Reality TV

In the previews for this week’s Survivor, Ozzy refers to “the dumbest move in Survivor history”.  That’s a bold statement given the show’s past.  Did someone really do something dumber than Colby, when he took Tina to the final 2 in Australia instead of Keith?  Is it dumber than James not playing one of his two immunity idols in China last season?  Dumber than Lex trusting Boston Rob during Survivor All-Stars?  Dumber than Jason thinking Ozzy’s stick was the immunity idol?  Ozzy does correctly refer to dumbest move in Survivor history…..it’s just not the move he thinks it is. 

I could write about how Ozzy, Amanda, Jason and Erik won the reward challenge and went to a place called Yap for a tribal feast.  I could write about how Cirie was not picked for a team during the challenge and wound up on Exile Island.  But really….why are you reading this post?  Let’s get to the dumbest move in the history of the game.

It all starts at the immunity challenge, which was the classic “one arm in the air tied to a bucket over your head”.  If you move your arm the bucket tilts over, which means that you’re all wet literally and in the challenge.  As the challenge went on, Jeff brought out food to tempt the group to opt out of the challenge.  One by one they dropped out of the challenge until it was down to Jason and Parvati, the two who need immunity the most.  (it has nothing to do with the dumbest move ever, but how funny was it when Alexis dropped out before Jeff announced the cookies and milk were up for grabs?   How upset was she when she was told she didn’t get it because she dropped out too early?  Okay, back to the dumbest move ever).

This is where it gets interesting.  Jeff came out with the final temptation, a feast for everyone if either Jason or Parvati give up.  Jason, desperate for allies, says he would drop out if he got everybody’s word that he would not be voted out.  They all promise, but some have their fingers crossed behind their backs while they said it.  Of course, this makes it completely okay to lie to the guy’s face and stab him in the back afterward…right, Cirie?  (sarcasm). 

When the tribe got back to camp after the challenge after promising not to vote Jason out, the first order of business for Ozzy was…..voting Jason out.  He made it known to America that he considered Jason’s play “the dumbest move in Survivor history”.  It may have been, Ozzy, but it wouldn’t be for long.  At the same time that Ozzy was planning his strategy, Cirie was planning her’s.  She wanted to flush that immunity idol out of Ozzy’s hand by getting Jason, Alexis, Natalie and Parvati to vote for him.  Survivor fans have heard talk of this before, though, and it never seems to happen.  Until now. 

Eliza’s expression at tribal council said it all.  She was literally falling out of her chair, her doe-eyes almost popping out of her head, as she saw Ozzy decline to play the immunity idol.  It was all she could do to stop from screaming in surprise and amazement as Ozzy was voted out by a 5-4 margin.  Ladies and gentlemen, the Ozzfather has been whacked.  He is the proud author of the dumbest move in Survivor history….declining to play the immunity idol.  Why is it the dumbest?  There are so many reasons:

• Cirie’s strategy was no secret.  Ozzy told America before tribal council that some may vote for him in an effort to smoke out the idol, yet he did not play it.
• He is in an alliance with a guy who was burned by the same strategy a few short months ago.  James had two idols, trusted his alliance and did not play them.  You would think he would have learned from this and advised Ozzy to play his idol.
• He is in an alliance with a girl who burned someone by the same strategy a few short months ago.  Amanda was in the same group with Todd in China.  She was one of the ones who stabbed James in the back.  You would think she would have warned him about this possibly happening.
• Even though he said he did not trust Parvati, he chose to trust Parvati. 
• If he plays the idol he finds out who his friends are.  Sure, he may have played it for nothing, but at least he would know who is truly loyal to him.  If he had played it last night he would know he could not trust Parvati or Cirie, he would still have the numbers in his favour and their games would be all but over.

First James in China, now Ozzy in Micronesia.  Why do people use immunity idols like Catholics use birth control?  The idol is there to be used, people.  You don’t get penalized for using the idol when you don’t necessarily have to. 

I want to thank Ozzy for his stupid move, which made this season of Survivor a wide open race.  It’s refreshing to watch a season of Survivor without a ringleader, an obvious alliance, an obvious favourite or a predictable outcome.  Now that Ozzy’s gone it’s anybody’s guess who will win this thing.  We’ll start to find out next Thursday night.  I can’t wait.  May the tribe speak clearly to you!