Survivor Samoa: Blindsides Galore

I don't know how much more of this I can take. Honestly, my blood pressure skyrockets when I tune in for "Survivor" these days. How pathetic is it that the once powerful Galu tribe (who outnumbered their competition 2 to 1) has now fallen at Foa Foa's mercy? And how many times can Russell escape the ax?

Last week's previews gave viewers hope that Galu would finally put an end to this man's string of luck. Unfortunately, he defied the odds YET AGAIN. By far the biggest villain in the series thus far, Russell found his third immunity idol this season. He discovered it hidden under a rock after leading Dave on a chase through the forest as they both looked for it.

Thus the pressure to win immunity was intense for Laura who now understood that she was Foa Foa's and Shambo's target. But she couldn't save herself when she needed it most. Instead, Mick won immunity. It cannot go unnoticed though how immature Shambo and Russell acted at the challenge, openly laughing and high-fiving one another when Laura was eliminated.

Back at camp, the scrambling before tribal council was fierce. Leading the charge against Laura were Russell and Shambo (who by now had jumped ship from the original Galu). The numbers now 5-5, Foa Foa tried to enlist the help of Monica or John to lock in the vote. Monica tried to convince the others to vote out John whom she deemed a bigger threat. John on the other hand did not comment, instead taking time to think through the offer.

Galu decided not to vote for Russell since it was very likely he had found the idol, so they turned their attention to Natalie. However, they thought it would be more clever to trick Foa Foa into thinking they would vote for John to throw them off. Since Shambo was dead set on voting Laura, there would only be 4 votes cast against John and 5 against Natalie, eliminating her. John understandably was worried since this plan could backfire. Either way, it was obvious tribal would be eventful and full of surprises.

Host Jeff Probst asked his usual annoying questions, but hurried to see how the evening would unfold. The first vote was a tie between Laura and Natalie. Probst made the players vote again with the condition that if there was another tie, a player would go home that night if he/she chose a colored rock from a random draw. However, it did not come to this because John voted against Laura. The dirty looks from his tribe mates indicate he will be punished for furthering himself in the game at their expense but it will be pretty hard to do this since Galu no longer has the numbers.