Redemption Island Episode 2: Bye Bye Blondie

Now beginning her solitary stay on Redemption Island, Francesca puts a positive spin on her elimination. She's still on good terms with everyone and now hasn't had to step on any toes. Plus, being on your lonesome is still better than spending time with Phillip.

Phillip, crab warrior

Back at camp, Phillip is now Rob's bitch. And after killing a crab with a stone, gives an emotional and unintentionally hilarious speech about being a patriot and how Francesca besmirched his good name. The rest of the tribe all think he is crazy and/or a joke. Matt gave a hilarious commentary on the crab-catching escapade with the rest of the tribe laughing along.

At Zapatera, it becomes apparent that Russell is not impressed by Ralph. He also seems to have found another person to bring into his alliance - Krista. In classic Russell fashion, he begins searching for the idol again under the watchful eye of Steve and Mike. However, in a great ironic twist, Ralph manages to find an idol by ACCIDENT when picking up rocks.

Bible buddies: Andrea and Matt talk faith

Andrea and Matt are close. Rob notices it, and is concerned...and so he should be. He knows better than anyone how powerful a tight couple can be. He did exactly the same thing with Amber back in season 8. Rob's alliance partner is looking to be Natalie at this point.

The tribes arrive at their second challenge, with Stephanie wearing a cute white bikini. They see Francesca gone and comment on what a dumb move it was, as she was strong. Zapatera prove again just how easy it is to wind Phillip up, as he responds to Ralph's confidence at regaining immunity by loudly declaring "I will outlast any man!" Insecure, much?

Sarita swimming, if you can call it that

It's the classic tile smashing challenge from Micronesia! I love this one. Grant proves himself to be a challenge beast when he dives almost the whole length of the pool to give Ometepe an early lead. Sarita performs poorly for Zapatera, but things start to look up for Russell's team when Stephanie unlocks her crate faster than Natalie, allowing Ralph to blow Phillip out of the water at the ball-throwing part. Victory for Zapatera again! Matt shakes hands with the opposing team, which Rob did not like one bit. "Disgusting", he calls it. Slight overreaction, I think.

Russell made sure to take the reward basket, knowing there would be a clue inside. He finds it in the flipper, and stuffs it into his pocket. However, Ralph spots it and tells the rest of the tribe. He has no real reason to be angry about it, as he has the idol anyway, but I guess he just wanted to take Russell down a peg. And if this wasn't sufficiently established last week, it is once again made clear Mike is not a Russell fan.

Three is the magic number

Russell and his girls slam Sarita at the watering hole, where they read the clue together. It seems Russell is happy with the three that he's got, pointing out he's never needed no stinkin' numbers before. Er, yeah...better re-think that strategy when you have no idols to fall back on. Mike and Ralph approach Russell and ask him if he has the clue. He coyly denies it, and gets defensive and confrontational about it (busting out Boston Rob's "with me or against me" quote again for good measure). Russell continues to underestimate Ralph, scoffing at the idea of Ralph knowing how to play the game. "You just did that to me? To Russell Hantz? And you know how to play this game?". Here we go, Russell referred to himself in third person again...who had episode 2 in the pool?

I guess you could say he wasn't expecting it

Phillip delivers another speech after the immunity loss where he seems to take his failure very badly, and almost resigns himself to being voted out. Kristina is wearing her idol around her neck, and is planning on playing it. Little do both of them know, Rob's target is Matt. He tells Matt and Andrea they are splitting between Kristina and Phillip, but in actuality the other four are voting for Matt. The only thing that could go wrong would be to involve Phillip. Although he knows what a loose cannon he is, Rob wants to see if he can earn Phillip's trust, so tells him he is not going home and to vote for whoever he taps on the shoulder.

Rob's kiddie gloves handling of Phillip works, and he instructs him to vote for Kristina, who wastes her idol, and Matt is blindsided. So did Rob make a smart move, or has he just destroyed his tribe? Can he risk alienating Andrea this early in the game? I guess we'll see.

STAR OF THE WEEK: RALPH KISER

I'm impressed. Ralph has exceeded my expectations in every aspect, proving himself a worthy challenge competitor, a likeable player and surprisingly smart. Unless Russell manages to stage another power shift, Ralph is arguably in the best position in the game right now.