Survivor: China, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, Episodes 9 & 10 – Nooooooooooo!

There are times in our lives when all seems lost. When light turns to darkness. When birds stop singing and fall dead from the trees. When Frosti gets voted out of Survivor. This is one of those times (but we’ll get to that). Let’s look on the bright side for a moment:

The Good:

• The fun drum challenge. It reminded me of all the ball balance drills I did when I took tennis lessons as a child. Ahh childhood…
• Erik’s goat impression. Spot on! I seriously thought it was a goat making that sound at first. Seriously! (I know. I’m such a doofus). But did anybody else think of the movie Stardust when they saw that scene? Did anybody else see the movie Stardust?
• The Shaolin temple. This is one of those rewards that just might be worth trading in the million dollars. I don’t know what the cost might be of actually going to a presentation there, but I’m rather confident that it wouldn’t come cheap. And the things those monks were able to do. Amazing. When the one monk broke the iron bar over his head, I’m pretty sure God applauded.
• Voting out James. This is how Survivor should be! Am sad to see James go? Sure, a little. His strength and challenge abilities were impressive. But the game that Amanda is playing right now is just a joy to watch. She’s working the numbers perfectly. James was a wild card she had to eliminate. She can now use Peih-Gee, Eric, and Courtney to eliminate Todd (her biggest ally but also her biggest threat). Then she can swing around with Courtney and Denise to eliminate Peih-Gee and Eric. If there’s just a final two, then a promise to Courtney for the two-spot should sell it. But can she pull it off? Will she follow through? I’m eager with anticipation to find out.

The Bad:

• James’ understanding of angles. Did you see him at all during the ball-bouncing-on-a-drum reward challenge?! Peih-Gee had a right to complain. How he expected to keep the ball in the air while holding his drum at a 45-degree angle is beyond me.
• Former Fei Long (except Amanda) thinking with their stomachs. It never fails. The controlling tribe members get in one of these food temptation challenges and completely lose their senses. They revealed their power structure to the others and also gave Peih-Gee a much better chance at winning the challenge (which she did) and having to throw their vote to the lovable Frosti. Speaking of which…
• Frosti’s gone. In the words of Darth Vader, “Noooooooo!” I’ve made it no secret that Frosti’s my favorite Survivor this season. Not only is he a likable fella, but he’s also a parkour athlete, or as I like to call them, flying super-monkeys. (If you don’t know what parkour is, just check out is link). I’m even more disappointed that almost all we got to see of his parkour skills was a flying leap during the very first challenge. There’s so much more to his flying super-monkey powers than that. And to top it all off, he was my pre-show pick to win it all! Darnit!

The Ugly:

• James’ “Good morning” song. Ouch. OUCH! Can somebody turn that thing off? Please?! Somebody?
• The post-challenge spat between James and Peih-Gee. Ugh. It was apathy versus arrogance, and I’m not sure which appalled me more. What annoyed me most, however, was the way that James handled Peih-Gee’s apology. Pure immaturity. I was ready for him to be voted off then and there.
• Skeletor. If I were any of the other Survivors, I’d be afraid to touch Courtney for fear I’d break her. Even Janu wasn’t this frail-looking in her season.

The Verdict:

Things are getting uglier. And, of course, Frosti’s gone. So all is not right in the world. Nevertheless, if Amanda starts to pull off her plan, I might still be able to sing the praises of this season.

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other recent Survivor: China articles here on RealityNewsOnline:

Wesley is an English teacher and writer from Wichita, KS. He can be reached with questions, comments, or snide remarks at Musnud@gmail.com.

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