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Kick. Ass!

This episode rocked about 100 different ways. And the payoff made perfect, logical sense. John was right, there's no way in Hell anyone would ever want to face Colleen in the final TC. And in the end, it all really comes back to Gretchen. Gretchen showed why, as much as she may want to play like a Tagi, she will always be a Pagong. She had the game in checkmate and squandered it. She completely misplayed her hand with Alicia. She knows that she shoudn't share everything with Alicia; hell, she tells Colleen that there's no reason to tell Alicia every detail. But by not hanging back, waiting until the last moment to tell Alicia the gameplan, she gave Alicia a whole day to scrutinize and pick apart the deal. And she shouldn't be surprised that Alicia came to the conclusion she did, because Gretchen had already said to Colleen she was guaranteeing her victory. And Alicia may be a lot of things, but dumb isn't one of them. I loved Vee's comment that Alicia didn't mind coming in fifth, because it's true. Alicia would rather come in fifth playing her game than serve as handmaiden at America's Sweetheart's coronation. Alicia had zero respect for Colleen, and the notion that she would lose to her was unbearable.

But here's now where the game gets incredibly interesting. Gretchen's strategic game is over. She's only got one move left to her, and that's to go on an all-out immunity run. And the beautiful thing is, she's one of the few left who can do it. John's got to be shitting himself at this time. Because let's say Gretchen wins the Spoiler. She sits out either John or Alicia, most likely Alicia out of spite. And then she wins immunity. Well, John's all sorts of fucked. Because he just made a final two deal with Alicia that he now has no chance of living up to. Because Tina and Vee are going to stay as a voting bloc, so John might not have any choice but to throw Alicia to the wolves to save his own ass. But if he does that then he knows Alicia will fuck him up with the jury.

John's big mistake was letting Vee pick who should go home. CL was right. The money play was to get rid of Gretchen. Because Colleen alone and isolated was easily controllable. She was zero threat to anyone's chances of winning. But they left Gretchen in, and she can definitely stir shit up. To Vee, whoever went wasn't an issue. She could roll with whichever direction they took. But by getting Colleen out, she basically fucked John's game all up. And John's such a paranoid, emotional player that he could never see that in the heat of the moment. That's twice now that John's been manipulated to make a power move he didn't need to make, because let's not forget how he was maneuvered by Vee and Rob into getting rid of Lex. All they had to do was show John that his position with Lex may not be 100% rock solid and he was ready to slit Lex's throat, even when by doing so he gave control of the game at the time to Rob. This time he was in complete control, but Vee was able to get his paranoid mind turning and got him to throw away his checkmate on the game. I think John's chances of winning went from 75% to 5%. And funny enough, Vee's chances went from nil to maybe 20%, because now she's got someone in the game that, if she can carry them to the final two, she has a chance at beating: Alicia.

Alicia IS a moron. Well, moron may be harsh. But she's an emotional player, and so is John, for all his supposed analytical, fanboy persona. That's why I thought this episode rocked. If either of them could be just a tad bit clinical about the game, they could have used this situation to their advantage. But instead, they went off firing half-cocked, and it's going to wind up biting them in the ass.

Especially John. Let's say they can get Gretchen out at five. Now he's gotta take a rock. He has no choice, no leverage. It really was another Gabriel incident. He let his paranoia take over, kicking out a non-threat and screwing his game in the process.

Man, this episode was filled with China-esque bad moves. Gretchen, Colleen, Alicia, John...hell, the only two people that come off OK are Tina and Vee. And now the two winners are in the power position. And I'm excited to see a super-pissed and motivated Gretchen tear some shit up.