Damn, I thought.

I knew those frat boys were gonna lead wire to wire and walk away with the million bucks. It was theirs for the taking. They're smart, fast and didn't rattle easily. Sure they spent a lot of time chasing skirts and talking about hotties. And it wasn't until the last few legs that they seemed to actually take the race seriously.

Still all they had to do was order a few flags and walk off into the sunset.

Terry wins the reward challenge, gets some grub and a blanket to rest-up for the final immunity challenge. No matter. Danielle balances her center of gravity better than the boys but after Terry falls, she shoots Aras a look and a nod and he jumps off the lilly pad as if they have an agreement. Now, both Aras AND Terry think Danielle is taking them to the final two.

Ouch! She takes Aras. Terry is hacked off. The big vote... Aras cashes in.

Here's what I took from this season of Survivor...

The guy who wins the car NEVER wins the million bucks. They call it the car curse for a reason.

I was wrong about Cirie. I thought she'd never make it... someone who was afraid of leaves... remember I said, what do you think they wipe with out there? Then, I loved her and thought she'd win. I was wrong again!

Shane... the lunatic turned out to be a lot of fun. He is a good dad and a good guy. I didn't like the way he cast his vote at the end... pick a number between one and a million... that was lame.

Honesty and integrity... P-L-E-A-S-E!!! All these folks think they play the game with honesty and integrity. I think I'm going to be sick. Blah, blah, blah... they lived up to their ideals. Right! The game is about deceit and trickery. Isn't it funny how we see ourselves... always in the right when we're sneaky as ever to do whatever it takes to win?

Who would you have voted for? All you Terry fans must be very disappointed. Although he gloated when he got his pegs in and won the reward challenge... he showed a great deal of class in the end.

Well... it's been a great seaon. Thanks for reading along... you've gotta love this show!

Terry was hacked-off again... and he lost his cool and snapped at Cirie after tribal. Of course he was. He was bamboozled again when Aras, Cirie and Danielle voted Shane off. Boo hoo. The dominating winner just hates it when he can't make any of his schemes work. Who can blame him? He's used to winning it all... getting all the food rewards... he's won a car.... he even gets to win his wife for a night... and gets to play God and decide who gets "love" from their family. No wonder he's frustrated. Each and every time he tries to make an alliance... it backfires on him. Guys, I hate to tell you Terry fans, he's not playing the game. He doesn't have to. He's dominating the game with sheer brute strength. Tell me this. If you're sitting in the jury, would you give him a million dollars? Can you honestly say he deserves to win the game because he has out played everyone else? Out smarted everyone else? Let me help you with your answer. No. He has simply used his God given strength and abilities to dominate. Good for him. But he hasn't even had to stretch in this game. He has not been successful in his relationships with the exception of his friendship with his fly buddy, Dan. I just have issues with people who have everything, win everything... then feel it's necessary to bully others when they don't get their way every single time with these intimidation tactics. Captain America is so confident it's not even funny. "I'm winnin' a million dollars and that's all there is to it." How can you guys like him so much?

Even when Aras wins fair and square, he can't keep his mouth shut or congratulate him.. he wasn't clarification on the rules. Of course, Aras should have kept his mouth shut, too.

Aras wins reward challenge, chooses Cirie to share the reward and sends Danielle and Terry to Exile Island. Terry doesn't waste any time working on Danielle. She decides its time to team-up with Terry. Danielle says, "We can't let Aras win the next immunity challenge. He can't win." That's exactly what he does.

Everyone has the voting figured out. Since Terry has the immunity idol (we know he's keeping it although he teases Danielle with it) and Aras won immunity so no one can vote for him... here's how it's going to come down: Aras and Cirie will vote for Danielle... Terry and Danielle will vote for Cirie. A tie.

Suddenly, the dudes are each huddled with their chick reviewing fire starting lessons to prepare them for the tie breaking challenge that is sure to send one of them to the final three!

Don't bother. Whomever the chick is... she will lose the next physical challenge and it will be Aras vs. Terry for the money. Dang it. I'm out. I picked Cirie to win. You guys who love Terry are still in it. You all must be just like him. You're all winning dominators. You're used to winning everything. Do us losers one favor, just be humble in your victory and don't rub it in.

Meanwhile... on the way back from tribal... Cirie does some fast talkin' assuring Shane he was "out of reach" when it was decided Courtney was going home and tells him the alliance is fine. Shane says Danielle is next to go. Cirie appears to be "in the boat" with that. She is so darn smart... and convincing.

Let's see Tyler and BJ pull up to the pit stop neck and neck with Monica and Joseph. No contest right? The hippies can outrun team Mojo, you say. That's assuming BJ put some freaking shoes on. Good golly, didn't it occur to my favorite hippies that footwear might be an important player in a footrace.

Their karma holds true though because thankfully it was a non-elimination round.

Terry's Threat
Terry thinks his biggest threat is Aras. Forgive me guys... but why do you always see things in terms of physical strength alone? Yes, Survivor is a physical game. But Terry's biggest threat is not the manly Aras. It's not the only other guy in the game... the wooden blackberry dreaming Shane. It's Cirie. The gal who has not been to Exile Island once. The gal who cannot win a challenge. She has proven a worthy opponent for her strategic mind. Let's give her some credit. Let's give her a hand. Cirie has a head on her shoulders and is also persuasive enough to convince the wavering Danielle what is in her best interest... not to side with Terry.

Shane wants to take Courtney to the final two since he feels he can beat her.

Terry wants to take Courtney to the final two since he feels he can beat her.

That's why Cirie had to get rid of Courtney. Smart. Very smart.

Despite Terry's attempt to get Danielle and Courtney to join him in voting off Terry's biggest threat, Aras... Cirie convinced Aras his only chance of sticking around was to vote with her to get rid of Courtney... Cirie then convinced Danielle to pitch in by convincing her that Terry was in it for himself and would not take her to the final two.

Summary: Terry wins a car. Courtney is voted off. She was blind sided. Bamboozled.... as Rich the naked non-tax paying Survivor winner would say. Ahhhhh! Another episode of the first and still
greatest reality show ever... ends in suspense. Quick, send an email to your tribe via wooden blackberry!

Questions to ponder. Can Terry keep this up? Can Cirie control Shane? Will Danielle manage to keep from popping her top? Will Cirie continue catching fish?

They started this leg of the race they way they ended it, with class. Fran and Barry dropped a $20 on BJ and Tyler, last week's last-place finishers as they started out. But their own luck didn't hold.

Fran said as she approached the mat, "I'm not gonna cry." Speak for yourself Franny, 'cause I shed a few.

The non-elimination round couldn't have come at a better time. If Tyler and BJ had packed their bags, I would have been reaching for the remote.

As I look back at the most recent episode a few things stand out:

The guy can't seem to lose a challenge... immunity, reward or otherwise. Don't you hate people like that? Everything comes so easily for them. Terry is invincible and he has the immunity idol in his pocket so he's around for awhile. Try as he may to get the six pack to split, it ain't happenin' and Cirie is right... there's no way Terry is gonna give up the idol. He's not a stupid Gladiator. He's in it for himself. It is after all, a game of one (Rob and Amber being the exception).

AND SO IT BEGINS
This game is about to get interesting. One more win for Terry and the solid voting block begins to chip away and has to vote off one of its own. Then, its every man and woman for his or herself.

VIDEO'S AND P-B AND J
What? No product placement? No choosy Mom's choose Jif? No Peter Pan... no Welch's Grape Jelly? No Borden's Milk? This show must not be as easy to sell as the good old days. When do they give away the cars? Maybe next week.

SWINGERS UNITE!
Didn't you love that swinging mat challenge? I thought it was one of the best challenges they've ever done on Survivor.

EMERGENCY, EMERGENCY!
Shane, dude....cover yourself. Nobody wants to see that! Not even a Survivor island nurse. Diaper rash... my butt. It's Richard Hatch revisited. Naked alert, naked alert.
Another reason to keep your distance.

LUXURY ITEMS
Come on, guys. If you know you're going to be stranded on a desert island for 39 days and they give you a chance to bring a luxury item... what would you bring? Think about it. You know you're going to be with others. You're going to be bored, they're going to be bored. Wouldn't you bring something everyone could use? Like a deck of cards maybe? A board game? A can of Off bug spray? Come on! They bring an American flag, a journal, a sketch pad and what were those rocks on a string Kourtney was flinging around? PLEASE!!!! Will someone use their head? Maybe Kourtney will hit herself in the head with her rocks and knock some sense into herself. It's every man for himself, but play your team members, dude.

BEST QUOTE OF THE NIGHT
"If you don't have that silly idol from that goofy idland, you're gone." Shane.
You've got to love him. You've got to admire this group of misfits. Remember when the chicks were pretending to slit their throats when referring to Shane? They'd say,"He's outta here!" They're voting as one. They are a team. Even the American Gladiator can't drive a wedge into their unified plan. Shane is growing on me. I love to see a grown man cry. Makes me want to get him a cigarette.

Sally is voted off. They should have voted her off long ago, when she lost the fishing spear... they could have been eating like kings. Instead, they keep her around so she can "learn a lot about herself." If I hear that one more time.

CHEESEBURGER, CHEESEBURGER....
If you ask me, Shane was the American Gladiator putting away two cheeseburgers and fries in the time Terry solved the underwater memory game.

Let's do it all again next Thursday.

The World According to Mojo
I'm liking these guys more and more, especially when Monica talks. It's pure gold. Whether it's her Italian for pass the car, "passe, passe" or her Jack Handy Deep Thoughts moments like "Athens, this is where thinking began," Monica doesn't disappoint.

Sally said she never had it so good. "I was cold and wet ... in bed with two strange men and oh, so comfortable."

May the force be with ... my finger pressing the channel changer.

Who needs Johnny Fair Play, Boston Rob or the naked guy, Rich? Who needs deceit, trickery and lies, lies, lies ... when you've got in-your-face Shane?

As I sat watching "The Race" tonight, I missed some sexual innuendo offered by Jeremy. So I asked my wife, "What'd he say?"