Ug...Are things falling apart?
Todd's plan was great, but there was only one flaw. Unfortunately, it may turn out to be pretty major. Namely, he should have realized from the onset that they didn't need to win the challenge. He got so caught up in how cool it would be to have James spring the idol, that he failed to take into consideration that they didn't need to, it was just a safety net.
In other words, "Hey guys, I've found the idol and I'm giving it to James to protect him. They clearly through the challenge last time, so they may do it again and we need to protect him to keep him solid with us."
The problem with how it went down is that everyone felt like it was a failed plan. In a way it was, they didn't want to have the dejection that tribal counsel always brings, even if you already know you're just trimming dead weight. But if they had addressed it as a safety net in the first place, it wouldn't have been such a let down.
The follow-up, however, could prove to be very bad. Oh, so that's Amanda...they decided to give her a speaking part this week. What? Vote off Sherea instead of John Robert? Great plan until Coutney started campaining. At that point, they should have let Courtney call the shots right now while it's not as important.
Instead, how do the numbers look? Todd and Amanda seem solid. James and Denise are in, no problem. That's 4. Frosty might have some loyalty because of how the idol went down, but his own tribe still exists. John Robert will just as soon stab you in the back as ask you to dinner. Courtney doesn't feel secure in her place at the moment, so she becomes a wildcard also. And the worst ever is that everyone knows that Todd is calling the shots which makes him a danger.
Vote off John Robert and you have demonstrated to Frosty and Sherea that the game isn't about tribes. Frosty may have some loyalty now, but he also has to feel like if they were to get rid of one more, it would be him. He and Sherea are a risk either way, but if they feel like it's going to be a tie anyway, they may just side with you to avoid that. I'm guessing that won't happen now. The key would have been Courtney, giving the solid 5. If either of the other two wanted to avoid the tie, that's your majority.
Next week should be interesting. The previews seem to indicate that the merge is happening.
My applause to James. THAT'S how to throw a challenge. I couldn't believe that he wasn't even allowed that minor victory since Denise simply couldn't do it. PG and Jaime were too obvious. No one would have suspected that James could have just grabbed the bird and downed it in an instant. I can't help but wonder if he was holding his head under the table to avoid anyone seeing him laughing. I've never seen anyone so dejected for winning a challenge.
It's also too bad he got voted off, as he seemed he knew what he was doing. It seems he tries to offer advice on the first day, no one listened, so he didn't push it. Then when they wanted his advice again and he didn't want to offer it, he got voted out.