LAST EDITED ON 05-01-08 AT 07:25 AM (EST)
Survivor: Micronesia – Fans vs. Faves
Episode 12: “I’m gonna fix her!”
Welcome, folks, to this week’s SOTS! This is where we gather all the tidbits being discussed over the past week or so as we try to get to a conclusion what is going to happen in this week’s episode.
A wee bit of housekeeping, if you don’t mind. We welcome all participants, new or old, to share your thoughts and ideas – and in particular for the newcomers, The Community Guidelines is your best friend.
Last Episode:First, let me get this out of the way mmmkay? Remember this bit back in, oh, about episode 3?
Evidently something happened to Jason’s brain after he ran into that tree, otherwise there’s no way to explain how he felt so safe in the game after seeing what happened to Ozzy the previous episode.
So, James, what did you think of that move?

Anyhoo… Jason got turfed in the last episode – dude got owned big time by Natalie. You can get a (almost) blow-by-blow account of the episode while it was being aired here in the East Coast Spoiler Thread or by reading michel’s Episode 11 summary. Thanks for the inspiration to use gif captures here in the SOTS, michel!
Has it been unwittingly revealed by Jason that there is a Final 2 instead of a Final 3? CTgirl points this out in Jason’s interview with Webby in the RTVW player interviews thread. KObrien_fan confirmed it’s going to be a Final 2 (see post #12).
This week’s episode:citywitch brought us this week’s title, ”I’m gonna fix her!” Who says this? James? Cirie?
Here’s your final 7, ladies and gentlemen…

Next time on Survivor…
From smokedog’s thread, CBS’s website clues:
• The pain keeps on piling up! Two Castaways' positions in the game are threatened in drastically different ways by serious injuries.
• The tears flow during an emotional family reunion.
• One Castaway goes from power-player to the most desperate of all.
• And in a season filled with surprises like blindsides and unexpected exits, the shockers aren't over yet!
Of particular intrigue is the third one – “one castaway goes from power-player to the most desperate of all.” All kinds of speculation on who could this be; Natalie? Amanda? Somebody else?
The first two are pretty much spoiled – we know it’s James and Alexis who are dealing with injuries and well, duh, we didn’t need CBS to waste type space to tell us that the tears are going to flow during a family reunion, eh?
You want vidcaps, huh? You got vidcaps! Get ‘em here…
Let’s see how the episode is likely to unfold.
Reward challenge:
It’s the Chop Challenge as the loved ones visit and watch the Survivors participate in a chopping elimination challenge. Through a series of questions and answers the players will take turns chopping ropes and eliminating each after each correct answer.

I’ll spare you the images of the sobfest going on as I don’t want my laptop to get waterlogged, but here’s a beauty with Erik yowling: “THAT’S JEFF PROBST! HE'S JUST STANDING THERE!”

What did you expect from the kid who gave you these bon mots?
“Cookies!” … and … 
Anyhoo… KObrien_fan posted that Alexis wins and takes Natalie and her mother along on the reward. Still a mystery, though, is who’s going to Exile Island after this challenge? We know from a Jiffy voiceover that a new hidden immunity idol has been planted somewhere on Exile Island. Heavy speculation has it being Amanda as we see in the vidcaps a woman digging in the sand:

Note the wristband. Amanda does have a wristband, but is it the same one? It could very well be the sand from last week’s IC when Amanda was digging fruitlessly through the sand, though. Ah, let’s go with Amanda as the exiled one for now until we know more.
Next… The early drama is over the two injuries that are highlighted this week – as FloPo noted, these two vidcaps are of particular interest:
Note the “jure” superimposed over both James and Alexis’ injuries… as in “hop on over to the jury, you two”?
Will James be medivacced out of the game as it appears the injury to his thumb has worsened? As he said in the voiceover:

Sure sounds like it’s adios, James. Note that he’s not seen on the mat at the start of the immunity challenge in the vidcap below:

So, James gets medivacced out of the game. Sorry to see ya go, big guy… you were a fun dude to have on the show.
Immunity Challenge:
We move on to the IC where it’s a Marksmanship challenge. A repeat of the Survivor: Palau Episode 6 RC, "Shooting Gallery" competition. Boy, EPMB is really saving a lot of money this season by recycling about half of Palau’s challenges, isn’t he? Using an old authentic gun, tribe members take turns shooting colored targets. Last one with own targets still intact wins immunity.

The old gun
We don’t have a clear-cut idea who wins the challenge, but it’s been spoiled by, guess who, KObrien_fan that a woman gets the boot this week, so it’s logical to assume that Erik has to win this challenge to stay alive in the game and force the five women to eat one of their own.
Other spoiling tidbits for this week:
*rubs hands together* Hey Parv, do you know what’s coming up now?

Yesssss! *hops* It’s time for VerucaSalt’s always interesting The Players, The Game, The Editing – Survivor Fans vs. Favourites editing thread!
Scarlett brings us an insightful thread on End Game Discussion. How will the final 7 unfold? Who’s likely to win against whom in the Final 2 voting? And what does Jiffy think of the final 7 players? Check it out here from SurvivorFever…
Let’s revisit the Visiting Survivor Fever’s list thread again that Bebo brought to us – it’s still relevant as it helped us to narrow down who would be on the jury, even if some of the boots didn’t quite happen as projected (i.e. Ozzy was listed as “mid-jury” when we can agree he was actually “early-jury”).
In summary:
Reward challenge: Alexis wins and takes Natalie to share reward.
Exile Island: Amanda - Edited to add that it seems more obvious it was Amanda who just got back from Exile Island in this picture... (thanks OFG)
Will the hidden immunity idol be found? Yes. It seems clear that the idol is being used by Jiffy's comments, therefore it has to be found this episode - the only other time it could be found is next episode, but there's a potential of a 3-3 tie at TC this week... meaning a much higher need for the security of a HII.
Medivac? Yes.

Immunity challenge: Shooting challenge – Erik wins immunity or otherwise he’d be toast.

Boot: I’m leaning towards Alexis. Natalie makes more sense to be kept around as a potential F2/F3 goat.

Who, me? You’ve got to be kidding me! I'm getting all apoplectic...
Agree? Disagree? Tell us what you think in dabo’s Vote Thread.
Coming up next week, the title of Episode 13 has been released: "If It Smells Like A Rat, Give It Cheese" (thanks citywitch)
We’ve also got a Episode 13 TV Guide Teaser from citywitch. More cattle-roping from JiffyPop? You decide: "You haven't seen the end of dumb moves at tribal council," teases Jeff Probst. "{Tonight's} episode is one where you go, 'You've got to be kidding me...this just didn't happen...how could this happen 16 seasons in?'"
Thanks for reading, folks… enjoy spoiling and watching the show!
