Season 2, Episode 11 - Let's Make A Deal

Day 28 - BARRAMUNDI TRIBE

The ripple effects of Jerri’s blindside is taken on by Amber. She feels left out, isolated, and alone. Not a comforting place to be. Her big sister, her biggest ally, gone. The question is what’s Amber’s next move? On the one hand, she feels betrayed by former Ogakor’s Keith, Tina, and Colby, but on the other hand, she isn’t tight with former Kucha tribe members Elisabeth, Rodger, and Nick. Is she the swing vote, the tie breaker, or maybe just lost? Does she get stick to voting with former Ogakor despite being left out of the Jerri vote? Or does she become the first “flipper” in Survivor history and swing the game from the “bottom” position and vote with former Kucha?

My best guess is that she sticks with Keith, Tina, and Colby or as the expression goes, “better the devil you know than the devil you don’t”. If she votes with the devil she knows, it’s likely that Nick, Rodger, and Elisabeth will be Pagonged before Amber gets picked off for a 4th place finish. Or perhaps the Keith, Tina, and Colby trio may use Amber to get out one more former Kucha (Elisabeth would be the smart move) to solidify the numbers advantage 4-2 before saying “G’Day” to Amber, much like they did to her hostile big sister Jerri.

FIRST SURVIVOR AUCTION!

Every Survivor fan dreams of making it far enough into the game to experience the Survivor Auction. It comes at just the right time in the game, especially for the inaugural auction. Food is beyond scarce at Barramundi’s camp and this episode captured 2-3 minutes of starving six pack abs, concave stomachs, and a wild cricket fishing hustle like something out of a cartoon. It makes you think, did they plan the auction out or did they have to make it happen because of the lack of food at camp? Either way, the auction is fun for many reasons.

1 - Survivors genuinely seem to be starving

They truly look famished and struggling with hunger. The auction provides players with exactly what their struggling bodies need and the viewer with a deep exhale knowing that they aren’t going to die!

2 - How would I handle the auction?

What would I jump on? What item would I steer clear of? Which item would I HAVE TO HAVE? It’s fun for the viewer to put themselves in the game and try to imagine their stomach gargling and their cravings going through the roof after a 30 day rice diet down under.

3 - Break in the drudgery

The auction is great because it’s a reward challenge, but better. First, it gives everyone a fighting chance. Second, the players’ faces light up when each item is presented by Jeff and you can pretty much see the drool. Finally, it’s entertaining to see players smiling, taking a break from social strategy, and not being wet blankets miserable in the rain. Everybody wins.

4 - Spending hundreds of dollars on simple food items

Auction items included 5 Cool Ranch Doritos and Salsa, 4 squares of chocolate and a big ole scoop of peanut butter, a glass of ice cold Mountain Dew, an energy bar, glass of iced coffee, and 6 french fries with ranch dressing. The big prizes were a plate of turkey, bread, mashed potatoes, and a cheeseburger. Plus, it’s fun to watch someone spend $340 on a cheeseburger. And I almost forgot, Amber spending $200 on a mystery item, a glass of river water. Womp waaaaaa.

Shameless advertising? You betcha. Good TV? You know it. The evolution of the Survivor auction will be a fun reward to track through the seasons.

Day 29 - THE TIDE IS HIGH AT BARRAMUNDI

So much for the good vibes and smiles at the auction lasting long. The tide is changing and the one meal from the auction is quickly overtaken by the river nearly raging through the middle of camp and the lack of food reality setting back in. Having to move camp is not at the top of everyone’s list of things they’d like to be doing. Neither is doing the heavy lifting of catching fish, exerting energy, and watching others do nothing. Elisabeth and Rodger plant the seed in the viewer’s head that they are fed up with Nick’s lack of help around camp and fear that he’s conserving energy to make a run at winning a second straight immunity challenge which in turn would put Elisabeth or Rodger on the hot seat. Nick’s a smart guy, but I don’t think he is an elite strategist to the level Elisabeth is thinking.

IMMUNITY CHALLENGE

The fire scale. Start a fire on one side, keep it going, fill a water bucket on the other side, water bucket has a hole in it. A true survival skills challenge. Sort of. Can you make a quality fire with the help of matches? Have you learned anything after 30 days in the Outback? Can your endurance carry you to safety?

You have to love the fire making challenges. I do. Pure, simple recipe, but still room for a twist. And what makes them even better is a come from behind win. Nick and Tina got out to an early lead. Then, Keith looked like he was primed to tip the scale and send his fire up to win immunity, but he didn’t have enough water in the other end and his fire wasn’t strong enough. In the end, Colby battles back from a slow start, gets his fire roaring, comes from out of nowhere, and wins immunity and guarantees himself final 6. Yee haw cowboy!

PROBST VISITS CAMP

When Jeff comes to camp holding a tin of rice, you know things aren’t going well. Barramundi is really “bare”-amundi, as in the cupboards are completely baron. Barramundi is out of rice because of poor rationing and a total failure to prevent things like condensation from spoiling portions. With 13 days left, if Jeff doesn’t help them out, they may just, well, die. So, Jeff comes to camp like the dad of the 15 year old who acted irresponsibly and now needs a talking to on the car ride home about responsibilities.

Oh by the way, Jeff isn’t giving two weeks worth of rice for free. His bailout package comes with a price. Rodger’s feeble offer of blankets insults Probst. If this were the NFL draft, he would have been laughed at, hung up on, and ignored for years to come.

Jeff wants something more, something substantial. He sternly reminds the tribe that “You’re playing for $1,000,000.” I love that he went there. I needed to be reminded too. So, he lands on this, it’s shelter or food. He will give them the rice but wants the tarps and Texas flag in exchange.

Brutal.

Daddy Probst is coming down hard on this life lesson on screwing up your rice portions. They begrudgingly choose the food. Next, they have to dismantle the shelter and hand it over to Jeff. It really feels like the parents went out and their children made a mess of the house and now they are cleaning up their mess.

After Probst walks off with the shelter, the tribe is forced to act quick and build a new shelter before the next rain storm swoops in. The tribe begins gathering twigs, branches, and straw, breaking logs, breaking down wood crates from previous rewards, and anything else they can to make a roof over their head. But, the one image that stands out is everyone working and Nick watching everyone work.

Are the producers telling us something? Perhaps.

But, we are quickly reminded that the linchpin in the game is Amber. Despite having her biggest ally Jerri voted out, she finds herself in the middle of the former Kucha 3 and her old allies in Ogakor. Either way she doesn’t trust anyone and in either case she remains on the bottom. The flipper life is not an easy one to undertake and she seems defeated by her positioning in the game.

TRIBAL COUNCIL

“My vote is for Keith tonight because unlike everyone else tonight he didn’t feel the need to bring his backpack and that is just flat out arrogance” - Nick

Nick - KEITH

“You seem like a really great guy but you said you were tired of playing the game and that you weren’t having fun anymore. So, here’s your ticket buddy!” - Tina

Nick becomes the 3rd member of the jury.

Tina - NICK

VOTES

Nick 4, Amber 2, Keith 1

Tina said it best. Nick was checked out. He was finished. Did he talk to Elisabeth and Rodger about who they were voting for? Did he talk to Amber about voting with them? The answer is a resounding NO!

PROBST CLOSING THOUGHT

“For the rest of you guys, I wish for you dry, hot weather, and no rain”

Nothing like Dad getting one last twist of the knife in your side about the lesson he had to teach his irresponsible children.

NICK’S EXIT INTERVIEW

“Taught me a lot about not only my strengths but more importantly my weaknesses…its been a reality check for me”

I think Nick is just someone who truly was part of a newborn social experiment and couldn’t handle it physically or mentally. He was depleted from a lack of food and mentally checked out of the strategy side of the game. His singular vote for Keith and his reasoning being because “he didn’t bring a bag” tells you everything you need to know about Nick’s social game at the time of him being voted out. He had no allies and probably stuck around because of an immunity challenge win and a low profile. He never brought any real value to the viewer outside of his reaction to Michael’s pig murder.

To quote Simon Cowell, Nick, you were forgettable….off you go!