My new favorite player?

I wouldn't exactly go that far, but I have to say if Shane leaves Survivor next week, I'll be disappointed.

No doubt that his nicotine deprived skinny ass is annoying. WAY annoying. But the guy really impressed me last night. And I never thought I'd say that. I mean, here's a guy who begged his fellow survivors to send him home on day 3 because he needed a cigarette and has his tribemates swearing loyalty on his son's life (yuck!)

But I can't deny that he's been performing really well in the challenges. He's emerged as one of the strongest players out there.

After his tribe lost the Immunity challenge, Shane told his alliance they needed to vote out Bobby. Even though Bobby was a strong player, Shane felt like he would flip sides once they merged. Pretty intuitive of ole Smokey (my new nickname for Shane) considering that Bobby had just told Bruce that exact same thing in the outhouse the night before (uh...yeah, Bobby and Bruce actually spent the night together in the outhouse after Bobby had stolen the team's only bottle of wine)

But when his alliance wouldn't listen, Shane caved in and made a deal with Bobby, shaking hands on his son's life.

Then... of course, came the switcheroo. Yes! said the girls. You're right. We need to vote out Bobby. He's crude and not a gentleman. Which of course, is the perfect reason to vote out someone in Survivor (What the hell are these girls thinking?!)

So Shane blew a casket. Why didn't you tell me this an hour ago?! I just shook hands with the dude!

Now Shane faces a dilemna. Go with his alliance and his gut and vote out Bobby which would mean breaking his word, or stick to his word and screw up his game plan.

I wondered what ole Smokey would do. Well, the dude surprised me. He voted for Aras. It was a throw away vote because he knew Bobby had enough votes to kick him off. Thus, he kept his word and he still got what he wanted. I was impressed. Apparently Shane's word is his bond and the 3 packs of ciggies a day haven't completely killed all his brain cells.

In the previews for next week, we see the girls plotting to vote out Shane. To this I say, No! Please don't vote him out. He's just too damn entertaining!