ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You and I talked on location right after the opening about how Ozzy seemed like he was in great shape, sitting right in the middle of his tribe after his big one-one battle and fitting right in, while Benjamin — excuse me, “Coach” — was practically ostracized by his group off the bat, sitting off to the side with nobody even talking to him. Is it amazing how 13 days later, Coach — the guy no one seemed to want — now seems to be in a much more secure spot than the person that Savaii was so thrilled to have in Ozzy?

JEFF PROBST: It’s a fantastic turn of events. Both of them came back to improve their social game. One is succeeding. The other isn’t. One thing I have always believed about Coach is that he is earnest. His approach may be full of bravado but it’s sincere. Ozzy has always struggled with authenticity when it comes to his relationships in the game. Savaii is smelling that Ozzy is out for himself but is pretending otherwise. Coach is sticking with his truth — that he wants to play the game with a group of people that he likes. Coach has grown since he last played. He now realizes that you have to meet others “where they are,” not where “you are.” Ozzy can still go all the way because he is such a dominant force, but he needs to “see the light” if he wants to have a shot at winning.

I’m not sure anything will ever gross me out as much as the balut, but damn, this challenge came close. I love the way you guys slapped extra sauce all over the pig to make it even more disgusting and then added a super-gnarly POV spit cam in the basket of gnawed off meat. Where does this one rank for you on the Survivor Food Challenge Digust-o-Meter?

This was originally a complete pig with ears, snout, tail, etc. It was just too much for me when I first saw it, so I asked the guys to make it a little less recognizable. In exchange they loaded it with BBQ sauce to make it nasty.  As for the gross meter, it was up there. I almost lost it a couple of times when they were pulling it out of each other’s teeth. And they really did lose by only 2 ounces. One bite.

You and I have our opinions about the contestants before the game begins and it’s always fun to see which of those opinions prove true and which don’t. Five episodes in, which of the remaining players has not lived up to your expectations in terms of what they would bring to the show, and which person has exceeded them?

I’d have to say that Rick is the biggest disappointment. Sure, he’s in the game and in an alliance but as a “star” on the show, which we really hoped he would be, he has not shown up. That’s just the way it goes.

Oh, the Ozzy fallout looks good next week. Tease us up as to what else we can expect.

That’s not enough? Ozzy fallout is big. His social game is getting worse.