'Survivor: Exile Island' - Ep. 7 -or- "When Tribes Merge, Shane Remains Obnoxious"

Ah, finally! A new episode of Survivor: Panama - Exile Island! I had fear I'd forget their names in the three week forced Mad Marchness hiatus. Yeah, I know they had the recap show on one off night at the beginning, but that doesn't count. I went through Survivor withdrawal. I almost went as far as to tattoo "Boston" on my chest, but decided against it.

10 are left. Who will be voted out tonight?

At the Casaya camp, it doesn't look like Shane's apologies at the barbeque meant much to Danielle and Courtney. They still want him out. I respect them for that. Even Aras is still worried about being able to trust Shane. Bruce just wants to make the merge. I don't think he cares much about any of them.

Meanwhile, Sally is happy off at Exile Island. She's digging for the hidden Immunity Idol and pleased to be off the chopping block. Peace and tranquility are hers ... for the time being, at least. At the La Mina (sans Sally) tribe camp, the boys' club gets tree mail. And, it's actual tree mail, unlike the ceramic pot mail we kept seeing on Guatemala. The rhyming letter indicated that a treasure could be found on the back beach and they'd be more comfortable tonight. Nick and Austin automatically thought food and beverage. Terry was more reserved. While technically, in the end, they were right -- it was a boat with some firewood and wooden crates. There was a map to the Casaya camp and an admonition not to open the boxes until they arrived there. The merge is on! The La Mina men vowed to stick together with Sally as an alliance knowing the numbers are right for Casaya to pick them off one by one. All they need is a flip of one from the other tribe for a tie, two for a majority vote. Terry knows he has the hidden Immunity Idol from Exile Island, but he's not sharing the news.

Over at Casaya, they're enjoying a lazy day eating rice when they spot the La Mina tribe coming in on the boat. They quickly vow they'll be the final six and pick off La Mina one by one. Then they chow down eating all the rice they can so they don't have to share their food. Oh, but then they go greet La Mina like they're childhood sweethearts. No sooner are the La Mina men ashore than Sally gets dropped off to join them. One big happy family ... of schemers and would be wheeler dealers. Inside the crates were the paint supplies and new buffs for the newly merged tribe. Also in the crates was food. Glorious food. The new tribe named themselves Gitanos (saying it means gypsies) and enjoyed chocolate, fruit, pickled stuff, wine, crackers and cheese.

Terry, in my opinion, was a bit too blatant as he campaigned for a flip from Casaya. I could understand him approaching Bruce as they were on the Older Men tribe together and have a bond. But, he approached Cirie and Shane! Cirie (dang, I get a kick out of her) said in confessional that she had an encyclopedia and there he was trying to sell her a dictionary. What the heck is wrong with him? I thought Bruce would flip, but when Casaya saw Terry talking to him, they started buttering him up with how valuable he is and what a great leader he is for them. @@ <-- I need to roll my eyes at that one! Will he flip? He seems to know the score. He knows he's sitting pretty with both tribes wanting him in their numbers game. Shane doesn't think Terry has the Immunity Idol and vows he'll be voted off first chance they get.

Of course, it didn't help matters for La Mina that Nick hit Bruce in the face with a machete. Nope, that wouldn't help their cause at all, accident or not. There have been spoiler rumors since before the season aired that Bruce got hurt and had to be taken away. The promos before the hiatus showed a helicopter. But if that happened with this injury, it wasn't shown on tonight's show. Maybe he'll get hurt again! Actually, for a machete blow to the face, it wasn't all that serious. He may have needed a stitch or two on the inside of the lip from how it looked.

Tonight, with the merge, it was the first individual immunity up for grabs. The contest was a physical one. On horizontal wooden poles the castaways had to hang upside down holding onto the pole with their arms and legs. One by one they fell leaving Terry last man hanging. So, he has the hidden Immunity Idol and won the first Immunity Necklace. He's safer than safe at the upcoming Tribal Council.

Terry campaigned again with Casaya folks, but no one outright committed. Nick just wants to make the jury. Austin said in confessional he pretended to be weak and drop because he knows either Nick or he will be voted out. Nick knows it's between those two, too. Terry keeps on campaigning. Then, Creep Me Out Shane loudly calls a meeting of the ex-Casaya tribe and they all agree to vote out Nick. Shane actually wanted Austin out, but the rest wanted Nick.

And, so it went. The voting went strictly according to previous tribal lines - four votes for Shane from the four La Mina and six votes for Nick from the Casaya.

"Nick, you must leave the tribal council area immediately."

He didn't make the jury. He tossed something to Cirie on his way out, but I'm not sure what it was. His goodbye speech was odd, not mentioning the show at all. It was something about young hungry people working on their dreams and changing the world. Maybe he had too much wine; I don't know.

I hope that we're not going to see La Mina decimated one by one for the next four weeks. I'd rather see a flip or even a mutiny with Shane being voted out. Did I mention he creeps me out? What did you think of tonight's show?