Yet another Survivor: Nicaragua contestant self-destructs. Don’t any of these people know how to keep their mouths shut? Wendy and the blisters! Shannon and the homophobia! Jimmy Johnson labeling himself as weak when no one else would! And now Jimmy T., the King of Big Mouths, also bites the dust. I can’t say I’m sorry, I couldn’t stand that guy. He NEVER SHUT UP. 

Singin’ in the Rain

Jimmy T. spent basically all of last night’s episode begging for “an opportunity” for “one shot, one challenge” and asking “Why aren’t I getting a chance?” Um, what? He participated in the challenge! He was there! I know this for two reason:

So even with Jimmy Johnson gone, Jimmy T. was still a problem. His self-awareness is more messed up than Marty’s hair. (Seriously, what’s going on with Marty’s hair?) He got back to camp, everyone seemed to be feeling badly about voting out Jimmy J. and Jimmy T. decided to burst into song. Jimmy T.’s singing actually might be worse than his leadership skills. And that’s saying a lot. Then he gave incredibly awkward hugs to everyone, like the creepy drunk uncle at a Christmas party.

Things got worse for Jimmy T. when Marty announced that he thought Tyrone would be a great leader for the tribe when it came to challenges. Before Tyrone even had a chance to speak up, someone had seconded it. This kind of sucks because I like Tyrone. No one wants to be leader, but you look like a putz if you turn down the job. It’s a tough spot to be in, made even tougher by the fact that it increased the tension between Tyrone and Jimmy T. even more.

The challenge this week was pretty simple – a caller would shout instructions to his/her teammates, who were coupled up and blindfolded, so they could retrieve ten items, as well as a key and a chest, from a course. The younger tribe smartly decided to use the Medallion of Power (barf) because it gave them a two item lead, and because the challenge was for both immunity and a really great reward. The younger tribe had Brenda calling for them and then older tribe chose Tyrone.

I kind of expected the older tribe to rock this despite the MoP advantage. Tyrone has a louder, strong voice than Brenda and the older tribe had been practicing follow instructions from him with the blindfolds all morning. Instead the young tribe beat the older tribe with the ease of squashing an ant with your sneaker. What happened? It certainly looked like Jimmy T. wasn’t listening (no surprise there) but everyone must have been moving too slowly or something. It was pathetic.

Idol Wild

The younger tribe won a tarp, cooking supplies and fishing supplies. It was a pretty great haul. Then when Chase opened the tackle box, he found a clue.

You know who one of the most powerful people in this game is right now? Brenda. Earlier in the episode, Brenda and NaOnka found the Hidden Immunity Idol. Well actually Brenda found it because she deciphered the clue, and then NaOnka took credit for it because…well, because she’s NaOnka. Kelly B. and Alina, who had the first clue to the idol, saw them looking for it near tree mail and went to take a look themselves.

Well, that didn’t sit well with NaOnka. That girl would not recognize subtlety if it smacked her in the face. She went and confronted Kelly and Alina for no other reason than to tell them she knows what they’re looking for, and that she hates Kally B. Sorry honey, but that story isn’t going to be picked up by CNN any time soon. Everyone knows NaOnka hates Kelly B.! I cannot comprehend why NaOnka hates Kelly B. SO much. She has such an malicious fixation and Kelly and her prosthetic, it’s really bizarre. She’s like the Wicked With of the West (or the Wicked Witch of South Central L.A., I guess), I keep expecting her to cackle “I’ll get you my pretty, and your fake leg tooooooo!”

I’ve got to give serious props to Kelly B., who handled that confrontation like a pro. NaOnka basically sat there telling her “I don’t like you! So what? I don’t like you! I don’t need to explain anything! I don’t need to explain anything! I don’t need to explain anything!” Guess what, NaOnka? If you don’t have anything to explain, then maybe you should STOP TALKING! 

So NaOnka has the immunity idol, but news is traveling fast. Kelly B. and Alina must know she has it. Then when Chase found the clue, he immediately ran and shared it with Brenda. Seriously. Very powerful girl. She eventually told him that NaOnka already has it. I wonder if he’ll keep his word to Brenda and stay silent, or if he’ll let his big mouth get the better of him like practically everyone else on this season.

Back at the Antique’s camp after the challenge, Jimmy T. was rambling even more about how he deserved a shot. Yet he wouldn’t come out and say that he thought he would’ve done a better job calling than Tyrone did. Instead, he listed off items from his resume. If only they’d known he coached basketball for teenagers back home, they never would have made Jimmy Johnson the leader! That’s way better than coaching an NFL team all the way to a Superbowl win! Soon though, Jimmy’s anger drifting from Tyrone and back to Marty.

“Marty’s definitely not a Jimmy T. fan,” he said. Man. Just when you think the guy can’t get any more obnoxious, he refers to himself in the third person and you realize that he can. He joked that he wanted to tell Marty “Will you shut up, you preppy little bitch? You wouldn’t last a minute in my world,” only it kind of seemed like the sort of thing Jimmy T. would actually say to Marty’s face. Then Jimmy talked Yve’s ear off about his leadership skills and how all he needs is an opportunity, and she took it like a champ. I would have tried to rip his hair out and stuff it down his throat.

It all came down to either Jimmy T. or Dan. Tyrone, Holly, Jane and Yve seemed to be leaning toward Dan because even though Jimmy’s annoying, Dan can’t walk. He says he can’t run in mud (which is everywhere) but it really just looks like he can’t walk at all. But apparently Dan is integral to Marty’s plans, so Mary pushed for Jimmy T. to go. 

What the vote really came down to was two things: allegiances and personality. Marty pushed to keep Dan because of his own needs for his alliance, but it was easier because everyone likes Dan. He’s got a good personality, people like having him around. No one wants Jimmy T. around. So in the end, after Jimmy T. spouted some more of his crap at tribal council and halfheartedly promised to be a follower, he was voted out. 

Drop Your Buffs

What really should have happened was that Dan should have been voted out last week, and Jimmy T. this week. And Jimmy Johnson should still be kicking around. This vote left Marty in a pretty powerful position – people seem to bend their votes to his will an awful lot – but things are going to get shaken up next week.

Yes, Probst will utter the words “Drop your buffs”. I thought they’d mix up the teams this season. No one wants to watch the younger tribe obliterate the older tribe and then pick off the remaining members in the merge. It should be interesting to see what happens – these tribe mix-ups can often screw people over. In Gabon, my pick from the Survivor pool was in a great spot until the tribes were shuffled, and then she was voted out. Are you looking forward to this shuffle? Who will NaOnka hate on if she ends up on an opposite tribe from Kelly B. and Fabio? Will this benefit some of the stronger Antiques, like Tyrone, Marty and Yve?