Day 4 Hiki Tribe We open on day four to find the four remaining members of the Hiki tribe huddled around and trying to make fire. Although they got flint after Tribal Council, they have yet to successfully start a fire with the sparks they’ve been creating with it. They truly look tired. They are all slumped around the fire pit, exhausted and disheartened. Nate tries again and again to launch a spark into the waiting tinder, hoping to start the beginnings of a fire. But after some extended period of time, (2 hours, 15 minutes, 30 seconds? It’s hard to tell with editing) he gives up and dejectedly walks away. The girls look at each other, and realize they have to step to the plate. And I’ll have to give them credit for this, they just decide that it’s time, it has to be done, and they are GOING to make fire. So Rebecca grabs the flint, and with renewed determination they focus on the task… and the planets finally seem to align. Rebecca strikes a spark directly into the waiting coconut fluff, and they finally get a hot ember, and then fire. You would think that Nate just won the lottery. He jumps up and down with genuine happiness and relief. It was kind of nice that he openly embraced the girls and their triumph, and at least from where we were sitting, didn’t show any signs of jealousy or embarrassment that the girls were able to accomplish what he couldn’t. They all do the happy dance as a team, and you hear Nate saying that the tribe seems to finally be figuring it out and working as one. Aitu Tribe We see the members of the Aitu tribe (minus one member) busily catching fish and crabs, and collecting clams along the shore. In a voiceover, we hear as they tell us that “Latinos are good workers… it’s in our blood and in our heritage.” It’s clearly not in Billy’s blood however, because we see no shots of him helping out with the daily efforts of the tribe. We then see the tribe circled around Cristina and she tells the story of being shot on duty as a police officer, and almost losing her arm as a result. She wears the bullet around her neck as a reminder. The tribemates are all duly impressed, and Cristina has suddenly become a role model for Cecelia. Then the camera zooms in on wild chickens that are roaming around their island. Clearly the Aitu tribe is craving some KFC action, because their attention goes towards figuring out how they can capture a bird or two for a meal. Cristina explains her idea of how they should put one of their fishing nets on the ground and when a chicken walks over it, suddenly swoop it upwards into a bag to capture it. Obviously Cristina has been watching too many coyote and roadrunner cartoons, because in the real world that will never work, given the fact that chickens actually have wings and can just fly above that sort of chaos. Ozzy tries not to outright shoot down Cristina’s idea, but does gently nudge the team in another direction. Instead they prop the net up and wait for a chicken to take the bait beneath it, and then drop the net down on it. Sure enough it works, and soon they have chicken on the grill. They then cut to an interview where Cristina is complaining about how Ozzy acts as if he “knows everything.” But regardless, soon everyone is sitting down to enjoy a chicken dinner… except for Cristina. She’s gone off to pout because they didn’t catch the chicken her way. Puka Tribe There is more chicken catching activity over with the Puka tribe. Yul has set one of the crates up on a stick, and put some bait underneath… and is quietly waiting for some chickens to come by and get totally plucked. Those chickens don’t disappoint, and soon two are in the midst of Yul’s trap, and with a quick pull, both are trapped beneath the crate. (Similar to how the two chickens were trapped over on the Roro tribe before Flicka got involved. Flicka, are you paying attention over here?) So Yul, the smart guy that can translate his wisdom to seemingly any environment, is definitely big man on campus for providing two chickens to the cooking pot. Becky, no idiot herself, demonstrates her intelligence soon afterwards by approaching Yul on the beach and suggesting that they team up. They both agree it makes sense, given the fact that they are both wickedly smart, attractive, and Korean. They trust each other, they’re both Korean… they respect each other, they’re both Korean… and they admit that they would naturally and automatically ally with each other since… they are both Korean. (So, I know this is just one small example within a larger experiment… but next time why don’t Burnett and friends just throw 20 people of various ethnic background all together on one big tribe, and see how the alliances form all on their own? I imagine it won’t be much different that the “controversial” start to this season. By the first two episodes’ example alone, there will certainly be smaller split-off sub-alliances even within the ethnic groups. There will be the Heavy Metal whities vs. the Top 40 crowd…. the African Americans ladies vs. the men…. the Latinos that speak Spanish vs. those that don't… clearly the Koreans vs. all other Asian Americans…and let’s not forget the Sneeches with stars, vs. those with no stars on thars.) Raro Tribe Jonathan comes home from Exile Island to a tribe that is happy to see him. There are big hugs all around as he gets off the boat that delivers him back home. He tells them that he looked for the idol all over the island but couldn’t find it. Then he starts looking around camp, and sees that nothing has been done in the two days that he has been gone. The shelter is still in disarray, and they don’t yet have a floor. So with more than a little grumbling at his tribe, Jonathan gets to work. Jessica/Flicka, in an effort to make up for pissing Jonathan off by letting the chickens loose, enthusiastically pitches in to help with whatever he’s doing. Sadly, she seems to be more enthusiasm than skill, because there is a scary shot of her hacking away at something with a machete as she’s sitting on the ground with legs sprawled out in front of her. I swear, this girl is one sneeze away from losing a leg. In the meantime, Candice, Parvati and Adam are all busy admiring one another. They causally hang out by the beach, brushing the hair out of one another’s eyes. Jonathan has just about enough, and starts barking at them all to pitch in. This is when Adam starts throwing a hissy fit. He starts kicking rocks and whining that building a floor is a truly stupid idea, and a big waste of time. He looks for backup, turning to Parvati and Candice to support his position… but unfortunately for him, both of them suddenly turn mute, and seem to become very engrossed in staring intently at the sand by their feet. Jonathan stomps off, mumbling that just because Adam is hungry and crabby that he shouldn’t avoid the work that needs to be done. Candice gently pulls Adam aside and tells him that he’d better be careful… and that it wouldn’t be a good move to make an enemy out of Jonathan.