Survivor can really suck sometimes, huh? I’m one of the biggest Survivor apologists out there, willing to watch virtually anything (except Colton) in the spirit of the show. I’ll do so again after this week’s episode, but I can’t say I’m happy about it.

For many casual or former fans of Survivor the complaint is often that undeserving people win. Or even more specifically that deserving people are sent home too early. To me there is no such thing as deserving to stay in the game. The only time deserving matters is when the final vote is being tallied. 

Every other instance not getting voted out is the only qualification for deserving to stay in the game. Survivor isn’t about hunting, cooking, gathering wood or anything else that the name of the game seemingly implies. It truly is outwit, outplay, outlast. 

Unfortunately for Jonas, he didn’t do any of those things this week. That’s why he’s going home and Tarzan didn’t even get a vote! His likable qualities and alleged threat at challenges (I’m not sure where that comes from) were his undoing as he was a threat to win immunity and the game.

What’s frustrating about Jonas going home is not that he was sent home but that Tarzan wasn’t. At this point we all get why he stuck around. As Kim said, after the merge Jonas became a threat and Tarzan became an asset. Tarzan’s not a threat to win, well, anything.

However, neither is Kat. But if this week’s tribal council was about Jonas vs. Kat it would not be nearly as emotional because Kat is not as annoying. So really it is not about Jonas being sent home, it is about Tarzan not being sent home.

This is where the politics of Survivor confuse the viewers. The new-Salani alliance is in command whether Jonas or Tarzan go home. Several members of the Salani alliance truly wanted to vote out Tarzan over Jonas. 

Despite the known and vocalized at tribal council objections to getting rid of Jonas the fear of change took over and we’re stuck watching Tarzan and his blue poop-stained underwear.  When Chelsea and Sabrina brought up axing Tarzan No Fun Jay was right there to say “no, no, guys, stick to the plan."

What is potentially most disturbing about Jay’s attitude is if it really does lead to five straight new-Manano tribe members being sent home. That’s always what Survivor is trying to avoid and recently hasn’t been able to. The show did its best this season to co-mingle the groups and form multiple alliances. We’ll find out soon if it worked.

More from this episode:

• Digging under a barrier has to have been a challenge on Survivor at least five times over the past 24 seasons, if not more. Going under the barrier on your stomach has never worked. Do these people even watch the show before they go on?
• The hidden immunity idols seem to be getting easier and easier to find. No one needs a clue to find them anymore and seemingly has enough time on their own to find the idol before anyone gets suspicious. Let’s just say I don’t think people have suddenly become really good at finding the idols.
• When was the last time an idol was flushed out or even used period? With Kim and Troyzan each holding one on the dominant alliance at the moment I can’t imagine they’ll come in to play this season either.