Matt’s Fantasy “Survivor Second Chances 2” Ballot Extravaganza

Greetings and salutations, everyone! I would welcome you back to “Idol Speculation”, my knee-jerk opinion that everyone is entitled to, but as the cast of the upcoming “Survivor Kaoh Rong” will not be announced for another couple weeks, this can’t really be called a post for “Idol Speculation”. No, this is the promised off-season content for the shorter break I promised you. Normally this is the sort of thing I’d save for the longer off-season break, since I try not to take too long a vacation from writing, but I’ve got good reason this time. This is going to be a one-off blog, so I don’t see it setting any precedent for the future, and it’s only timely if I do it before next season. You see, while I thoroughly enjoyed “Survivor Cambodia”, there was one nagging problem in the back of my mind that I tried not to let on in the blog proper.

You see, the great thing about this season was that nearly all of my “Survivor” wishes came true at once. People I’d been longing to see back, like Kass and Stephen Fishbach, were finally getting their due. The trouble with this is, well, nearly all my “Survivor” wishes got granted at once. Not all of them, by any means, but the vast majority. However, this gave me little to nothing to look forward to in the future (barring future seasons being good in and of themselves and giving me further people to long to see back, of course), which is a bit depressing. So, I got the idea that perhaps I should draw up a list of the people I’d still like to see back, and this turned me onto the idea you’re reading right now. CBS wants another season where the fans vote in the cast? Why don’t I help them out! Hence, I have here drawn up a “Fantasy Second Chances” ballot. 16 men and 16 women from previous seasons who could, by the rules set for for consideration in the first “Survivor Second Chances” vote, who I’d like to see back in some capacity. I’ll list their name, season, and why I’d like them back/why I like them in general. Apologies if the list isn’t as detailed as you might like, but 32 people is a lot, and in many cases, they speak for themselves.

Before we get into the list itself, a few things to mention. First and foremost, while I followed the guidelines set down previously by CBS (anyone from any season, even pre-merge, but can only have played once, and no winners), this list is what I would like to see, not CBS. While some people may overlap in who CBS wanted and who I wanted, just because they were asked by CBS does not mean that I will consider them. For example, Jon Misch was asked by CBS to return, but didn’t respond in time. I wasn’t a fan of his on “Survivor San Juan del Sur”, so I’m not including him here. I did make a few what might be called “producer concessions”, where some people who I normally wouldn’t give too much thought to I put on because they’re the sort of people producers would want back, and I’ll be noting these, but by and large, these are what I’m looking for. Secondly, since Jeff Probst made sure to mention at the Second Chances vote reveal that not getting on this season did not prevent future casting, those who were on the first Second Chances ballot are allowed on here, though again, whether or not I let them back on is purely my discretion. Finally, I did factor in availability and willingness to participate, and excluded people I knew for certain do not or cannot do the show again, so personal favorites of mine such as Rafe Judkins (“Survivor Guatemala”) and Colleen Haskell (“Survivor Borneo”) were not considered due to unavailability and unwillingness to play, respectively. My information on who will and won’t play again is incomplete, so there may be people on this list who break this rule, but I’ll be noting any place where I’m uncertain.

Well, as a gentleman, I should start with the ladies. Therefore, let us look at the 16 women on my “Fantasy Second Chances” Draft…

WOMEN

Teresa “T-Bird” Cooper (“Survivor Africa”): While T-Bird may not have been voted on to “Survivor Cambodia”, she probably was voted “Most disappointed she wasn’t on.” by the fans, and I’m with them. T-Bird played a subtle strategic game on an underrated season, and played from the bottom, which is difficult to do. She got shafted by newer viewers this past time, which is a shame. I’d like to see her come back and do her season justice.

Helen Glover (“Survivor Thailand”): Believe me, I get why people dislike “Survivor Thailand”. There’s a lot of unpleasantness to go around, and there are other seasons with the strengths that this one has. It’s a decent enough one to skip over. However, I think Helen is underrated. She was actually pretty emotionally open, at least compared to her fellow competitors on that season. She had a lot of fun sound-bytes, and was a pretty strong woman, both physically and mentally. I’d like to see her come back, if only to gain her the respect she deserves.

Deena Bennett (“Survivor The Amazon”): Similar to Helen, Deena was a very different type of woman than you normally see on the show. Sharp as a tack, socially aware, and again, a lot of fun to listed to, I almost took either Deena or Helen off this list due to their similarities, but if “Survivor Cambodia” can have both Andrew Savage (“Survivor Pearl Islands”) and Terry Deitz (“Survivor Exile Island”) on it, Second Chances 2 can afford to have two unorthodox women in the ballot.

Christa Hastie (“Survivor Pearl Islands”): Sort of a case of “What might have been?”, Christa seemed to be developing a more cutthroat, strategic side by the end of her first season, and I’d like to see if that’s developed, as well as how she’s changed with time. Plus, it’s just fan wish of mine for all three of the awesome “Christa-Sandra-Rupert” alliance back again at some point.

Jolanda Jones (“Survivor Palau”): Maybe not the most nuanced player the game has ever seen, but even in only one episode, Jolanda made an impact. She was a ton of fun in her zaniness, and I can only imagine it’s become more wacky and fun with time. Less a “strategic” ballot placement, and more a “fun” one, but you do need some of those.

Lydia Morales (“Survivor Guatemala”): My love for this under-appreciated season will not be denied! Lydia made for a great underdog story and a lot of the weird, yet fun, moments that I say characterize the good parts of this season. Bring her back, and let the fun continue.

Michelle Yi (“Survivor Fiji”): This choice might seem a bit odd, given that I’ve previously made clear that “Survivor Fiji” is my least-favorite (and, I would argue, worst) season of the show. Why, then, would I want someone back from it. Apart from Michelle and her enthusiasm being one of the few good points that “Survivor Fiji” has, Michelle, above all else, is the person I feel most DESERVES a second chance out of anyone on this fantasy ballot or on the original first one. While I don’t like the “Haves vs. Have Nots” twist of “Survivor Fiji”, nor did I like that the only real drama was due to an ugly “Car for immunity” deal towards the end that went south, these things can be forgiven, at least to a degree. It is Michelle’s ouster that really makes me HATE “Survivor Fiji”, and I would like to see it corrected. For those of you who are blissfully unaware of what happened, allow me to fill you in. After the merge on “Survivor Fiji”, as often happens, there was a power struggle between what we might call the “Yau-Man and Earl” alliance against a group of young guys dubbed “The Four Horsemen”. Pretty standard stuff for post-merge. There were some swing votes to keep it interesting, but the twist came that, rather than an individual immunity challenge, there would be a team immunity challenge, with the losers going directly to Tribal Council without any talking beforehand. A little bit weird, and certainly unfair, but I can see the logic. See what happens when you can’t collude for a vote. It can potentially make for some drama, with weird, random votes being cast, and adds chaos to an already chaotic time. We have a Tribal Council relying ENTIRELY on no one having a clue who everyone else will vote for. What happens then? Probst asks Alex, one of the four horsemen, to give him a reason to vote out everybody there. Alex then uses that situation to clue everyone in that he’s voting for Michelle, meaning she goes home, despite her alliance technically having a MAJORITY overall. She did nothing wrong, and Probst’s cheap line of questioning took all the drama out of what could have been a very dramatic Tribal Council! UNFORGIVABLE! For that reason alone, Michelle needs to come back.

Jamie Dugan (“Survivor China”): While I was never a huge fan of hers, she did have a certain devious charm to her. Everyone on the Fei Long Tribe was afraid of her, and I’ve never really been able to determine why. It’d be nice to see her back, if only to help us figure it out.

Natalie Bolton (“Survivor Micronesia”): People tend to give Amanda, Parvati, and Cirie credit for developing the all-powerful women’s alliance of this season, but such people tend to forget that Natalie was a big part of that as well. Devious to a large degree, it WAS Natalie’s performance that led to Erik Reichenbach giving up immunity, which must be respected. Plus, Natalie had a lot of fun confessionals. Add onto that the fact that she’s been cut from several casts by now, and I’d say it’s high time she had another shot.

Sandy Burgin (“Survivor Tocantins”): What can I say? Fun, quirky older ladies are one of my favorite things on “Survivor”. Not the brightest, but Sandy managed to survive a fairly brought start in the game (helped by a string of challenge wins), and I’d just like to see what fun she could bring to another season.

Taj Johnson-George (“Survivor Tocantins”): I’m a little skeptical about putting Taj on this list, since I’ve heard some rumors that she’s not really up for doing another season. However, the rumors are vague enough and I like her enough that I’m willing to stretch a little and put her on the list. Though she faded later in the season, Taj was a fascinating driving force early on, and a real underdog. Her contribution to the success of the old Jalapao post-merge cannot be understated, and I’d like to see if and how her strategic skills have improved.

Kelly Bruno (“Survivor Nicaragua”): No, no, calm your heart attacks. This is not “Purple Kelly” (someone I would NEVER consider inviting back), but rather, another one I feel might “deserve” to come back. Sort of in the same vein of why I liked Mikayla Wingle (“Survivor South Pacific”) on the first “Second Chances” ballot, I don’t so much feel that Kelly is the greatest character ever, but that she got unfairly persecuted by an awful human being, and at the very least, deserves a “Survivor” season where she can leave with dignity. Plus, as “Survivor Cambodia” demonstrated, give people named “Kelly” a second chance, and greatness can be achieved, so long as you’re not too picky about spelling.

Holly Hoffman (“Survivor Nicaragua”): Like with “Survivor Thailand”, I get why a lot of people don’t like this season. It had a lot of unpleasantness, particularly with the quits towards the end. However, while “Survivor Nicaragua” hit lower lows than “Survivor Thailand”, I’d also say it hit higher highs, and it’s a shame those highs aren’t acknowledged. Case in point, Holly. Holly had a great underdog story during her first out, and I’d like to see her improve on it. Plus, the older folks from that season don’t get a lot of love, even though there were a few gems among them.

Ashley Underwood (“Survivor Redemption Island”): I shudder as I write this, but yes, I am allowing someone from one of the most reviled seasons ever to be on this fantasy list. Yes, part of it is producer pandering, since they seem to love this season more than others, and they probably want more young, attractive people than I’d ever put on this list, so I’ll cater to them this time. I will say that if you MUST have someone back from this season, Ashley is the person to have. She, at least, showed a MODICUM of resistance to the reign of Boston Rob. Of course, this is “Survivor Redemption Island” we’re talking about her, so not a whole lot comes of it, but for this season, I’ll take what I can get.

Mikayla Wingle (“Survivor South Pacific”): Another person who was listed in the first “Second Chances” vote, and another person who’s more deserving than they are interesting. Like Kelly Bruno, Mikayla at least needs a season where she isn’t attacked by an awful human being. Plus, helps fill the “young, hot girl” quotient CBS feels it needs.

Carolyn Rivera (“Survivor Worlds Apart”): Carolyn actually did herself in, in a sense, by making it to the end. She lost many people’s vote (including mine), as they felt it might be a waste if she won. All this despite playing an excellent strategic game. This is a grievous miscalculation on the part of all the fans, myself included, and I’d like a chance to correct it.

MEN

Greg Buis (“Survivor Borneo”): Another producer concession, but one I’m little less upset about than most. CBS seems determined to have the entire merge cast of “Survivor Borneo” back (save for Colleen and Gretchen), and Greg’s not a bad way to round it out While his irreverence never struck as much of a cord with me as it did with others, I will concede that he still got a chuckle out of me every now and again, and I be intrigued to see how he’s changed in the years since his original stint. He only turned down the past “Second Chances” vote due to scheduling conflicts, so here’s hoping!

Silas Gaither (“Survivor Africa”): Another one falling into the “deserving” category, though this time it’s more fan perception of “deserving” than actually “deserving”. Silas was the first ever victim of a tribe swap, on top until luck wasn’t on his side. Is that unfair? I say no more unfair than any other victims of tribe swaps. Luck’s part of the game. If you can’t accept that, you shouldn’t be out there. Not that I’m saying Silas is COMPLAINING, mind you. In fact, from what I hear he’s pretty cool with his performance on his season. I’d just like to see any fan complaints quieted down, and an under-appreciated season get more representation.

John Carroll (“Survivor Marquesas”): John made for a fun early villain in the first half of “Survivor Marquesas”, and he had a very memorable exit. Again, since he’s a thinker and a superfan, I’d be curious to see how he improves, and if he can bring any new entertainment value to the table.

Sean Rector (“Survivor Marquesas”): Now, HERE’S someone who could definitely bring entertainment to the table! While I’m neither as big a fan nor as big a detractor of “Survivor Marquesas” as most people seem to be, I will admit that Sean was always a high point of the season. His self-depricating, racially fueled humor nearly always hit the mark (and pointed out some things we maybe weren’t ready to see), and it always amazed me that he was not on “Survivor All-Stars”, especially for the flak that season got for having no black men on it. I guess he was maybe passed over for Boston Rob, but personally, I think Sean’s funnier, less full of himself, and will definitely amp up the entertainment value of any season.

Matthew Von Ertfelda (“Survivor The Amazon”): Perhaps a more personal choice than some of the others on this list, I’ve always had a weird soft spot for the crazy man of the Amazon. Whether you found him enjoyable or he freaked you out, you remember Matthew. Maybe it was the shared first name, but I’ve always fallen on the “enjoy” side, and if nothing else, I’d like to see if his craziness was just the situation, or if it comes out no matter what.

Lea “Sarge” Masters (“Survivor Vanuatu”): This was a hard one for me. I love “Survivor Vanuatu” as a whole, and wanted to bring someone back from it, but everyone who sprang to mind didn’t fit the criteria. Fortunately we have Sarge, a really underrated character from the show, who I think could bring back his entertainment value from before. At the very least, we could get more of his death glare and “Say my name!”-ing. I think he might have scheduling conflicts, since he is in the Army and all, but if he can find some down-time, it’d be great to see him again.

Brian Corridan (“Survivor Guatemala”): Rewatching “Survivor Guatemala”, I’m reminded of how much of a riot Brian was. “Bait Blake” was a great game, he had some of the most memorable voting confessionals ever, and he managed to survive a bad tribe swap, at least for a bit. He could make for a dark-horse strategist if brought back, which I love.

Judd Sergeant (“Survivor Guatemala”): Maybe not the most pleasant of characters, but Judd definitely stands out from the crowd, and would make for a very divisive cast member. Since that causes drama, why not have him back? Plus, his “scumbags” remark needs to be repeated in some manner.

“Cao Boi” Bui (“Survivor Cook Islands”): Evidently I just have a thing for the crazy men on this list. Cao Boi, while maybe not as funny in his craziness as Matthew, did have a certain charm to him. All these crazy remedies and strange beliefs of his, they were just great tv. And the weird thing was, a lot of his folksy remedies seemed to WORK! I know people complained about them, but they WORKED! That, to me, is a plotline worth exploring on another “Second Chances” season.

Michael “Frosti” Zernow (“Survivor China”): Kind of producer pandering here, since young, hot men are also somewhat in demand. Particularly athletic men, which Frosti fills very well, being the only real challenge rival to James on that season. Frost never stood out that much to me, but as bland, athletic people go, we could do worse.

Ace Gordon (“Survivor Gabon”): While I will concede that the first several episodes of “Survivor Gabon” are not the best the show has ever put forward, the best bits of it were the bits with Ace in them. The accent alone made him a great character, but he actually came to play as well! Not always play WELL, and he was a bit full of himself, but it was still the best thing to watch. His power struggle with Ken was where the season really started to get interesting, so I’d like to see him come back again for his over-the-top deviousness adding flavor to the overall season. And the METAPHORS! Ace needs to come back if only for the metaphors he could give. “Legless chickens racing against sleek weasels.” is a hard one to top.

Ken Hoang (“Survivor Gabon”): And who better to bring back opposite Ace than his greatest rival? When I was trying to think of people I still hadn’t seen back yet who I wanted, Ken was the immediate thought for me. I loved his “coming-of-age” story on “Survivor Gabon”, and his development as a strategist was great. His only flaw was a bit of cockiness, which he himself admits, and I’d like to see him make up for that mistake. The man wants to come back, so I’m hopeful he’ll get another shot soon. Simply put, an underrated strategist who needs another chance to show us his stuff.

Marty Piombo (“Survivor Nicaragua”): The “chess grandmaster” himself, Marty’s tall tales alone should have won him a second chance. He never stopped trying until the bitter end, he made ridiculous deals that actually worked, and while he could get a bit whiny at times, it was still worth tuning in just to see what he’d do next. If we could have another season of that, I’d be all for it.

LJ McKanas (“Survivor Cagayan”): Much like Tasha, LJ is a person who could have been a great character, and merely got shunted to the side due to a plethora of great characters on “Survivor Cagayan”. LJ is not to be underestimated, though. He had the brains to make for a great strategist, and that’s potential I’d like to see develop. Plus, another hot guy.

Josh Canfield (“Survivor San Juan del Sur”): Apart from Jeremy, Josh was one of the few great things about “Survivor San Juan del Sur”. It seems to me that we had one of the two major players of the season back, now we need to round it out. Josh definitely made some mistakes, but I think he’s got the wherewithal to learn from them, and once his sting on Broadway ends, he’ll be available, so I look forward to him running things even more efficiently the second time around.

Rodney Lavoie, Jr. (“Survivor Worlds Apart”): Truly, Rodney was a fascinating, entertaining… Ok, I really just want to see him on so he can be denied further reward challenges and complain about his “damn birthday” even more. Plus, producer pandering.

And there you have it, a fantasy “Second Chances” bracket. Will it come to pass? Of course not! There are seasons yet to be filmed/aired that will most likely produce worthy candidates, so some of the people on this list will be cut. Still, I think it’s fun to start considering what possibilities we have already. let me know what you think! Anyone I missed? Someone on this list you particularly like or dislike as a choice? Completely hate my guts for not putting Jon Misch on here? Let me know in the comments below! For now, I will await you at the reveal of the cast for ‘Survivor Kaoh Rong”!

-Matt

“Survivor” Retrospectives: China

Get out the defibrillators, it’s time to resurrect an old column!  Yes, for those who have forgotten, this is the return of “Survivor Retrospectives”.  A more analytical and less humorous look at past seasons of “Survivor”, this is my more loosely-scheduled column for the long off-season.  Here I proved my unfiltered view on seasons past, and give a recommendation as to how good it is/whether or not it’s worth watching.  As such, I’ll mention here that as this is an unfiltered, in-depth look at seasons past, this blog will contain spoilers. Those who have not seen the season, or who simply want my recommendation of how watchable the season is, would do well to scroll to the bottom of the page, where I will have a spoiler-free “Abstract” section.  With that said, let us begin our examination.

Our subject this week is “Survivor China”.  Following on the heels of the flop that was “Survivor Fiji”, many speculated, and CBS all but confirmed, that this meant “Survivor” was on its last legs, and while season 16 had already been produced, that would be the show’s swan song.  The fact that we are currently going into season 29 proves that this was not, in fact, the case, and China is given the credit for this turn-around.  Very often, China is referred to as “The season that saved ‘Survivor’”.  This might seem odd these days, as China is very rarely talked about by fans, and when it is brought up, the consensus is that the season is just “Pretty Ok”.  I tend to agree, but for very different reasons than most people give.  How, then, did this season “save ‘Survivor’” if it’s not that well-remembered?  Hopefully, the analysis will demonstrate, so let’s jump on in!

 

CAST

When people DO rarely discuss the strengths of China, the cast is the first thing they bring up, and I cannot deny that there were some gems among them.  Far and away, one of the best characters is James Clement, the Louisiana gravedigger, who could be described as another Rupert Boneham (“Survivor Pearl Islands”) but with a bit more of an edge.  James was pretty physically strong, and had a certain morality about him, but unlike Rupert, that morality was not a hindrance, and as James showed up again and again on the show, that morality gradually diminished.  Still, James was a hard worker, got in some good lines and metaphors, courtesy of his “Southern Good-Old-Boy” upbringing, and was just a lot of fun to watch.  James is also remembered for his exit, but we’ll discuss that in the “Twist” section.  As to my take, well, it doesn’t differ much from that of the general audience.  James was my favorite of the season, and while my opinion of him has changed over time (due to his actions on the later “Survivor Heroes vs. Villains”), at the time the show aired, he was pretty awesome, and I still enjoy watching him on this particular season.

The other audience favorite I have less time for.  Courtney Yates, the deathly skinny New Yorker who came in second overall, won the hearts of fans and producers alike by being snarky and making it incredibly far when it was clear she had no skills whatsoever.  She even managed to win a challenge, which people never stop pointing out.  I would like to point out that the challenge she won favored people who were pretty much weightless, so of COURSE she won, but to be fair, every challenge favors somebody, so good for her.  No, I’ll try not to be too harsh on her, but I have little time for Courtney.  Her sense of humor did not mesh well with my own, and since I didn’t find her snarky comments funny, they came off to me at least as mean spirited, which did not endear me to Courtney.  Further, while I’m hardly of the school of thought that says one has to be hard worker to win “Survivor”, the extent to which Courtney complained and was useless overall just rubbed me the wrong way, and I lost any and all patience with her.  I DON’T like Courtney, in short, and I think she ought to be forgotten.

So, those are the fan favorites, but let’s talk about some producer favorites.  Amanda Kimmel, the Montana nature guide, was at the time quite popular, given that she came back twice, and also for a while held the record for longest time spent on the show, having made the final Tribal Council twice.  She was also made famous for being TERRIBLE at said final Tribal Councils, but hey, nobody’s perfect.  For a while it struck me as a bit odd that Amanda was brought back so much.  True, I liked her well enough at the time, but she’s very bland.  A decent strategist, good in challenges, not much of a character to speak of.  However, it then occurred to me that it was rare to see a woman dominate this show in every way that Amanda did.  We’ve had strong women, physically, mentally, and socially, but rarely all three at once.  In a show in which men tend to dominate all categories, it’s good to see a woman triple-threat, and while Amanda is not the most interesting character out there, and while I personally don’t want to see her back, due to overexposure in previous seasons, I still like her.

When it comes to analyzing winners, and particularly final Tribal Council performances, Todd Herzog, the ultimate winner of the season, usually comes near the top of the list.  Todd was the strategic leader of the dominating Fei Long Tribe, and yeah, he was a good strategist, but with enough bite to his confessionals to make him better than your average winner.  Certainly I would never deny his strategic prowess, and whatever else I’ve thought about him, I have to give him credit for playing a masterful game, particularly with the final Tribal Council, where he managed to flatter those he’d betrayed into voting for him.  Todd was also a superfan, which always made me very happy.  While I liked Todd ok during the season, he wasn’t one of my favorites.  Partly this was the editing’s fault: his win was just too obvious.  However, like with Courtney, Todd’s attitude towards his fellow players, particularly how condescending he could be at times, turned me off a bit.  Not as much as Courtney, as Todd saved his snark for one-on-one interviews, which I respect more than talking to people’s faces, but it still rubbed me the wrong way.  Todd was not bad, by any stretch, just not one of my favorites.

If you want to talk about people who DIDN’T know their game from the get-go, the person you’d think of this season would be Peih-Gee Law.  Peih-Gee had a terrible social game from the start, and her strategic game did little better.  Still, to give credit where credit is due, Peih-Gee learned, and slowly developed a tight alliance, and ultimately became a power broker herself.  I respect this a lot more in later years, and I’m sorry to say I did not appreciate Peih-Gee enough in her time.  Still, I grew from finding her annoying at the outset to liking her a fair amount by the end, so I give her a pass.  Not the best character, but still pretty damn good.

Now to talk about the people who were famous at the time, but have since been overshadowed.  The biggest of these is Jean-Robert Bellande, one of the “celebrities” of the season (the other being Ashley Massaro, the professional wrestler, who is not remembered at all), who took on the guise of “villain”.  Jean-Robert’s elaborate plan was to come off as a lazy jerk early in the season, then slowly ease off the laziness and jerkiness over time, so as to come off as “most improved” at Final Tribal.  Even in my young, pre-strategy days, I could see the obvious flaw in this plan: first impressions last, and you could still be voted off very early.  Thankfully Jean-Robert stuck around for a while, and showed some hidden depths later (speaking Mandarin, which actually came in handy a few times), and he was something of a loveable asshole in my book.  Much promoted  was  Michael “Frosti” Zernow, at the time the youngest contestant ever, and parkour master.  Frosti was something of the Zhan Hu Tribe’s answer to James, and it was pretty cool to see him go, but he had little personality, and it’s easy to see how he was phased out amongst all these other contestants.

Even a couple of the early boots managed to get in on the enjoyable action.  Steve “Chicken” Morris still gets mentioned occasionally, if only for an over-the-top cry of “DAYUM!” upon being blindsided at the first vote, and crazy leader Dave Cruser was always good for a laugh.  Not the most memorable, but certainly good additions to the season.

Overall, I still like this cast ok.  Not as much as others, but then, I never quite liked the cast as much as others to begin with.  What’s caused the dropoff in popularity of this cast?  Why, despite being what most people consider the best aspect of this season, are they so rarely talked about?  Well, the answer to that is twofold: time.  We’d just come off “Survivor Fiji”.  Virtually ANY cast would have seemed better than that snoozefest of a cast, so it’s understandable that the hype would die out after a while.  Plus, now we’ve had other seasons with bigger characters and better strategists, that have kind of phased out China as a season.  The big one, in my opinion, is just how much unpleasantness came out of the woodwork.  I don’t know what it is, but China has a disproportionate number of scandals tied to it.  James’ performance on “Survivor Heroes vs. Villains” was considered hateful and earned him a lot of detractors.  Denise Martin, the fourth-place finisher who was sort of the “sympathy story” of the show, was well-liked and remembered until she lost the fan-favorite vote of the season.  Then, she complained at the reunion show that she lost her job because of “Survivor”, causing producer Mark Burnett to award her another prize, only for it to come out that Denise had lied, and that the job change was actually a promotion.  Denise did give the money to charity, but the damage was done, and her reputation ruined.  Even dear Todd was not immune, having recently gone to rehab for alcoholism resulting from attendance at “Survivor” after-parties.  Not the best images to project for your case.

However, for how average they may have been, however they may have fallen from grace, this cast deserves credit for one thing: longevity.  While a few sleepers were present, and so I didn’t talk about them, most had at least ONE defining trait, and the biggest characters lasted the longest.  You can get by on fewer characters if they stick around, and that’s just what this cast did.  For all that they don’t do it for me as much as others, give them credit for sticking around and still being enjoyable.

SCORE: 8 out of 10

 

CHALLENGES

Unlike most people, I think this is where China shows its strength.  Despite regrettably not setting a precedent for better challenges later on, China gave us a lot of great, epic challenges, contests of physical strength and cunning that had me on the edge of my seat almost every time.  The battering ram challenge, the boat brawl challenge, that meteor mallet challenge with that AMAZING (if pointless) bamboo tunnel!  Greats all.  Not to say that China is without flaws in the challenge department.  Things seemed a bit scaled back come the merge, and some challenges were simple to the point of ridiculousness.  One previous contestant, I recall, compared the first immunity challenge after the merge unfavorably with a Dr. Seuss book.  To be fair, though, if the challenges weren’t epic in scale, they were at least clever.  One that deserves mention, in my mind, is the final reward challenge.  Contestants used a replica of an ancient Chinese crossbow to shoot arrows at a board, attempting to hit their name.  The person whose name is hit the most wins.  Simple enough, BUT, everyone was not allowed to use their own arrows.  Instead, going behind a curtain, everyone gave arrows to the other four, distributed however they liked.  That’s really clever!  It reveals the pecking order in a more subtle way than, say, smashing that person’s effigy, and made for a lot of fun.

Yeah, there were a few stinkers, but overall, I simply LOVE the challenges of China.

SCORE: 9 out of 10.

 

TWISTS

This is another “twist happy” season, so I won’t bother with a clever intro.  Probst, in the opening narration, tells us that this is the first American television show “entirely filmed in China.”  Good for you, but so what?  Frosti being the youngest contestant ever is also classed as a twist, and was kind of a novelty.  Best of all, though, was the “nothing but the clothes on your back” twist, which I always enjoy, and I particularly liked this time as it led to several people lugging heavy suitcases up a steep mountain for no reason.  Ahh, schadenfreud.

After a welcoming ceremony at a Buddhist Monastery (which religious radio host Leslie Nease refused to participate in), the tribes were divided randomly, and each given a copy of Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” to consult in the game.  A bit over the top, but a good way to work in some culture.  It certainly influenced the game, as it had the tribes “pick a leader”, which I always hate.  There’s a “Lead Role” every season, but you do NOT need an overt leader on “Survivor”.

In episode 2, we found out that Exile Island would not be back.  Instead, expanding on a twist from “Survivor Pearl Islands”, the winners of each reward challenge got to kidnap someone from the losing tribe.  Additionally, that person got a clue to the hidden immunity idol, which they had to GIVE to someone from the other tribe.  I actually really like this.  It makes the season distinctive, adds a new strategic layer, and got well-explored.  Yeah, I’m cool with this.

With the mention of clues to the hidden immunity idol, I suppose I should talk about the twist with the idol itself.  There were a few holdovers from “Survivor Fiji”, such as the idol needing to be played after the vote, and it being hidden at the tribe’s camp, but there was one major change that made the idol both a great and terrible twist at the same time.  Specifically, the idol was not hidden in plain sight, actually being a square with a Chinese Character on it that was attached to the archway that was the entrance to the tribe’s camp.  Or, as Todd Herzog put it “It’s those stupid bats on the freaky thing!”  I love the idea of an idol hidden in plain sight, and the clues for finding it were just the right balance of vague and clever.  Also, this square being the idol led to a funny moment later in the season, but we’ll talk about that in just a little bit.  For the moment, lets discuss the DOWNSIDE to the idol being hidden in plain sight, specifically the “hidden” part of the word.  While hiding the idol in plain sight is fun at first, the trouble comes in getting it.  You see, if the idol is in plain sight, when it’s gone EVERYONE sees it, thus eliminating the “hidden” aspect of it.  Part of what makes the hidden immunity idol fun to watch is the paranoia that results from trying to figure out who has it/if it’s been found.  If people can see that it’s been found, they can usually figure out who has it, which makes things less interesting.  Still, for what it’s worth, I still enjoyed the twist.

Episode 5 brought us something new, with fishermen arriving at the camps with a note for each tribe instructing them to select two members of the opposite tribe to join them at their new camp.  A pretty obvious, but fun, way to shake things up, and it was hilarious to see the Zhan Hu tribe (who were down on numbers) think they were suddenly going to have the advantage.  This twist directly led to the next, wherein the Zhan Hu tribe threw a challenge to get rid of former Fei Long leader Aaron Reisberger (one of the few snoozers of the season).  For once, the throwing of a challenge was not seen as a bad thing, and I enjoyed watching it happen, particularly as it led to the great next episode.  James, the other member of Fei Long sent to Zhan Hu, was kidnapped after the next reward challenge, and told Fei Long of the Zhan Hu plans to throw the challenge and eliminate him.  At the same time, Todd had FINALLY found the hidden immunity idol.  Correctly surmising that the idol at Zhan Hu must be in the same place, Todd gave James HIS idol, and told James where to find the one at Zhan Hu.  James would then help Zhan Hu throw the next challenge, use an idol, and vote out Jamie Dugan, who was perceived as the biggest threat for her social game.  Seems like a flawless plan, apart from Todd giving James the Fei Long idol, which was stupid and pointless.  However, it was made hilarious by the fact that Zhan Hu had a change of heart while James was away, and so was NOT trying to throw the challenge. The result was an indescribable spectacle that needs to be watched to be believed.  Needless to say, despite James trying to sabotage things, Zhan Hu won anyway, leading to the events of the next episode.

While James was out crabbing, Jamie noticed that the squares on the archway that had housed the hidden immunity idol were missing (James had accidentally pulled off the wrong one at first, as denoted by a blank backing), and so went looking.  She found the discarded useless square, and after rummaging around James’ bag in the dark, discovered his idols (though only through touch, hence why she didn’t realize the backing thing).  This led her to believe she had an idol, which she played at the next Tribal Council, leading to the first instance of a fake idol being played.  This, to me, is the highlight of the season, and is my favorite fake idol play, just for being the first.

Part of what makes this season so great is the next twist, which is that despite Fei Long’s numbers advantage and united front, this was not a straight Pagonging.  Todd got rid of threats, whoever they were, and this led to a number of good characters sticking around longer.  It added to the unpredictability of the season, so it gets a thumbs up in my book.

This was also the first season to have a reward challenge where one person sat out at the merge, and therefore did not get to go on the reward.  An interesting note, and fairly unique, but nothing major.

Things were fairly dry from here on out, but were sustained by the unpredictability of the votes.  It should be noted that despite only being a 16 castaway season, we were dealt a final 3 once again, which aggravates me.  Still, it was the first time that three people got votes at the final Tribal Council.  We also got a fake-out that the votes would be read in China, rather than LA, which was mildly entertaining.

Ups and downs abound in this twist section, but most were winners, and this was an unpredictable season, so I still like them well enough.

SCORE: 8 out of 10.

 

OVERALL

“Survivor” analysists often say that China was terrible as a location, but I have to disagree.  Sure, there weren’t a lot of water challenges, and things were often puzzle-heavy, but the location stood out, and we got some great challenges and art direction for it.  As to how everything blends together, there’s not much to say.  Most of the elements were pretty ok, and they come together, pretty ok.  I would have liked a more likeable cast, but for what we got, it’s not bad, and I still enjoy China pretty well overall.

SCORE: 32 out of 40.

 

ABSTRACT

China is a mixed bag.  It pales in comparison to some other seasons, but for what it’s worth, it’s a pretty decent watch.  Also, a lot of old contestants from this season come back later, so for the completionist, it’s a must-watch.  Even if you’re just a casual viewer, I’d say give China a go.  It’s not the greatest season out there, but it’s really entertaining, and odds are it won’t disappoint in the area of unpredictability.