@JudgeReinhold:disqus My meta perspective tells me that Brenda certainly  won't flip. They didn't even give her a confessional on a week where she won immunity. She will do nothing that momentous all season.

Built-in how? I'm not following.

You might be right, @JudgeReinhold:disqus . It could be a repeat of Malcolm's wounded indignation when his attempt to backstab Denise failed last season. I doubt he considers himself that down for the count yet though. That would be the kind of move that a guy who was sure he was going home would pull, and he still…

I don't know. The best big moves are simply taking advantage of the situation. Purely engineered moves are much weaker.

I agree that he is probably having second thoughts about Andrea, but if that was the case, why would he go with the second chump to pour out his heart to Dawn.

Yeah, I was hoping for Malcolm to be right too, just because it would have been a huge upset. It's pretty hard to get respect Andrea after she let Eddie get to her.

What's funny about this episode is that Malcolm made a crafty move that was either meaningless or damaging to him, depending on how things shape up next week. Andrea made a dumb, panicky move that was victorious due to the stupidity of the Specialist.

I've been criticizing him all season, but I do like having him on the show. I really would have loved for him to pull an actual big move in this episode and not the hilarious, but ultimately terrible move he did make.

I was a highly entertaining move, but not masterful. Masterful would have been telling Reynold to put it back in his pocket. Malcolm's move outed his whole game plan to a bigger alliance, it put a potential wedge between him and Reynold, and it accomplished nothing to his benefit.

@seants:disqus Don't forget that Malcolm can never tell Eddie and Reynold he has an idol now. That severely limits his strategic options.

@avclub-c51f9e0913ad03d359dd2d313d6ea82d:disqus On top of that, it might create tension between Reynold and Malcolm. Malcolm had Reynold waste hid idol on him. Granted he was going to waste it anyway, but resentment isn't always rational,

@avclub-9b972ab65a176d0a3aabf71ea0c01ffc:disqus I've been assuming that the Fire and Ice name was referring to the dragons and white walkers.

I don't recall that. Remember that he told her he was flipping and tried to get her to come along, and she kept his flip a secret the tribe. I think she was more upset at herself for not making a big move or sticking with the one real ally she had in the game.

@avclub-a9ba553828f4a0900f6d53a825651453:disqus And there is nothing skeevy about Malcolm, who brags about his skills at lying to women to the camera.

It really seems like a terrible move by Malcolm. He has to know Dawn sold him out last week, so to go to her again is desperate and sad.

I think it might have helped that Corrine was one of their own. She was seen as the traitor. It's what is going to hurt Malcolm too,

Sorry @avclub-a1967e6de4ca99fb2635d94b99453928:disqus , but that isn't what happened last season. He had a tight alliance with Denise, but he was scared of taking her to the jury, so he jumped ship. On top of that, he was never voted out for being a challenge threat. He was in the final challenge of the whole season.…

Thinking this through from Malcolm's side some more, I can see why he just assumed they had Erik's vote. Malcolm though everyone was unanimously going after Sherri. His alliance wasn't actually making a big move. Nobody cared that Sherri was leaving until Corrine decided to tell Dawn about her super-secret alliance…

You aren't giving Corrine enough credit here. It was a double play of stupidity. She already had all the votes lined up for Sherri when she decided to woo Dawn to her side when Dawn was already voting the way she wanted. That made even less sense than reflexively nixing a plan.

@avclub-f56766ef62b1d6867e6ace4bfc82c82e:disqus Whether the crush is real or not, it is pretty clear that Andrea will be brains of the operation. She had too good a position in her alliance to jump ship. It is more likely to further unravel Malcolm's plans than anything else.