Episode
12: "Truth Be Told" (Air date: January 3, 2002; filmed August 13-15, 2001)
Our picks: X RC
- Could be anyone, possibly Tom. Our first
guess was Lex. Our gut is good.
IC - Lex.
Boot - Teresa
Episode
12: "Truth Be Told"
All we have to go on is what the CBS site gives us, once again.
View the web preview here.
(Maybe, if CBS deigns to activate it). |
What
CBS says |
What
we think it means |
What
actually happened |
(1)
The tribe members find a special surprise in their water pool. |
(1)
This would be the heaping pile of elephant turds shown in the preview.
Symbolic of the entire episode, or the series? We vote series. |
(1)
A teaser actually reflected something in the episode! |
(2)
One Survivor becomes the ambassador of a momentous delivery. |
(2)
Could be anyone, but Lex has traditionally
been the most ambassador-like. But we'll go with Tom
here, just 'cause. |
(2)
D'oh! |
(3)
An old alliance is cast into doubt, as the tribe must eliminate
another member, thereby determining the final four. |
(3)
As pointed out by Snow Whiite of votedoff.tv, the only way this
is even an issue is if Teresa wins immunity. On the other
hand, this is the spot where CBS swore up and down a female alliance
might form. We think it's the latter. Teresa goes, and no
alliance is tested. |
(3)
Yup. Nice try, CBS. |
Reward Challenge
We're guessing that Tom is not the ideal ambassador, although, as noted
by "Survivor Fan," this is a good spot for a visit from a family member,
and Tom was rumored to have contacted his family at some point in the
filming. So, perhaps Tom is a candidate.
The new commercials show MamaKim and Teresa hugging. Both are clutching
opened manila envelopes and what appear to be personal letters - probably
the final delivery by the RC winner (in addition to the medical supplies
they deliver to local townspeople). This suggests that both MamaKim
and Teresa have just read their letters, and are hugging to celebrate
their mutual joy (*sniff*). While it's possible one delivered
the letter to the other, there's nothing in the shot to suggest it.
That'll learn us to trust other people
Immunity Challenge
New commercials (Fig. 1) show this to be a "super challenge," made up
of bits and pieces of previous challenges (continuing the recycling
theme, and yes, this idea was itself recycled from S2). The course
involves running across nets (so long, MamaKim), hauling carts, crawling,
and finally, shooting another flaming arrow. Ethan and well-fed
Lex are natural candidates to win this one, as well as marathon mama
Teresa. Early shots show Lex and Ethan leading, naturally, with
Teresa behind them (Figs. 2-3). A later shot (not shown) shows
Teresa falling, with no sign of Tom or MamaKim in the distance.
By the pulling of the carts (Figs. 4-5), Lex and Ethan are clearly out
in front of the others, and Lex is slightly ahead of Ethan. Lex
appears to be nearing the end with a smile on his face (Fig. 6), and
there's no sign of Ethan behind him. Lex shot two targets to Ethan's
three the first time through the archery challenge, despite an unorthodox
stance, and will not have to take turns this time. He should feasibly
get a couple of shots off before Ethan arrives, and either should conceivably
light their targets before Teresa gets there.
Additionally, we're
still waiting for the torch-with-necklace pic from the recap episode
(Fig. 7: pic from the recap episode; Fig. 8: the one that popped up
in ep11 after Tom won immunity - and yes, those are Tom's "lucky charms"
hanging on the torch next to Lex's). Our call: Lex
wins.
7. The original torch pic, from the recap
episode. |
8. The out-of-place torch pic from episode
11. |
Boot
We were fooled last week, but Teresa is the obvious choice here, barring
immunity. If not, Lex and MamaKim are the only other people vulnerable.
At this point, there are only two negligible "spoilers" left: (1) The
spoiler from the EZ board, whereupon one of Tom's neighbors claimed
he made the final four, and got to contact home - the posts were later
deleted, making this seem marginally credible. Then again, were pretty
sure Tom makes it through this episode, regardless. (2) Owen93's report
that Lex was still sick from an intestinal infection in late September,
coupled, as Snewser of votedoff.tv notes, with reports that Lex still
seemed pretty happy. From the start, we've thought Lex makes the
final two, and we're going to stick to that until proven otherwise.
That leaves Teresa
and MamaKim. MamaKim is only a target if T-Bird wins immunity.
This seems unlikely, so we'll go with Teresa getting the boot. As far
as Lex is concerned, everybody there is a threat to him facing the jury,
so why create jury problems by double-crossing a Boran? Business,
nothing personal. Teresa goes (finally)
|