Survivor Nicaragua Episode 11 Recap: How We Got From There To Here

This week's episode of Survivor Nicaragua was a clip show highlighting the past ten weeks of this season. We got to see how the folks who are gone got voted off and how the folks who remain are faring in their new alliances as they each plot to wend their way toward the million dollar prize. Ever since the two tribes merged, things have gone topsy turvy for most of the players, forcing them to make new friends as the evolution of their gameplay has taken place.

Rather than recap a recap, I'd rather focus on the show itself. This season has proven to be a lot of fun and the cast is a mostly delightful collection of oddballs who've found a way to be cohesive in their respective cliques. Each one left standing really has a good shot at making it all the way to end. The ones who were the irritants are gone, for the most part, and there is a real strategic edge going on with most of the remaining players.

Of the people who've gone into the sunset thus far, I can't say I felt too badly for any of them. Each one did his or her best to get voted off. The three who stand out the most in this subset are Brenda, Marty, and Shannon. Brenda did herself in by being too cocky, thinking she had a ticket to ride with Sash, and underestimating her fellow tribe members. Marty sealed his fate by getting on everybody's nerves so badly - not just as tribal councils either, but in camp most of the time too - that he came to be seen as a sore thumb on a handful of forefingers. Shannon punched his ticket by going batshit insane at tribal council and asking Sash if he was gay, putting it this way: "Let's just get this out of the way. Are you gay?" And then he went on to insinuate that New York was somehow more gay than where he's from in Louisiana. That was hysterical.

Jimmy T. was another thorn in the tribe's side; forcing his ouster by letting his insecurities run amok. Jimmy Johnson couldn't overcome his celebrity status to stay in the game. Kelly B. was seen as too much of a threat because of the possible sympathy factor due to her artificial leg. Yve didn't assert herself enough. Tyrone asserted himself too much. Alina was considered a hanger-on who could be dangerous because of her potential to be a swing vote. The others who've gone just didn't make that big of an impression at all.

The ones who are still in the running for the million are undoubtedly the stars of the season. Each one of them has something either going for or against themselves which makes them desirable to get to the end. Anyone would be smart to take either Chase, NaOnka, or Sash, because those three have doublecrossed or rubbed the jury members the wrong way so many times that it would be hard for them to get a vote to win. Holly is so out there that her game is amusing to watch. Benry is sticking in the background with Purple Kelly, still unsure who to go with, and therefore becoming seen as coattail riders, and Fabio's mouth is his biggest liability.

This leaves the best shots to win as Jane or Dan. Jane has charmed her way into a dream position not only with her tribe mates but also with viewers everywhere, while Dan has played the game so under the radar that barely anyone remembers he's there. I've never seen anybody almost disappear into a group with the finesse that he has shown. He's been practically sole surviving all the way, which might prove to be his undoing once they get down to four or five. Jane's standout performance and likability could also cost her the million because everyone else already knows she has the moxy to walk away with the whole enchilada.

So we'll have to see where it goes from here. Jane and Dan aside, those who comprise the tribe at this point each have the potential to self destruct all by themselves, thereby neatly paving the way for Jane and Dan to drive into the finals. Unless Chase, Benry, Fabio, and Purple Kelly can get it together enough to eliminate the competition for their own benefit.

Only a few episodes remain. This one is fun... and it is looking like the fun is just getting to full boil.