Can you believe it’s already time for the merge on Survivor? It felt like the first part of the season flew by, switching from three tribes to two, and now down to one.

The episode kicked off with Kass being very upfront about not trusting Sarah. Too honest. And it set the tone for a power struggle that dominated the episode. Click through for more…

I’m actually quite shocked at just how poor some of the game play was in this episode. Both Sarah and Kass acted like arrogant morons, and although only one of them was eliminated they will both end up paying for their mistakes.

Kass was in a very solid alliance – she had a dominant alliance of six, and a very tight core alliance of three. She was in a really good position, especially for someone who came from one of the worst-performing tribes of all time. And she threw it all away! For what? Because she didn’t like someone? So what?

It was petty, high school politics. The cop vs. the lawyer. Neither one of them could stand to see the other in control of the game, and in the end they made sure that everyone in their alliance is in a worse position now than they were three days ago.

Plain and simple, Sarah was the swing vote. But she let that power go to her head, and wanted to be in total control of who was getting voted out. Tony said he was willing to give her that. If that’s what Sarah wanted, then she should have gone with Tony. Instead, she demanded to be given the same offer from her current alliance. Yeah, that move isn’t going to win you many friends.

Sarah was unwilling to look at any point of view other than her own. She wanted Woo, LJ or Tony out. And fair enough, it’s good to target threats. But her alliance mates wanted to vote for Jefra or Trish, because they were the least likely to be saved by a Hidden Immunity Idol. That’s a valid strategy. Make the safe vote this time, try flush out an Idol, and then go for the macho challenge-winners.

Sarah was acting like a Queen Bee, which I hate. But then Kass pushed back even harder, when she should have just stepped away. Let someone else try and reason with the princess! Instead, she did everything she could to escalate the situation until the tension between Kass and Sarah was so palpable that Trish picked up on it.

You know who has her head on straight? Tasha. “I feel like Kass doesn’t like me,” whined Sarah. “Well let me ask you this,” Tasha said. “Does it matter if Kass doesn’t like you?” EXACTLY! Tasha knows what’s up. You’re in an alliance. You’re here to benefit from one another. You don’t need to form a hair-braiding train and make friendship bracelets out of palm fronds. Right now, you need one another So find a way to tolerate your co-existence.

In the midst this drama, Woo won the Immunity Challenge. He looked really psyched about it. It wasn’t one of their better challenges. Everyone had to stay on a platform, moving to smaller ones as time went on. No one got knocked out in the first two rounds, and then most players fell off while trying to adjust to the third platform. It was kind of a let down.

Back at camp,the majority alliance agreed to vote out Tony – all because of Sarah’s whining and demands. The minority alliance was scrambling to figure out a plan. Trish approached Kass, planning to take advantage of the tension between her and Sarah. Credit where credit is due – this was very well-played. Trish approached Kass with the perfect amount of ego-stroking. She preyed on Kass’s selfish, emotional-based decision making process. If Kass voted out Sarah it would be purely because Kass does not like Sarah, and Trish maneuvered around that very well.

Tribal Council came, and Tony showed everyone his Idol. There was some last-minute discussion over who to vote for (“the other one”) which I always love. Usually I’d say showing everyone your Hidden Immunity Idol is a questionable move, but Tony played it so it doesn’t really matter. Tony played his Idol on behalf of LJ, and then LJ went and played his Idol on behalf of Tony.

I loved how Tony was so sure that he’d read the situation right, and that all of LJ’s votes would be disqualified. And I loved how these guys thought they made such a baller move, playing two Idols. Because I really loved the looks on their faces when the votes started coming up for Jefra.

Jefra should have gone home. That would have been the best move. But Kass is a power-hungry hothead, and she made a completely emotional decision instead of a strategic one. So Sarah is out, and she should blame herself. If she’d backed off a little, Jefra would be crying in the van on the way to Ponderosa instead of her.

But Kass is no better – that was a boneheaded move. Why should Kass believe she’s anything but in LAST PLACE in her new alliance? She had a pretty decent shot at final three with Spencer and Tasha, and she threw it out the window just because she got her panties in a knot over Sarah’s power hunger! This. Is. A. Game. Put your emotions away and play.

Kass screwed over a bunch of people by voting out Sarah, and now she’ll have to scramble for a new core alliance. Is it impossible? No. But she was better off before.

Next week, everyone will scramble to look for a Hidden Immunity Idol with “special power” – I hope it’s a wand!