Doc Gareth doesn't survive

2006-11-19 19:41

Johannesburg - Survivor South Africa's own Dr McDreamy, Gareth Tjasink, wore the immunity necklace for four weeks in a row, but without this prized possession around his neck his luck ran out in a hurry.

Even though he had a strong alliance with Zayn and had formed a pact with Jacinda, Gareth couldn't survive the show's penultimate tribal council.

The return of two outcasts from Dead Man's island as well as the outcome of this week's immunity challenge spawned new alliances in Burba and sealed Gareth's fate.

In this week's episode the four ousted contestants on Dead Man's Island - Brigitte, Mzi, Vanessa and Lezel - were given the opportunity to reclaim their lives with an endurance challenge.

The last two people standing on narrow poles could go back to Burba, while the others would become Survivor South Africa's first two jury members.

Lezel, whose arrival at Dead Man's Island annoyed the former Aguilans, lost her balance first. Then Brigitte slipped and Mzi and Vanessa were back in the main game as members of Burba.

Immunity challenge

While all this drama was playing out Gareth, Jacinda and Zayn ironically celebrated their positions as Survivor's final three on their island. No wonder the jaws dropped when host Mark Bayly called Mzi and Vanessa in when the other three were waiting to hear what their immunity challenge would entail.

The very important immunity challenge consisted of two rounds. First the Survivors, who were tied to a bungee rope, had to run to peg a stake as far as possible into a track. In the second round the contestants who achieved the greatest distances competed against each other by retrieving the stakes.

In a tense showdown Mzi grabbed the last stake quicker than Jacinda and won the immunity necklace.

Mzi's victory disturbed the balance of power in the new Burba. The former Aguilans quickly realised that they needed only one person to swing the vote and started canvassing the people who had voted them off earlier.

Broken promises

At first Mzi and Vanessa convinced Zayn, who indicated that he would never vote against Gareth, to join them in a vote against Jacinda, but then decided that it would be better to get rid of Gareth, whose track record at immunity challenges made him a bigger future threat.

At tribal council Jacinda aligned with the Aguilans and broke a promise to Gareth, with whom she had entered into a deal of mutual support. Gareth kept his promise to Jacinda and voted for Zayn. Zayn stuck to Mzi and Vanessa's instructions and voted for Jacinda.

In this eventful episode the Survivors also played for the biggest reward to date, a Hyundai Tucson 4x4. The winner was Zayn.

Next week the remaining four contestants will take each other on to win the prize money of R1m. The final, two-hour-long episode of Survivor South Africa: Panama, is screened on Sunday, November 26 at 17:00.

- News24