Ok, so it’s been a few weeks.

I’ve been a little busy, but I just took this rainy day to catch up on the Survivors that I’ve missed.

There was a lot!

Some of it was business as usual, and some of it was not the usual course of business…that’s for sure.

Coach is never a letdown.  He continues to be the same enigma he always is…a role in which he seems to revel.  Although I found it interesting that he stated to America (after quoting some men of honor) that he would protect Randy, right before writing Randy’s name down.

Honor, indeed, coach…But thank you for revealing what we already know about you.  I get that you are sensitive.  I do.  But the problem is that when you profess sensitivity while at the same time avoiding the issues that create problems for you, it rings hollow…and yes, for once, Tyson had sage advice (during what you call a breakdown, but was probably the most honest moment of your life)…don’t tell the stories.  Don’t do Tai Chi in public.  It’s not that these things are bad.  Your stories are important to you.  Tai Chi is an amazing pursuit for inner peace…but even Jesus said on the Sermon on the Mount, go in your room, close the door, and pray to your Father in private.  Why?   Because if you truly live your tenets, then the only place that matters is in your soul and in your mind…not tattooed on your body and done in full view.

It doesn’t matter who sees your devotions.  Only the devotion matters.

But coach aside, there was other excitement, including the immunity idols that became tribal-public when the scrolls dropped to the ground on each beach.  The Villains, oddly enough, turned to Heroes when they made a gentleman’s agreement to not look for it.

Russell, of course, always the consummate gentleman, immediately took off to look for it.

While, on the Heroes beach, everyone scattered to find it.

Although, I must say, digging for it as a group in the open was probably a good approach, and it ended up saving Tom, leading to the (surprising?) vote for Cirie.  I’m not sure how I feel about that.  I like Cirie.  Always have.

Shifting, voting, losing, winning, spying, backstabbing.

*whew!*

It was a heckuva two weeks.

But what can we take away from it here at Orumai?

Well, the line between hero and villain is certainly blurred.  I think if this season shows us anything, it is that people are generally people, and despite perception, games are games down to the end.

The merge should be interesting.

Also, we learned that sometimes silence is the better part of strategy, even if it might be against our nature (Cirie?).

And, I think that Sandra and Coach’s little play at tribal, and Coach’s subsequent breakdown, reveal that even the most ardent slayer of dragons has a soft side…and that the burden of hiding that side is often so great, that often folks like coach are the most fragile, even for all of their hardened quotes and military metaphors.

I’ll try to do better in the future keeping current with Survivor posts!

But I won’t make any promises, though.

This is Survivor, after all.

-josh