Survivor 29: Nuggets

Can there be a sitcom about the Nale family?
"My Uncle Mac said he had a suitcase that was always packed. He said a man has to be ready to go at any moment. Jesus, maybe it's a metaphor." - Don Draper, Mad Men, S04E07



Another week goes by as another plethora of stupid decisions are made in Survivor: San Juan Del Sur. This week, two idols were played, the audience learned Wes Nale's greatest achievement, Jon became even more aggravating, and Reed actually got to speak.

Starting off, Natalie was reeling from Jeremy's boot. The blindside obviously was a big shocker, as her honorary "Twinny" was sent home. Luckily for Nat, she found a new Twinny just fifteen minutes into the episode in an immunity idol. Unfortunately, she has to share it with Baylor, but either way it's a huge boon. Natalie is an interesting one this season. She's been mostly invisible, always playing second fiddle to Jeremy, but now that he's gone, much like Reed, she's coming into her own. Although I doubt she's winning, mostly because of her shitty edit early game, Natalie's actually weaseled her way into a good position. Now that she shares an idol with Baylor, she's basically in the alliance with Jon, Jaclyn, Missy, and Baylor. Although she seems to be at the bottom of the alliance, if the discussed blindside of Jon happens, Natalie could easily assume control of the remnants of the group.
Meanwhile, we have our outsiders alliance consisting of Keith, Alec, and Wes. Obviously outnumbered, they seem to be struggling to stay in the game. However, with Reed floundering around in the middle of alliances, they have a fighting chance. Reed is another interesting one. He basically got zero screentime until Josh was voted out when all of a sudden he jumped into action. Again, I don't see a win in his future, but it's nice to know that the man behind Josh was actually a player instead of a pawn. Thus, Reed orchestrates a blindside of Jon wherein the opposing alliance splits the votes between Keith and Wes to flush their idol. Meanwhile, Reed and Alec (who for some reason are trusted to be part of this dispatching of Nales despite them not being in the core Jon, Jaclyn, Missy, Baylor, Natalie alliance) will actually vote for Jon along with the Nale boys. If executed correctly, this would send Jon home.

But wait - it's reward time! This time, the reward is giving stuff to Nicaraguan kids while eating some good food. Usually, unless Spencer and Kass are there to say how much they hate kids, this reward is pretty boring to watch. Again, the only time I enjoyed it was when Woo, Spencer, and Kass spent time with some "little monsters" and Woo totally stole the show. Maybe I'm just a heartless bastard, but the kids never warm my heart. The only notable thing coming from this part of the episode was that Reed gave up his reward to Missy after we just learned to not do that last episode. Also, we learned that Jaclyn can't have kids so Jon wants to adopt. I guess we don't actually get to see what Barbie and Ken's kids would look like.
Meanwhile, back at camp, Reed and the rest of the outcasts construct their plan to get rid of Ken.
Afterwards, it's time for immunity! This time around, it's one of the fabled endurance challenges. Of course, Jeff bribes the contestants with food to get them to step down. Jon enraged us all by immediately stepping down for some candy despite being on the chopping block, Reed dominated with his Broadway dancer skills, and Natalie managed to bargain with Jeff. That was actually kinda odd. Natalie basically said that she was going to lose the challenge but that she may as well get some pizza and wings out of it. The Jeff of earlier seasons probably would have told Natalie that she isn't aloud to bargain and that food will come when it comes, but modern, nicer, "just give me your pillows for rice" Jeff was happy to oblige. Either way, Natalie steps down and hands Reed an immunity win.
Now, there's still one important thing to go over before we cut to Tribal Council. Whilst eating wings that he stepped off the challenge for, Wes Nale informed audiences that he ate, I believe, 58 chicken nuggets in five minutes. WOAH. Holy motherfucking shit. Needless to say, Wes won the "nugget eatin' contest." You know, he may have been voted out this episode, but Wes Nale will always have something to lord over the rest of the contestants: the nugget eatin' contest.

At Tribal, people begin to talk about who's next to go. Reed's con seems to be working at first, with Jon still feeling confident that either Keith or Wes is going home, but suddenly, Natalie fucks it all up. After votes are cast, she tells Jon to play his idol. I'm not sure how she got this notion, but it turned out her spidey-sense was accurate. With that, Jon is immune. Keith, seeing this and also getting spooked, plays his own idol. After the votes are read, it turns out that Jon would have been sent home, but after the two idols, the only one with votes cast against him is Wes. With that, Keith idoled out his own son. Ouch,

With only three episodes left, I actually have no idea who is winning this thing. Despite being underwhelming as a whole, the best part of this season has been the unpredictability. I really didn't see Josh or Jeremy going out so early. Also, the rest of the cast I'm still unsure about the victor. With that being said though, I'm still disappointing. The amount of stupid players and stupid moves has been quite high this season. Will it wow us in the next two weeks?
We can only hope.

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