Surviving China, Episode 9: “My Little Munchkin”

Welcome back to another week of Survivor. After Jean-Robert went all-in last week and found out he didn’t have the nuts (that’s a poker term, not what you’re thinking, so get your mind out of the gutter!), he was sent to the rail. Does this mean, as host Jeff Probst indicated at the end of Tribal Council last week, that all bets are off as far as tribal alliances? I say no. I think Erik and Peih-Gee are still in danger, with Frosti probably not far behind. Indeed, I fully expect Peih-Gee to be gone by the end of this episode. Will I be right? Let’s find out.

The morning following Tribal Council (Day 25, if you’re counting). James tells us he received votes and had a narrow escape, but he will be bringing his immunity idols with him to Tribal Council from now on. He says he also needs to mind his ps and qs, but then oddly decides to wake everybody up in the morning by singing – badly.

However, people don’t seem to be too mad, perhaps mostly because Jean-Robert isn’t there, so they’re automatically in a better mood. At least that’s Courtney’s take on things, and we know she’s not biased at all.

At breakfast (fish caught by James), Denise looks pissed off. Recall that she was the only one of the Fei Long group who didn’t know Jean-Robert was going (well, other than Jean-Robert himself, of course). Amanda and Courtney notice this and whisper about how she might do something like jumping ship. I’m thinking whispering near her isn’t going to make her less likely to switch sides.

Denise tells us that the former Fei Long had a plan to vote out all the Zhan Hu. She stuck with the plan but the others changed their minds. It makes her feel like an outsider. What’s worse is that she had the opportunity to join the Zhan Huers and stuck with her original tribe instead.

She and James talks, with James claiming they were afraid she would flip. She says she wasn’t going to and felt like an idiot, being the only one not in on the plan. James assures her that she is safe, and Denise tells us it is smart to stick with him even if it’s difficult to trust him right now.

The following day, Peih-Gee tells James she doesn’t even get along with anybody left. He agrees, saying she’s definitely on the outs. Then she tells him how to work with the cooking fire. He flat-out tells her she’s micromanaging. Todd watches from off to the side and tells us that with Jean-Robert gone, Peih-Gee has stepped up to take his place in terms of being annoying.

Todd also gives us the lowdown on Courtney, who is flirting mightily with Frosti. Todd is scared because he doesn’t know how she is going to turn at any given time.

Treemail! Sounds like a reward challenge involving food. Peih-Gee tells us she wants to win because she’s the “most losingest Survivor left” in the game. And the worst Englishest too.

They arrive at the challenge, and we’re only 11 minutes into the show. Looks like it’s going to be another big day of scheming later in the episode. Probst explains that for this challenge, they will be divided into two teams of four. Hey, Denise will get to play this time! Using four different-sized drums, they need to keep a ball in the air by bouncing it from one drum to another as they navigate through a series of obstacles. Along the way, they will go through two gates; if they drop the ball, they return to the start or the previous gate that they’ve made it through. When they reach the end, they need to bounce the ball into a finish bin and then race back to the start. First team to get three balls in their bin wins reward. Three?! I was thinking it would be difficult to just do one!

So what is the reward? The winning team will get a cruise on the river. They will get a nice dinner and spend the night on the boat. First they have to randomly pick captains and then select their teams.

Captains are Peih-Gee (red) and Erik (yellow). Well, at least we know it won’t be Zhan Hu vs. Fei Long again. Peih-Gee wins rock/paper/scissors to pick first, and, without hesitation, selects James. I know I questioned picking him last week and was wrong, but I have to do so again here. This is not about strength, it’s about bouncing a ball, and I don’t know that he’s going to necessarily be that great at it. I guess we’ll find out.

Erik chooses Frosti (a better choice, I think, as I expect this will involve balance). James picks Todd and Frosti goes with Amanda. The challenge hasn’t even started yet and already Amanda has a blurred butt – I guess that bikini bottom doesn’t fit so well by this point. Todd picks Denise and Courtney ends up on the yellow team.

The teams split up their drums (James has the largest, of course, though Amanda has the big one on yellow). And they’re off! Todd and Erik begin by each taking their ball all the way to the first obstacle. Erik passes over the fence to Frosti, but the red team loses their ball and has to go back to the start.

Frosti is through the first gate and then loses the ball, but yellow only has to go back a few feet. Red once again loses the ball at the first fence, but Frosti passes to Erik to make it past the second one, and then they make it through the second gate. Frosti brings it to the third fence and passes over to Erik. He brings it to the bin and bounces it in, using Amanda’s drum as a backboard. Glad to know she is good for something here – because Courtney sure isn’t.