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.