Survivor, or the season that keeps giving, and giving, and giving...

Am I just crazy, or is this one of the best seasons of Survivor ever? I mean, I've had all these fears about how things are going to turn out, and frankly with those two girls left I still have a few. But am I wrong or has every single episode this season been anything less than awesome?

Parvati wants to do damage control. Good luck with that. People love to play the game until they themselves get played, and then they love nothing more than to blame you for all their problems. James, at least, in consistent, even reviving his once-funny apple metaphor. Now it just sounds tired. I bet James is a great person to have as a friend, very loyal and simple and direct. But, after watching that strategy fail once before, don't you think you might at least consider that it might not be the best way to play the game? This is, remember, a GAME. You adjust, you maneuver, that is what makes it interesting. James is strictly Outplay, and while that is a huge plus, it isn't enough all by itself. Next week then?

Amanda, I admit, is in a hard place. Both betrayed and out of the loop. But, then, what game have you been playing? Oh, right, nothing much but riding on Ozzy's coattails. Where is the player we had last season? Right at the beginning of the episode, she said something like, "You want to play? Then game on!" This, of course, thrilled me that she might start moving and shaking. But, like Ami, I'm a'feared that she is all talk and no game this time around. I guess Todd just brought out the best in her. Also very funny was when she was complaining to James about how evil Parvati was to blindside Ozzy like that. I wanted James to cough and say "Darling, didn't you do the EXACT SAME THING to me last season???" Heh. But emotion often takes over the weaker players. Sad that at this point I am calling James and Amanda weak, but really, what have they done besides ride on our good memories of them last season?

The food auction, always a highlight. They should put James on the box for Life, cause he really will eat anything. The, er, non-pretty invisible girl, gets to send someone to Exile, and she picks...Jason? She redeems the choice later (and deliciously so), but still, stupid move. I mean, really? Sending the guy you both want to get rid of as well as the guy most likely to find the Idol to Exile? If I had been the pretty invisible girl, I would have been saying "Pick me! Pick me!" But whatever. She also gets to pick three friend to share her cake, and makes her point with leaving Amanda out. Then she is weird, and is all "Don't eat too much of my cake."

Bonus: Eric pays Cirie $40 to lick the cake from her fingers. And right here we have my dream final two. He started off slow, but you have to love anyone who will pay money to lick chocolate cake off a teammates fingers. You also have to love someone who will accept money to have their fingers licked. Note: I declare this scene mandatory inclusion in any future "Best Of Survivor" clip shows.

Suddenly, non-pretty invisible girl comes out of her shell. She is ranting and raving and plotting against Jason, who, without any actual consideration, seems a shoe-in for most clueless Survivor ever. (Well, with possible competition from Dr. Sean from first season.) He finds the Idol easily. I'll give him credit for being a great competitor. But he has no skill at all in reading people. At the immunity challenge, the girl is great, and without overplaying her hand gives him a false sense of security. For one of the first times this season, James really competes well, but Scrappy-Do manages to just beat him. Happy Birthday Eric.

Back at camp, the Survivors rummage through Jason's things and find the Idol. For some reason this bothers me. There are clearly rules of behavior, or they would just steal it, and I think everyone deserves a small modicum of privacy. Just a nitpick, but there it is. The girl again approaches Jason, and gives a pretty terrible performance, showing not the slightest bit of excitement when he tells her he has the Idol. Luckily for her he is hopeless and falls for it anyway.

Now, all of this is seeming way too easy for me. Suddenly James and Amanda are talking, and he suggests voting Parvati. Interesting. I have no desire to see her fall before Jason, but intrigue is always good, and all it would take would be Eric's vote to at least get a tie. At tribal we get to see more of Ozzy's mad face. When he heard it was Parvati that turned on him, I thought he was going to leap the aisle to kill her there. Funny, but none of the Favorites are improving their image with this season. Well, maybe Penner, but his tearful exit gives him an advantage. Cirie is the only one who hasn't been either desperate or just coasting.

In the end Amanda does an Ami and doesn't stick her neck out. Did Eric refuse or did they just not even try? Or is it just that no one dares defy Cirie, who always seems to get just what she wants. Jason getting blindsided exactly like Ozzy was last week was pretty delicious, though perhaps not quite as satisfying since he didn't get all huffy about it. But regardless, I'm happy with the outcome. For me, you have to have at least a bit of skill at Outwit to get to the end, and he was certainly lacking there.

Things look grim for James, and I'm not even talking about the finger. I'm hoping Eric slips through though, because the girls will start to turn on each other before long. I love Eric even more after the previews for next week, when he admonishes his family member for not being appropriately worshipful of Probst. "YOU WERE STANDING RIGHT NEXT TO JEFF!!!" he screams. Be still my heart.