On last night's broadcast, Jon 'Jonnie Fairplay' Dalton tore a page from
the playbook of his pro wrestling idol "Nature Boy" Ric Flair and became
the "dirtiest player" in the 'Survivor' game...ever. Dalton told the 'Big
Lie' 'Survivor' fans have been waiting for all season convincing the other
players that his dear old grandmother had bought the farm.
The devious deception was a 'Survivor' first in the fact that the plot to
elicit sympathy was hatched before Jon ever packed his bags to go off on
the adventure and involved a person outside of the game - his best friend
Dan Fields (AKA: 'Thunder D'). Whether that action breaks any part of the
contract Jon, a part-time pro wrestler in the independent circuit, signed
with CBS in agreeing to be cast on the series is unknown.
As predicted by many fans, Jon's Pearl Harbor job on the Balboa Tribe was
executed during a Reward Challenge involving the castaways' loved ones. In
greeting his friend Danny, Jon gave him a cue and asked how his grandmother
was holding up.
"She died, dude," replied a somber Danny hugging Jon.
Seemingly fooled by the hoax, host Jeff Probst questioned Jon about the
news he had received. Jon informed Probst that his grandmother was supposed
to be the one to come visit him not Danny.
"She's not around," said Jon. "I just want to win this (challenge) and get
more info."
During the challenge in which the winner could spend a day with their loved
one back at camp, Jon erupted in mock anger when Sandra made a move to put
Jon and Danny out of the game.
"My grandma just died and no one gives a crap," spat Jon.
Lillian Morris, the 51-year-old Scout leader from Ohio, quickly came to
Jon's defence chastising Sandra for her apparent lack of compassion. In the
challenge's final phase, Burton, Jon's alliance partner in the game, felt
that Jon was having the "worst day of his life" so he handed the win to him
by defeating Lillian and her husband.
In the past when similar Reward Challenges were held on 'Survivor', the
loved one lived with all of the tribemates at camp to get a taste of their
life. Not so on last night's show. In a move that is looked upon as
suspicious by some fans who wonder if the producers really knew about the
'Big Lie' or not, Jon and Danny were permitted to go back to camp alone
while the rest of the Balboa Tribe were sent to another location with just
a machete and some matches.
On their way to Balboa's camp, Jon and Danny yucked it up at having
successfully fooled everyone.
"My grandmother is sitting at home watching Jerry Springer, right now,"
said Jon in a confessional. "This is a game for a million dollars and I
have one chance in my life at this. You should take every single advantage
possible. If you don't, you're a fool."
For his part, Danny admitted that Jon set up the scam before the producers
shot a single roll of film.
"Jon called me before he left and was like...I gotta have any sort of
leverage that I possibly can to outsmart, out think and out play everybody.
He's like...if you come down here, tell me my grandma died," said Danny in
his confessional.
Sitting around the camp fire later, Danny and Jon joked some more.
"You're going out once they (the rest of Balboa) find out what's going on.
Your grandma's gonna hate you," said Danny.
"Grandma's gonna love it," Jon chuckled in response.
Jon's 'Big Lie' wasn't the only first on the episode. The Immunity
Challenge had to be held twice when Burton was stripped of the coveted
sword. Probst reviewed Burton's answers to a word scramble and found one to
be incorrect. The remaining players squared off again and Darrah, the
mortician from Mississippi, was the eventual winner.
Tijuana Bradley, the 27-year-old pharmaceutical salesperson from St. Louis,
became the third member of the 'Pearl Islands' jury as mortal enemies in
the game - Jon and Sandra - patched up their differences and struck a deal
to save Burton's hide.
The remaining Survivors at the start of the broadcast were:
Balboa Tribe
1. JON DALTON: Art Consultant.
2. SANDRA DIAZ-TWINE: Office Assistant.
3. CHRISTA HASTIE: Computer Programmer.
4. TIJUANA BRADLEY: Pharmaceutical Sales.
5. DARRAH JOHNSON: Mortician.
6. LILLIAN MORRIS: Scout Troop Leader.
7. BURTON ROBERTS: Marketing Executive.
Balboa Tribal Happenings (Night 27)
Rupert's eviction has stunned the ordinarily stunned Christa. She may have
been too "cocky" thinking she had the whole game wrapped up. Ding! Ding!
Ding! Let's get ready to rummmble....again. Jon and Sandra square off in a
verbal Texas Death Match. Sandra announces to anyone who will listen that
Jon can't be trusted. He is a total backstabber. Funny. It only took Sandra
27 days to come to this revelation. Jon hits back and hits back hard. He
accuses Sandra of riding on Rupert's coat-tails. Sandra warns the women not
to turn their backs on Jon for a moment.
Burton goes to prepare the fish that Rupert caught before they sent his ass
packing. Trouble is...dum!...dum!...dum!..the bucket is empty. Balboa
desperately searches for the lost fillets but they are nowhere to be found.
Burton accuses Sandra of deliberately sabotaging the tribe because of her
anger over Rupert's eviction. Sandra denies it all. She was too busy
flapping her gums at Jon to be pulling a 'Free Willy' with the fish.
Getting nowhere with Sandra, Burton P.I. points the finger at Christa next
since she was away from everyone for all of 20 seconds earlier on. Christa
sobs that she was nowhere near the scene of the crime. Christa tells us she
feels she will be voted off next because there's no proof of her
innocence.
The fish are located by the cameramen. They have been dumped in a pile
behind some trees and crabs are feeding on them. Burton P.I. is sound
asleep though so the crustaceans don't have to speed dial Johnnie
Cochrane....yet.
Balboa Tribal Happenings (Day 28)
Burton P.I. and the rest of the Keystone Cops (Lillian and Jon) scour the
crime scene. Burton finds the rotting fish pile. Lillian is convinced that
Christa did it...because Burton said so. Burton interrogates Christa some
more. He foregoes the bamboo shoots and cattle prod and just calls Christa
a liar. She had motive and opportunity. Though there isn't a shred of
evidence, she must be guilty. Christa whines to us that she feels horrible
being blamed for something she didn't do, basically repeating what she said
about 30 seconds ago.
The real fish felon confesses. Sandra admits that it was she who made off
with the bucket so the tribe couldn't enjoy the fish her buddy Rupert had
caught. The bucket was so heavy though that she "accidentally" dumped the
fish into the sand. Sandra would own up to the deed so her "good friend"
Christa wouldn't be stuck taking the blame but that would ruin her own
chances at the million dollars. With friends like Sandra...well...you know
the rest.
With Burton finished his "bad cop" routine, it is time for Tijuana to step
into the role of "good cop". Tijuana says she saw Christa near the area
where the fish were found. Without Kato Kaelin around, Christa's only
defence is to keep blubbering that she didn't do it. Chatting with us,
Christa says she feels so alone. She wants to go home and see "her man".
"It sucks being here right now," she snivels.
Reward Challenge
It is a walk the plank game. The Survivors and their loved ones must match
answers to Probst's questions. For every correct match, the players can
send an opposing loved one further down the plank until they have to
cannonball into the drink. The loved ones are Sandra's husband, Christa's
fiancee, Darrah's boyfriend, Burton's mother, Tijuana' high school
sweetheart and best friend, Lillian's husband and Jon's best friend.
Reward
For the winner, a day with their loved one back at camp.
Result
The boot order is...Sandra's hubby, Christa's fiancee, Darrah's
boyfriend, Burton's mom, Tijuana's friend and Lillian's husband.
Winners: Jon and Danny.
Though he said nothing about it before the challenge started, Probst
announces that the losers will be sent to another beach for 24 hours with
just a machete and a pack of water-proof matches. Nice guy.
Balboa Tribal Happenings (Day 28)
The rest of Balboa are dropped off on a beach. Horrified, they all stand
staring at each other. Tijuana states the obvious. They have no food and no
shelter. "This is not a good situation," she grumbles. Burton finds a
coconut. Burton says to us that knowing Jon's situation, the whole tribe
thought it best that he win the reward. Dopey Lillian wishes she had more
time to comfort Jon.
Back at the Balboa camp, Danny and Jon congratulate themselves on fooling
those suckahs. Danny doesn't like being at Balboa. He wants to go home as
soon as he can.
Balboa Tribal Happenings (Day 29)
Jon greets his returning tribemates as Danny departs like a thief in the night.
Sandra and Christa scheme. They are going to work Tijuana. They must drill
it into her head not to trust Burton. They could care less about Darrah.
Who is 'Dr. Death' Darrah, you ask? How soon we forget. She is the one who
sounds like Foghorn Leghorn, is only permitted to speak two sentences an
episode and is edited like Vecepia. Glad we cleared that up. Back to
business. Sandra and Christa meet with Tijuana and Darrah. After the
anti-Burton bitch session, Sandra is confused that Tijuana didn't comment
on anything they had to say. Later at night when Burton and Jon head off to
their meeting place, Sandra and Tijuna tag along to eavesdrop. Tijuana
hears Burton and Jon talking about them being the final two. Burton is sure
they can drag Tijuana along if they falsely guarantee her a place in the
final four. Burton advises Jon to keep using his relationship with Tijuana
to make her do their bidding.
Back at camp, Tijuana says to us that she is glad that Sandra gave her a
"heads up". Tijuana lets Darrah in on what just happened. Tijuana: "If
Burton doesn't win Immunity, he is gone."
Immunity Challenge
It is a Scrabble-like game. The Survivors must make as many words as they
can from the words..."Survivor Pearl Islands". Only English words allowed.
No proper names or plurals. "Survivor", "Pearl" and "Islands" cannot be
used. Whenever a Survivor thinks they are done, they can call Probst over
to check their work. If there are any errors, they are automatically
disqualified.
Reward
Immunity from Tribal Council.
Result
Christa, Tijuana and Jon are DQ'd. Burton calls time. Probst looks over
Burton's board and declares him the winner. Burton is given the sword and
the Survivors are told to head back to camp. Probst then suddenly stops
them. He points out that Burton spelt "liaison" incorrectly. Burton is
stripped of the sword and Lillian, Darrah and Sandra are given a new
challenge. The same rules apply but they received three new words and are
given one minute to come up with as many answers as they can. Lillian,
Darrah and Sandra agree the restart is fair.
"Immunity is back up for grabs and for the first time, a woman will
wear Immunity," says Probst.
Lillian scores 10, Sandra nets 12 and Darrah 14. At Darrah's win, Sandra
says: "Good. Anybody but him." Not sure if the him is Burton or Jon. In
placing the scabbard around Darrah, Probst comments "I misspoke earlier.
You are the only one immune from the Tribal Council vote."
Winner: Darrah.
Balboa Pre-Tribal Council Happenings (Day 29)
Tijuana and Darrah believe the game is now in their favour. They agree to
vote Burton out because he is the "strongest player". Off on their own,
Sandra and Christa are contemplating the same thing. Jon brainstorms with
Sandra and Christa. In his mind, it is better that they save Burton and
make a Drake final four. Sandra is up front with Jon. She can't trust him.
He has messed them over so many times before. Jon swears on his
grandmother's grave that they can believe every word he is saying. This
deal is totally solid.
Tribal Council Happenings
Tijuana terms the tribe as chaotic. Sandra describes the whole fish fiasco.
Christa denies involvement again. She says seeing her fiancee gave her the
energy she needed to go on. Tijuana states that what happened to Jon goes
beyond the game. Burton lays down some 'Survivor' wisdom. You don't have to
like somebody to form an alliance with them. You just have arrive at a
mutual interest or goal to proceed. Jon claims that several days ago, he
would've stuck it to anybody in the game but after everything that has
happened, he has had a change of heart. It meant a lot to him that everyone
was rooting for him during the Reward Challenge.
Darrah votes Burton. He is the biggest threat. Burton writes down T's name.
Her birthday is tomorrow but won't be around to celebrate it. Tijuana picks
Burton. He has lied to her too many times.
Final Voting
1. JON DALTON: Tijuana.
2. SANDRA DIAZ-TWINE: Tijuana.
3. CHRISTA HASTIE: Tijuana.
4. TIJUANA BRADLEY: Burton.
5. DARRAH JOHNSON: Burton.
6. LILLIAN MORRIS: Tijuana.
7. BURTON ROBERTS: Tijuana.
Tribal Council Victim:
TIJUANA BRADLEY.
Parting Comments
"Well, it looks like I tried to make some decisions in this game and to
make things work to my advantage and take that leadership role. I think
that cost me the game and for the rest of the my tribemates, I have no
animosity to any of them. I made it to the jury and I am proud of myself.
With that being said...Peace." -- TIJUANA BRADLEY.
Powell's Thoughts:
On the next 'Survivor', a few lucky tribemates experience the ultimate
getaway. A plane is shown flying over the Pearl Islands. A shift in power
begins. Sandra and Christa talk about getting the guys out. Old alliances
crumble. Burton and Lillian are having a private discussion at night.
Lillian: "Are you still thinking we are the final two?". Burton: "I don't
want to think that far in advance." Lillian: "Are you telling me now that
you have second thoughts?".
Thanks to Jonnie Fairplay, Burton dodged the bullet but based on the title
of next week's episode - "Would you be my Brutus today?" - it is thought
that Burton is kicked next week. The reference to William Shakespeare's
'Julius Caesar' could mean that Jon takes on the Brutus role and betrays
his Caesar - Burton. Burton waffling on his alliance with Lillian could
solidify a female vote against him. As we saw with tonight's episode, the
Balboa women certainly agree on one thing...Burton must go if they stand a
chance at winning.
The reward involves a splendid spa session and it is likely that Jon is a
part of that due to the sympathy he gained from the 'Big Lie' with the
actual winner deciding to take him along for the ride. He probably gets
drunk though and makes a spectacle of himself. No surprise there.
Lillian, Sandra and Darrah are still the odds on favourites of making the
final three...possibly with Jon riding THEIR coat-tails. A women's alliance
was hinted at in the promo but if it does happen, it probably lasts long
enough to turf Burton and then things breakdown again with Jonnie Fairplay
working his fiendish magic.
