Loved ones visit and an immunity challenge ends in a medical emergency.
The orange baseball caps.
All of it, awesome.
Credit: Screen Grab/CBS
But you know what makesSurvivorevenmoreawesome?
Not to mention Chili Cheese Fritos.
Air conditioning in September is a plus.
As is heat in December (even if the radiator rattles a bit).
ButSurvivoris a totally different experience for those actually playing it.
The point is, we forget how bad these folks have it out there.
And make no mistake, these folks have it plenty bad.
I wrote last week about how when it comes to locations, not allSurvivorseasons are created equal.
It never rained a single day in Gabon and constantly hovered in the 7080-degree range.
Weather was not an issue in the least.
Other locations like Nicaragua might get some rain, but never too absurdly hot.
And then there is Cambodia, which appears to offer the worst of both worlds for contestants.
They either get three straight days of torrential misery in the form of downpours, or 100-degree heat.
Those are the types of extremes that will wreak absolute havoc on your body.
And just look at the carnage so far.
Ultimate tough guy Andrew Savage was reduced to a befuddled mess after the blindfold challenge.
Stephen Fishbach is probablystilloff crying somewhere after his body revolted on him in the form of #GastroIntestinalDistress.
And now the indestructible Joe has been taken down in a super scary incident during the immunity challenge.
This is the thing that scares me most onSurvivor whenever anyone loses consciousness.
Now we can add Joe to that list.
Deprive that machine of the necessary fuel, and the machine starts to break down.
What these people go through out there is NO JOKE.
Just look at the bug bites all over their legs.
Or the weight theyve lost.
Or the sweat dripping off of their faces.
And I love it all.
Their pain equals our gain through this riveting television program.
Its like I ate the broccoli and now all thats left is steak.
So grab some A.1 Sauce, and lets recap this sonofabitch!
It will be difficult, no doubt, but we must stay strong and forge ahead.
Ladies and gentlemen, enjoy…
Okay,nowwe can recap this SOB!
(And if you want more Fishbach tomfoolery, check out mySurvivor Talkroundtable with him and Ciera.)
Sure enough, this understanding of how you say,feelings?
Jeremy, of course, has to play along because he is suddenly vulnerable.
But then something truly fascinating happens: Kimmi tells Kelley that she wants to set up a female alliance.
SAY WHAT?!?
Kimmi blasted her for that and now is going full-on estrogen to the end.
As you guys know, a big part ofSurvivoris the loved one visit, he begins.
And most of the time, we do bring your loved ones to you.
Sometimes we do something different.
Today we arenotdoing anything different.
Today we brought your love to you.
The best part of this was just how confused the contestants were at the initial fake-out.
Here come the loved ones!
Look, its Val!
He was the victim of aligning with John Rocker and…well, that speaks for itself.
And there are a bunch of other people I dont know!
at the top of her lungs).
(Either that or a commemorativeSecond Chanceonesie that says Voting Bloc on it.)
Eventually they all get to the puzzle.
I dont know what it is, says Keith, in the least shocking development imaginable.
But its too late; Kelley has won and I know shes won because Dale is yelling YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!
at the top of his lungs.
This is exactly why I always argue that you should not win individual-immunity challenges.
Because in a cruel twist, Probst tells Kelley to pickfourdifferent players and their family members to join them.
She chooses Keith, Abi, Kimmi, and Joe.
So, by winning, Kelley put herself in the position to have to excludelessthan she includes.
Thats a recipe for pissing people off and simply not worth it.
Especially if you play the percentages.
So you get the spoils without potentially spoiling your game by pissing someone off you excluded.
Oh, and what happened to those three that were excluded?
Joe confirms that his father always had problems showing any sort of genuine emotion.
Are you thinking what Im thinking?
I dont know how this works.
Is this one of thoseLoopersituations Ive heard about, or does Spencer own some sort of time-traveling DeLorean?
Just look what happened to Martys girlfriend, Jennifer, inBTTF2!
She couldnt handle it, screamed, and passed out.
But first we need to see which person will win immunity.
The last male and female standing willbothwin immunity.
How do I feel about that?
Sorry, but I cant get down with that.
Wow, a lot of percentage talk in this weeks recap.
Next week Ill be sure to give a dissertation on the irrationality of the square root of 2.
NEXT: Down goes Joe!
Five minutes later, Kelley wins.
And that leaves the men.
Spencer and Jeremy both quickly drop their statues, leaving Keith and Joe to once again battle it out.
But then something truly scary happens: Out of nowhere Joe collapses.
Holding that weight for that long in that heat has taken its toll.
Probst immediately yells for medical.
Clearly, this was a much more serious situation, but there is nothing haphazard about it.
(What happened to the good ol days of Ado and Ramona?)
Jeff Probst wants us to know whats up, so he makes Dr. Joe tell us.
Hes used up all his energy stores in the last hour.
Basically, his blood sugars come down to the point where hes not able to support himself.
Okay, nowthatwe can understand.
I just want it so bad, says cotton-eyed Joe.
I love this game.
I want to play it as hard as I can.
To which Probst responds, I think this effort just showed that you are.
And indeed Joes demise in the game seems imminent.
But then Tasha does somethingveryinteresting.
She tells Jeremy and Spencer about the all-female alliance.
Now, at first blush this seems like an odd thing to do.
Why not just play the middle and keep both alliance options open?
Let it play out a bit, and then make your call.
Thats what I would have done.
So Tasha took a preemptive strike against that, and I get why.
Better to hear it from her than somewhere else.
Not saying I agree with it, but I get it.
We can spot a red herring when we see one.
But in Stephens defense, at least he never told Joe, Youre moldy.
You gotta go.
And hey get a haircut.
You look like a clown.
(Ill give you one guess whom that was.)
Maybe they were just simply entertained at the sight of this.
So here we are with just seven players and two episodes left.
My pre-season pick of Spencer to win is still standing.
As is my final-three pick of Kelley.
(Way to ruin my trifecta, Ciera!)
Who deserves to win?
Doubt well see it, but man, that would be glorious.
Speaking of glory, look at the bounty of goodies we still have for you.
Sad to see Joe go?
Who was your favorite loved one?
And who at this point has played the best game of the season?
