Survivor: Ground Control to Major Dan. . .

Well, let's all shed a tear for Astronaut Dan and the poor boys' club that was so cruelly forced to boot him out of the game before his time.

Snoooore.

Heaping serving of male sentimentality aside, the whole thing came off more like a corporate downsizing than a Survivor vote-out. I'm surprised Terry didn't arrange to have a HR rep at Tribal Council to give non-answers to pertinent questions about the decision, remind everyone of the S.O.P. for unexpected exiling, and give Dan an empty cardboard box for the personal items in his cubicle. After all, he did describe booting his friend as "a managerial decision." Bleech. Is Terry a robot? Is Dan? Why didn't he at least try to convince Terry and The Tall Dude Who Gets No Screen Time to vote out Austin, instead of weakly hoping for that meaningless "2-2" vote? Or at least act a tiny bit peeved when they kept describing him as the weakest member of the alliance? Or something? And finally, why did he keep his history as an astronaut secret at first, then tell everyone about it after a few weeks? Strange.

Anyway, I totally called the faux military "salute to the fallen" the Boy Scouts shared as Dan left Tribal Council. Just ask Tom. That move was as predictable as Casaya sending Sally to the safety of Exile Island after pulling out another improbable challenge victory. Which is exactly what I was hoping would happen. What a great twist! I like Sally and was glad to see Terry's alliance take a direct hit. But mainly I just want all the Casaya lunatics stay in the game for as long as possible. Not that I ever believed Danielle and Courtney would keep it together long enough to actually vote out Shane, but still--that guy is shaping up to be one of the greatest nutjobs in the history of the show, so let's hope he sticks around for the entertainment factor alone. Unfortunately I think Aras has figured out that it won't be safe to take unstable Shane into the merge, and since Aras likes to play leader, I can see him engineering Shane's ouster. Unless, of course, he swore on Shane's kid not to vote against Shane.

Man, that poor kid. Enough said.

So, overall it was a good episode. Too bad we have to wait three weeks to find out what happens next. With only three of the ten remaining players in a solid alliance, things are getting interesting. I have no idea who will get voted out next. Unless there's no merge and La Mina loses again, in which case Sally is doomed. But until then, basketball, I guess.