Episode descriptions:
- TV Guide: " Members of the two original tribes consider forming alliances with some of their new mates. Also, one castaway gets disgusted by the hygiene habits of others; and an eighth person is voted off the island."
- CBS: "Tensions between the original tribes is at an all-time high. A Survivor holds a funeral for the last-to-be-eaten chicken."

Reward challenge: Chuay-Gahn win again

A couple of points here: We've had no shots at all of a reward challenge. But it's quite possible that the RC this week comes after the IC, as Mark Burnett himself mentioned would happen, before the show started airing. Why is this? Well, several of the scenes from the post-ep7 preview showed Chuay-Gahn members hanging out with Sook-Jai, such as the shot of Brian pulling the boat out with Ted and Jake, and the women hanging out by the fire. But from the previews, one of the major events of the show is the Sook-Jais splitting themselves off from the other tribe, and finding a new cave. Later promos have shown lots of scenes of the segregated Sook-Jais talking, crying, and hugging each other, all off on their lonesomes.

This is important, because when Ken discovers Magilla has stolen the bananas, and when Ken is pulling out the boat, he is dressed the same as at the immunity challenge. In the bananas scene, Sook-Jai appears to still be in the CG cave. So the banana theft likely occurs early, as does the IC. This then allows "the most emotional twist" to be the Sook-Jais having the entire episode to stew in their juices, trying to decide which of their "family" to off. We think the Sook-Jais, demoralized by their IC loss, will then also lose the RC, giving them even more opportunity to sit around and mope. Which, at least, is something they're well-practiced at doing. Chuay-Gahn wins.

Hold on there, Jake, old boy. Just keep both hands where I can see 'em. Nice and easy, like this, see?

Oh great. Now every team wearing red has to have a Rally Monkey.

Brian attempts to add Ken and Jake to his kingdom.

Immunity challenge = A tribal water challenge: Chuay-Gahn wins.

This challenge features a prominent display of the good old tribal immunity idol in the web promo. This, along with some of the obvious color coding and separation (Sook-Jais all together, using purple snorkels, next to the purple boat) suggests this one is tribal again. The contestants probably need goggles because, as Snewser points out in his analysis, after they go underwater to do something, they end up swimming to the shore and back again. Looks fairly physical. The question is: is this really tribal (in which case the swimmers on Chuay-Gahn probably have an advantage), or individual (in which case someone with water skills like Jan, Brian or Helen might walk away with it)? Brian's buff has conveniently been colorized to appear brown. But perhaps the most telling aspect is the lack of anyone from Chuay-Gahn visibly sitting out, in the final cap of the swimming leg. Still, the available evidence suggests a tribal challenge, so we'll have to go with that for now. And, as some creative sleuths at Votedoff.tv (Orangeena and JannDallas) have found, the merge probably doesn't occur this week. Since the prevailing weight loss reports suggest continued Chuay-Gahn dominance, we'll go with Chuay-Gahn winning once again.

Probst announces that this challenge is for immunity. But what kind?	The tribes assemble. Still appear to be two of them.	Erin, Penny, Ken and Jake, on the purple side. Looks pretty tribal.
Erin and Penny get to use the purple snorkels.	Brian and Clay get in the water. Nice faux color on Brian's buff, CBS. Not so good on Clay's, though.	Snewser points out this is mid-challenge, and Probst is looking out at people swimming. Nobody sits out?

Boot: Ken

In the episode description and preview, there is a lot of focus on Ken (four shots in the post-show preview, his disgust with CG hygiene mentioned in TV Guide), who has been front and center in two straight episodes. The spotlight's white glare can't last forever. Ken was fingered by Shii Ann (along with Jake) at the previous TC, which will make Penny trust him even less. And Jake is much more devious than has been shown. He'll likely stick with Penny over Ken, if only to continue his "erotic" living arrangement, and because Jed mentioned Jake's strategy was to boot the strong and retain the weak. The IC appears to be tribal again. A deal needs to be struck to avoid a dreaded tie and the purple rock. Can Jake work one out? Probably

Jake is the other person outed as being friendly with Shii Ann. Jake, however, likely has made a final two pact with every person in his tribe. Jake's chances are better off hooking up with Penny than they are with Ken.

Even Erin is potentially at risk. Even though she hasn't been particularly visible thus far, apart from her role as Penny's handmaiden, Penny could theoretically offer her up for sacrifice, in exchange for Ken and Jake not voting against Penny. But that seems unlikely, when Erin is Penny's strongest ally. Probably safe.

Penny is at best a dark horse candidate here. At worst, she faces a 2-2 tie in a Sook-Jai tribal vote, thanks to Erin's loyalty. Jake and Ken know what they're up against, so it makes more sense for one of them to back her up than to try to take her out. She needs a few more episodes for her evil ways to be wrapped up.