Survivor: Tocantins, week nine

That was almost an extremely boring episode. Almost.

Sierra spent most of the early episode crybabying about her terrible lot in life. She’s the next to go, boo hoo hoo. Coach spent most of the early episode doing all the things I’ve been picking on him for. Tyson spent most of the early episode being mean to Sierra.

Apparently these chicks named Erinn and Debbie are still in the game…? Huh. Editors, you guys are doing an absolutely atrocious job this season. It’s completely unacceptable that we’re down to the last seven people and I still don’t have a clear idea who they are. I vaguely recall Erinn having some drama earlier in the season, but that was way back during the tribal game. As for Debbie, has she been on screen at all? Like, even once? All season? I don’t think her profession was even mentioned until this episode. Now that half the players are out of the game she’s getting some screen time, most likely out of lack of anyone else to show. How about this, editors: we’ve covered that Coach likes to do tae bo in the morning. That’s old news. Instead of showing five minutes of that every single episode, maybe drop in and develop some of these offscreen nobodies?

Stephen is sent to Exile in hopes of finding the re-hidden idol Brendan took out of the game with him… but no such luck. Ah well.

There was a brief moment of excitement at the immunity challenge, though! Actually, two brief moments. First: Tyson resenting Coach for opting out to eat pizza. If you needed any more proof of how big of a fraud Coach is, this is it. When given the choice to fight for immunity, participate in the struggle, go for the gusto, etc. etc. etc… Coach chooses to sit out so he can chow down. This is the Dragonslayer at work, folks.

Second, Sierra’s near-win was very exhilarating. I had read Sierra completely wrong. Her blubbering this entire episode did absolutely nothing to endear me to her, but I was excited to see her win immunity nonetheless. Not because I wanted her to stick around or because I wanted anyone else in particular to go, just because I think it’s boring when tribal council is a foregone conclusion. Anyway, it was not meant to be, as Debbie stepped up and knocked Sierra out of the running, causing her joyful happy dance to melt away into grief and worry.

So Sierra’s gone, right? Wrong! J.T. and Stephen put their muscle to work changing the game once again in their favor. Tyson, for once, isn’t immune; it’s only logical they take Tyson out. And so they do. Tyson gets blindsided, Coach (finally!) gets his reality check about how trust works in Survivor, and Sierra makes this bewildered face as though Probst were reading the votes in Chinese. Hate to see you go, Tyson, you were one of my faves this season, but your exit was classy and I look forward to having you stick it to whomever ends up in the finals.

[b]Who’s gonna win?[/b] The former Jalapao alliance is holding strong, and they very clearly have Sierra if they want her for the next vote. J.T. and Stephen are just steamrolling this game, but [b]Stephen[/b] gets the edge by virtue of being the schemer extraordinaire and still having the immunity idol in his back pocket.

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