Worlds Apart Episode 11: Pavlov's Underdog

Dan and Shirin have a nice talk where he tells her he's sorry she got attacked. This seems to be showing him in a more compassionate light...until the "however", where he calls her an unappreciative hypocrite and says she likes to play the victim. Sigh.

Mike does a barrel roll

The reward challenge is to make it across a patch of sand using just barrels and planks. The floor is lava, basically. Mike, Shirin, Sierra and Rodney (blue) will take on Tyler, Dan, Carolyn and Will (red). The blue team lay their barrels down, whilst the red team stand on top of them. Mike tries to roll his barrels with his body...not convinced that's particularly safe. He almost falls off and is soon exhausted. The red team slowly pull away, aided by blue screwing up and putting a plank to the ground. Blue make an amusing last-ditch effort to roll on the barrels but it doesn't work (Sierra isn't that type of barrel racer). Red win reward, and Rodney goes hungry again.

Say cheeeseburgers!

Back at camp, Sierra tries to warn Rodney that Tyler will win if he gets to the end and that they can use Shirin to get him out. Rodney however seems unconcerned and just wants to get to six. On the yacht, they're all shit-talking Mike. Tyler especially is stoking Dan's fires to keep him focused on the short-term threat and away from the long-term threat.

The immunity challenge is to hold a bar to keep a bucket of water from falling on you. Shirin's eyes light up when she sees there are two necklaces on offer, for a man and a woman. As she should...there's a chance both her and Mike can be safe. Jeff tells them they're holding their bodyweight and Dan lets out a telling laugh. Sierra is first out, taking the girls down to a two-horse race. Tyler is also out early, along with Will and Dan. Shirin can't hold on, giving Carolyn the girls' necklace. For the men, it's Rodney or Mike. Dan gives a pep talk to a clearly-struggling Rodney, who despite his best efforts, can't do it. Mike wins immunity. Oh well, 1 out of 2 ain't bad.

No pain, no gain

Spinning out of control

Rodney is sad to have lost, but Carolyn assures him they still have an easy night because Shirin is gone. Shirin makes her pitch to Dan and Sierra that she's not a threat in any way, but Sierra says she can't save her alone. Mike also talks with Dan to hammer home that Tyler is a threat, but he's not willing to listen. Perhaps his trust in Tyler is misplaced after all as the kicker manages to grab his bag and get a peek at his vote advantage, which he then spills to Carolyn.

At tribal council, Shirin says she's still hurting from the verbal beating she took and that Will has not apologized. Dan tries to claim that his situation is not too different because he's an adopted child...uh, that's pretty different. Shirin throws Tyler under the bus hard by making him out to be a big threat, whereas Tyler's response is that he's loyal and people can guarantee they make it far by sticking to the plan. Jeff offers Mike some last words and he pulls out the idol, claiming he's playing it on Shirin. He reminds them Shirin is voting for Tyler and encourages others to do the same. Will it actually change anyone's vote, though?

And they're not sad to see her go

After the votes are cast, Mike decides to hold on to the idol. Darn, I was hoping he'd save her. Although Dan picks up 2 votes in addition to Tyler's 2, it's not enough to stop Shirin from leaving. She's geeking out as she watches Jeff snuff her torch. Well, she definitely beat the odds but its still a little anti-climactic to see her leave here after being set up as a rootable underdog. I guess Mike will have to get justice for her.

So once again, Mike is barely hanging on and the majority fails to crack. But has he stirred up enough shit to get them at eachother's throats? We'll see.

STAR OF THE WEEK: TYLER FREDRICKSON

No more under-the-radar for Tyler, after getting called out as someone likely to win this game. But he showed he could hold his own when he sprung into action, deflecting all the crap hurled his way, and also getting the intel on Dan's extra vote with minimal consequence.

Worlds Apart Episode 10: This Time, It's Personal

We're not even a minute into the episode, and Rodney is already declaring Mike has to go next to his "secret" alliance. And Mike overhears it - so he knows he's gotta do something.

The castaways turn up to "Trader Jeff's" (bet they were really proud of that) for a Survivor auction. Will is the first to bid on a blind item and it ends up sending him back to camp. Brutal! Rodney gets steak, Jenn gets a giant cocktail, but Carolyn, Dan and Mike are all waiting for the advantage. Yeah, this is what ruined the last auction. Jeff pulls out letters from home first, to see who wants those more. Shirin tells them that if someone bids $20, they'll all be able to buy it for that. So then that is what they do. Carolyn negotiates for all of them to go for it, but Mike almost screws them over and backs out. It's only after Carolyn tries to give hers back that he ponies up the cash. Wow, that was a social blunder for sure.

Mike the mood killer

So now it's time for the advantage. Carolyn, Dan and Mike all draw rocks for it. Dan pulls the white rock, meaning he wins the mystery box. Back at camp, Will finds he has a special prize too, and is able to follow a map and dig up rations. Will shares them with the camp. Mike then tells them he needed the advantage because Rodney has flipped, starting a fight. Sierra laments his terrible timing because they haven't even read their letters yet. When they do read, Rodney uses this to secure Dan's vote, reminding him how Mike almost ruined the moment.

Dan opens his mystery box to see what his advantage is. Turns out he has the power of an extra vote at any tribal council of his choosing. I like this new twist, it's something I've been wanting to see for a while. And Dan knows instantly what a game-changer it could be.

Will keeps it real

There's more drama to come, when Tyler lets Will know that Shirin, Jenn and Mike think there was more in the box than what he showed them. Will even brings the box back to camp to prove them wrong, but doesn't stop there, as he screeches at Shirin for questioning his character. Will shows a pretty ugly side to himself in the process, and Shirin needs to be comforted by Mike and Jenn...her only friends left. Jenn has a new purpose for staying in the game now - get out the people she hates.

Cockblock Shirin

At the immunity challenge, Will tells Jeff he feels bad for missing out on the letters from home and says that he's willing to sit out of the challenge in exchange for his letter. Jeff says he'll allow it if nobody objects...but Shirin does object. Good to see her standing up for herself, because Will did not deserve it - he wasn't winning that challenge anyway. So, the challenge is to transfer balls over an obstacle course using tongs. Tyler and Mike are the first to get something going. Dan keeps dropping his right near the end, Tyler does the same with one ball left, and allows Mike to overtake him and win immunity. Aaaand Rodney's game hits another setback.

Rodney and Will discuss who should go between Shirin and Jenn, and decide that Jenn is a bigger threat. Mike has firmly found himself on the outs now, with Sierra and Dan having deserted him. But he makes a play for Dan's vote giving a passionate speech about how Rodney's group is the real power and he's not really with the in-crowd. Tyler lets Dan know people are questioning him, and Dan basically says he'll flip if he wants to. But flippers never win, remember?

We built this camp on rock and roll

Shirin recounts her hardships

At tribal council, Jeff wants to know how the Will/Shirin feud started, and Will is still being a dick. Shirin gets tearful as she reveals how she grew up in an environment of domestic violence, shedding more light on Will's poor form. Mike and Rodney get into another verbal sparring match with him laying out who the core four are.

And the vote is split between Jenn and Shirin, with Jenn voting for Carolyn. But Dan doesn't flip, and Jenn ends up leaving, with her allies cutting her loose too. Jenn leaves with class, but her final words are basically reiterating how much she dislikes everyone. That makes it three No Collars in a row, but despite the result, this episode was far from boring.

Goddamn was that intense, looks like emotions are really affecting the game. Next week, Rodney will no doubt get another shot at Mike. But will he succeed? And how will Dan's advantage come into play? Only time will tell.

STAR OF THE WEEK: MIKE HOLLOWAY

I know he alienated a lot of people this week, but I still think he's a compelling character to watch and loved his don't-give-a-fuck attitude in outing the alliance against him. I'm thinking Mike will be fine, he's working harder than anyone to rally votes.

Worlds Apart Episode 9: Giving Up Is Hard To Do

Dan is still being a know-it-all even after tribal, which isn't winning him friends since Shirin is declaring her jury vote is now going to Mike. But Shirin isn't resigning herself to jury yet, as she goes to Mike and Sierra to tell them they need to flip the game on Rodney, Will, Carolyn and Tyler. Welp, guess that secret alliance isn't quite so secret now.

The Will-helm scream

The reward challenge is to go over ramps and balance beams in the water, then use a grappling hook to retrieve rings. But more importantly, the prize is chocolate. Massive amounts of chocolate. Mike and Rodney kick things off for their teams fairly uneventfully...but then we have the less athletic Dan and Will up next. Will slides down the ramp like a beached whale and Dan struggles too, prompting a laugh from Probst. Tyler has to re-do the balance beam after falling, and Shirin slows things down for the blue team too. Mike and Carolyn snag their teams' first rings. Jenn pulls a few in too, but when Joe misses one, red team fall behind. Blue win the challenge, and Mike can get that Snickers he's been craving. Jenn says it's hard to miss out on the reward, but Joe maintains a positive attitude.

I want candy

The snack bar is product placement galore, with M&Ms, Snickers and Twixs overflowing out of cups. Everyone chomps down and raise their bars together for a toast. Back at camp, Rodney decides he wants to eat well too, so takes the chicken for dinner. Jenn's not happy, but she's been moping around a lot in general since Hali has left. Saying the game isn't fun anymore, Jenn starts talking about quitting. Rodney is still enjoying himself at least, and starts doing some dead-on impersonations of Mike and Dan, making Jenn laugh for the first time in a while.

Rodney's a real stand-up guy

Going out with a bang

Jenn tells Joe she would give him the necklace if she won it, wanting to do something rebellious. That's just doubled Joe's odds if she follows through. The challenge is to balance a block of wood on your head, like in Cagayan. We get started and Joe is wobbling already. That's not good if he wants to keep the streak going. Carolyn is the first out. Will, Shirin and Rodney all fall whilst Joe continues to stay in despite struggling. Joe finally falls, but he still has Jenn batting for him. In a showdown between Jenn and Tyler, Tyler takes the win. Aww shoot, I thought for sure Jenn had this.

Knowing there's a possibility of the Blue Collars splitting the vote, Shirin helps Jenn plot her own demise. Jenn tells Shirin and Joe to both vote for her, and then if she votes for someone else, that might be enough to screw up the split. Mike tells Shirin he wants to be able to trust her enough to vote out Joe. Will she follow through?

Joe plays arts and crafts

Meanwhile, Joe is giving them a reason to split when he is able to run off and make a fake idol out of some materials he's been collecting. It looks pretty legit. Hey, he's a jewelry designer, this is what he does! He then decides to turn it into a bargaining chip, telling Mike he'll give him the idol if the votes go his way. Mike wants it before the vote and they settle on the compromise that he'll slide it to him as soon as they get to tribal...which he does.

Jenn has a beaming smile when she sees Hali on the jury. Probst tries to decipher whether she's checked out or not, and Jenn gives a very bipolar answer. Jenn confirms her plan was to give immunity away and cause chaos. Probst offers her the chance to quit but she doesn't. Calling on Shirin for her take, she says that Jenn might end up becoming a goat but she's still connected with her more than Joe. Before the vote, Mike asks Jeff for verification of his idol, but Jeff says he'll have to play it to get it.

Tyler and Rodney both cast their votes saying they don't know what is going on. Mike plays the idol on Will (because why not?) and gets Probst's confirmation it's a fake. The vote is between Jenn and Joe after Jenn throws her vote away on Dan, and it comes down to the last vote. It's for Joe...which makes sense, as who knows when the next opportunity to get him out would be?

I liked Joe, but as long as he remained in the game, the gameplay was gonna be a bit stagnant. Now that he's gone, someone else is gonna fill his shoes as target numero uno. And maybe some of the power players can start taking shots at eachother.

STAR OF THE WEEK: SHIRIN OSKOOI

She's still holding on despite losing numbers, and even managed to have some power tonight. I guess we'll see if being a good girl and cutting Joe over Jenn pays off for her. If it does, we could be seeing her stock on the rise.

Worlds Apart Episode 8: Crossing Lines

Rodney blames Mike for Kelly going home since he switched votes away from Hali at the last minute. Will is pissed that he was left on the outs, but Rodney assures him that they're gonna take out Mike once the No Collars are gone. The rest of camp are just admiring Jenn's smart play. Rodney doesn't give her any respect though, and clashes both her and Shirin over the food.

We get an individual reward challenge now (at final 11? wow) where the contestants have to make their way over a balance beam untying bags of puzzle pieces, before solving the puzzle at the end. Dan and Shirin fall off immediately. Joe, Jenn and Mike lead the pack whilst Shirin comically struggles to even get one bag. Carolyn keeps falling short of the line, although Probst doesn't seem to be enforcing it that consistently. Joe and Mike take the first two spots, Hali edges out Sierra for the third.

The puzzle is to build an anchor, and Mike struggles in the early stages. The last few turn out to be hard though, so Mike is able to come back into it when the other two have just a few left. After several rearrangements, Joe wins reward. He gets to take several people with him ziplining, and chooses swing votes Tyler, Will and Carolyn. Shirin and Dan both make a play for the last spot, and Joe gives it to the girl. Rodney must've talked himself out of it by reminding Joe that he's down 7-4. Funny that!

Caution: may contain small objects

Everyone has a good time ziplining, although the Carolyn/Shirin tension bubbles up again a little bit. On the meal afterwards, Joe spots the clue in Carolyn's drink. He manages to get her to hand over the soda with the power of suggestion, and is able to get the clue, but Tyler sees him do it. He chooses not to blow up Joe's spot, but the two have a silent understanding that means Joe will have to show it to him eventually.

If only he had a spyshack

Mike catches Tyler and Joe sneaking off in the early morning and decides to follow them. Once he makes his presence known, Tyler feels he has no choice but to let him in on what the clue said. Mike knows he can't let the Joe get the idol, so decides to approach Joe publicly and congratulate him on finding it. It's really just bullshit to make him a bigger target, but Joe decides to play along as it somewhat benefits him too.

Dan and Shirin chat about the idol situation, but the conversation quickly moves onto Shirin's decision to side with the minority. Dan berates her for it, saying it's a stupid move, and lets her know that her name will come up if Joe wins immunity. If that wasn't douchey enough, he also reveals he wants to slap her. "I'm just trying to be nice", he says. He's failing pretty spectacularly at it.

Pot lectures kettle on bad gameplay

Mike searches for the idol to the backdrop of inspirational music, saying the people who find idols are the hardest workers. After looking through practically every tree in the jungle, he gets it, and busts out some adorable dance moves. It seems he was aware he could be a target soon, and now has some protection.

Dan can't do words good

The immunity challenge is to slide one puzzle piece through multiple puzzle stations, until you reach the last one where it will be used as your last piece. Shirin seems particularly pumped up for this one, hoping to redeem herself for her failure on the beam. Joe and Sierra get off to the fastest start, making it to the second puzzle quickly. Soon everyone is through and Rodney is left in dead last. Joe is the first to make it to the final stage, with Tyler and Shirin right behind him. Everyone gets in on it, but Dan gets it wrong. Then he gets it wrong a second time! C'mon dude, you remember what words look like, right? Joe masters it first, marking his third challenge win in a row. Dan slams his fist on the table. And Rodney is still bitching about the Joaquin vote-off.

The ladies make a stand

The general consensus is to vote off Shirin, but Mike wants to break up the three No Collars. Shirin is telling the girls about how Dan was insulting her, and Sierra still hasn't forgiven him for his earlier behaviour. A plot begins to oust Dan, but they'd need another vote - so Shirin goes to Tyler and tells him to take out one of the people running the show.

The first topic at tribal council is what happened at the last tribal council, and Sierra says she doesn't feel like they really drew a line after all. Dan warns against anyone making a move by reminding them that flippers never win, but Shirin disagrees, claiming Tony flipped a million times. Hali has a different rebuttal, making the analogy between Survivor and the American revolution. Only Hali would come up with something like that.

At the vote, it comes down to Hali and Dan. But the big move we were teased with falls through as Hali is sent packing and she seems pretty surprised. Hali waves goodbye to her fellow Mericans, and the rest go back to camp. No fireworks tonight - but they're probably not far ahead. At least I hope so, because some of these people are becoming unbearable.

STAR OF THE WEEK: JOE ANGLIM

The undefeated challenge champ had a pretty good week, though it could've been better if he'd found the idol. Two victories under his belt and made his reward picks as smart as he could. Joe has everything it takes to succeed in this game, the problem just seems to be everyone knows it.

Worlds Apart Episode 7: Rebuilding

Once again, the Blue Collar members find themselves fractured right before a change in the game. Mike has to explain to Rodney he was worried that he wouldn't vote Joaquin

Undercover Kelly

out, and Rodney claims he was just "acting" so Joaq would give him information. Suure. Nagarote get tree mail that everyone but Will thinks implies a merge. Hali asks Kelly if she's fine picking off the Blue Collars and she says she is, but of course they're her true allegiance. They just threw a challenge for her.

The tribes meet up for the merge and get to have a picnic out on the beach. After learning of Joaquin's fate, Carolyn realizes it's important to not be seen as a pair and so her and Tyler have to keep their connection on the down-low.

The tribes get back to camp and...there is no camp. They've gotta build it all again, from scratch. Kelly and Mike use this as an excuse to "collect firewood" and reconnect. Unfortunately Jenn has seen them talking and knows that Kelly isn't with them. At least they got Joe back though!

"Is Rodney smart?"
I'll let Joe's face answer that

Joe might not be a fan, but Rodney is going to Will and Carolyn, trying to form a backup plan so that they can team up later down the line and get out some of the people that screwed him over. Carolyn fills Tyler in on what's going down and how they're the swing votes, but they're careful to not be seen together.

Mericaaa, fuck yeah!

Dan gets stung by a jellyfish and tries to shrug it off, although Shirin seems a little eager to pee on it. The tribe discuss what their new name should be, and patriotic Mike suggests "Merica". Ahaha what? Hali loves it, but Shirin is not a fan at all. She sees it the epitome of dumb redneck illiteracy.


Mike tells Rodney he wants Joe out. Should've voted him out last round then, as Rodney rightly points out. Rodney and Mike's tiff seems to be mostly in the past for now though, they are shaking hands and sticking together.

Buzz off: This challenge is a pain in the...

The players arrive at the first individual immunity challenge, and find they will be holding onto poles. Dan is the first off, possibly due to the jellyfish sting, and Will is not far behind. Tyler gives up soon after. Lanky Sierra is the first girl out...guess it doesn't pay to be tall or big. Shirin and Kelly drop, and then Mike drops out of nowhere. Jenn gets stung in the vagina and laughs through the pain out of absurdity. The rain comes pouring down on the last three left and Carolyn begins to move at last. Joe stays firm. Jenn falls, then Carolyn, giving Joe immunity.

Homegirl got your back

The Blue Collars need a backup plan now that their first target is safe, and decide on Jenn. Mike is not as confident as Rodney is that Will is gonna vote their way, so they decide to tell him to vote Hali. Jenn and Shirin have decided on Kelly as their target. Mike goes to Tyler to try and shore up the crucial swing vote, and Tyler frankly admits he's not sure he can trust him after the last tribal. Jenn lets Hali know she has an idol, and that she'd play it if she knew who to play it on.

At tribal council, Will says there's a lot of uncertainty in the air but that he hopes to earn trust with his vote. Tyler says he's trying to find his place in the tribe and that he's gonna make his mark with an icepick. Shirin makes it clear she's not a swing vote. Dan builds on Tyler's icepick analogy but prefers to use a chainsaw.

No votes are shown during the voting period, and Jenn decides to play her idol. The first vote that pops up is Will's vote for Hali, but then a long string of Jenn votes lets her know she made the right call. Kelly falls victim to the idol, and Rodney is pissed once again.

Jenn may have won the battle, but once the glow of saving herself wears off she'll probably see she's pretty screwed in terms of numbers. But I don't think this majority is going to steamroll through the tribe. They seem to have their own ideas already.

STAR OF THE WEEK: JENN BROWN

It would've been a tragedy to see Jenn leave pre-jury. She fulfilled her promise to screw up the game with her idol, blowing a hole right through the Blue Collar tribe. Her long-term prospects might look grim, but she's shown she's not to be messed with.