Survivor

Season 12 Episode 11

Medical Emergency

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EPISODE REVIEWS
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Episode Summary

EDIT
A medical emergency forces one castaway to leave the island for treatment and the other players are left to ponder whether the person will return to the game or not. At the Reward Challenge, the tribe members are required to answer personal questions about their fellow tribemates which does not sit well with Courtney.moreless
SUBMIT REVIEW
  • Great character episode. Shane's insanity really a strategy? It's getting down to the wire. Bruce evacuated and Terry moves up.

    8.5
    Despite not having the tension of an Immunity Challenge or Tribal Council, this episode was still very intense.

    Watching Bruce valiantly struggle with his bowel pain was impressive. Thankfully he finally realized it was too much and was evacuated from the game. I saw two people smile when Probst announced this at the end: Terry and Cirie. Terry for obvious reasons. Now for Cirie, I'm guessing she was afraid of Bruce's connections with Terry and Shane (Older Men), perhaps swinging Aras in there or something. Either way, it's one less castaway, who wasn't on her side, gone. It's also one less Immunity Challenge that Terry has to win.

    Now we are down to 6.



    There were many points of interest in this episode. I'll try to recap.



    After getting knocked out of the Reward Challenge by Cirie (who chose Aras over him), he mumbles loudly "Cirie's all under the radar." Shane is misunderstood. He's actually very observant and usually dead on with his analyses. His insanity usually obscures that, though.

    Who else is a player? Both Terry and Aras. Watch as Aras throws the last question "Who wouldn't survive on their own?" by answering Terry, the last person most people would choose. Terry even points this out, saying: "Did you do that on purpose, Aras?" It's great to watch this subtle interplay. These two are really playing the game. Of course Aras doesn't want to win the challenge, because then he would be in the spot that Cirie ends up being in, having to make difficult decisions as to who to take with you on the Reward and who to piss off and possibly allow time and space to plot against you. Luckily for her Bruce left, and also, with Aras's calm influence on Shane, Cirie got back into Shane's good books. HOWEVER, it seems Shane's reaction was all a mastermind ploy to psychologically get into his opponents' minds. I simply love that he's on his own level in this game. Whether it'll work or not is debatable, but it's cool to see that the crazy guy has a brilliant mind.



    Another interesting thing from the Reward was the question of which tribemate did the least work. Danielle was the answer. This is actually very important, because Shane reveals to Aras that he would be sickened if she got ahead of him in the game. If *I* were Aras, I would want to bring Danielle (or Courtney who anyone would beat) to the Final Two, knowing I'd have Shane's vote.



    A fun part of this episode was watching Aras, Cirie and Danielle make fun of how similar Courtney and Shane really are, and how they feed off of each other, and how Courtney probably has a crush on Shane. Hilarious.



    Isn't it amazing how Cirie all of a sudden seems to be holding a lot of strong cards? She's in an alliance with Aras and Shane. She's in an alliance (probably) with Aras and Danielle. She may be in an alliance with Danielle and Courtney. Bruce leaving was perfect for her. He could've muddied her waters. Will be interesting to see how this plays out, though I suspect Courtney and Shane will be unable to ally (and thus ultimately save) each other.



    There were two other bittersweet moments of drollness. As Bruce is in pain, Courtney asks if singing a song would help. He emphatically responds "No." She starts to sing. He whispers "Don't" and I can really feel his pain. The guy's already had enough, and she wants to sing to top it off? My god what a witch! The other funny part of Bruce's evacuation was a very naked Shane helping carry the stretcher ("I can't sleep in wet pants").



    Tempted to give this a 9, but not having an Immunity Challenge or Tribal Council loses points.moreless
  • I felt the pain

    9.0
    I really felt Bruce's pain. I could only imagine what it would have been like for him and to hear from Jeff what the actual problem was I felt so terrible for him. He would have been so disappointed to leave the game that way.



    Terry lasts another night. I saw him smile a bit when he heard there would be no tribel council, I guess winning was all that was on his mind.



    Courtney would have felt terrible but she has to remember that it is all a game and she shouldn't take everything so personally. I also think she does hava bit of a crush on Shane.moreless
  • Wow...i feel really bad for Bruce

    10
    Wow...first Shane having that weird rash around his areas the week before and no Bruce getting sick. I really liked Bruce and I hope he can be on the council. And then during that challenge, Courtney found out what everyone thought of her. She felt really bad. And Shane flipped when he didn\\\'t get to go with Cirie. She was all worried when she brought Danielle and Aras. Then back at camp, everyone was missing Bruce and the girls were cleaning up his Zen and Rock garden. Then Jeff and Terry came and Jeff told everyone about how Bruce's digestive system was all backed up.moreless
  • not great but good

    8.1
    I really felt bad for poor Bruce, it was obvious he was in really bad pain, I am Glad he turned out to be OK, but it a shame a good player and my second favorite left in the game goes out that way, Can Shane get any more insane, well from the previews Yes...And Courtney is slowly closing in on him if either of those two lunatics win I will scream.. I hope by some miracle Terry stays alive till the end and wins, and if not him my second choice would be Cerie sneaking in under the wire thru sheer gameplay..moreless
  • Bruce has a medical emergency, while the rest of the tribe squabble over the reward challenge.

    7.9
    First off, I am a big fan of Terry, I hope he goes on to win, just to show those Casaya creeps. This week was very sad, because Bruce had to leave the show. He was a warrior, but eventually he had to give in to his body and get help. It saddens me that this is not how he wanted to leave, but things like this do happen. (I remember one guy falling into the fire, and had to leave). Despite this tragedy, this means that it is one fewer person for Terry to have to beat. This pleases me. I fully believe that Terry has the power to win two out of the next 3 immunity challenges. Then all he needs in endurance, because if he ends up against someone like Shayne or Courtney, there is no way he'll lose.



    I give this episode 7.9 out of 10. (Good progress for Terry, bad time for Bruce.)moreless
Jeff Probst

Jeff Probst

Host

Courtney Marit

Courtney Marit

Herself (Season 12)

Cirie Fields

Cirie Fields

Herself (Season 12)

Sally Schumann

Sally Schumann

Herself (Season 12)

Shane Powers

Shane Powers

Himself (Season 12)

Bruce Kanegai

Bruce Kanegai

Himself (Season 12)

Featured Episode Clip

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • TRIVIA (3)

    • Bruce becomes the first castaway ever to be eliminated from the game for medical reasons, but still be allowed to participate as a jury member.

    • Instead of final comments from an ousted contestant, the closing credits pay homage to Bruce and show video highlights of his time in the game, including his karate demonstrations at the Panama village.

    • This was the second time in Survivor history that a castaway had been evacuated from the island and from the game. The first time was during season two in the Australian Outback, when Michael Skupin fell in his camp's fire and burned his hands.

  • QUOTES (0)

  • NOTES (1)

  • ALLUSIONS (1)

    • The episode title alludes to Bruce's medical condition; specifically, his bowel problems, that resulted in his being forced to leave the game.

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