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Previously on Survivor, the women finally showed some spine as they won their first two challenges of the season. One of them was more important than the other since it forced the men to eliminate one of their own. In a somewhat surprising development, previous tribe leader Matt was the first to go. Perceived as a threat by several members of the Misfits Alliance, Matt did himself no favors by alienating Troyzan further right before the vote.

Significantly, the four men without immunity idols in the power alliance all catered to Colton’s every whim, a disturbing development as we move forward. The only good news in this regard is that the tempestuous redneck wanted to vote Bill off the island rather than Matt. Ergo, Colton did not get everything he wanted last episode. He does have more power than anyone else in the game at the moment, though. A scenario similar to this is how Rome burned while Nero laughed uproariously.

Tonight’s episode begins with the MaNoNo tribe dealing with the ramifications of the vote. Michael makes several blanket statements, anyone of which would be deeply disturbing on its own. With the writing on the wall about his status in the game, he pulls no punches about "the old guys, the little guy, the gay guy who doesn’t work," etc. Humorously, Tarzan and Troyzan confer at the T-Zan stump regarding strategy. They wholly dismiss Michael as "periphery." In the short term, they are right.

Let’s summarize the current status of the MaNoNoNoNo tribe. There are eight players. Five of them joined one alliance while the three others were a part of an alliance led by Matt, whose absence is noteworthy. Jay has floated from alliance to the other but how much Team Madness aka Colton’s Cronies trusts him remains to be seen. This leaves Michael and Bill on the outside looking in.

The only thing Michael has going for him is that he isn’t African-American, something that clearly bothers Colton. We would not use such terms if we were not sure on the point. Colton’s use of “ghetto trash” last week had uncomfortable overtones as did several other comments. This is the least comfortable development on Survivor since NaOnka bullied a one-legged woman. And the previews for tonight have us concerned that the situation will depreciate further before people gang up on Colton and vote him out.

There are times when we question the authenticity of Survivor. The start of this season is a perfect example of why. After the women seemed incapable of even the most rudimentary tasks for the first week, they have found their sea legs just as the men fall apart. This is like in pro wrestling when the good guy beats up the bad guy for a while then the bad guy beats up the good guy for a while. You’ve seen Rocky III. You know the deal.

Monica, our favorite player on Salani thus far, states that she can sustain herself indefinitely. Why, there is a feast at camp. It is comprised of "coconut, snails and rice." Okay, nobody will win Top Chef with those ingredients, yet Monica believes the situation comes down to "mind over matter." We would go to war with Monica any day of the week. Unlike Kat and Alicia, she is a fighter.

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