'Survivor: Tocantins ' Recap: Model Behavior

NEWSFLASH: THIS JUST IN! We now are receiving unconfirmed reports of a second — repeat: second! — tribe playing the game of 'Survivor: Tocantins'. Sources say the name of the tribe is Jalapao, although there has so far been little to no visual confirmation that the tribe exists. When asked about the reports, 'Survivor' executive producer Doug McCallie responded, "I have no comment about that! Just keep watching Timbira. That's where all the action is. I mean, did you see that clown Tyson with the loincloth? Pure gold. Gold, I tell ya!"

It turns out the reports are true. After barley bothering to even show us Jalapao over the past two weeks, we were treated to our first real strategy scene at their camp when Taj clued Stephen in on the secret cross-tribe alliance with Brendan and Sierra. I'm not sure which made Stephen happier: to learn he had magically fallen into an alliance he had no part in assembling, or to find out Exile Island wasn't as bad as Taj had made it out to be. He hugged Taj in glee and somewhere back in the States, Eddie George punched a hole in a wall.

Hey, who likes to see Survivors in brutal pain? Everyone, right? Well, come gather round for the reward challenge! This one was an old Survivor classic, with contestants forced to carry bags of weight on a pole across their shoulders until they could carry no longer. Last tribe with a member standing wins. I was a bit surprised to see Timbira pick the scrawny Tyson to be one of the weight bearers instead of the sturdier Coach, but then I remembered that Coach is Coach. Brendan dropped out right at 220 pounds, J.T. held 220 for a bit and then he dropped, Tyson went down at 160, and Joe (who is a dead ringer for Shane from The Shield if ever there was one), gave up at 140. This set up a Taj vs. Debbie duel — a duel that Debbie had no chance in hell at winning. And she didn't.

The end result was that Jalapao sent Sierra to exile, Sierra chose Taj to come along with her, and Joe and J.T. were dispatched to go steal two items from Timbira. They wisely took a bag of beans, and just as wisely left the other, in case of any tribe switcheroo that could leave them at the other camp with no food. (They also swiped a watering can.) Sandy didn't like the fact that they left a bag of food. However, we don't like having to look at Sandy in a bikini so we'll call that a wash. I'm guessing that the tribe also wasn't too keen on Psycho Sandy repeatedly referring to their food source as "fartin' beans." It certainly annoyed Sydney. But Sandy also was (rightfully) concerned about Sydney's flirtation with the boys. She evidently had a problem with the model not sleeping in a bra at night (something I'm guessing the rest of the tribe had no qualms with) and then offered this sage advice: "If they're gonna put your name down, man, you better do something. You better be pulling off more than a bra. You better be pulling some panties off or something." I believe in Survivor circles they call this "The Shallow Approach" (as in: Parvati Shallow).

Off on Exile, Taj was busy filling Sierra in on the secret cross-tribe alliance. For Sierra, it was an absolute explosion of emotion upon learning the plan! Which is to say, she managed to muster up a half-grin and give Taj an awkward high-five. Does anything excite this woman? Regardless, it is a huge turnaround for someone who was voted out of her tribe 5 minutes into the game. Who's laughing now, Timbira?!? (Answer: not Sierra, because she doesn't know how.)

NEXT: The first annual 'Survivor' underwear swap!