Survivor: Pick A Side

This week's Survivor was pretty much all about the Malakal tribe. Even more specifically, it was about Cirie and which side of the fence she would stand on.

Malakal's James, Amanda, Ozzy, and Parvati invited Eliza over to their group's meeting to try and pick her brain about her group within the tribe. Eliza didn't trust much of what they told her but reported back to Jonathan and the rest of her group about what they had discussed. After finding out that they were most concerned with Yau-Man and Cirie, Cirie realized she then had to finally pick which side within the group that she wanted to be on. Cirie doesn't really trust either side though and I can't say that I blame her. Between Jonathan and Eliza or the couples making four, she's in a sticky situation.

After telling us that she thinks the two groups of four should be courting her for her vote, she engaged Parvati and Amanda in a little girl talk out on the water. Cirie flat out told them that she's worried about their relationship with James and Ozzy but they told her they're just flirting with their men to keep them close. They eventually came to an agreement that it would be them three until the end and that they would focus on getting Yau-Man out.

That was all peachy keen, until after the immunity challenge in which they had lost, the couples began talking about changing things up and going after Eliza instead of Yau-Man. Cirie wasn't very happy about that and told them that she's not changing her vote. Jonathan didn't do much to sway her over to their side later by arguing with her about playing him concerning which side she was going to pick. Even with Ami talking to her later, it became quite clear that Cirie wasn't going to be swayed anymore and she was firmly on the couple's side. With the couple's wavering over whether to get rid of Eliza or Parvati, Jonathan realized that his group of four needed to stay strong and continue to target Parvati. James was later perturbed by all of this drama and realized that Cirie had gone from a fifth wheel to the decision maker in his group and didn't appreciate it at all.

The bickering at tribal council between Jonathan and Cirie was amusing. Not to just me as a viewer, but to their fellow tribe mates and even Jeff. Cirie's group stayed strong in the end and Yau-Man was the third person voted out of this season of Survivor. This doesn't bode well for Jonathan's group as now they'll just be picked off one by one. I can't see that it goes in Cirie's favor either because surely she must realize that the couples would boot her first in their group. Cirie is a sitting duck and should be begging to go back to Exile Island at the next opportunity.

Speaking of Exile Island, I got quite a chuckle out of Kathy this week. Airai lost the reward challenge so Malakal chose her and their own Ami to be sent away temporarily. Kathy had just been to Exile Island with Cirie a few days ago and they had traveled back and forth between the tiny islands following the clues in their search for the immunity idol. Ami wanted to start from the beginning of the clues and Kathy didn't want any of that so she played dumb when it came to the answers. The storm coming in helped in her mission as well.

What a storm it was too! Airai really needs to get their act together in the shelter department. While Malakal was safely tucked away in their cave with their tarp, Airai struggled to stay dry between their two makeshift shelters. I know they have down time at their camps between challenges so they really should put away their us versus us mentality and get to work on rebuilding.

Next week, there appears to be a focus on the in-fighting going on in the tribes. Cirie and Jonathan continue on with their bickering while the struggle between Joel and Mikey on Airai picks up. And an Exile Island to remember? Surely that must mean that the immunity idol is found. I wonder who finds it.

What did you think about this week's episode? And do you think Cirie made the right choice in deciding to go with the couples group?