Survivor: Micronesia: Fans vs Favorites: May 2008 Archives

After a season filled with injuries, blindsides, and stupid moves, the final four ladies of Survivor still have a tough road to travel to make it to the end and win the million dollars. Which of them has what it takes?

Parvati, Amanda, Cirie, and Natalie were in good spirits when they returned from tribal council after blindsiding Erik and who could blame them? It was a moment that will be hard to beat. Their glee was short-lived though because it was time for another immunity challenge the next day. Each of them had to stand on a pole, gather water with holes in it to raise a set of keys in a bamboo shoot, use the keys to unlock a chest filed with sixteen ladder rungs, and then climb the platform and raise their flag to win immunity. Natalie and Parvati were the first two to grab their keys and swim to shore to work on their ladders. They were no match for Amanda though when it came to her puzzle-solving skills. She wiped the floor with them and claimed immunity for herself.

Natalie knew she was the odd one out and tried her best to work some magic with Cirie and with Parvati to stick around a little longer but it just wasn't happening. She became the seventh member of the jury that evening and blew them a kiss on the way out. When Cirie, Parvati, and Amanda returned to camp that evening, a heated discussion began between them. Cirie had revealed to them at tribal council that she'd always felt like the low man on the totem pole and never felt safe. Amanda and Parvati took offense to that and called her out on it. But the argument didn't last long and the three women ended up hugging it out.

The next day they released Gloria, the last chicken standing, and went to retrieve treemail. They fully expected a fabulous dinner to be waiting for them -- the final three. That was not to be. Instead, they were told they had to go to Exile Island and pay tribute to those that had gone before them before meeting up with Jeff for another immunity challenge. It was a lovely moment watching those three realize that one of them would be leaving.

The fallen survivors tribute was just as hokey as always but the final immunity challenge wasn't. Each of them would have to balance a small silver ball on a slot carved into a wooden cylinder. Sections would be added to that center cylinder in five-minute intervals making holding things together much harder. It was all about endurance and focus. Parvati lasted only two rounds and was the first one out. Cirie and Amanda lasted the four timed rounds and then started a fifth round that would last until only one of them was still balancing their ball. Amanda outlasted Cirie and won the final immunity challenge. She would be the sole woman casting a vote that evening for tribal council. Would she be choosing Cirie or Parvati to go with her to the finals?

It really was no question as to who she would take with her. She voted out Cirie and completed filling the jury. Either Amanda or Parvati would win the million dollars this season. Both of the girls woke up the next day giddy as all get out that they lasted this long. After enjoying a picnic provided via treemail and burning down their shelter, it was time for their final tribal council. The power would now be in the hands of those they'd booted out.

The jury questioning was hilarious. First up was Eliza and it was obvious she was still holding some ill feelings towards both of them. Eliza told Parvati that she can't respect her talking bad about her behind her back and making fun of her. Eliza then told Amanda that listening to her talk made her want to kill herself sometimes. She asked both ladies to be honest with the jury this evening. Jason then asked Amanda if she would have told Ozzy about the plan to blindside him if she had known and she told him yes. Jason asked Parvati if she had any redeeming qualities in the game and she told him that she was loyal and an animal lover. Hahaha!

Alexis wanted Parvati to tell her what makes her a better role model for young women than Amanda. Parvati said that she was independent and bold unlike Amanda who liked going with the flow. Alexis then told Amanda that she thought her "performances" at various tribal councils had been fake and asked what part of her game had been genuine. Amanda said that she hadn't been faking anything and doesn't want anybody's sympathy votes. And then there was Natalie. I swear I think that girl is whacked out. She basically asked Parvati how her flirtiness translates into the bedroom in a weird roundabout way that caused confusion among everybody including Jeff himself. Parvati told her that being flirtatious is a big part of her personality and that she'll flirt with anybody, men and women, to get what she wants. Natalie then told Amanda that she's a beautiful woman but was her strategy in the game to play, "the zombied pretty girl not really knowing what's going on pageant queen cliche" or was that who she really is? Amanda basically said that it was neither and that she's a strong woman who just happens to be reserved sometimes. Again, Natalie is a WEIRDO.

Erik told Amanda that he feels thrown under the bus by what Amanda said about him at his last two tribal councils and Amanda apologized for hurting his feelings. He told her he didn't buy her apology and walked off without asking Parvati anything. James told Amanda that she had this game in the bag and asked Parvati what she really would have said to him the day after Ozzy had been blindsided. She didn't give him the answer he wanted and told her all he wanted her to basically say was that it was a game. Cirie congratulated both of them and couldn't help but involve herself in her questions to them. She wanted them to tell her why Parvati deserved to be in the final two more than herself. She was obviously still a little sore at them.

Ozzy told Parvati that he was hurt by what she did to him and couldn't believe that she put a price on their friendship. Ozzy told her that he didn't want a response from her and then told her that the hardest part was that she took away fourteen days he could have spent with Amanda. He then told Amanda that he wasn't faking his feelings towards her and feels like he has begun falling in love with her. Well we know Amanda has his vote!

After the jury voted, Jeff walked off into the jungle and then appeared before a live studio audience. It was time to find out who the winner of this season's Survivor would be.

Parvati received the first vote to win. Amanda. Parvati. Amanda. Parvati. Amanda. Parvati. The winner of Survivor: Fans vs Favorites is Parvati Shallow.

Parvati and Amanda hugged and then Parvati thanked the jury before running out into the audience to hug her family.

The reunion show was a fun one. Could Amanda say the word "like" any more and what was up with those big green flyswatter earrings? Natalie said she has plenty of haters on MySpace. Everybody's healed up from their injuries.
James won the Sprint Player of the Season and a cool $100,000. Ozzy and Amanda are still together and Mary has fallen in love with Ryan from Survivor: Pearl Islands thanks to Jonny Fairplay. Could you believe Ryan asked her to marry him just three days after meeting her? Next season on Survivor, they return to Africa but this time to the country of Gabon. 18 contestants and the season will be shot in high-definition for the very first time. Yay!

So, what did you think about Survivor? Were you happy that Parvati won it? What did you think about the jury questioning? Are you as excited as I am that they'll be back in Africa this next time around? Spill it!

Erik, you have taken over James in the "Dumbest Survivor Ever" category.

Seriously, what in the world were you thinking? I'm at such a loss for words right now that it's not even funny. When you ran off after getting voted out unanimously, did you cry like a baby at the huge mistake you made? You knew it was up to only you to keep yourself in the game. Those women have been wanting to get rid of you for many days (many weeks for us). How could you give your immunity to one of them? Have you no faith in the jury? Even if you only won second place, it would have netted you more money than the fifth place you finished this season.

I still can't help but feel a little sorry for you though. I said just a little. Gah! I can't you believe you screwed up so badly. I mean, James not using either one of his immunity idols on Survivor China was pretty bad. But you doing this?

Now I'm left trying to pick out who I'm rooting for to win. At this point, I'm pulling for either Cirie or Catalie to win it all. I would really love to see a fan win this season and nobody can say that Catalie doesn't deserve to be there at the end with the gameplay she's had going on lately. And then there's Cirie. She's been working hard ever since the first day. So I'd be perfectly fine with either of those two ladies winning.

This Sunday, May 9th, at 8:00 PM ET will be the season's two-hour finale followed by the hour-long reunion show. Who do you want to win? And what do you think about Erik's mistake this week?

Previously on Survivor, Erik suckled Cirie's fingers for a chocolate fix and Jason joined the jury after stupidly not using his hidden immunity idol. A third hidden immunity idol is back in play this week. Will it be found? If so, will it be used?

Poor James. He got the bum wrap from Parvati last week and now his bum finger is even worse this week. It was so bad that he had to visit the medical team for an impromptu wound-cleaning session. His finger looked really awful and they told him that if it didn't look any better the next day, he would be removed from the game. However, James wasn't the only castaway with a malady. Alexis had fallen and hurt her knee the night before. There was no pus oozing from her wound like James' but it was bad enough that she was shown later with a bandage on it and appearing to have a hard time walking. Cirie, the ever so valiant word warrior, was in good spirits saying, "...it's two less people I have to fight with for a million dollars."

For reward this week, everybody was playing for a little love. Yes, that's right. It's that time in the game where family members are brought in. To earn their reward though, they first had to play the "majority rules" game. After answering a set of questions about their fellow tribemates in private, they had to all then turn around and try to answer how they felt the majority of their tribe answered. The winner of the challenge would go to Jellyfish Lake with their loved one to swim among, what else, the jellyfish. Cirie ultimately decided who would win by chopping Amanda's rope instead of Alexis' causing Alexis to win reward. Luckily for Cirie, Jeff told Alexis she could bring two of her fellow tribemates and their loved one along on the trip so Alexis chose Cirie and her husband and Natalie and her mother to join her brother and herself on the excursion. Before leaving, Alexis also had to choose somebody to go to Exile Island where there were more clues for a third hidden immunity idol. Amanda volunteered to go so go she did.

After everybody headed off on their destinations, it was time for James' fate to be determined by the medical team. He kept a stiff upper lip and told them there was hardly any pain but, in the end, they told him he couldn't stay in the game and needed immediate surgery because of the infection in his hand. James wasn't thrilled about it but realized that his hand was kinda important to him so, after saying his farewells to Erik and Parvati, off he went to the hospital. Erik was now the last man standing in the tribe.

Meanwhile, Amanda was hanging out on Exile Island and following the clues to the hidden immunity idol. The last clue she found told her the idol was back at camp buried beneath the tribe's flag. Drats! When the reward winners returned to camp, sans loved ones, they were told about James' removal from the game. That caused Alexis to be worried about being sent home because of her knee. Cirie was concerned though because her timeline for removing the boys had been knocked off kilter. What if Erik won immunity? With no James to get rid of, it would be time for the girls to start devouring each other.

Amanda was shocked when she rejoined everybody at the immunity challenge and got the news from Jeff about James. Suck it up girl because it's time to play! Everybody would be taking turns firing a high-powered rifle at differently colored sake bottles. The first person to break all three of their own colored bottles would win immunity and guaranteed a one in five shot at winning Survivor. The only two with any skills in this shooting arena were Natalie and Erik. Cirie was awful in yet another competition while Alexis and Parvati weren't much better. Erik won immunity and it was hilarious watching the girls fake clap for him. This game was about to get really ugly.

Back at camp, Amanda emptied her bag to prove to everybody that she didn't find the immunity idol. You know, it was like really windy over there and the current was really strong so she couldn't like get the idol which was underwater. She informed Parvati quick enough though about where the idol was so Parvati made up an excuse for Amanda's absence at dinner later on. Watching Amanda dig for that idol under the flag made me hope that somebody would finish eating early and come and catch her. That would have been priceless. But did she find it? They didn't show us that part. However, they did show us that everybody was planning on voting Amanda out. Well except for Parvati of course, who was earlier in the day trying to figure out with Amanda if they should go after Natalie or Alexis.

At tribal council, James and his makeshift IV rig joined Eliza, Ozzy, and Jason over on the jury bench. Amanda gave Jeff the same excuse about the wind and the currents when he asked her about the hidden immunity idol. Cirie told Jeff that Erik and Amanda are her biggest physical threats. Amanda told Jeff that everybody was going to be voting for her to leave tonight except for Parvati and proceeded to throw Erik to the wolves by outing him as a flip-flopper. Natalie told Jeff that Amanda was her biggest threat in the game because Amanda hadn't done anything wrong to anybody on the jury so she would get their votes. The entire time, Amanda was really playing the poor pitiful me card and putting out those big brown puppy dog eyes. As a viewer, you just knew that she had to have found the immunity idol.

After the votes were cast but were about to be tallied, Jeff told them that if anybody had the hidden immunity idol now would be the time they could play it. Amanda didn't even wait for Jeff's mouth to close and stood up to hand it over. The look of utter shock on the faces of her fellow tribemates and the jury was HI-LAR-I-OUS. Now see Ozzy and Jason? This is what you were supposed to have done you dummies. Jeff informed everybody that any votes that had been cast for Amanda wouldn't count. Amanda gleefully grinned.

Amanda, Amanda, Amanda, Amanda, Alexis. And the twelfth person voted out of Survivor and the fifth member of the jury is Alexis. Bring me your torch. Oh Amanda looked like she was about to explode with happiness. As Alexis limped off into the forest, Amanda blew her a little kiss. Ya gots to give it to the girl.

Next week, Erik is approached with a different plan by every single one of the girls and is having a hard time deciding which one of them to trust. Natalie overhears Erik telling Cirie that he wants to go to the end with Cirie and Parvati and tells us she feels like she could bitchslap him like his mother.

Fun times!