"Boys vs. Girls"

It's 103 degrees as the boat moves down the Amazon with the new batch of contestants. Jeff says that as he calls someone's name, to get into the yellow boat tied to the big paddlewheel boat. After the fifth person, everybody realizes that he's calling all of the women. Yep, this year the tribes are split along gender lines. The men of the Tamaqui tribe untie their boat and head off to their camp. the women of the Jaburu tribe... try to untie their boat, but stumble trough it, delaying their departure. Eventually, they are off and there's an unsettling feeling that either the women are doomed or Mark Burnett is orchestrating the editing. The tribes get to their camps (which seem pretty damn isolated) and set up. Sort of. The men actually start putting together shelter, the women... not so much. The men are cocky and arrogant and think nothing of the women... unless if it's to "hook up". Oh, great, guys. Thanks for dragging all of us men along this dark, dank path along with you. The guys get a fire going promptly by using a couple of drops of kerosene in their kindling. The women don't take that tack at all, and use damp leaves, which results in a 5-6 hour delay in getting fire. Christy is having problems because, even though she told her tribemates that she is deaf, none of them are helping her at all, leaving her out of conversations and decisions. (This, of course, just pisses me off. She, of all people, needs to stay on this show as long as possible to show that someone that has a disability can still play this game. I start to worry that she'll be the first one out.) The men play with a Magic 8-Ball, asking questions about if they will "hook-up" with one of the women. Oh, God. Men - we're going down a long, slippery slope. Eventually, it's time for the first immunity challenge (huh? no reward challenge this week?) The tree mail says:
From the start,
As time goes by,
You'll surely part.
Use balance, agility
And a bit of wit.
Be the one to fall short,
And tonight could be it!
The tribes are bound together with belted chains and locks race through the jungle, negotiating an obstacle course. As each station is completed, they get keys that unlock their chains one at a time. The race is pretty even until Jaburu gets hung-up on deciphering a code to a hint. The race is even until Jaburu gets hung up trying to decipher a code at one of the stations. Tamaqui races ahead to a balance beam that they must cross is pairs (they're now down to just pairs being chained together). Daniel can't walk a beam to save his life (or his tribe's, for that matter) and has to keep redoing that part over and over again, chained to Ryan in the lead. Jaburu gets the code, hits the beam, and now leads the guys. Oh, oh. Eventually, the guys get to the next station which is just building a puzzle. The women get through it, the guys struggle while Jeff is yelling "Come on, guys! We got a rocket scientist and a computer guy stuck on a puzzle!" Heidi finishes the last leg, and Jaburu wins the first Immunity Challenge. The men a clearly dejected (gee, no kidding!). They show up at tribal council and the discussion begins about their performance and chest-thumping. Then Jeff asks about the guys about the women in the other tribe, and then the testosterone starts flowing and stupid just falls out of every single mouth of the tribe. Then Jeff finally says: "You know what's great? You came out from day one talking more trash than I've ever heard. Ever. You got your asses kicked, and yet, when we get to women, it's like 'ah, who cares... I wanna hook up!' That's why you guys can be really in serious trouble." ... and the voting begins. Ryan Aiken, the 23-year-old model from Ellicott City, Maryland, is voted out of the tribe in a 4-3-1 vote. Roger is in trouble with the three votes.