Survivor: China, Episode 3 – Shanghai Surprises

Last week, I imagined what might happen if the current cast were made into action figures and discussed which ones might be recalled. I promised to continue the thought this week, but the article didn’t generate near the e-mail I thought it would (although I am grateful to those who did write, including a fellow RNO writer), so the surprise was on me. Just wanted to cover that in case you were surprised to see the theme not continued.

But there were plenty of surprises in store once the show came on as well. For instance, remember how Courtney complained about being in tribe of Sunday School teachers and flight attendants? Well, who would’ve guessed that when said Sunday School teacher was voted out, that Courtney would be the only one who didn’t vote for her?

Yes, she said it was because of Jean-Robert’s snoring, but after the compassion Leslie showed her in the wake of the last disastrous immunity challenge, it was easy to get the feeling there was no way she’d vote Leslie.

And just how surprising is it that she and Todd, the flight attendant, have seemed to bond, if only because they’re the two smallest people in the tribe? In fact, when Todd heard James and Jean-Robert dissing Courtney, it may have made him angrier than it did Courtney, who actually reacted rather well after being described as a “piece of ass.”

It should also be noted that Courtney had two of the best lines of the night. One was when she described herself as a Chihuahua trying to compete in a horse race, and the other was when she likened John-Robert’s snoring to the sound a walrus might make.

So as luck would have it, the two people Courtney dreaded being in a tribe with have so far turned out to be two of her biggest allies, although Leslie is of course gone.

Speaking of which, is Leslie’s ouster really that surprising? Yes and no. It isn’t surprising considering her tribe felt they couldn’t trust her. But it is rather ironic that the players felt the Christian player could not be trusted.

One of Leslie’s biggest mistakes was admitting to her tribe she identified Aaron as the leader to the Zhan Hus. Aaron was not happy about that, and rightfully so. Leslie tried to backtrack and say they’d figured it out anyway, and that Jaime told them. But by that point it was too late. You couldn’t take that back any more than you could un-ring a bell. Leslie would’ve been better off to just tell them that Jaime spilled the beans about Aaron being the leader without admitting she did so as well.

One thing that was rather surprising was the opening scene, when Leslie said Jean-Robert didn’t get the social aspect of the game. And what part of the game DID she think he got? It certainly wasn’t the part about working hard,

Now it’s time to address a surprising aspect about James. I liked this guy before the show even started, to the point of predicting him as the winner in the RNO roundtable. But I’m surprised to find myself saying it may be worth it to be proven wrong, just to see him gone.

Now, did I mishear him, or did he really say Christians pray so much because they know they’re going to hell? That comment doesn’t even make sense. If they know they’re going, then why pray at all? If James really thinks that, I’d suggest he at least try to broaden his understanding of Christianity before he presumes to speak for a whole group of people he doesn’t even claim to be a part of.

As for Jean-Robert, how surprising is it that his poker skills haven’t translated so well to Survivor? By talking so loudly with James while Todd and Courtney were within earshot, he basically left his cards face up on the table to go use the restroom. He’s probably way too cocky to fold, but eventually, he’ll be surprised to find out he doesn’t have nearly as good a hand as he thinks he does, and end up losing everything.

Now, on to the Zhan Hu tribe. Will anybody be surprised if Dave is the next one ousted? This guy just doesn’t seem to get it. He wore himself out in the previous immunity, to the detriment of his tribe’s performance. I’m not saying he was the only reason they lost, but he certainly didn’t help. Yet he hasn’t learned his lesson, which may or may not be surprising. He comes across as rather stubborn and bullheaded, and maybe his pride won’t let him slow down.

But that wasn’t the worst thing he did this week. Why, oh why did he feel the need to strip during the reward challenge? Maybe he just wanted to creep out the other team, but he was certainly exposing himself, pardon the expression, to greater injury by doing so. Maybe he was trying to be another Richard (Hatch) but some in his tribe already apparently think he’s a… well you get the idea.

Now for a thought on the departed Ashley. How ironic is it that she was ousted right before a challenge that would’ve been straight up her alley? One on one, she probably could’ve made mincemeat out of any of the women on either tribe, and probably a few of the men. It would’ve been interesting to see how she fared in a two-on-one situation, because although no player in that situation ended up surviving, she might have had a chance.

Of course, it was all a moot point, as her tribe won without her. In fact, the women of Zhan Hu won all three of their matches. Maybe if Ashley had been in Fei Long, and participated instead of say, Leslie, it might have been a different outcome.

Okay, so far we’ve seen some surprising things in just three weeks, and in the words of the late Karen Carpenter, “We’ve Only Just Begun.” See ya Thursday!

Ken is somewhere in Texas slapping himself silly for predicting James and Dave as the final two. Meanwhile, he can be reached atYourNextOfKen@aol.com.

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