Immunity Idols, Blackmail And Product Placement, Oh My!

this week's episode of survivor was really good and i just have a few things to say.

alex voting for mookie: i wonder if he knew the other six were going to split up the vote? because otherwise that vote wouldn't have meant anything if the other six were all voting for mookie or for him. maybe he was hoping to show them that he is 'on their side' - which is doubtful cause they would never buy it, i don't think. it was a desperate move but at this point i think that if alex were to make it to the final 2 that he would still have mookie's vote (in his bye-bye speech to the camera mookie made no mention of alex's vote being the one that sent him home. maybe he hadn't put 2 and 2 together yet?).

the idol in the pants: while the players were getting all shocked about mookie and alex having gone through yau-man's pants to find the idol, i was wondering if they could have taken it? is there a rule in place that says that it belongs to whoever digs it up and that if someone else finds it in their bag or in a hiding place they can't take it? cause i was thinking why don't alex and mookie just take it.... - i wonder if the fact that there is a new idol in play (because alex played on a couple weeks ago) if the fake one yau-man made and buried will now come into play? and i also wonder if the producers hid the real one close to where yau-man buried the fake one so that it will have a better chance of coming into play?

mookie and alex couldn't get anyone: i was a little surprised that mookie and alex couldn't get a couple of people from the other six to vote with them. especially after the announcement that yau-man had the idol. usually around this time in the game a move like that would work, because a couple of the six would realize that they are at the bottom of the six list and will be the first to go after alex and mookie are gone. either the six weren't thinking that way or they are all confident they aren't the bottom ones of the six group.

earl is leading well: it looks like earl is the leader of the six-pack (hey, i like that), but he is doing a good job of it for the most part. being the alliance leader can be dangerous but he seems to be playing it cool and not being to domineering (like with the whole 3/3 vote split that he wasn't fond of but went with anyways because it made the other members of the alliance happy).

great editing: Survivor might be a 'reality' show but that doesn't mean that editing doesn't matter. in fact editing, it could be argued, is even more important in reality television and Survivor does it so well throughout the show. especially during tribal council when they cut back and forth between the people talking and the reactions by the other players. some of that stuff is priceless. and who knows really if the reaction we are seeing is actually a reaction to what was just said or something else entirely?