Last time on The Escape Chuck was gone while the first exemption challenge began. The challenge was to gain three similar colored skulls while trading and stealing from other cast members. As the players sped through choosing their skulls it seemed little strategy was used. Nobody played the trade/steal skulls like they were supposed too until the very end, allowing Joleen to win and comeback. She gained exemption for round which can be used sometime during her stay in the game and she could give it away as well. During her confessional Amanda let us know that they will be voting off Chuck due to him being gone from the game. It’s a bit unfair to Chuck but the fans voted for a random person to disappear and he just got the bad luck this time around. As everyone discussed voting out Chuck they made a realization that being he has a big following on BlogTV that Chuck will have a chance, hopefully, to come back into the game due to viewers.
Later that day the cast entered the room to see Chuck back. They were then quickly thrown into voting someone to gain a food reward. Rob went in first and voted for Joey, Joey voted for Chuck, Chuck and Joleen voted for Amanda, while Chuck voted for Amanda. In the end the votes were tallied and Chuck got to eat a caesar salad but he only had a few minutes to eat as the players were getting ready to vote someone out. Viewers chose the players to cast ther votes using “Video Vote” which would keep them anonymous but on camera. While Shane and Rob tried to swing the votes for a girl, Jordan still pushed for Chuck to leave. Amanda and Jordan then talked and thought Joleen should go if she was going to give away her immunity. Chuck was in on their voting him though as everyone was being overly nice.
Steven then called the players together and the votes began. Joey was first in and voted for Chuck while Chuck voted for Jordan since he didn’t think anyone would vote for him. Shane was in the voting booth third and didn’t know who to vote while Amanda voted for Joleen, changing things up. Joleen entered next and went with the crowd by voting for Chuck as did Rob. We didn’t get to see a few of the votes but it was obvious that Chuck was going home. To symbolize his elimination Chuck’s picture was burned and he revealed that he was voted out due to the twist. Nobody was told that Chuck was taken out randomly due to the viewer vote and believed that he was living things up while actually stuck alone in a room. But with Chuck gone we were down to six and Joleen gained her clue due to winning the immunity. Shane and Rob also gained a clue thanks to their reward win. Shane believed his clue led him to look behind the blinds, finding a key which enabled him to remove one of the locks from the door to escape.
After sending how two chefs last week, Top Chef 5 returned for its second outing in New York. The morning after the leave of Patrick the house felt his loss. Richard was missing his “Rainbow Alliance” member while everyone else just came to the realization that people will be leaving. Fabio and Stefan continued their “European Battle” as they stayed friends yet still wanted to beat each other badly simply because both are from Europe. After that little tidbit into the house it was time for the Quick Fire challenge. The chefs were told that Donatello, a famous chef from New York, would be their special judge for the day. They were also getting a special visit from a “professional” to compete against in the challenge. It turned out the pro was a hot dog stand lady as the challenge was to create their own version of a hot dog.
When learning that he had to make a hot dog, Fabio got a bit nervous as he didn’t know what a hot dog really was. Everyone else didn’t really to have any problems though, being from America, but they sure made some interesting dishes. Who would of thought you could make hot dog sushi or even mixed with some Indian spices? Well you can and they apparently tasted pretty good! The only ones who the two tasters didn’t enjoy were Jill and Stefan’s. Jill didn’t make her own hot dog while Stefan’s was just over thought. Although they didn’t mark her as one of the worst, Jamie’s did have a bone in it. Guess Padma didn’t care if she chocked or not though. After dishing out the worst it was time for the best. Hosea and Fabio received recognition but the win went to Radhika. Since she was in the bottom twice last week it was a sigh of relief as she now has immunity for the elimination round.
When was the last time you actually saw a dog flying on prime time television? Well tonight that very event happened as three of the five remaining pooches on Greatest American Dog took flight. Following Beth Joy’s elimination last week, the remaining five took some time to reflect on her time in the house. Everyone agreed she was a bit loopy but also said they would miss that from her. Laurie also made an interesting comment, saying how she believe everything she said. It was fun having Beth Joy and Bella Starlet around, the show just wasn’t the same without the two.
Before the Dog Bone challenge began Laurie reminded us that her Andrew was the last small dog in the competition. She also realized that could be held against him, since most of the challenges are situated for larger dogs it seems. Travis was also having a realization of his own and that’s how much Presley has grown since starting the show. He looked up to Bill, who was teaching him how to be a trainer. I do see the transformation in Presley though as he was learning everything from scratch during the competition. The two have grown in terms of skill since the beginning and I think they have Bill to thank for a lot of that.
Out in the backyard it was time for the Dog Bone challenge. Out came a huge 9,000 African elephant to surprise all of the owners and especially the dogs. I think all five of them barked and reacted to the enormous animal entering the yard and it didn’t look good for the challenge. What the dogs had to do was sit in a circle while the elephant walked towards them, sounded it’s trunk and then reached for a banana. The dog that didn’t move while the elephant was coming towards them would win the Dog Bone challenge and leg up in the next elimination.
Bill and Star were up first I believe and although Star sat for awhile, the elephant was too intimidating and scared her off. Laurie was up next and was eager to win. She didn’t even have to coach Andrew to sit while the elephant was coming and she moved on to the tie breaker. Teresa’s Leroy was jumpy during the entrance of the elephant and that didn’t end here as Leroy was out during the elephants noise. Galaxy surprisingly got out of the challenge as well, even though JD once again pumped her up saying Galaxy has been around more strange animals then any other dog there. Travis and Presley were up last and Travis used his skills that he learned at the house to coach Presley into staying in the circle the entire time.
This put a tie breaker challenge between Laurie/Andrew and Travis/Presley. The first dog to lift it’s butt off the ground would be out as the elephant charged at the two. Both did very well and lasted long, but Presley lifted up right as the elephant got to the two dogs. That gave Laurie and Andrew their first Dog Bone win and put them into the Dog Bone suite! It was nice to see Laurie get a taste of home as she was the only one yet to win. It’s obvious that she is close to her family and also very close to Andrew. There were MANY pictures of the two hanging in the suite along with a letter from home which Laurie read in private.
Thanks to the Dog Bone challenge win, Laurie also got a leg up in the Showcase challenge. What the dogs had to do were several stunts. The first was climbing a steep incline followed by running across a balance beam suspended high in the air. The last stunt had the dogs gliding down the zip line into their owners arms. During the challenge all the dogs did well with only two not being able to glide down the zip line. JD and Galaxy were chosen as Best in Show as they easily finished the course and JD’s coaching was praised by the judges. Sadly Galaxy was hurt it seems during the challenge and it may hinder their performance next week and possibly remove them from the game. The only other team to be safe this week were Teresa and Leroy. Although Leroy wouldn’t stop barking and stopped rather long before jumping with the zip line, his trust in Teresa impressed the judges and saved them for one more week.
Since the show is at its final five it is going to be sad to see anyone leave from here on out. All the dogs are amazing as well as their owners. In the bottom three this week were Travis and Presley. Although Presley quickly finished the course, he wasn’t being controlled well by Travis. The judges didn’t like that Travis hyped Presley up so much then tried to make him stop and weight. Laurie and Andrew were also in the bottom three simply because Andrew didn’t jump from into the zip line. Although Laurie had the leg up, the zip line really wasn’t tested during any of the practice runs and that’s why they were up for elimination. Sadly it was Bill and Star who were chosen to be expelled this week. Since Bill gave Star the easy route on the course and she didn’t jump into the zip line, the judges felt they had the worst performance. Like I said getting down to so few numbers, it will be hard to see any of them go and this time it was the hardest of them all! Bill and Star did amazing on the show and hopefully there is a reunion so we can see the duo shine once again!
Wow. I cannot believe how crazy this season has been as all the merged vote off have been crazy, insane and unpredictable. I really didn’t think anything could top last week, the week before that or even the week before that. But tonight’s episode will go down in the history books as one of the most dumbest moves not only in Survivor but in Reality TV history. It all began as the tribe returned from Amanda’s use of the hidden idol. One good thing that came out of its use and the initial vote was Amanda’s realization that Cirie is on her side. It also forced Natalie and Erik to grow closer as they were the last two fans in the game. They both promised to either send the other to exile or take them on the reward if they won. They felt having the hidden idol between then would force the game to switch to their side and give them the leverage they need to get to the final three.
But things change on the dime in Survivor and Amanda snatched Erik up. It was all a brain child of Cirie who felt that Erik may swing back over to Amanda if she played her cards right. They wanted to make Erik feel comfortable so the three remaining favorites: Amanda, Cirie and Parvati could make it to the finals. Their plan was to have Amanda once again befriend Erik and have him choose Parvati to send to exile. I think they’ve come to realize that Erik is the challenge threat now that Ozzy and Jason are gone and also realized he would probably win.
The reward challenge was interesting and rather easy if you’ve watched the show. Each round Jeff would ask them a question about a moment from one of the previous seasons. They then had to say which season the moment came from and if they were correct they would receive a point. The first question came from Pearl Island and was about Rupert’s snake. The next was from All Stars and Richard’s battle with the shark and then Kathy’s big “pee” moment in Marquesas. The next question was rather easy as it was Mike’s evacuation in the Outback and the last was from Cirie’s season as Jeff wanted to know which season was the first to divide into four tribes. Erik was the first to get four questions correct and won the reward. He could send one person to exile and take one with him. He ended up showing his allegiance and took Amanda with him to a spa retreat. He then sent Parvati to exile, both of which went against what he told Parvati just a few hours earlier.
Back on the beach Cirie worked hard on Natalie. She knew Natalie was upset but just kept pushing and pushing. She told Natalie that Erik was playing all the women and mentioned that Erik took Amanda to feed her and make her stronger, yet still wanted her to leave. Natalie took the bait and was NOT happy with Erik’s decision and went into another psycho moment. She wanted to “bitch slap” Erik and did another one of her motions to let just know just exactly what she meant.
Over Exile Island Parvati was having the time of her life. She was doing what she normally does…… tanning. She said it was like a mini-vacation for her as she had no reason to really do anything. She didn’t even attempt to look for the hidden idol since she “didn’t need it”. Knowing that her, Amanda and Cirie had all the votes to send either Natalie or Erik home no matter who won the immunity challenge.
While on their spa retreat Erik and Amanda had time to re-bond as friends. They ate, got a massage then talked a bit about the game even though they said they wouldn’t. They told each other that they should go to the end as he is the physical threat and she is the strategical threat. Not much more came from the reward other then their “friendship”. But as we are soon to find out that friendship wouldn’t last long.
When Erik and Natalie returned to the beach things got a bit heated. Natalie wouldn’t even talk to Erik or look him in the eyes. He then realized he may have screwed up big time by going against Natalie, considering she might just rip out his jugular. Erik then went into a big “strategical” conversation with Cirie. He wanted Parvati, Cirie and himself to vote either Natalie or Amanda out as they were the big threats for the jury. Little did he know, Natalie was standing right behind him and heard every word he said. We then cut to the three girls talking. Cirie told Natalie and Amanda what Erik just said and they all agreed he screwed up big time. He told each of them the same thing and he realized this as he saw all three talking.
At the immunity challenge the survivors had to dig up three puzzle bags by using coordinates. Erik and Cirie were the first to find their first bag but it all went down hill for the girls in the second puzzle. Erik quickly found his second puzzle while all the girls continued to dig out of the blue. Erik then found his last puzzle bag and won yet another immunity challenge. What would the girls do now with Erik having another idol and one of them going home? Oh this is where it gets good!
Back at the beach the girls were wondering what they could do since one of them were about to go. Cirie then came out with a plan that could save all of them and make it the first final four of all women. She wanted Natalie to try and have Erik give her the immunity challenge to redeem himself from the jury. At first Natalie thought it was a stupid idea but tried it anyway. Erik laughed it off at first as well but then realized how screwed he was with the jury. Cirie then sweetened the pot by saying if he did give Natalie the idol then the three of them would vote out Amanda which then turned to Parvati. Erik mulled it over but the girls still weren’t sure if he would do it.
At tribal council Amanda and Parvati played their parts assigned by Cirie to bash Erik. She wanted them to push Erik over the edge into going with the plan to vote out Amanda/Parvati by giving Natalie the idol. Cirie would only vote for Amanda/Parvati if Erik gave Natalie the idol and that’s just what he did. Erik gave the one thing that ensured he was in the final four to Natalie, giving the jury another shocking moment to give us crazy reactions to as they knew Erik was done for. All the girls smiled as Erik went to cast his vote since he had no idea. All the girls’ votes were shown as they knew we would know he was going. Erik then walked out the game fairly well considering the fact he just became the most stupid player in Survivor and reality TV history. In a season with the most record breaking moments we have another record: a first final four of all women. It’s never been done before and I’m sure the most unpredictable season will continue its run for its finale come Sunday evening. Who will win? My bets on Cirie or Amanda.
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