Sandra goes into tattle mode almost immediately, telling Christa about the entire conversation. So, incidentally, later when Rupert is condemning people who lie, he can start with his own ally Sandra, without whose lying to the people to whom she herself said, "So it's a done deal," he would not have ever been saved. Oh, but I guess that would be the good kind of betrayal. I'll do my best to keep track. Anyway, Christa insists that the concern that Rupert would hop to an alliance with Morgan is unfounded, and Sandra insists that she'd "like to keep the tribe strong just a little while longer." Because they're doing so well right now, apparently, having lost three immunity challenges in a row, so it's important to keep the tribe composed exactly as it is.

Rupert comes up the beach, and Christa spills that Trish and Jon are planning to oust him tonight. In an interview, Rupert says with that pompous parental disappointment of his that he can't believe they're trying to get him out before the merge. He blathers on for a while about how there might not even be a merge, and apparently his team can't eat without him or something. This is where his earlier remarks become so amusing -- apparently, they're supposed to keep him to keep the tribe strong, but it was okay for him to plot the exit of Burton and to wish he had voted for Shawn, when getting rid of those two guys instead of, say, Jon, was a huge step toward weakening the tribe. See, I don't mind the guy not liking people voting for him. Nobody has to like it. It's Rupert's insistence on pretending that he is looking at his own position in the tribe objectively that grates. He wants you to think that he only thinks he should be kept for the good of the tribe, and that it's not self-interest at all. And that's absolutely freaking ridiculous, as it would be coming from anyone. Anyway, Rupert goes and finds Shawn and tells him what's up and asks him to cooperate to boot Trish instead of him. Shawn agrees, for obvious reasons, including not wanting to be sent home pretty much immediately. Shawn recaps this scene right after it happens. Again.