After just two weeks, Survivor: Micronesia has already proven to be quite an interesting season.  I don’t know if it’s because the editors have gotten smarter over the past 15 installments or the players have just grown wiser.  Whatever the reason – the past two episodes have kept us on our toes with some nice twists and turns up until the final vote.

Malakal – having just eliminated the controversial Jonny Fairplay – returned to camp feeling like a whole new group.  Although his unexpected departure threw off some individual plans, it was hard to deny that life was better without his annoying presence.

Although they had just won their first Immunity Challenge,  Airiai was still struggling to succeed at camp.  It was already Day Four and the tribe still didn’t have fire, water or a decent shelter.  Even though they had just won flint as a reward, they wasted half of it trying to produce just a few sparks.  Frustration quickly set in and soon a division amongst the teammates was formed.  Tracy, Chet and Kathy (the ‘older members’ of the group) believed they were being shunned by the others.  Meanwhile, the young ones felt the trio was just simply lazy.

Since there was little agreement over how to proceed with a new shelter, the ostracized elders decided they would build one for themselves. Surprisingly, the small group of three managed to complete something the remaining seven couldn’t accomplish.  Their impressive feat eventually forced the others to eat crow and beg for help.  Hoping to ‘bury the hatchet’, Tracy, Kathy and Chet agreed to assist the homeless pack with their own separate shelter.  Once both structures were finished, a working fire and collected food soon followed.  It appeared that Airiai had started to regain its momentum.

Back at Malakal, the attraction between Ozzy and Amanda was starting to grow stronger.  Although it was obvious to everyone that something was happening between the two of them, the new couple was wary of making themselves a target.  Meanwhile, a romance was starting to brew at the Airai camp.  Mikey B (who I will forever think of as Luke Wilson) actually found someone who thought his ‘ticket stub’ tattoo was appealing: Mary.  To each his own, I guess.

That evening, Ozzy and Amanda could no longer keep their hormones under wraps.  While most of their tribemates were asleep, the two broke down and started their make-out session.  (Maybe they sensed the episode would air on Valentine’s Day?)  Unfortunately, their private moment was in full view of Cirie and Jonathan.  The two – would could not sleep – were now wondering what they could do to break up the potentially strong couples alliance.  Although Cirie was given the opportunity to join Alan Alda and his foursome, she chose not to make any firm commitments right away.

For their next Immunity/Reward Challenge, the groups had to compete in a swimming/puzzle event.  Five people from each team had to take turns swimming out to a platform to smash keys out of hanging tiles.  After retrieving all five keys from the ocean floor, one person had to unlock a chest full of puzzle pieces.  It was up to the remaining contestants to then put together a map of Micronesia.  The winning team would not only receive Immunity, they would get fishing gear and a bamboo fishing boat.  They would also get the right to send one person from the losing tribe to Exile Island.

Although Ozzy quickly gave the Favorites team a good start, the Fans were not too far behind; that is, until Chet came into the game.  The beauty pageant coach had difficulty finding his dislodged key in the water.  To make matters worse, he took his own sweet time getting back to the beach when his teammates ordered him to return.  His sad performance cost Airai a second win.  After Malakal chose to send Kathy to Exile Island, they were presented another surprise.  Jeff Probst told them a person from their own team would be going there as well.  Now one person from each team would have access to the same clues leading to only one hidden Immunity Idol.  Wanting to get an advantage over her fellow tribe members, Cirie volunteered to take the trip.

Although you’d think it would be in their best interest to work privately, Cirie and Kathy pooled their efforts and hunted for the idol together.  The two made a great team and managed to find at least four of the clues during their stay.  (It was never made clear if either got the idol before they returned home.)

Back at Airai, the team once again started to reveal fractures.  Even though it appeared Inept Chet would be the one to go, a power struggle between Mikey B and Joel confused everyone involved.  Mikey B’s plan was to have all the men vote for Chet and all the women vote for Tracy.  If Kathy were to give a possible second immunity idol to Chet, they would then have their bases covered.  Joel, now irked that Mikey B was telling everyone how to think, decided he would set up his own plan.  The firefighter didn’t want the writer creating a dominant position in the game, so he chose to target his female ally:  Mary.  Of course, convincing people that Mikey was a potential threat meant making himself vulnerable at the same time.

That night at Tribal Council, the votes clearly set the tone for the rest of the season.  It’s going to be full of backstabbing and blindsiding.  Although several votes did go Tracy and Chet’s way (as Mikey had planned), the rest of the tribe listened to Joel and voted for Mary.  It was obvious she never saw it coming.  LOSER: Mary.

The most interesting part?  When the individual votes were revealed at the end of the credits – it turns out Joel actually voted for Tracy after all!  I wonder how he’s going to explain that one next week.

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