Reward Challenge
New TV previews from 12/2 show the hikes to both the RC (Figs. 1-3) and the IC (Figs. 4-5, because Teresa has the immunity necklace around her neck).  In the RC pictures, there is someone sort of wooden structure behind Teresa, that looks vaguely oil derrick-like. Not much to go on here, apart from Brandon's none-too-attractive body art. Also, the pic of the three Samburus plotting (Fig. 6) appear to be from IC day, based on Brandon's clothes.  So the absence of Frank from the plotting does not imply he's off getting the reward.  On the Spoilers EZ board, word from Singapore claims their preview said something about "They can't talk to Brandon," suggesting he might have departed for the reward.  Another possibility, since the reward involves bartering goats, is that Tom is there.

Immunity Challenge
No footage has been shown of either challenge (surprise, surprise) in the two weeks since the last episode aired.  But the recap show did contain Fig. 1, below, which shows a torch with a skull on it, holding the immunity necklace.  As pointed out by Paratrooper on Survivorfever.net, this torch appears to belong to Lex.  Figs. 2 and 3 show Lex hiking to TC in Episode 7, carrying a torch with a skull.  Fig. 4 shows that, at least at the Ep7 TC, only Lex's torch had any kind of skull-sized object on it.  Fig. 5 shows the skull matches the one with the immunity necklace. So, so far it looks pretty good that Lex wins immunity this week.

The only nagging doubt are the white letters on the immunity torch (Fig. 1). Big, thick white letters, reading left-to-right as you go down the torch, which appear to be "IM" or "IN".  Looking back at everyone else's torches, there are several with things written on them.  Brandon has "Grandma" on his (Fig. 7 - thanks, MESS), but the letters go from top to bottom vertically.  Someone (Clarence, Fig. 8) has emblazoned their torch with "I love U Mom" in letters that point the right direction, but are really skinny.  Frank supposedly carved his family's names into his torch, but they're now in white paint, too, reading from bottom to top (Fig. 9).  Lex clearly has some white letters on his torch, but they don't obviously match. Maybe he re-painted Corbin's name?  Anyway, since nobody else's torch matches any more closely, we'll stick with Paratrooper's orginal call, and say the skull makes it Lex's.  So despite Lex's witch hunt to find out who voted against him, he's safe this week. Lex wins immunity.

Boot
One Samburu has to go. The biggest targets are those who are immunity threats: Frank and Teresa. There are many valid points for and against each.

Frank		Teresa
Pro-boot	Con-boot	Pro-boot	Con-boot
- Probably the strongest Samburu left. - Almost 50% of Ep7 was face time for Frank. - Where else can his story arc go? Bossy leader to underdog family guy to helpful teacher to moody, elephant-teasing loner to... ? - Clarence, in a radio interview, said he hopes Frank wins it all.	- Has had tons of screen time since Ep1. - Supposedly returned with a full beard, which seems out of character for a guy who keeps himself so neatly trimmed, unless he's in the final two. - Has not demonstrated any particular aptitude in any challenges so far.	- Made herself a target showing such endurance in Ep7 IC with Clarence. - Shown conspiring with both MallRats (no surprise there) and Tom (uh-oh?) - if other Borans catch wind of this, she's toast. - Lex's witch-hunt should eventually reveal her vote against him (too obvious?) - Likeability and general resemblance to Tina should encourage Borans not to face her in the final two. - Diane's list (ahem) still suggests she's the next Samburu to go.	- Only just starting to get screen time. - "Nickname" domain name (T-birdcooper.com) registered by CBS, suggesting she does something memorable, and registered on August 7th, four days after the end of this episode. - Episode 10 is titled "We Are Family," suggesting an all-female alliance, who, if they have a 4-3 margin, should be the final four. - Episode 9 description says one tribe member is "devastated" by another's deceptive actions. That sounds a lot like Teresa being upset her supposed Boran defector didn't actually come through at the TC. Either that or Lex finally smokes out her vote. Either way, she's still there.

That's essentially a push. We don't see much weight in either the Frank's beard (has it ever been confirmed? what was the source?) or Diane's list arguments, making it still pretty even. We'd vastly prefer Frank sticking around, since he provides significantly more comedic material, so that almost ensures it's Frank that goes. He passed the lunatic torch to Lex in the recap episode, and we supposed there's still Big Tom around, so we'll sigh a resigned sigh, and go with Frank.