Survivor China Episode 10: Amanda Scores Big

Survivor China Episode 10: Amanda Scores Big 12/4/07

By Don Hart

Note to the Producers: You lucked out with the material for Survivor China's Episode 10. The seven remaining Survivors gave you some great material. Denise, heretofore a bit colorless, really did look as if she added some color to her cheeks after the Reward Challenge. Kudos go to Peih-Gee for giving Denise her chance to glow! Amanda stepped up to the plate and hit a strategic homer. And James' Tribal Council blunder had us all talking afterwards.

The change in the show's format, where there were symmetrical Tribal Council scenes, a Reward Challenge at the beginning and a Tribal Council, as always, at the end of the show, left a lot of nice room in between where we could concentrate on personal interaction. The Tribal Council suspense this time was refreshingly different. The focus turned out to be whether or not James would play an idol, not solely who was getting a torch snuffed out. Kudos go again to Peih-Gee (glad you're still around!) for her acting prowess.

Amanda's well-executed ouster of James in Episode 10 puts her clearly in the role of "The One to Beat" in Survivor China. She seems to do almost everything well. In Episode 9 she was the only Fei Longer to shun the burgers and try to win the Immunity Challenge. In Episode 10, she was the only one of the four Fei Long cave dwellers to exit and greet the Rewarded Trio. She is thinking ahead to the Jury and what behavior will win votes. Todd, meanwhile, her biggest competitor left, continues to lose ground. Todd ate the burgers (a sign of overconfidence which could very well be remembered at Jury time) and refused to leave the cave haven. Todd continues to smirk when torches are extinguished, while Amanda seems sincerely sad to see anyone leave. The jury notices that.

Amanda in her now-familiar soft voice presents her ideas with strategic thinking, not with ill will towards her victims. Todd, however, lets his emotions dominate. To Todd, Peih-Gee is a "bitch" for plotting against him. In an earlier episode he also called Courtney a "bitch". He doesn't realize that Peih-Gee is just playing the game. Amanda is aided by having Todd as a buffer. It was Todd, not Amanda, who was Peih-Gee's target at the 10th Tribal Council.

What is going on in Erik's head? His strategy remains murky at best. He and Jaime evidently never told Peih-Gee about James' immunity idols. And he thought it was "risky" to vote against Todd. By voting for James and not for Todd in the 10th Tribal vote, he hurt Peih-Gee's "insurance" vote. If James had played an immunity idol, Todd and Peih-Gee would each have had one vote, and the risk for Erik could have been to lose Peih-Gee as his closest ally. Erik showed his athletic hand by winning the Immunity Challenge, and that proved to be the coup de grace in keeping the Immunity necklace away from James. Now, however, Erik's athleticism is in full view, which could easily make him the next target. You have to at least give him credit for trying to persuade James to turn against Todd. He also stirred things up in Episode 8 by telling Jean-Robert about James' immunity idols, but his overall approach is just too low-key to win the game.

James, poor James! It's lucky for you you're probably now in that All-Stars show and you won't have to face all the questions this week about why you didn't play one of the Immunity Idols. Across America last Thursday you were being called "stupid", and you sure were. We hope you do better in the All-Stars, where we hope you can get further along in the Bible beyond the Garden of Eden. You certainly did have your moments. We won't forget your glee at Jaime's unfortunate exit. You lucked out because the Producers liked you. Your bad behavior in Episode 10, which we saw in the preview at the end of Episode 9, was evidently edited out. We didn't see you berate the others for not working and we didn't see Todd tell you to "watch your mouth". And finally, why oh why did you take that Immunity Idol out of your bag and hide it above your sleeping spot?

Denise, you certainly emerged from the shadows this episode. You got your chance to revitalize yourself and show your karate experience. Now we see why you were chosen for Survivor China, as was Jean-Robert for his Mandarin knowledge. You and Jean-Robert both were able to use your abilities and we will remember you for it. If only you had the will to win it all instead of "going as far as you can". We now fully understand, however, why you were left out of the vote to oust Jean-Robert. Your Tribal Council answer about "four votes putting everyone in danger" could very easily have blown the plot against James. You were lucky that James didn't pick up on it, and that Peih-Gee played her part so well.

Courtney also almost blew the plot with her post-Immunity Challenge wink. What exactly has she done to try to win the game? At least she is using her "15 minutes of fame" to continue farther than we ever imagined after her start in Episode 1. She is playing her role well in being the best Survivor to take to the Final Three jury vote. Courtney, you are in no danger of being voted out, but you also have no chance of winning. Your camera time could also be more memorably cattier. There's your big chance. You could come up with some better nasty or clever things to say.

The previews for Episode 11 must have a red herring somewhere after all the too-obvious hints in Episode 10 previews that James was going to be in trouble. The three scenes previewed on the regular show were: "1. The tribe is overwhelmed with emotion (must be the relatives/friends visit); 2. Amanda turns on her closest ally, Todd. (She says to Erik: "Todd is playing his own game. I don't like it." and 3. "And everyone's fate is in the hands of Denise." as Denise reveals she has the "swing vote". Number 2 looks like the best red herring candidate of the three. Amanda would be foolish to plot Todd's ouster at this point, as is hinted. Todd is her buffer, and if she were in the Final 5 without Todd, she would be dangerously vulnerable. She justified going after James by saying that either Peih-Gee or Erik would be the next eviction. Wouldn't Amanda lose votes by going back on her implied word by abandoning this plan? In the previewed conversation with Erik, could Amanda simply be working on Erik's Jury vote by distancing herself from Todd's behavior? And as for Denise's swing vote, because the tribes have stayed so loyal, the most likely choice for Denise is between the Zhan Hu pair and her three Fei Long pals. She didn't bite Peih-Gee's apple in Episode 10, so why expect her to do any differently in Episode 11? The best bet next is that Denise stays loyal to Fei Long and either Erik or Peih-Gee, whoever doesn't win immunity, is voted out.

A final suggestion to the Producers: Survivor would be more interesting if original tribal alliances broke down. Why not have many more tribal mix-ups in the beginning of the series so that original tribal lines are blurred? That would really shake things up and add unpredictability to the game.

E-mail me for what you think: cosohub@ix.netcom.com