Survivor Down to a Dirty Dozen Survior: Gabon, Jessica Kiper
Another
week on Survivor: Gabon, another week for the steadily disintegrating
Fang tribe to bitch at each other over tiny portions of rice. So,
did the remaining members of Fang finally pull it together tonight, or
did Kota continue to wipe the jungle floor with its tempestuous rival
tribe? Here's how it all went down, from the first stab of the back to the final extinguishing of the flame: Matty Whitmore's making "a ring-type thing" to remind himself of Jamie, his girlfriend back home. Awww. Ace
Gordon thinks people—people, not just Sugar Kiper—like him. Figuring
it's not the worst idea ever, Matty, who's sweet if not exactly
brilliant, swears on his girl that he won't stab Ace in the back. And
Ace swears on his mother's life—we're supposed to assume that means
something to him—to maintain their newfound alliance. Over in
Kota, Bob Crowley and Corinne Kaplan are peeved that Dan Kay seems to
think it's OK for him to take multiple servings of his tribe's
luxuriously spiced food. Ace pushes exactly the right button and
Sugar offers to give him the Immunity Idol for safekeeping. "Ace is a
snake—but he's my snake," she says. Randy Bailey gives a fist pump when he sees that G.C. Brown is missing from Fang. Because…he was such a fierce player? Tonight's
reward challenge: Six members of each tribe (Corinne sits out for Kota)
are tethered to a 20-foot-long, 200-pound stuffed snake. Carrying the
snake on their shoulders, the tribes start running in opposite
directions with the intention of eventually catching the other, like a
big arcade game. Kota's killing it. Then Sugar and Kenny Hoang
both bow out, actually helping Fang's chances. Then Kelly drops it.
Susie Smith gives up for Kota. Crystal Cox ditches Fang. Unsurprisingly… The five remaining members of Kota close in on Matty and Ace. Tag! You're out! Kota
wins sweet, sweet sustenance: Fruit tarts, chocolate éclairs,
croissants and everything they need to make coffee and brew tea. And
then the winners send Sugar off to Exile Island...again. This time, the
pinup model doesn't feel so great about feasting on fruit while her
fellow Fang members are practically starving. Ace and Kelly
Czarnecki suspect that Crystal, who's looking more and more beaten
down, is "heading the way of G.C." Crystal, meanwhile, says that she's
hoping everyone doesn't compare her to G.C. by mistaking her tears as a
sign of weakness. Immunity challenge: Each tribe splits into
three pairs (Susie sits out for Kota), the members of whom are tethered
together, of course, and have to crawl under a cargo net splayed out
like a huge spiderweb, navigate an obstacle and grab two pieces of a
flagpole. Then crawl back under the net with the pieces before the next
pair sets off. So… Kelly and Sugar are in the lead after the
first crawl but, unsurprisingly, Bob and Randy make up the difference
and more, giving Kota a huge lead after the first leg. Crystal and Ace
struggle, as well, and Corinne and Charlie Herschel keep Kota's lead
safe. Finally, Matty and Kenny give 'em hell, close the gap and make it
a race. Unfortunately for Fang, Kota remembers that they're
seemingly preordained to win every challenge and manages to hoist their
flag first. Maybe it's just us, but we were kinda looking forward to
seeing a crack in Kota's façade for a change. Back in the hall
of shame, Ace is all for booting Kelly, who was also ripe for the
picking last week. Matty is more concerned about Sugar playing the
Idol, which, obviously, Ace doesn't have to worry about, so he keeps
pushing for Kelly. Meanwhile, Crystal would rather blindside Sugar or,
joy of joys, see Ace go, figuring that Fang's been no better since the
supposedly strong fashion photographer joined them. Both she and Kenny
warn Matty about the perils of trusting Ace. Sugar tells Kenny
that she gave Ace the Idol, and he's reasonably shocked. Thinking
better of it, she goes and grabs the Idol out of Ace's jacket. Nice! At
Tribal Council: Kelly expresses concern for Crystal's motivation after
seeing her cry—and tells the tribe that Ace said the same thing. Ace
defends himself, Kelly rolls her eyes. Jeff Probst points out that
Matty's probably the only one with nothing to worry about. Time to vote. Sugar hangs on to the Immunity Idol. Good decision—Kelly's voted out, about three weeks too late, 5-1. Not
much of a surprise, was it? What can Fang possibly do to pull itself
out of this downward spiral? Maybe it doesn't have to do anything—both
tribes have to drop a member next week! So, while Fang has been
self-destructing and could pretty much lose anyone besides Matty and
Crystal without making a dent, who do you think should be kicked out of
Kota?