Another week, another castaway and this week I wasn’t surprised at all. Things haven’t really seemed to change much in either of the tribes since last week. The Yellow Team, Zhan Hu, continues its descent into failure as no one seems to be getting along very well. Dave and Ashley continued to butt heads, which makes no sense to me at all. It’s really not just Ashley either though as the entire group seems to be moaning and groaning about the way Dave is leading the group. They keep wasting their energy with internal fighting instead of going after the opposing team.

Speaking of the other team, it’s like watching an entirely different show with this group. Well, most of the group at least. Jean-Robert is definitely showing up as the weak link so far, but he’ll tell you this is part of his plan. JR considers himself a master poker player, which apparently endowed him with super intelligence into the human psyche. I don’t how much I trust his plan of acting lazy just to “wow” his teammates later when he decides to start pulling his weight. Over to the people who are really working the game, Amanda and Todd formed the first real alliance. Not a bad grouping either as they both seem to have a decent awareness of what it’s going to take to stay alive. Adding to their list of good decisions was pulling in Aaron on their alliance, though they are planning to treat him as the third wheel rather than a core member. These three shouldn’t have much trouble dominating the rest of the group if they stick to this alliance. What do you think? Will it last? Will it be successful?

The competitions this week were brutal. I especially enjoyed the mud pit, jumbo ball game for the luxury item. For some reason everyone’s best plan seemed to involve pulling off everyone’s clothes. It didn’t seem to bother the topless Amanda too much as she scored the first point. James, my favorite player so far, scored the second point with the help of JR to secure the win for the Red Team. If JR is as wise as he says he is then he’ll need to capitalize on supporting events like that.

Jamie’s decision to share the Immunity Idol secret with Leslie was a pretty good choice. She wanted to empower the weakest player to keep the Red Team as weak as possible. I doubt she expected Leslie to turn around so quick and share this information with Todd. I think I’d have searched awhile longer as that could be a huge deal. Then again how would anyone know that a decoration on the team structure is a hidden Immunity Idol? That seems really random. When it comes down to this Idol getting played I think Leslie is on her own as I don’t see Todd passing on the chance to take it for himself should these two get cornered.

The second competition, this time for immunity, was nearly as physical but a lot more mental at the end than the previous competition. I wasn’t surprised at all to watch the Red Team take an early lead and hold onto it as they knocked down door after door. The maze puzzle with the log for the final step was a clever challenge. The Red Team worked very well together the entire way while the Yellow Team continued in the theme of dragging their feet and stumbling over one another. So once again the Red Team took home the Immunity Idol, leaving the Yellow Team in the dust. How long before we get some sort of shake up to give Yellow a boost here? This is getting sad.

Heading into the tribal council it was obvious that it would come down to Dave and Ashley as the tension between them is certainly not helping an already struggling team. Ashley’s plan to wait until tribal council to raise her disdain for Dave made no sense to me. It wasn’t a secret that she would be up against him, so why wait? She should have pressed harder and sooner as many of the other members of the Yellow Team were anything but happy with him in their tribe. Hindsight is 20/20 though as she was voted out of her tribe this week after barely surviving last week. Ah well, Ashley seemed to be doomed from the get go and it was just a matter of time. So long Ashley, you were certainly one of the more lively characters on your team, but I don’t think you’ll be terribly missed as a contributor.

Will this be what the Yellow Team needs to refocus and pull through to finally get a win? Should Dave have gone home instead? Share your thoughts and opinions below in the Comments section.

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