Folksy Rog, whom the tribe calls Kentucky Joe, gives the cute Elisabeth a heart-shaped rock and wins her affection -- all within the bounds of proper behavior for a Kentucky church elder, of course.

If there's a sweetheart center to this whole damn game, it's the two of them. It's going to be sad to watch them get eaten by the sharks in their tribe.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

The next scene opens with a deep voice bellowing show tunes floating up the river. We figure it's Kucha's Jeff, but it turns out to be that scamp Mad Dog, the retired cop.

She's part of the other friendship, between her and Tina, the 40-year-old nurse with the silky Tennessee accent. They sit together in the water and later confide to the camera how much they like each other.

"I trust Tina," Mad Dog says.

Meanwhile, Jerri and cowboy Colby are sharing a little stream bath of their own. The two flirt intently. Colby ropes Jerri into a version of First Date Fast Track.

She likes cake and he likes ice cream, but it's pretty clear that if she keeps giving him back rubs and he keeps pretending he doesn't see how nasty she is that the two will soon be doing it like dingoes.

It's obvious that Jerri's the dominant one in the relationship, though. Colby surprises us by telling the camera that he's aware that she might be playing him.

That makes him seem smarter than the impression we get from his buff bod and the George W.-like looks of intense confusion that flash over his face from time to time.

But then, guys like Colby always get eaten alive by women like Jerri in the end.

Indeed, Jerri, for her part, tells us she would knock him out in a second. Time now for a commercial, but not before a quick shot of a big old spider weaving her web.

That Jerri: She's a black widow!

Back over in Kucha, cranky Jeff and physical trainer Alicia are also scheming. The two of them seem way ahead of themselves; they're already planning on whom they want with them in the final four.

Here we remind readers that, once the two tribes reduce themselves to a total of 10, they combine into one tribe and continue the eliminations from there.

One thing Jeff and Alicia know is that they can't ride with sweetheart Elisabeth -- she'll beat either one. The camera cuts to a snake slithering in the grass.

Neither one of them trust beautiful Nick. "Nick is very lazy," says Jeff.

That's the thing about those 23-year-old Army officers who are going to Harvard Law School. So lazy.

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