Buy a Lemon

This is the fourth episode of my Survivor: The Cursed Idol fan fiction.

Previously on Survivor...
Serena was still on the outs within the Davao tribe. At Cebu, Curtis was sick due to Philippines' hotter climate. At the Reward Challenge, Cebu managed to win, earning themselves a supply of rice. After the loss, Serena was in an all-time low, but after a pep talk with Cyrus, she got motivated enough to find the Hidden Immunity Idol, and she was now the most powerful person on the tribe.

At the Immunity Challenge, Carson overly asserted his ideas on the puzzle, leading to a conflict with Freddy and the rest of the tribe, giving opportunity for Cebu to get their second straight victory. Back at camp, Freddy and Carson are targeting each other. At Tribal Council, even though Serena's Cursed Idol vote was counted, she was confident enough not to use her Immunity Idol. Ultimately, Carson paid the price of his headstrong personality, and was voted out. 13 are left, who will be voted out tonight?

Challenges
Reward Challenge: Sands of Time One by one, tribe members must retrieve six gears buried in leaf pit to prevent an hourglass (filled with rice) from running out. After retrieving the gears, they must place them in their appropriate spot and crank them to stop the rice from flowing down the container. First tribe to close their container wins. Reward: Egg-laying chickens, a rooster and cookware (courtesy of Sears) to replace their earthen pots back at camp; also, the winning tribe may also take the remaining rice in the container with them (if the winning tribe had closed the container with their rice container emptied, they will not have rice).

Winner: Davao

Immunity Challenge: Mud Pot  In a muddy obstacle course, one tribe member instruct blindfolded tribemates to smash hanging clay pots to retrieve bags of puzzle pieces. Once all six puzzle pieces are collected, all seven members must to solve the puzzle. First tribe to solve the puzzle (a 3-d wooden replica of the Manunggul Jar) wins for their tribe. This is not easy as it would seem, because the puzzle has 100 small pieces. Winner: Davao

Night of Day 9
Returning from last night's Tribal Council, the Davao tribe were saddened after losing Carson. Brock said: "I know Carson's insecure, but he is a great competitor, it's just that, we are already paranoid strategically, and we do not need to be paranoid as well in challenges." Meanwhile, Freddy, who received the Cursed Idol from Carson before he left, contemplated about his treatment of Carson. He said: "Blasting Carson like that was a strategic move, because I have to dig holes for my competitors. I never meant to really hurt his feelings, but it went overboard. Now, I have to kiss their butts if I am to stay after our next Tribal Council."

Day 10
At Cebu, Wes and Carly met at the water well, with the latter convincing that since there are still no strong alliances formed within the tribe, it would be an opportunity to make one. Carly said: "I know Wes can be a wuss sometimes, I can say that I can tolerate him more than Seth, whose attitude problems pisses me off a lot in these past nine days. And since alliances are still not really that defined, I think it's about time to take this game in our own hands." Meanwhile, the other male Cebu members were busy collecting firewood, when Seth approached them for an all-male alliance. Seth said: "I knew what Clement James felt about the all-girl alliance in Survivor: Micronesia, that women are the most dangerous contestants of the game. And since this game has yet to produce any strong all-male pact, I think to get rid of the women now before they can have a shot of taking us out." Eddie said: "Seth's proposition kinda moved me a little bit. I know I am not the strongest so I have to align with somebody. But at the same time, I know for a fact that all-male alliances won't work because men can be outwardly aggressive; so if Seth tries to assert things on us, he's gonna be a control freak." Curtis added: "Since Seth's our strongest male member, it's hard to get rid of him, yet his arrogance and lack of self-awareness does not convince me enough to make an alliance with him." Later, Seth approached Wes for the proposed all-male plot against the women, but the latter did not make any promises, stating that it is still a group game. Wes said: "I'm guessing Seth's starting to play the game now. Siding with him is both smart and stupid. Knowing Seth's unpopular over our team, he can be a dream to bring on Day 39, but he's also a physical threat, and the Jury might give him points for effort just because of that." Later, Seth accidentally stepped on Cebu's last earthen pot, and blamed Carly for it, which made the latter finally go ballistic. After a long verbal duel between Carly and Seth, with Seth acting defensive and combative (e.g. blaming Carly for misplacing the pot). Carly stated: "I don't care if we go down in numbers after the merger, but I want Seth gone."

On Davao, politicking was also on the move. While Serena's on a bathroom break, The other tribe members were at the beach, where Freddy proposed an alliance of six to eliminate Serena. Freddy said: "If Serena lasts here longer, she will win. That's a fact. Her "Poor Me" statements, plus her strength in challenges makes her a big threat towards the home stretch." Serena returned from the woods and found her tribemates in awkward silence. Serena vented: "There is definitely a plot against me. Now they've seen my worth, they don't know what hit them. I just have to make it to the end and kiss their asses goodbye."

Day 11
After receiving Tree Mail, the tribes convened for their next Reward Challenge. Jeff explained that the reason why they are giving them another rice reward is that, Filipinos are known to have rice on every meal. And to follow suit, he revealed that not only they would get rice, they would also get chickens, cookware (to finally replace their earthen cooking pots they had since Day 1) and the remaining rice from the container.

Frequent challenge rivals Adrianna and Alanna rushed for their tribes first. Adrianna got the first gear, while Alanna struggled to find hers.

Freddy went in next, immediately finding the second gear for Davao after Adrianna said she stepped on it.

Seconds later, Alanna finally found the first piece for Cebu. Eddie ran in next for Cebu, where he too struggled to find the second gear.

Brock went in next, which extended Davao's lead. When Eddie found the third, Curtis went next in line for the purple tribe. While Cebu were still collecting their remaining gears, April called the shots for Davao at the puzzle-building part. April furthered Davao's lead, eventually placing all gears in their appropriate places, winning themselves reward.

Back at Davao camp, Brock was elated that finally, they will retire their earthen cooking pot after having a metal one. Brock said: "Those pots are gotta go. They made cooking more tedious." The tribe agreed to spare all three chickens, because they would want them lay eggs first.

At Cebu, frustrations sat in, especially for Seth, who broke Cebu's last pot. He said: "If Carly didn't place that goddamn pot there, I might not have cracked it." Pissed off at Seth's blame game, Wes finally joined in the scuffle, saying that the pot was big enough for Seth not to see. Wes said: "Seth needs to stop being such a big baby. That's where the pot really sits smartass. Talking to him is like buying a lemon. He maybe physically strong, but if you see through him, he basically worthless."

Day 12
After receiving Tree Mail, the tribes assmbled for their next Immunity Challenge. While the tribemates strategized, Wes disclosed that he has fear of deep water, or going underwater not knowing its depth. As the challenge began, Seth sent his tribemates one by one, while Cyrus strategically called his tribemates to spread out and give multiple orders. Eddie kept on stumbling and accidentally getting bumped by the Davao members. While retrieving Cebu's piece that was harnessed to a buoy meters offshore, Wes (with the seawater abouve chest level) shouted at Seth that he might drown (Wes has fear of deep water), and went back to shore, angering Seth. Seth called Alanna instead. Cyrus' strategy paid off, as the Davao tribe collected all their puzzle pieces faster. Eddie was visibly exhaused after his accidental falls while Cebu tried to recover, but it was April who yet again led the Davao tribe in the puzzle solving stage and succeded. Davao wins immunity, sending Cebu to Tribal Council.

Back at camp, Seth was furious that Wes did not get the piece from the water, but Wes rebutted that he already disclosed that his enounter with a great white shark while having a surfing trip to Australia, which left him scared to hold a surfboard again. Seth replied that the water was not that deep. Wes sensed that Seth was trying to exploit his weakness to have get rid of somebody other than him, knowing he already upset several tribemates. He went to alliance partner Carly to help orchestrate Seth's ouster, saying that it will be a perfect opporunity to play with Seth's Cursed Idol. Carly demanded to keep Seth for another cycle because several tribemates believe that Seth is still an asset to the tribe, and if they continue to push his ouster, the others might sense about their secret alliance. Carly suggested to target Eddie instead, for his dismal performance at the challenge. Carly stressed: "Eddie's our weak link right now. He is a more logical choice than Seth. Not only we keep our tribe strong, my secret alliance with Wes is still covered." Carly and Wes then started to make their move by telling their plan to Belinda and Alanna. Belinda said: "Wes is a weak link in water challenges, while Eddie is weak in general." While Alanna suggested to vote Curtis out, becuase he does nothing at camp and looking fatigued all the time, though Belinda said she noticed that Curtis gets his act together at challenges.

Meanwhile, Eddie, sensing that his poor performance will be a factor at the next vote, he approached Seth and Curtis to campaign Wes' elimination, stating that a person who has fear of deep water has no place in the game. Eddie said: "Wes is strong when he is on land. But when he gets in the water, we just loses it. I may not be that physically gifted, but that doesn't deter my desire to finish the challenge. I've never seen a surfer who's afraid of water."

At Tribal Council, Wes defended himself from Seth's accusations at the challenge, stating that he already revealed his fear of shallow water and unseen ocean depths. Eddie was also on the hotseat for his aimless walking at the challenge. While Seth expressed his dissapointment for receiving the Cursed Idol from Hallie, Seth's Cursed Idol vote was counted, but not enough to dispose him. In the end, Wes' handicap was more tolerable over Eddie's overall weakness, and the latter was voted out, 6-1. Before completely leaving the game, Eddie reassigned the Cursed Idol to Seth, saying that he is a cancer to the tribe, to Seth's dismay.

Next Time on Survivor...

 * A tribe switch like no other, and the Curse Idol will finally do some damage!

Author's Notes

 * The reason why I decided to give another rice reward is to celebrate the Philippines' staple food. We almost can't eat our viands without rice, being Asian. I love rice too :)
 * The Manunggul jar is where our ancestors place their dead. It is basically a large burial jar. The cover of the jar is a carving of the dead rowing a boat, signifying that the soul of the dead journeys to the afterlife. A valuable Philippine treasure, it is kept in the National Museum of the Philippines. A Manunggul Jar was drawn on our old P1,000 bill.
 * Filipino elders say that cooking earthen pots make food more delicious.