Steelworker Booted Off 'Survivor'

He's been grating on everyone's nerves for weeks with his steelworker slang and his big-talk paired with physical weakness.

James Miller, the 33-year-old Alabamian, could neither build an outhouse, shoot a gun, tie a proper knot nor even "keep his skirt on," as host Jeff Probst sneered.

So in "Survivor: Palau's" sixth episode, the steelworker got the boot.

The vote to snuff James' torch wasn't unanimous initially, surprisingly enough. Stephenie LaGrossa, Ulong's Superwoman, stuck by him in an allegiance — but only for one vote. A tiebreaker allowed Steph to show her preference for fellow castaways.

"It wasn't my time to go. My gut told me no one would vote for me, but my gut told me wrong," James said.

Perhaps his gut was too full of Pringles and rum from his tribe's first reward challenge win. Or at least it was, as usual, full of himself.

After the last episode's tribal council, in which Jeff blitzed the tribes with surprise votes and rewards — beef stew for Koror — everyone on Ulong was hurting. But James was especially abrasive to his team for losing the previous challenge.

"You can't get over beef stew?" Bobby Jon Drinkard asked. "Please."

As bitterness flowed on Ulong, good spirits and renewed energy surged through Koror.

After eating the stew, "we felt charged and refreshed." "It's just another great day in paradise," chipper dolphin trainer Ian Rosenberger said.

Bursting with energy, team members set out to do physical labor that is otherwise difficult.

"We're trying to do something to save ourselves some work in the future," said Tom Westman, the 41-year-old New York firefighter.

Well, at least Tom put his strength to use. Instead of thatching a roof or even gathering coconuts, the young ad executive, Katie Gallagher, got crafty. She braided some necklaces.

Over in a hammock, Gregg Carey made Jenn Lyon giggle as they put on a sock puppet show — an apt time to get in a couple jabs at the opposing team.

"Hi, I'm Bobbie Jon, I look like Jesus," one sock said. "I'm Angie, ummm … look at that stew!" said the other.

But their joking didn't get them very far. The next reward challenge also involved food — Pringles and Mai Tais. But perhaps Koror was doomed from the start. Superwoman, after all, is a member of the opposing team.

The teams faced off in a carnival-style shooting challenge. The first team of four (Katie, Janu Tornell, Jenn and Ian sat out from Koror) to hit eight targets would not only nosh on the Pringles, but would ride on a Japanese boat to an isolated freshwater pond of benign jellyfish.

As usual, Tom the firefighter was the first to hit the mark.

Steph followed his shot with another, tying up the tribes.

Then Steph hit another. The Ulong men missed theirs. Then Steph hit another. It basically went like that until the tribes tied and Steph put them over the edge.

"Ulong, I don't know if a tribe has ever needed a reward the way you do," Jeff the host said.

"[The win] opened a whole new chapter for us," Steph said as she and the three Ulong men from Alabama (a great alliance that never was) boarded their cruise.

And the contestants played perfectly into the product placement. "Ooh, they're Survivor questions," Steph said enthusiastically. The tribe quizzed each other on the "Survivor" trivia while sipping their sunset-hued cocktails.

Bobby Jon proposed a toast with the Mai Tais. "This toast is called, 'From here on out!'"

The Ulong four were dropped off at a dock in a picturesque freshwater pond filled with tiny, lavender, translucent jellyfish. Although James looked a bit clunky in his snorkeling gear, Stephanie dove gracefully deep into the blobs. Look for images of this and other memorable "Survivor: Palau" scenes here.

"I'll just cherish this because I know I'm in a place in the world that I'll never be again." Bobby Jon said.

"We feel like a tribe again," Steph said.

Meanwhile, on Koror, a rainstorm hit, and brought on a wind storm that Tom (ostensibly a firefighter knows such things) said was gusting up to 40 mph. Sand was whipping the teammembers' skin and getting in their eyes. This was all too much for already frail Janu.

"Last night was the first night I had that I felt so vulnerable," she wept while bundled up in the hammock. "I felt alone and so scared. I've gotten over it, but it's kind of lingered into today."

Tom tried to talk her through it, but the best conclusion he could come to was, "uh, let today be a bad day."

Katie's reaction: "I thought I was the drama queen, but I was wrong."

For the immunity challenge, the four contestants who sat out the shooting challenge for Koror had to participate in the securing of a rope-knotted trunk and a protective structure comprised of three bundles of logs and rope. Then, to complete the challenge, they were to untie the trunk Ulong had similarly secured.

Despite this, the three women (Janu, Katie, Jenn) and Ian ripped apart their structure more quickly than the members of Ulong tribe did. And despite James' promise that his former naval skills could produce an impenetrable knot, Koror's didn't have much trouble with it.

Soon enough, they freed the flag, hoisted it up, and secured their tribe's immunity, sending Koror to its sixth consecutive tribal council.

"I don't want to leave here being the tribe that never won immunity," Steph said. "That would just be a disgrace."

It was the first big test of allegiances, as Steph gave James and Bobby Jon conflicting promises. But, as usual, Wonderwoman had a solution.

If she'd vote for Ibrahim Rahman, the vote would be tied. If she'd vote for James, he'd be out, but she would violate a vow with him. So she had it both ways, by causing a tie and then voting for James in the re-vote.

"Sorry," Steph whispered.

"It's OK, Y'all," James said as Jeff snuffed his torch.

For more Alabama wisdom from James, tune in to Thursday's The Early Show.