"Survivor: Caramoan" recap: Alpha dog sent packing
A grand gesture from last week came back to bite one of the contestants Wednesday on "Survivor: Caramoan."
That's the problem with grand gestures. They feel so good when you're making them -- whether it's picking up the check at the table, or telling someone you'll work their holiday shift. And then later on you're thinking to yourself 'why in the #*&@ did I do that?!?'
Case in point: Malcolm, who last week played not one, but two immunity idols -- one for himself and one for his new alliance partner Eddie the N.J. firefighter. What a great moment that was in the history of "Survivor." Three players on the weak end of a power play -- Malcolm, Reynold and Eddie -- suddenly completely immune from danger.
Flash forward a week , the votes are piling up for Malcolm, and you know he's thinking, 'I wish I had that second immunity idol now!'
All season, the two alpha dogs on the island have been buff boys Malcolm and Reynold. Not only are they physically superior to the rest of the players, they've also been lucky. Each one of them has twice found immunity idols.
After their table-turning surprise at tribal council last week, the three amigos -- Reynold, Malcolm and Eddie -- still had the same dilemma. There were six players on the other side that were committed to voting off the super boys most likely to keep winning contests and immunity challenges.
The three amigos did their best to rattle the cage closing about them. Reynold the real estate broker used his powers of persuasion to convince Sherri that she was a sixth wheel to the other five players who all started out together on the Favorites tribe. One problem with Reynold's wooing: Sherri hates him, and he and Eddie threw her to the wolves a while back.
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Then the amigos tackled another potential crack in the alliance -- shaggy dog Erik, the skinny English teacher who jumped the fence to join their voting block last week to oust crazy Phillip. Erik is kind of a second-tier alpha dog. He and Eddie are young and fit, but they've been outclassed by Malcolm and Reynold all season.
Side note: Eddie, pull your pants up!
An amusing moment in the show came when Andrea, the New York television personality, decided to shadow Malcolm's desperate attempts to find another immunity challenge. Malcolm had a map telling him where it was, which he had purchased for $480 during the "Survivor" auction. Andrea, whose name has come up plenty during tribal council votes, showed guile and grit by following Malcolm around and keeping him from digging where he believed the idol was buried.
"You're like the little sister I can't get rid of," Malcolm told her.
"Andrea's a smart girl, she's not going to give me a second to dig," said Malcolm. "I'm starting to feel like a bit of an idiot -- $480 down the drain," said Malcolm. "$1 million down the drain, baby!"
And that's exactly what happened for Malcolm, after a first-round tribal council vote ended in a three-way tie, three votes each for Andrea, Malcolm and Reynold. On the second vote, Malcolm was a dead duck
"Voting off Malcolm is delicious," said Cochran the geek. "Indescribably delicious."
"Well, dammit!" said Malcolm as his torch was extinguished. "I need a drink!"
And then he was off to join the jury, where Michael and Phillip -- still looking angry -- will wait until their moment at the end of the season to decide who gets the $1 million.
"You know what? It's been a great run," said Malcolm as the credits rolled. "I spent $480 on an idol clue and I didn't find the idol. I found two without paying and then I can't find the one I actually paid for. I'll probably get a little mocking after this. I wouldn't have played it today anyway, because I thought I was safe. Just goes to show, just when you think you've got it figured out, you're going home. Tonight was my time. And I got burned pretty bad."
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