I Will Survive, Episode 9

**Spoiler Warning**
Do not read this post if you haven't yet seen this week's episode of Survivor.



…you've been warned!




Bye Sally, we were just starting to like you.

I noted last week that I was surprised how loyal Sally was. But in her interview she revealed that she was constantly trying to make different alliances but, in her words, "Nobody wanted to play with me!" She freely advertised that she wasn't linked to the La Mina guys but it was to no avail. She even suggested an alliance of girls to vote for Terry, knocking out Aras and eliminating the immunity idol - but there were no takers. Maybe it was the knee socks.

After several weeks of saying that Casaya would crack, their continued solidarity is baffling me. Sally said in interviews that she would have bet her left leg that they would fracture, but instead they have this strange Mafioso kind of thing where Shane and Aras tell everyone, "We're not going to flop, right?" Sally asked Aras to come over to her and Terry in Aras' own best interest, but he said, "I won't flop; if I go home, I go home." I think they made a pact to vote as a block in the jury, thus anyone who betrays the group has no chance of winning the money.

Terry made the right choice to not help Sally, though I didn't like it at the time. If he had used the idol to save her, she would have turned on him the next week.

Random Observations:

• Danielle and Courtney have never voted for someone who didn't get eliminated. They are five for five.
  
• What's with Aras spelling Sally's name in big balloon letters? Is this junior high?
• If Bruce leaves the game due to illness, doesn't that strengthen the girls' position, especially Danielle?
• In two previous shows (Vanuatu and Guatemala), 6 to 4 merges saw the group of six eliminate all but one of the small group, only to see that one person win it all. Chris overcame a 6-1 deficit and Danni was down 5-1. But neither one had to deal with the crazies that Terry is facing.
  
• How many times have people been targeted? So far it looks like this (votes/tribal councils): Terry 0/6; Danielle 0/5; Cirie 1/6; Courtney 1/5; Bruce 2/4; Shane 6/5; Aras 6/5; Sally 8/5. Danielle and Cirie are flying under the radar here (Cirie's only vote came the first week from Tina). But things change fast.