Can someone refresh me on the status of the Hidden Idols?
I mean, I know Christina found the Omateppe one first, tried to use it to off Rob, failed, played it episode three, and was voted out. It was re-hidden, Rob found it, and has kept properly silent about it since.
At Zapatera, Ralph found the idol early on. (ep 2?) Did he tell anyone about it then? I know at ep 4 he couldn’t help himself from blabbing about it when Russell got after him at the duel. Which means the other witnesses know about it – Serita, Kristina, and Phillip. I presume Phillip told everyone on Zapatera, but were we shown Serita (or Ralph) revealing this to the rest of Zapatera?
Could make a big difference after merger if Omateppes know and Zapateras don’t.
Oh, and I disagree about Rob targetting Phillip next time. He knows the guy doesn’t follow through on his ranting, and he couldn’t get anyone to follow his lead. Yeah, Rob will try to get Matt back – and he likely will – and maybe he’ll put out feelers for David, but I’d guess he’ll go after one of the potential physical challenge winners from the other tribe, i.e., Mike or Steve or Ralph.
What he’ll really be thinking of is how and when to get rid of Grant, and Matt, too, assuming he wins that duel. He knows as well as anyone that Grant pretty much won the last two ICs singlehandedly, and Matt lasted six (?) duels. My guess: if they can get rid of one of the Zapatera males next time, Grant goes on the block the week after.
Some thoughts on next week - with one spoiler fact.
With the merge next week, and Matt returning from RI, (I’m assuming he wins again) then I see Philip and Matt jumping sides. That puts Rob at a disadvantage, BUT, Rob has the HII. Advantage Ometepe in the merge.
I really don’t see Matt jumping. He’s got his little girlfriend on Rob’s side, he’s expressed that he really wants to go back to Rob’s team several times, and he appears to be chronically honest.
What does the Bible say about betraying others? All Rob has to is say “Judas” or “30 pieces of silver” and Matt pretty much has to stay with him. Unless he’s decided Rob is the Antichrist.
More thoughts on next week:[spoiler]Although it might seem like Zapatera ought to oust David over Sarita because loyalty becomes more important than strength in team challenges, it’s an old, outdated way of thinking. Because of Redemption Island, you have to consider how the person voted out might react later, if they win their way back in. Voting out David is risky, because he has a greater chance of beating Matt and coming back bitterly seeking revenge. Voting out Sarita is likely to result in her losing to Matt and being unable to exact revenge. If she does win, the loyalty she’s demonstrated thus far means she is more likely to rejoin Zapatera, especially with the one extra vote Ralph threw her way.
This also makes a case for not shuffling the tribes pre-merge. Shuffles are done to avoid a predictable Pagong-ing of the smaller tribe after a merge. However, it would utterly ruin the impact of the player returning from Redemption Island. If your tribe is down in numbers going into a non-shuffled merge, your plays are limited to immunity idol shenanigans, dividing the loyalties of the stronger tribe and now, wooing the RI player.[/spoiler]
I meant it was a good challenge based on how it went back and forth the whole time, not on how it was set up. I noticed one thing they change was the wall of sticks they had to bust through, which was much thicker last time. I think Zapatera would’ve won if they kept it that way, because they’ve got four big guy. I remember last season they did a random draw (it was post-merge) and it ended up men vs. women. The men won single-handedly once they got to that wall.
Everyone on Zapatera knows about Ralph’s Idol. He told the whole tribe (except for Russell’s girls) after Russell was voted out. Phillip knows about it, and he also told Rob and Grant. We haven’t seen if the Ometepe girls know about it (knowing Rob, my guess would be they don’t).
Only Rob knows about his Idol, and only Grant and Phillip have seen that there have been clues.
Philip only “knows” about it through hearsay and his own FFA? special powers. Ralph told everyone at the Russell/Matt duel about it, but then said he was lying. Philip claimed that he’s a human polygraph, and he can tell that Ralph was telling the truth the first time. True, he’s right, but there’s a difference between actually seeing the idol (as everyone at Zapatera did) and being told about it 3rd hand.
That would be a great twist actually - Rob bases his strategy on Ralph not having an idol, because he holds Philip in so much contempt, and then Ralph plays it.
I got a kick how David commented at tribal that Ometepe seemed to be so coherent and united. He said they all seemed to get along so well. Wait until he meets Philip.
I don’t see Philip winning many challenges from this point out. The last challenge showed Rob pulling him through some of the obstacles, even the women were ahead of him.
Let’s not forget that Phil couldn’t figure out how to make it through the one way net course.
I’m curious to see if Matt becomes a challenge monster if he comes back in the game. He’s had a good run in RI, but those are just one on one, and he got lucky more than once. I think Grant might have a good run during individual challenges. He was pretty much the deciding factor in the last two challenges.
I have no idea about his script-writing talents, but the Dragonslayer’s script-reading prowess is soon to be unleashed! Trailer for his on-screen debut
Dear god that was awful. Someone’s been hitting the Grecian Formula for Men just a little too hard. And was that really Danielle as his love interest and/or hooker?
