First a few notes from my multiple rewatches of last week’s episode:

Earlier this season, when Christian was talking Joe into voting for Savannah, he sat on the ground almost directly underneath Joe as he lay in the hammock. Last week, when Christian and Devens pulled Cirie aside to tell her about the Idol they gave to Aubry, he did the same thing. Christian sat on the ground while Cirie and Devens sat on the latest version of Wardog’s log.

This reminded me of something we’ve seen before. In post-game interviews after S40: Winners at War, Tony Vlachos said he knew he had to lower his threat level. So, he used physical gestures to actually “lower” himself around others. If he was talking to someone who was standing, he would sit. If they sat on a log, he’d sit on the ground, or hunch his shoulders forward and lower his head, similar to a cowering position. That way he’d be looking up to whoever he was talking to. They’d literally be talking down to Tony. It worked well for Tony and it’s working for Christian too. We haven’t seen anyone talking about Christian as a threat yet, even though he played a big part in Jenna and Savannah’s exits.

But in the preview for this week’s episode, we see Mike White seated in the water while Christian stands above him. Mike White might be doing a better Tony Vlachos impression than Christian. I love stuff like this – the game within the game. Many players have talked about the importance of body language when playing Survivor. Some peole can’t look someone in the eye when they’re lying. Instead, they’ll look away or at the ground. If someone folds their arms or stands with hands on their hips, they could be telling you “I’m not buying what you’re selling,” or “Dammit, why won’t you buy what I’m selling?” Probst regularly looks for facial reactions while talking to players – both at challenges and Tribal Council. Slipping up in front of Probst could cause him to ask you questions that could be hard to answer. Smart players like Christian and Mike White use this to their advantage. Chrissy and Angelina got tripped up because of their reactions over and over in their rookie seasons.

So far, all the players voted out have been strategically aggressive. Jenna was in 5th gear before everyone got to camp when she went after Cirie. Q pounced on Ozzy and Emily right after the swap. Then he lost them both by dictating his plan instead of making them feel like their input was valued. Savannah played it a little slower, but she did volunteer to go on a Journey, which predictably made the “winner” target on her even bigger. This is bad news for the uber-aggressive Genevieve, who may be over-correcting in her effort to play better. It might be bad for Emily too since she’s so quick to share information.

At Tribal Council, Probst referred to Christian as “Hubicki” instead of “Christian.” Does this mean Christian has become one of Probst’s favorites? Probst has only done this with a few players over the years -- from memory “Donaldson” (Colby), “Culpepper” (Brad), “Cochran” (John – who requested it), “Devens” (Rick), “Penner” (Jonathan), and “Gabler” (Mike) – and I don’t think he’s ever done it with a woman. Maybe he called her “Spradlin” (Kim) in Winners at War. I’m not sure. And I don’t think he started using “Penner” until his 2nd time in S16: Micronesia.

When Q grabbed his torch, he walked past Ozzy who extended a handshake. Q asked Ozzy “Was this you?” Like most viewers, I focused on the caption that said ‘Yeah,” but Ozzy actually shook his head no and said “Naah.” Thanks to commenter Tim for pointing this out to me.

This week, Country music star Zac Brown will be on. A lot of Survivor fans were wondering “Who is Zac Brown?” The music junkie in me is happy to fill in some blanks. Brown is NOT your typical cookie cutter, cowboy hat wearing, leather boots and big silver belt-buckle Country musician. When he was coming up, major labels were in a bidding war to sign his band and he famously told one of the most powerful executives to “fuck off.” His band dabbles into several different genres of music, using very different time signatures. This ain’t your typical fiddle & steel guitar Country band. The Zac Brown Band have released 9 studio albums (producing 14 #1 Country singles), 3 live albums, and a Greatest Hits collection. They’ve recorded with artists as diverse as Jimmy Buffett, Snoop Dogg, Dolly Parton, Dave Grohl, Jewel, and Avicii. My personal favorite is a song they made with the late Chris Cornell (lead singer of Soundgarden) called “Heavy Is The Head.” I have no idea why Brown is on Survivor, but I don’t mind at all because he’s pretty cool.

Going into this week, I’m most curious to know what Kamilla thinks of Cirie. We know Jonathan and Dee are targeting Cirie. If Kamilla wants to work with Cirie, she could talk Jonathan and Dee into targeting someone else. If that happens, who will the women pick in this Rizo vs Charlie war that only Charlie knows about?

It feels a little early for a resolution to the Aubry vs Genevieve war, but with so many players left to eliminate in the remaining episodes, we have to anticipate multiple players leaving in an episode soon. Aubry has been warned she’s being targeted. Will she tell Tiffany about her Idol? If so, the timing will be key. If Aubry gives Tiffany enough time to leak the information, Tiffany could use it to buy herself some trust and safety. But if Aubry waits until just before leaving for Tribal Council, she could secure Tiffany’s vote against Geneieve. Aubry should know her Idol is public knowledge. At a minimum, if one person knows about her Idol, many people know about it.

And who leaves if new Vatu loses Immunity? Is Stephenie already DOA, or could Ozzy and/or Emily break up the DvG trio by convincing someone to help blindside Angelina? Let’s find out.

And away we go…

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“Previously on…” Charlie telling me how pissed off he is reminds me of a toy poodle barking at a full-grown Doberman.

Ozzy and Emily’s plan to boot Angelina next is the smartest play, but they’ve got to make sure Stephenie is with them.

But Ozzy telling Stephenie that he needs to get close to Mike wasn’t very smart. He just told Stephenie to do the same thing. Ozzy, that’s not being a step ahead of everyone else, that’s telling them to get a step ahead of you. You probably should have already been getting close to Mike, just like Cirie told you to get close to Christian, uhh, I mean “Hubicki.”

Devens sang the Star Wars “Cantina” song while he was juggling. How much money did George Lucas make on this one? And Rizo, part of the charm of doing a strong impression is killed when you have to say who you’re impersonating.

Charlie and Jonathan’s wrestling was much better than Rizo’s Mickey Mouse.

But look at Cirie bonding with Dee and Kamilla during the talent show. Again, that’s the game within the game. If Charlie really wants Rizo gone that badly, NOW is the time to start planting those seeds so they’re already thinking about him BEFORE the Immunity Challenge. Just don’t be so blatant about it like Jenna was.

Aubry looking for an Idol when she already has one is pretty smart. That will reinforce Genevieve’s belief that she doesn’t have an Idol.

But Genevieve finds another one, and she wants to give it to Rizo? That’s bad news for Charlie. I haven’t suspected that anyone has been nudged towards anything yet this season until now. I’ll be focusing hard on this one in my rewatch. But now we know what Rizo’s Idol looks like.

This means Genevieve could end up with two Idols. But since Rizo knows how the Idols work and why she wanted to give one to Ozzy, he should be VERY suspicious of Genevieve if he finds out she gave it to him.

Wait, an Immunity Challenge 15 minutes into the episode? Are we losing two players tonight?

Tiffany looks happy to see Q is gone.

Coach: “As Phil Collins used to say, it’s ‘Another Day In Paradise.’” That’s a little ironic (don’t you think?) since Phil’s song was about homeless people on the street.

Dee guesses right about Zac Brown showing up. But Mike White looks like he has no idea who he is. Probst picks up on Dee’s body language and asks her about it (See? I told you).

I actually like Zac Brown’s idea for this reward but it feels more like we’re gonna get an extended commercial for his next album ... and I won’t be surprised if he says it is coming out soon. At least Producers didn’t have to pay to clear Zac’s music.

Hmm, Joe lifts Aubry up to untie one bucket, and Tiffany keeps her from falling backwards. Colby lifts Chrissy up, and Coach holds the pole, so he doesn’t fall. Thanks, Coach.

Cila gets their buckets. Jonathan is halfway to the boat but Charlie and Kamilla haven’t even jumped back into the water yet. What the hell are they waiting for?

Cila has a big edge on this one. Jonathan can lift that boat and dump out of the water all by himself, sandbags or no sandbags.

And that’s exactly what he does.

While they’re pushing those boats up the sand, they could have had this portion sponsored by Salt N’ Pepa. They could do “Push It.”

It’s too bad Cirie and Genevieve didn’t have a nice “Get to know you” chat on the sitout benches like Liz and Moriah had in S46, and Star and Kamilla had in S48. Kamilla picked up some key information she was able to use against Thomas that season. Once again, the game within the game.

Puzzle queen Kamilla figures out the word (“Celebration”) right off the bat, and Chrissy isn’t far behind her. Once again, Kalo had the advantage of being in the middle. Chrissy had two chances to see someone else figuring out the word.

This puzzle could have been sponsored by Kool & The Gang.

I don’t know that Q would have made a difference in this challenge. Sure, Vatu might have reached the puzzle, but Q was horrible at this challenge when they did it in S46. Q’s tribe blamed the loss on Jess (who they wanted to vote out anyway), but Q was dropping letters left and right, and caused a lot of disruption, yelling things like “Do y’all’s part!” and “I got five of these, y’all do it!” when he was actually holding four letters.

Probst called him “Hubicki” again as he crawled out from under the net. Man, a whole hour to go before Tribal Council. I see a slow episode coming.

I bet that’s Zac Brown’s wine in those buckets.

Yup. “Uncaged” is the song with the funky time signature I was talking about.

Ok, I’ve had enough of hearing “This is the best reward in Survivor history.” I like Zac Brown’s music, but I think I’d rather have a helicopter ride over the islands. And I bet later this season Probst will call the Loved Ones Reward “The best reward of the season.”

Why don’t the Survivor players get a spear gun like Zac Brown’s? Geez, that thing looks like it could shoot all the way from Fiji to Nashville.

Chrissy even annoys Zac Brown. “You should come back to our camp and spend the night.”

So far, that’s three Zac Brown songs in one episode. I wonder how these players would react if instead they were treated to a show by S21: Nicaragua runner up Chase Rice? He’s had a couple of Country hits. I bet Chase would play half of one song, then suddenly change his mind and start playing a different one ... just like the way he played Survivor.

Hee hee, what if it was Baylor Wilson from S29: San Juan del Sur? At least Baylor and Chase would give us some players from the 20s seasons.

And right on cue, Zac plays his new song (that makes four). I knew it. But of course, it was new last year. It was released four months ago.

Dee is pretty crushed about missing out on Zac Brown. “Second place is not a win.” I’m with you on that one, Dee.

I think Rizo will figure out Genevieve gave him the Idol. Will he pull off several annoying bluffs that end up killing his credibility again? Bet on it. Thanks, Genevieve. Emily goes straight to Stephenie, which is smart, but did she do it too soon? Stephenie has time to sell Emily out now to earn trust from someone else.

Ozzy asks Mike White to vote for Angelina, which was NOT smart because he’s giving Mike time to warn her to look for an Idol...

...or to flip the vote towards Emily. I think he moved too early too because now Stephenie can warn Ozzy.

Then Ozzy goes fishing while all the plans are being made. Some things never change.

And right on cue, Mike asks Angelina and Christian to vote for Emily ... which won’t work for Christian.

And once again, Angelina thinks her ability to lock down Mike and Christian is why she’s being saved. She thought she was running the game the first time too. Some things never change.

I’m with you Christian. “This vote is a double whammy of terrible” for you. Either way, Christian pisses somebody off. Either he leaves Ozzy out of the Emily boot, or he leaves Mike out of the Angelina boot.

Will Christian warn Ozzy to save Emily? How much will Ozzy regret giving that extra vote to Cirie now?

Still a half hour left to go. How will they fill this time? Do we get introduced to the “Zac Brown Chicken Fried Triple Vote Guitar String Advantage?”

Mike comparing Emily to Gabby is VERY smart. He knows what will motivate Christian.

But Christian realizes Mike is manipulating him ... and he didn’t let his body language expose his true feelings. Mike thinks he’s all in. Christian: “But Mike is the most dangerous person on this island.” I say it’s Cirie, but Mike is the most dangerous on that tribe.

I see it coming. Emily is gonna spill the info to Ozzy. She can’t keep her mouth shut. I said it last week Christian. Don’t give info to Emily until the last possible minute.

Christian is pitching a 3-2-1 sneak attack, as created by Cirie Fields in S12: Panama - Exile Island.

Ok, never mind about me saying this would be a slow segment.

FWAP!!! on me again.

Emily didn’t make either of my lists – Best Players or Worst Players. But she’s making moves to put herself on the “Worst” list this season. Christian giving Emily his “death stare” reminded me of Tom Hanks in “A League of Their Own” holding back his rage when asking one of his players to hit the cutoff man.

FWAP!!!

Christian is gonna have to cut Emily loose soon. She just can’t be trusted to keep anything quiet. As he said “It’s just too much chaos when you have to play around someone like that.” Emily has made herself as much of a problem for Christian as Joe did.

I always say get rid of the players who make your game more difficult. Christian and Mike just did that with Q. Now Christian has to decide between Mike and Emily. Both of them are speed bumps for him for different reasons.

Whichever way the vote goes, Christian will be exposed. Somebody is gonna come out of this wanting to work against him, be it Ozzy, Mike or Angelina.

She totally lucked out, but I think Stephenie is the safest person here tonight. She didn’t do a thing to save herself.

Emily talking about constantly having second thoughts should be scaring the shit out of Christian. Mike’s ploy might have worked ... not because of Mike, but because Emily confirmed it.

Mike is blindsided and immediately says “You skunks! Amazing.” I think that’s the second animal reference after a blindside following Judd’s exit from S11: Guatemala: “I hope you all get bit by a freakin’ crocodile. Scumbags!”

Wow, I wasn’t sure he’d do it, but I’m proud of Christian for sniffing out Mike’s plan and figuring a way out of it. But he’s got some damage control to do with Angelina and Ozzy, and it looks like Emily is having instant regret too.

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Recap

Christian got rid of the player who was as good at manipulating people as he is. Christian is still killing it this season, but I think this vote is the one that could spell his doom. When word gets out that Christian was willing to cut one of his closest allies, they’ll know he is playing more ruthless than he did the first time. Just the same, I’m loving how he’s making such shrewd adjustments from his rookie season. So few players have done it as well as Christian is.

Keeping Angelina in the game was smart for the reasons Mike mentioned. She’s not gonna turn into a player good enough to win the game. If Christian can soothe her (and I think he can), he’ll be able to carry her vote in his pocket or cut her loose any time he needs to.

Much like Q last week, I think part of the reason Mike was booted was because of his reputation. Christian knows firsthand how good a player Mike is. But props to him for realizing and making the smarter move.

Ozzy still hasn’t realized that being so rigid in his decisions almost forces players to leave him out of the decisions at times. He got away with it when Jenna left, but this vote should tell him he needs to be more flexible. I don’t think that will happen though.

Losing Mike White sucks. He’s a very entertaining player, and great in-game narrator. Hindsight being 20/20, he should have picked up on Christian’s hesitation to remove Emily. He should have either pushed to boot Stephenie, or been willing to cut Angelina loose. Stephenie was probably the better choice since he was less able to control her vote.

What do you think? Will the other players see Christian as a bigger threat when they see he was willing to boot his friend Mike? Will Christian be able to placate Ozzy? Who should he want to remove first between Ozzy and Emily? Will we be tortured by more Rizo Idol bluffs or will Charlie blindside him with that Idol? Has there been any other spontaneous animal mentions after a blindside?

And what if both Ozzy and Rizo get booted next week? Does that put Genevieve in the S34: Game Changers Sarah Lacina position?

Let me know in the comments.