Survivor: China – Who Will Go in Episode 8?

"Though the enemy may be stronger in numbers, we may prevent him from fighting. Scheme so as to discover his plans and likelihood of their success." - Sun Tzu, The Art of War, translated by Lionel Giles.

Actually, this week there seems to be just three people, to me, who might be on the radar to be sent to Loser's Lodge, based on the CBS website hints, screen time, and prominence in the previews we've seen on CBS this week. The main focus seems to be on James, with other hints that Peih-Gee or Jean-Robert may be in the cross-hairs. But is CBS just lobbing diversions at us viewers in the interest of keeping things intriguing?

Let's take a look at the CBS hints before we go too far to see how these might play into thoughts of who will be going home.

Clue 1: While everyone is sound asleep, one castaway begins searching for the hidden immunity idol, collecting random items in the desperate hope that one of them might be it.

At this point, just about the only person in China who doesn't know about who has the hidden immunity idols or what they may even look like is Jean-Robert. Todd, in his exuberance, told nearly everyone on his tribe that he found one and was giving it to James. Jean-Robert was left out of this discussion. The former Zhan-Hu tribe seems to understand that there were two plaques on their pagoda, one of which Jaime had (and Jeff threw in the fire) and the other that James has. They're probably well aware that one plaque is the idol.

Jean-Robert's face when Jamie pulled out what she thought was the idol was priceless. He clearly didn't know that the idol existed, nor did he know what it even looked like. Chances are he hasn't even noticed the two plaques missing from the pagoda in his own camp. Jean-Robert was known early in the season not to sleep much during the night. This time of night might be a prime opportunity for him to rummage around to find something, as the tribes may already be used to him being up during the night.

On a lesser note, we see in an early preview that Peih-Gee is scrambling to make a power move. Could she actually be the one looking for an idol? Again, I think she understands that the idol is one of the plaques pulled off, but desperation may make her grasp at any straw she can find to save herself. She knows that Erik is not a threat to the former Fei Long alliance and that she could potentially be next on the chopping block.

Clue 2: One castaway becomes the Godfather after threatening a supposed ally not to double-cross him.

This one, honestly, I don’t understand. I wonder if it was supposed to go in last week's show where Jean-Robert threatened Todd that he'd better take him to the final three or he'd make sure Amanda got all of the votes to win the million.

On the other hand, I also wonder if James catches wind (through Jean-Robert perhaps) of the plot to blindside him and take out the hidden immunity idols in the same sweep? There's one preview that shows James saying, "That would be the worst move in Survivor history." Does this mean that he knows what may be plotted and confronts Todd? This could very well be a possibility.

Clue 3: Overconfidence takes over the castaways, as seven of nine arrive at Tribal Council with no bags. Will one of them be sent home without their belongings?

I do believe that it's pretty obvious that Peih-Gee and Erik will be the ones to bring their bags to Tribal Council. But I also wonder if CBS is just aiding in the misdirection so that it leaves the viewers with a little bit of hope that someone other than the obvious boot of Peih-Gee may come to fruition.

After looking at the hints, you would think that the direction CBS would like us to believe is that there can be nobody but James going home this week. But what do the previews lead us to believe?

In the first preview of the week, the one shown right after the last show, the editing is heavily on Peih-Gee and James. This is where we get the first idea that Todd may be forming a coalition to get rid of James and both hidden immunity idols in the same blow. This is met with some consternation by some of his allies, so will it come to pass?

Peih-Gee is shown scrambling to save herself by all means possible, including trying to make some kind of power play. She might hear about the opportunity to get rid of James and use it to take the target off herself. She does say to Denise, “there are five of us…” Who are the other three? Is this just misdirection from CBS?