Search  About Salon  Table Talk  Advertise in Salon  Investor Relations

Salon.com

[Arts & Entertainment][ Books ][ Comics ][ Life ][ News ][ People ][ Politics ][ Sex ][ Technology ][ Audio ]

Article Finder
Television


 


TV Diary -- "Survivor: The Australian Outback"
- - - - - - - - - - - -


Bathroom secrets of the outback
Episode 11: Everything you didn't want to know about survivor digestion! Plus: Jeff Probst makes a deal.

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

April 6, 2001 | On Day 28, the first shot focuses in on Jerri's leather cowboy hat, resting atop her hand drum under a shady corner of the tent.

Just a few weeks ago, Jerri seemed to be sitting on top of the outback. But now these are the only reminders that remain.

That and the acrid smell of burning sulfur.

Well, there is one other thing. Her name is Amber, the sniveling Riff Raff to Jerri's done-in Doctor Frank-N-Furter.


____
 
  Union of Concerned Scientists  
 
____
 





 
 



Print story


E-mail story


 

Amber sits alone on a fallen tree, staring into fire.

Get it? Without Jerri, she's just a bump on a log.

Har-har!

Last week, you'll remember, three former members of the Ogakor tribe joined forces with three former Kuchas to oust Jerri, the evil Heather Queen, whose tyrannical mood swings and imperious arrogance made living in Camp Barramundi about as much fun as that little room in "No Exit."

Amber was her unquestioning myrmidon.

Now Amber feels left out.

"I think the group definitely isolated me from their decision because they felt I was too close to Jerri," says the 22-year-old administrative assistant from Beaver, Pa. "It's sad."

Sad like that time when Robespierre lost his wig in the guillotine, ending the Reign of Terror.

Her isolation brings up an interesting point. Maybe the five-strong Ogakor should have just filleted the three remaining Kuchas and then offed Jerri. Because now, Amber, as Jerri's jilted toady, feels left out.

Maybe she'll switch her allegiance to the three remaining Kuchas. Maybe she'll go solo.

Maybe she'll start to vote according to the alphabet.

And maybe "Survivor" will be able to eke out some drama from the show for the next six episodes.

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

We admit that we wanted to see Jerri get her comeuppance more than we wanted ever to love again. But we just had a terrible, terrible flash while watching ponytailed Amber saunter across camp with a water sack in her hands.

What happens when all the jerks get thrown off and we're left with a bunch of bland nobodies?

Then we remembered that we've already seen that reality show.

It was called "Big Brother."

With only seven players left, this much is certain: This is not the same show we saw last season. Basically, all the nasty people are gone. Now the only easy targets are the somewhat lunkheaded cowboy Colby, a seemingly shallow Amber and, in a stretch, nurse Tina's passive-aggressive meddling or chef Keith, whose barely restrained arrogance has been mostly shielded by our loathing of Jerri.

Ah, Jerri. Was it sweet to watch her go.

"Ding-dong, the witch is dead," sings Keith.

It's funny, 'cause that's just what we said last week -- along with 7,500 of our letter-writing readers.

If you want a consensus, find an enemy.

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

Without Jerri, there's a new, slightly less painful obstacle to overcome: relentless hunger.

Last week, we learned that the seven final survivors were almost out of rice rations. In this episode, they have only a few grains left. They're also down to two fishhooks, which keep getting caught in the weeds or snapped up by unfortunate turtles.

. Next page | A portrait of the starving survivor
1, 2, 3, 4, 5





 
shim
shim

Now playing: Read all the recent movie reviews by Salon's critics

shim
shim


shim


Salon  Search  About Salon  Table Talk  Newsletters: subscribe/unsubscribe  Advertise in Salon  Investor Relations


Arts & Entertainment | Books | Comics | Life | News | People
Politics | Sex | Tech & Business and The Free Software Project | Audio
Letters | Columnists | Salon Plus | Salon Gear


Reproduction of material from any Salon pages without written permission is strictly prohibited
Copyright 2005 Salon.com


Salon, 22 4th Street, 16th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103
Telephone 415 645-9200 | Fax 415 645-9204
E-mail | Salon.com Privacy Policy