Survivor: China - Who Will Go in Episode 3?

“Reduce the hostile chiefs by inflicting damage on them; make trouble for them, and keep them constantly engaged; hold out specious allurements, and make them rush to any given point.” - Sun Tzu, The Art of War, translated by Lionel Giles

Once again, the bulk of the editing and storytelling was focused on the Zhan Hu tribe and its dynamics. Leaders, spoken and unspoken, are emerging for both tribes. How will this all play out with the individual survivors?

Who’d have thought that within a mere six days in Survivor time a self-appointed tyrant leader would emerge on the Zhan Hu tribe? He kept food and water from his troops while he built a monument to fire in his honor. He banished the dissenters of his army. Yet he still hasn’t won a battle. Dave has single-handedly managed to drive his tribe into the ground, and as of yet, nobody can take him down.

He’s a weak leader, physically and mentally, as shown in the last immunity challenge. The jester-like faces he makes at others’ comments will not endear him to the masses for much longer either, as editing keeps showing him wild-eyed and monkey-like. Dave had the most number of confessionals last week with six, most of them talking about himself or his strife with Ashley. In a choice of which of the two clashers to get rid of, the tribe chose to go with Dave’s strength over Ashley’s. Was this the right move?

His right-hand man… er… woman, Peih-Gee, is quietly supporting him and attempting to balance the powers. She is leading in a much more subtle manner, as evidenced in some of the video last week. While Dave barked orders from a distance, the body language of the tribe as they stood surrounding close to Peih-Gee spoke volumes. She quickly learned to back off and let Dave take the brunt of the frustration of the tribe. She only had one confessional this week, down significantly from episode 1.

Jaime’s confessional count, on the other hand, made a huge spike with six. The difference between her and Dave, though, is that she spoke of strategy and the experiences she is going through. Her spike may also have more to do with the explanation of the latest hidden immunity twist, instead of the usual spike as a character is nearing the end of his or her game.

Jaime was selected by the opposition to stay at their camp as a reward. She took full advantage of it, ferreting out the weakest player and giving her a possible advantage, as well as creating a potential ally in the future. As Jeffery Clinard mentioned in his “Advice for the Remaining 14”, Jaime would be smart to continue the relationship building and try to pull Leslie over if Zhan Hu wins the reward challenge. She’s playing well so far and her story is building towards a long stay in the game.

We finally were able to get to see more of Erik this week, as the quiet man had three confessionals. He may also turn into a storyteller of the tribe. He didn’t talk strategy or about himself, but of the happenings around camp. He did well in challenges, but wasn’t shown much otherwise. The producers will start to build his edit later in the game.

Also low on the radar this week was Sherea. She had one confessional and it was only about the ongoing battle between Dave and Ashley. She isn’t getting the same sort of edits that either Cassandra from last season nor Cirie received by this point, even though she’s been cast as a similar character. Something tells me that her storyline may come to an end much sooner than Cassandra’s or Cirie’s did, as she’s not being fleshed out as anything more than a simple player. She hasn’t shown much of an effort to get to know her teammates and even confessed to that in Tribal Council. If we start to see her airtime starting to peak, we may loose her.

Also a relative ghost has been Frosti. While he could’ve been portrayed as the new Ozzy, he’s been hidden by the enormous shadows of James, the amazingly spry giant. Frosti’s lone confessional was merely about the experience of coming back from a challenge to a flooded camp. He doesn’t have a story or a major purpose in the tribe as of yet.

Finally, the obvious boot this week, Ashley, actually didn’t have as much to say in confessionals as several in her tribe, but when combined with last week, she has a total of eight for her time in China. Her airtime consisted mainly of exaggerated eye rolls and her bickering with Dave. She and Dave clashed to the point where it was obvious to even the most freshman viewer where the story would end up for the week. Ashley was never given a long-term edit, so it’s no surprise that she left as early as she did.

While the Fei Long tribe still mainly has a very positive edit as a strong, congenial tribe, some cracks are emerging. These cracks may be from Jean-Robert’s heavy snoring, as we are being shown that he is the lazy one on this tribe. Even as Aaron called him out on needing to contribute more to the group, he complained that he was still so tired. Editors are quick to throw in images of monkeys and show him bumbling around camp and tripping up the steps from the lake. If he is truly the poker strategist and player that he thinks he is, he’s being heavily mocked in a not-so-subtly way.