At some point, reality tv shows feature a contestant's close family member or friend. But Survivor makes the experience most enjoyable as the love ones get to compete in a challenge and if lucky, join in the reward. Twenty plus days in the island and some castaways suddenly realize how much they miss the most important people in their lives.

But thats getting ahead of the episode. You think Arnold's reaction to John's exit in the previous episode was priceless? After learning his teammate was "playing both sides of the field" he was shocked. Personally, I was like, "Well, there goes the bromance."

It was entertaining to see Arnold having a "man talk" with Gino and Casey (KC). Gino felt he had to debrief Arnold on why John was dethroned in the "three kings" alliance. KC was spot on when he observed that Gino is "running the show". Well, John's scrambling and presenting of Venn diagrams only proved he can jump to any alliance much to the dismay of Arnold.

I thought Betong was cool when asked about the blindside. He and Maey genuinely get along with people which is why they have been successful up to this point.

Some viewers may have cringed not only when Mara and Stef had their regular "heart to heart" talk but when they were consoling each other with a hug. I think I overheard one viewer saying "Did I miss seeing the knife each one was holding while they were patting the others back?"

Anyways, John may not have saw it coming but most of the castaways felt he deserved being voted out. If its any consolation, Arthur and Chuckie did welcome him with open arms and a decent meal. Sure they weren't chefs in a five star hotel, but whatever was cooked would look like fine dinning when you've been eating buko rice and crabs for weeks.

Finally, the heart touching segment of the episode: the castaways' love ones visit the island. What made it more special is that the love ones will get to stay in camp and compete in more than one challenge.

It was nice to see that most of the CA's had a family member. Well, Arnie did get to introduce Chris, another member of the Philippine Volcanoes. I'm not sure if this guy Chris was part of the rugby team who posed for the Bench billboards. The Montero brothers (KC and Troy) in matching T-shirts. Betong making a light moment when comparing her sister Ana to Maey. Mara's dad brought his "old school" surfboard(a project they both started). Hopefully we finally get to see a castaway enjoying the waves.

The reward challenge will actually start in the next episode. Big buckets and a huge pool of mud are involved. Not sure, but did I miss the part on what the reward was supposed to be? Though having your love one at least for one night in this competition is priceless.

Until the next post, hugs are free so give as many to those who matter most. :)