On the first season of Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty, it was the Brains tribe that just couldn’t get it together. But on Survivor: Kaoh Rong, is it the Brawn tribe that’s doomed to the same fate, especially after keeping Alecia over Darnell? Let’s see if they can make a comeback.
Trying to Fit in On the Brawn Tribe
Alecia thanks her tribe for keeping her around and promises to step it up. But in her confessional she admits that she’s not very happy all of them were talking crap about her at Tribal Council. She’s just confused, which to be fair, seems like her natural state.
She’s driving the rest of her tribe crazy though. Scot and Jason think that she’s too dumb to keep around and that she’s for sure next to go.
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By the next day, the men have really powered through all of their energy. They don’t have a fire, so they don’t have water and they can’t cook their chicken. Jason is so sun-burnt on his shoulders that he’s blistering, but he says after being in Afghanistan and Iraq, he can handle anything. He just needs to stay in the shade for a while.
Alecia is aware of her low status in the tribe, so she takes it upon herself to start the fire. She works hard for five hours before finally getting it going while everyone else takes naps. Jennifer appreciates her unwillingness to give up and she’s glad Alecia’s still around. For now.
Looking for the Idol with the Beauties
Everyone, minus Tai, goes out into the ocean looking for clams. Tai doesn’t know what his status is within his tribe so he decides to spend some more time looking for the idol, only this time he knows he has to be more sneaky.
He does come upon the clue, and then a locked box at the base of a tree, but the key to unlock the box is up a tree. Poor Tai tries climbing the tree, but he only manages to bloody his feet, chest and thighs. Another swing at the idol, and another strike for Tai Trang.
He decides to lay low for a while after so that he doesn’t stir things up with his tribe. He and Caleb form an especially strong bond, which the rest of the tribe finds amusing considering how different they are from one another. Tai even tries to steal a kiss from Caleb, who takes it all with good humor. He admits to not knowing many people like Tai, but he’s enjoying talking to him and getting to know him.
Brains Drinking Dirty Water
Liz feels like the Brains are operating quite well together and are very cohesive. The only hiccough in the tribe is Debbie, who is annoying and kind of bossy. Not only that, but she feels like she doesn’t need to drink boiled water because she can look at it and just know it’s safe. Considering that this is the (unofficial) medevac season, maybe Debbie should be a little more careful with that.
Debbie gets along with Joe as they’re both former military personnel and make it a priority to get stuff done around camp. But not everyone is as impressed with Debbie and Joe as Debbie and Joe. Neal blames Joe for the kerosene leak and the wet matches and Liz is mad that Joe isn’t concerned about boiling drinking water. However, Dr. Peter likes Debbie because she’s a “brain with no game” and someone he doesn’t consider a threat, therefore he’d like to keep here around.
Aim For Immunity
For the immunity challenge, the tribes have to race down the river, retrieve a log and then carry it through obstacles. Then, they have to construct a slingshot and use it to knock down two targets. The first two tribes to finish the race will win immunity plus fishing gear.
The Brawn tribe gets off to a fast start through the more physical aspect of the challenge. But it’s close enough between the other two tribes where they all reach the slingshot part at around the same time. Caleb nails the first two targets for the Beauty tribe to win immunity first. Then Dr. Peter hits the two targets for the Brains. It’s NBA champ Scot Pollard who blows his last shot for the Brawn tribe and sends them back to Tribal Council.
Get the Girls Together
Everyone’s feeling down at the Brawn camp after their second loss in a row. But the main four alliance agrees that it’s Alecia going home, so there’s not much more to be done.
However, Alecia realizes she’s in the bottom. She figured that out because no one has approached her yet to make an alliance. At least, she realizes she’s in trouble, so she starts looking for the idol. Unfortunately, she can’t use her “mental giant” skills to find the it.
Jennifer gets irritated at Jason for all the smack talking he’s doing back at the shelter. He’s mean toward Alecia and Jennifer thinks it’s unnecessary.
So, she goes with her gut and approaches Alecia and Cydney about an “all girls” alliance. Their first target: Jason the bounty hunter. While it takes Alecia a hot second to understand the concept, she’s all for it. Cydney’s in too.
But after talking to Scot, Jennifer second guesses making a big move now. She trusts and likes Scot and by blindsiding Jason, she realizes she’d also be blindsiding Scot. She tells Cydney that she thinks they were being too hasty about making a big move, and the safer vote is still probably Alecia. Cydney doesn’t like that Jennifer’s so wishy-washy, and she doesn’t even really know where they stand going to Tribal.
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Self Sabotage
Alecia admits that she’s been feeling the heat ever since the last Tribal, but she’s trying to do what she can by pulling her weight around camp to prove her value. Jennifer says that while things may seem pretty simple tonight, there are a lot of other options up in the air. Now she’s stopping and thinking about what her next move should be.
This immediately alerts Scot and Jason that something’s up, since they thought the plan was clearly Alecia.
What happens next is truly amazing. Jennifer basically pulls out a shovel and digs her own grave. She talks about how Alecia came to her with the proposal of an “all girls” alliance. Alecia says that’s not true and that it was Jennifer who had the idea. Jennifer puts her head in her hands and tries to blame Alecia for everything, but she just continues to blow up her own spot. She even goes so far as to tell Jason that he was the target. (What are you doing Jennifer?! Just shhhh!!)
Jennifer continues to panic and says that though she considered flipping, she would never actually flip. Then she even says that she doesn’t understand why Jason and Scot don’t trust her anymore. She tries to say Alecia was the mastermind of the flip, but I think these people have known Alecia long enough to not buy a word of that.
In the meantime, Alecia manages to keep her cool. She denies Jennifer’s lies, but she doesn’t get angry or lose her temper. She just lets Jennifer keep on digging.
Then Jennifer does something even weirder; she gets up on her log and professes her loyalty to Scot and Jason and begs their forgiveness. (What. The. Hell.)
To the Vote!
Jennifer and Scot go with the plan of voting off Alecia, but the rest of the Brawns have enough brains to vote out the self-destructive Jennifer. It’s amazing that Jennifer came to Tribal Council that night not only safe, but in a position of power with the decision of who would be sent home, only to send herself home. Talk about an epic fail.
Next time: Debbie continues to drive people crazy (is she reminding anyone else of Coach?).
(Image courtesy of CBS)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
