Survivor: China: December 2007 Archives

After the five minute season recap, the Survivor season finale was off and running. It was night 36 and the final four were returning to camp after the last tribal council. Denise, Todd, Courtney, and Amanda were so happy they took off their clothes and danced around the campfire. Not really! They all hugged each other and talked about how far they'd come.

They received treemail the next morning and guess what it was about. There would be a reward challenge for food! The challenge itself involved them tackling Survivor's version of the Great Wall of China. They had to cross and build a bridge before carrying building blocks back to the start line where they would "reconstruct" a section of the wall. The first one finished would win a meal for one containing pizza, beer, soft drinks, and brownies.

The race was between Todd and Amanda the whole time. Denise and Courtney were both playing catch-up from the very beginning because they had a hard time building their bridge. Todd and Amanda breezed right through that and began working on their building blocks way ahead of them. In the end though, Amanda was the winner. Jeff told her she could keep it a serving of one or she could share the meal with either one or two people. It was a hard decision for her but she chose to share the meal with Todd because she said she wanted to "pick his brain".

During their meal, Amanda told Todd outright that she didn't trust him. He was shocked and said that he's been honest with her since day one and wants him and her in the final two. Back at camp, Courtney asked Denise who she wants to vote out next and Denise quickly said Todd. Courtney responded back that indeed he was a "slippery little sucker".

Todd was paranoid of the "girl power" when he returned back to camp and decided to chat up Denise. While he was telling Denise he felt that either Amanda or Courtney would win, Courtney was trying her best to listen in on their conversation. She went off to tell Amanda what she'd overheard and while doing that, Todd came up on them and stopped their conversation. He told them he felt paranoid and asked the two if Denise would be the next one going and they both said yes.

The next day brought a new treemail that told them they'd be honoring the memories of their former tribemates on the way to their final immunity challenge. Yes, I know. I hate this cheesy part too. This season, because they're in China after all, they lit a string of fireworks in honor of each person before arriving before Jeff at the steps of some huge statue for their final challenge. This final immunity challenge involved balancing porcelain dishes on the end of a long and wobbly balancing arm. If the dishes fell, you were out. Last person left balancing their dishes wins immunity.

They started off with a big plate and then a large bowl before stacking on other assorted cups, bowls, and plates. 27 minutes into it and Todd began shaking a bit. After adding another small bowl, he began tilting his dishes too much and down they fell. Todd was out. Next up was another rice bowl and Amanda decided to add hers upside down while Courtney and Denise added theirs right side up. Courtney's arm began wobbling after that and lost it. Courtney was out. It was down to Amanda and Denise.

Denise asked if Amanda wanted to make a deal but Amanda told her that she doesn't want to give up yet. After another rice bowl (upside down for her again), she told Denise that she didn't want to deal and that she wanted them to fight it out. Right after that, Denise's stack lost its balance and her dishes came crashing to the ground. Amanda wins the final immunity and is guaranteed a spot in the final three.

Back at camp, Denise began her talk of how she only makes $7.00 an hour back at home and how she has kids and how they have more opportunities in their lives than she does and blah blah blah. I can't stand it when survivors pull this strategy out of their hats. Todd and Courtney told Amanda that they're voting for Denise to go and that Amanda can vote any way that she wants. Denise had already said she was voting for Todd so if Amanda voted for Todd she would still have a shot in the tie vote.

At tribal council, Denise gave one of the stupidest answers ever in response to a Jeff question of why they shouldn't let her go to the final three. She said because she has kids the jury would be sympathetic towards her. She didn't say that she played a good game. She didn't say that she made the right alliances. She pulled the kid card yet again. Blech. Then when Denise mentioned that Amanda "had her back", Amanda stopped her and said she didn't mean today. That blurt caused Todd to mouth the word "burn" and made Amanda look even worse than she'd just made herself to be.

After tallying the votes, it was indeed Denise going home. The tribe has spoken. The power was now in the jury's hands and all they could do is try to persuade the jury to vote for them during questioning the next day. Back at camp, Amanda was upset at Todd because she said that he made her look bad in front of the jury and was mad at him for his comment. She was so upset she didn't even feel like celebrating being in the final three and told Courtney and Todd to celebrate by themselves.

On day 39, they awoke to find breakfast items in place of the usual treemail. Ah yes, another Amanda blurred ass shot. I would have shed a tear if I hadn't seen that one last time. They eat breakfast, burn some trash, and then row away to experience jury questioning at their final tribal council.

We've witnessed final tribal council a million times so there's no need for me to cover everything because it happened the same way it always does. Each of them got the chance to say their final words to the council. Amanda said she aligned herself with the right people and won challenges when she needed to, Todd felt that he lied and backstabbed in his game relationships but his personal relationships with everybody were real, and Courtney said she thought she did good figuring the game out as she went along and was proud of herself for making it to the final three.

The jury questioning, for the most part, was the same old same old too. They asked the typical who lied about what and who lied to who sort of questions. They were all rather nice about it except for Jaime. She came across as quite the bitch during her dirty laundry line of questioning. The tone of her voice, the looks she gave them, and her interrupting them reminded me a child who was kicked off the playground after one ride on the slide. That's right! She was the first person on the jury remember? Denise was the only one that didn't have questions for them -- she decided instead to just make a simple statement to them and then left it at that.

It was finally time for them to vote and the only votes we saw were Jaime voting for Todd to win, Erik voting for Amanda to win, and Denise voting for Courtney to win. Now it's time for the cheesy transition to the live show. Oh my goodness! There was no cheesy transition!

They all looked so different but especially Courtney. She had on tons of makeup, had put on a few pounds, and had her hair dyed a platinum blonde. She was looking quite the Debbie Harry. (If you don't know who that is then the Google is for you.) Amanda looked really weird with makeup on (I think she's prettier without it) and Todd looked like, well like Todd.

It was finally the time they and we'd been waiting for: Jeff's tallying of the votes. The first vote to win went to Courtney, the second to Amanda, and the third to Todd. All tied up! The fourth vote went to Courtney and the fifth vote went to Todd. The sixth vote went to Todd. Sorry Amanda, you're out of it. The seventh and final vote went to Todd! Todd wins Survivor China!

He was so shocked at first and it seemed to take a second for it to sink in. When it did sink in, he ran to his family out in the audience giving them big hugs and kisses.

What can you say? I felt Todd deserved it. Would you have rather seen Courtney or Amanda win? What did you think about this finale episode? What do you think about next season with the superfans vs show favorites theme? I'm not quite sold on that idea just yet.

Until next season everybody! Take care of yourselves.

Ni hao! This week's episode of Survivor was one wonderfully classic fake-out on the part of the producers. Thanks Mark!

The show opened with the remaining castaways returning to their Hae Da Fung camp on night 33 and discussing Erik's ouster. Denise felt she played it safe by voting out Erik. I guess time will tell on that one.

The next day, Peih-Gee proclaimed her unpopularity right before getting the treemail hinting at the reward challenge involving popularity. At the reward challenge, each person was given five arrows to shoot at a board with their names on it. The person who had the most arrows in their name at the end of it all would win reward. But there's a twist -- each person would have to give their five arrows to the other four players. They could split them up any way they wanted to and Peih-Gee wound up on the short end of the stick by receiving only one arrow to shoot. Ouch! Todd received six arrows, Denise received two arrows, Courtney received twelve arrows, and Amanda received four arrows. Clearly, nobody wanted Peih-Gee or Denise to win by giving them so few chances.

However, it wasn't all bad for Denise. Even though Todd was a great shot and landed five of his six arrows on his own name, it wasn't enough. Courtney was just too bad of an aim and her arrows kept landing on Denise's name. Combined with Amanda's hits on Denise's name, Denise wound up winning reward. Yay!

Jeff told her she could bring one person with her to the Great Wall of China where they would eat a huge meal and spend the night right there on the wall. She immediately picked Courtney. Then Jeff told her she could pick one more. Even though Peih-Gee was begging Denise to pick her, Denise decided to pick Todd. Let's just say that Peih-Gee was slightly disappointed.

Back at camp, Amanda and Peih-Gee had a chance to talk and mend fences. Amanda was feeling down about being left out and asked Peih-Gee why she dislikes her so much. Peih-Gee said she didn't and apologized if she had treated her wrong in the past. Then they cooked together, schemed together, and even had some late night girl talk. Amanda told Peih-Gee everything that had gone on with the others when Peih-Gee asked her if she would be up for swinging the vote. Amanda said she was definitely up for it.

Meanwhile, Denise and the others are taking everything in at The Great Wall of China. The scene was truly breathtaking. It looked so gorgeous there. During dinner, they were confused about the food being served because it was all raw. After receiving some iced coffee, Todd brought up the possibility of voting out Amanda if Peih-Gee won immunity again. Perhaps somebody will be making a huge move at tribal council.

The next day, they returned back to an empty camp. Todd began getting a little paranoid before they spied Peih-Gee and Amanda on their way back. They began telling all about their reward, including the confusion concerning the food. Amanda thought it was really ungrateful that Todd and Courtney could find things to complain about on such a reward. When Denise told Amanda that Todd ate all of the leftover sandwiches on the plane, Amanda really didn't appreciate it. She told Denise she had some ideas and they'd have to talk later.

The treemail they received the next day (day 36) was an interesting one: "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, this time it means much more. A second chance to prove yourself, may get you to the final four." Todd knew immediately that it would be a repeat of previous challenges but Amanda said she didn't trust a word Todd had to say.

The immunity challenge was indeed a revisit of four of their previous challenges. Each challenge was a round and at the end of each round, the person ranked lowest would be eliminated. The first round was the Chinese stars challenge and Todd performed horribly and was eliminated. The second round was the eating of balut and Denise gave up and eliminated herself. In the third round, they had to bounce a ball on a drum through a mini obstacle course. Amanda's blurred butt (and it was blurred so many times in this episode) won the challenge while Courtney was eliminated. It was down to Amanda and Peih-Gee now. In the final round, they had to use their sword to chop through rope to release their discs to solve the puzzle. Amanda was in the lead the whole time and, even though she had some problem with the puzzle towards the end, won the round and won immunity.

Back at camp, Peih-Gee was disappointed in herself because she knew she was on the chopping block. Her only hope was Amanda. Amanda and Denise discussed voting out Todd but Denise felt she had a better chance at winning if Todd stayed. Amanda told Peih-Gee she liked her so much now and doesn't want to vote her out. Peih-Gee was hoping they would vote out Todd while Todd was getting paranoid about getting blindsided by the women.

And so it was, on night 36, the tribal council to determine the final four. Denise told Jeff she had to pick Courtney to go on the reward challenge (because it was her that caused Denise to win it), Courtney complained that the food on the wall was confusing, and Peih-Gee expressed her frustration on not going while maintaining she was a positive person in camp (the jury snickered at this). Amanda said that her bonding time with Peih-Gee made her see her in a different perspective. Did you see Courtney's eye-rolling while Peih-Gee was saying that honesty was better than backstabbing and lying in the game? I think I would have rolled my eyes on that too.

It was time to vote and then time for Jeffypoo to tally them votes! The 1st vote was for Peih-Gee. The 2nd vote was for Todd. The 3rd vote was for Peih-Gee. The 4th vote was for Peih-Gee. Poor Peih-Gee has been voted out. Damn you Mark Burnett! I fell for your trickery once again!

In her closing words, Peih-Gee said that she played to her utmost ability. She pushed herself physically, mentally, and strategically but that ultimately everybody was afraid to go against her in the final three. And even though she won't be a millionaire, she still feels richer than she did before. All in all, they weren't bad words but I wonder how she will vote for the winner.

They have three days left in China. Make sure you catch the two-hour finale on Sunday night at 8:00 PM ET and the reunion show immediately after. I'm excited and can't wait to find out who wins!

What did you think about this episode? Do you think they made a mistake voting out Peih-Gee over Todd? What would you have done? Who of the remaining four do you want to win?

Ni hao! This week's Survivor was full of action and emotion so let's not waste any time and get right to the meat of the matter.

Picking up where last week left off, the survivors arrived back at camp after voting out James. All of them were shocked that the plan to get rid of James actually succeeded. Todd was especially glad the plan worked out because if it hadn't, James would have been one ticked off dude back at camp.

The next day, it was time for a reward challenge. With one person at one end and the other person at the other end, teams of two would have to work themselves through a maze and reunite with each other at the center platform. Did I mention they would also be blindfolded? Erik is teamed up with his mother! Yes, this challenge brings their loved ones into the mix and all of them are thrilled and very emotional when they meet their loved ones. Amanda is joined by her sister, Peih-Gee with her dad, Courtney with her dad, Denise with her husband (she wants his socks), and Todd with one of his sisters.

As Todd's sister ran to him and hugged him, he asked her how their other sister was. She told him quickly that she had miscarried but that she was doing good. Jeffypop overheard and asked Todd about it. They explained that he found out she was pregnant right before he left to be on the show. Let's get back to the challenge though. The reward would be a boat trip out on the lake with a huge meal and a phone call from back home. After some bumping into people and a possible bloody nose given to Courtney's dad by Todd, Denise and her husband found each other at the center platform and win reward. Denise gets to choose two fellow survivors and their family member to go with them on the boat and they picked Todd and his sister and Amanda and her sister leaving the others to say goodbye to their loved ones and head back to camp. After they leave, Jeff told the reward winners that their loved ones will also get to spend a night with them at camp too!

After the boat ride with mucho food and Denise's phone call from her oldest daughter, it's time to get back to camp. While they'd been gone though, Peih-Gee wondered why Denise didn't choose her and the others made fun of Todd's reaction to the news of his sister's miscarriage. They didn't believe the story and thought they had been "Fairplayed" but with a less than convincing Oscar performance. When Amanda and the others arrived back at camp, they had a little surprise for the others -- chocolate. Unfortunately, it had melted in their hands so if the others wanted some chocolate they would have to lick it off of them. And lick they did! It might have been an arousing scene if everybody wasn't so dirty. Later, while Peih-Gee continued to opine over Denise's decision not to choose her, Todd and Amanda were in the river with their sisters. He said he hoped that people didn't think his story was a lie and he and his sister told Amanda that it was indeed the truth.

On day 32, the boat came to take the loved ones away amidst much hugging and crying (Denise has lost sooo much weight!). Denise went over to Peih-Gee and apologized for not picking her and explained that she picked Amanda because she had been feeling faint at tribal council. Peih-Gee didn't really buy it though but said she appreciated her talking with her.

It was a test of physical and mental strength at the immunity challenge. Each of them were attached to a rope and would have to untangle their way through an obstacle course. At the end of the course were boxes with true/false statements about Chinese inventions. They had to choose the statement that was true, take its key, and then have to take that key back across the obstacle course. If they had answered correctly, that key would open one of three locks on a box. If they were wrong, they would have to go back through the course and get the correct key. The first person to unlock all of the locks on their box and raise their flag would win immunity. Survivors, are you ready?

Todd and Amanda quickly took the lead with Peih-Gee hanging out in third place. As we were treated to more butt blurs from Amanda, Denise and Erik were fumbling around somewhere on the course and weren't even a threat. Amanda's key didn't fit her second lock so she had to go back. Todd was trying to open his third lock as Peih-Gee gained a spot and picked up her third key. Unfortunately for Todd, he had the wrong key. As he went back to get the correct key, Peih-Gee opened her third lock and raised her flag. Peih-Gee wins immunity! She was happy but exhausted. Actually, they were all exhausted. It looked like a tough challenge.

The next day, Peih-Gee still couldn't believe she had won immunity again calling it one of the proudest moments in her life while crying. Meanwhile, Denise was being approached from both sides of the camp. Todd tells her he hoped it would be apparent that she would vote out Erik. Peih-Gee wants Denise to make a power play and vote out Todd. Does she want to be fourth place in a team of four or have a shot at the final three?

At tribal council, with a still ticked James on the jury, Denise explained how she hopes she might get a sympathy vote in the end but that she's scared and hoped that this night is the night she can trust people. When Denise voted, she said that she was sorry she had to do this and that it would probably be her biggest mistake in the game. Let's tally those votes Jeff and find out what Denise did. The votes: Erik, Todd, Todd, Erik, Erik, and Erik. Erik is the 11th person voted out of Survivor and the 5th member of the jury. Peih-Gee looked utterly dejected that Denise voted the way she did. I really hope Denise didn't make a mistake and just hand Todd the game.

Next week, Amanda targets Todd but Todd fights back and as alliances crumble, no one is safe. Sounds interesting! In Erik's final words, he said that he wanted to win but that today was his day to go. He said he was mentally and physically exhausted but that he was proud of himself and he really wants to see who of the remaining five would come out on top.

What did you think about this episode? Do you think Denise made a mistake in voting out Erik over Todd? How do you think Peih-Gee must be feeling? That girl's going to have to bust her butt in challenges from here on out!