Taj and Sandy are building the stairs for Jalapeño, while Sierra and Erinn are doing it for Tempura. Probst says go, and the tribes get to running. Probst stupidly says contestants are allowed to "run, jump, fly" over the sand hills. I'm pretty sure the laws of physics and human anatomy prevent them from that last suggestion, Probst. JT reaches the raft first, but it doesn't mean a thing since the entire tribe has to touch it before they're allowed to bring it back to shore. Both teams start back at about the same time, with Carolina having trouble moving through the water. If only Jalapeño had some chairs back at camp, she could have been properly rested for such strenuous activity. Watching her struggle to walk makes me really miss Crystal from last season.

The teams make it back to shore, untie their planks, and start carrying them back. While Tyson carries three all by himself, I see that Douche needs help from Jerry to carry his planks back. How strong of him. Carolina and blonde Cindy struggle with their planks and need help from the menfolk. Tempura gets their planks back first, and Sierra celebrates by bending over and exposing herself to the camera crew. Looks like we're going to get a lot of blur action from her until (if) she gets voted out. Jalapeño soon starts their staircase, and now it's Sandy's time to shine. Somehow, she can't figure out how to find an idol or a lone palm tree, but she is awesome at puzzle stairs. She and Taj organize the team, calling out for the exact planks they need, while Erinn and Sierra take things slow and not-so-steady. Jalapeño is well ahead by the time their stairs are done.

Cindy and Spencer start the maze and have trouble working together to move the peg. Tempura soon finish their stairs and Erinn and Brandon start the maze. They do a much better job with the peg and soon take the lead. And then, they're done. Tempura wins, which sucks because there's no way Sandy is surviving tribal council and there's no way she found the idol, either. Damn.

The loser Jalapeños return to camp. Carolina interviews that it sucks that they lost and have to vote Sandy out, but she also thinks they can learn something from this that will help them. She goes swimming with Taj, Stephen, and Sandy and complains that Jalapeño never finishes any of their "little projects." Wait, what? It's day three! What's she expecting? Bob? That's last season, sweetheart. Taj sets Carolina straight, saying that they can't finish everything at once when they're dehydrated and hungry. Meanwhile, Stephen almost drowns himself in two feet of water. As Mactor 1, Joe, looks on, Carolina keeps talking about all the work they should be doing. Taj interviews that as soon as they returned to camp after losing their first challenge, Carolina started in on them saying they need to "clean up." "Clean up the outdoors? Are you kidding me?" she says.