Survivor Micronesia
May 9, 2008 – 7:06am
The backstabbing continued on the current, contentious season of "Survivor " as the final four women teamed up to outwit the sole surviving man.
In a move suggested by CIRIE and carried out by NATALIE, the women convinced shaggy-haired, good-natured ERIK to give up his immunity necklace, before unceremoniously ousting the unsuspecting young ice cream scooper from Michigan from the game.
The episode began with Erik singing a different tune to all of the women, making contradictory promises and in the process, turning himself into a target. He won the first reward challenge (based on knowledge of the previous seasons of the show) and took AMANDA with him on his helicopter ride and spa overnight, despite having also promised to take Natalie. He also broke a second promise to Natalie, having vowed to send her to Exile if he didn’t take her on the reward challenge, by sending PARVATI to Exile.
On the helicopter ride, Erik mentioned to Amanda that part of the reason he chose her was because he wanted to get to know her better as a friend, and also noted, "If I brought Natalie there’d be no relaxation."
Parvati spent her time on Exile relaxing, and didn’t bother to look for the immunity idol, as her safety seemed set in stone by her alliance with Cirie and Amanda.
After Erik, Amanda and Parvati returned to camp, it was time for the immunity challenge. The challenge consisted of a series of puzzles, and Erik blew away the competition, handily winning immunity.
Back at camp, Natalie’s fate seemed sealed. She woefully asked the other women if she would be voted out that night, and they said that it was likely. The situation seemed dour for the personal trainer/bartender from Texas, until Cirie had another game-changing brainstorm, saying, "I wonder if [Erik] would give Nat his necklace…"
Natalie was sure he would never agree to such a foolish proposition, but gamely gave it a shot anyway, cornering Erik privately. Erik immediately refused to give up his immunity necklace, but Natalie pressured him: "Just hear me out … [if] you give me your necklace tonight, Cirie said she would hands down vote for Amanda." Natalie attempted to convince Erik that he would have to display his loyalty to Cirie by giving up immunity in order for her to vote off Amanda. After talking with Cirie, it seems that Erik was set to do the unthinkable — give up his hard-won immunity.
At tribal council, the girls hammered at Erik, telling him he needed to win back their trust, and when host JEFF PROBST asked if he’d like to give up his immunity, Erik handed off the necklace to Natalie.
Of course, one by one, the women voted for him to leave. Natalie said, "I don’t even know what to say but thank you," as she cast her vote. Cirie spoke words of wisdom, saying, "My mother always told me you may not always be able to beat them with your [muscles], but you’ll always be able to beat them with [your brain]." Parvati said, "You’ll officially go down as the dumbest survivor ever in the history of ‘Survivor’ — ever," while Amanda was speechless.
Upon hearing the news that the game was over for him, Erik said simply, "You guys drive me crazy."
Jeff addressed the assembled players and jurors and opined, "I think that is what you call a life lesson," while juror JAMES said with glee, "I’ve [ended] my reign as dumbest survivor ever!"