Hot Dogs For Everyone!

It was well worth the wait. Because of the NCAA basketball tournament, Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains was preempted last Thursday and moved to Wednesday this week. I believe it was billed as being on a “Special Night” in commercials earlier during the week. And special it was!

The show immediately opened with both tribes reading tree mail and wondering if it was going to be a reward challenge, an immunity challenge or the dreaded reward/immunity challenge combo.

Indeed, it was the combo challenge, but with an unheard of twist. Each tribe would compete against itself for Individual Immunity, which would result in two Tribal Councils and a castaway being sent home from both the Heroes and the Villains.

As if that wasn’t enough, the Good Guy winner would compete head-to-head against the victor of the Bad Guys. The Reward would be a feast of hot dogs and soft drinks that the winners would consume while watching the losers’ Tribal Council.

Candice pulled off a mild upset when she was victorious in the Heroes Challenge with Colby finishing dead last. Boston Rob was her competition in the finals when he was triumphant in the Villains heat.

The battle for the hot dogs was anticlimactic with the Brat from Bean town winning handily. However, that didn’t stop the annoying Sandra from squealing out in glee, “You get the biggest hot dog.”

With the challenges complete, it was time for the scrambling to begin as each tribe had to decide whom they were going to send home.

The Heroes were stressing over whether to keep James and his bad leg or Colby, who had announced that he knew his time had come and not to worry about it.

Over at the Villains camp it appeared that it would be either Russell the Hall-of-Famer or Parvati getting ousted. Boston Rob even told Russell that if he didn’t have the Hidden Immunity Idol, he had better go find it.

Boston Rob then went so far as to instruct his minions to split their votes, giving three to Russell and three to Parvati. That way, they would force Russell to play the Hidden Immunity Idol and they could eliminate the devious Parvati.

Unbeknownst to Boston Rob, Russell pulled Tyson off to the side and informed him that, although he hated to do it, he was going to write down Parvati in an effort to cover his own ass.

The dimwitted Tyson, who Boston Rob had instructed to vote for Russell, was giddy. He declared that now he was going to vote for Parvati, just to make sure. Then, as he grinned from ear to ear, he said, “I just want to get it over with and get some hot dog in my mouth.”

When are these people going to be careful of what they wish for?

What went down at the Villains Tribal Council was epic. After everyone voted, the award-winning Jeff Probst advised the castaways that if anyone had the Hidden Immunity Idol, now was the time to play to play it.

Everyone’s gaze turned to Russell as he stood up. Boston Rob’s face broke into a broad smile as Russell reached into his pocket and said that it was time to take the target off of his back. As Probst reached for the Idol, Russell pulled it back, saying, “but not like that.”

With that he handed the precious Hidden Immunity Idol to Parvati. This meant that any votes cast for Parvati would not be allowed. As Probst read the votes, the smile on Boston Rob’s face had vanished.

The first two went to Russell with the next four going to Parvati and not counting. When Probst read Tyson’s name three consecutive times, the blank look on Boston Rob had turned into one of astonishment.

Russell the Hall-of-Famer had outwitted Boston Rob and his foolproof plan. Now Tyson could fill his mouth with as much hot dog as he wanted. It just wasn’t going to be at the Heroes Tribal Council.

While the Villains, sans Tyson, were munching on hot dogs, they watched the Heroes tell James to take his gimpy leg and go home. That left them with J.T., Amanda, Rupert, Candice and Colby. All I can say is that they had better pray for an early merge because their days as a tribe are numbered.

I have said it before and I am saying it again, I can’t wait until next week.

Thanks to an idea from a friend of mine, I plan on writing a rather unique blog over the upcoming weekend. Until then…from the booth.