Who's more important, your buddy or your girlfriend?
We know how Boston Rob chose in the past (somewhere Lex van den Berghe is still crying), but he doesn't have quite the same relationship with his Survivor: Redemption Island fangirls as he did with All-Stars bride Amber.
So what did the Robfather decide tonight? Break up the Stealth R Us men's alliance, or break the hearts of his Survivor sweethearts?
Duuude! Ashley's immunity win proved to be the "worst-case scenario" for Grant Mattos himself, and he was blindsided at Tribal Council. After smugly predicting that "princess" Natalie would be walking "a red carpet straight to Redemption Island," Grant was sent to the walk of shame.
How long will he be haunted by his misinterpretation of Rob's "good vibe"? "When you look somebody in the eye and shake their hand, you get a vibe from that person, and I get a good one from Rob." After this blindside, will Grant be able to offer up good vibes in the form of a vote for Rob if he ends up on the jury? (Too bad he couldn't see Rob's apology before it aired tonight on TV.)
Rob and Grant have broken up; what about the other Redemption Island pairings?
Andrea and Matt: Payback is a bitch! When Andrea came knocking at Matt's House of Pain, the residents of Redemption Island showed her no Christian charity, forcing to sleep outside on the ground. Ouch! But Andrea is tough, giving it right back to Matt when he whined about her betrayal and "puppy-dog eyes." "You should've been a little more decisive!" she lashed out, berating him for "throwing [her] under the bus" when he revealed their plans to blindside Rob in a heart-to-heart with the ringleader. Since she just edged past Ralph Kiser in the Redemption Island duel (Matt doesn't even look like he's trying and he's still winning, maybe with Jesus at the wheel), the former lovebirds have a little more time to patch things up.
Rob and Natalie: Russell Hantz confidently dragged a "sweetheart" named Natalie to the very end in Samoa, and she walked home with a million bucks. Could the "innocent and pure" 19-year-old be Rob's downfall too? Jury votes are the primary concern at this stage in the game, but Redemption Island makes it almost impossible to focus on that endgame. "I want Redemption Island to be over and done with so it's not a factor anymore," Rob moaned. Preach it, brother!
Natalie and Ashley: The two BFFs stopped grooming each other's armpits just long enough tonight to realize…they are playing a game for a million dollars! Well, Ashley did, anyway, delivering an Immunity Challenge smackdown to the boys and engineering Grant's ouster. Now she is "corrupting" the "innocent and pure" Natalie, who is suddenly being torn apart by her conflicting loyalties between her BFF and her protector Rob. Outside of Redemption Island, the girls' new "strategic closeness" is now Rob's greatest threat.
Rob and Phillip: "He's pathetic and he's crazy—not the N-word crazy, just crazy," Rob complains about Special Agent Samurai Sheppard, but Mariano couldn't have a better Castaway sit beside him in the final Tribal Council. Until then, Rob will have to tolerate Phillip as his No. 1 bro. At least he'll be spending his last days with a "well-read person."
Do you think Rob made a smaht move keeping Natalie instead of Grant? Who do you think will be crowned Sole Survivor on Sunday's finale?