As Chris and Rory take a walk together, Rory says he really hopes the alliance will hold, because he's sure that if it doesn't, he will be the one to go. In fact, he says that he would be "dead right now." Rory suggests in an interview that the person most likely to move against him would in fact be Sarge, presumably because of the endless bickering and the fact that they can't stand each other. Rory tells Chris that Sarge "likes to dictate what goes on," and says he's not sure if Chris is ever noticed that. Chris is like, "Yeah, I've noticed." I think people around the world without televisions or electricity have noticed. In an interview, Chris allows that Sarge might decide to "make a change" because of his dislike of Rory. Why these guys have all decided to let Sarge tell them exactly what to do is very confusing, because at this point, the alliance is large enough relative to the entire group that there's no need for them to do that. If they want to get rid of Sarge and have one less giant blowhard to deal with, they can do that easily and still have their alliance. I think that's what I would do. Because Sarge bugs me. A highly metaphorical bat goes flying off in some direction or another. I think he stands for fleeting loyalty. Or rabies.

Sarge takes a moment to feign uncertainty, saying that if Brady leaves, he will be very sad, because Brady is a good worker, and we all know that Sarge is all about the meritocracy. In fact, there's Brady right now, up in a tree, knocking a coconut down. But because he does it from above rather than shaking from below, he manages not to bean himself. Sarge also allows, in the interests of ratcheting up the suspense, that Rory is "a bad seed." He also says the team is "fighting for survival." Not really. But thanks. The team leaves for tribal council.

The increasingly dirty and sweaty men make their way up to the fire pit. Jeff is waiting for them. When they're all seated, he asks them about today's challenge. He asks Rory about having received "zero respect" while he was trying to give directions. Adding this to the fact that Rory has received votes at every tribal council so far, how does Rory feel about this? Rory says that he is "scared as hell" to be there under these circumstances, as a matter of fact. Jeff talks about the shift over the last couple of challenges and the way the women have been performing so much better. He taunts the guys a little bit with the fact that the women have improved their lives back at camp so much at the same time, thanks largely to Da. Asked if he can feel that shift, Travis points out that the women "really kicked [them] in the groin today." He says that the team took it hard, but he also says, all evidence to the contrary, that at the next challenge they're going to be "a whole new ball team." Well, it's an interesting theory. "Based on what I'm looking at, I don't buy it at all," Jeff says, proving that he can, when necessary, be useful. Because that's exactly what I would've said.