Survivor: China – Episode 12 – The Following Tribal Council Is Rated PG

As always, this article is nothing but one big spoiler so if you haven’t seen this week’s episode you probably don’t want to read this post. If you would like a good recap of the episode you can find one right here.

Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance. – Sun Tzu, The Art Of War

The first thing I must say is that the previews for Sunday’s finale points out that there will be three more Tribal Councils in the last episode which clearly insinuates that there will be a final two (and not final three as we have been assuming) after all which normally would have far reaching consequences to the strategies of the players but since few of the players are actually using any sort of strategies I think I’m the only one who will actually be effected.

Now, on to this week’s episode.

Once again Denise made a case for herself being the worst Survivor of the season. And remember, that isn’t easy to do with Courtney still in the game. I’m just stunned by the sheer number of mistake she keeps making. I mean, it’s one thing to make a strategic decision, but it’s something else to just make bad, bad choices that simply cannot benefit you in any way whatsoever. But I’ll get to that in a minute.

Amanda, on the other hand, continues to impress me mightily. If there was any doubt that she was the best player in the game there shouldn’t be any longer. The way she handled herself in this episode, whether for strategy or just because of the way she is, proved she is heads and shoulders above the other contestants still in the game.

We saw both the best and the worst of what the Survivors had to offer when the Reward Challenge kicked off early in the show. The challenge involved firing arrows from a Chinese repeating crossbow into placards with everyone’s names on them. The twist is that each player got to distribute their arrows to whomever they wanted (so that each player got a different number of arrows depending on how “popular” they are – or how sorry they can shoot) and the point counts no matter whose name they hit.

The reward was a trip to the Great Wall of China (or just “the wall” as they call it in China – Do they? I’ve always wondered?). The winner would be flown by private jet to the Great Wall where they will enjoy a meal and spend the night.

I won’t bore with every single detail of the challenge except to say that Peih-Gee got the expected ONE arrow (from Courtney). Todd only got six which didn’t make him too happy. Courtney got the most at twelve for reasons that remain a mystery. Todd actually ended up being the best shot. He hit five of his six on his own target. Courtney, however, had no problem hitting targets, but seemed to hit Denise’s more than anyone’s and ended up helping Denise win.

Now, I would like to point out something here that would have been really smart of Todd (and Denise). At one point he and Denise were tied and Courtney still had to fire one arrow. The two of them were sitting side by side. Why didn’t he just lean over and say “I’ll take you if you take me”? She probably would have agreed and it would have settled some later issue. He didn’t, of course, and Courtney hit Denise’s target which caused her to win.

Denise got to pick two others to go with her. She first chose Courtney which was only slightly surprising. I think Todd and Amanda were probably hoping that Denise would pick both of them, though. Todd was begging Denise to pick him…as was Peih-Gee. Peih-Gee had a pretty good argument since she took Denise on that kick-butt karate reward a few episodes ago. Denise, however, made one of her many, many mistakes by not only not taking Peih-Gee (which we could live with), but by saying, loud enough so Peih-Gee could hear, that she didn’t want Peih-Gee to get any stronger so she would take Todd instead.

Peih-Gee doesn’t take disappointment well so she was pissed off. Amanda was upset nearly to the point of tears but she handled it well, I thought. And that’s the difference between the type of players those two are.

So the three knuckleheads go off and make bufoons of themselves on the Great Wall. They congratulate themselves and each other and talk about how smart it was that they were there and not Amanda because Amanda wouldn’t dare cause any problem back at camp. Then they proceed to complain that the food they are given is raw and they don’t know how to cook it and they don’t understand it and it’s not what they expected, etc. Made me want to slap them.

Amanda and Peih-Gee on the other hand used their time together to become closer. They decided they should use the time to bond and figure out why they hadn’t really talked or forged any kind of relationship. So, they ate and talked and discussed the possibility of overthrowing Todd. Amanda seemed to be all for it, but the plan requires a third. Denise was the only real possibility…and we know what that means.

When the dunderheads get back they start complaining to Amanda and Peih-Gee about the reward and how the food upset their stomach and how they had to cook it. Absurd. Todd even had the nerve to complain that Amanda and Peih-Gee ate too much rice while they were gone. In the meantime, Denise pulls Amanda aside and tells her that they had sandwiches for the two girls but that Todd ate them on the trip back to camp. Luckily Denise saved some peanuts for them. Well played Denise. Well played.

Anyway, they go on to the Immunity Challenge which is a mix of other challenges that they’ve done before. One person will be eliminated each round until there’s a winner. Todd gets kicked out the first round when he doesn’t score enough points with the Chinese star throwing things. Denise goes out the next round when she can’t eat the same nasty Chinese egg thing she couldn’t eat in a previous challenge. Courtney gets tossed when she doesn’t beat the others by bouncing a ball on a drum and into a barrel quick enough. Finally, Amanda and Peih-Gee go head to head chopping rope to get puzzle pieces to put together a puzzle. Peih-Gee makes a go of it, but Amanda beats her by seconds and wins immunity.

So, the two people who Denise didn’t take on the Reward Challenge (and thus didn’t get a chance to “get stronger” because of the reward) were the two who made it to the last round of the Immunity Challenge… So much for Denise’s strategy.

So once Amanda has the Immunity it’s time for Peih-Gee to try to save herself. We know the only way she can do it is to convince Denise to swing to her side and vote for Todd. Denise, though, actually thinks, for some unknown reason, that she can beat Todd in the final Tribal Council so she doesn’t want to get rid of him. Denise isn’t changing anything.

While I laud Denise’s ability to see that Todd has gone from a smart player to an underhanded player that everyone can see through and no one likes, I am perplexed by her inability to understand that she simply cannot beat even him in the final Tribal Council. The heavy decisions she’s had to make over the past two episodes was really more about who she wanted to win (other than herself) more than how she was going to win. She could have made decisions that would have helped one or the other of Todd or Amanda to win, but there’s nothing she could have done, or has done, to actually win the game.

Now that we know there’s a final two, it’s possible, if Denise and Courtney were to end up in the finals together, that Denise might could beat Courtney, but I wouldn’t even bet on that at this point. Courtney would likely have the vote of Frosti, Todd, Peih-Gee, and probably even Amanda at this point. Denise could maybe count on Jean-Robert and James, but I wouldn’t even bet on that. Her ineptitude has placed her in a position where she stands no chance of winning.

Amanda, however, played Peih-Gee brilliantly. I don’t know if she was being honest or just playing the game when she spent the day alone with her. It doesn’t matter. Amanda convinced Peih-Gee that she was on her side and that it was only because of outside forces that she was having to vote her out. Amanda made it look like she was actually Peih-Gee’s friend and that there was nothing she could do to save her. Amanda even said enough at Tribal Council that she probably helped herself with Peih-Gee’s old tribemates without saying too much and sounding insincere. Peih-Gee will probably go to wherever the jury goes and talk about how nice Amanda was and help swing some votes her way too. It was one of the best one on one “winning a vote” performances I’ve ever seen on Survivor.

The flip side of that was Todd’s excruciatingly bad performance at Tribal Council. He idiotically called himself out as being a backstabber, unlikable, and unworthy of the jury’s vote. How stupid can you be? You don’t tell people what they think of you even if you KNOW that’s what they think of you. How can he possibly defend himself in front of the jury now? They will call him out for every thing he said and there’s no way he can deny it. All he can say is that he was the mastermind of the whole game and hope that is enough. It seldom is. The jury historically does like to vote for the better player, but they do not like to vote for people they feel unworthy of the million dollars. If Todd faces Amanda there’s no way he will be able to convince them that he made all the decisions and that he was somehow a better player and more deserving when she was there the whole time doing the same things but was nice about it.

To make matters worse was how he acted after the final vote was read. His facial expressions were just rude. He was smiling and laughing and just acting like he was on top of the world. That’s no way to act in front of the jury. Someone who’s seen Survivor before should have known that without even thinking about it.

Peih-Gee said equally stupid stuff. I’ve never agreed with those who accuse others of cheating and backstabbing in the game of Survivor. The very accusation is absurd. The whole point of the game is to outwit, outplay, and outlast your opponents. It is well documented that the game was conceived as a social experiment. To say that deceiving someone is somehow cheating when the only condition placed upon you is to outwit your opponent is ridiculous.

That would be like me playing you a game of chess and refusing to use my Knights. Not only that, but when you use your Knights I accuse you of cheating! Sound crazy doesn’t it? But how is this different? Now, I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with a player wanting to play with integrity if he so chooses…but that player shouldn’t hold that same standard of play to the other players. His standard of play (his game “morals” if you will) are not the rules of the game and the other players and eventual winner of the game should not be judged based upon those standards.

That is why I think what Peih-Gee said or insinuated about others getting to where they are by lying and cheating and backstabbing was just nonsense. It was convenient for her to make that argument but she’s the type of player who would have done any or all of those things had she needed to (ask Aaron what he thinks about her game play). She might not have been in the position to have to do what others have had to do, but it doesn’t mean she wouldn’t have. And the whole point, as I’ve already argued, is moot anyway since it’s a ridiculous argument to make in Survivor.

So, as you probably know, Peih-Gee was unanimously voted out. There was no other way this could have gone once Denise made her decision. Amanda smarted concluded that the die was cast for better or worse. There’s nothing she can do now but ride the train she’s on.

Amanda still has the best chance to win if she can get to the final Tribal Council. The problem will be getting there. None of the others have a reason to take her so she will have no choice but to win immunity, which will be tough, or convincing one or more of the others to bring her along, which will be even tougher.

As it stands now, Amanda, Todd, and Denise should take Courtney to the final two. Denise, however, is likely to take Todd if given the chance as she thinks she can beat him. I think Courtney would be clueless and would probably take Todd as well. Amanda would definitely play it smart and take either Denise or Courtney, but Courtney if she’s still there. Todd will take Courtney if he can and Denise if he has to.

Amanda will win if she makes it to the final two. Todd will win if he makes it and Amanda does not. If it is between Courtney and Denise it is anyone’s guess but I think Courtney might squeak by with a victory while hell freezes over and Mark Burnett suffers a massive heart attack.

Have fun watching the finale on Sunday!

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