‘Survivor: Philippines’ preview: Could Jeff Kent, Jonathan Penner really team up?

Before this season of “Survivor: Philippines,” both we and dozens of other diehard columnists all predicted one thing when it came to the state of the Kalabaw tribe: there was no way that we would even see Jonathan Penner and Jeff Kent actually team up. In the case of one, we have a very liberal and often controlling former player with a big mouth; meanwhile, we also have a legendary baseball player who is not only extremely conservative, but likes to be the ultimate alpha male in every sense of the word.

However, we were all proven wrong Wednesday night when Penner made a huge move and decided that it would be a cool idea to actually align himself with someone who he thinks could be an unexpected ally as well for a shield in this game … and we love it. There really aren’t that many occasions of two strong men working effectively together in this game, and the past time we really saw something like this was with the Four Horsemen in Fiji (unless you count Coach’s fake alliance with Ozzy during “South Pacific”) … and that really did not work out well. Before that, the other strong examples of this came with Tom and Ian in “Palau” or Yul and Ozzy in “Cook Islands.” These two will each approach the game from a different mindset, and this means that they each also have something rather important to offer each other. Plus, Penner also has a hidden immunity idol that Jeff knows about.

But is this alliance really going to be tested anytime soon? That’s what we are a little bit doubtful about, mostly because the Matsing tribe continues to live up to Malcolm’s coined nickname of then as the “goon squad.” They are down to just three members, and if they lose the next immunity challenge, it will mean that Russell Swan is likely out and they are down to two.

Do you think that a Jeff / Jonathan alliance would be fun to watch, or is Jeff’s pride and his four-finger handshakes going to hold him back in some way?