BunkoSquad

The Alliance of Six is trying to decide who among them will become the Alliance of Four once the Alex unpleasantness is behind them. Everyone distrusts Boo, but Earl and Cassandra want to keep Dreamz in the quartet, while Yau Man feels more comfortable keeping Stacy along for the ride. Maybe Alex could exploit this, if he were spying on this conversation, as a ninja might do.

Reward Challenge! In a PETA-approved challenge, the Survivors have to rip into hunks of pork with nothing but their teeth and assemble the biggest pile of meat in five minutes. Yau Man rips off a couple of big chunks, but when Jeff does the measurements, Boo comes out a couple of pounds ahead of everybody else. It's a proud day for the South.

So Boo, along with Yau Man and Dreamz (silver and bronze), gets to go on a helicopter/whitewater rafting adventure. Earl gets to go to Exile Island (which is stupid because you don't really want to leave Alex alone with anyone at this point - not Kate-last-night on Lost stupid, but not brilliant). Boo also gets a mystery bag which will help him in the Immunity Challenge.

The adventure looks pretty freaking cool. They ride the chopper (or is it huey now? Who can tell?) around some majestic island scenery and raft through some spectacular landscapes with waterfalls. Only problem is, Boo won't shut up through the whole trip, which understandably pisses off Yau Man and ironically pisses off Dreamz.

Boo at some point says riding on the raft makes him feel like a giddy little girl. I don't even have a comment here.

They finish their tour with a picnic lunch, where a friendly Fijian delivers them all letters from home. Yau Man reads off his son's report card (he got a B in Algebra; Yau asks why it couldn't have been in Spanish). Boo learns that the horses and the family are all eating well. Dreamz gets an inspirational letter from his sister that actually seems to inspire him. Not bad.

Back to Bula Bula, where Alex is trying to figure out how he's going to stir things up. A ninja would know already.

Immunity is up for grabs! It's a 2-stage process, where the Survivors have to dig in the sand for some climbing tools. The first two to find them go up against Boo (for his climbing tools were in the mystery bag) and...well...climb a pole for Immunity.

Alex starts digging like a madman. Cassandra halfheartedly flops around in the sand without really trying. Alex, getting more desparate, starts chucking his sand into Yau's area. Not cool, man. Not cool. But it works, as he and Dreamz advance to the second round.

In the pole-climbing portion of the challenge, Alex tries to skip using the climbing tools, and gets 80% of the way up...and stops. Boo wins. Alex is in a world of trouble right now.

So now it's time for him to use his Harvard Law negotiating skills and get people on his side. He decides he'll wait for the others to come to him, since it makes perfect sense for people who aren't about to be voted off to make nice to the guy who is going to be voted off. And so here comes Cassandra. Alex starts telling her that he wants to help her vote for Yau Man (who won't be expecting it and thus won't play the Idol) to help her down the line. And not at all because it keeps Alex alive for another week. Like Lenin said...look for the person who benefits.

It's a dopey idea, but some of them are at least mulling it over. Cassandra has to look at the Earl/Yau alliance as a big obstacle in her future. Dreamz misses the point entirely when Earl winks at him as Alex is babbling away. Just let's not be stupid, Cassandra and Dreamz. Please?

At Tribal Council, Yau Man admits he's feeling a little bit of pressure, which is exactly the kind of weakness you don't want to voice in front of Cassandra and Dreamz right now. Jeff asks everyone, in turn, if they feel very worried right now; Alex is the only one who says yes. Earl sits back looking simultaneously smooth and devious. Can you tell I'm rooting for Earl?

They vote, and it quickly becomes obvious that Alex's Save Alex Plan didn't get a lot of traction. Looks like he'll have to be a ninja up at the Statesville Prison from now on. Anyone who put $5 on Dreamz to be the Last Remaining Horseman at 75:1 odds is feeling pretty good right now.

Next week: Axes are thrown! Yau Man wheels and deals! Alex's parting shot is that now the Alliance has to turn on itself. Alex, I think they all know that, and just decided they'd prefer to do it without you hanging around.