More Injuries, and a Successful Use of the H.I.I.

Well, farewell to Kelly McAllister and Alison Gentry this week. Kelly lost James to his finger injury. I was a little skeptical on it, but when he showed up at Tribal Council with an IV, I thought that pretty much validated the situation. Kelly joins her husband Dave, who lost Jonathan to his knee injury. Neither McAllister was voted out. Sorry guys. Tough luck. On the bright side, James was probably next to go anyway. I think he knew that, and that is why he wasn't too broken up over it.
The real champion of this week was, of course, Amanda. The curse of the Hidden Immunity Idol finally ends. She looked like she had a lot of fun with her acting. Pouting and complaining about Erik, and then whipping out the idol. It was great to see the instantaneous celebration of the jury and the horror on the faces of Erik, Alexis, and Natalie. Especially Alexis and Natalie as they waited to find out which one of them was going home.
Alexis was pick #2. So I like to think of this last episode as #1 vs. #2. It was the BSC Title game of Survivor. The top pick, Amanda, triumphed over the second pick, Alexis. And Alexis was a sought-after pick with several of us, myself included. She was my top choice. Thanks, Alison. I get to go at least one step further. But congrats on finishing in 6th place on your first go-round.
The other major winner of the week was Megan, with her #5 pick Erik. He won immunity again, and he may very well win out. Having the game shortened with James going out eliminates one more opportunity for the girls to get Erik out. He is in a pretty good position. He could even be a swing vote this next time, seeing as there are only five left.
Speaking of the final five, major props to the Wood family. Eric (Natalie) and Megan (Erik) have made the final 5. It seems unlikely that at least one of them won't make it to the final tribal council. Way to go. You are the top couple.

So, here is how I see things. I will rank the most likely to win at this point:
5. Parvati. It is not that I think she hasn't played well. She has been fine. I just don't see her having any jury votes. Eliza, Ozzy, and James are all ticked at her. Not much love with Jason or Alexis. I don't see who votes for her unless Amanda ends up on the jury (without being betrayed by Parv).
4. Natalie. The only reason I put her above Parvati is that there is one jury vote for Nat right now in Alexis. You know that Jason is not voting for her unless he has a MAJOR change of heart. I can't see who else would vote for her. Sorry, Eric, but I am going to stand by saying that neither Parv or Nat can win. But congrats to Daren and Eric. Daren picked Parv with the final 18th pick. Eric picked Natalie with pick #16. To make it this far is a big accomplishment. Congrats.
3. Cirie. I think it will be tough for Cirie to win this one. If she can go up against Parvati and Natalie, she may pull it off. Otherwise she will have a major uphill battle.
2. Erik. He probably needs to win out to make it, but he could end up with votes from just about everyone as long as he doesn't go up against Amanda. He has a great chance right now, but he has to find a way to get Amanda out.
1. Amanda. She has the inside track now. I don't even think another awful performance at final tribal could keep her from winning if she makes it to the end. Did you see the jury celebrate when she pulled with old "I'm rubber and you're glue, the votes bounce off of me and stick to you" move on Alexis. Amanda has Ozzy and James for sure. She also has a decent chance with Jason and Eliza. If Amanda can avoid getting voted out in the next two tribal councils, she will win.

So, are we finally done with the hidden immunity idol? I hope so. That said, though, the last three tribal councils have ruled!