Chaos is Great on Episode 10

Final 7 did not disappoint!

Another fantastic episode to add on to a great season. Final 7 did not disappoint! Let's start recapping. (Image credit CBS)

After Tribal, things are looking pretty bleak for Spencer and Tasha. Kass points out that she new Spencer had an idol because he was acting "less mean to her than usual." Always a good sign. She also notes that the most selfish kind of person is a college-aged man. Wow, Spencer is really coming off great tonight!

And now it's time for the auction, one of my favorite parts of a Survivor season! There's definitely a different vibe at this auction, however: while Kass, Trish, Woo, and Jefra gorge themselves on food, Spencer, Tasha, and Tony hold out for some sort of advantage in the game.

This is actually very impressive; it's rare that this many people are thinking of something other than their stomachs and want to get ahead in the game. In the Philippines, Abi was able to take the advantage in the challenge very easily because nobody seemed to care, and in Caramoan, Malcolm wasted $20 on peanuts and beer and still nobody challenged him for the advantage.

This auction was a bit lackluster overall.

After seeing an auction where smart players waited on their bidding, though, I've come to the conclusion that I like it better when people are competitive in their bids; this auction was a bit lackluster overall. The highlight, though, was Woo winning the ribs and sharing a "bro moment" with Probst while the editors played slightly sexual music. Very weird...I'm sure it'll lead to some great out-of-context inappropriate remarks of the week, which I'm looking forward to.

There were slightly different rules for the advantage this time around; people could bid up to $500 for the chance to draw rocks for the advantage; Spencer and Tony immediately did so. Tasha, on the other hand, chose to save her money in the hopes of an additional immunity challenge advantage. Seems smart, but from Jeff's words, it was clear that she was making a mistake, and Tasha left the auction empty-handed.

I'm sure the castaways could hear the sighs from production and Probst (along as my own) when Tony drew the black rock and got the advantage (an immunity idol clue). Sure, they all love Tony, and he was given 13 (13!!!!) confessionals this week, but they also want to maintain some tension and suspense in this game...all that this did was give Tony his 432nd idol of the season.

He definitely deserves some credit, though; while the rest of the alliance was gorging itself, Tony got the clue, dug for the idol, and did all the work around camp. The women held court in the water during this episode, and Tasha helped fuel Tony's paranoia about a women's alliance.

Finally it wasn't a balance challenge!

Both Tasha and Spencer played their parts expertly tonight, doing what they needed to do to get Tony to want to flip on Jefra. I'm not entirely sure (and can't remember) whether Tasha specifically said that she was integrating herself with Kass, Trish, and Jefra in an attempt to make Tony flip, but if she did, she handled things very well. And Spencer was instrumental as well, convincing Tony that the women would take him out next.

Another big story of Cagayan has to be Queen of Immunity Tasha, who continued her 3-week-run at individual immunity in a close challenge between her and Woo. Finally it wasn't a balance challenge!

And Tasha is like the new Monica Culpepper. Monica only won three challenges, so if Tasha can win one more, she'll beat her. And I think the record for women was set back in Borneo with Kelly Wigglesworth winning 4. Kim and Amanda (through two seasons) have also won 4 immunities. It isn't likely, but I would love to see Tasha break that record and go for 5.

Back at camp, Spencer's and Tasha's plan comes to fruition; Tony has been driven crazy enough that he agrees to blindside his alliance once again, and vote out Kass. He recruits Kass and Spencer gets Tasha, and they surprise the three women yet again.

Time for three burning questions.

1: Did Tony make the right decision?

The right move was to get rid of Spencer.

At first, I thought that there was some merit in blindsiding Jefra and breaking up a possible women's alliance. And it wasn't a completely terrible move, because now Trish and Kass have to include Woo and/or Tony in their Final 3 plans. But I think that the right move was undoubtedly to get rid of the biggest threat in Spencer. It's a testament to the gameplay of Spencer and Tasha (as well as the craziness of Tony) that they were able to get him to flip...again. And I have to say, I think I am now a cautious Spencer fan. I've started to like him better as the season goes on.

2: How many idols is too many?
I think at this point, we crossed the line. Obviously the producers hoped that Tasha or Spencer would get their hands on this new idol, but Spencer just played and wasted an idol last Tribal Council. And now Tony has 2! Just like Caramoan (and I am a bit of a hypocrite because I was rooting for Malcolm and very happy that he got the idols...although I still realized it was a bit excessive), Cagayan is saturated with idols.

Let's take a count. We had the three original idols hidden at each beach (although Garrett's was never played). After the merge, Spencer found an idol, and Tony's found 2. That puts our count at SIX hidden immunity idols in ONE season. By comparison, I believe Caramoan had five...the two originals, Reynold's second, Malcolm's second, and Andrea's ill-fated one. Heroes vs. Villains had at least five that I can think of off the top of my head, and Micronesia had maybe four or so. So Cagayan is currently our leader at six hidden immunity idols. That's just too many.

Three pairs of two now.

3: What's going to happen next week?
The way I see it, we have three pairs of two now: Spencer and Tasha, Trish and Kass, and Woo and Tony. It would not surprise me if we see a representative of each group in the Final Tribal Council. Predicting next week is going to be very difficult; ordinarily, I would say that Tony's going out next, but he can't! So...maybe Woo, then? If Trish, Kass, Spencer, and Tasha team up and split the votes to flush Tony's idol, we'll wind up with a 2-2-0 tie, and on the revote, Spencer (if that's who Tony and Woo vote for) and Woo cannot vote. Then Woo would be voted out.

BUT what if Tony doesn't play his normal idol? If he lets the tie continue unabated, it's 2-2-2, and Tasha, Kass, and Trish will all vote for Tony. Then Tony plays the OPHII...and then what happens? It's crazy stuff, and I have no idea what's going to happen next week.

I'm going to get my scrutiny with Ethan recorded as soon as I can, so expect it up by Saturday (hopefully sooner). In the meantime, there's Big Brother Canada coming your way on Friday, so stay tuned!