There's No "Y" In Fighting on Episode 9

We just witnessed another fantastic episode.

...but there is an "I" in it, and at Final 8, everyone is fighting hard to win their own individual, "I" games. I don't know. That was the best analogy I could make there.

But anyway, we just witnessed another fantastic episode; let's break it all down. (Image credit CBS)

I think this might have been my favorite episode since the merge one. We had everything, from two close challenges, an emotional moment, idol paranoia...even some inappropriate comments from Jeff!

One of the really important parts of this episode was...you guessed it! Tony's Spy Shack 2.0!!! And this time, it actually works! Tony gets himself within "5 feet" of the well, and is able to overhear Jefra's and Trish's conversation.

And what he heard should encourage him, because although Jefra is concerned about the blindside last night, Trish is loyal to a fault and still firmly trusts Tony. Tony for his part says he trusts Trish, Woo, and Kass, which says a lot about the way Kass has assimilated herself into that group.

This was an exciting reward; for once, the teams weren't stacked and nobody really pulled ahead...it all came down to the puzzle. And I always love it when they make a "classic" Survivor phrase one of Jeff's sayings, like "You Have to Dig Deep" from last season.

And the reward is indeed "Worth Playing For," as Jefra and the Outsiders Alliance are taken to the Callao Caves, one of the coolest reward locations we've seen for many a season. This certainly beats early screenings of Jack and Jill.

Jefra breaks down crying as soon as the letters from home are passed out. And as though Jefra's mother predicted the game, she tells Jefra not to be afraid to lie or betray people to get ahead. With that, Jefra makes a Final Four alliance with Tasha, Jeremiah, and Spencer, which I really thought was sincere (it probably was at the time) and based around her distrust of Tony.

Tony wants to talk strategy, but all
Trish wants to do is look for papayas
that look like Morgan's boobs.

Back at camp, Tony wants to talk strategy, but all Trish wants to do is look for papayas that look like Morgan's boobs (quote of the night!). Woo falls out of the tree, but is relatively unharmed and life continues as normal...no medivac.

The one thing I would like to complain about with this episode is lack of challenge diversity. Yes, the reward challenges have been great, and we've seen a lot of new challenges, but 3 out of the 4 immunities have been about balancing, and the fourth was a Simon Says.

Let's see the ring toss challenge from Caramoan, or the maze challenge that pops up a lot. How about the challenge where you have to memorize a set of numbers and then race back? I want some intense physical competitions, and while the ball on a pole immunity certainly gave Probst his chance to do what he does best (make out-of-context inappropriate remarks), it just wasn't that interesting.

But good job Tasha for winning that. She's definitely growing on me, as is Spencer. The slimmer his chances seem to get at winning, the more I like him.

Jefra flip flops right back
 to her old alliance.

After the challenge, Jefra flip flops right back to her old alliance. She's easily swayed and very impressionable, as Jeff points out at Tribal, but this really wasn't a great move. It made her alliance of 5 think of her as more liable to flip, and the other three are now mad at her for no reason.

The big news of the evening, though, is Tony's find of the OPHII. As much as I hate the concept and am disappointed at its entrance into the game, I have to say that the sequence of Tony finding it was very good, and it was sufficiently well-hidden.

Heading into Tribal Council, I have no idea who's going home (as usual). If Spencer plays his idol right, Woo could get the boot, but if he doesn't, it looks like Jeremiah's going out, which is of course what happens. As much as I love Woo (and won't mourn the loss of Jeremiah), it looks like Spencer and Tasha are in trouble. We'll have to see what they can do next episode to work things out.

Time for three burning questions!

1: Tony...what? Who's Jeremy?
Tony made this weird move at Tribal Council, right as Spencer was going to play his idol, that I had to go back and re-watch. I guess this is what happened: Spencer pulled out his idol, and Tony wanted to ensure that he didn't play it for Jeremiah. So, Tony pulled out his own idol (still wrapped up) and pretends that he's worried and that he might play the idol if Spencer plays his, tricking Spencer into thinking that playing the idol on himself is the right move. A very smart play if it worked, but I'm not sure if Tony's shenanigans had any bearing on Spencer's play.

And of course, in true Tony fashion, he called Jeremiah "Jeremy" in the heat of the moment, and when it's time to put the idol away, insists loudly that it was "a fake idol" the whole time.

2: How will the OPHII change the game?
At first I was worried that Spencer's group had Jefra and were going to vote out Tony, so I thought "Great. Tony will play the idol tonight, save himself, and the game will precede as normal." But then that didn't happen, and it looks like Tony is in a super safe spot going forward. Although Yul let everyone know that he had an idol, and used it as a deterrent, I think Tony should keep his secret and use it only as a last resort to blindside everyone after the vote. Now that we're down to such low numbers, the threat of the idol will just put a bigger target on Tony's back, and make everyone want to vote him out...oh wait, they can't. Sight.

Tony is playing a fantastic game.

The problem is, Tony is playing a fantastic game (or at least making good TV), and I would have been only too happy to see him be rewarded with the million dollar prize. But now, he has a safeguard and can use it to force his way through the next two votes when he maybe should have been taken out. The best case scenario? Tony keeps it secret through the next two weeks and doesn't become a target anyway, so it doesn't affect the game. After F5 (or is it at Final 5?), it's null and void, so he'll have to rely on his own wits again.

3: Who can win...or even get to the end?
With Jeremiah's oust, it looks like Spencer and Tasha, now idol-less, are really in trouble. But the previews for next week would suggest that Spencer's going to try to play on Tony's paranoia and get him to vote out Jefra. This would seem to be the best logical move, because I think Trish is keeping the alliance together, so luring Jefra or Kass again would most likely fail.

If Tony and Woo jump ship, it's anyone's game once again, but I'm not too confident of that. Right now, Tony has the best chance to get to the end, just because of the idol. I think Kass is also fairly likely, because no one's targeting her. And if Spencer and Tasha can ride it out with Tony and Woo, and then blindside them at Final 5, either one of them could win.

Alright, that's it for tonight's recap. Tomorrow I will hopefully record my audio scrutiny with Ethan. Our weekend's aren't quite so busy this week, so I should have it to you by Saturday morning at the absolute latest. Stay tuned!