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« Survivor: China
Playing the Trump Card
You've got to know when to fold 'em. Jean-Robert Bellande by Monty Brinton/CBS
Episode Recap: "High School Friend Contest"
Good evening, Survivorites. Nina Hämmerling Smith here; I'll be your blogger tonight while Rhoda's away.
It was quite an episode, wasn't it? I lost track of the number of times the strategy shifted and lies were told and uncovered. It all began with James, a good provider and obviously a tremendous physical threat, and his insight that the Fei Long'ers may all be opposites, but they have the strength of numbers, whereas the Zhan Hu'ers were trying to win a "high school friend contest."
His comment proved prophetic when the reward challenge involved a school-yard pick of teams, and poor Denise was left out and became ineligible to enjoy the reward, a feast at an ancient village. The challenge involved sinking the opponent's boat, and Peih-Gee's red team picked Courtney as a captain because she weighs next to nothing — but, hello, she's also got the strength of a weak kitten (mew!). Jean-Robert, Todd, James and Amanda won easily, with a combination of brawn and brains.
It led to a delightfully awkward encounter between JR and three of his supposed "allies," all of whom handled an idol at one point but were feigning surprise at the news of its existence. The scene also provided one of the funniest lines of the night, courtesy of a tipsy Jean-Robert: "I did not know there was an American Immunity Idol." Ha! I guess we should all consider ourselves lucky that he didn't break out into song.
Meanwhile, the challenge losers — Peih-Gee, Erik, Frosti, Courtney and a rightly pissed-off Denise — started strategizing back at camp, led by Miss Conniving herself, aka Peih-Gee. She suggested that they pick off Jean-Robert next, certainly an appealing prospect to most of them.
Todd, meanwhile, was pissed that James hadn't offered him one of the idols when he returned to the fold, and decided with his inner circle that they would blind-side James.
Back at camp, Jean-Robert woke up early the next morning to look for the immunity idol and seemed to think he'd discovered something when he tore off the remaining plaques on the pagodas. I'm confused — he was at tribal council last time, wasn't he? Jaime played something she thought was the idol, Jeff threw it in the fire... and Jean-Robert thinks he has a trump card in his pocket because he has three things that look exactly like Jaime's kindling? He told Erik he had the idol, and Erik broke the news to him that — oops — James had not one but both of them. Of course JR couldn't keep the info to himself; he went blabbing to James that he knew he had them both, claiming he "figured it out" all on his own. Uh-huh. And then he went and told Todd, as well, who was royally bothered by the fact that he came up with the same idea of blind-siding James, enough so that he decided to change the things up yet again and vote Jean-Robert out instead. Seemed like a solid plan, but, as Courtney — who won individual immunity by proving that balance was one area where she actually surpassed James — pointed out, "He's become the Susan Lucci of tribal council; his name is always up there, but he never quite gets voted out."
Going in to the council meeting, I honestly didn't know whether it would be James or Jean-Robert going home tonight. And it did come down to the wire. Erik and Peih-Gee were the only ones who brought their stuff with them, but Peih-Gee only received one vote (from Denise, who apparently wasn't in on anybody's plan); James, meanwhile, looked genuinely stricken as Jeff read the votes against him. But just like at the '99 Emmys, every streak must come to an end, and Jean-Robert was finally sent home. I'm looking forward to talking to him (check out my Q&As with the Survivor cast-offs) to find out what he really thinks of his former tribemates.
A couple of things to look out for in the weeks to come: What will become of Courtney, now that her nemesis is out of the game? Which way will she sway? If the snuggling is any indication, she and Frosti are becoming close; where does he stand with the tribe? And what about Denise, who could become an important swing vote? Stay tuned!
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Nov 8, 2007 10:21 PM
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Turning into quite an entertaining season. These tribal councils have been great. Love the facial expressions.
James seems to get funnier every week. Some of the stuff he says cracks me up. Calling JR a dumb ass was one of my favorites this week. If James was smart, he would offer Todd one of the immunity idols. It just paints a target on him if he has 2 of them. It makes people want to eliminate him earlier than if he only had one. Nice job by James when confronted by JR about the idols. I guess JR isn't as good a poker player as he thought he was.
Still don't like Courtney. She just rubs me the wrong way. I don't like people who tell Jeff to shut up. No no no Courtney. Why did they pick her for the reward challenge? That was just stupid. She is useless in most challenges. And then she finally finds a challenge that she is great at. Amazing.
Todd is playing a shrewd game. He played several people tonight. When he switched to JR, he got just enough people to vote him off. That was clever. It looks like the power team at the moment is Amanda, Todd, James and Frosti. PG and Erik are on borrowed time. Denise is a bit of an outsider. No one fills her in on anything. And who knows about Courtney.
I like Denise. She is scrappy. I personally would have picked her for that reward challenge. They didn't have to put her in the boat. The selection of Courtney still baffles me. Denise could easily swing to another alliance. Frosti definitely doesn't have ties to his old tribe. That ship has sailed a long time ago. PG and Erik should not count on him for anything. Frosti is another favorite of mine.
Not sure if I like the Susan Lucci analogy by Courtney. She was not getting enough votes all those years to win her Emmy. JR was not getting enough votes to get voted off. So Susan was looking for more votes and JR was not. Hence the analogy doesn't quite work. I would have used a MacGyver analogy. He was always in big trouble, but he would somehow get out of danger in the end. Or Sydney Bristow would also work if you want to use a female character.
I got some other random points. Amanda sure is having trouble with her shorts. They keep on having to blur out her backside. JR sure got drunk quickly on that reward. I am very very very glad that Jaime got on the jury. We get to see her every week. Also glad that the "Come on in guys" was back this week. It was sorely missed last week. Was this the first time that the credits didn't have all of the players? This week it just had the remaining players and the one jury member. I don't remember them doing that in previous seasons.
Good season so far. Watch your back James.
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Nov 9, 2007 1:10 AM
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I believe the reason Courtney won that immunity is because she has the weight of a grasshopper, which wouldn't have made that barrel rock either! The more tiny the person, the better they fared.
Jean Robert.....from his interview at the end, is one disillusioned man. He thinks he was voted off because they all knew he was the "smartest player".
Gag.
I do feel sorry for Denise. She seems to have no friends, not even James, who I thought really liked her. But he said tonight that he doesn't want her to know anything.
I was really worried at tribal that James was going to be eliminated. It made me realize that I have really made my choice as to my favorite, but I know he won't last. I can hope though. I just love when he gets tickled and he's so funny.
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Nov 9, 2007 3:44 AM
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Another dumb move, and now they all deserve to lose to James. This was their perfect chance to vote him out. Now he is sure to feel threatened and start using those immunity idols. If he doesn't also win the individual immunity. They easily could have waited one more week to get rid of J.R.
And I loved Courtney's reference to Susan Lucci. I didn't know the girl had a sense of humor!
What a fun season! So unpredictable!
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Nov 9, 2007 7:59 AM
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James should be counting his lucky stars that his alliances members didn't have the b**ls to vote him out last nite. That may have been their one opportunity.
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Nov 9, 2007 8:45 AM
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It seems to me that not voting James off at this Tribal Council was just about the most stupid things I have seen on "Survivor." It amazes me that this group couldn't get it together and vote off someone who has TWO immunity idols, is the biggest physical threat, is fairly likable, and--best yet--totally wouldn't have expected it. But no, instead they had to get rid of someone who had pretty much zero chance of winning.
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Nov 9, 2007 9:23 AM
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Hello ~
Does anyone know why Todd gave James that idol in the first place since he had already told him how to get the second one? And why doesn't Todd just ask him for one back? It seems to me like James would have given one back if asked.
I loved when James was making everybody laugh when someone(?) couldn't fit in the "bed" and they were afraid to make JR move.
I was so happy that James did not get voted off. And even more happy to see JR go. That was so funny when he said American Immunity Idol. And I agree that James was pretty good at acting like he didn't know anything about it. And I thought it was hysterical when JR was trying to pretend that he had it! LOL
And I guess I need to retract my previous statements regarding Courtney not having a chance in hell of winning. Because if the immunity challenges require you to stand on a pole or something with tiny pegs to stand on ~ She will have a great chance to win. I guess she is a threat after all. It would be truly weird if she won though.
And I was a little bummed when James did not want to tell Denise what they were doing because out of all of them I think James could probably trust Denise the most. I understand that he didn't want to take the chance that she may have gotten upset (why?) and ruined the plan ~ But she does not strike me as someone who would do that. And if they had told her it would not have been as close with the votes between James and JR. Oh well!
Hopefully James learned a lesson to not trust anyone.
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Nov 9, 2007 9:58 AM
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Really great, suspenseful episode. I was so scared for James when JR came up with the same plan as Todd. I was shocked that Todd would change his whole strategy just because it meshed with JR's, that was just strange. He must seriously not respect Jean Robert AT ALL. 
I too was surprised that James seems to have cooled on Denise. He seems to feel that she gets upset and waffles which we haven't actually seen until last night but it seemed justified to me. That's too bad. I like both James and Denise, but if its a choice between the two, Denise will have to go. I do agree though that James should have at least discussed the two idols with Todd since without him he wouldn't have either of them. He talks openly about them with both he and Amanda so perhaps to him they are an alliance aid to be used by any member in need of them and it doesn't matter who holds on to them. I tend to doubt it though, James seems to consider them his but I'd prefer to give him the benefit of the doubt. 
Amanda has been worried about Todd for a couple weeks now so I'm wondering if she'll dump him and make a move on her own. Somehow I don't think she will, she's smart but I don't think she has the guts for a takeover.
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Nov 9, 2007 10:42 AM
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I think they made a big mistake not voting out James. Also I think Todd is overthinkig things and will be gone soon.
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Nov 9, 2007 10:52 AM
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The look on James face when he realized that he was a target was priceless! He must've thought how stupid he was to go to tribal without the idols! I guess he won't make that mistake again.
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Nov 9, 2007 12:12 PM
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Does anyone know why Todd gave James that idol in the first place since he had already told him how to get the second one? And why doesn't Todd just ask him for one back? It seems to me like James would have given one back if asked.
ZZZ,
My understanding is that Todd gave James the HII, in case he didn't have time or opportunity to retrieve the other one between the immunity challenge and tribal council.
I also agree that it was a mistake to not vote out James this week. Now that he knows that there is a target on his back, he'll be prepared to use a HII if he doesn't win immunity.
I also agree that Todd is over thinking things and it is making him look flaky/paranoid which will lead to his downfall.
Now with way TC went down, Denise could flip sides and if one other person also flips, it ends up in a 4-4 split. Todd's alliance could've give up the numbers by voting out JR.
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Nov 9, 2007 12:22 PM
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If JR plays cards as stategically as he did in Survivor, he must not go to the window too often to cash in.
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Nov 9, 2007 12:58 PM
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One of the best lines:
JR (whining in the third person): "John-Robert almost got voted out tonight"
James: "Do you want a hug?"
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Nov 9, 2007 1:40 PM
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Thanks SweetOne! ~ That is what I thought happened. But I guess I still don't understand why Todd seems so mad about it. If he had asked him for one back and James said no ~ I could see why he would be mad but who knows if that happened!
Meowmix ~ I will never understand people that talk about themselves in the third person! It's just so weird. LOL. I loved seeing James give some crap to JR! I would love to see James and JR in a poker game ~ I think James is just as good or better than JR at keeping a straight face. (Well not always I guess ~ sometimes he couldn't help smiling ~ But when he was acting like he didn't have the idols he did pretty good!)
I agree that they really should have voted James out for their own sakes. But for my sake I'm glad they didn't! He is becoming my favorite player to date. I also really liked Stephanie on the season that her team just kept on losing.
But my memory is not exactly supersharp! Who are/were you guys' favorites?
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Nov 9, 2007 2:12 PM
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Meowmix loved Yao-Man. Meowmix (ummm, I) will never forget the young guys making fun of the slightly built, older man—only to have their butts handed to them.
I also like Steph, and her teammate Bobby Jon. Loved Rupert, and firefighter Tom, as well as Tina and Colby.
Who could I not stand? Boston Rob. As bad as he could be on Survivor, I keep seeing him and Amber in the Amazing Race, where they drove by a team whose car had flipped. What a way to gain an advantage.
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Nov 9, 2007 2:36 PM
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