It's been mistake after mistake for Chase on "Survivor," which makes his long stay in the competition a bit baffling. The show kicked off with a montage of the North Carolinian flipping on former pals Shannon, Brenda and Benry. It was more of the same, but perhaps with bigger consequences on Wednesday night.
First, he won the reward challenge and selected Sash and Holly to join him on a boat ride down the coast of Nicaragua, complete with sandwiches, chips and champagne. Taking Sash was a no-brainer; after lying about taking him on the previous reward, Chase would've had to be ridiculously dumb to not take him this time. But picking Holly over Jane or Fabio? Disappointing your strongest supporter, and the guy you had talked to about taking on reward? Questionable moves when you still need jury votes to win the big prize!
As Dan put it, "He's been a friend, then he spits in (Jane's) face today. It was disgusting."
On the reward, the three declared to their families (who joined them, thus hurting Fabio that much more because he rarely sees his mother) that they were sitting with the Final Three. But they may as well have made the declaration at camp, because everyone figured the alliance was sticking together -- even Fabio, who may not be as stupid as he appears. The pretty boy knew there was a huge target on his back, but succeeded in winning the immunity challenge.
And here's where it starts to get even worse for Chase. Naturally, with the plan to eliminate Fabio crushed, he pushed to vote out Dan, but no one else was having it. Jane may be a sweet little old lady, but she's also ridiculously tough. And as Marty pointed out time and again, her sob story could win her the million dollars. No one in their right mind would want to face her to the finals, and the rest of the survivors finally got the message through to Chase.
Unfortunately, this was also when Jane came up to her supposed alliance of Chase, Holly and Sash, wanting to make sure that they were still going to gun for Dan. "I just want to make sure we're still four," she said.
Their reply? A long pause, until Chase finally said, "That's what we need to discuss." Oh, right. That won't tip her off!
So Jane asks if they're writing her name down, and this time, their response was dead silence. Silence!C'mon, guys! Are you here to play "Survivor" or what? Improvise! Lie and tell her no, that you're still voting Dan! Then she might not figure out which one of you flipped! Don't just stand there looking guilty! But no, Chase plays with his emotions, not his head, and it's going to cost him important votes if he makes it to the final three.
"They're flippers. They're liars. They're cheats. They're backstabbers!" Jane told viewers. "I'm most disappointed in my Carolina homeboy, Chase. ... I told Sash, 'Don't even $#%*&@^ look at me!' If he tries to compare me to his mama? Nuh uh! She raised a damn liar. ... The wrath of Jane will break out tonight!"
And she was only getting started! After the little chat with her former alliance, Jane stormed back to camp and dumped a bucket of water on the campfire. "I started it, I'll put it out!" she declared.
At Tribal Council, the dog trainer continued on her tear. After insisting on having her say, Jane told host Jeff Probst, "There's absolutely no loyalty in tonight's vote. It's full of liars and backstabbers." She went on to call Holly a thief, reminding everyone that the swim coach stole Dan's $1,400 shoes earlier in the season.
After she was done, Jeff pointed out the obvious: Why didn't she align with Fabio and Dan to potentially vote out someone in the other alliance? This made Holly a bit nervous, since she was the only one in the alliance who didn't have a hidden immunity idol. But in the end, it wasn't necessary. Even though Jane, Dan and Fabio could've voted her out, the two guys decided to vote with the alliance to get rid of Jane.
*sigh* It could've been a great prefinale show, to go to the end with the final four totally up in the air. But as the contestants have proven, this group isn't very good at outplaying.
Related content: