The first two weeks of Survivor: Micronesia have given us several head-shaking Tribal Councils in a row.  Let me assure you, Week 3 was no different.

Mikey B. – who was completely blindsided by Mary’s elimination last week – quickly figured out that Joel was behind the whole plan.  Unfortunately, he just couldn’t figure out why the firefighter did it.  “I don’t blame the move as long as the move wasn’t you trying to take that whole crew.”  (Uhh, what other reason would he have?)  Mikey felt Mary’s dismissal was a completely wasted move.  Instead of getting rid of the weak links on their team, he thought Joel was far too focused on the long game.

Meanwhile on Malakal, the ‘couples’ alliance tried their best to woo Eliza over to their side.  Although she was kind enough to give them her time, she later laughed the whole thing off with Jonathan, Ami, Yau-Man and Cirie.  Jonathan, convinced Cirie was now on their side now (Did she ever say she was joining them?), felt comfortable about taking Parvati out next.

For the next Reward Challenge, the two tribes came armed with face paint and energy.  They were told if they were to win this next event, they would be able to be able to take three comfort-related items home with them.  Although they had just come off a defeat, Joel was convinced his tribe would prevail.  “You have to fight logically.  And logically, if someone comes and invades my home, I’m gonna kill ‘em.”  Alrighty then.

To score the reward, the teams would have to face-off in a Capture the Flag type event.  Both tribes would start at the opposite ends of a lagoon with 3 canvas bags.  The goal was to get their bags to the other side in addition to 2 of the opposing team’s bags.  The first team to get 5 bags on their side – at the same time – would win.

As expected, the challenge became very physical from the get-go.  (That always seems to be the case when water and bikinis are involved in this show.)  Bodies were being flipped, clothes were being torn and people were being dragged.  The tense battle went back and forth several times but James and his crew were eventually able to muscle it out. 

For their win, the Favorites were able to take back shelter, a lighting kit and a survival kit. They also had the chance to send Kathy back to Exile Island for the second time in a row.  (Ami was the person from Malakal who opted to go this time around.)

Back at Malakal, Cirie was too busy worrying about her place in the game to enjoy their recent win.  Later, Amanda and Parvati did their best to assure the swing vote that they were on her side.  Although these two ladies were currently having fun with their new love interests, they were convinced Ozzy and James would ultimately defeat them in a vote.  So the ladies decided to make a new pact.  Cirie promised to vote for Yau-Man (who she personally believed to be a huge threat) if the girls would band together as a trio.

Meanwhile, Kathy wasted another day out on Exile Island.  Not wanting to reveal to Ami what clues she had already uncovered, she had to follow the newbie around the same routes she and Cirie had already taken.  Fortunately, bad weather didn’t allow Kathy to repeat the exhausting trips back and forth between the different islands.

The next Immunity Challenge required both strength and accuracy.  Two men and two women from each team had to hold up a large rope basket while members from the opposing team threw coconuts into them.  The first team to drop the net due to the increasing weight would be heading to the next Tribal Council.

This event was pretty lopsided from the beginning.  Although Yau-Man seemed to contribute a decent number of baskets for his side, the Fans were far more consistent with their shooting overall.  Despite James’ strong arms, he (and his other three helpers) could not hang on long enough.  It was time for the Favorites to head back to Tribal Council.

From this point on in the show, things became extremely confusing:

• Cirie was upset with the ‘couples’ alliance because they didn’t want to vote Yau-Man off like she did.  Ozzy wanted to keep another man around for a while longer and was leaning toward Eliza.
• Jonathan, already convinced Cirie was going to help them vote Parvati off, saw her talking to the other foursome.  Cirie said both teams were feeding her the same lines and she had a tough decision to make.
• Jonathan was then seen discussing the voting situation with Ozzy.  It almost made me feel like they had their own thing brewing on the side.
• Ozzy discussed Cirie’s situation with Parvati, James, Amanda…..and Ami?? (I thought Ami was part of the other foursome???) 
• Although Ozzy believed they should vote for Eliza, Parvati thought they should vote Cirie’s way.  If they didn’t, they would never earn her trust.
• After talking to Ami about a possible division in the other alliance, Jonathan was convinced they could still get Parvati off.  If the other foursome was divided between Yau-Man and Eliza, the votes could be split.
• Ozzy tried convincing Cirie (again) to vote for Eliza, but she was dead-set in her thinking.  This attitude started to irk everyone who believed the swing vote was now trying to be the boss of everything.  (Who could blame her?)

Later that night, things became particularly heated between Cirie and Jonathan at Tribal Council.  He accused of her trying to rule the game from the driver’s seat and she said he was only bitter because she didn’t want to vote the same way he did.  (She does have a point.)  In the end, Cirie encouraged people to do what they wanted to do – she didn’t have control over anyone’s actions.

Unfortunately for Jonathan, the opposing foursome was not as split as he would like to think.  In fact, the votes revealed a fissure within his own group.  While five votes were directed toward Yau-Man, two were revealed for Parvati while one was directed at Cirie.  (That one came from Ami.)

LOSER: Yau-Man.

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