‘Survivor: Philippines’ Episode 4 Preview

Don't be fooled - things are definitely looking a little lopsided, and this photo pretty much says it all. But are they? In the history of Survivor, we have certainly seen our fair share of tribes completely dissolve before our eyes. Of course, the greatest example happened in Palau, as we watched Stephanie sulking in the loneliness of defeat, as she witnessed every single member of Ulong tribe eliminated and take the fateful walk down that troubled, beaten path...to the production tent just behind the trees.

After the variety of previews we have seen over the past 6 days, I have a lot of things on my mind. First, who is causing all of the chaos with the Idol clue at the Tandang Camp? It would make sense that Pete is responsible, taking another step down the brilliant road of strategic game play. He definitely has the best seat in the house when it comes to witnessing the fragile alliance of RC and Abi, and pitting those two against each other should definitely work out in his favor.

I'm also interested to see how things are progressing in the Penner / Kent alliance. I really believe if these two stay on the same page, they could be pretty dangerous together. Both are helping their tribe stay intact, and with Jonathan's immunity idol, they are definitely in a power role. The only problem...Jonathan has an immunity idol, and he is in a power role. Time after time he has weaseled his way through the game, and when you give him an inch, he is very capable of taking a mile. But, Jeff is also showing he has some intuition when it comes to the game, and definitely knew Jonathan had the idol before he clued him in. Needless to say, I'm thinking if they stay together, these two are going to go pretty far.

And finally, we come back to the beginning of this post, and our dear friends from Matsing. I still stand behind what I said in my follow up to Episode 3, and we will finally see Russell, Denise, and Malcolm, celebrating a nail-biting victory after tonights immunity challenge. Why? They literally "have the numbers". Sure, they are only three, but It's no secret that they were always the three strongest in the tribe, and with multiple people sitting out this challenge from the other two tribes, the playing field is finally even. And if they were to ever win a challenge, this is definitely one, as it feels like the impending merge into two tribes might be just around the corner (next week).

Personally, I am looking forward to seeing either Tandang or Kalabaw go to tribal tonight. Both tribes have experienced some stress, some tough times, and some "ruffled feathers", but not once have they been forced to truly go against  one another and change the chemistry of their tribe. For the most part, things have been quite comfortable at both camps. Comfort? Survivor? These people have have no idea what's about to happen to them. Like I've said before, the moment you start to feel comfortable in this game,  think again. Things are about to change.