LAST EDITED ON 10-10-13 AT 09:09 AM (EST)
So ...
Aras' principal rival may turn out to be the Season's other - put politely, diplomatic or put impolitely, manipulative - Libra?
From the first episode, I've been looking forward to seeing how Aras and Caleb managed their relationships with their less-disciplined partners within the show's general chaos. But, it would seem that the better question would have asked how each managed their relationship with the other's partner.
Because ...
The last episode was edited to persuade viewers that Aras had only to assure Colton that he would "give him a second chance" to dissuade him from leaving the Game. Instead, Aras cut him loose with a platitude and no promises.
And it isn't as though Aras hadn't been dealt virtually the same hand once before:
In Exile Island the Sagittarius threatening - hourly - to quit was Shane and the two Gemini requiring kid gloves were Danielle and Courtney. The other Libra was Terry. This Season, at Galang, the Sagittarius was Colton and the two Gemini are Monica and Tyson.
Note: There was a second Sagittarius at Casaya/Gitanos who left the Game with a certified bellyache: Bruce.
So ...
For whatever reason - and maybe it had to do with the fact that, as JP has attested, the Gemini at Galang were behaving more calmly than expected and perhaps Colton's Shane-like and not inconsiderable talent for playing bad cop to Aras' good one didn't seem to be worth its emotional cost this time around - Aras kicked Caleb's other-half to the curb. While, Caleb, in contrast, made a confidant and co-conspirator of Aras' natural-born brother.
And we've now been let in on the Tyson and Gervase shelter-in-place alliance - goodbye, girlfriend ... goodbye calm - that presumed that the Baskauskas boys (and other twosomes) would play nicely together at merge.
But, did they?
Or have we seen the defining moments when the cruelly orphaned -in the persons, thus far, of Tyson, Gervase, Caleb and Laura Boneham (didn't she get a nice edit tonight) - and money and water vs love and blood - began to carry the day ...