Whew! Caught up at last!

This week's episode of Survivor: Micronesia was probably the best episode of the season! It began with the five remaining castaways, fresh off James's medical evacuation and Alexis's idol-inflicted vote-off, returning to camp following Tribal Council. Amanda had to explain to everyone how she really was telling the truth of not having the idol -- she didn't have it when she returned from Exile Island, but she'd found it later on, before Tribal Council. Cirie, it seems, knew about the idol all the time, thanks to Amanda telling her, and was close to causing a tie over it, but in the end, decided to vote for Amanda, anyway, in case she didn't play it. Meanwhile, the next morning, Erik and Natalie were well aware of their precarious position -- they were the last two Fans left against three Favorites. Erik was in an even more precarious position -- the last man standing. Both of them knew they needed to win immunity to stay in, so Natalie hatched a plan. If Erik won the Reward Challenge, he could send Natalie to Exile Island to find the next hidden Immunity Idol, and all he would have to do was win immunity at the next Immunity Challenge. Seemed like a sound enough plan. But then, Amanda, Parvati, and Cirie hatched their own plan. They needed to keep the hidden Immunity Idol out of Erik and Natalie's hands, so they had Amanda convince Erik to send Parvati to Exile Island instead. Oh, and take her on the reward if he won it. Which would he do?

The Reward Challenge saw the castaways answering trivia questions whose answers were simply past Survivor seasons -- Survivor: Borneo, Survivor: Australian Outback, Survivor: Africa, Survivor: Marquesas, Survivor: Thailand, Survivor: The Amazon, Survivor: Pearl Islands, Survivor: All-Stars, Survivor: Vanuatu, Survivor: Palau, Survivor: Guatemala, Survivor: Exile Island, Survivor: Cook Islands, Survivor: Fiji, and Survivor: China. The first to answer four questions correctly would win reward, a helicopter ride over the Rock Islands to a luxury resort, where they would get a massage, meal, and return to camp in the morning.

Here's how the challenge went down. The first question asked for the season which had a castaway who had a pet snake. The correct answer was Survivor: Pearl Islands, which had Rupert and his pet snake, Balboa. Cirie and Erik got it right. The second question asked for the season which had a castaway get bitten by a shark, and then bite that shark back. The correct answer was Survivor: All-Stars, which saw original Survivor winner Richard Hatch get bitten by a shark while in the water and promptly bite it back. Natalie and Amanda got it right. The third question asked for the season in which a castaway asked another castaway to pee on him after he got stung by a sea urchin. The correct answer was Survivor: Marquesas, in which John was stung by a sea urchin and asked Kathy to pee on him. Only Erik got it right. The fourth question asked for the season in which a castaway was medically evacuated after falling into a fire. The correct answer was Survivor: Australian Outback, which saw Mike fall into a fire by accident and get pulled from the game to get his burns treated. The fifth and, as it turned out, last question asked which season was the first to start out with four tribes instead of the usual two. The correct answer was Survivor: Exile Island, which had four starting tribes -- La Mina (older men), Casaya (older women), Viveros (younger men), and Bayonetta (younger women). Cirie, Natalie, and Erik all got it right (of course Cirie would get it right -- it was her original season!), while Amanda and Parvati were one season late, guessing Survivor: Cook Islands instead. So, as a result, Erik won reward, having answered four questions correctly after only five were asked! He got to choose one castaway to send to Exile Island, where the final hidden Immunity Idol would be hidden, and he chose . . . Parvati (which shocked and angered Natalie). He also got to choose someone to go with him on the reward. As promised, he picked Amanda. So Cirie and Natalie were getting nothing.

Upon their return to camp, Natalie was fuming about Erik breaking his deal with her to instead accommodate Amanda and Parvati. Cirie noticed this angered and played it up, calling Erik a weasel for making promises and then breaking them. She let Natalie know that perhaps Erik wasn't targeting Amanda -- he wouldn't be feeding her if he needed to beat her in the next Immunity Challenge? But really, since she couldn't go on the reward, she just enjoyed seeing Natalie all stressed out.

On the reward, Erik and Amanda enjoyed all the perks of flying in a helicopter and then getting massages in a spa. They decided to have fun and put the game aside. But . . . not for long. Erik started talking to Amanda about how people had come to him for deals and to ask him where he stood with the others in the tribe. He needed to make a decision soon, but wasn't very comfortable having to make one.

On Exile Island, Parvati was just relaxing and enjoying some sun. She wasn't at all worried about finding the hidden Immunity Idol. She had an alliance with Amanda and Cirie that she felt was very strong and very solid, and the only thing they were trying to do was keep the idol out of Erik and Natalie's hands, anyway. So it was basically like a mini-vacation to her.

After Erik and Amanda got back from their reward the next morning, Erik went to talk to Cirie in their tribe's shelter. They started talking about whom Erik thought he could beat in the final three. Erik thought he had a chance in a final three of himself, Cirie, and Parvati, something Natalie did not take very kindly to, considering she'd walked up to the shelter and overheard it (though she could not be seen by Erik or Cirie). Natalie, Cirie, and Amanda all later compared notes as to the different things Erik had told them, and right away, they all decided he couldn't be trusted. He was playing all sides and needed to be stopped. Erik knew, as he saw them talk (though he didn't overhear), that he needed to win the next Immunity Challenge or else he'd be toast.

Speaking of the Immunity Challenge, it saw the castaways doing an old challenge from Survivor: Exile Island. Using a set of coordinates, they were to cross two ropes in a circle on the beach. Where the ropes intersected, they would have to dig to find a bag of puzzle pieces. Interestingly, unlike previous times, when similar challenges had been done, all of them were in the same circle and thus could get in each other's way. They'd solve that puzzle to get the next set of coordinates. Repeat a third time. The first to solve all three puzzles would win immunity.

The challenge was pretty straightforward. Erik stayed fairly even with Cirie and Amanda on the first puzzle, but he pulled into a huge lead getting through the last two. Natalie and Parvati were way out of it practically from the get-go. In the end, Erik solved the final puzzle -- "Guaranteed Final 4" -- first and won immunity! Which meant Natalie was, more than likely, toast.

Once the castaways returned the camp, the obvious target emerged: Natalie. All four women were devastated they had to go after each other again before getting rid of Erik. They all talked about how Erik was lucky to have the Immunity Necklace (the prize for winning the individual Immunity Challenges). Without it, he'd be gone. Which immediately brought on a complicated plan from Cirie. Maybe Natalie could convince Erik to give up his Immunity Necklace to her. Natalie thought it was stupid, but she decided to try anything to stay in the game. So she got to work on Erik, suggesting they both vote for Amanda to go after he gave his Immunity Necklace to her. Erik, for a brief moment, had a flash of brilliance as he realized he could vote for Amanda to go even with the Immunity Necklace. However, Natalie said that Cirie wanted to vote with them to get rid of her, but only if he gave up the necklace -- he'd told a lot of people different things and thus had no one trusting him, so maybe giving it up would help him redeem himself. Unsure of things, Erik went and talked to Cirie, who started working her own magic on him. She privately knew that the moment he gave up the necklace, he'd be voted out in a heartbeat. But she still worked hard to convince him she was on his side. Erik went back to confirm with Natalie, suggesting voting for Parvati instead, since she may have found the idol and given it to Amanda. Natalie decided to let him have his way on that. Meanwhile, Cirie instructed Amanda (who, in turn, would tell Parvati) to rip into Erik at the upcoming Tribal Council. That way, it'd guilt him even more into giving up the Immunity Necklace. She agreed to it. It was a plan that was pretty stupid in its making, but could it still work?

At Tribal Council, Amanda and Parvati got the ball rolling, laying into Erik over his being untrustworthy and his playing all sides while Cirie and Natalie played it like they were still on his side. Did it work? Well . . . yes! It did work! Feeling the pressure to redeem himself in the women's eyes and hopefully win votes from the jury (oh, that's another thing -- he didn't think he had any votes for any of the jurors), he gave his Immunity Necklace to Natalie! Holy crap. HOLY CRAP! That brought about surprised reactions from Amanda, Cirie, Natalie, and Parvati, as well as the jurors (to remind you, Eliza, Ozzy, Jason, James, and Alexis). Once that was done, it was pretty clear what was going to happen, as for once, the editing didn't even try to hide the votes being cast in the voting booth. By a vote of 4-1, the thirteenth person voted out of Micronesia, the sixteenth person to leave overall, and the sixth member of the jury was . . . Erik! Wow. The plan actually worked. (Oh, and the lone vote was, indeed, for Parvati.) So his torch was snuffed, and he was sent on his way.

This was one of the best, most surprising endings of the entire season. I liked Erik. He seemed like a nice, decent guy. But he was a strategic dunce compared to the four women left. He only made one major move in this game that worked for him -- getting Ami booted instead of him the week before the merge. Other than that, he was content with following the Favorites' alliance on Malakal during the tribal competition, and then the Black Widow Brigade after the merge. Add to this the fact that he committed, by far, the dumbest move in Survivor history, and from being pressured to do so, to boot, and you've got all the reasons Erik was more than deserving of this vote-off. Bye, Erik. I'm glad you took getting played well, and I hope you do really well in the future. I hope Probst doesn't rake you over the coals for this at the reunion, though.

In other news, we officially have, for the first time in Survivor history, a final four consisting of all women! Knowing this, I'll be plenty happy with whomever wins since the last four seasons have been won by men (Exile Island was won by Aras, Cook Islands was won by Yul, Fiji was won by Earl, and China was won by the marginally-deserving Todd), with the last woman winning being Danni (in the Guatemala season). Knowing we'll have our first female winner in such a long time makes me really excited going into the season finale. And all four of them deserve it, to varying degrees. Cirie went from the swing vote (when Yau-Man was booted) to controlling the game almost the entire time, Natalie showed she has awesome powers of persuasion with the Jason and, after this episode, Erik boots, Parvati has played a strong game and also controlled things, and Amanda has played hard strategically while not really backstabbing anybody too maliciously. Again, I'll be happy to see any of these four win the game!

It's down to the final four. Who'll fall victim to the final vote-off and become the seventh and final member of the jury? And who will win the title of Sole Survivor, and the one-million-dollar prize in Sunday's finale? We'll see then!

All right. Finally caught up.

This week's episode of America's Next Top Model was an interesting one that decided the final three. It began with the four remaining girls, fresh off Katarzyna's surprising elimination, returning to their apartment in Rome. Whitney was surprised to have survived the bottom two twice, seeing as how others who'd been there twice had gone home (see: Claire). She now wanted to prove to the judges that she wanted to be there. Anya wanted to do super-well the coming week, knowing they'd all made the final four. Dominique, meanwhile, was seeing herself as the (undeserving) Saleisha of the competition, just because she'd predicted she'd win when she first saw her. Whitney, Anya, and Fatima were all surprised she'd made it that far, especially with her bad eating habits. Finally, Fatima was ready to kick things into high gear for their next challenge and photoshoot.

The final lesson of the week saw the girls meeting with Paulina and fashion photographer Francesco Licata in a park. Francesco would be teaching them what things were like behind the cameras since they'd already seen what things were like in front of them. As part of the lesson, they'd each shoot each other with cameras they were given. This allowed them to chance to see each other's strengths and weaknesses.

Following the lesson, the girls met with Ann Shoket, editor-in-chief of Seventeen magazine, for the challenge. Now that the girls had practiced shooting each other, they'd be shooting a real model: Paulina. They'd have each five minutes to shoot Paulina, and they'd each be evaluated on two things: how well they worked with her, and how great their photos turned out. The winner of the challenge would receive fifty extra frames at the next photoshoot. Fatima went first and did pretty well since she was actually able to direct Paulina, and not at all disrespectfully. Dominique went second and was not very specific in her direction, as she had no real vision in terms of what she wanted Paulina to do. Whitney went third and directed Paulina very well. Anya went fourth and last and was all over the place -- she had good ideas, but couldn't "channel her energy." After the girls got together and received their critiques from Ann and Paulina (all good for Whitney, Anya, and Fatima, all bad for Dominique), the winner was decided. And that winner was . . . Fatima! Wow! Her first challenge win! I'm a bit surprised, considering Whitney was getting all of the good reviews in confessionals given by Dominique and Paulina. Can't say I'm too surprised, though -- Ann said her (Fatima's) photos of Paulina gave her the most to work with and were the most varied. So she'd be getting the fifty extra frames she needed for the next photoshoot.

Back at the apartment, Fatima started working on her runway walk, and she was getting so much better at it. Meanwhile, Dominique kept getting on and on about how much she wanted the final win and how sure she was that she'd be the one who'd take it (at which point I was ninety-percent sure she'd be the one going home, as that was typically what happens to whomever boasts about how they'll be winning the whole competition).

The photoshoot saw the girls meeting with Jay Manuel. The theme of the shoot was a 1950s-centered shoot. They'd look movie stars from that era with male models posing with them. Their photographer would be one of their judges from the panel, just like last week. This week, however, it was Nigel. Anya went first and had quite a bit of trouble. Fatima went second and did badly, at first, but got to see her work after she was done before shooting her extra fifty frames, which she actually did a better job at. Whitney went third and started posey, but did slightly better later on. Dominique went fourth and last and came off "staged," according to Jay. On the whole, all four girls were disappoing to Nigel and Jay.

The next night, the girls met with Tyra and the judges for their next judging panel, with Ann Shoket as this week's guest judge. After Tyra once again reminded them of the prizes at stake, the critiques began. Good reviews went to Anya (who'd benefited from her experience with him on the photoshoot she'd won earlier in the cycle) and Fatima (who, while not quite fitting for that particular shoot, was good for CoverGirl). Bad reviews went to Dominique. Mixed reviews went to Whitney. And after the judges' deliberations, the first photo went to . . . Anya! Whoooooooo! Whitney followed. This left Dominique and Fatima as the bottom two. Fatima was chastised for overtalking the judges at her photoshoot rather than for her photoshoot performance. Dominique was chastised for having improved so much, but now seeming to be regressing in her progress with a bad photo. In the end, the final photo went to . . . Fatima. So she was officially in the final three, leaving Dominique the eleventh girl eliminated.

I'm of two minds for this ending. While I'm completely fine with Fatima staying, I'd have liked Dominique to outlast the last of the three girls who'd treated her badly when she was sick. She'd successfully made it farther than Claire and Lauren, but she just couldn't beat Whitney. That said, she did treat other girls pretty badly, too, but I thought she'd been humbled by her sickness earlier in the cycle. But I agree with Tyra that she had the worst photo of the final four and deserved her elimination this week. So I've gotta say goodbye to Dominique. She could be a b*tch, but I'm hoping she does well going forward.

In other news . . . wow. What a final three. I'd have to say all three have relatively good chances of winning. Anya's been the strongest performer of the three and has had several solid weeks. Fatima started out shaky, but grew stronger as the weeks progressed. And Whitney, although I don't really like her like I did earlier in the cycle, has done pretty good work, and has officially made history on this show by making it farther than any plus-sized girl has ever made it (cycle one's Robin previously held the record, finishing in fourth place). Looking at whom I want to win, I'd be happiest with Anya taking it. Then Fatima. Then Whitney. But I still think Tyra and the judges are setting things up for a Whitney win so they can finally have their plus-sized winner, just as they set things up for Saleisha's (undeserved) win last cycle just for her real-life connections to Tyra. I hope it doesn't happen, but I fear it might.

So, one more time, here's the order in which Tyra called the girls:

#1. Anya
#2. Whitney
#3. Fatima
#4. Dominique (ELIMINATED)

At long last, we've come down to the final three. Who'll fall victim to the final elimination? And who'll become America's Next Top Model? We'll see next week!

Finally. After this one's done, I'll be all caught up.

This episode of Survivor: Micronesia was certainly an exciting one -- much better than last week's. It began with the seven remaining castaways, fresh off Jason's vote-off, returning from camp. Well . . . not all of them. Alexis, Amanda, Cirie, Erik, Natalie, and Parvati all did, but James stayed behind after Tribal Council to get his finger looked at (remember that in the last episode, he mentioned he had a seashell cut on it that'd gotten infected) by the Survivor Medical Team. The medic washed it out and gave him what looks like some IV antibiotics. They'd check in on him the next day. Speaking of the next day, there was another injury then! Alexis, during the night, tripped and fell and wound up hurting her knee. Cirie was worried about both James and Alexis, but at the same time, she wasn't -- it was less people for her to worry about winning if they had to be medically evacuated!

The Reward Challenge saw the castaways answering a series of questions about their tribemates in private. Probst would tally the results and then ask the same questions, but this time, they'd be trying to guess whose name came up most often from the group (a challenge I saw in the Exile Island and Fiji seasons). Each time they got a question right, they'd get to chop the rope of another tribe member. When all three ropes of a tribe member were chopped, a statue that looked like a miniature likeness of them would be smashed and they'd be out of the game. The last one standing would win reward -- a little love! Yes, it was time for the season's family visit! Joining the castaways were Parvati's mom, Gail (her father came for the visit in Cook Islands, and they won the final seven Reward Challenge together), Erik's brother, Kurt, Natalie's mom, Rocky, Alexis's brother, Nathan, Amanda's sister, Katrina (she also visited her in China and went on the reward with her after Amanda was chosen by Denise), James's dad, James, Sr. (so James is a junior, eh?), and Cirie's husband, H.B. (he visited her the week of the final five in Exile Island). The winner of the challenge would be going to Jellyfish Lake, where they'd swim with thousands of non-stinging jellyfish. (This was also a reward in the Palau season, and Micronesia's actually in Palau.)

So, let's see how the challenge went down. The first question asked who did the most for the tribe. The correct answer was James, and Alexis, Amanda, Cirie, Erik, Natalie, and Parvati got it right. (Oddly, James didn't get it right). Cirie chopped Amanda, Natalie chopped Erik, Erik chopped Natalie, Alexis and Parvati hit James, and Amanda chopped Parvati. The second question asked who never shuts up. The right answer was Parvati, and Amanda, James, Alexis, and Erik got it right. Erik and James chopped Alexis, Alexis chopped Erik, and Amanda hit Cirie. The third question asked who mistakenly believed that they were controlling the game. The right answer was Parvati, and Amanda, Cirie, Erik, James, and Natalie all got it right. James and Cirie chopped Parvati, destroying her statue, Amanda hit Natalie, Erik chopped Cirie, and Natalie sliced Amanda. The fourth question asked who was the most honest. The correct answer was Alexis, and only Cirie got it right. She chopped Erik's last rope, destroying his statue. The fifth and last question asked whom they'd least likely invite to a family dinner. The right answer was James, and Alexis, Amanda, Cirie, and James (whoa -- he even knew!) got it right. Since everyone was down to one rope, there'd be pretty much all but one statue destroyed. Alexis took out James, James took out Cirie, Amanda took out Natalie, and Cirie, who still got to chop despite losing her statue, finished off Amanda, giving the win to Alexis! So Alexis and Nathan would be going to Jellyfish Lake, along with two other castaways and loved ones. They chose Natalie and Rocky and Cirie and H.B. Alexis also had to choose a castaway to go to Exile Island -- without his or her loved one. Amanda volunteered, so Alexis chose her. Unfortunately, Alexis couldn't hug her sister, so she just blew her a kiss on her way out.

After the non-selected loved ones were dismissed, there was still one order of business to attend to: James's injury. The Survivor Medical Team came out again to look at his finger to see if James was in good enough shape to go back to camp. After taking a look at it, they determined that the answer was . . . no. The infection had gotten to the point at which it was very high-risk, so at this point, James had to be evacuated. He said his goodbyes to Erik and Parvati, who hadn't been picked to go on the reward, and left, the fourteenth person to leave Micronesia.

I'll admit, since I hated James both times (both in China and in Micronesia), I wasn't at all sorry to see him go. It may be inhumane, but I don't even care if he's all right. He was a cocky, pushy bully who had to have everyone doing things his way in camp, and his illiteracy drove me nuts. So . . . I'm not sad to see him go, and I won't miss him at all. Later, James. Won't miss you a bit. Oh, and your departure seems to leave Erik as the last man left.

Meanwhile, Alexis, Nathan, Natalie, Rocky, Cirie, and H.B. all headed off to Jellyfish Lake, where they all had a fantastic time swimming with all of the jellyfish without even having to worry about getting stung. Cirie seemed to be getting over her fear of water by doing so, and she was happy because of it. Everyone was in awe at the splendor of the lake.

On Exile Island, Amanda got right to work at solving the clues leading to the newest hidden Immunity Idol (yet another new one was planted as a result of Jason being voted out with his). She certainly did manage to find all of the clues, but the last one she needed said that it was hidden back at camp, underneath the tribe's flag. So she'd need to go for it as soon as she'd returned to camp.

Speaking of camp, Alexis, Cirie, and Natalie all returned there that night and found out for the first time that James was gone. All three were surprised. Alexis was worried that she'd be going home, too, because of her injury.

By the next morning, Alexis was practically hobbling around. Parvati asked her if she could manage staying there for a few more days despite the pain, and she said she absolutely could. Parvati asked if she wanted to be voted out, and Alexis definitely said no, and that question put her on high alert, since they were supposed to be in an alliance. Still, with that out of the way, they all agreed that Erik was the next one to go, or Amanda if he won immunity. They knew she'd played a great social game and needed her out of there, because she'd be a threat to beat in the final three. Parvati was reluctant to turn on her, though.

The Immunity Challenge was later that day, and when Amanda returned from Exile Island, she learned about James's departure and was pretty upset by it. But after that was set aside, they were told about the challenge. They were to take turns firing a high-powered rifle at colored saki bottles. (They'd be wearing headbands matching the colors they were assigned.) The first person to break all three of their saki bottles would win immunity. The challenge was mostly between Erik and Natalie, but the Black Widow Brigade's plans were put on hold when the former of the two managed to pull out the victory and win immunity! So with Erik safe . . . that meant the women had to now turn on each other.

Back at camp, the women returned to discussing their backup plan: voting out Amanda. Parvati was willing to let Alexis, Cirie, and Natalie vote her out, but she was unwilling to. Meanwhile, sure she was toast, Amanda told Parvati about the idol, and she agreed to keep everyone distracted while she looked for it. They also had to choose a target to send home using the idol should she find it in time. It was either between Alexis and Natalie, and in the end, they decided on Alexis. Then, Amanda made an effort to try and bring in Erik to help her, but he instead admitted that he was voting with the other women to send her packing. Now, Amanda had a good feeling that she'd need to find the idol. After she tried and failed to get Cirie to maybe tie the vote (Cirie was too worried that there'd be a revote only for Amanda and whomever else was targeted, and then, if another tie, a random draw out of a bag for either a yellow or purple rock, with the latter sending her home if she got it, something that happened to Paschal in the final four of the Marquesas season), she was definitely sure it was time to start digging for that idol. Would she find it in time? . . .

At Tribal Council, the castaways learned that James would be joining Eliza, Ozzy, and Jason as the fourth member of the jury (although he'd be attending Tribal Councils with an IV pole connected to him for possibly the rest of the game). Then, Amanda and Parvati put on a good show of making everyone think she was on the way out. But after the votes were cast, and after a tense pause when Probst offered the chance for the idol to be played, it was revealed that Amanda did find the idol! So all votes for her wouldn't count once she played it. So by a vote of 4-2, with the four votes not counting, the twelfth person voted out of Micronesia, the fifth member of the jury, and the fifteenth person to leave overall, was . . . Alexis. So her torch was snuffed, and she was sent on her way, limping along the walk of shame as she left.

This ending? Okay. I really wanted Erik to lose the Immunity Challenge and go home, because I like all five women more than I like him (though I do like him, as well). Still, I can't argue that it was a great play by Amanda to pretend she knew she was gone, only to send someone else home instead using the idol. And while I liked Alexis and actually had her pegged as an early favorite to win due to certain reaction shots and confessionals she had early on, she kind of lost my favor as a possible winner when she got so little screen time later on. Plus, while I'd previously thought she'd had more strategy than Natalie, last week showed me otherwise (remember Natalie's play to get rid of Jason?). She seems like a really nice, fun person, though, and I hope she does well on the jury and gets that knee looked at. Adios, Alexis!

In other news, Amanda might actually have a chance to win now that she's made a play that seemed to please the jury. Cirie and Parvati are both in pretty good positions to win, too. Natalie might make it to the end, but she's really only looking at second or third place. And Erik? Well, it'll just be a travesty if he wins the whole thing. He's had almost ZERO game the entire season, the only time he's shown any strategy being saving himself over Ami the week before the merge. If he goes next, at least the final four will be a.) all women and b.) deserving of winning.

Five castaways remain. Who'll be voted out next week? We'll see then!