Reading a spoiler in this thread, one which seems to reveal a member of the F3 no less, I almost decided to stop writing here but since everyone saw the same thing, everyone will be able to make his own mind about the story. This is, afterall, only my read on it.
That being said, here is what I saw:

The recaps continue to slightly alter reality this season:

Previously, on Survivor, (I’m missing Jeff’s first words but it was about Sash and Brenda putting the target on Marty.)
Brenda: “Marty is somebody to watch because he is talking to Benry, Jud and Dan.”

Jeff: “But everything blew up when Na’Onka took Alina on a food stealing mission…
…The tribe found out and wanted Na’Onka’s head…
<Jud: “That’s not cool.”>
…But Sash and Brenda protected her so they offered up Alina instead.
Brenda: “It sucks to be Alina right now.”
But Marty got paranoid and he thought he was the next to go…
….So, at tribal council, Marty tried to save himself by throwing Jane under the bus…
…In the end, Marty’s outburst was unnecessary…because Alina was voted out.

Now, the feud between Jane and Marty has reached critical mass.
11 are left, who will be voted out tonight?

Hearing the story presented that way, I felt Jeff was already telling us that Marty was going to be voted out.
Alina never participated in the “mission” to steal food; she was given some of the food that Nay had already stolen.
Brenda and Sash never offered Alina has a way to protect Na’Onka but rather to keep Marty around. The tribe was undecided between Alina and Marty but we were told that Sash and Brenda were her executioners.
Right after Jeff had told us that Alina was the victim of circumstances, we heard Brenda saying “it sucks to be Alina” That made her appear more vindictive than smart.

The Birth of the Cool*

Libertad
Night 22

Na’Onka: “Tribal council is where you need to vent but I think tonight’s TC really shook things up. I felt really bad for Jane. Marty, he was going a little too hard on her. He was throwing punches but she can’t block. All she could do is take it. I think she did well because, if the shoe was on the other foot and it was me, I would have turned right back and I would have hit him really hard.”

Chase wanted reassurance from Brenda that she wasn’t with Marty.

Jane: “The jackass named Mr. Farty…is a freaking jackass for trying to attack me.” Right then, Marty seen picking his nose told us he wouldn’t be defended by the editors. “I personally don’t think he can beat me physically, much less mentally so I’m going to keep on playing my game the way I’m playing it. I think he is grasping at straws because he knows his days are numbered.”

Nothing was said here to make Marty look better or to make us want to see him save himself. Only those that don’t like Jane would want to see Marty outlast her but there wasn’t any manipulation to favor him over her.

Marty went to get water with Sash who told him that the other vote must have been from Holly, not Chase.
Marty answered: “OK, because that tells me that Chase has maybe half a brain.”

Marty: “It is frustrating to play a game with some people who are just stupid…. I was crystal clear that I think everybody underestimates how dangerous Jane is in this game. There’s no question that I’m potentially in trouble here. I’ve got a big target on my back. I feel I need a button-down plan between now and the next tribal Council or they will eliminate me in a heart beat.”

With Benry and Dan, Marty started a plan to flush out Na’Onka’s idol, to vote out Jane and to isolate Chase and Holly all at once. Asked if Brenda would go for it, Marty said: “Totally.”

Jane (said in solo, at first as a voice-over, while the camera showed her watching Marty’s little group: “Marty was trying to poison everybody’s opinion of me. He knows there’s a noose around his neck and he’s waiting for the hatchet man to cut that rope and he’s going to be hung. I tell you, the man scrambles like nobody I’ve ever seen. I’d like to take him to the woodshed and whip his @ss.”

The Challenge

The men competed against the women. Chase, who had been left without a team, chose to “do something crazy and go with the girls.”
Brenda shown jumping up and down pleading with Chase seemed to explain his choice.

Brenda led the way for the women and they were in it until the stick fence and the net crawl where Jane wore down.
The comment that seemed to have the most foreshadowing value was: “The women hit the brick wall.”

After winning, the men, Benry in particular, addressed Chase: “No faith, brother, no faith.”

Jeff saw that Kelly was crying so he asked what was going on.
She answered: “I am hungry. It’s just rough. I’m great; I’ll get to spend the afternoon with awesome girls and Chase.”
Jeff: “Chase believed in you.”
Kelly: “That says a lot about Chase.”
Benry spit at those words.

Note that it was the manipulation of showing Benry’s reaction about Chase’s character that is important. Did Benry spit at that exact moment? Who knows, who cares? But we were meant to see that Benry didn’t like what Chase had done… and that Benry isn’t necessarily a nice guy!

None of the men showed chivalry (or rather tried to buy a vote) when asked if they would give up their spot to any of the girls “who had worked hard”.
Marty spoke for the men, saying “I don’t think so Jeff.”
Jeff said that “we have 11 individuals playing this game.”

Marty: “Chase, selecting to stay with the girls…why would you ever do that? Watching Chase join Jane was like watching the movie “Dumb and Dumber.” I don’t get it.”

The Reward
It focused mainly on Marty, Dan and Benry

Benry: “Never in a million years did I think I’d be in Nicaragua, going through the jungle on a zip-line. I couldn’t ask for a better 4 guys to be with. It was awesome.”

Dan: “…Going through the jungle on a zip-line? It was OK. You know, there aren’t any zip-lines in Brooklyn. If there are, you’re a burglar.”

Marty: “It was incredible, almost symbolic to be in mid-air, on a zip-line above the jungle, enjoying a day off. It was thrilling, exhilarating. I felt free…The best part of the Bar-B-Q is getting a little opportunity to speak to the guys about my strategy and maybe convince them that I’m really good at this game and that I can help them in this game.”

Needlessly, Marty worried that Judd could leak their plan to Na’Onka.
Judd: “I’m going to be the one leading that charge.”

Benry: “Marty’s a smart guy, he knows what he’s doing. He came up with a pretty solid plan. If properly executed, it will definitely ruffle a few feathers.”

Judd asked what Brenda thought of Chase.
Marty said she was probably keeping her options opened.
Dan said: “He’s just a bad horse to ride.”
Judd turned to Sash, asking him to reassure Brenda, make sure she knows they want her in the game.
Sash: “She trusts me 100%. I probably trust her 95%.”

Sash: “I think the plan Marty put forward makes perfect sense but I believe Brenda and I are the two brightest minds out here and, in the end, she and I have the power to send anyone we want home.”

Libertad

Chase shared a hug with the girls.
Holly commented that Chase showed character by believing in them.
Chase explained that he didn’t like Marty, that Sash was the only one he trusted over there.

Brenda: “Chase, I don’t think he made a smart move. He should have chosen the guys. He just went with his little emotions and he didn’t want to disappoint North Carolina Jane and mommy figure Holly and maybe me, so he went with the girls. Chase doesn’t make smart moves. That’s his problem.”

Kelly said that they were in agreement: Marty was going home.

Chase: “Today was a huge reward. It drove me crazy that I missed that but, I went with my gut and I wanted to show the girls they could trust me and hopefully I will get further in the game.”

Note that we see Holly’s pelican before Holly had a talk with Chase.

Holly: “Dan and Marty are really tight and, after today, I think they will try to get Sash and Brenda.”
Chase: “But I am not going to doubt Brenda because that will get her mad and we don’t want her mad at the alliance. Hopefully, Brenda is in.”
Holly: “Got to trust her, that’s all you can do.”
Overhearing that last part, Nay asked Chase who Holly meant. Informed it was Brenda, Nay said she trusted her: “We made it this far with her.”

Chase: “My relationship with Brenda has definitely changed. I’m not sure of Brenda, I’m not sure where her head’s at right now. We’ve been away from each other since we did the tribal swap. We don’t talk anymore like when we were at the old LaFlor camp we talked a bunch. That could be because she’s really with Marty, I don’t know why?”

Nay gave Chase some advice: “Don’t worry about Brenda. Just don’t get on her nerves”

In the very next scene, Chase worried about Brenda and got on her nerves.
Chase (to Brenda): “You really look unsure right now.”

Brenda: “Chase is a worrywart. “What’s going on Brenda? Are you OK? Are you unsure? I’m freaking out, I worried.” Chase is like a little baby that is always going wouinn-wouinn-wouinn. One of the things I can’t stand is paranoia and Chase is too paranoid. You can be tall, you can be muscular but really, where is that alpha-male, power control? It’s all an illusion.”

Forgetting editing analysis for a second and considering this last scene from a game perspective only, I must say that Brenda acted completely wrong. If an ally is worried, you do EVERYTHING you can to reassure him. Telling Chase that she was acting this way because she was afraid of falling in love with him would have been better game play than brushing him off!!! You absolutely never do that, (unless you have the numbers to vote him out immediately) not if you plan to use him down the line.

From an editing perspective, even the camera angle served to show how haughty Brenda has become. Perched on a tree, looking down at the camera (at us), the scene highlighted the impression that she considers herself better than anyone else.

Na’Onka: “Chase is always paranoid but he is reaching a point where his alliance is sick of him. We just might have to swap you out for somebody on the other side because your paranoia is getting to be too much.”

Marty and Kelly brought tree mail.

Jane: “Tree mail showed up so I’m hoping the gods up there that we pray to keep the good in and triumph over the evil. There is only one truly diabolical person in the game right now and that is Marty.”
<Note that Chase and Holly were shown as the “good” while the camera panned from Benry to Fabio and Dan before the gong and Jane’s words arrived at Marty. >
Jane’s interview continued: “There’s a big target on my back right now after Marty’s slanderous outburst the other night so anybody needs to win except for Marty.”

The Immunity Challenge

From the start, we saw the different between Marty and Brenda: Marty kept mouthing the words silently while Brenda smiled with calm confidence.
Jeff had a little fun with Chase’s lack of confidence as if we needed one more example.
When Benry fell out of the challenge, Jeff said: “We have our final two: Marty and Brenda for immunity. They have not been the best of friends in the game so far…”
“Not true” interrupted Marty.
“Just saying what I see” answered Jeff with a wink.
As soon as Marty showed a ship’s wheel to her musket, Brenda’s smile flashed even brighter.

Jeff asked: “You are smiling. Are you sure you are right?”
She was.

Libertad
Day 24

Benry and Fabio were out collecting food in a tree and wondering if Marty’s plan was going to work.
Benry: “You and I should just lay low and say we are voting Na’Onka and play stupid.”
Fabio: “I know dude but I hate playing stupid so much but it’s like the smartest thing to do right now.”
Benry: “It’s easy.”
Fabio: “It’s real easy.”

Fabio: “That’s the greatest thing about this plan; I don’t really have to do a whole lot. That is a big part of this game is laying low. You know. I call it being cool. Not ticking people off, you know. It’s a good strategy as far as I’m concerned.”

Like the scene with Alina last week, at the end of the strategy talks, this scene with Benry, at the beginning of the strategy talks, stood out for Fabio. Despite being totally unnecessary, or actually because of its unnecessary nature, I see this as the key moment of the episode. That’s what inspired the title of this episode.

With Dan standing next to him, Marty explained in sports terms to Chase why it had to be Na’Onka.

There was an extended stretch of silence where the camera went from Marty to Jane and then settled on Nay.

Na’Onka: “I’m always worried when I go to Tribal. I know the other alliance is going to be gunning for me because I took the flour but I’m straight from South Central LA and I have some street smarts and I always follow my intuition. But keep in mind I do have a hidden immunity idol and if I have to use it for myself, to save myself, I will.”

Asked by Holly what Marty had told him, Chase had Marty’s plan figured out. He was going to vote against Marty but he didn’t know what Brenda was doing.

The scenes between Holly and Chase also had a lot of importance in this episode, enough to build a case for him. More on that later but it showed that Chase was that dumb.

Right on cue, we next saw Brenda alone on the beach but it was Marty that joined her.
Marty presented his plan to her saying it was Sash’s plan.

Brenda: “What Marty said is absolutely true: Jane is a huge threat. If anybody is thinking of going with her to the final or even letting her get close is a fool cause she would win. I agreed to it, I went along with the plan but Marty is not running the camp. Sash and I are running the camp.”

Brenda’s hair and outfit shows that these were actually two interviews, the first probably right after the last TC while the second just before this one. It doesn’t matter thought because both show how much Brenda and Sash have let themselves be put in the middle. As a chess player, I could give them one advice: Don’t surround yourself with yourself! It looks like their own pawns are blocking their moves. I loved the imagery that followed: Ants running all around each other but, where humans get into clutters, bottlenecks and traffic jams, ants go right on through even when they are surrounded with themselves!

Sash and Brenda compared notes, Sash saying: “I feel they want him out so bad that he is a thorn in our side.”
Brenda: “I don’t like how all of a sudden Jane and Holly and Chase’s clique are demanding things.”
Sash agreed: “It’s a slippery slope.”
Sash wanted to keep Marty because “he is a good cook and he tells me everything. From a personal stand point, I wouldn’t want Marty to go home tonight.”

Brenda: “Sash and I are the swing votes. The Marty crew thinks we are with them to blindside Jane and have Na’Onka flush out her idol and then the Jane-Chase crew thinks we are with them to vote out Marty. Tonight is going to show who we really are with. I like to be in charge and I am in charge right now. When it comes down to it, it’s really whatever Sash and I want.”

Tribal Council

As Alina walked in, Brenda’s smile didn’t really look like a greeting, more like a victory smile.
Asked about the reward, Jane said: “When we hit the bamboo, it’s like we bounced off and when we hit the brick wall, we bounced of even harder.”
Sash talked about the men’s bonding time: “We showed our desire to work as a group and it gave us time away from the camp to strategize and decide some of the next steps.”
When Jeff mentioned the 5 women back at camp Fabio said: “It was the five girls plus Chase. There are a lot of different angles here. I was just stoked we were eating while we were doing it.”
Marty once more said that Jane was a threat, that he felt comfortable but that his bags were packed.
Brenda said: “You can’t lie against that and say she isn’t a threat. It’s true. Take somebody like Na’Onka who is a “trouble-maker” and Jane who keeps feeding us fish and who would you like to take to the end? I think it’s a no-brainer depending on how you play the game.”
Jeff noted that being likable isn’t always good on Survivor.
Jane: “You always have a target on your back. Me and Marty we went off to a bad start…I should have kept my mouth shut.”
Jeff went back to Nay stealing food.
Na’Onka said it was stupid. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore, Jeff.”
Marty didn’t like the fact that it was treated as being trivial.
Nay, the humanitarian human told Jeff she didn’t like Marty.
Fabio wanted to say something but Nay cut him off.
After more rants from Nay, Fabio finally was able to tell Jeff that it didn’t make sense.
Like Fabio said the rest was crazy.

After Marty was voted out, we saw Jane wink at a smiling Alina, Na’onka clapping.
From behind (a very rare angle), we saw Sash turn to Fabio, nodding his head as if telling him it wasn’t the right time.

Jeff ended it saying: “Based on the vote, it’s clear you are no longer making decisions as a group. This is where it gets really interesting and very complicated.”
Fabio was shown scratching his head at that moment.

The Story

As I wrote, it looks as if Brenda and Sash have managed to surround themselves with themselves or, in Survivor terms, have “Dollyed” themselves. It,s not as if each faction is at war with each other. That was only Marty and Jane. Holly is on speaking terms with Dan and I wouldn’t see why Chase, Fabio and Benry wouldn’t compare notes. A big question would be to find out why Na’Onka’s idol wasn’t even flushed. That horrible council display couldn’t have reassured her so Dan, Benry and Fabio have to know someone tipped her off.

The Characters:

Jane: Marty has been voted out and Jane wasn’t given an alternative story. Instead, it seems she could become part of Chase’s Journey to maturity.

Holly: The return of Holly’s pelican gave me a new look on her story. She learned from the pelican and she is now giving lessons to Chase like any mother would. Mother or Coach! Let’s not forget that she is also a coach.

Brenda: When once we saw a smart player, we now have the depiction of a very arrogant one. People know that she is playing the game, that she is the one they need to make their plans succeed but, since they do not, they will realize she is playing an individual game, not working for the group to paraphrase Jeff’s words at RC and TC. That confessional showing her in a tree killed any possibility of seeing her as a clinical player. She is cold but we still saw her emotions and they weren’t pretty.

Sash: He is in the same position as Brenda but the editors hid him a lot in this episode, putting much more of the focus on Brenda. The vote showed which side Sash was on and Fabio noticed.

Benry: Although he had a bigger role this episode, Benry still has no long term connections to other players or the jurors. Using this hidden character to tell us that Marty was smart didn’t make us change our mind in thinking that Marty was leaving this episode. We know Benry has always been close to Fabio so he could join him in the end but Fabio is the one that the others like and would be inclined to vote for.

The Case for Chase: Chase started out the season by telling us he wanted to have a Coach. He told us that he lost his dad and that he misses his mom. He likes Brenda but she is using him. Chase needed counseling and he found it in Holly. Brenda said Holly was a mommy figure but the pelican told us that she was the Coach that Chase needed. The pelican tied Holly back to her early days in Espada where she learned from the “best Coach ever” and from outdoorsman Jimmy T and now she was transmitting that knowledge to Chase. I found it very interesting that we heard Marty try to get Chase to vote out Na’Onka by putting him in an imaginary locker room and asking him to make a coaching decision: Would he want her on his team?

I also noted that all the votes that Marty counted going to Jane could go to Chase. Jane, Holly and Alina could vote for him and, by choosing to support the women’s side, he could also get Na’Onka and Kelly’s vote. All the comments that Chase was a crying baby, that he was useless and part of Dumb and Dumber make for the doubt needed in a winner’s story. Also, from the start, Chase has had the personal story, the substance that makes a great winning story. His struggles to understand Brenda show a lot of his thoughts. And Jane put him on the side of good while Fabio was slanting towards the dark side.

Unfortunately, from my point of view all this also works fine with a Journey to Maturity. Chase is questioning himself and others. Saying that siding with the girls could get him further is weak as far as strategy content goes. The negative comments, the ones that could create doubt, sound like an explanation why the Ponderosa crew will not see him as a deserving winner. For now, he is the only one I see that could challenge Fabio.

Fabio’s Winning Strategy: It is always a big indication of a winning edit when we hear a confessional that not only looks to the end game but ties in to what we saw in episode #1. Fabio is playing dumb, it is very easy to do and, by not ticking anyone off, not only does he avoid taking charge but he also cultivates jury votes. Both editing-wise and game play wise, Fabio being cool looks like the winning strategy. Now, he will need to convince the jury that he isn’t dumb…and he will need to keep his cool around Na’Onka! “That’s not cool” were his words during the recap. We still need to see how it will turn out.

*What was the other time that an episode made me think of a Miles Davis album for title?