end. The key was choosing the right people for each leg based on the tribe leader's first impression of the individuals. Mick did it the best and Foa Foa won the challenge and received flint to make fire back at their camp.

Later in the immunity challenge, the teams had 6 members each running up and over A-frames carrying rope. They then used the rope to move a heavy crate full of puzzle pieces. Finally, four members of each tribe had to put together their puzzle. My first observation was that Mike, who claimed he was very valuable to the tribe, just stood there watching Galu put their puzzle together. At one point, his teammate actually had to rip the piece out of his hand. Yeah, he's soooo valuable. Thanks to Shambo, Galu was able to kick butt in the puzzle and win immunity.

That meant it was time to see if Russell was actually calling the shots. All the bimbos were aligned with him but Marissa started to distrust him and so he called for her to be eliminated. Betsy was right to say Ashley is the weakest but Russell needs her for vote. So, Marissa got the axe thanks to Russell and his dumbasses.

Russell 1, Foa Foa 0.

For those who don't remember him, Ethan Zohn was the popular winner of Survivor: Africa. Recently, Zohn was diagnosed with Stage 2 Hodgkin's Disease. Just last week, he was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of the disease, CD20-positive Hodgkin's lymphoma. Although this form of the cancer is found in roughly 5% of people with Hodgkin's, the doctors say the survival rate is around 90%.

Zohn's girlfriend, Survivor: The Amazon winner Jenna Morasca, is committed to helping him through this rough time and be there to help him beat the cancer. Both Zohn and Morasca are no strangers to cancer. Both Zohn's father and Morasca's mother have lost battles with cancer.

"This is the ultimate game of Survivor," Zohn, 35, tells PEOPLE exclusively, "and there's really only one outcome, and that's to win. There's no other option."

Zohn has already begun chemotherapy. I hope he can win this fight.

... JT and Stephen would be dead.

Well, we have to back up a couple days. The final episode started off with the final four players arriving back at camp after slaying Captain Douchebag. [Note: I was giddy as hell about that.]

At the first immunity challenge, the players had to race through a tarantula shaped maze where they had to climb through tunnels make of rope. At the end of the tunnels, they had to grab a bag of puzzle pieces. Then, they had to race back and solve the puzzle once they had all three bags. Naturally, JT was the first to retrieve all his puzzle pieces but was followed fairly closely by Stephen and then Taj ... with Erinn bringing up the rear.

Despite having a huge lead, JT just barely managed to edge out Erinn for the win.

At the first Tribal of the night, most of the discussion centered around the subject of keeping Taj versus keeping Erinn in the game. Based on that discussion - and the comments made earlier - I knew that the boys would take the coward way out and blindside their third alliance member, Taj.

Assholes. [More on this later]

The big drawback to taking out Taj? Now they had to listen to Erinn's never-ending verbal diarrhea.

Like every season before, the final three had to take the 'walk of the fallen' and reflect on the losers they enjoyed getting rid of. As they reach each torch, a voice clip from each person reflecting on their experience was played. From this we learned that Tyson didn't learn a thing and is still a complete jackass and that the three of them are completely gullible because they still thought that Coach had been honest the entire game.

How ironic was it that Sierra, thought of as a half-wit, was the person to call Coach out on his dishonesty?

At the next immunity challenge, the players had to place a ball into a metal chute and it would spiral around to come out one of two chutes back at the bottom. After a few minutes, they would have to add another ball. To make it more difficult, the balls would alternate coming out the left and right chutes, making the players have to remember which chute was next. And even worse, the players would have one hand tied behind their backs.

Do I really need to say who won? Ok ... surprise, surprise ... JT won again.

After much effort to add drama to the show, JT voted Erinn out of the game. Did anyone really think that JT would vote out Stephen? If you did, you're an idiot. The best part about Tribal? The look Taj gave the boys - and that hand gesture - was priceless.

That brings us to the final Tribal Council. There were a few highlights ... Coach continued his warrior-samurai BS ... Sierra called JT out for talking about 'bringing the strongest player to the finals' when he in fact brought the weakest with him since he voted out Taj ... and Stephen followed up his statement about 'not having said anything negative about JT' with his attempt to throw JT under the bus to make himself look like the good guy.

Did he really think that anyone would buy it? It's not like JT denied having done the deeds he had done ... only Stephen did. Of course, that led to the marital squabble between JT and Stephen. Anyone else think they fought like a divorcing couple?

In the end ... JT won unanimously. It was only the 2nd time in 18 seasons of Survivor that someone slammed the runner-up like that.

As for the rest of the reunion hour, there wasn't much to really recap. JT won the fan vote .. no surprise there - except that Sierra was in the top 3 with JT and Taj. Tyson had grown a 1970's porn star moustache (or was that dirt on his lip?).

Then there was Coach.

Jeff had asked him to take a lie detector test. Coach didn't want to do that because he thought Jeff or the producers would mess with the results. So he had it done in Hollywood. It said he was telling the truth. Here's the thing - if the person taking the test really believes the lie to be the truth ... it would be a false positive. Either that ... or he paid someone to fake the results. Oh ... and it was odd that he had members of his 'coaching staff' there with him ... considering he was fired from his job.

Well folks .. the season come to an end. See y'all in the fall when Survivor travels to Samoa.

While this hasn't been a great week for my favorite reality competitors (Annie, Margie, Luke & Allison of ANTM), it finished nicely with Danny going home (finally) on Idol and tonight's episode of Survivor being my favorite of the season.

This week started with the survivors coming back from booting Debbie at that night's tribal council and right away, they started telling Coach about how they saved him. They told him all about Debbie's plan to turn on him and explained to him that they didn't think he would believe them if they told him before tribal. In fact, Coach hadn't realized that Debbie was the lone vote against him - he figured it was Erinn!

So Coach still thinks that he is in the strongest alliance. We know better.

Of course, Coach is still spewing his "warrior alliance" garbage all over the place. I still think he hasn't yet realized that the only person in that alliance is a douchebag named Ben Wade. Oh, Ben Wade is 'Coach'. Click his name for an earlier post I did about Captain Douchebag.

One of the funniest moments of the season took place right before the reward challenge. Coach and JT are talking at camp and Coach, as usual, is trying to pull more reassurance out of JT that he is not going anywhere. They start talking about who will be going to Exile and although Coach is 'ok' with going, maybe it would be a good idea for Taj or Erinn to go back Exile.

Then he starts whining about his asthma and his back hurting. Funny, this is the first we've heard about that. Basically he is just putting that information out there in hopes that if JT wins the reward, he won't send Coach to Exile. So far, Coach is the only one other than JT who hadn't gone to Exile so obviously they would send him. Plus, having him be weaker for the Immunity challenge is a nice bonus.

For the reward challenge, the players had to navigate their way through a maze (in the shape of SURVIVOR) while having shackles attached to their ankles. Once they make their way through, they have to build a pole from sticks of wood and string. Then, they use the poles to get a hanging sandbag which they will then use to knock down three targets to raise their flag.

Naturally, JT is headed off first ... with Coach right behind him. In fact, Coach stuck to JT like Tyra Banks on a cupcake. That really didn't matter since it took JT very little time to put together his pole and get his sandbag. He had all three targets knocked down before Coach even had his pole put together. JT won an overnight stay with a feast, shower and a bed to sleep in. Of course, he took Stephan with him.

Before choosing a companion, it was up to JT to choose someone for Exile. He asked for volunteers but seeing none, he ask Coach to do the 'noble thing'. Then led Coach to go off on a monologue about how he was going to not make fire, not eat, not sleep nor drink water. Of course, Erinn called him out about his "martyr" plan. She felt that he was trying to diminish the hard experiences others have had at Exile. Fortunately, her mouth wouldn't get her in terrible trouble ... yet.

Yes, JT and Stephan had some fun in the shower. You can draw your own image about what might have happened, I won't stop you.

Of course, Coach took the opportunity of his own cameraman to ramble on and on and on and on about how he was going to get 'so much' spiritually on his 'fast' in Exile. Probably not the smartest idea for him to not eat, sleep, drink or build a fire. Hey, he is his own worst enemy and if he wants to get himself eliminated faster, all the better. When he arrived at the Immunity challenge, he looked as haggard as a two-dollar-hooker coming off a 12-hour shift.

He was so proud of his ability to not eat or drink ... and celebrated by asking Stephan for water.

In the Immunity challenge, the players had to stand barefoot on wooden pegs in a wood frame without using their back or rear end to lean on the frame. Every 15 minutes, they would step down onto slightly smaller pegs. Once they reached the smallest set of pegs, the challenge would continue until one one person was left standing. Ironically, it came down to JT and Coach. Despite all his talk about back pain, Coach was able to stand on the pegs for about an hour before he dropped, giving JT the win.

Then Coach collapsed. He went on about how his back was spasming during the challenge. I know what back spasms feel like. He would NOT have been able to keep standing on those pegs while having spasms. To top it all off, he refused to let medical take a look at his injury.

Could it be that he was acting the entire time and the medical staff would have figured it out in no time? Taj and Erinn sure thought so.

Tribal Council was pretty short this week. Jeff really only asked questions to two people : Erinn and Coach. He asked Erinn about her calling out Coach. He also asked Coach about that and about his asinine attempt to martyr himself at Exile. Naturally, Coach began pulling quotes out his ass. Oh, and then something happened that only Coach would do.

He stopped Jeff right before he started the voting. To recite a poem that he wrote for everyone. Great shots of the jury falling asleep and most trying not to laugh at Coach's ridiculous actions.

The vote was interesting. 3-2 in favor of keeping Erinn. JT voted for Erinn only because he felt like he promised Coach he wouldn't vote him out. Well, it's really because if it was down to JT and Stephan in the final two, he wants Coach's vote. On his way out, Coach said that Stephan turned on him. If it is JT and Stephan, JT would have little trouble winning.

Will be interesting to see what happens during Sunday's finale. Somehow, I don't think JT & Stephan will both make it ... if Stephan wants a shot at winning anyway.

As usual, it didn't take Coach long to say something stupid.

In the beginning of this week's episode, he said, "I'd don't care about the money. I care about my integrity and honesty and I set out to change this game from start to finish."

Um, I don't believe ANYTHING he has said or done is the truth. In fact, just last week he was caught in a complete lie over who approached whom to restart the old Timbira alliance. Does he really expect that people have bought into the whole 'warrior and martial arts Mister Honesty' routine? Heck, even Jeff called Coach out on his blog and in the Tribal Council during this week's episode.

(For more information about Captain Douchebag, click here)

This week, there was no reward challenge. Instead, it was the Survivor Auction. In seasons past, there have been a lot more than 5 items but this season, there were just 5. The first item was french fries but I missed who got them. Coach then paid $320 for a plate of chicken parm, JT got nachos for $160, and Stephan got a zonk of chicken hearts for $100.

The fifth and final item was easily the best one. Because it was such a special items, the 'no money sharing' rule was lifted. When Jeff showed that the item was a cell phone loaded with messages from their loved ones, everyone immediately gave Taj the rest of their money so she could have the phone as she has been hit the hardest since she had to leave a baby behind.

Then there was a twist. In the message from her husband, he said, "I'll see you at camp." Taj didn't get that at first and Jeff had to point it out. Taj was ready to go back to camp right away. I can't say I blame her! Then Jeff through another loop out there ... If Taj was willing to go to Exile (with her husband with her) then the rest of the tribe could have their loved ones meet them at camp as well. Let's see ... alone in exile with her husband? That was a no-brainer.

Of course, this was another opportunity for Captain Douchebag to spew more bullshit. He actually told his brother(?), "they call me the dragon slayer here because I slay dragons." I have news for Coach ... the only one who calls Coach that IS Coach. I would really love to see the movie that is playing in his head.

Once the loved ones left, it was time for the begging and pleading and lying to begin. Coach was told several times that his choice of Taj would be how they were going to vote. Then, Debbie was quick to throw Coach under the bus in hopes that JT and Stephan would take her to the final 3. In fact, she told them that she'd be willing to let them vote her out and let them be the final 2. Ah, Survivor Desperation ... you can see what this is heading.

At the Immunity challenge, the players had to maneuver through obstacles and remember math symbols in order to solve a math equation. JT was clearly out in front of the pack with Debbie trailing behind him. Stephan was one of the last ones to reach the symbols and he spent a long time trying to memorize them. Imagine everyone's surprise when he was able to figure out the equation on only one try. Not that he needed immunity, but it's always nice to have.

So ... Coach thought Taj was the target and Debbie thought Coach was the target. Too bad the other four knew that Debbie was the target. Later Debbie ... enjoy that wonderful shower and fun with Sierra, Tyson and Brendan.

Apparently, next week Erinn starts running her mouth. Hopefully, that doesn't derail the voting out of Coach. The longer he sticks around, the bigger chance he has of sneaking into the final 2.

Well, the high of Tyson getting voted out finally wore off and I was looking for Coach to reignite that high. Unfortunately, that wouldn't happen this week.

To be honest, nothing I'd hoped for happened.

I thought after making a bold (and correct) move like voting out Tyson, they would follow it up with another bold move.

Wrong.

Wait, I should back up. The reward challenge this week was an old Survivor favorite where they answered questions about the tribe's members and then as they got correct answers, they would cut a rope of an opponent. Once a survivor had all three ropes cut, they would be out.

One of the more interesting questions was, "which survivor hasn't live up to they potential?" The obvious answer was Sierra, but the answer was actually Coach. It's true, he hasn't. He has sucked in challenges and he sucks in the 'social game' as well.

In the end, Stephan beat out Taj for the win. He then took Taj and JT on the reward with him - dinner in a family's home and a trip to a natural spring. While they were gone (and Erinn was at exile), Coach and Debbie took the opportunity to talk to Sierra about regrouping the original Timbira members into an alliance. When she told them no way, Coach decided to tell JT that Sierra approached them about reforming the old tribe alliance.

Liar! So much for him being completely honest and all that garbage he spews.

It's a good thing for Coach that he won the immunity challenge or else he'd have been voted out. I found it amusing that at tribal council he professed that he has never lied and then had the audacity to quote the bible in his defense. I cannot wait for the reunion special just to see this guy get ripped a new bunghole.

The plan sounded like it was going to be Debbie going home, but it ended up being Sierra anyways. No more whining from her at least!

Dumbass of the Weak : Coach. Come on - the guy quoted the bible to defend his 'honesty'.

Surprise of the Week : A vote for Stephan? Not sure what Erinn was doing with that ...

This week started with Sierra whining about sticking to the "cross tribe" alliance and listening to Coach spout more of his enlightened garbage - something about "slaying the dragon". The question is, was he referring to Brendan or masturbation?

Let's not forget, Coach is a third-rate soccer coach from a tiny Baptist college who got fired because he abandoned his job to go on a show without informing the school.

Once again, there was a pissing contest between Coach and Tyson for Survivor's biggest douchebag of all time. Scary enough, it's still a tie. Tyson did a great job once again spewing his ignorant venom though. I really wonder if his family has been totally embarrassed by his behavior. He definitely isn't winning any congeniality contests, that's for sure.

To be honest, the challenges weren't really that important. The reward was won by the team of Tyson, Debbie, JT & Erinn and the immunity was won by Debbie, who stole it away from Sierra. Of course, we knew Sierra wouldn't win the immunity because the commercial emphasized she might.

The real fireworks started when Stephan and Taj actually thought up a smart plan - eliminate Tyson. The challenge would be to get JT and Erinn to agree to help. They knew Sierra was already voting for Sierra so there was no reason to involve her. Erinn was a quick sale and JT was mulling it over.

I must say, the best moment so far this season - and maybe of the history of the show - was the look on Coach and Tyson's faces as all those votes for Tyson were read. Someone needs to tell Coach that strength comes in many forms, not just in brute physical strength. It was great to see the Chicken Man get what he deserved! I pray that Coach is next to go ...

In the aftermath of Joe being removed from the game for health reasons, the entire tribe was in a somber mood while sitting around the campfire.

So Coach Douchebag took the opportunity to become the center of attention and regale the castaways with a tale about him being surrounded by indigenous peoples in the Amazon rainforest while river rafting after being dropped by a military helicopter.

Right. Who could believe that?

Well Coach does. And maybe Tyson - his boy wonder.

The reward challenge this week was a game of underhand throwing to break ceramic tiles. The castaways were split into three teams of three and threw balls to break the opposing teams tiles. The team of Brendan, JT and Debbie were the winners and they received a white-water rafting excursion and a picnic afterwards.

That made Coach whine about not being able to go rafting.

Anyways, the immunity challenge this week was an old Survivor favorite - but it's a boring one to me. The players are hooked to a rope and have to make there way around obstacles - over, under, around, etc - and the first three to make it through moved onto the final round where the players were once again attached to a rope but the obstacle was three feet high.

It was no surprise to see Taj and Stephan having major trouble in the challenge since they are the least athletic in the group. It was also no surprise that Tyson, Brendan and JT were in the final. And no surprise - Tyson won again.

Then the scramble began.

It was hard to know which plot would actually win out. Would the cross-tribe alliance actually get Coach out? Would Coach and Tyson's plan to oust Brandon come to fruition? Which alliance would JT and Stephan side with?

Ultimately, everyone was lying to Sierra and Brendan as the others split the vote 4 for Brendan and 3 for Sierra - just in case Brendan used his hidden immunity idol.

Stupid Brendan didn't use it.

Bye Bye idiot.

Dumbass of the Weak : Coach. Could the guy be more arrogant? And now he is telling fabricated stories to try to impress the others? The man is a soccer coach from an NAIA school who was fired for lying to the administration.

Surprise of the Week : Taj and Stephan. I really did think they could follow through with getting rid of Coach.

Some may remember when I declared Coach the "Tool of the Season" after the first episode. I'm starting to believe that Tyson may be a bigger douche than Coach! I don't think there has been anyone as arrogant as Tyson ever on the show. The weirdest thing was when Tyson said that Brendan has felt his hot breath on the nave of his neck (I think the idiot meant nape) and also on the small of his back. Is Tyson saying he was trying to kiss Brendan's ass literally??

I can't wait for the reunion show to see what Tyson thought of his douchery after he saw it.

The show is turning into a race to see which of the two could be the most disgusting Survivor contestant in series history.

This week we finally made it to the merge. That meant the "cross-tribe" alliance could start their carnage on the game.

Or will it?

Coach did a good job of snowballing JT and Stephan into a new "alpha dog" alliance with himself, Debbie and Tyson. Coach has this ridiculous notion that the physically strongest contestants should be the ones around in the end to "duke it out."

Yet he is trying to get rid of Brendan.

That is totally against his strategy for the game. Not that we care. We just want him GONE. Fortunately, it seems his time may be up next week.

Once the tribes merged, the immunity challenge took place. Pretty straightforward, the contestants had to climb up on poles and hang on. And not surprisingly, Tyson won the challenge. I was really surprised to see that Debbie almost won the challenge - not bad for the "old" broad.

That sent everyone into a frenzy. Everyone trying to figure out who to vote for. It also showed just how broken the Timbira tribe actually was. None of them actually believed in sticking together - although they all "agreed" to.

In the end, there was no tribal council. Joe had an infected knee and was forced to withdraw. Several people were very lucky they get an extra 3 days to figure things out.

There are many questions after this episode. Will the "cross tribe" alliance wake up and starting doing anything? Will Stephan stay true to Taj? Will JT really ditch Taj and Stephan for Coach?
Now that Joe is gone, who will Erinn align with? Will Tyson and Coach just get it over with and hook-up?

Dumbass of The Weak : Coach & Tyson. It's hard to pick just one.

Surprise of the Week : Stephan. I was in his corner until recently. There is a way to be sneaky on this show and he isn't doing it in a savvy way.

Anyone else having withdrawal symptoms the past week or so? Yeah, me neither.

Well after two weeks, we finally have a new Survivor episode full of morons. Oh, that's nothing new I guess. None are as big a moron as Coach. I don't think there is a bigger douche on television today. Tyson is a close second there as well. Those two are meant for each other.

I think it is safe to say that Jalapao has gone back to its losing ways. After 2 straight Immunity challenge defeats, Jalapao needed a win in the worst way this week.

Their first opportunity came in a Reward challenge in which the tribes built barricades in their opponents structures. The teams then had to toss ceramic piggy banks through the barricades and set them on the bench. Jalapao was behind most of the challenge but had actually taken the lead before tanking the last few throws and ended up losing 13-12. For once, Timbira didn't choose to send Taj to exile and opted to send Joe instead. Joe then chose Erinn to go with him thinking he could use the time to "charm" Erinn in hopes of swaying her to switch tribal allegiance after the merge.

While Joe was at Exile, Taj decided she needed to create a fake immunity necklace (which Joe later found) so that Joe would not discover that it had already been found. Shortly after, JT picked up what he thought was an empty bag and found Taj's immunity necklace in the bag. He mentioned it to Stephan, who played it off like he had just been told about it. After Stephan told her that JT had found it, Taj decided to tell JT about it (she had been trying to convince Stephan to include JT earlier anyway) and told him that if he needs it, he can have it.

At the Immunity challenge, they had to use slingshots to break glass pieces that would release sand and in turn would release a bag of puzzles pieces. After breaking all three, two people would work to put the puzzle together. Tyson and JT started shooting for their tribes and they each ended up taking all the shots. Tyson did well but JT had a lot of trouble and probably should have switched off. Thanks to Tyson, Timbira had a huge lead and won the challenge with ease.

Then the talk of stabbing Taj in the back started.

Stephan and JT were in a very good position. Joe and Sydney were already set on voting for Taj. Stephan has been in an alliance with Taj for awhile and has the 4 person/cross-tribe alliance going. We've already seen that he is more than willing to ditch Taj to advance himself. Stephan even commented to JT that they could vote out Taj and keep her immunity necklace since she had it in his pants' pocket.

At Tribal Council, it was clear that the decision would come down between Sydney and Taj. Jeff asked Taj about her having spent so much time in Exile to which Taj replied that she would be valuable to keep around because it was possible that she had built some relationships that they could potentially use to their advantage after the merge. Sydney was quick to point out that she hadn't spent any time with the other tribe and thus she was loyal to Jalapao. Funny, I didn't realize that Taj couldn't have built a 'relationship' with others and still be loyal to Jalapao. Gosh Sydney - are you always this dumb?

In the end, Sydney got her dumb ass sent home. Good move Stephan and JT - you'll need Taj. By the way, the merge is next week. Things should really get interesting.

Well it is apparent that Jalapao's dominance has definitely dissipated. In fact, they are now behind the 8 ball. Winning the reward challenges is fine and good, but it you hope to stick around in Survivor you have to win the immunity challenges. Coming off winning the previous immunity challenge, Timbira definitely had confidence going into the reward challenge.

Once again, they lost. I must say, it was fun watching Sierra almost go flying off the spinning disc. Once again, Jalapao dominated the reward challenge and once again, they chose Brendan to go to exile. Then he chose Stephan to go to Exile with him. That lead Tyson to question Brendan's motives for not choosing Taj to go with him. I understand why - he didn't think it was right to keep Taj from enjoying the reward challenge for a change.

The reward challenge consisted of one member from each tribe launching balls into the air using a slingshot and the others using nets to try to catch them. JT single-handedly gave Jalapao a huge lead at 4-1. With the Jalapeno Poppers needing just one more catch, Tyson caught 4 in a row to win immunity for Timbira.

For awhile, it seemed that Taj was going to be voted out. Fortunately, the others believed that Taj did not have the immunity idol and voted out Spencer, who was the weakest player in the challenges. Next time, she may not be so lucky.

Dumbass of the Weak : Taj. Why the hell did she give the immunity idol to Stephan to hold? He not thinks of it as his and he is clearly not above helping Taj out the door so he can keep it for himself.

Surprise of the Week : Tyson. Tyson hasn't been integral to Timbira's success until this week. He scored the last 3 points for Timbira and saved them from Tribal Council. Good thing too - Brendan would be going home - with the immunity idol.

Todd Herzog, winner of Survivor: China, reportedly is dating Survivor: Tocantins contestant Spencer Duhm. Couldn't they announce that after the show has at least aired? Ironically, Spencer slammed Herzog and other previous gay contestants in an interview that took place AFTER they started dating. In an interview with Reality Blurred, Spencer said:

"I don’t like come across like most of the gay guys but I am, so I’ll probably be like—but then again, JP was gay and nobody knew that on the show; he was about the straightest I’ve ever seen. … But I won’t be Todd, I surely won’t be Coby. I won’t be Charlie. Holy shit. I talked to my parents and I was like, ‘Mom, do I sound like that?’ she was like, ‘Sweetheart, no, I would never let you go out in public if you sounded like that.’ Thank God."

I wonder how much Todd liked seeing that in print.

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.

I have to admit that I didn't pay close attention to Survivor this week. Sorry, American Idol comes first in my book. Next week things will go back to normal when Idol is on Tue./Wed. again.

I did manage to flip back and forth and I did watch the challenges and tribal council. I was actually surprised that Erinn is still around. She has managed to alienate herself from the group, yet there were enough people that agreed with her that Jerry needed to leave. I'm sure Jerry, a former military man, must have been shocked at his ouster since Tyson told him "no one" was talking about voting him. Sorry Tyson, no one was talking to YOU or Coach about it. That's all. Maybe Coach's "desired game" won't come true after all. Remember, this is Survivor - the strong rarely come out on top.

Dumbass of the Weak : Coach and Tyson. Lordy, lordy. Can we go one season without a "bromance" or a mutual admiration butt-licking society? I sincerely hope Tyson is just amusing Coach by acting excited about being his "assistant coach." Wait, is that like Robin was Batman's sidekick or like Ernie is "just roommates" with Bert? Something tells me it is the latter.

Surprise of the Week : The Jalapeno Kickers, I mean the Jalapao Tribe. In week 1 it looked like Timbira was going to steamroll them. Two weeks in a row now Jalapao has kicked some Timbira ass. Rarely do we see a tribe in the early episodes work with such great teamwork. Looks like Sandee could be around a while, eh?

I wonder if Tyson will blindside Coach next week .. or is it more likely he will do something with his backside?

Okay - Don't the people who go on this show know that you have to learn when to keep your mouth shut? It is a running theme in Survivor history - you run your mouth about someone before the first time you go to Tribal council and you GO HOME. Hey Candace - maybe you should have watched more Survivor episodes before auditioning for the show.

I think we all expected Sierra (who had been voted the weakest during Episode 1's "First Impression Vote") to be the first person voted out of Timbira - but "Coach" was able to convince people that Candace was a "poisoned apple" that needed to go. I have to admit - as much as it pains me - that "Coach" did something smart. He convinced the sheep to vote out the person gunning for him. He is still a tool but at least he has SOME strategy.

Dumbass of the Weak : Taj. Why the hell would you tell the others your husband is Eddie George? Next you're going to tell people that your former career was as a member of the hit r&b singing group, SWV. You just admitted to your tribe that you DON'T NEED THE MONEY. Good going.

Surprise of the Week : Sandee. Who knew she could kick ass like she did in the Immunity/Reward challenge? She was tackling people less than half her age! Even the people in Timbiri talked about how "the little old lady" kicked their pathetic asses. Hopefully that will keep her in the game for awhile. It sucks that the younger people think she should go simply because she's older.

I'm used to there being nasty individuals on shows like Survivor - it's the nature of it. Sometimes though I can get pretty disgusted by some of the things that people say that have nothing to do with the nature of the game or the game itself. Here is the new Reality Enemy #1:

At the beginning of tonight's episode, one member of her tribe was sharing with her and another person that he has some anxiety about being left out of groups. Well, silly me but that is a pretty common feeling - in fact I think most of us feel that way at some point. Well this stupid girl actually says this in a confessional interviews - "I'm not sure what his problem is - maybe he is a former fatty or something". Yes, that is the type of person we should put on television to influence young people. I hope that she is embarrassed when she watches the episode and I'm sure her family is really proud of her attitude.

It's time for another group of idiots to play "camp" in an exotic location. Ya know, I used to be a real big fan of the show but over the previous few seasons I have found my desire to watch the show beginning to wane. They seem to care more about ratings and whom might fight with whom than to put people out there who might actually be able to handle the conditions. And why do they have to pick a flamboyant gay to represent the gay demographic every time?

First off, they had the "elderly" people begin choosing the tribes. Grandma -aka Gillian- decided to choose another "mom" who then chose "another mom" because "us moms need to stick together". Um, that won't help you win challenges idiots! Tonight's episode had two immunity challenges. Big surprise - the "mom" tribe lost both. Just when you thought Grandma was going to get voted out, a youngin' named Michelle made a wrong move - she whined, bitched, complained and whined some more. That earned her the first ticket home.

After the 2nd immunity challenge, Grandma decided she needed to somehow get the target off her head. Did it work? Nope. Grandma went home. She should have been the first person voted out - hell, she shouldn't have been there in the first place!