Rumors: the final three? the end of Survivor?

TV Squad has a rumor that the T&A Alliance (Todd and Amanda) plus Courtney are the final three. I guess that God does not want Leslie to win any real money, she is not mentioned in their list of finalists.

Also there is talk that the next edition of Survivor could be the last.

full story

Ashley Is Gone - Good!

Ashley, the professional wrestler, has been voted off. Good, I did not like her. There is an alliance that is starting to form and two other Survivors do not seem to like each other. Jean-Robert has a strange strategy but does Leslie have any strategy? All this and more in this blog entry!

I do not know what it was about Ashley that I did not like. I think it was that she just seemed to complain a lot. And what is with those two piercings in her lower lip? I know, she is a pro wrestler and thy make her look mean; they probably fit her ring persona. I say they make her look stupid. Her feet also stink but other than all this I hear that she is a nice person. Whatever, let's move on. Next!

The T & A Alliance

It seems that Todd (gay Mormon flight attendant) and Amanda (hiking guide) of the Fei Long tribe have started an Alliance. We do not know if this is just an early alliance that will soon peter out or if it will last. We do know that they have a plan, it is to use Aaron (surfing instructor) as a scapegoat. They plan on having him do their dirty work and take the blame for it. So devious and so early in the game. I like it!

Another thing that the T & A Alliance has going for it is that Leslie (Christian radio broadcaster) likes Todd for some reason. Leslie has told him that she has a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol. I have no idea why she did this and neither does Todd. We both think this was a stupid move. In Leslie, the T & A Alliance may just have another pawn.

Jean-Robert's Crazy Lazy Strategy

Jean-Robert (pro poker player) says his strategy is to pretend to be lazy. The others will notice him being lazy and then when he plays for real and does well then the others will be impressed with that. Jean-Robert said that he learned this from his poker playing. Really? I am not so sure poker strategy translates so well into the Survivor game. He can slow play in poker and even if he screws the hand up then as long as he has chips he will be in the game. In Survivor if the others do not like him for being lazy and sleeping all day then they can vote him off if they go to Tribal Council and his game is over.

Furthermore even if you have this Lazy Strategy you still want the others to like you but Jean-Robert seems to be going out of his way to piss people off. Aaron and him seem to really dislike each other. If I were playing the Lazy Strategy then I would be apologetic to the others. 'I'm sorry the heat really bothers me. I'm out of shape. Please give me a few days to adjust to the heat.' However Jean-Robert just sleeps and sits on his ass and when someone calls him on it he basically says to leave him alone. Well, at least Jean-Robert is not using the Fly Under the Radar strategy.

Jaime's Sunshine

Jaime (young blond student) was 'kidnapped' after Fei Long won the Reward challenge and as part of the deal she was secretly given a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol. She was told to reveal the clue to one other person on Fei Long before returning to Zhan Hu, her tribe. She chose to tell Leslie. Now why would Fei Long chose Jaime in the first place? I would have chosen a strong man to deprive the other tribe of the muscle they need to build things around camp. But hey, maybe that's just me. The reason someone (a guy I think) gave was that Jaime was their sunshine and her absence would depress the the other tribe. Or maybe he just had the hots for Jaime.

Chinese Puzzle Log?

I studied the Chinese language for several years and traveled in China for a few months but I have never heard of a Chinese puzzle log. Jeff Probst mentioned it so nonchalantly that it seemed they were all over the place. A quick Google search reveals nothing. I am sure the production assistants on Survivor did not invent them out of thin air. How prevalent are they? Where can I find out more about them?

Next on Survivor China

It looks like more physical contact in the challenges next episode. Is this to somehow generate higher TV ratings?

Preview Episode 2

My Mom Is Going To Kill Me

From the official Survivor China web site:
The castaways are thrown, choked, and wrestled as mud flies and tops are ripped off in one of the most physical and dirtiest challenges in Survivor history. When Leslie [the Christian radio host] feels weak and vulnerable, she receives what she thinks is a gift from God. Jean-Robert [the pro poker player] concocts a plan to purposely act lazy in order to get ahead in the game.

From TitanTV:
The castaways wrestle in mud as part of a challenge; Jean-Robert intentionally acts lazy as part of a risky strategy to get ahead in the game; Dave [former model] attempts to get the Zhan Hu tribe organized; and another castaway is voted out at tribal council.

Rumors & Spoilers

In the CBS preview Jean-Robert gets a lot of attention and is made out to be in danger of being voted off. The online rumors seem to indicate that Ashley (pro wrestler) will be the one voted off.

The Fei Long tribe reportedly will win both Reward and Immunity so here's a quick reminder of who is in that tribe: Aaron, Amanda, Courtney, Denise, James, Jean-Robert, Leslie and Todd.

The Zhan Hu tribe: Frosti, Erik, Sherea, Jaime, Peih-Gee, Dave, Ashley and Steve.

There will not be an Exile Island this season. A new twist this season will be that each week one player will be 'kidnapped' and spend time with the other tribe between the Reward Challenge and the Immunity Challenge. This week Jaime (blond student, pictured) is rumored to be kidnapped. I like this twist it will give people a chance to interact with the other tribe and while the kidnapped player is gone the others in his/her tribe can plot against him/her.

This looks to be a good episode, check back tomorrow for my thoughts.

Blogging Note: mouse-over pictures for more information about the photo.

Survivor China premier ratings and a few spoilers

'Survivor: China' Lowest Premiere in Series History

Thursday night’s premiere of “Survivor: China” was the lowest-rated debut in the reality show’s history, declining a steep 25 percent from last fall’s “Cook Islands,” and down 14 percent from last spring’s “Fiji” edition.
full story

Some Spoilers

TVsquad has a spoiler round-up. They say Ashley Massaro (the pro wrestler) will be the next one voted off and they were right about Chicken. No car will be given away this season and there will not be an Exile Island.
full story

Survivor China Off to a Good Start

A number of Survivors stood out to me in the very first episode.

Damn Chicken, what were you thinking? At first I thought Chicken was playing a good game by not bossing anybody around. This is often a mistake older Survivors like Chicken make, they try and boss around the more numerous younger players. He obviously had some idea how to build a shelter but when the others in his tribe did not listen to him he did not push them. So far so good. A mistake a lot of players make is bossing people around right out of the shoot. However Chicken took not bossing the others too far, he became passive-aggressive. Peih-Gee asked him straight up for his opinion and he said what everyone else wanted to do would be fine. And Chicken may just have sealed his fate at Tribal Council when he complained about the others. Now all of a sudden he gives his opinion and it is critical of the others? That may have been enough to get him the one swing vote that sent him home.

Leslie, the 38 year old Christian radio host, also stood out to me. I have mixed feelings about her. After she left the welcoming ceremony early, she said that she's not a religious person but she has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The ceremony conflicted with her religious beliefs. That's fine but why then the disclaimer that she's not a religious person? Is she insecure about herself in the game? Afraid others will see her as a religious person? Whatever the reason, I do not think that it is a sign of a strong player. I did like it later when she talked with James, the grave digger, and gave him words of encouragement. I am not sure that was her playing the game or her just being nice.

Courtney, the New York waitress, annoyed me. She seems the type of New Yorker who complains that nothing is as good as it is in New York. If that is the case, then the sooner that she is gone the better.

Is Jean-Robert really a professional poker player? I am skeptical. If he can red people as well as he claims then why let on to his skill like when he talked with Todd (the gay Mormon flight attendant)? It turns out that he is a poker pro, but I do not understand why he put Todd on notice because like Todd said now he's going to target Jean-Robert.

Frosti, the youngest Survivor ever, strikes me as someone who is overly confident in his abilities. He seems to think just because he is a Parkour athlete that Survivor will be a piece of cake for him. Ahh, the irrational exuberance of youth.

Well, that's it for now. I was planning on blogging about Survivor Live but I don't see any indication that CBS will have the internet talk show this season. So more of my Survivor thoughts as they come to me. I'll also post Survivor related news articles as I come across them.

Survivor China Starts Tonight!

Survivor really snuck up on me but I will be blogging about Survivor China again this season. It starts tonight at 8:00pm ET on CBS.