Survivor: Fiji -- Episode 5

Even though Moto continues to dominate challenges -- and Ravu finds innovative ways to lose -- the tribes may be more similar than they might appear. All the men of Survivor: Fiji have one thing in common: they can't stand the women.

The episode started with another lopsided Reward Challenge, in which Moto demolished Ravu. Members of each tribe faced off in sumo-style matches, using a padded bolster to push their opponents out of the ring.

Everyone matched up with an opponent of the same gender for the first six matches. Yao Man and Stacy were the last competitors for their teams and had to face off against each other. It was the only match that Ravu won, and Yao Man received tepid applause from his teammates.

Moto claimed the spoils of victory: more fishing gear, a pot full of potatoes, a basket of toiletries, and a tray of equipment for brewing coffee. They also sent Earl to Exile Island.

It was back at camp that the first real social rifts in Moto were exposed. Dreamz didn't know how to use a French press to make coffee, and because he wasn't a part of her alliance, Stacy wouldn't tell him. She and Lisi almost went out of their way to be rude to Dreamz. (They didn't show Cassandra how to use the press, either, so she was also stuck sipping coffee grounds.)

Alex pulled Stacy aside and tried to explain why it was in the alliance's best interests to keep outcasts Dreamz and Cassandra happy. Assuming that the teams are to merge when there are ten survivors left, if Moto won every challenge until then, the balance of power would be 7-3.

If Dreamz and Cassandra defect -- or as Alex put it, "deflect" -- to Ravu, the teams would be tied at 5-5. Moto would lose the advantage it had worked so hard to earn from its run of challenge victories.

Stacy was not convinced by Alex's logic, and she planned to continue being rude to Dreamz and Cassandra. So did Lisi. So did Boo.

Alex sat on a hill screaming, "Kill me! Kill me! God, kill me now!" after his words failed to sink in with his foolish alliance members. Only Edgardo agreed with Alex, but stupidity still ruled the alliance, 3-2.

The men of Ravu were similarly suffering at their camp. Anthony, Mookie, Rocky, and Yao Man could only pretend to sleep as Rita and Michelle discussed in detail the intricacies of their makeup routines.

Rita also said that, despite what some people thought, she was actually a very low-maintenance kind of girl -- a lie born of willful ignorance. Women, if people think you are high-maintenance, it's because you are. Sorry.

The girl talk was bad enough that Rocky pulled Anthony aside so that they could bond by complaining about Rita, even though days before Rocky had been trying to vote Anthony out of the tribe.

When the teams met for the Immunity Challenge, it seemed like the playing field had finally been leveled. The tribes played a good, old-fashioned game of Memory.

One at a time, a member of each team flipped over a card attached to an easel and searched for its match among a couple dozen other easels. All of the competitors could see the cards as they were flipped, but were not allowed to offer help to the players on the field.

Yao Man made an early mistake when he forgot the location of a card he'd seen less than a minute before. Later, the teams were tied,when Rocky's turn came up for the winning point. Everyone offered him suggestions on which cards to flip, and Rocky's exhausted, malnourished brain simply couldn't process all of the information.

He walked out onto the field, flipped over one card, and realized he had no idea what to do next, even though the matching card had recently been shown. Rocky ended his turn without a match. Cassandra went next and quickly handed Moto yet another victory.

Rocky took the blame for the loss when Ravu got back to camp, but his team only briefly considered eliminating him. The girls still wanted to get rid of Anthony, and Rocky was done listening to Rita.

At Tribal Council, the men of Ravu decided that Rita was way more annoying than Anthony, and Rita was eliminated.

Survivor takes a brief hiatus next week due to the NCAA basketball tournament. It will return with a new episode on Wednesday, March 21. That episode promises a twist -- which, according to the previews, looks like a chance for the Survivors to switch teams.

If Alex is really as smart as he seems to be, as soon as Dreamz and Cassandra start walking toward the Ravu tribe (which you know they will), he should follow right along.

If Alex stays with his Coalition of the Stupid, he's doomed. But if he "deflects" to Ravu, he might have a chance. A foursome of Alex, Cassandra, Anthony, and Earl could make it very far in the game.

We'll see what happens. This episode, with its coffee incident and Alex's inability to sway his teammates, could wind up being the pivotal 60 minutes of the season.