(S15E07) Oh, I so love it when karma comes around and bites someone in the butt, don't you? Tonight's Survivor China had such a moment that it's destined to go in the show's archives as a classic, yet hilarious, blunder.It was Yau-Man Chan's original plan during his season gone into motion through sneaky actions and dumb mistakes. And, after watching tonight's show, it couldn't have happened to a more deserving person.
We all saw the promos. Instead of being as smart as she thinks, it turns out that Jaime might be more dumb than anyone ever thought possible. After all, I didn't think she was dumb. Well, not until ...
... not until tonight! But I'll get to that in a moment; I have to cover some ground to get there first.
In the Courtney versus Jean-Robert brouhaha, the latest is that Courtney feels betrayed by Todd and Amanda. I personally don't think she has a case and I bet if she's watching it all go down, she realizes that Todd is right for the time being wanting to keep the Fei Long numbers intact. While they seem to have adopted Frosti, he's not an original Fei Long and the trust may only go so far. It's pretty obvious that Jean-Robert himself will gun for Zhan Hu members first before going after some of his own, including Courtney. I'll say that she'd probably be his first Fei Long target, but there are three very active Zhan Hu folks to go first, then Frosti.Courtney is playing a more solitary goal-oriented game than anyone thinks she is. While she's been vocal about wanting Jean-Robert out, she's not as tight with Amanda and Todd as they think she is. "I dislike everyone else more than I dislike Todd and Amanda. They mistake that for friendship," she said. Oh, my.
Meanwhile, over at Zhan Hu, Peih-Gee has taken a liking to James -- partly due to strategy, partly due to the fact she seems to actually like and trust him to an extent. I think it's more that she wants to trust him than the trust being there. She recognizes that he's the type of person who's probably very loyal and honest, plus a physical powerhouse. If she can swing him over tho the Zhan Hu tribe, that will give them one more. They figure Frosti is a lost cause.
We know that James has the one hidden idol given to him by Todd. Knowing what it is and where it came from, he knows where the one is located in the Zhan Hu camp. He had a fifty-fifty chance of pulling down the right one of the two, but chose the wrong one first. He discarded it, snagged the right one, and hid it in his personal bag.Despite the promos hinting that the others in camp saw him remove the plaque, James isn't as dumb as he looks. Okay, he doesn't look dumb, but in keeping with the theme, I just couldn't resist.
What happened is that that Jaime and Erik, already suspicious of James, noticed the missing plaques. Erik found the discarded one which Jaime quickly appropriated. While Peih-Gee and James were out frog hunting, Jaime went into James' bag finding two idols wrapped in cloth.
To keep the suspense going for us, they didn't show whether she unwrapped them or not. As a matter of fact, I thought she replaced one of the real idols with the blank-sided plaque she had. They also never showed James checking to make sure he still had both real idols after he figured out she had a blank plaque.
It worked.
With Jaime gleefully telling us she isn't as dumb as she looks and James in hysterics about the possibility of Jaime pulling out a bogus immunity idol to save herself at Tribal Council, I wasn't sure who had the real thing at all. I cannot believe she was so dumb as to not open the cloth coverings to see the real idol was marked on its back. And I also couldn't believe that James was so dumb as to not check on his own idols when he realized Courtney had a plaque. Who's dumb now? Me? What?
Instead of a Rewards Challenge, we had a merge this week. It came rather quickly and without ceremony. The tribes thought they were going for a cool reward and got one along with new black buffs. The tribe will camp at the Fei Long camp where most of them reside anyway.
Their reward and feast was a gala event. Yes, Courtney ate something, but many of the others looked almost ill from eating. Before they left to go for a feast and a native Chinese cultural event, Jeff warned them that the game never stops. I personally would have liked to have seen more of the Chinese acrobats, but I had an inkling that their memories would be tested about the happenings.
I was right.
The Immunity Challenge, the first one for individual immunity, was based solely on the events of the merge celebration. No Rock'em Sock'em Robots, no warriors, nothing physical at all this time around. I'm still wondering why the initial challenges this season were so brutal and now we're down to kittens. I just find that very odd.Despite his fear that he has a horrible memory, it ended up being between Frosti and no-good bag-peepin' sneaky Jaime at the end. I was cringing about the possibility of her having a hidden idol and being the first winner of individual immunity. No! No!
My own fears ended the moment Frosti won. Phew! I don't really mind Peih-Gee or Erik so much, but I feel Jaime went way too far in going through James' belongings. And, at the time, I still thought she might have a real idol. Er, maybe I am dumb because I fell for that.
We had the usual talking about who should be voted out. All three Zhan Hu members known they're on thin ice. Jean-Robert is being campaigned against by Courtney, as well as the Zhan Hu folks. Jean-Robert thinks that Peih-Gee is more of a concern than Jaime, but the others think Jaime should be the target as they had talked about for weeks. Erik is all but off the radar for this vote, which is bizarre because he's the strongest guy on Zhan Hu. The only guy, but the strongest, too.
Then came a Tribal Council for the history books. There was the typical Jeff Probst-ing -- he got Courtney talking about Jean-Robert and vice versa. Jaime acted a bit smug and tried to turn the target over to Jean-Robert.
Then, after the votes were tallied, but before Jeff read them ... Jaime steps up an hands Jeff the hidden immunity idol.
"If this were the hidden immunity idol, any votes cast for Jaime wouldn't count. But it's not," Jeff said as he threw the plaque in the fire.
Oh. My. God. The look on her face! James almost cracked up and fell over laughing. Todd was beside himself! I don't think Survivor is ever going to top this moment at Tribal Council! Karma bit her on the butt for being a sneaky so-and-so going through James' personal stuff and she's not as dumb as she looks.
She's dumber. Jaime was voted out unanimously by the Fei Long members including her ex-Zhan Hu tribemate Frosti. Even Courtney voted for her to go instead of Jean-Robert. The Zhan Hu Three voted to oust Jean-Robert.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-02-2007 @ 1:23AM
Rebecca said...
It's not the first time someone has gone through a player's bag and found an immunity idol. And while that's permitted, it was stated in news stories at the time that stealing it would have been against the rules.
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11-02-2007 @ 1:39AM
dave said...
Jaime could not have switched immunity idols when she went into James bag. That would be stealing and stealing is against the game rules(yes there are rules). If it were not people would steal from each other all the time and the immunity idol would be pointless.
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11-02-2007 @ 2:42AM
Stacie23 said...
When Jamie's team did not throw the competition last week it made them throwing the competition the week before utterly pointless. If they were going to have the plan to throw 2 challenges so they would go to the merge even at 5-5 then they have to see it the whole way through. But you can't just decide after throwing the first one that you won't throw the next because then at the merge you will be down 6-4. That is what happened now. The plan actually would have worked fine, because the merge did happen when P-G and Jamie thought at 10, so they could have went in 5-5. But because they got nervous about Sherea they didn't throw the challenge and Jamie got kicked off. She deserved to be kicked off.
It is very possible that Frosti would have stayed with his original group if it was 5-5 but why would he bother going with the remaining 3 when he knows he doesn't have the numbers, it would just put a bigger target on his head for the next week.
They had a plan, it would have worked, they got nervous and ultimatley got bit in the butt because of it. They had the power of pulling off something that hasn't been done before but are now going to just be on the jury. Nicely done, PG and Jamie, you done good.
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11-02-2007 @ 3:17AM
trsaylor said...
Did anyone else notice the unrelated background noise, in the scene that started by throwing live crabs in a pot? In the background there is screaming, coughing, a long bell, "G'Damn it", "Can somebody please get her a glass of water", "This time, get it on her face, not in the mouth", and further discussion (sounds like Jeff's voice). Strange audio mixing problem that wasn't supposed to air?
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11-02-2007 @ 6:38AM
hotboudain said...
@stacie- Zhan-Hu was screwed either way because James was given the immunity idol. Had they thrown the challenge and tried to vote out James, he would have played the idol and Jamie would have been gone a week early. It was a good strategy but they would have been trumped by the hidden immunity idol anyway.
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11-02-2007 @ 7:29AM
Mel said...
"With Jaime gleefully telling us she isn't as dumb as she looks and James in hysterics about the possibility of Jaime pulling out a bogus immunity idol to save herself at Tribal Council, I wasn't sure who had the real thing at all. I cannot believe she was so dumb as to not open the cloth coverings to see the real idol was marked on its back. And I also couldn't believe that James was so dumb as to not check on his own idols when he realized Courtney had a plaque. Who's dumb now? Me? What?"
Aren't you assuming a bit too much? I bet there are thousands of hours worth of interesting footage like that that don't make it into the final cut, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. After all, Survivor is so heavyhanded, they'd have definitely alluded to Jamie knowing her idol was real or not. The scenario you supposed has already been bunked by others because of the rules in place.
Personally, I think Jamie can go fuck herself. Anyone that goes through the bags of others are heaping a fair amount of shit on themselves in the eyes of the audience. Same goes for that spineless virgin she had with her.
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11-02-2007 @ 8:16AM
Max said...
Mel,
Anyone with such a great command of the English language as you obviously have should be able to express their opinion without using crude and vulger language. I am not inpressed.
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11-02-2007 @ 8:57AM
DanteAmore said...
"In the background there is screaming, coughing, a long bell, "G'Damn it", "Can somebody please get her a glass of water", "This time, get it on her face, not in the mouth", and further discussion "
Sounds like CSI.
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11-02-2007 @ 9:40AM
Guido said...
If they were allowed to steal it, the whole show would be chaos .
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11-02-2007 @ 8:18PM
bavaro said...
In fairness to Jaime (yeah, I said it!), the moment that she finds the plaques in James' bag, occurs (if I recall correctly) at night, in one of those night-scope shots they use. I don't think she saw the writing on the back of James' idols, just felt the design on the front and the general size/shape of the idol, thereby setting her up for what I would call an honest mistake on her part. Still, the expression on her face was one I will long remember!
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11-02-2007 @ 10:22AM
TJ said...
What surprises me is how much people flap their lips in this show! Todd is the funniest coz he swears ya to secrecy and then blabs the same 'secret' to everyone. He is a fun character tho.
Then Jamie shocked me by going thru James' bag and she was TALKING about it? Like, GET A CLUE! When she was like 'sharing' she didn't even seem like remorseful.
The other thing that was weird besides the background noise was that no one even bothered to greet Jeff when he docked on their shore! It was like maybe they were so starved that they were like lacking the energy to say HI.
(I used 'like' on purpose as it seemed to be the word of the day last nite).
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11-02-2007 @ 10:31AM
Ginny said...
That background noise was definitely the first scene for CSI last night. The station in your area must have been prepping the episode for airing and hit some wrong buttons.
The editors of Survivor did a great job keeping us wondering if Jaime had the true idol or not - isn't that part of the appeal for us to watch? This will be the episode they submit for Emmy nominations, I'm sure.
How full of crap is Jean Robert telling Todd that if anyone breaks the deal with JR and he goes to the Jury he will hold Todd fully responsible? Ooohhhh, that is so scary for Todd. I would have thought to myself, "ya know - just for that, you're outta here NOW, buddy"!!!
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11-02-2007 @ 11:39AM
keepitreal said...
ginny,
its half stupid half smart by JRB to threaten todd. if todd gets down to the final 2 he's gonna need votes and up against somebody like amanda who may win over more people, he'll need all the help he can get. JRB is one of the few people i think todd can win against...so keeping him around isnt terrible.
then again, todd may just be vengeful and screw him.
but JRB at least is aware of who is calling the shots and in the end that move could work out.
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11-02-2007 @ 11:55AM
MRB said...
No, no, no no no.
The best episode was when Alex played a REAL immunity idol, but didn't know that Mookie had sold him out and Edgar was voted off anyhow. To watch Alex's face go from confident and cocky to crushed was exhilarating.
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11-02-2007 @ 12:49PM
BC said...
First off,
Jeff warned them that the game never stops --- how did they NOT catch that clue to pay attention or that something important was going to happen?
Secondly,
I hated when they switched people a few shows back, but it was very smart strategy when Zhan Hu threw the challenge to get rid of their 2 newcomers so when the merge comes that there would be equal numbers....but then they decide to win the second challenge. THAT WAS DUMB THE DUMBEST PART. And for Jaime to tell us she isn't as dumb as she looks --- you had already proved that you were dumb because you lost what advantage you thought you had (i know James would have used the idol to ruin their plan, but they did not know that, they just abandoned their strategy a week after looking smart thus losing the numbers they wanted -- that was the DUMB move of this season).
And lastly,
Now as for Jaime using the "fake" idol --- people WE ALL SAW EVERYTHING she didn't. I understand why we the audience (and the tribemates that knew the secret) were laughing at her and thinking she was dumb --- BUT IF I WAS IN HER SHOES I WOULD HAVE PLAYED IT TO THINKING IT WAS THE REAL ONE. So she wasn't dumb for playing it....NOW SHE WAS DUMB FOR NOT LOOKING TO INSPECT JAMES IDOL ONCE SHE OPENED HIS BAG.
Personally I think its wrong to go through others bags (but wasn't it as equally dumb for James to leave it lying around unguarded?) but my point is that IF you are going to look why not really look at it. I know we don't see it all but surely she would have taken them out of the pants he wrapped them in to see it said "this is not a piece of wood but the immunity idol" (or something like that on the back) but obviously even 'off camera' she did not do it. Instead she just assumed he "dropped it too fast" on the ground and that it was just like his two idols.
In my opinion she wasn't dumb for playing her idol --- she was dumb for not inspecting James bag more closely, because if she had then she would have known hers was a fake.
I am sure 'off camera' James would have later on double checked his bag, and he did later on tell Todd she had a fake one that she thought was a real one. Jaime also was smart enough to approach Todd about it offering to tell him "tomorrow" is she was still around the secret. The dumb move she made was 1) throwing the challenge, 2) not inspecting James bag more closely.
Also I agree there has to be some kind of you can't steal it rule, but if it were me I would not let it out of my site because for strategy purposes you don't want anyone to know you have it, right?
2 questions:
Why did Jeff not ask for the idol at council, I thought he normally asks for if anyone wants to use it after a merge before each one?
Why did Todd not ask James to return the one idol he gave him to save him that time (plus Todd told him were to look at the other tribe)?
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11-02-2007 @ 1:23PM
Dave said...
I too wondered why Jeff didn't say as he has in the past, if anyone has an immunity idol, this would be the time to use it.
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11-02-2007 @ 3:07PM
smiley said...
Wow. I think this blog writter has a bit of hatred for Jaime. I look to a blog for a recap with witty comments, not a slanted tirade against a contestant. I don't think Jaime was that stupid. It would have been more stupid for her not to try and play the idol knowing she was probably going home. Anyway, as you have totally missed because it probably helps your 'hate jaime' case, that she said that she had something and thought it could be the immunity idol. She didn't take it out all confident and assume it was the idol. It was tentative.
Also, it was getting dark when she looked through James bags.. maybe he was coming back and she didn't have time to see them for real or it was too dark. He had them wrapped up pretty good so she did have to take some time to put all his stuff back. '
I guess i'm going to move onto other blogs for my Survivor commentary. The comments are fine, but the blog? ugh.
And as far as them trying to win the 2nd immunity challenge, they ended up being better of winning. If not, the 3 would have voted against James, and James had the immunity idol and would have played it against Jaimie most likely. That would have made her out last week and not this week. And they still would not have had the numbers going into the merge.
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11-02-2007 @ 5:48PM
Mike said...
The tribal council was definetly one of the greatest survivor moments, but you didn't mention the best part: JR practically crapping himself when Jamie revealed the idol and thinking that if it was actually an immunity idol, he was going home. The look on his face was priceless.
I'm sure he was ready to kill James for not going along with his plan to vote for PG.
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11-02-2007 @ 8:23PM
Bach said...
Hey smiley, did you see the episode where the tribes switched two members? I would say the dislike is deserving.
Isn't it strange how the show can go from one of the worst episodes to one of the best?
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11-03-2007 @ 2:40PM
Evan said...
Jeff could not ask 'if anyone has an immunity idol now is the time to play it' because some contestants don't even know a hidden idol even exists.
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