In Survivor: China episode 5, Peih-Gee pulled off one the best strategic moves I’ve seen in years (albeit still a somewhat risky one), intentionally losing a post-shuffle immunity challenge to avoid being Pagonged. Granted, I haven’t seen much in the way of good strategic moves on Survivor in years, but even with that aside, I’d still say that regardless. Many people probably hated this move because it may seem like a chicken’s way out, but it was really her only logical choice. Following the loss, Aaron was voted out because he’s a better schemer than James. However, unlike Aaron, James can win a challenge single handedly if the opportunity presents itself. So tonight’s ultimate question becomes whether he can save himself given the situation.

Todd tells Amanda he has clues to the hidden immunity idol, which I would hope has been burned by now. He’d previously called people suckers for sharing this type of information.

Reward is to go to a tea house, get pampered, and have tea and a light snack. They must go from room to room and find and untie planks, which will then form a puzzle, a phrase made famous by Confucius. During the challenge, Peih-Gee uses the time to strategize, waiting for a moment alone with Sherea. Brilliant again. She tells Sherea to tell Frosti they’re still there for them. The challenge is pretty much even all along. Fei Long easily wins because Zhan Hu sucked at the puzzle, begging the question just how much difference it would have made if they actually tried at least week’s puzzle. James’ old tribemates are happy to kidnap him, especially Todd because he wants to get another clue for the HII from him.

Courtney still wants to see Jean-Robert go. She couldn’t care less what that means in terms of numbers.

Peih-Gee, Jaime, and Erik start to get concerned that Frosti and Sherea aren’t still with them. So they decide they have to win immunity. Not sure how that increases their odds.

At the first chance he gets, Todd tells James there’s something in the tube that can save him if he gives it to him. James agrees because he doesn’t have another choice. With this fourth clue, Todd figures it out. While Todd and Amanda are searching for the idol, Frosti comes up and starts trying to find it himself. Because of this, he sees the idol when they get it, and they tell him they have to trust him. Todd gives it to James and tells him that he has to throw the challenge and use the idol to get rid of Jaime.

Did I say Peih-Gee was brilliant? Todd’s giving her a run for her money. This plot is also strategically one of the better ones I’ve seen in a long time, not to mention great use of a hidden immunity idol (much better than a weak plot like using it to sway an idiot on the outskirts, then being praised for months as the Yulfather). Todd said he wanted to show us Survivor’s still Survivor, and this is hopefully a sign of things to come.

The immunity challenge is a gross food eating challenge. Frosti beats Peih-Gee on the chicken hearts. Jaime and Courtney eat eel (lame for a challenge like this), with Jaime coming out ahead. Erik beats Amanda eating baby turtles. Despite an early and lengthy effort by James to throw the challenge, Denise can’t get down whatever it was they were eating with that had feathers, so James won to take the lead 3-1. Erik takes the next point and wins the challenge for Zhan Hu. Oddly enough, this was the right thing to do. Unfortunately, it means the damn hidden immunity idol lives another day. Hopefully that will lead to more than just someone being carried to the final three, perhaps another strategy like tonight (minus the anticlimactic part).

Back at camp, todd and Amanda want to get rid of Sherea and hope to form an alliance of Todd, Amanda, Denise, Frosti, James, and Courtney. Courtney would rather eat one of her own and get rid of Jean-Robert, and she tells Sherea. Jean-Robert gets the sense something’s up. Todd, who fears a negative reaction from people if they don’t do what they want, suggests that maybe Jean-Robert’s not such a bad boot, but Amanda doesn’t think now’s the time to get rid of him.

At tribal council, people start attacking Jean-Robert, not caring that they’re just alienating him even further than they already had to begin with. Don’t give him an excuse to flip when the merge happens. For some unknown reason, though, Courtney opens her big mouth and lets Todd know she doesn’t trust him either.

Votes:
Jean-Robert
Jean-Robert
Sherea
Sherea
Sherea
Sherea

As much as I won’t miss Sherea, it’s almost too bad they didn’t have time to plot and discuss getting rid of Courtney. It wouldn’t have been smart, but it would have been well deserved. Granted, watching Sherea’s goodbye video makes me completely sure I won’t miss her. Delusion, party of one.

The vote gives Fei Long a very shaky 6-4 advantage going into what is presumably a merge next week. Jean-Robert, Courtney, Frosti, Erik, Jaime, and Peih-Gee all appear willing and able to stab at least one person on their old tribe in the back.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: China episode 7 I’m Not As Dumb As I Look, which airs Thursday at 8/7c on CBS.

Watch Survivor: China Online

In Survivor: China Episode 2, I said Zhan Hu should get rid of Dave, or they’ll regret it. Of course, they refused to do that and kept him around. So then in Survivor: China episode 4, they woke up and realized they should have done that, and decided to vote him out. Unfortunately, what made sense in episode 2 no longer made sense in episode 4. I really can’t figure out what Sherea, one of the laziest contestants on the show this year, contributes to the team, and her excuse that she’s saving up her energy for challenges doesn’t cut it because it’s not like she’s good at them or anything. With decisions like these, it’s no wonder they’ve been to tribal council three out of four times.

Erik and Jaime start flirting. He says he’s a virgin, which she says makes him more trustworthy than she thought before. In Survivor, a showmance should work pretty well.

James and Denise are getting along well because of their work ethic. He’s definitely a good person to coast under.

The tribes receive a message saying they must pick two warriors. Fei Long picks Frosti and… Sherea. Huh? As Simon Cowell would say, what the bloody hell was that? Zhan Hu picks James and Aaron. Maybe this tribe is less dumb than the other. Or maybe they’re both just dumb in their own ways. Anyway, this does even things up, as Fei Long was becoming way too strong (largely because Zhan Hu kept sucking worse and worse).

Both tribes are talking about voting off new members, but in terms of winning challenges, this doesn’t make sense. If this were a normal tribe shuffle, it definitely would, but when you get the strongest members, you don’t just vote them off. That’s just stupid unless you want to lose. With that said, Sherea’s completely expendable.

Sherea’s talking about stepping up her work now that she’s on the other tribe. I’m not betting on it. Frosti’s happy to find out nobody likes Jean-Robert because it improves his position. Jean-Robert’s asking people to help him out politely as far as I can tell, yet everybody takes offense to it. They’re just looking for an excuse to hate on the guy who’s now their strongest member. If they lose him, they’ll suck as bad as the other tribe used to.

Aaron already starts talking about James being a threat longer term. Dude, it’s episode 5. Granted, better James than himself.

Peih-Gee is the only person I’ve seen smart enough to discuss taking advantage of having a post-shuffle majority. Most people try their hardest to make sure they win immunity, thereby ensuring that their teammates on the other side who are in the minority go home. She realizes this problem and contemplates whether it’s a good idea. This is potentially problematic for her in this case (again going back to the picks based on strength) because if they get rid of the strongest players, that runs the risk of losing more immunities, which may be a problem if the couple decide to take her out.

Tribes must head out to a raft and dive under the water to retrieve sticks. They must get as many sticks in one breath as possible. When they get all the sticks out, puzzle pieces will be released. Amanda and Courtney sit out for Fei Long. Zhan Hu gets back to shore first. Fei Long’s a bit behind but not too far. Jaime and Peih Gee are completely unconcerned about the challenge, and since they’re two of the three puzzle solvers, this is enough to make sure they lost big.

James hopes the guys unite, which would make for a very strong tribe. Erik’s not going to turn on Jaime yet, but he would turn on Peih-Gee. Would have made more sense to clue Erik in on the decision beforehand and gotten his feedback. They do, however, tell him after the fact, and he’s willing to work with them just because he doesn’t see a viable alternative. James tells them to just send him home if they’re not getting rid of one of the girls. He would have been safe at least one more time, but probably not much more at this rate.

Jaime admits at tribal council that she threw the challenge. James is going nuts listening to this conversation and wants to leave because he just can’t sit around and watch what they’re doing.

Votes:
Peih-Gee
James
Aaron
Aaron
Aaron

Aaron has been voted off the island. James is quite upset, but they got rid of the person who’s a smoother talker.

I’ve got to give credit to Peih-Gee for one of the better strategic plays I’ve seen in quite some time. This is how you deal with a shuffle.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: China episode 6 That’s Love Baby! It Makes You Strong!, which airs Thursday at 8/7c on CBS.

Watch Survivor: China Online

Want more Survivor: China? Subscribe to dingoRUE for continued coverage of Survivor: China.

If you missed an episode of Survivor: China, you can watch it for free on the Internet on CBS’ website.

In addition to full episodes, which are posted online the day after the show airs, CBS offers specific clips from each episode and special videos such as the castoff’s final words after being voted out of the tribe.

In Survivor: China episode 3, Jean-Robert made some enemies, but Leslie talked herself right out of the game.

Jean-Robert is discussing his “strategy” of doing nothing then trying to pretend he’s doing something so all of a sudden people are impressed with him. Courtney’s not buying it.

Yet another person gets upset with Dave, this time it’s Sherea. Even though I’m not a fan of Dave, she’s being unnecessarily aggressive (downright bitchy) for no reason here.

Reward is for a fisherman and his family to go to camp, cook a meal, and teach the tribe how to fish. Courtney sits out for Fei Long. Tribes must move a flaming ball in pairs of two using sticks like chopsticks. Fei Long wins 3-2. They decide to kidnap Dave. Hopefully he learned a lesson from Leslie.

Dave says he feels like he’s on vacation. He sees it as an opportunity to get on their good side because some people in his own tribe are causing him trouble. Todd thinks Dave’s a nutcase but is pretending to be nice. Dave foolishly thinks he can trust Todd, as does everybody else. He gives the hidden immunity idol clue to Todd.

Now Dave’s tribe is finding out what it’s like to actually work. Well, some members of his tribe are finding that out. Sherea, who hasn’t done anything all along, just stays in bed watching everybody else work. She’s trying to conserve energy for the challenges. Apparently it takes a lot of energy to suck at challenges or something.

The fisherman’s family comes with regurgitating fishing birds. Jean-Robert spent some time in Thailand a long time ago and is able to speak some Mandarin with the family, proving to be a valuable asset in translating. After they catch some fish, they teach the tribe how to use the nets.

At the immunity challenge, tribes are dressed in traditional Chinese armor. They will throw meteor hammers at their opponent’s vases and defend their vases with bamboo poles. Jean-Robert sits out for Fei Long. First round is Denise/Peih Gee against Courtney/Sherea. Peih Gee blocks one of Courtney’s shots, but Sherea still scores one. Todd and James dominate the next round to take a 3-1 lead. Amanda/Aaron go against Jaime/Eric in the third round. Jaime hits two at once to tie the game at 3, but Amanda retakes the lead 4-3. Fei Long wins immunity.

The boot choice is between Dave and Sherea, again the person who’s arguing with Dave. As far as I’m concerned, she needs to go. Her contribution in challenges isn’t worth a great deal, and that’s really all she’s willing to offer.

Votes:
Dave
Sherea
Dave
Dave
Dave

Dave has been voted off the island. Stupid tribe. No wonder they can’t win anything. If Sherea offered some value to the game, I’d be all for the vote, but she’s completely useless, making this pitiful.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live blog of Survivor: China Episode 5 Love Is in the Air, which airs Thursday at 8/7c on CBS.

In episode 2, Jean-Robert got in trouble with his tribe for sleeping all the time, which he said was strategy (huh?), but he lucked out that the other tribe couldn’t compete in the challenge. Zhan Hu decided to break up the tension in their tribe by booting either Ashley or Dave, and they chose Ashley, a move I can’t imagine they won’t regret. Maybe Dave will have a new attitude this week, though. Or not.

Jean-Robert says to call him creepy if they want to, and the women take him up on that offer. Taking up the whole bed and insisting on cuddling with women who aren’t attracted to him is making him even more enemies.

Peih-Gee is concerned that Dave’s wasting his energy at camp, which will again make him wiped out for the challenge, which he performed horribly at last week. His theory is that camp needs to be sorted, and if it’s not, that is what will cause problems at challenges. Frosti thinks Dave should just be happy he didn’t get voted out last time. Yep, definitely no new attitude here.

At the reward challenge, teams start on opposite ends and must battle each other three-on-three to throw the other tribe into the water. Reward is kerosene, a lantern, pillows, blankets, and a tarp. Courtney and Todd sit out for Fei Long. Jaime, Peih-Gee, and Sherea beat Amanda, Denise, and Leslie. Dave pulls a Richard Hatch and takes his pants off. James is the last man standing against Zhan Hu’s men to tie it 1-1. Jaime and Peih-Gee again take the win for Zhan Hu. James then again is the last man standing to tie it 2-2. In the final matchup, Jaime and Peih-Gee win it for Zhan Hu, which marks the first challenge they’ve won. They decide to kidnap Leslie.

Leslie believes the other tribe has an advantage in terms of morale. She spills a lot of information to the girls and Eric. I’m not sure she went too far, but she definitely volunteered way more information than she needed to.

Todd and Courtney are eavesdropping on James and Jean-Robert and overhear Jean-Robert say Courtney is the first to go. Neither James nor Jean-Robert are even attempting to be quiet. This convinces them that Jean-Robert and James need to go, the sooner the better. The big problem with this theory is that, without those two, they’d get killed in challenges, while it’s pretty obvious that neither Todd nor Courtney are considered assets in that respect, as both sit out every other time. Of course, Jean-Robert is digging his own grave in other respects, so getting rid of him would be much easier than getting rid of James would be.

Leslie returns the favor and gives Jaime the clue to the hidden immunity idol. This second clue at a second camp means there are at least two hidden immunity idols. Hopefully this sucks less worse than it sucked last year.

Tribes must choose 4 choppers and 2 puzzle builders at the immunity challenge. Denise and Leslie sit out for Fei Long. The choppers must cut through ropes and release discs. The discs must then be used to solve a puzzle. Zhan Hu gets off to an early lead. Courtney’s a disaster in every sense of the word, though it does lead me to wonder who’s responsible for picking her to do the physical part of this task. She can’t even get one done before the other tribe has all four. If she wasn’t the first boot choice before, she is now. Todd might want to reconsider his theory about which way to vote. With a strong performance by the other people, however, Fei Long does make some effort at catching up, even if it’s never as close as Probst makes it seem. Zhan Hu wins their first immunity.

To her credit, Courtney gives her all at the challenge, even if her all wasn’t very much.

To make matters worse, not only did Leslie volunteer a lot of information to the other tribe, but she foolishly also tells her own tribe way too much information about what she told the other tribe, giving them a rock solid excuse to eliminate her. The other option is Jean-Robert, but it’s not a particularly valid option.

Jean-Robert’s not shy about saying what he thinks about who’s weak on the tribe. Courtney gets upset because she thinks they want to stick her where she will do the least damage, which it’s hard to blame them for. Leslie again volunteers information without thinking, saying the other tribe has more heart. Wow, could this be any more obvious?

Votes:
Jean-Robert
Leslie
Jean-Robert
Leslie
Leslie
Leslie
Leslie

Leslie is the first person voted out of Fei Long. Despite being weak in challenges, she could have bought herself at least another week if she just kept her mouth shut. In addition to Leslie obviously voting for Jean-Robert, Courtney does as well. Not real clear what she hoped to gain by voting against the tribe.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live blog of Survivor: China Episode 4, which airs Thursday at 8/7c on CBS.

In Survivor: China episode 1, Todd started scheming already, James didn’t say much but pushed over some trees, and Chicken overplayed the ignorant card (or was he just being himself?) and earned a quick boot because of it. Will this week’s elimination be that easy to choose? Stick around for another live blog to find out.

Dave jumps right into his leadership role when they get back to camp. His problem is he takes it a bit too aggressively, which is when it becomes problematic. Peih-Gee wanting to be the leader doesn’t help matters any.

Todd and Amanda make an alliance… at least until the merge she says. They decide to pull Aaron in because he’s strong and a leader so they have a target to deflect off if anyone starts blaming someone.

While everybody else is working, Jean-Robert is sleeping, and sleeping some more. He believes he can act lazy and get away with it so that people are impressed when he starts working later. Alienating the whole tribe this early is a bad idea no matter how you justify it.

Jaime tries to get Dave to let her build a small fire to cook some rice. He says no. The rest of the girls quickly rally behind her. Jaime was polite and just walked away, but Ashley gives him a piece of her mind.

Heading into the reward challenge, Jeff tells them to prepare to get dirty. Giant balls will be released into a mud pit and must be pushed across a goal. The reward will be fishing gear, a fishing boat, and one other twist to be revealed later. Fei Long must sit out one guy, and Todd is the pick. Aaron has a free run to the goal, until Probst mentions it. Aaron’s got no problem wrestling with the women. Eventually, the strategy evolves to pulling people’s clothes off. A dirty and topless Amanda ends up scoring the first point for Fei Long. James and Jean-Robert do a great job of being a team in the second matchup and take the win 2-0.

Then the twist is revealed. No more Exile Island (finally). Instead, the winner gets to kidnap a member of the other tribe until the next immunity challenge. Fei Long wants Jaime. She gets something that she must open and read in private when she gets to their beach.

When Zhan Hu gets back to camp, they find it under water. Dave takes this as a sign that his idea to build a pit instead of a fire was good.

Fei Long picked Jaime in an effort to demoralize the other tribe because she seems like a happy person. When she opens the note, it forces her to give the clue to a hidden immunity idol (which she can’t read) to a member of the Fei Long tribe. Interesting. Could either be dangerous or really good. But I’ve gotta say this. The damn hidden immunity idol twist isn’t dead? Oh c’mon. This is another stupid twist that’s gotta go. Let’s not ruin another season by giving someone a free pass to the final three, at the expense of better players.

She decides to give it to who she thinks is the weakest link, Leslie. I think this is a smart move because Leslie’s the type of person who will remember it, should she happen to get to the merge. She wants to use it to gain someone’s trust, someone who’s smart. She picks Todd. He’s a little too smart, though. He hopes she gets booted so he’s the only one who knows about it. I think he’d be better off forming a group of 5 rather than plucking off people who obviously trust him.

Ashley and Dave continue their catfight. She’s tired of him being patronizing.

At the immunity challenge, they must use a puzzle log to bash through walls. The puzzle of that log must then be solved. To get down to 6-on-6, Zhan Hu sits out Jaime, and Fei Long sits out Courtney and Leslie. Fei Long gets off to an early lead with the strength of James and Jean-Robert, plus overall good teamwork. Dave falls apart on the other tribe. Fei Long pretty easily wins, as they continue to work together well at the puzzle.

Dave takes full responsibility for the challenge loss. Never a good idea. He thinks he’s safe, but it’s between him and Ashley. Ashley decides to wait until tribal council before strategizing, also never a good idea.

At tribal council, people take issue with Dave’s over the top leadership style. Dave pretends he’s not doing anything wrong, though he keeps snapping at people, and 6 days in Sherea doesn’t even know half the tribe’s last names. The main concern is just that one of them needs to go to break the tension. When asked what the criteria is for her vote, Ashley just says she’s voting for Dave.

Votes:
Ashley
Dave
Ashley
Ashley
Ashley

Ashley has been voted off. Can’t say I agree with the choice, as she’s a lot better than some others on the tribe, but hopefully at least Dave’s been given a wakeup call. Unfortunately, the previews suggest he gets even worse next week.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live blog of Survivor: China episode 3, which airs Thursday at 8/7c on CBS.

Jeff Probst takes a look at Survivor: China episode 2. He says it’s full of a lot of drama.

After the jump, also check out the CBS promo for the episode.

As always, stay tuned to dingoRUE for a live recap from the east coast.

Continue Reading: (”Survivor: China Episode 2 Preview”)

Throughout the week, CBS has been providing us with various Survivor: China videos to prepare us for the new season. The Survivor: China cast has also been revealed (name, age, location, occupation). Beyond that, we do know a couple tidbits. Obviously, the show will take place in China, which is a first for a major American television production. Also, CBS has finally acknowledged that Exile Island was a mistake and stupid (okay, I added the stupid part). It will be replaced by allowing the winning team to kidnap one person from the other tribe. From a strategic standpoint, I think this will add a whole new element to the game, something that Exile never did. Does this new person give away information, or are they more concerned with seeing what they can take away? It also will potentially help form cross-tribe bonds that would not be possible otherwise, so we may not be stuck with the traditional Pagonging. With that said, it’s time to jump right into a live blog of episode 1 of Survivor: China.

The Survivors start off in a temple. Jeff points out that it’s not a worship ceremony. Peih-Gee, who as the name probably gives away is Chinese, is especially touched by the experience. Courtney couldn’t care less. Yeah, she’ll be the spoiled brat of the season. Leslie, the Christian radio talk show host, gets up and walks out.

Going back to buddhist beliefs, they leave behind their worldly possessions, meaning their suitcases. Not good for the women with high heels or the one who doesn’t have a bra. Oh, and wet jeans? Can you say chafing?

Frosti, Dave, Jaime, Eric, Peih-Gee, Sherea, Ashley, and Chicken are on the yellow tribe, Zhan Hu. Jean-Robert, Leslie, Amanda, Courtney, Denise, James, Todd, and Aaron are on the red tribe, Fei Long. Everybody is given a copy of Sun Tzu’s Art of War.

When they get to camp, they find out they have received rice, something that’s normally provided when there won’t be much food available on the land. Courtney gets sick to her stomach by people being nice to each other. Because that’s a bad thing apparently.

Jean-Robert figures out right away that Todd’s the clever guy. Be interesting to see whether he’s right. Todd acknowledges he’s willing to do whatever it takes to win. Based on his pre-show interview, it does appear that he’s a student of the game who’s here to prove to people that Survivor is still Survivor, and based on that, he’s got my vote for sticking around a while.

Sherea immediately begins whining. Chicken tries to voice his opinion, but he does it in a way that’s perceived negatively, rather than offering up a solution. He then goes to the exact opposite extreme of pretending he doesn’t know anything about anything. Peih-Gee fears she’s on the lazy tribe that doesn’t want to do anything productive.

James, the gravedigger, is used to being alone. He’s worried that he won’t be social enough for this game, but in terms of work ethic and challenges, he should be a great asset. Leslie is very impressed by him and gives him some advice.

Ashley, who thought she was well prepared by her WWE wrestling experience, gets sick on the first night following a bad storm. Easy target if they lose immunity.

Fei Long decides to read Art of War before the challenge. After hearing the part about the commander, Todd volunteers Aaron to be the tribe’s commander. Can be a curse, but as long as someone’s not bossy about it, it could also be good.

Each tribe will carry a Chinese dragon/tiger through a maze, one person will go through an obstacle course and rejoin their tribes to continue through a swamp, and lastly a puzzle. The winning tribe gets immunity and flint, as well as their running shoes. It’s neck and neck through the maze. James has trouble getting unclipped, so they take off dead even in the obstacle course. Going into the next phase, it’s still even as James and Frosti return to their teams. Fei Long takes a bit of a lead going into the final stage, a puzzle of the correct order to put their poles in. Fei Long wins immunity.

On the Zhan Hu tribe, it’s Dave who takes the obvious leader role, likeable enough of it should work out well for him. Peih-Gee also tries to take a leadership role, but she does it in a less likeable way. She tries to get an opinion out of Chicken, who refuses to offer one. Ashley says she feels a lot better. Dave would prefer to keep Chicken around for his experience, even if he won’t share any of it.

At tribal council, Jeff Probst asks whether anyone wants to be the leader. Dave and Peih-Gee both raise their hands. Everyone says the decision will be based on contribution. Chicken acknowledges he doesn’t fit in but believes he’s worked. Ashley votes for Peih-Gee. Chicken votes for Ashley as promised. Peih-Gee votes for Chicken because he lived up to his nickname and is afraid to step up and do anything.

Votes:
Chicken
Ashley
Ashley
Peih-Gee
Chicken
Chicken
Chicken

Chicken is the first person booted out. Well deserved. He foolishly went too far out of his way to not be seen as controversial, to the point where he became no use at all.

It looks like James and maybe Dave are the two who are out of the gates early as potential fan favorites, and possibly Ashley if she’s popular with the wrestling crowd. Who’s your favorite so far?

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live blog of Survivor: China Episode 2, which airs Thursday at 8/7c on CBS.

Survivor: China premieres tonight, and I’m looking forward to it (or at least hoping it stops sucking). As usual, I will be doing a live blog from the east coast during episode 1. Anyway, in this video, we take a behind the scenes look at Jeff Probst’s day on day 15 in Survivor: China from waking up to after tribal council’s over.

Jeff Probst takes a behind the scenes look at tribal council.