Survivor: China, Episode 11 As I See It – Sour Grapes, Anyone?

Just like the rest of you, once Todd started talking about being homesick, I knew it was time to meet the families! I wasn’t disappointed because the first item of business in this episode was a reward challenge in which family participated. I like how Jeff presented the families with his casual remark to Erik that, “You’re gonna be paired up with your mom.” That’s the cue for everyone else to start crying, and they didn’t disappoint.

Amanda’ “sorry I stink” statement to her sister made me laugh, because I remembered an interview that Jeff gave once saying that the Survivors don’t think they smell bad, but they actually reek and don’t know it. At least Amanda was aware enough to apologize for it.

Courtney’s dad was the surprise of the evening; when he admitted that he’s English and doesn’t wear shorts, I certainly was taken aback. He was so refined that I couldn’t put the two of them together in my head. But – and I’m going to get in trouble for this – I had a grandmother who came to New York from England and now I understand Courtney’s attitude. It’s inbred. My grandmother had a tendency to look down her nose at just about everyone just as Courtney does, so it’s the combination of English/New York attitudes that have made our little Courtney what she is. That, and she’s young.

Peih-Gee mentioned something about a weight-loss program to her dad, and she has lost some. She still has that beautiful head of hair, though. Every week, when she has it down and flowing, I am amazed at how great it looks. Tell me your secret someday, Peih-Gee!

Todd’s little sister, Brandy, was a female Todd. She looked just like him! I don’t recall reading or seeing anywhere that Todd might be a twin, but Brandy was his double. Minus the facial hair, of course.

Now, there was a lot of speculation about Todd pulling Jonny Fairplay stunt for a sympathy vote. I didn’t and don’t believe that. Anyone who has known anyone who is Mormon would not believe it either. Todd may be a weasel in the eyes of some strategists who analyze Survivor, but the one thing sacred to him and every Mormon is family and he would not use his family to get ahead in the game. That’s a fact. Mormon philosophy is “family first,” and he would not go against all he’s been taught to further himself in this game or any other. Those were real tears and real concern for his sister.

I know that Erik tried to sow the seeds of Todd pulling a Fairplay act, and Courtney saying that the dead grandmother story was funny made me want to slap her. It wasn’t funny then and it isn’t funny now. It is never funny to pretend that a family member has died.

Denise and her husband were just delightful together. I, for one, was thrilled when they won the reward. Denise was actually glowing, and that combined with her weight loss made her look very pretty. Her husband, Robert, overcame a great fear to be there – the fear of flying (no jokes, please), and that shows just what a nice man he is and how much he wanted to be there for her.

The way Denise and Robert worked together in the challenge was fun to watch. They worked slowly, systematically, and without any drama. I think that Denise was torn when she had to pick two tribemates to go with her and Robert on their journey; you could see it in her face. You could also see it in Peih-Gee’s face when she wasn’t chosen. I thought Denise would pick Peih-Gee as a thank-you for the great reward last week, but she remained with her alliance with Todd and Amanda and chose them instead. After I thought about it a while, I came to the conclusion it was a wise move.

I dare anyone to say they didn’t say “awww” when Denise was talking to her daughter. I don’t know how old her daughter is, but it was very clear that she misses Denise very much, and very clear that Denise misses her. Awwww.

Now, these people have been in the wilds of China for 30-some days now, right? Yet the non-winners of the reward challenge had no compunction about licking chocolate off the fingers of the winners when they returned? Amanda said if was kind of “kinky” but I thought it was kind of “yucky.” And that’s a direct quote from my eight-year-old granddaughter. I know it was the only way the winners could share part of their reward, but yuck!

Of course Peih-Gee had to have a little pity party for herself because she wasn’t picked for the reward. So Miss Sour Grapes had to confront Denise. Did she let Denise bask in the afterglow of having spent some time with her husband? Nope. She had to tell Denise she was upset, as if Denise didn’t already know this. Denise ended up trying to explain that she felt sorry because Amanda was getting so weak that she was near fainting, but did Peih-Gee care? Nope. Peih-Gee even tried to make it look like Denise came to her, but we saw what happened. She wanted an explanation and she was going to get one, come hell or high water. Way to go, make the winner feel bad about winning something.

Doesn’t everyone know by now that one has to have a pretty thick skin to play this game? If you’re going to pout and whine and demand to know why you weren’t chosen, then you belong on another show. I said this about Denise before, complaining about not being chosen until last. If you are going to let your feelings be hurt over minor issues, then you’re in a world of trouble on Survivor.

I just have one thing to say about the immunity challenge. This has been bothering me for weeks now. Just what the heck is it with Amanda’s bathing suit bottom? I saw a couple of glimpses of it during the show when it wasn’t blurred and it looked fine. I thought it might be torn and it’s not. Her behind has been blurred ever since the producers took pity on us viewers and gave the tribe members something other than their underwear.

Miss Sour Grapes, aka Peih-Gee, was all smiles once she won immunity again. She was even in tears when she said it was one of the proudest moments of her life. I’ll have to give her that one. She really tried hard and won it fair and square. That doesn’t mean I have to like her, though.

I don’t understand why, at Tribal Council, Amanda pointed out that Denise has a great family and a great life. This statement prompted Denise to say that she’s worried that others might not vote for her because of this. Why would someone who has a “great family” and a “great life” not be a candidate for the sole Survivor? This makes about as much sense as the group that thought that Brian didn’t need to win because they saw a video of his home and he had a baby grand piano. For heaven’s sake, he lived in Vegas – he probably bought it from some gambler. He still did win, despite the baby grand. So not voting for Denise because she is established, happy, and solid makes no sense either. It’s outwit, outlast, and outplay, if I’m not mistaken.

Erik, obviously, didn’t do all three, since he now is a member of the jury. During the voting, the producers pulled another fast one on us, letting us hear what Denise was saying and letting us think she was voting for Todd. Good one, producers, you got me! I think Todd was really worried this time, as he should be. Even he said that if they were smart, they’d be talking about voting him off. Are they that smart? Is Amanda that clever? I guess we’ll see this week. Till then…

Peace!

Eileen is an intake operator for a legal referral service in Cincinnati, Ohio by day and spends her free time with the little ones that call her the “Queen of the Grandmas” and their parents and practicing Yoga which she thought was going to be the “lazy woman’s exercise”. She got fooled. She welcomes comments and constructive criticism at ohiograndma@2003@hotmail.com.