For the first time ever, we have had an external party influencing a player. Although the survivors all exist in a closed system, disconnected from the outside world, Phillip the introspective meditator somehow connected to his grandfather, who advised him to stick loyally to Rob. So that should mean he is no longer lying in wait to eliminate Rob from the game, and will instead become his staunchest ally. King Rob has Lord Phillip as his right-hand man, and also Lady Natalie to take to the final three if all goes well.
At this point, Murlonio experienced rice politics. The distinction between the former tribes increased when the three outsiders decided they might as well feast, and ate loads of rice. Phillip became the rice police and decided to appropriate some of the rice for his side. Later on, when the maggots were found and Steve did not want to help to provide storage, he and Phillip had an argument and he called Phillip "crazy".
Now, Phillip had the sort of literary knowledge and life experience to consider the word "crazy" to be synonymous with "n***", and naturally took offence. However, I would give Steve the benefit of the doubt and interpret that he used the description "crazy" literally, nothing worse than that. He meant that Phillip was behaving in a rather bizarre manner. His attire alone, consisting of a feather and pink underwear, would suggest Steve had a point. And would Steve have been aware of the obscure context in which "crazy = n***"?
After Julie cynically buried Phillip's shorts, he decided to wear his trademark feather and pink underwear to tribal council. Julie confessed to the crime, and was voted out with six votes to Phillip's three. The choice of which of Ralph, Steve, and Julie to vote out was not completely arbitrary. Most probably Rob had identified Julie as the one to eliminate next - with too many females around, it might have been a little risky to keep her there. I suppose this was a higher priority than granting Phillip a chance to get his shorts back.
Now with the Stealth R Us alliance of six against the two feeble opponents Steve and Ralph, it is easy to see these two outsiders being removed and the game reverting to the situation just before the merge. That may not be so straightforward because someone will return from Redemption Island - maybe even two people for all they know. And Rob still needs to get rid of Ashley, Andrea, and Grant at some stage. It might be useful to keep both Steve and Phillip around, as one can imagine them continuing to be hostile to each other and never conspiring together. Perhaps if Ralph were to go next, and then Ashley or Andrea, that might be almost enough for Rob's game-plan to work.
