Let's relish the joy of the BEST moment of the series by far, deserving of a very special place in the
Survivor Hall of Fame.
The pure and absolute delight of seeing mean girl Marisha's torch snuffed was so extreme I shrieked myself off my couch in a fit of hysterical laughter and glee. It made me so happy I can't even tell you.
It was divine intervention because it came at a point when she was at her most confident with all those patronising comments she dished out, especially to Santoni, saying things like:
"Cos you wanna stay in the game a few extra days," and "I'll keep you in the loop," with a lilt in the "oo" that brandished her insincerity.
And just when I thought the excellence couldn't get any better, we got this:
Bwa! Shem. NOT.
Shaun obviously felt the opposite. He judged our heroes, talking smack about them by saying: "And that's the type of person you voted out hey?" - after Marisha gave Nicole her jacket.
Puhlease. That kind of moral high ground attitude drives me round the twist.
The heroes
An overview of the votes in case you were reeling and couldn't keep up, like me. I had to go back to see:
Tyson: Marisha
Kiran: Marisha
Santoni: Marisha
Wardah: Marisha
Villains:
Marisha: Chappies
Anela: Chappies
Nicole: Chappies
Amy: Chappies
Renier: Chappies
Shaun: Chappies
Anesu: Chappies
I can't believe I'm classifying Wardah as a hero because she annoys me so much, but I have to give credit where credit is due - she was onto the mean girls from early in the episode already, with Anesu.
Who perplexes me because I can't work out why she voted for Chappies in the end. She was so united with Wardah in that convo.
I've rewound conversations and tried to catch her comment at Tribal Council about a plan but I can't get to the bottom of it. If you know why - please spill.
I've also rewatched the splendour of Tyson telling Santoni they should vote for Marisha while pretending they're voting for Nicole.
Tyson's résumé
It was balm to my soul and an ultimate score for his fast expanding arsenal for final Tribal Council.
He's the only one who's truly considering how he'll be perceived at the end and right now it's looking top class for him. If the ousted jury members don't get preachy of course. *
side eye Shaun.*
I thought Renier would also be savvy to this résumé perspective and yet he isn't because he hasn't mentioned the jury once. Instead he's looking more and more like Gollum, hiding in the shadows, trying to keep that idol for himself.
I'm sure that's why he took so long to hand it over for Nicole. I don't think he was conflicted about who to give it to but rather whether or not to keep it for himself.
And it isn't even his anyway.
Crazy how he had such influence over Marisha that she called him to help get it when she didn't need to. And then gave it right over to him!
The Chap Shack
And the award for Most Entertaining Castaway of the Merge has to go to Chappies and his zany antics, which were super-charged by all that vino at the feast.
His secret shack's very funny and I do believe that no-one knows about it, although I suspect Santoni might know. She's always had an intuitive-type relationship with him so she may sense him around.
Seeing him follow Anela's meaningless hidden clues was classic. A most excellent move by Anela, who's much better at pranking people than strategising on Survivor.
Smashing positivity
Anela was 100% convinced that things would be fine for his alliance and that our heroes wouldn't change the plan and win. Anyone who presented him with any concerns or worries about it, he was like, "It'll be fine, man."
Famous last words.
Since deciding that he's the epitome of The Dude last week, I've been wondering about his Smash nickname. What does it mean?
I've done some snooping and discovered that this is the story: when he was in Grade 8 at high school, there was a rugby player in Matric who played open side flank for the first team and his nickname was Smash.
When Anela went to Grade 9, the first Smash had left, and Anela changed position from winger to open side flank. He told anyone who'd listen that he was going to be the next Smash, which he turned out to be.
More positive thinking. All good and well but he needs to get cynical if he hopes to survive whatever's coming next.