Survivor: China – Who Will Go in Episode 10?

"The clever combatant looks to the effect of combined energy, and does not require too much from individuals. Hence his ability to pick out the right men and utilize combined energy…" – Sun Tzu, The Art of War, translated by Lionel Giles.

Last week we were treated to a recap of the season up to and including Episode 9. Though we were teased with visions of new information, we didn’t get to see much more that helped figure out who would win the game or who would go next. One thing I did notice, however, was that the edit for Todd seemed a bit harsher. He came off as even more frenetic and bossier. I was sort of surprised at this as Todd seemed to be in more control of the game in episodes in the past. I worry now that we’re seeing the downfall of his game. The editors may be trying to tell us that he’s not the winner, despite his overt conniving.

What we haven’t gotten much of, however, is much of an idea of who may go this week. I suspect CBS is trying to divert our attention away from an obvious Pagong, but maybe there is a different outcome at the end of this week.

So at the end of Episode 9, we were left with a cliffhanger at the end of Tribal Council where Jeff let the tribe know that the combined tribe still had “business to attend to.” So what does this mean? Will there be another switch-up? Will another person be voted out?

In previews, we see new footage of James, Amanda, Todd, Courtney, and probably Denise huddled tightly in a cave. Will the castaways have to move to another side of the lake? This seems to be a likely change, unless there is a curveball thrown by Jeff that allows the jury a new privilege. There’s not much to go on with the clues and previews.

In clues given in the CBS website and in previews, we are given clues that there may be a shake up in the main alliance. In two clues, we find out that one person turns on her best friend and in another a main alliance turns on one of its own. Is this one and the same? And is all this targeting against the same person? Or is this all another diversion to take our attention away from the obvious boot, Peih-Gee? Those crafty CBS producers do things like this to make it more interesting.

Here’s what I think.

The obvious boot would be Peih-Gee, as she’s the smarter of the two left in her original alliance. Nobody knows who Erik is, and if they do, they know he isn’t a threat.

On the other hand, we may be fed the downfall of James. His confessionals and character edit have gone sky-high the last few weeks. Our love for James started slowly in the beginning, as his edit was quiet, then he grew to be quite the comedian and narrator as stories unfolded. His edit has taken a turn in a way that his story may be coming to an end. We’re led to root for him as an underdog, even though he’s a physical powerhouse and he holds not one, but two hidden immunity idols. He’s strong, but Goliath is being set up for a fall.

In two different clips this week, we see Amanda scheming to take out James. Will she be successful? The producers have been trying to tell us for a couple of weeks that James may go in a blindsided move, but will it really happen, or is it just more vapor?

In one series of video frames from an early preview, we have a shot of the final seven castaways. In it, we see Peih-Gee with the immunity necklace, and James and Amanda at one side holding their personal bags. This seems pretty telling that these two may be coming in to the group after being away for a while, probably coming back from a reward. Now does this mean that James and Amanda have bonded or does it mean that Todd may have an opportunity to start working on his plan from a while back with the rest of the group to vote against James for being a threat?

The problem is that Todd may not actually mastermind this ousting of James in the long run. The previews given to us on Sunday and again on Wednesday late are teasing us that Amanda may, in fact, be the kingpin behind this plot. We see her pulling Peih-Gee aside and telling her that it may be in her “best interest” to play along with a scheme, probably to get rid of James. We also know that Amanda is looking to get rid of someone on her alliance based on other previews. It’s doubtful that she’d turn on Todd, as she has recognized for several weeks that James is a huge threat to her.