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.