Survivor: Heroes Vs. Villains - Episode 3 Recap

At the beginning of Episode 3 of Survivor Heroes vs. Villains, Randy said something very telling and foreboding, "Survivor, in so many ways, is like the real world. You don't get ahead by being smart, clever, and hard working. You get ahead, unfortunately, with a pretty smile and being able to schmooze people, and Parvati is the queen." Or as a friend coined it more succinctly and vulgarly, "It's not what you know, it's who you blow". As soon as I heard Randy speak this truism, I was 99.9% sure that if the Villains lost their immunity challenge, it would be his torch that would be snuffed. And sure enough, 45 minutes later, we all witnessed Randy toss his buff in the fire with a frustrated disgust that I think many of us can understand all too well.

Let's face it, Parvati was going nowhere. Even in light of how the heroes dispatched Stephenie, which should have clearly informed the Villains how the other camp was playing the game, not to mention Jerri and Coach's disparaging comments about Parvati's character, it was still Randy's head that rolled. Randy truly wasn't a threat compared to Parvati, yet I feel many of the Villains will regret this choice down the road. Rob should have known better to vote out Randy. One would think his highly astute observations throughout the episode should have better clued him to befriend the lone player that could have benefitted his own game play. And don't you know I also loved that Randy wrote Rob's name down on the parchment; perhaps this is some more foreshadowing?

What's Going on with the Heroes?
Why is it that the Heroes can only win an immunity challenge when it involves pure brute force? Throw a puzzle in there and they literally go to pieces. Not to take away from their victory, which was spectacular to witness, but it rang a bit hollow with James' final burst of adrenaline that manifested itself in a bad show of sportsmanship. Pitting Randy against James was already a laughable mismatch, but did James really have to resort to humiliation by slamming the mat on him? After his verbal bullying of Stephenie last week and this unfortunate display of aggression, James just seems joyless and frustrated. Nonetheless, it was still great to see the Heroes finally on the winning end and it was admirable to see them shut out the Villains completely. It wasn't even close. And Tom steamrolling over Russell? Priceless.

All in all, another fun episode, full of great sound bites ("She's just a bitter cougar" - Parvati on Jerri), strategizing and a dynamic immunity/reward challenge. As dirty as the challenge was, the players - both Heroes and Villains - don't seem to mind playing dirty. The position jockeying at the heroes camp is very interesting to watch and judging from next's week's teaser, it looks like none of them feel safe as they all scrounge for the hidden immunity idol. Candice looks to have some game, but JT is definitely blocking her move with some dirty lying. Over at the villains camp, we can only hope to see less of Coach and more of Tyson, Sandra and Courtney. I can't understand why they're not getting a lot of camera time unless it means they'll be going far in the game. I'm not sure. But let's keep Coach to a minimum - the man is so self deluded and I find his pop psychology bromides truly cringeworthy.

Other Survivor Reviews:

Heroes vs. Villains Commentary

Heroes vs. Villains Episode 1 Recap

Heroes vs. Villains Episode 2 Recap