BunkoSquad

So let's go straight to the Reward Challenge. Jeff shows each castaway a snippet of a video message from their family, promising a reward of the uncut version, along with some peanut butter sandwiches. I hope it's not pretend peanut butter, like Charlie and Claire shared on Lost. Let's run down the snippets:

• Terry's family looks pretty normal on a couch.
• Danielle's family is interrupted at dinner.
• Bruce has a dog named Choco.
• Courtney's mom looks surprisingly normal, but then flashes a secret "love sign", which explains a lot about Courtney.
• Aras' dad has a tepee in the backyard, which he circles on his bike. I'm not sure what exactly this explains about Aras.
• We finally get to see the Golden Child: Shane's son. Shane starts bawling like crazy, saying that his son is his brother, his best friend, his confidant, his raison d'etre...they pull the plug before he says anything incriminating. Shane Jr. (not to be confused with Li'l Shane) looks surprisingly well-adjusted for a kid that's had Shane as his primary influence.
• Sally's mom and sister wear Sally-like hats, and her dad looks like John Bolton.
• Cirie's husband wears a Yankee hat. I want Cirie gone, now.

The Survivors are split into two teams (Aras/Shane/Cirie/Danielle vs. Terry/Sally/Bruce/Courtney) The challenge itself is to swing the lightest member (Danielle vs. Courtney) around on a bunch of ropes and bungee cords, and stick a series of flags in appropriate spots. It's very close for a while, but Team Danielle keeps knocking the flags out, and that's that. Team Courtney hands Aras a ticket to Exile Island. Like Kate on Lost, Aras looks sad, and pensive.

On Exile Island, Aras starts trying to figure out the clues for the Immunity Idol. Since Terry pocketed it weeks ago, this is a fool's errand, but Aras isn't your everyday fool. He stares at the clues like me trying to do a Hungarian crossword puzzle, flips some rocks around, and gives up.

Shane, Danielle and Cirie stomp back to the beach, rationalizing that the Reward wasn't so great anyway. To take their minds off things, Shane decides to announce that the humidity and the lack of laundry have caused Li'l Shane to itch and burn. So he drops his trousers to give Cirie and Danielle a look, and give the CBS censors years' worth of psychiatry bills. Cirie, a professionally trained nurse, responds the only way possible: laughing her ass off and telling him it's a variation of diaper rash. Shane turns his shirt into a skirt, and the CBS censors head off for a drink. An owl watches this sorry display, and replies:

The Rewarded return with full bellies and luxury items. Sally and Bruce have notebooks, Terry has an American flag, and Courtney has some weird dancing sticks. Sally and Bruce start writing and drawing (Bruce is freaking talented), Terry puts up the flag to honor his father and father-in-law (both Korean war vets), and Courtney frolics with her dancing sticks. I've never seen anyone in my life frolic like Courtney frolics.

Terry's still trying to sell ex-Casayas on his plan to form a new alliance. They're still selling about as well as Knicks playoff tickets. Sally looks sad, and pensive.

The Immunity challenge is a combination of diving and pattern recognition. Oh, by the way, Jeff says, if you're feeling confident you can bag the challenge and eat cheeseburgers instead. There's an instant Shane-Cirie-Courtney-Bruce-and-Danielle-shaped cloud as the five of them teleport to the cheeseburger table. Leaving Immunity between Sally (who's desperate), Aras (who's correctly surmised that he's got the most to lose with the Idol) and Terry (who would beat up a koala bear cub if it meant Immunity).

Aras is the first to get back and solve the puzzle...incorrectly. Terry (surprise!) gets it right first, and the custom-fitted Immunity necklace goes back around his neck. The burgermasters look sad, and pensive, as they remember what happens to Survivors who starve for a week, then cram down handfuls of meat.

So Terry once again has three choices. Keep the Immunity Idol, which means the guillotine for Sally. Give the Idol to Sally, which would mean the end of Aras, but would also mean Terry has to win every challenge from now on (which, frankly, ain't that far-fetched). Or try gamely to flip two Casayas, setting up (they hope) a Final Four. They work on Bruce a little, they work on Courtney a little, but it never really looks like anyone's flipping. Clearly, Sally's only hope is that Terry slips her the Idol, which ain't happening.

At Tribal Council, the Casayas clearly are frustrated by Terry's dominance. I know how they feel, since every commercial I've been flipping over to the Sox-Jays game, and wondering why the hell we can't hit Ted Lilly to save our lives. They vote...Sally 5, Aras 2....Sally....doesn't have the Idol. Shocked, I tell ya. So now it's one against six, and Terry can use his Idol to assassinate any one of them at any time. Or still try to flip someone over to Team Terry. We'll see.

(Full credit for the "sad, and pensive" lines goes to the excellent Lost reviewers at Television Without Pity. I recommend their Survivor reviews, which are longer but aren't posted instantly.)