On this episode of Survivor: Micronesia, we learned that all good plans usually come to an end.  They may work brilliantly in the short term, but unforeseen events will eventually throw a wrench into the works.  If a backup plan isn’t prepared, someone could end up looking like a fool.

Who had their stay on the island cut unexpectedly short…and didn’t see their exit coming at all?  Read on!

After Jason’s shocking blindside, the attention shifted to one of the remaining two men.  James, at some point, had cut his finger on a clam and the swelling had not yet gone down.  The Survivor medical team did some initial work on the wound and told the gravedigger they’d be following up with him.  If the swelling didn’t go down soon, they would have to take him off the island for surgery.

The prospect of possibly losing James was upsetting to Amanda.  Although it would have meant one less man in the game, she didn’t want to see her friend go.  Meanwhile, it looked as if Alexis could be having problems of her own.  The motivational speaker had fallen in the middle of the night and really tweaked her knee.  While Cirie (a nurse) was a little bothered by all the injuries, she didn’t want anyone standing in her way of the million bucks.

For their next Reward Challenge, the Dabu gang had to play a game that had Big Brother written all over it.  (Though I’m sure the Survivor version came first.)  After privately answering a series of questions about their fellow competitors, they later had to guess what which name the overall group had voted for.  If they answered correctly, each survivor had the opportunity to cut a rope linked to a person of their choice.  Once three ropes had been cut, a statue representing that name would be smashed.

This was one of those extra special challenges that come once every season.  You guessed it – the Loved Ones challenge.  The competitors each had someone from home delivered to Micronesia for a possible one-on-one reunion.  Interestingly enough, Cirie was the only one who had a significant other.  Aside from her husband, the rest were simply family members (Alexis’ brother, Amanda’s sister, Parvati’s mother, Erik’s brother, James’ father and Natalie’s mom).

After answering questions like “Who does the most for the tribe?”  (Group answer: James) and “Who mistakenly believes they are in control?” (Parvati), Alexis and Amanda literally wound up as the final two on the chopping block.  Cirie, who was in control of their fates, for some reason chose not to let her ‘friend’ have the win; she let Alexis have the Reward Challenge.

For her prize, Alexis (with her brother) got to pick two other pairs to share in her reward.  She chose Cirie and Natalie to join her at Jellyfish Lake.  There, they would swim with a gazillion non-stinging jellyfish.  Alexis also got to send another person back to Exile Island.  (Since Jason never played his, another idol was now in play.).  She elected to send Amanda out there for her very first excursion.

While most of the Dabu members were going their separate ways, James was getting a second evaluation on his finger.  Unfortunately, things did not look good.  The medic said they needed to take care of the infection before it set into the bone.  (Not a good thing for a hands-on gravedigger.)  This meant Survivor: Micronesia would now have its second medical departure of the season.  (Three if you count Kathy’s exit for emotional stability.)

Meanwhile out on Exile Island, Amanda had to go through some fairly physical labor to find the third hidden Immunity Idol.  Not only did she have to look underwater for one of the submerged clues, she had to dig endless feet of sand for another one.  By the time she managed to uncover the buried clue, she found out the idol wasn’t even at Exile Island after all.  It was actually back at Dabu right underneath the tribal flag.  In other words, there was more digging in her future.

Later that night, the challenge winners came back to camp only to find out that James was already gone.  While it was nice to have one less man in the game, this development put some extra pressure on the ladies.  If Erik were to win the next Immunity Challenge, the women would be forced to start eating each other alive.

On Day 33, Alexis’ leg didn’t appear to be getting any better.  When Parvati ‘asked’ if she wanted to be voted off and and sent back home, the motivational speaker quickly tried to assure them her bum leg could make it seven more days.  She didn’t want to become their sacrificial lamb.  So if Alexis didn’t want to go home – who were they going to vote off next?  Natalie said she wanted Amanda to be the next target.  She knew she didn’t have a chance against the flawless player in the Final Three.  Surprisingly, Parvati said she couldn’t have any part in voting against her friend.  (Ozzy she could do, but Amanda she couldn’t?)

For their next Immunity Challenge, the remaining six competitors had to use a high-powered rifle to shoot down colored sake bottles.  The first person to break three of their own bottles would win immunity.  Although it appeared that Natalie might have a good chance of securing the victory for the women, she could not outmatch a sharp-eyed Erik.  The ice cream scooper was three-for-three and the eventual winner of the next Immunity Idol.

Once they had returned to camp, Amanda immediately made a very bold and strategic move.  Not wanting people to whisper behind her back, she made a point of emptying out all her belongings.  She wanted everyone to know she did not have the Immunity Idol.  (At least not yet.)  She said the tides were too strong to find the clue in the water.  But after making her ‘confession’, Amanda then pulled Parvati aside and told her the truth.  Parvati then told her friend she had a target on her back; she had to dig up the idol quickly because Natalie and Alexis were out to get her.  The question was whether Erik would align himself up with the other two.

From that point on, ladies everywhere were fighting to get Erik’s attention.  After speaking to Alexis, it appeared as if he was going to vote for Amanda as well.  He knew she was too strong a force to be reckoned with.  Later, Amanda had a private chat with ice cream boy to see if he would try and help her out.  As it was – he owed her one.  The Favorites member helped him get to the merge when they elected to vote off Ami instead.  Surprisingly, this was the first time the blonde boy stuck to his own gut.  He told Amanda he was still planning to vote for her that night.

Later, Erik and Alexis approached Cirie about voting for Amanda.  Although she didn’t want to see her friend leave, the nurse knew that Amanda’s elimination would be the best thing for her strategically.

But wanting to be a good friend, Cirie chose to speak to the aspiring fashion designer about her Tribal Council.  Even though she could have aligned herself with Amanda and Parvati and split the votes three-three, Cirie didn’t know how that would be to her advantage.  A tie vote would eventually end up with someone randomly choosing a colored stone to be sent home.  With Cirie’s luck, it could just easily be her.  Although Amanda didn’t like the thought of her friend voting against her, she knew that Cirie was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Wanting to partake in their chickens before the end of the season, the group cooked up a nice feast for themselves.  Unfortunately, Amanda had other things to attend to.  When they asked about Amanda whereabouts, Parvati said she was ‘washing up’ because she stunk.  (Washing up = digging desperately for idol.)

Later at Tribal Council, things got a little testy between Amanda and Erik.  After acknowledging that she was targeted for elimination, Amanda basically accused the Leif Garrett-wannabe of being a backstabbing opportunist in front of the jury.  She said that he got his help when he needed it, but that he outright refused her any assistance when she needed it.  (You got to admit – she did have a point.)

Once the votes were submitted, Amanda dished out the third shocker in a row.  She did have the immunity idol after all and she wasn’t going to be stupid enough not to play it.  (Cue shocked looks from the remaining women.)

When the names were revealed, Amanda had received four votes….and Alexis received two.  Turned out the gimp was going home after all.  LOSER:  Alexis.

(You can review last week’s episode here.)
(You can read next week’s episode here.)