Survivor China - Todd Wins !

My pick (from day 1) proved to be the ultimate puppet master this season and I am very happy to say that Todd, our sneaky Mormon gay flight attendant won the China edition of Survivor and is now a million dollars richer. Congratulations Todd, you played a great game and even better truly understood the game.

The big finale had all the elements of the last round. The final reward challenge was narrowly won by Amanda (in all her pixelated glory) who decided to share her beer, pizza and brownies with Todd, going back to the very first day when the 2 decided to make an alliance and go all the way. There was lots of chat about getting rid of Todd again (an ongoing theme for the past several weeks) but as predicted, when push came to shove, it's better to take some one to the final vote with the jury that you think you can beat as opposed to someone who might beat you.

Before getting to the final Immunity Challenge, we had the usual " Walk of Shame" where all of the eliminated contestants are honored. It's not always the most thrilling part of the series but always fun to hear what kind of comments are said about those who have already left the game. The locales and visuals this year where just stunning, and I really loved the giant statue of Chinese good fortune.

At the Immunity Challenge, things were a tad bit different this year. It's usually some kind of endurance challenge of some sort, and this year is was endurance and balancing dishes. Todd was out first, followed by Courtney and ultimately won by Amanda who refused to swing a deal with Denise. I think that Denise should have known at this time that she wasn't going to be in the final 3. Courtney got in one of her bitchiest comments before the last Tribal Council, saying that it wasn't like welfare and that it's too bad if your life sucks..... I have to give the girl props for that and she had me in shock and awe and snickering every so much.

No surprise, Denise is eliminated as she was a huge threat if she went to the final 3. Much easier to vote for our Lunch Lady than any of the other survivors and they were smart to get rid of her. Then it's time for our Q&A with the jury and after a barrage of questions, Todd has explained himself well and his game tactics and it's very clear that yes, he has been a puppet master from the very beginning. I have been saying it for weeks and although the vote is close, Todd ultimately wins. Amanda only gets one vote and Courtney gets two and Denise is still fuming.

The Reunion show was great, Jeff tried to get lots of dirt on what is happening with the players. Poor Denise is still having a rough time, and after the public vote gives James $100,000, Mark Burnett feels guilty and gives Denise $50,000 which is generous if not a bit manipulated. Jeff putting Erik on the spot to find out if he was still a virgin was a bit over the top, but the icing on the cake was pointing out that Jean-Robert was completely out played by Todd, who manipulated him to the very end and left with the big prize. That was a great season of Survivor,and now I can hardly wait for the next one, Fans vs Fan Favorites. Here's hoping we get to see more Ozzie and Yau Man !

Survivor China - The Final 4

The editors had me going again last night with the latest episode of Survivor. Lots of talk about getting rid of Todd, and the all important final regular episode before we get down to the big finale on Sunday.

The reward challenge was really cool, and our Lunch Lady Denise took Courtney and Todd with her to see the Great Wall and have a nice overnight stay. The visuals were stunning, and there was some interesting time back at camp where PG was working on Amanda like a demon. There was lots of talk about how dangerous Todd is .. and how many people don't like him.

The little puppet master was hard at work last night, and after losing out early in the Immunity Challenge (and a small panic attack for me), he pulled out an Ace at council, and reminded the other players about how important it is to have someone you think you can beat in the final 2. After all, who wants a so called great player who might take it away from you? Well played once again as PG is ousted, and leaving Todd with a huge grin on his face. He isn't making friends... and I hope to see him at the end and winning, after all I don't think anyone else has played as well as he has. We'll have to see what the jury thinks of how he played.

Survivor China - Oscar Winning Performance

After all of the drama of last week and James being finally ousted, the remaining contestants are all on edge. Anyone can be voted out at this point and it's hard to know who is friend or foe.

PG and Erik are still low on the totem pole and know that they need to perform and hopefully win immunity to continue on. The alliance against them seems strong yet they are both hoping to find some crack to exploit.

The reward challenge comes along, and all of our remaining contestants are paired up with a family member to navigate and obstacle maze blindfolded. The special guests should be grateful it wasn't one of those gross food challenges that they have done i the past. At our reunion sequence Todd meets up with his sister, and gets some bad news that his other sister had a miscarriage. This sets of alarm bells with several of the other players as they think it's another ploy for sympathy a la Johnny Fairplay (the ass that said his grandmother died).

The challenge is won by Denise and her husband, and they get to go off on a yacht for a nice meal and some quality time. Denise can choose 2 others to join her, so she takes Todd and Amanda.

PG is completely miffed by all this as she had taken Denise off to the great Temple reward and feels she deserves it. No one really cares what PG thinks, as the other players are real sick of her and want her out as soon as possible. Erik thinks Todd's news is fake, and Courtney does a great mocking imitation of Todd getting the news and describes it as an Oscar Winning performance. The editors are having lots of fun this week putting the spotlight on Todd and I am suddenly concerned that my favorite puppet master will be snuffed out.

The winners gorge on food and have a complete freak out over a chocolate cake, and when they return to camp they even come back with cake all over their hands to share with the other players.... leading to some very unsettling images of cake icing being licked off of hands that you don't know where they have been.... yup this is Survivor at it's finest.

At the Immunity Challenge, our players have to navigate another course through mud and water, attached to a rope which makes them go up, over and under several obstacles where they have to choose a key, go back, open a box and then continue the process until they have 3 locks open. That's a lot of back and forth, and this challenge takes a lot of endurance. If you make a wrong choice you have to go back and try again and the challenge is quickly being led by Todd and PG. Todd makes a wrong choice and PG wins Immunity, much to the chagrin of everyone around her. She is even more insufferable than before.

I am getting even more worried at this point, the editors have been going back and forth with people talking about taking out Todd and Denise is now suddenly a swing vote, being tempted with the idea of being in the final 3 instead of the final 4 and I am really hoping that my favorite player ( I have stated this from day 1) is still going to be in the game.

Finally at Tribal Council Erik is eliminated, leaving Todd the last guy standing and here's hoping the little puppet master makes it to the finale.

Survivor China - James Digs his Own Grave

This season of Survivor has been great, a good combination of characters and the game is getting pretty interesting.

Last night's episode was astounding. Picking up from the last episode (those 2 long weeks ago), our remaining survivors have another reward challenge at Tribal Council. It's all about China, and no surprise that PG wins (cultural advantage) and she selects Denise and Erik to go off with her to the very cool Shaolin Temple, home of Kung Fu and a rare opportunity.

Our gang of 3 enjoy a private Jet, some champagne and get to the Temple where they are treated to a spectacular show, we learn that our Lunch Lady Denise is into Karate (whoa!) and they have a great time. Meanwhile back at camp Amanda is wanting to stir things up, and hatches a plan to take out James (although Todd has been saying this for weeks and I still think that he is the true Puppet Master) and they decide to blindside James. It all depends on who gets Immunity and if they can make James think he is safe so he doesn't use one of his two Immunity Idols.

Erik wins Immunity, and it appears that PG is the target.... which suits our sneaky gang and they play along, convincing James that PG is next to go and they all pray to their dark gods that he won't use the Immunity Idol. The gods smile on them, James is taken out (and now there are no more Immunity Idols) and the reaction from the Jury was hilarious.... now I can hardly wait until next week to see how much more devious and deceptive our remaining 6 will be.... I still have high hopes for my fave Todd and hope he can weasel his way into the finale...

Survivor China

This whole episode was actually pretty dull, the merge, dinner, stupid challenge and then the drama over whether or not Jaime had found the immunity idol.... I can understand not being sure, but Jaime actually had the chance to look at the 2 of them that James has in his bag and didn't even take a good look (or try to substitute a fake for a real one) so the bad play came from her.

While I do have to applaud Jaime for trying, she was always at least 2 steps behind the other players the whole episode and got snuffed... nice try.... hopefully next week the knives will be out and we can see who the real power players are.

Survivor China

After last week's episode I could hardly wait to see how things were going to play out this week.. would the Zan Hu team throw another challenge to get James out or were there other options?

Enter our sneaky Todd.... who manipulates the game to get the hidden Immunity Idol for James and then all hell breaks loose...

Things don't play out quite as expected, but James is saved after the requisite gross food challenge (baby turtles?? yeesh) and Sherea ends up hitting the road... yup the game is still interesting and now I wonder if Todd has screwed himself by letting James have not one, but possible 2 Immunity Idols....

Survivor China

Another week and more fun and games on Survivor.
This week we had one of the twists, where each team got to choose 2 players from the other team, and one team realized that they would probably lose 2 players where as the other didn't even clue in... makes you wonder if any of the players have even watched the show before.

Our sneaky team (Zhan Hu) decides it's a good idea to throw the challenge so they can eliminate the competition as it is all a numbers game to them and I am pretty impressed with their strategy. It's actually quite funny to watch them not try to win and then to watch the 2 new members (James and Aaron) freak out about who will be sent home.

Aaron is finally sent home, James is pissed and confused and the game is getting more interesting....

Survivor - China

What a smack down episode, tons of fun in the mud ( I don't think that I have seen that much pixelation on TV in ages), lots of fighting and bitching, and our resident Wrester girl ( implants and all) got the boot.... maybe Ashley should have played better with her team but they seem to be pretty dysfunctional...

On the other team, my favorite player (sneaky Todd) got wind of the hidden immunity idol from fellow player Leslie and his response?
"I can’t believe she told me! I would never tell anybody! What was she thinking?"
This guy knows how to play-- hope he sticks around for awhile.

God I love this show and it's ability to show the inherent nature of people... too funny... and scary !

Survivor - China

So last night was the season premiere of the new season of Survivor, and as usual I am completely hooked. Great cast of characters, stunning location and it took no time before the knives came out and the players were out to get each other. It was a nice change up that it was not on some island in the middle of the tropics, and am really looking forward to seeing more of China and how the game will play out for this round.

Just a few comments on the game so far:
~ pretty tacky that the Christian radio woman wouldn't participate in the welcoming ceremony ( so much for tolerance)
~ great names for the teams, Fighting Tiger (Zhan Hu) & Flying Dragon ( Fei Long)
~ any game that gives you "The Art of War" as a reference book usually means things will get fun
~ being nicknamed for any kind of beast is usually going to get you ousted pretty quick (bye bye Chicken - being snitty will get you no where)
~digging graves gets you in damn hot shape
~ gay mormon flight attendants are pretty devious


I am really looking forward to seeing how the game plays out, but I would have liked to have seen what/how they ate for the first few days with no shelter or water...