Survivorfest China - week 5

Aaron was voted out last night in one of the most maddening Survivors to date. A few thoughts before we get to that:

Did anyone else think that the panda lolling in the trees in the opening scene looked a lot like Jean-Robert? Panda bear/John-Robert...coincidence? If Jean-Robert is eaten by a panda later in the season you all will be calling me a genius. I can wait until then.

So Erik is a virgin. Again, something that might have been helpful to note in his bio. Although I now note that it says "Huffman is a Christian, and he believes his faith will keep him strong and focused when faced with the physical, mental and emotional hardships of SURVIVOR: CHINA." Most guys go into modeling and music to get girls. Ah, well.

I enjoyed the flirty by-play between Erik and Jaime: "Taylor's your middle name? That's a cool name." I don't know about you guys, but where I grew up, guys named Taylor ate paste, wore white belts and were often beaten up for their lunch money. Take it from a guy who went by "Chip".

I was off-base with Big James and Courtney. Looks like James has his eyes on Lunch Lady Denise. I can picture the two of them, in the moonlight, quietly spooning dirt over the freshly laid caskets...If only he could understand a word she said.

When the first boat pulled up to give the tribes their instructions to select two members from the other team to kidnap I could swear the boat guy was Mexican. Seems like even the Chinese are using immigrant labor.

I like how they wanted Frosti...and Sherea...'cause she's tough and fast. Really? I must've missed that episode. Of course, they're used to Courtney.

We got a glimpse into which tribe has an IQ higher than my shoe size. One tribe immediately caught on that James and a "person to be named later" would be taken from their tribe, as well. Meanwhile, Zhan Hu jumped up and down in celebration. "We're going to be seven to their five!" They actually did the math and still didn't see it coming.

The best hang dog expression of the day was Jean-Robert's when he lost two of his strongest tribe mates (and his strongest ally) on the flop. Did you get that Hold 'Em reference? Yeah? Myeh.

I spent most of the first four weeks wondering when Leslie was going to say something. I spent most of last night wishing she would be quiet. That has to be the most grating accent I've ever heard. I think it will seriously hurt her if she makes it to the final two when the jury will not be able to understand her answers to any of their questions.

James quickly asks "who's the brains of dis group?" The answer: "We all of us". Yup.

Does it look to anyone else like Peih-Gee has boils?

They sat Courtney for the challenge again. I can't wait to see what she won't be able to do next week.

James comes up with yet another Survivor hall of fame quote: "[Expletive] Sudoku! Pay attention!"

As far as I know, this was the first tribe to throw a challenge since the one that rolled over in order to vote ("I looooove you, too") Billy out a few seasons ago. Bold strategy or bad move?

I think they should have taken James out instead of Aaaron. Aaron seemed willing to roll over in the hope of staying around another week. James looked legitimately furious about Peih-Gee and Jaime throwing the challenge. Angry enough that it wouldn't surprise me if the canoe made it back to camp with two fewer rowers.

Mad props to James for casting his vote for Peih-Gee instead of Aaron. Go down swingin'. If he ends up facing the jury I think he may get points for that kind of attitude.

I think we'll find out how much CBS meddles in the game "real time" in order to try to keep it interesting. Note how Jeff went out of his way to make sure that James and Aaron knew that Peih-Gee and Jaime threw the challenge. Unless "something" happens, you can expect to see them throw the next challenge and vote James out. What fun would that be?

Three (likely) things can mess this up:

1. They could merge the tribes (seems too early)
2. They could throw the everyone back into their original tribes
3. They could do another tribe member swap

I'm most intrigued by #3. If the other tribe hears about the strategy of throwing challenges, they might try the same thing to rid themselves of Frosti or Sherea. We might be facing the first Survivor challenge where BOTH tribes are trying to lose. I think that would make Jeff's head explode.

See you next week on....Survivor!