Demon Rum And Demon Tom

As Stephenie Joins The Korors, The Worm Turns

(CBS) 
At least as far as Coby was concerned, everything seemed to be turning sour. When two Palau natives show up to teach the tribe how to fish in true island style, Coby objected when Tom, Ian and Gregg all got to go out on the fishing boat, while he stayed on shore to catch more bait.

While it's true that Coby volunteered to stay on shore to catch bait, it's clear that he had expected Ian to stay behind and help him.

Actually, Fireman Tom didn't come off looking much better than Coby when he
pompously told the camera, "Ian didn't belong back on the beach trying to catch bait at this point. He belongs out there, learning how to catch fish." Since when did Tom become the one who decided WHO belongs WHERE?

At that point in the program, it would have been entirely reasonable for a regular viewer of "Survivor" to conclude that Coby was going to be voted out at Tribal Council this time. He was getting a lot of camera time (never a good sign) and he appeared quite irritable.

So, anyway, the fishing guys came back with 13 fish and a lobster, and the two Palauan fishermen produced bottles of island rum to begin the evening's festivities. They showed the tribe how to pour the rum into coconuts to make mixed drinks, but Tom preferred to drink straight out of the bottle.

Well, of course, Tom was trashed. (Said Katie, "Tom, you're not driving tonight, OK?") And while it was kind of unsettling to see him actually falling down drunk, it appearred to signal to us that we would be seeing a more vulnerable Fireman Tom from then on -- at least in this episode, and that's actually interesting.

The next day, the two Palauan fishermen were barely on their way before Coby called Stephenie over and walked away with her, leaving Katie and Jenn with their mouths open in blank astonishment.

Coby proceeded to tell Stephenie as much as he knew about the various alliances and strategies, characterizing the main alliance as consisting of Tom, Ian, Katie, Gregg and Jenn. He also told her that Gregg and Jenn have a secret plan to get rid of Tom and Ian, and that Jenn is jealous of Stephenie.

As soon as Stephenie returned to Katie and Jenn, she did tell them what Coby had told her, but if she told them the part about Gregg 'n' Jenn's secret plan, they didn't show that on the air.

The best part about that portion of the show was Katie's reaction when Stephenie said that Coby told her that Jenn and Katie are jealous. Katie is not much of an actress when someone is looking her in the eye, because she gave the all-time over-the-top "isn't-that-ridiculous" performance, popping her eyes out and producing a laugh that was certainly meant to sound scornful. It really sounded fake and hollow.

It all smacks of junior high school, with the gossip and backstabbing and fake reactions. But that's part of this game's charm.