Watching Survivor

Whew! That’s quite a bundle o’stuff to talk about, huh? Here we go!

Denise: Did she, or didn’t she take the money? According to many sources, including the AP, Denise Martin will not be accepting the $50k sympathy prize awarded to her by Mark Burnett during the finale last Sunday. On Tuesday’s CBS Early Show, she sidestepped the question of if she intended to accept the money or not, refusing to give a straight up yes or no question. She did say it was not her intention to be misleading, and apologized, but the big question of the cash remained up in the air. Later that day, however, there was another statement released, in which Denise said ” “I do not feel comfortable about accepting the $50,000. I would instead ask that it be donated to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation,” and asked again that we accept her apology. Good on her for not taking the cash - but it’s a shame she had to be shamed into doing the right thing, shamed into being honest.

Final Four Interviews:
Of course there’s a whole batch of interviews of all the finalists - though Denise had her own scandal to handle through other channels. Here’s the big ones for the final three, though!
Todd: Here, here and here.
Courtney: here and here.
Amanda: here and here.

And of course, the talk has already moved on from China to Micronesia, where it’ll be Fans vs. Faves! The official cast of what has quickly been named the “HalfASS” season won’t be announced until January 3rd, but spoilers all over the net have already pieces together lists of at least the Past Survivors portion of the cast. Also, with the promo being shown on the finale, Screen caps of the Fans have been posted, with information requested - if you DON’T want to know, DON’T click below!

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The Survivor Finale was marked with controversy yesterday when the Superintendent of Denise Martin’s school - and Denise’s boss - sent out a press release saying that Denise’s tale of woe on the finale was an outright lie. Information is still trickling in, of course, and I doubt we’ll ever actually get the whole truth on the intentions behind it. Our favorite Chen-bot moderated a brief interview and confrontation between Denise and Nancy Lane this morning on CBS. You can find the video here.

What it boils down to is that Lane points out again that Denise was promoted - per Denise’s request - before leaving for the show and had worked as custodian since March 30. She was granted the requested for leave of absence for Survivor (which was filmed during the summer - July/August), and returned to her position of Custodian (a job with a $10/hr increase in pay) that she had gained before leaving for China, and has in fact been working in that position since her return in August. Denise said that was indeed accurate, apologized to Lane, and her community, saying that she didn’t intend it to come out that way at all, that she simply meant she had tried to go back to the old job but was turned down, without reasoning (though she stated on the Reunion show that the reasoning was her popularity. This also doesn’t compute, since the show had not aired yet!). Lane countered that the reasoning was simple - the position had since been filled and that if it should come open once more, Denise knows how to transfer within the district - she’d done it once before.

Up until this point, I found myself wavering a bit. Denise is not the most well spoken person, and as we’d seen throughout the season and especially during the Final Tribal Council, she often gets flustered and unable to get her point completely across the way she likely intended it. Maybe she just didn’t think through what she was saying, what it would mean or how it would come across. I was willing to believe that until she completely sidestepped Julie Chen’s last question: would she still accept the $50k if Mark Burnett still insisted on giving it to her? She said she’d done all of this for her family and rambled until Julie had to cut her off and end the segment, and Denise never actually said yes or no.

That, in my opinion, was a simple and easily answered question. In her position (a place I’d never be for MANY reasons) my answer would have been a straight up “No, of course not!” It wouldn’t matter how much I needed the $50k, I would have jumped at the chance to save face and say no - insisted it was donated to a charity or something of the sort if it was going to be pushed on me.

Denise had me at least willing to give the benefit of the doubt until then. Now? I’m not so sure. Maybe she just missed her chance, maybe it goes back to her not being very well spoken and easily flustered, or maybe… maybe she really does intend to keep the now tainted cash.

What are your thoughts on the whole ’scandal’? Did she? Didn’t she? Will she? Won’t she? And what on earth will/should happen now?

Throughout the season of Survivor: China, I had a soft spot for the Lunch Lady. I’ve known several people like her, and hey, part of me resonated with her feelings of being the outsider, and left out of the group of ‘cool kids’. Who hasn’t felt that way? (The cool kids, of course. ha!) I’ve been that girl more then once in my lifetime.

As she was picked last for challenges, left out of challenges, brought on some rewards then bombarded by petty bitterness when she didn’t return the ‘favor’ at a later date - we all could empathize, could sympathize, and really pulled for her. She was the ultimate underdog, the one we loved to love, the one we wanted to pull through, even though she lacked strategy and really never played the Survivor Game.

As such, around the nation last night, there was a collective “Awwww!” as she spoke of losing her job and having to clean toilets now because she was too recognizable, and a collective cheer when Mark Burnett had Jeff make the announcement that he was going to give her $50k to help get her life back on track once again for her and her kids.

And now, this morning? There’s a completely different reaction. According to the article posted at EW.com’s Hollywood Insider, Denise’s boss, School Superintendent Nancy T. Lane, claims that Denise outright lied during the reunion show. According to Lane, the promotion to custodian was worked for, asked for, and gained by work performance by Denise before she took her leave for the show, and they’ve issued a press release stating this as fact:

Press Release: Mrs. Denise Martin
December 17, 2007
Douglas Public Schools

On the “Survivor China” television program that aired on December 16, 2007, Mrs. Denise Martin, an employee of the Douglas Public Schools, stated that she was demoted from her position as a cafeteria worker upon her return from taping the show. This statement is false. In fact, Mrs. Martin held a full-time position as a custodian prior to her participation in the series, and she returned to this same position upon her return from China. Mrs. Martin was granted - at her request - an unpaid leave of absence so that she could participate in the “Survivor” program. We were pleased and excited to support Denise, and have enthusiastically cheered her on throughout the duration of the show.

Although Mrs. Martin was a cafeteria employee prior to her selection as a contestant, she asked to be considered for a promotion to full-time custodian, and was promoted to this position on March 30, 2007. This promotion came with additional benefits and a higher salary. Following her leave, she then returned to this same position.

Regretfully, the Douglas Public School District was inaccurately portrayed as failing to be accommodating to an employee during what the District viewed as a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity. This is far from the case. On the contrary, we granted all requests made by Mrs. Martin so that she could participate in the “Survivor” series. Since Mrs. Martin was on an approved leave, her position was held open for her, and she returned to this same position upon her return from China. As a District, we make every effort to support our employees, and will continue to do so.

Nancy T. Lane
Superintendent of Schools

She added to EW:

“I can empathize, having been a working mother,” Lane said. “It’s tough to work those night shifts. But she took the job; that’s the job she took leave from [to do Survivor]. If she wants to go back to the day shift, she should apply when one comes open.”

Lane says she spoke with Martin on the telephone on Monday afternoon and that the show’s fourth-place finisher was apologetic, but that “she did not explain why she said that to my satisfaction,” Lane explained. “It’s difficult to grasp. We did nothing but encourage her. She took leave for almost three months, she was given additional times off when ever she needed it. Now she says this on national TV…. Douglas is a nice little town. Everybody was rooting for her, the local paper was bending over backwards with positive articles. Then to have it end this way. Talk about a letdown.”

Martin was still in California on Monday, but Lane says her job is waiting for her when she comes back home on Friday. “I told her, ‘I think we have a few things to go over,’” Lane says. “I might have a few things I’d like to talk about.”

CBS only had this to say for now:

“The comments made by Ms. Martin on the program were compelling and sympathetic. If these statements were misleading or false, we hope that she will take immediate and public steps to clarify her remarks.”

So - this begs the question…. what do YOU think of these developments?

In case you missed it, some awesome fans have made sure the Reunion show was placed on YouTube - check it out and get a load of how nicely this group of Survivor’s clean up!

Some of my favorite moments?
*Jean-Robert getting told he was indeed played in the final tribal - aka, finding out what we already knew. Oh, Jean-Robert.
*Jeff Probst calling Courtney “fat” (He didn’t really, as you can see. *L* So don’t get ruffled!)
*Todd Winning - we knew it was going to happen, but seeing his reaction and the genuine love for the game he has was most awesome!
*Amanda’s Doe Eyes - when she lost. Ha.

And my ultimate favorite moment was my Nephew calling me, and telling me how he felt about the verdict, though he and I didn’t agree. He had very well thought out reasons why he thought Todd shouldn’t have one (Didn’t like the lying, he wasn’t very nice) and he accepted my comments about separating the game from the person. Of course, he thought Courtney should have won, but I’m pretty sure it’s because she reminds him of his little sister who is also very small boned and skinny and petite. It certainly wasn’t because she was nice! So even though I couldn’t talk long, Bug, since I was still working? Thanks for calling me!

And here ya go - The Reunion Show:

Part One:

Part Two:

Part Three:

Part Four:

Part Five:

And because I adore him so - here are the Many faces of James, or at least, some of them.

I do hope he is on the Fans vs. Faves! Of course, if he is - because he’d not been available for interviews, and with the production schedule being from the first week of November till just a few days ago, I think it’s safe to say that IF he was on the show, he made it at LEAST to the jury, and for doing so? looks MIGHTY FINE… Not that he’s ever looked bad, but you know what I’m saying. (grin) He’s looking as strong as ever. Not sure what that tells us of his chances out there, if anything, but it’s fun to speculate. And even more fun to just look at him. He’s so PRETTY… in a purely artistic sense of the word, of course. Honest. (ahem.)

So what were your favorite moments - reunion show, or season long? Do tell!

We start with Todd – Jeff asks about his gameplan. And Todd says that he decided from the get go that he’d do whatever it took to get there, and he can’t believe it worked! Jeff says he was willing to make relationships that he knew he’d have to lie. Todd says he could only hope that people would say Survivor is a Game. He hopes they know that the personal was personal.

Jeff moves on to Jean-Robert, and they play JR’s decree that Todd won’t win if he screws him over. Jean-Robert ended up voting for Todd to win, what changed his mind? J-R said it was difficult, but Todd changed his mind with his answers at the final Tribal Council. He won’t answer – and so Jeff reminds him that he said JR was the bigger threat. And JR says it’s hard to acknowledge that he recognized him as the bigger threat, but he knew it was the right thing. Jeff says “It’s a compliment, IF ITS TRUE – so Todd… did you play him, or believe it?” Todd says he knew JR loves his ego, and yeah, he played him.

Back to Todd – the strategy of the two key people, and Todd says they had a connection with Amanda immediately, Day four, they made it official. Day 6, he decided he needed Courtney because he wasn’t that small, because she’d be the bigger target. Time to talk about the riskey move - the idols, and James just starts shaking his head and jeff says “We’re coming to you James… we got LOTS of questions…”

Todd says giving him the idols, he rolled the dice and hoped it worked out. It was a huge risk, but it worked out. Amanda – time to talk about getting rid of James. She says it was nerve-wracking, and James could have killed everyone! My boy James just grins that million dollar grin! Amanda felt there was a point she thought sure it was going to backfire, James was looking his bag, and she was shocked when it worked.

James! Someone yells “WE LOVE YOU!” And Jeff teases him “You got fans, in spite of making the biggest blunder of this game!” Everyone laughs. Most popular guy, two idols, how’d that happen? James just shakes his head, says he was trusting his alliance, and he knows it cost him one million dollars. Jeff says they have more with him later.

Denise – Jeff asks why she didn’t take the chance to switch over. She says she thought it over, she wasn’t really sure, and rambles, Jeff interrupts and recaps the numbers flaw. She says she felt she’d be at the bottom no matter what. She felt her best chance would be to win it on her own.

Peih-Gee – how close did you think you got to get her to switch? She kept bargaining Todd, and she thinks if she has suggested going to Courtney it’d been better, but Denise said yeah, that might have won. Jeff asks who it would have been for Peih-Gee, Denise and Erik, they all said Peih-Gee, which makes her groan. Haha.

(Commercial time!)
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Here we go kids, it’s recap time! I’ll be covering the full two hours – tribal councils right on through to the reunion show and hopefully the announcement of ASS2 and James’ part on it! Ha! I’ll add to this post as I can through the commercials for those I know are watching for it (Hi Jamie!) - be patient with me thought! All pictures will come at the end, when I can find screen shots.

Previously, on Survivor… we get a full season recap, of course, like we haven’t been paying attention – but we’re down to the final four, they’re loyal now, but who will be the first to turn on the others, who will outlast them all to become Sole Survivor?

It’s night 36 at Hae de Fung, where the final four is celebrating ending up with exactly what they wanted. There’s hugs, and dance moves, and Courtney says she always slips through the cracks to get to the top and hopes it will carry her all the way through.

The next morning, they’re still smiling, and Denise says she just wants to be happy one day out there before she goes. It’s a tough fight, and Denise says she’s proved herself and has learned a lot – it’s a life changing experience for her.

Tree Mail – another chance to eat, sounds like a reward challenge. Amanda says she’s been in a funk because she’s been without food, and knows it’ll be the most important reward yet, because she needs food.

Right to the challenge! It’s the one we saw on the Jeff videos at the beginning of the season – I was wondering! They tackle Survivor’s versions of the Great wall. Climb down the ladder, cross the bridge, finish the bridge and get to the end of the course. Use the Yoke to carry the puzzle blocks to the top of the wall, solve the puzzle and finish their section of the wall and win reward. Reward is comfort – the kind of food they’ve been craving, Pizza, beer, soft drinks and brownies – and Amanda is almost in tears. It’s a serving for one.

Survivor’s ready? GO! Todd is off to an early start, jumping off the wall and starting to build the bridge – which only goes together one way. All are working quickly, methodically, Todd and Amanda are in the lead, and Denise is struggling. Todd finishes first, Amanda is right on his heels. They load up the first load of puzzle blocks, with Amanda right behind while the other two are still trying to finish the bridge. It’s all about Todd and Amanda at this point – who wants it more.

Todd makes his second load and Courtney finishes her bridge finally. Denise is as good as out of it. Amanda joins Todd and starts working on the puzzle, Courtney has her first load of puzzle blocks. Denise FINALLY finishes her bridge, but Todd and Amanda have a huge lead. It’s like a tetris puzzle, and it only goes together one way. Courtney starts on her puzzle as Denise gets her first set back, Todd is making progress, and Amanda is close as well… Courtney is close – but wrong, and keeps going. Denise finally starts her puzzle….

Amanda is on to something, and AMANDA WINS REWARD!

Amanda is given the choice to share her reward with one or two people to join her. She says she hates it, she doesn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. Jeff reminds her that there’s $1 Million on the line. She apologizes to them, and then decides to share her reward with Todd. Courtney rolls her eyes. OH THE SHOCK, and she and Denise head back to camp.

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We rejoin Hae Da Fung on night 22, as the final five get back to camp, and Denise decided to play it safe and vote out Erik, but thinks she might have made a mistake in the game. The next morning, Peih-Gee says he’s probably not the most popular person there and it’s hard to feel like an outsider. Awwwwwww. She brings back tree mail, and wakes up everyone else. There’s arrows, and while she reads, Courtney gives Todd a kiss on the cheek, and they listen to the mail, and we head direct to the challenge where Todd hopes he’s skilled and popular.

Reward!
They will each fire arrows from a replica of a 4th century of a Chinese repeating crossbow. Each time you or someone else hits your name on the board you score a point. You begin with 5 arrows. They divvy up the arrows in secret to the other survivors. Whoever’s name gets hit the most times, wins reward. The reward? They’ll be flown by private jet to the Great Wall of China, where they’ll eat and spend the night.

Peih-Gee gets one arrow. Commence whining and sulking. Todd gets 6, Denise has 2, Courtney has 12 arrows and Amanda has 4. Yeesh!

Peih-Gee misses the board completely.
Denise misses the first one, then hits her own name for 1 point.
Amanda misses, hits Denise, hits Denise again, and misses the last one. Denise has 3 points.
Todd hits his own name once, twice, three times, four, five, and finally misses his last shot - DAYUM that was some fine shootin! Even Jeff is impressed. Todd grins and says it’s secretly a hobby of his with a laugh.
Courtney has 12 arrows - she misses, hits her name, Denise, Amanda, misses, Todd, Denise, Denise, Todd, misses, Denise, and Denise - giving Denise the reward!

Denise gets to pick one person to go with her, and obviously chooses Courtney who gave it to her, and then gets to choose another and Peih-Gee starts begging, and she picks Todd instead. Peih-Gee starts bitching about how much she did for Denise, and she’s getting left out and it’s tough (Poor Denise is almost in tears as she says she’s sorry) and Amanda is disappointed too, but what can ya do?

WHINE PATROL. Oy.

Back at camp, Peih-Gee is pissed, and knows she said things she shouldn’t have and AGAIN tells us how she picked Denise and why didn’t she return the favor, and she heard Denise say she didn’t want Peih-Gee to get stronger and it’s like “hello I’m still a person!”

Amanda is teary, having to do all the work. She is having a hard time being left out of the reward. She confronts Peih-Gee and says she feels like she is always being attacked at Tribal, and Amanda wants to get it out in the open. Peih-Gee tells us that she respects her for speaking her mind, and is glad they got to sit down and talk. They find Asian Pears and limes, and are excited to eat - which of course is when we flip to the private jet.

Denise feels bad, but they know that Amanda feels comfortable with them, and Todd’s glad to be chosen. He does a little flight attendant welcome, as Denise opens the champagne. The wall is GORGEOUS. Denise is awed, and you get the feeling again that she truly appreciates the reward. They’re greated, shown their beds, and a table that’s FULL of food. They’re a little confused, because it was all raw, and the little Chinese guy demonstrates and they end up with a huge pot of food. He’s surprised at how quickly he gets full.

Courtney confesses that choosing Todd was better strategically because Amanda is far less likely to get into trouble back at camp with Peih-Gee, and an Angry Todd is a Bad Todd.

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…and adding more fuel to the ASS2 fire – because he is available for interviews and we still haven’t seen hide nor hair of James. Yay! I mean… Well, you know what I mean!

So, Erik’s working the interviews, and most of them are similar, as they do tend to be. Erik is one of the few of China’s Survivors to have known nothing about the game at all, until he was approached and asked if he wanted to do it. After the initial approach, he began to watch Survivor: Fiji, and the more he watched, the more he got into it – as he puts it “It’s one of those games, and one of those shows, that when you start watching it you get into it and literally can’t stop. You can’t get enough of it.”

I feel ya, brother, I feel ya! That’s why I’m here, after all!

Erik was asked to clarify the whole thrown challenge ordeal – did he, or did he not know about it?

Peih-Gee and Jaime and I were a very strong alliance, so we had all three discussed what should we do, we’ve got this opportunity. We decided that we were going into the first immunity challenge, the swimming challenge, and we were gonna win it. So, I went in thinking that we had all intentions of winning that challenge. Before the challenge started, after I was no longer able to talk with Jaime and Peih-Gee because we had already started swimming, apparently they think they saw James, Todd, and a couple other people from the other tribe sort of communicating. Whatever they saw, whatever Jaime and Peih-Gee saw, it freaked them out.

By that point, it was too late for them to tell me, so I worked my butt off trying to win, and I could hear Jeff Probst saying “Zhan Hu making no progress.” I was like, “Oh dear”. I smelled something funny, so I was just like, “Okay, great, they’ve thrown the challenge”. I was a little mad. I felt like I was forced to trust their judgment call, but I had to trust that they were still looking out for my best interest at that point. I think they were, so that’s what happened.

On the relationship between him and Jaime (confirmed by Dave, question evaded by Jaime), Erik would only say that she’s very important to him, and he is excited to see where it goes. He’d like her to be in his life forever – they just clicked instantly. Sounds like a yes to dating to me! Add to the fact that there were pictures posted on someone’s myspace where she attended a recent performance of his band… hmmmmmmm.

Erik addressed the fact that many folks (myself included) seemed to think he had no significant strategy at all. He would like to “beg to differ. I feel like I did pretty well and I am proud of all the decisions I made. I felt I was able to maintain the integrity of myself throughout the game and I still think I had a shot to get to the end – I almost did but it didn’t quite happen.”

Well that’s your story, and we’ll let you stick to it. All in all, I think Eric was just too nice of a guy for Survivor – he played the good ole boy, but didn’t know when to really step it up. He almost did it before his ouster – if he could have convinced Amanda and/or Denise to at least force a tie with Todd, that could have changed the course of the game for himself. He did mention that he was worried about changing and going balls out all of the sudden would affect him badly, though, which is why he decided consistency was the key for him.

Want to see more? Click here, and here.

And don’t forget –this is THE Survivor Week! We’ve the regular Thursday Episode, then the Finale on Sunday! Where our suspicions should be confirmed about ASS2! Whoo!

Previously on survivor, we get a recap showing us again how my man James is an idiot. *sigh* We go right back to camp after the recap, directly after Tribal council, and Todd is shocked that it worked, that he’s still there. He knows that had James used the idol he’d have been sent home. There was a final 6 group hug, and Peih-Gee is feeling hopeful - if she can keep Fei-Long turning on each other, she might have a chance!

Todd is miserable, and says he’s not emotional, but is really missing home at this point, as they all huddle in the cave while it rains. Tell me, why have they not worked to get a better shelter?! Todd tells us though that he cant trust anyone, even if he has an alliance, he’ll take out the threat. But he won’t tell them that!

Reward Challenge!
It’s the Relative reward! Teams of two, one with blindfolded, and they’ll have to listen to the partner to get them through the maze to the center. No warning, Jeff says “Erik you’ll be partnered with your mom” Cue the sappy reunion music where everyone cries and Amanda’s sister is there, Amanda apologizes for stinking. Peih-Gee’s dad is there, Todd’s sister Brandy is there, and gets a huge hug from her bro. And he finds out their other sister has miscarried. He’s in tears, and Courtney is rolling her eyes (Shock) but then is in tears as her Daddy shows up and (GOOD LORD SHES SO SKINNY), and we get to finally meet Denise’s hubby, who’s a big ole boy named Robert. She asks him “can I have your socks?” And she almost drags him over there…

Jeff explains the challenge, and they’re playing for a boat trip, a meal and a phone call home. Courtney apologizes to her daddy, who’s all but in a suit. L Everyone is blindfolded, and working their way toward the center to the platform. Amanda and her sister use bird sounds, Denise and hubby are working really way. Denise and Robert find each other first, connect and work together really well. Peih-Gee finds her dad, he’s trying to point her toward the way. Jeff says “Courtney is still looking for her Father” and Courtney shoots back “Shut it, Probst!”

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Thanks to the folks at SurvivorFever.net, we have scans of this weeks TV Guide, where Jeff Probst gives his rating of the final six players! Have to say he’s pretty much thinking the same things I’m thinking, even though he has the added benefit of, well, knowing who the final three are! Ha!

So, without further ado, here’s TV Guide’s thoughts, Probst thoughts and hey, because I know you can’t get enough of MY thoughts, some of those are tossed in as well. Aren’t you the lucky ones? (Nod away, there’s a good reader!) Right out of the gate, Jeff says that China is one of the best seasons so far, and it won’t disappoint us. (Well, not much, since my boy James was an idiot last week. Sigh.)

And, since they are rated by torches, 1-6, (6 being good odds to win, 1, bye-bye baby..) I’m going to put them in order. TV Guide didn’t, of course, but it will amuse me if this is exactly the remaining boot order…

Erik odds: 1 Torch
Says the TV Guide:

The Nashville-based Christian rocker and self-professed virgin, 26, hasn’t made any enemies so far. He also hasn’t made one smart move. Can you say ‘just another pretty face’?

Says Jeff Probst:

Erik has no chance of winning the game. I don’t care who you put him up against in the final three. Very nice guy, talkented musician, gonna be a great husband, probably a great dad. But a lousy Survivor player. you have to be willing to reach a little deeper inside yourself and find the fun part that enjoys the game.

Says me:
He looks good in those glasses, he’s a nice guy, he’s got a smile that is capable of melting knees when he turns it on full wattage. But he’s got no chance, and hasn’t for some time. He might say being on Zhun Hu hurt him, but in reality, he has not done a thing to further his place in the game. He has zero strategy, and is always 2-3 steps behind (HIIs anyone?). But he sure is purty!

Best move: Making friends in Feih-Long. It got him this far. It won’t get him much farther.
Worst move: Being too afraid to make a move, and when he did try to get into the grove, it was too little too late.

Denise - odds 2 torches.
Says the TV Guide:

The boston-area school lunch lady, 40, is tough hardworking and an earnest straight shooter. But at times in the game, she’s also proven to be as out of step as her mullet.

Says Jeff Probst:

She is the dark-horse favorite. Out of anybody in this game right now, I would want to get rid of Denise as soon as possible because she’s so likeable and she’s really done nothing wrong. She’s been a true friend to everybody. It’s hard not to root for her. And I like her even more for the story she told about why she has her mullet.

Says me:
Story? There was a story? I missed this? I dug around and found that while Jeff was on Regis and Kelly recently, he mentioned that the story is she has to have short hair because of working in the lunchroom, but her husband likes long hair, she keeps the back long for him. So it’s quite traditional in an ‘it’s all business up front and party in the back kind’ of way. Heh.

I like Denise. I’ve known a lot of women like Denise, and I’ve liked them all. I do think that she will be out before F3 though, because Jeff’s right. If she’s in the Final 3, she will take home the check. She hasn’t made any enemies (except maybe James when she helped blindside him, but he did promise in his final words not to hold it against anyone…) and she’s worked her butt off for her tribe.

Peih-Gee - Odds 3: Torches
Says the TV Guide:

The prickly California jeweler, 29, made one of China’s most controversial moves when she threw an immunity challenge in order to get a member of her own tribe ousted. She’s been on the chopping block several times herselve but has proven to be more resilient then a cockroach.

Says Jeff Probst:

I didn’t really like her in the beginning. She was kind of toxic. but the more she stayed, the more I started to see she’s a pretty good player. She’s (become) a true undersdog. She’s got a lot of former tribe members on the jury and that could work to her advantage.

Says me:
She annoyed me from the beginning, and she lost my support completely when she and Jaime so blatantly threw that challenge. I hate that. I hated it in Cook Islands when they did it to my buddy Billy! It. doesn’t. work. When you’re already the underdog, shouldn’t you attempt to secure your position by gaining allies, not by ‘cutting off your nose to spite your face’? (Who let my mom in here??) She whines, she doesn’t take responsibility for any failing, blaming others instead, but wants applause when her plan comes together. Not the best way to win friends and influence people!

Best move: Picking James and Aaron in the tribal switch.
Worst move: Throwing the challenge.

Courtney - odds: 4 torches
Says the TV Guide:

The mouthy New York City waitress with the scary-slight frame, 26, just might be the biggest eye-roller in Survivor history. The fact that she’s no physical threat could help her secure a spot in the final three.

Says Jeff Probst:

It’s been a long time since I’ve been this surprised to see somebody still in the game. But I actually think she could have a chance at winning depending on who she’s up against and what argument she makes. If she could take all her negative traits and turn them into [obstacles] that she overcame, she has a shot!

Says me:
For the love of all that’s holy as a Christmas gift to me, PLEASE EAT SOMETHING. Aside from that, I am pretty sure that she’s got a final three spot sewed up at this point. She’s no physical threat, and thus likely won’t get immunity again unless they let her sit on her butt and not move else she falls into a swamp. Again. Other then that, she’s clearly no threat, her only benefit is that she pretty much does as they tell her too as a vote. She’s mouthy, she’s negative, she rolls her eyes more (but far less expressively, if you can believe it) then my teenage daughter and I find it hard to like her. But then again, she’s also the type of person, who outside of the game, I’d probably enjoy bantering with.

Her best move: making it known to Amanda and Todd that she’d be their little voting wench.
Her worst move: While it didn’t hurt her, she clearly and loudly and with much disdain targeted Jean-Robert until the rest of the tribe caved and said ok. It made her a target, briefly, but now I’ll be shocked if she goes out before F3.

Todd - odds: 5 Torches
Says the TV Guide:

The Utah-based flight attendant, 22, may be a little guy, but he’s had the biggest impact on this season’s game. He’s smart, strategic and as cutthroat as Richard Hatch. But has he made too many enemies?

Says Jeff Probst:

Todd has been exciting to watch because he gets such joy out of playing the game. He’s loving this manipulative adventure he’s on, and he’s good at it. But it’s always fun to be the person in charge of giving the blind side to somebody until you get to the final tribal council and they’re sitting on the jury. Todd’s gotta let other people get credit for making moves if he wants a chance to convince people he’s worthy [of winning].

Says me:
I love Todd. I have since the very beginning, but that’s probably because I’m always a fan of the little gay boys with wicked ruthless strategy. He’s done pretty well running the game by using other people, and making sure he is not seen as the biggest threat until recently. He does, however, get a little too much up in arms when someone else comes up with a plan that mirrors his. Jean-Robert, for example, in his plan to oust James, which had Todd lamenting “but that was MY plan!” to us. Granted, if he didn’t do that to THEM… it’s ok.

He does have a number of enemies, though, and Jean-Robert did promise that he’d make sure anyone but Todd got the money. Of course, who’s going to listen to Jean-Robert? That might actually GET Todd the cash…

Best Move: Picking Amanda as a partner. Those two are unstoppable.
Worst Move: Switching up the plan last minute, without a real reason why other then ‘he stole my cookie plan!’

Amanda - 6 Torches
Says the TV Guide:

The L.A.-Based Former hiking guide, 23, was smart enough to form an alliance with Todd early in the game, and her sidekick status has allowed her to make fewer enemies. Orchestrating the dramatic ouster of fan favorite James proved she’s a power player.

Says Jeff Probst:

Amanda’s been in Todd’s shadow, but she knows this game as well as he does. She just pulled out a big sword and lopped somebody’s head off with it. If she’s willing to do that again, she could have a check for a million bucks. If she goes back to being timid, it’ll be tougher for her to win.

Says me:
As much as it pains me to say so, I think Amanda has this on lock. Of course, it only pains me because of James, so I’ll just have to get over it. She’s smart, she’s been involved in the strategies with Todd, and together those two have been unbeatable since week two. All that remains to be seen is if she can get out from behind him enough before the vote, or if anything she does here on out is too little too late. Although, historically the Jury prefers to give the money to someone who was nice, and had strategy, then someone who was a cutthroat strategist all along.

Best move: Hooking up with Todd from the beginning, and orchestrating the ousting of James.
Worst move: Has she done the ‘coat tails’ sidekick coast too long? Time will tell…

So there you have it! Do you agree with the rankings of the final six? Do you think there will be any real shake-ups, or is the final three pretty much a foregone conclusion based on what we’ve seen so far? Who is YOUR pick to win it all?

Hit the ‘comments’ link down there, and opine away!

(Part one, part two)

Immunity Challenge!
Today’s challenge, each person will throw three stars at three targets. hit the target and get the amount of points on there. Person with the highest score wins immunity. Hit the target, and get 1, 2 or 3 points. Hit the heart and get five.

Peih-Gee tosses first, hits the ground, the board, and it bounces off. She scores 0.
Todd just misses the black, bounces off, then hits for three points.
Erik hits 3 right off on his first throw, misses the 2nd throw, then hits on the third to get 6 points.
Courtney nails 3 right off, then 2, then 1, and shares the lead with Erik with 6 points.
James misses, hits for 3, then again for 6 total.
Amanda hits for three, bounces off, then hits for three again.
Denise misses, hits for two, hits the heart and bounces off, she’s out of the running indeed.

Amanda, James, Courtney and Erik tied at 6 and go to the final round.

They each get once throw, and the target is 10 feet farther away.
Courtney misses. Amanda scores 2. Erik scores three and moves into first place. James throws and it bounces off and Erik Wins Immunity!

Back at Hae Da Fung, James tells us that we get rid of Peih-Gee tonight, then Erik and it’s all cake after that. Amanda goes to Todd and tells them they can’t win against James in the end, and she wants to get James out before the final three, or they lose. Todd agrees that it is time, and he will do whatever everyone is comfortable with. Denise even agrees, and she’s closest to him! (this is where I start whimpering…) Todd says that it hurts to lie to his face, but they’ll say they’re voting out Peih-Gee according to plan, then vote for him instead. Peih-Gee finds the immunity idol, and goes and talks to Amanda. She tells Amanda she knows James has it, and asks if she’s aware of that and thinks they’re gonna flush it out, and then it’ll be Amanda going home. Amanda says that it’s in her best interest to act like she’s going home and trust her.

She tells Erik that they want to flush out the idol, so she and Erik will vote for Todd, and if James plays the idol, then Todd will be gone. He’s not really sure, as it’s a big risk, as it depends on James playing the idol. James and Amanda talks, and he says he’s the main guy trying to hold it all together, and if he gets past tonight, he’s good. He also says he can’t go before Peih-Gee. He will have the idols with him, and if he gets a sense that something’s going down, he’ll play the idol.

(JAMES! WAKE UP! PLAY THE IDOL!)

Tribal Council

Jeff tells Denise that she’s beaming like he hasn’t seen her beam in the last 30 days, and asks her about the reward. She beams. Peih-Gee has been trying to penetrate Fei Long, and James says it’s that Zhun Hu needs to go, and not slide in. And Peih-Gee points out that they’re not losers, they have been winning individual immunity, and she tells them that they’re going to be voting for someone, so keep that in mind. Todd says trust is huge, friends close and enemies closer. Denise says she doesn’t trust anyone at all, because some folks say they have a pact, but then it they switch. James says to trust if you have the same goal, but you have to know they need her. But you really can’t trust anyone.

(COME ON JAMES! PAY ATTENTION! DENISE JUST TOLD YOU WHAT WAS GOING ON!)

Erik is the only one that says he’s not concerned tonight. Everyone says they think it could be them. Peih-Gee says she’s not been in doubt with her place, and she feels it will be her.

Time to Vote!

(HE DIDN”T PLAY IT GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!)

The votes.
Todd, James, Peij-Gee, James, (and he starts to shake his head) James, (and he scrubs his hand across his face and…) 10th person voted out, James.

(NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!)

Peih-Gee is all smiles, Erik is too, the Jury is laughing and James is stunned. Jeff says tonight said it all, it’ll be an interesting 9 days left.

Next time - Amanda turns on her closest ally, emotions run high, and everyone’s fate rests on Denise.

(Part one)

They’re all excited about the private jet, where they got champagne and food, and were living in the lap of luxury. Peih-gee wastes no time making a power play and working Erik and Denise and start pimping them for the final three. Denise tells us that she knows what she’s doing, and will wait and see what happens, she doesn’t want to make any enemies.

They arrive at the temple, and Peih-Gee was excited to experience something from her culture, where they saw monks playing music and meditating. Denise is tells them that she’s been studying Karate for 8 years, and they ask her about it. She tells us of all the rewards, this was the one she would have wanted to see the most, and it was incredible to see where martial arts began, and the demonstration was incredible. )And it was - they were amazing! It all looked so effortless!

After the main exhibition, they joined a class with some kids and learned some moves. Denise picks up the moves quickly, and a monk asks her to demonstrate what she knows. Erik said it was cool to see her do it and he was impressed. “Denise - who knew?” Denise has no words to describe her experience.

They were fed, and then got to sleep in a room with mats and blankets and pillows. They all three just keep saying “Best, reward, ever!”

Day 29 and it’s raining back at camp, where they’re huddled in a hole, praying for the crowds to go away. It’s driving Todd nuts, and he says he’s done with the rain! Done! The Reward winners come back, and they refused to leave their hole to greet them, until Amanda came out to say hello. Denise knew no one would greet Peih-Gee and Erik. Peih-Gee told them about the reward, and Courtney says “the cave is the best thing I have, it’s my happy place!” and she was unhappy with Peih-Gee coming into her happy place and talking. No talking in the cave!

Denise gets with Todd and tells him that Peih-Gee and that she wants to vote out Todd, and he’s annoyed and hates her guts, of course. Erik talks to James and asks him if he’s tight with Todd, and he says that he’s just trying to win tomorrow, and James is laughing that he’s not going to go to the other side at this point, that makes no sense when it’s five against two. That’s not a happy place!

Day 30, and James is peeling something and eating it. Courtney and Amanda walk to get the treemail, which is hooked up with ninja throwing stars. Amanda talks to Courtney and puts forth the plan to get rid of James, because he’s in control. They’ll have to blindside him, else he use the idol. There’s no way anyone can beat him, and Amanda knows that now is the night. Amanda says James is always saying “don’t eat the apple, stay the course, don’t eat the apple…” but she’s ready to bite the apple and make the whole frickin pie!

(Part three!)

It’s been two weeks, and finally we will get to see what that ‘more business to attend too’ at tribal council involved! Last week’s recaplet only served to make me want more, as amusing as some of the ‘never before seen’ moments were. IS there going to be another castaway voted off? Will we see two people leaving? Will my man James survive another week? Let’s find out, shall we?

Jeff tells them they’re not going back to camp, because it’s time to participate in a reward challenge here at Tribal Council - the winner gets to travel by private jet hundreds of miles to the Xiu Lin (sp? that’s a total guess on my part…) temple, which is the home of Kung Fu, enjoy a demonstration, a vegetarian meal, and spend the night before returning to camp the next day. The winner of the challenge will pick two people to go with them. The challenge starts now…

(Or, after the opening credits and a commercial, of course!)

The challenge - answering questions about Chinese culture, first one to 5 wins.

1. China is credited with the invention of the abacus. True - Todd, James, Peih-Gee and Denise got it right.

2. Which animal does not belong to the Chinese zodiac - C- Cat, everyone got it right.

3. 99% of giant panda’s diet is bamboo… Denise is the only one who got it wrong, the answer is True.

Peih-gee, James and Todd has 3, everyone else has 2.

4. The Capitol of China is? Beijing, everyone was right except Amanda.

5. In Chinese culture, receiving a red envelope means that inside is…? Cash - Peih-Gee wins reward!

Peih-Gee chooses Denise and Erik to go with her on reward. Erik because they’ve been starving since the beginning, and Denise looks thrilled to have been chosen, and who wouldn’t be? They grab their torches and head back to camp.

Early the next morning, day 28, the boat arrives to pick up Denise, Peih-Gee and Erik. Denise is concerned leaving camp, it makes her nervous, but she’s still thrilled to go. At Camp, James claims he’s willing to frolic all the way to four with the ones who are left at camp. Todd says they thought it was nice, just the four of them, and there was no arguing at all. The four of them are in the Garden of Eden - if eve hadn’t have eaten the apple they’d be frolicking naked in heaven. Don’t be tempted, don’t eat the apple!

Amanda, however, tells us this is her chance to make a change in the game, and to make it happen. It needs to happen, and she’s ready.

(This is where my parenthetical asides start trying to get James’ attention… JAMES! YOOHOO! PAY ATTENTION!!!)

(Part Two)

We all know by now, that Frosti was the youngest Survivor in the history of the series, and as a serious threat with his athletic ability that I, for one, wish he had gotten to show off more. What we also learned over the past weeks, was that he’s also a genuinely nice kid, someone a mom like me can point too and appreciate for being a stand up kinda guy, like you’d want your daughter to crush on a little. Through his last words on the show, in the extra transcripts, and his interviews along the circuit – there’s no doubt about it. Frosti is a hell of a nice kid. His mama should be proud, despite what he says about himself:

Honestly, back in Chicago I’m a pretty cynical guy. I’m pretty negative and I look at a lot of the downside of things.

He continues on to explain how he’s had to put that aside, and really learn to focus on the positives in order to play the game the way he wanted too – with integrity.

Since I’ve been out here I’ve really forced myself to look at the positive, try and find a good balance in things. Really working that whole mind over matter, things are as good as you can take it, do your best. I really took to it. Hopefully that stays with me once I head back home.”

[cut]

I really had to do all the things I said I would do, and one of my biggest struggles in life is to finish the goals I set for myself. The journeys I start. I think it’s summed up best in the Confucius quote from the puzzle we did. The journey of a thousand miles begins a single step. Coming out here was the first step on that journey. I feel like I haven’t completed it yet, but I’ve gotten a lot farther than I thought I could. It’s a great beginning for me. I don’t want this to be the end for me. I want to have even more of this journey. I think this has been a really big step for me, and it’s helped me on my own path in life.”

And if your still not convinced, you can check out his interviews here, here, here, here and here.

Reminder! This Thursday is a recap of the first half of the season show, which means we have to wait another week to find out what that ‘other business’ is at Tribal Council, which is all kinds of wrong. That means I won’t be doing a full recap, unless something exciting happens on the show that we haven’t seen yet. So – from me and mine to you and yours – Happy Thanksgiving (To those who celebrate turkey days, happy Thursday to those who don’t) and I’ll catcha on the flip side!

(part one, part two)

Back at camp, Frosti says it’s hard to know that he made a sacrifice, and got nothing for it. He’s like “We’re here for 12 more days, and you can’t wait that long for a cheeseburger?” Frosti feels Erik knows he’s on the chopping block, and they both wish each other luck. Erik’s pretty sure it’s him because Frosti is higher up the ladder with cuddling the bag of bones - I mean, Courtney. Frosti works it with Todd, and points out how smooth Erik is because he’s awesome and good with the girls and Todd knows that hands down Erik would win in the end, but Frosti is an animal in the challenges. So it’s time for someone to talk.

They try to figure out if they can get Courtney to commit. Denise isn’t sure who people are voting for, and it’s not her. But they’ll see. Todd goes to Courtney to figure it out. She says that he’s her little munchkin, and knows everyone’s worried, but she won’t really commit to Todd. She knows she has to think it strategically. Todd is worried too. They don’t know what to expect.

Tribal Council!
Jeff says that James deciding to eat instead of play, surprised him the most. James says he ate seven burgers - and would have eaten the last one if he had a chance. His first thought was “attack!” Todd said the “Fat kid inside of Todd said EAT!” Frosti is rolling his eyes, and states the obvious - there’s always a chance that he’d be going home and he had to know he’d done everything he could to survive. Erik says that the four people that sat out definitely felt comfortable. He knows he’s on the chopping block, somewhere at the bottom.

Amanda says it’s hard to form friendships and try to play the game, it’s hard to juggle. Denise says she would hope there would be loyalty between friends, but it’s a game, and there is no real loyalty. Frosti says that he’s formed relationships with the whole tribe, and it’s helped him, but it’s a game and everyone understands sometimes you have to hurt the people close to you. Erik says it feels personal sometimes but there is only so much that he can do.

Time to vote!
Frosti and Eric vote for each other, both saying it’s nothing personal, but those are the only ones we see before the votes are tallied. James does not play the HII again.

The votes: Frosti, Eric, Frosti, Frosti, Frosti, Frosti is the 9th person voted off Survivor: China!

Jeff says “The tribe has spoken,” and Frosti adds with a wry grin “with cheeseburgers still on their breath!” And then Jeff drops the bomb - they will not be heading back to camp, there is more business to attend too here…. and CREDITS! AUGH!!!!

Next time on Survivor: Injuries take their toll, James is fed up, and Todd stakes a stand. and no clue what would happen at Tribal! AUGH!