Editor's Note: Chart the progress of Eastern Michigan University junior Erik Reichenbach on "Survivor Micronesia" each week at the "Reich-O-Meter." Reichenbach is one of nine surviving contestants in the merged Dabu tribe (a mix of "Survivor" fans and favorites). The show airs at 8 p.m. Thursday on CBS.
Dabu means "good" in Micronesian.
Not really. But Erik Reichenbach's "Survivor" teammates are none the wiser.
When the Airai and Malakal tribes merged in the latest episode of "Survivor Micronesia: Fans vs. Favorites," the Eastern Michigan University junior threw out "Dabu" as a possible name for the new merged tribe. His tribe mates ate it up and adopted the name.
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SURVIVOR FEAST: Erik Reichenbach (above, standing
in middle) enjoys some food during a "Survivor"
feast after the Airia and Malakal tribes merged. Erik
proclaimed the new tribe name as "Dabu", which he
told his tribe mates meant "good" in Micronesian. His
tribe mates liked it and adopted it, not knowing Erik
had made it up as a joke. Photo courtesy of CBS.com
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"I pretty much just made it up. I love it that everyone thinks Erik looked up Micronesian. Hell no, I didn't look up Micronesian. I was just wanting to name the tribe something funny," Erik said, addressing the camera in an interview a minute later. "For all I care, it (tribe name) could have been 'mo mo' or 'fo shizzle.'"
Erik had reason to be in good spirits and have a little fun.
He had just survived a tribal council in which the odds were stacked against him.
"How the hell I'm still here today, I have no idea," Erik said after watching Ami Cusack voted out. "I feel like I'm in this house that' keeps falling down and, somehow, I'm like making my way through it as it's breaking apart. This is the first time the favorites have kept a fan and voted out one of their own. It feels insane. This tribal council tonight set a definite precedent of fans vs. favorites in this game. It's kind of like all bets are off in this game. It's like every man for himself at this point."
For the first time since Erik tossed sand on opponents during a reward challenge in an early episode, he unveiled his mischievous side, which is probably the Erik "Survivor" screeners saw on his audition tape and were hoping would translate.
The Dabu christening was a light moment in an episode full of laugh-out-loud moments.
When the morning "tree mail" indicated the two tribes would merge shortly, Erik told Ozzy Lusth, the Survivor player he idolizes, that he would stick with Ozzy and not go back to an alliance with his former tribe mates, the Fans. Ozzy appeared to genuinely appreciate the gesture.
"I'm now aligned with him in some kind of, like, zookeeper bond. I'm the monkey. He's (Ozzy) the zookeeper," Erik said with a laugh. "I owe him my life now."
The monkeys turned out to be Jason Siska and Eliza Orlins.
After defeating everyone — including a stunned Ozzy — in an individual immunity challenge in which contestants had to hold their breath under a metal grate as the ocean tide rose, Jason swaggered about camp as if he'd slain Goliath.
Already armed with the individual immunity necklace, Jason formed an alliance with Eliza and promised to give her the immunity idol he found on Exile Island for protection. Fearing she was next to be voted off, Eliza gladly accepted the gesture.
The only problem was, it was the fake immunity idol Ozzy had planted in an earlier episode. Jason took the bait.
But when he showed it to Eliza, she panicked and said, "This isn't the idol. It's a stick."
Jason responded, "Then, that's a bummer."
And it was.
After Eliza played the fake immunity idol anyway — in a move to out Ozzie as having the real immunity idol — she was sent packing by a 8-2 vote.
There are nine players left and Erik Reichenbach is still one of them.
