Episode 2: Sleepless in Panama
By Car84
Disclaimer: Deep down, I admire these people for being good sports - or at least I hope they are. Warning: This commentary was processed by machinery that also process peanuts.
Previously on Survivor: Shocked and surprised, 16 hopeful and cheery Americans, wearing undergarments for 15, were forced to abandon a perfectly good ship with a small raft, 100 Panamania Balboas, a map to their camp, and the clothes on their backs and backsides. The quick-witted and bi-lingual Drake tribe thrived. The cat herd known as the Morgan tribe suffered countless indignities on their smooth straight downhill path to Tribal Council. In the end, Jeff returned to Nicole the small sack of ice cubes she gave him for safe-keeping aboard the Rembrandt van Rijn.
Play the intro. Roll the roster.
Episode 2 starts in the Morgan camp, just after the first Tribal Council. Lillian and Tijuana shiver near a fire that struggles against one of those legendary bitter cold Panamanian breezes. Andrew and his subjects fidget on their uncomfortable floor, and he comments that people are going to start hallucinating if their bad dreams continue to come only while they're awake. Osten observes that Ryan S. (RS) has little to offer physically, and that on RS's best day, he is worse off than Osten on a bad day.
The warm sun beams down on Rupert, as he skips and flounces along Drake beach on Day 4. He's loving life. He's tearing limbs as big as his arms off trees. He's catching bags full of fish. "I'm in Paradise," he says, adding "and make sure you capitalize that." In a foreboding moment, Rupert warns Burton that extreme care should be taken when they are out with the valuable spear.
RS finds Morgan's tree mail and reflects on how important it is for him to do well in the reward challenge. In his mind, he's in the biggest bind, the deepest hole, and the most hopeless situation of anyone in the history of "Survivor." It would take an effort out to yay in order for him to tap the reserves of strength that he suspects he couldn't possibly have. His tribemates cheer his flawless reading of the cryptic poem that announced the reward challenge.
Drake arrives at the challenge just before Morgan. Jeff points out that Nicole is gone, and he then proceeds to describe the contest.
Out yonder in the water, two sets of buoys mark the location of five pieces of treasure. One at a time, each tribe is to send a member out to gather an item and place it in the tribe's treasure chest, which is located nearby in the water. This continues until all five items are put in the chest. When the final diver returns, all seven tribe members have to swim out, fetch the treasure chest, bring it ashore, and place it on the tribe's platform.
There is a multi-part award. Both tribes were given a shovel and a key gratis. Jeff explained that a treasure chest full of bounty is buried on each island. The winning tribe will get a clue and a partial map to assist them in finding the treasure. Oh, another thing. Jeff reveals that the winning tribe will get to choose one person that will be able to go to the other tribe's camp and loot one item. Andrew looks dismayed. Rupert seems quite happy.
Drake leads off with Burton. Morgan, hoping to finish strong, sends RS out first. As Drake takes and widens the lead, RS alternates between struggling to keep on his diving mask, and struggling to dive down about ten feet to get his treasure. Good swimmer. Bad sinker. An emergency Rules Committee forms when Drake's Burton (finder of the goblet) and Shawn (pearls) were in the treasure chest. RS is told that he can bring the goblet that he somehow managed to pick up ashore and tag out. Ryno relieves RS, who looks despondent as Rupert deposits the candelabra in the chest. Ryno makes some progress, yet Morgan falls farther behind. Christa places the fourth item - a platter - into the chest, and Burton finds a bowl on his second shift, and finishes that part of the job for Drake. Lillian, opting the embarrassing, yet functional, white bloomers look, swims in the three hole. Drake heads out to the chest and brings it to pay-dirt. Drake wins as Andrew swims ashore with the platter, not even bothering to put it in the treasure chest.
Back at camp, the Drake castaways read a clue, scour the map, and speculate where the treasure is. Burton goes out on a limb and comments that whatever is in the treasure chest would be beneficial. Discussion turns to what should be looted from the camp. Jon wants to hurt Morgan by taking their tarp. Rupert insists that they didn't need to hurt Morgan. As his tribemates take swigs from their several large liquor containers, Shawn suggests that perhaps they could use a water jug. Sandra, who sat out the challenge, is elected designated pillager. Michelle later reveals that she didn't want the job because the Morgan tribe members would remember who did the pillaging.
Rupert sends Sandra off, directing her to "Pirate good."
As Morgan awaits the pillage penalty, Andrew concedes that Morgan is at a subsistence level. He refers to the as-yet unknown larcenous envoy as "some little punk" and "the little motor-mouth" from Drake. Osten is jolted by Andrew's suggestion that they might have to say good-bye to their tarp.
Sandra arrives via motorboat and is greeted by the self-described "goober" of the Morgan tribe, RS. After a shallow round of introductions, Sandra says with a straight face that Morgan's shelter was "nice." To the question, "and yours?" she replies "ours is nice, too." She confides later that "They [Morgan] didn't have anything!" Unable to find a water jug, she pointed to the tarp as her looted object. To her surprise, she got absolutely no help removing it. Evidently thinking she had to say something as she destroys the shelter, she utters such tactful and soothing gems as "I'll be done in a minute," and "no hard feelings," and "sleep tight!"
Darrah later comments on how snatchy Sandra's tactics grated on her. At about that time, I think it would be both cruel and handy for a guy to meet a drop-dead gorgeous mortician. How fortunately unfortunate that would be.
Osten breaks the news to Andrew and Ryno that he's considering leaving after the hut is rebuilt. "I'm spent," he says, as he wipes imaginary dirt off his wiggling and bulging pecs. In a solo, Andrew says he wants people who are digging the game. Tijuana takes Osten aside for a heart to heart, and tries to persuade him that this is mental. Osten then demonstrates this by convincing her that he can will himself to come down with a nasty case of pneumonia.
Day 5 with Drake. Shawn comes to camp after a couple hours of fishing and hunting. The hunting part was for the spearhead. The spear is now little more than a piece of firewood. He breaks the news to Rupert, who is ready to show us whether he's a troubled teen mentor, or troubled man who mentors teens. Rupert menacingly directs his great anger at the limb of a dead tree, reminds Shawn that the spear is a very important piece of equipment for Drake, and sets out to find the spearhead. Christa confides that "Shawn is the biggest puss I have ever met in my life."
After a methodical search of the ocean floor, with something that sounded quite like whale calls in the background, Rupert found the spearhead and immediately roared "DRAKE!" as he breached. Shawn asks, "Where was it?" Rupert replied, "In the ocean." With that, all seemed forgiven and forgotten. Rupert - a mentor of troubled teens it is.
The two tribes assemble at Shark Beach for the Immunity Challenge. When asked by Jeff about her pirating adventure, Sandra said, in her best nya-nya tone, "It felt good to be a pirate." Jeff dampened her with, "Just remember, payback can be painful."
The Immunity Challenge was an even-sides event, with Christa sitting out for Drake. Three Drake members - Rupert, Michelle, and Trish, were "prisoners" of Morgan, with Rupert seated on a raft with his hands tied, and the others draped across the raft with their hands tied together. Prisoners of Drake were Andrew, Ryno, and Darrah. While the non-prisoner castaways towed them out to sea, Rupert (and Andrew) had to free himself, free his fellow prisoners, and then swim back to a circle of eight poles on shore, bringing with them two ropes and a bamboo shoot. The shoot contained coordinates for both ends of both ropes. Buried deep in the sand under the intersection of the two properly positioned ropes was a flag, which was to be put at the end of a pole, and raised at a designated spot. The first tribe to do so, with all seven tribe members touching the pole won the challenge.
Andrew was the first to free himself and the others, and lead his tribe mates ashore. It looked like Morgan's day until they got tied up trying to untie the bamboo shoot. For Drake, it virtually fell open, revealing the clues. Morgan never recovered, and soon Jeff was leaning over them, reminding them that they must vote off, rather than bury right then and there, another member of their tribe.
And on the 6th day, the weather and the mood at Morgan were damp and gloomy. Andrew points out that the tribe is devastated. Osten approaches RS and flat out tells RS to vote him out. Osten has had enough. RS, very surprised by this, comments that a player must have his whole heart in the game. Andrew sized up the competition as "Grizzly Adams and those other two horses," and can't accept losing a strong fellow like Osten. Lillian isn't buying Osten's attitude because she has seen him horsing around, with plenty of energy. Her diagnosis isn't the fear of pneumonia: "He couldn't take being beat." Tijuana tries again to convince Osten that he should stick around.
At Tribal Council, Jeff welcomes Morgan with, "Here we go again." In response to Andrew's carping about not being able to sleep because they lost their tarp, a confrontational Jeff reminded him that they had that problem before then, too. RS states the team needs more teamwork and more organization - perhaps his return swipe at leader Andrew for a comment at the last Tribal Council. Jeff reminds Andrew of the risky nature of being a leader. Andrew vows that it will change tomorrow. No more sleep deprivation, hallucinations, shutting down mentally, sleep deprivation …. Lillian gave the troop an A-plus for spirit, adding that they were close in the challenges. Maybe fishing a bit more might do the trick, she feels. Osten declares he is done camping.
Jeff is curious about what criteria the castaways will use to vote the next person off. Lillian says she will vote out someone who gives up and doesn't contribute to the tribe. Andrew wants to vote out the weakest link, someone who isn't going crazy to help the tribe. RS said someone approached him and said they were ready to go. Jeff wanted to know whom he was referring to. RS wouldn't say.
Lillian votes for Osten for reasons she gave during the discussion. Ryan O. votes for his namesake, saying he's a great kid, but not that strong. RS votes for Osten, noting that it wouldn't have been that way had he not asked for the vote.
Jeff tallies the votes. We learn that RS (Ryan S.) is expelled with 5 votes.
The tribe has spoken.
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