'Survivor' recap: Welcome to the Puppet Show!

However, before Liz could get voted out we had to watch Foa Foa lose another immunity challenge. Mick decided to try changing things up by leaving his leader necklace back at camp, which is kinda like the time I tried substituting Meister Brau for Milwaukee's Best and vomited all over my keyboard. Pretty much same results for him, too. Foa Foa actually jumped out to an early lead in the fishing contest, as we once again watched Galu tribe leader Shambo publicly humiliated by Dave who kept telling her to shut up as she offered encouragement. But, alas, Galu caught up as Jaison struggled in the puzzle portion of the challenge. Off to Tribal Council we went to find out if it would cost him. Jeff Probst greeted the tribe by announcing "Well, there's no use going over the dismal facts." So what did he do next? GO OVER EACH AND EVERY DISMAL FACT! "Losing 8 out of 10 challenges, or the fact that after tonight you'll be down to 4 members while Galu holds strong at 8. One of the worst overall performances of any tribe in the history of the game." The only thing that could have made the whole thing any better would have been if Probst has busted out an industrial size Morton salt container, walked over, and literally started rubbing it into their wounds.

The other thing Probst is an expert at — besides reminding tribes of how pathetic they are — is picking up on body language. He saw Jaison's slumped shoulders and eyes fixed on the floor and he pounced, finally asking if it was fair if he got voted off for his last performance. Jaison's response? "If they decide my performance today warrants me to walk away, I hope that is what is necessary for them to win tomorrow."Say what?!? No! Fight, man! Fight! This is your opportunity to tell the tribe why they can't afford to lose you. And if they can, then you just lie! Make something up! How hard is that? You're studying to become a lawyer! Lawyers do that every day! Seriously, is that your closing argument? That's like telling a jury, "Look, my client is totally innocent but I understand it's a tough call. If you just want to make it easier on yourself and convict, that's cool. He can do a few years of hard time. The last thing I want is for you to be inconvenienced. Oh, and Juror #7, I noticed your forgot to get your parking voucher validated. I'd be more than happy take care of that for you. In fact, if you just want to take my car, you're more than welcome to. Whatever you prefer. Just watch out for the big pothole leaving the lot. I can lie down on top of it, and you can run me over instead, if you like." Damn Jaison, you're lucky they didn’t vote your ass out right then and there, my man. Instead, Liz got the boot.

More intriguing than the vote, however, were the previews that show next week's merge. What was so fascinating about it is that Galu is up in numbers, 8-4, yet all the folks who were being targeted for votes in the clip (Monica, Laura, Shambo, Erik) are all from Galu! Could Galu prove to be just as stupid as Timbira (who were up in numbers in Tocantins, yet allowed the other tribe to pick them off one by one)? We also saw it in Vanuatu and Guatemala — tribes who self-destruct picking each other off and losing their advantage instead of staying the course and taking down the easy target. Should be very interesting to see if that happens again.

You know what else are interesting? Deleted scenes! You can check out the latest exclusive clip below. Also, don't forget to get all the inside scoop from Jeff Probst in his EW.com blog. And Liz herself will be joining us on the newest episode of Survivor Talk which will be up shortly. Check back at the Survivor video hub, where you can also catch up on past interviews and deleted scenes. And remember, you can now have Survivor scoop delivered directly to you: just follow me on Twitter @EWDaltonRoss. Don’t worry, I won’t bug you telling you what I had for breakfast (although, if you're curious, it's usually Eggo waffles — how lame is that?). So what do you think? Will Galu turn on each other at the merge? How do you rate Shambo as a leader? And would you have voted out Liz or Jaison? Hit the message boards and let us know. See ya next week!

[Sorry, video not available]

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