Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains - Loose Lips Sink Ships

Posted by: Paul Little  •  May 14, 2010 @ 2:12am

Filed under: Recaps & Reviews

So the finale is coming up on Sunday! This season of Survivor has been so awesome right from the beginning, and even though tonight's penultimate episode of Heroes vs. Villains wasn't as exciting as many of the others this season (in my opinion, of course), it still had enough twists and turns to lead into what will likely be a very juicy 2-hour finale (and probably an even juicier reunion show!).

After a couple of attempts, the remaining Villains finally got their wish and sent Rupert packing. Once Parvati won immunity, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion, even if there was craziness and hysteria around camp (but when has there NOT been this season?). There was a brief moment when Sandra told the cameras that she was so confident in her place, she wouldn't even play her hidden immunity idol -- even though it was the last day she could play it -- but that was only in there to bring some drama to the proceedings.

The episode started off with some cheesy product placement for a Palm Pre that went a bit too far (Parvati: "There's a million applications!"), which lead to a challenge pairing the remaining castaways with their loved ones in a water-throwing-and-passing challenge. While it was a close one, Jerri and her sister (Jennifer I think?) came out on top. The prize, as it often does in these situations, involved the winner picking other people to join in the reward. And as is also often the case, the winner forgot about the game side of things and just picked the people they like hanging out with the most. And thus, Jerri picked Parvati and Sandra, and Russell was furious.

Of course, Russell has the shortest fuse in Survivor history, but Jerri should know that by now. And she did know that -- she spent a bunch of the reward talking about what Russell would think, and then talked to him that night at camp to make sure they were still good. Meanwhile, Russell took the time away from the 3 remaining females to make a new Final 3 alliance with Colby and Rupert. They were going to get Parvati ousted and have the numbers to make it to the end.

Parvati screwed all that up by going and winning immunity! It was a pretty boring challenge, one which Colby lasted a whopping FIFTEEN SECONDS (the guy is on fire this season, isn't he?), and it came down to Rupert and Parvati. When the Micronesia winner came out on top, that meant Russell would back out of his Final 3 plans with Colby and Rupert. But he kept telling Rupert he was with them. So when Sandra went and told Rupert that the Villain girls were talking about voting out Russell, Rupert went and told Russell, and Russell confronted Sandra immediately.

"Are you with me or against me?" As Parvati pointed out, it was just like Boston Rob had said to Russell earlier in the season. And just like Russell said to Boston Rob, Sandra calmly told Rupert that she was against him, and then her and Parvati couldn't stop giggling. Russell was furious, naturally, and said she could be the next to go if she was against him. Would he vote for Sandra? Would he be able to convince Jerri to vote for Sandra?

At Tribal Council, which was pretty uneventful, Sandra pulled out her immunity idol -- which turned out to not be needed because Sandra only received votes from Rupert and Colby. Rupert was sent home, and as you can see again in the video below, when Sandra wrote down Rupert's name, she said, "If I make it to the Final 3, you'll still give me the million dollars!" Just like he helped her win a million bucks in Pearl Islands (though any of the remaining contestants are much harder competition to beat than Outcast Lil). Anyway, I'm not a fan of Sandra at all -- she makes me angry so much while watching the show -- it was a pretty sweet line.

There was a lot of talk this episode about how if a hero made it to the Final 3, they'd be guaranteed $1,000,000 because of the jury, but I just didn't get that line of thinking. Before the vote tonight, there were 3 Villains and 3 Heroes on the jury -- hardly a landslide -- and had Colby and Rupert made it to the Final 3, there would've been 6 Villains on the jury, almost guaranteeing the top prize to the non-Hero left standing (if tribe allegiances can factor into the final vote).

As for the end, who do you think will make it to Final 3? And who do you think can win it all? As much as I sometimes can't stand Parvati, that little devil has really played the best game this season (even more so than Russell, who has faltered the last couple weeks). Surviving past the first Villains vote was a minor miracle, and yet now she's probably the favourite to win it all. She's proven she's a threat at every immunity challenge, and she's got a lot of friends on the jury and potential jury. Frankly, if she lasts to the Final 3, I'd say it's a landslide. But will she make it that far, or will her competitors smarten up?

It is kind of interesting that these players -- unlike Survivor: All-Stars -- don't seem to care who's won before. You would think the fact that she's won before would guarantee she wouldn't have a shot, but she's already made it this far, and so has Pearl Islands winner Sandra, yet out of the Final 5 they're definitely the 2 favourites. (And yes, some of you may think it should be Russell, but there's no way he'll get any votes from the jury. It's just not going to happen.)

So are you as excited as I am for Sunday? I know, the weather's going to be gorgeous and I'm heading out to the park for some BBQ and football! Oh, wait, the Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains finale and reunion show. It really should be an awesome ending to a spectacular season!

Tags: Survivor, Heroes vs. Villains, Russell, Parvati, Sandra, Rupert, Jerri, hidden immunity idol, all-stars, reality

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Paul Little is the founder and Managing Editor of ShowbizMonkeys.com. When not interviewing his favourite musicians and comedians, he can also be found putting on and promoting music and comedy events with The Purple Room in Winnipeg, or co-producing the live comedy game shows Pants on Fire and The Great Patio Showdown. (@comedygeek)

Original Comments Posted (1)

robyn says...

I dreaded this day for a long time. The day that Rupert gets voted off. He's my absolute favorite player in this game and I hope Sandra , Parvati and Russell don't win. Russell thinks he knows how to play the game, yeah.....phhhffttt... ok there, if you call "running around like a chicken with your head cut off to gain trust when you feel like you don't have full control" strategy. I hated the fact that the villains had the power in the majority of the game. At this point I really don't care about the finale. As much as I would prefer Colby to win seeing as he is the only Hero left, he is also one of the only Heroes that is the least deserving of the prize. I guess the only way to win the game in general is to be deceptive, intimidating and willing screw your own tribe over. Granted, it is harder to pull off and can wear a person down mentally as opposed to being loyal and sticking with your alliance to the end. I personally couldn't do it but every winner in the last 10 seasons has had to do it and it benefited them.

May 14, 2010 4:46am

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