['Survivor: Redemption Island' - 'We Hate Our Tribe']

Could this finally be the season that "Boston Rob" Mariano takes home the $1 million prize? It's certainly going to be hard to convince a jury to give it to him, even if he gets that far. Unless they discount the fact that his wife has already won this game once and credit the game he's played so far.

Of course, he's still got to make it there, and the way Ometepe has been playing so far, it's not looking very promising. Coming into this week's installment, they'd only won one challenge that we'd seen. And that was because Zapatera threw the challenge so they could get rid of their own "All-Star."



Rob has a much stronger hold on his tribe. Even Matt is still wondering why Rob voted him out -- it was for being nice to the other tribe. Would this week offer any surprises?

Not really, though it was still a good episode. I've found myself surprisingly rooting for Stephanie and Krista on the Zapatera tribe. It must be that inclination to support the underdog, because now that their former pack leader has been sent packing, these two are floundering on a tribe that's just itching to get rid of them.

They recognized that winning this week's Immunity Challenge was going to be key to their survival, but it wasn't to be. I was a little surprised the tribe allowed Stephanie to be the caller and puzzle-solver for Zapatera, considering she's on the outs with "The Six." Or maybe it was so they could easily blame her if it all went wrong.

David, the lawyer, seems to think that because he's a lawyer, he's automatically an excellent puzzle-solver. I've known lawyers who were brilliant at law, but struggled to find the door out of their office on their way to the big trial. So for him to equate his job with solving a word puzzle is as ludicrous as me saying that this job gives me a better chance of winning 'Survivor' than the rest of you.

I also found myself agreeing with Krista and Stephanie's assessment of their own tribe, saying that "The Six" aren't really playing much of a strategic game right now. I understand the idea that they're trying to stay strong to the merge, and with the successes they've had in challenges up to this week, that does make sense. But in a group of six, someone is low man (or woman) on that totem pole.

At Redemption Island, Krista and Stephanie stirred the pot some more, while laying more confidence and praise at the lap of Rob Mariano, who came with Grant. After Matt continued his undefeated streak by taking out Kristina in a cube puzzle Challenge, Stephanie told Rob that she and Krista were ready to flip to his side once the merge came.

Of course, they had to make it there first. And now, in order to get there, Krista is going to have to take down Matt and start a streak of her own at Redemption Island.

It was no surprise at all that one of the two girls was eliminated. It really was just a matter of which of the pair "The Six" was going to want to get rid of first. While Stephanie has been more vocal, maybe they thought Krista stood a better chance against Matt and they were hoping to send Stephanie to face off against her own ally next week. We'll have to wait and see.

All of this has been great for Phillip and his pink panties, as despite being one of the most annoying and crazy people in the game, his position is actually kind of secure right now. Rob's using him as a buffer and a distraction so the rest of his tribe won't target him.

It is kind of fun watching Rob play this game this time, as he's getting such an ego on him right now. Tonight, he looked like the Godfather laying across the branches for his confessionals. I'm not sure how long he can keep stringing his tribe along, but he's put himself in a great position for now.

And now he's playing psychological games with Grant over the Hidden Immunity Idol just to get into his head and mess with him. Sound like any other 'Survivor' villains you can think of?

It's pretty awesome that the game is so intense and exciting this early in the game, and you have to credit a lot of that to Rob and his aggressive brand of gameplay. Maybe even, too, just the presence of two former players has pushed everyone else into a much more hypersensitive playing style as well. We're seeing moves usually reserved for later in the game.

Or maybe it's just the continuing evolution of 'Survivor.' By the time I do get on that show and school everyone on how easy it is to win, it will probably be played almost nothing like it is now.

Do you think Rob can go all the way to the Finals this season? More importantly, do you think he can get the votes to win?

'Survivor: Redemption Island' airs Wednesdays, 8PM ET on CBS.

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