(S15E13) Well, this is it. Who's going to win it all on Survivor China -- the schemer, the lunch lady, the beauty queen, or the waitress long shot? Now, if I were a wagering woman, I could have won some money on this one. As with the first season with Richard Hatch, I picked the winner from the first episode. So, I'm two for fifteen. I guess I should ask Jean-Robert how those odds do in the real world, eh?Ah, but I won't say a word about the winner before the jump. I know how dangerous that can be.
But I was right. 'Nuff said.
They really have to do something about the rampant show spoilers which leak about this show. Once again, they were right about the final four, the final three, and much of the way through the show with perhaps a minor slip here and there. Since I'm the type of person who often peeks at the ending of a book, it doesn't bother me or ruin anything. However, I know many folks absolutely hate spoilers.
From there, it was show on. The final four -- Denise, Courtney, Amanda, and Todd -- were as Courtney put it "happy to be in the final four on Survivor-frickin'-China!" The group has been a fairly strong alliance from not long after the beginning. First it was Todd and Amanda, then the other two joined as a voting block. All along it's been Todd and Amanda calling the shots more than the other two. But is there trust? Nuh-uh. After all, this is Survivor. Hatch sealed the fate of the show in the first season.
The last Reward Challenge of the season may or may not have had influence on the final Immunity Challenge. Oh, I'm sure it was a welcome reward for them -- food! We're talking pizza, beer, soft drinks, and such. Yes, it would give them more calories and potentially more stamina for a competition. But then there's beer. Is that good to brace for a challenge when you've been practically starving? I would think not!
But maybe.
Amanda won the reward in which the castaways had to build a bridge out of puzzle pieces, go through a course, collect puzzle blocks and put them together at the end to complete the show's own version of the Great Wall of China.Then she faced a dilemma. This right here is the problem I have with Amanda's gameplay. She worries too much about pleasing everyone at times. She jumped in a minute to take James out when it might be perceived to be a Todd move. But put her in a situation where she wants to be friends with everyone and she has a tizzy fit.
After going over all the scenarios, she chose Todd to share the feast with her, something she should have probably done with little thought. She could only invite one or two. She couldn't logically take two leaving one person behind, so it was one or none. Take Todd. He's the original alliance, no brainer. So much drama about such an obvious decision!
Then, back at camp, Denise is riding her "feeling hurt, outsider" pony while Courtney really doesn't care much at all about things. She declares Todd to be a slippery little sucker thus giving the finale a title. You go, girl! I do kind of like Denise, but she so often is on that pity pony that it makes it hard to cheer her on. I know many show fans want the winner of a reality show to be the person who needs it the most, but that's just not me. If people need money that badly, they can't take time off from work to go be on reality shows. Or, if they do, they're not thinking too clearly. I want the person who played the game best to win. Sometimes it happens.
During the feast Amanda told Todd she doesn't really trust him and gave him a clue that he might be betrayed by the alliance. He swore his loyalty, but the seed was planted in his mind. If Amanda wants him gone and she's his closest ally ... oops!
There was the inevitable memory walk, this time with the final four reminiscing and then setting off a string of firecrackers as they worked their way up to a statue of the goddess of compassion and mercy.Yes, yes ... nice things said about the departed and brief film clips from their time on the show. Me? I liked the firecrackers. I know this is a popular part of the show, but it's not my favorite part of the finale.
Mine is the jury questioning period! Yeah, I like the down and dirty stuff.
After lots of vying for position in the upcoming vote, it was time for the last Immunity Challenge. This one was a bit different and looked pretty tough. Now, you would have that that it was a competition made for Denise. She's a lunch lady in a school cafeteria. What would be the more perfect occupation for balancing plates on a pole?
Yep, although I envisioned an upright broom pole, it was an odd horizontal contraption. One by one they had to add plates, bowls, cups, and saucers. The heat didn't help them any.From the start Amanda seemed to be the cool one. Todd was quickly out followed by Courtney. And, to give her credit, it appeared she was really trying to win for a change. So it was between Denise and Amanda.
Amanda made a strategic move in the stacking which I think was more responsible for her win than pizza and beer ever could be. She, at one point, placed a bowl upside down in the stack. That provided a more stable base and she won. Denise had tried to cut a deal, but ended up losing without one.
Then it was wheeling and dealing time once again. I really think Denise played her pity pony too much. I don't think she would have been anything better than number four with the group, but it just made her look like a sad sack. Amanda promised her she wouldn't write her name.
Oh, but she's said that before and wrote it. The three decided it would be Denise leaving as I think the whole world figured they would do. Courtney wanted to tell her, Todd wanted to say he wasn't decided. Yet, they still talked about taking Todd out behind his back.
If there was any chance of Denise staying (and I don't think there was), she blew it for herself at Tribal Council. She said how she'd win because of her kids and said that Amanda said she had her back. Amanda refuted that saying that she said it earlier in the game, Todd smirked and got himself in hot water with Amanda for making her look bad in front of the jury. But, in the end, Denise was booted.
For the jury questions, here's a brief take:
James congratulated all of them and asked Courtney what her best time was on the show. She said winning the first challenge and not being voted out first.
Jean-Robert congratulated them, but then mentioned that he had told Amanda and Todd they wouldn't have his vote if they backstabbed him (which they did). He also said Courtney wasn't deserving of a win. Todd managed to bamboozle his way out and said he had to vote for him (JR) because he was the biggest threat in the game. And Jean-Robert bought it!
Peih-Gee asked about strategies and told Amanda she was sick of her doe eyes. She said Amanda lied as much as anyone in the game and wanted Todd to take the fall as the bad guy. She pointed out it was Amanda who got rid of James.
Erik only asked Amanda her riskiest move. Since it had been brought up, she went with getting rid of James.
Frosti asked Todd if he was a real friend or not. Todd told him he played the game on a different level than his personal life. He told Courtney her gameplay intrigued him the most.
Jaime tried to get Courtney and Todd to air dirty laundry about each other, but she didn't get much cooperation. The most she got was the fact that Todd thought he was most deserving of the win. Amanda said that Courtney was ungrateful when they won things and said Todd was too deceitful and lied too much. So Todd came back with the fact he was doing dirty work for the nice girl.
Denise played the lunch lady kids card once again. It was obvious that her vote would be for Courtney because Amanda and Todd hurt her feelings by lying to her.
Then the votes came in ... Courtney, Amanda, Todd, Courtney, Todd, Todd, Todd. We knew that Erik was the Amanda vote because they showed it. Jean-Robert obviously voted for Todd because he said "you stole a million, well-played." Denise voted for Courtney because she was truthful. I would think that the other vote for Courtney had to be Frosti. The kid has a crush on her.Todd Herzog, the skinny gay Mormon flight attendant, has won Survivor China. As I knew he would all along.
Ahem.
Reunion show tidbits:
- James won the $100,000 voted by fans.
- Denise lost her $7 an hour lunch lady job because the show made her a distraction for students. She took on a job as janitor, but it's the night shift and she's unhappy.
- Mark Burnett, on the spur of the moment on the live show, awarded Denise $50,000 when he heard of her plight.
- Courtney was down to 86 pounds on the show. But she's gained so much weight that she looks healthy now.
- Erik and Jaime are dating and he's still a virgin.
- Sherea looked very nice, as did Amanda. The woman wrestler looked horrible.
- The next season isn't an outright All Stars version. It will be show "superfans" pitted against some of the most popular previous castaways. At least one player from Survivor China will be on the show.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
12-17-2007 @ 1:29AM
Cody said...
I'm not surprised Todd won. He played the game well and managed to ally himself with two people who did their part to let him win.
Also I'm happy that Burnett gave Denise a consolation prize, but PG's gotta be pissed about getting nothing even though she and Denise were both named in the audience favorites poll.
Next season should be interesting. I'm curious about the logistics though, Probst said someone from Survivor China would be there, but all of them were at the reunion ceremony, which means that the next season must already be done filming. That's gotta be kind of awkward to go on a second season of the show when you're not done with the first one yet.
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12-17-2007 @ 5:13AM
Paul said...
Apparently the Fans vs. Favorites season finished filming 10 days ago. So whoever from China (one or more) was in it, had enough time to recover that even if they went far, they might not show it as far as malnutrition and whatnot.
12-17-2007 @ 1:53AM
bsgfan2003 said...
Pity Pony!!! I spit the water out of my mouth when I read that! Too funny. I too thought she went around feeling sorry for herself way too much. Both Todd and Courtney grew on me, I never thought I would be glad to see Todd win, but I am.
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12-17-2007 @ 2:06AM
BigTed said...
Just like in the Richard Hatch year, the moral of this season is that you can lie, scheme and scr#w people over the entire time, but they'll still vote for you if you give a good speech in the end. (Meanwhile, the one who fights hard and wins challenges like Amanda did gets nowhere.) To me, this makes the jury members look like idiots. Let's just hope Todd takes Hatch's example and remembers to stop lying and cheating so much when it comes time to pay his taxes.
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12-17-2007 @ 10:45AM
JPN said...
I totally disagree. I think as this game has evolved, or maybe because of the kind of people they've chosen to be on the show, the jury has seemed to reward the schemers. The whole point of the show IS to outwit, outplay and outlast, and it seems that most of the time, the jury gives the prize to someone who at least does that, and being likeable helps.
12-17-2007 @ 2:39AM
D Colin said...
This is the first time in a long time the winner is someone I wanted to win from thew get go. I liked Todd and thought he played a good game (though why the hell he never asked James for an idol back bests me).
Actually I liked the final four as a whole. Courtney grew on me as the season went on -- but I didn't think she should win. I really liked Amanda too, but come one she lied and screwed over people too. She wasn't an angel and she walked side by side with Todd the whole way. Hmmm, now Denise. She was great I liked her since that wrestling challenge. She fought hard and got in an alliance I liked. But I would have never taken her to final three myself-- she kept pulling that I'm a working mom card. Every time she started saying something like that I paused my DVR and said "and that's why she won't be in the final three". She was well liked and worked hard and she had a sob story to tell -- not someone I want to go against -- though if she'd been against Todd I'd still have voted for Todd, he was the better player. Then during final Tribal she was (as James would say) a Bitter Betty, but I can understand it was still so fresh to her.
I'm just glad Todd won!
So this was a great season to watch-- and I can't wait for fans vs. favorites
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12-17-2007 @ 5:19AM
Paul said...
I really liked James (as did most of the world, apparently), but from the beginning I was pulling for Todd. Even when he made some stupid decisions while OVER-scheming, he still knew what he was doing and played the game the best.
I actually liked how Amanda played, and on some level I can respect that at least she felt something when voting people off. But at the same time, Todd was smiling because he was playing the GAME, and having fun doing it. Obviously I'd never know how I'd react until put in the situation, but I always get frustrated when people on Survivor take both the relationships and the votes so seriously. It's a game -- have fun!
I think Amanda would've done better at the final tribal if she spent most of her time saying that she was scheming just as much as Todd, but was also stronger at the challenges, winning the final 3 (2 immunity, 1 reward).
And since I have both Jamie and Erik on my Facebook and saw all their lovey-dovey wall posts to each other, all I was wondering was if they'd ADMIT it on the reunion show, which they did (by the way, Erik's band is frickin' good!).
Looking forward to Micronesia. The rumoured cast is quite interesting, with a few personal favourites in there, and I'm really interested to see how they interact with each other while also interacting with superfans. At the very least, it'll be quite different from All-Stars.
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12-17-2007 @ 7:33AM
Drex said...
I don't have anything good to add other than Jackie, that was a LAME writeup..
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12-17-2007 @ 10:46AM
JPN said...
Then I guess you don't have anything good to write at all.
12-17-2007 @ 8:31AM
grumpyoldman said...
There was one Survivor China contestant that was not available for interviews the day after his/her vote off. That is the person from Survivor China that was in the All Star version.
Since this is a spoiler free zone...
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12-17-2007 @ 8:46AM
Jez said...
Oh grumpyoldman, please do tell? I think spoilers are alright in the comments section! It's either James, Courtney or Amanda right???
12-17-2007 @ 8:54AM
laura said...
Denises Sob story, her trying to convince Amanda to make a deal during the immunity was all acts of desperation from a woman who obviously loathes her life. Can she not change her job? find something better? did she make a pact with satan to wear a mullet and work for the school system forever? The explanation for the mullet was golden, i have to wear my hair short, but i still want to feel like a woman......I need t-shirts made STAT!
I am so peeved at Burnett for giving Denise 50 grand, Its bad precedent. Now we are going to hear 5 million sob stories from survivors in the future. If anyone deserved an extra 50 grand it was the poor editors who had to blur out body parts all season
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12-17-2007 @ 10:00AM
cbecker said...
I agree that Denise veered into the realm of the pathetic in the end, but if we're going to kill her for having a mullet, someone has to say something about Todd's hair at the reunion -- what was up with that look?
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12-17-2007 @ 10:59AM
otis said...
Did anyone notice the blatant snub that Amanda received during the reunion show. There must have been a reason because she was barely even recognized.
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12-17-2007 @ 10:55AM
JPN said...
As a "hardcore" Survivor fan, my REAL hope for the final vote was that it would be 3-3-1; I am fascinated to find out what they would do in the case of that kind of tie!!! It almost happened too...maybe a live vote runoff? Or maybe they would have eliminated Amanda back in China and had the 7 vote for Todd/Courtney then? Or maybe make them build fire LIVE ON TELEVISION!!?!?!?!
Poor Pascal and his purple rock....
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12-17-2007 @ 11:08AM
Jussup said...
I am SSSOOO disappointed! That could not have gone worse. Not since that season years ago where the slimy used car salesman won have I been so bummed at the result. Too bad, because other than the finale it was a pretty good season.
Amanda's biggest mistake- she should have voted for Courtney at the final four vote, it still would have resulted in a Denise vote off but she would have kept her promise to Denise.
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12-17-2007 @ 12:43PM
Gordon Werner said...
Courtney is the one on the next Survivor yes?
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12-17-2007 @ 1:26PM
Dave said...
Can someone tell the people that go on this show that they have to watch at least one season of Survivor in the past to be on? Why do people like Denise think its just awful to be lying and backstabbing on Survivor? Its for $1 million dollars you idiot. No wonder you work in a $7.00/hr job. You are an idiot.
Every year Survivor has been on, you needed to lie and backstab to win. This is the name of this game. Nice guys don't win. They work in $7.00 hour jobs.
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12-17-2007 @ 2:16PM
BC said...
Todd deserved to win, as he was the best player this season! The icing on the cake had to be his comment to John Robert that he had to get rid of him because he was a threat --- too funny! Todd stroked his ego and he bought it. He reads people and knew what to do from day 1. Honestly I think he has to be one of the best players ever of the game!
I can't believe Courtney got more votes than Amanda! Terrible! She was nothing more than a tag along all season!
And yes what was up with Todd's hair style on the reunion show! Hopefully with a million dollars he can get a new style cause that has to go down as one of the worst "dews" in history of tv.
As for the show, Denise lives in a dream world if she thought the pity card would have worked. No one would have voted for her to win regardless of who was up there with her!
I thought Amanda had a shot but she will forever regret the answer to her questions. She is not a good speaker and studdered alot during her answers!
Several mistakes:
1) why was James not asked why he didn't give Todd back an idol (and why did Todd not ask for it back during the season)?
2) Why was Peih Gee not asked about the throwing of the challenge and how it backfired on her!
3) I too think Denise should have went with Peih Gee and Erik to switch sides, however did she know the final 3 made it in front of the jury? (if so she is an idiot because its assumed its final 2, but if she knew then she made a HUGE mistake)? However, they voted and Peih Gee would have won...but anything could have happened even if they had happened since Peih Gee would then have been the main target!
4) I respect Denise for trying to make a deal with Amanda, however after she lost and tried again to turn Amanda why did she not go after Courtney when Todd didn't work? (it was like Todd or oh well, very dumb)
5) James. Who knows the exact rules but if what Frost said on the show about how when it got to the final 5 and James could not even use the immunity idols at that point -- then YES he is the dumbest survivor player in history. I guess he wanted to keep them as souvenirs! He only had 2 times to use them and then they were worthless, so why not play them to be safe that time and the next time? I guess you can say that he dug his own grave!
6) What idiot declares on national tv they are in their 20's (?) and still a virgin? Nice one Erik!
I am glad they are doing another season...but the premise is not appealing to me!
HOW ABOUT A SEASON OF ALL OF THE THE FIRST PERSONS THAT GOT BOOTED EVERY YEAR. That's 15 losers (and throw in one of those injured persons) and see how they do! To me that would be appealing to what to see how they play different this time!
OR HOW ABOUT AN ALL-STARS OF JUST THE WINNERS FOR LIKE 5 MILLION?
I would like to see them change the format somewhat: 1) let them stay a few days before someone gets voted off because I feel the first one to go is just too fast; 2) I still think a everyone vs. everyone with no stupid tribes from day one would be good (have team competition in the challenges, but all versus all for immunity and at the votings).
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12-17-2007 @ 2:32PM
bsgfan2003 said...
Re: Erik, I'm guessing he is a virgin by choice. He's probably a nice guy waiting for a nice girl to marry. Nothing bad about that. Probst declared it, not Erik, if memory serves.