Survivor: China - Ep. 6: "That's Love, Baby! It Makes You Strong!"

Hmm … what can be our “take up some rollover space” karaoke sing-a-long theme music for this week? I just did a quick check of my iPod and I can’t find any songs that seem like an appropriate wedding song for Jaime & Erik (or Denise & James, for that matter), so instead I will share with you the current earworm that I have stuck in my head. You’re welcome.

It’s a great big Universe and we’re all really puny
Just a tiny speck about the size of Mickey Rooney
It’s big and black and inky
And we are small and dinky
It’s a big Universe and we’re noooooooooooot
Thank you, Animaniacs! And now, links to previous episode threads:

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Info from Yahoo! TV:

One castaway finds the hidden immunity idol, but another learns who has it and cuts a deal to benefit them both; castaways dine on unusual Chinese delicacies at the reward challenge; one castaway is sent home.

And info from TV Guide:

The castaways eat exotic Chinese food; one person finds a hidden immunity idol; and one player wants to go to tribal council, even though he believes he will be voted out.

And info from CBS:

The castaways dine on unusual Chinese delicacies, ranging from a chicken heart to a “thousand-year-old egg.” A castaway discovers the Hidden Immunity Idol, but the secret is blown when an unwelcome tribe member sees it in their possession. And later, one castaway wants to go to Tribal Council, even though he knows he won’t have the votes to survive.

And some stuff I just made up because I am under the influence of Robitussion, Mucinex, Sudafed, Claritin, Tylenol Arthritis, and the ubiquitous Mountain Dew:

Monkeys! Pandas! Snakes! Hippos! Water buffaloes! Stunning spectular low definition! Naked boobies! Plumber’s crack! Riots! Fires! Mudslides! Sushi in the mall! Jeff Probst is the host!

See you later, y’all!

I wonder if James can get the message to his old tribe mates over in the other, new tribe that his new tribe is throwing the challenges to get rid of him and take over come the merge. Will it be the battle for who can suck most at the IC and lose?

Lesson of the day: No matter how great your plan is, always have a strong plan B.

Wow. How can some people get things so wrong. And it looks like next week things get even worse. I will shut up for now.

Or, barring that, a sturdy shiv.

I gotta admit, he did have a damn fine plan.

I was kinda expecting them to throw the challenge, I wonder why the change of heart?

For a second there, I thought were referring to James, and that you meant “butt.” Because that’s pretty much all I remember about this episode: “Holy CRAP! What a butt!” Sometimes I’m not sure how I feel about James, but I feel very strongly about his tuchus. It’s foine, even through the pixels.

Well I’m certainly no fan of Jean Robert but at the tribal council he came off sounding a lot better then the blond, skinny, rhymes with witch, and Sherea. They came off sounding really nasty and shrill and I’m glad to see one of them go. Plus Sherea was a truly lazy person.

The preview for nest week was pretty scary. It looked like James didn’t have the HII.

They were discussing the fact that during the reward challenge, neither of their old tribe mates would look at them or speak to them, even in seclusion. I think they realized that their plan was flawed.

But even so…man, they’re in awful shape. Frosti’s looking good, though. I think Todd and Amanda will gladly give him Courtney’s spot in the alliance.

I’m thinking / hoping, he still has the one Todd gave him, but while he’s retrieving the second plaque, he gets spotted by the other tribe members and they somehow get it instead.

EXCEPT… the second plaque is not really a HII! In the preview they don’t seem sure about whether it is or not. The first one had a label that identified it as the HII.

Sorry, I misunderstood the question. I thought you were asking why the team with James on it didn’t throw the challenge?

Courtney, you ignorant slut. If you want to set yourself up as an outsider, then you did a great job. If you want to win the game, that’s not the way to do it.

Having said that… WTF was Todd thinking? He’s playing a great game, but I would’ve gotten rid of Frosti, not Sherea. They need to think about the merge, and getting rid of the stronger guys. Frosti is a pretty god athlete, and I’d much rather have Sherea around to compete against than the Frost-man.

Wow – who put a quarter in Courtney and especially Sherea during the tribal council? Nasty, shrill, spiteful shrews. Way, way beyond venting.

So does James now have two immunity idols?

James seemed to try to throw it for a bit, but the dude has too much moral fiber for that. Good on him.

That’s not how I saw it. James WAS throwing the challenge, but as he saw that Denise really wasn’t going to eat that thing, he gave up and just ate the whole thing in zero time.

And I can’t believe James doesn’t get the HII as they showed on the previews. I just can’t imagine how he gets so dumb all of the sudden. I never got why Todd insisted in him getting the HII unnoticed, btw.

And I never got why they gave the HII to James in the first place. He was supposed to go to camp before TC and had plenty of time to get his own HII. Which btw, I would have paraded. That way you are sure you are not getting any votes and they kill each other figuring out who to vote out.

That’s not how Sherea saw it: “They knew they couldn’t beat me in the challenges. I was the strong one. They were the weak ones. So of course they’re going to take out the threat.”

I cannot believe this woman teaches elementary school.

I think I would have gone with a plan to oust Frosti, but after the way Sherea behaved in Tribal Council, I would have changed my mind right quick. For someone who is supposedly so “awesome” in challenges, such a “threat,” Sherea really only looked “impressive” once – the wrestling challenge. And even then, her success was more a function of her mass and age than it was because of her self-perceived prowess. I mean, come on. I’m a 33-year-old hypochondriac couch potato who smokes half a pack a day, lives on Mountain Dew and pizza bites, and counts weeding as “exercise,” and I could have taken Courtney and Amanda on size alone. (Although I will give them credit for scrappiness.)

Maybe I’m giving Tood too much credit because I like him – he reminds me of Rafe, who I loved, even though (like most of my very favorite players) he done lost his mind at the end – but I really respect the way he’s playing this one. He seems to have a pretty good read on everyone he’s deal with so far and what kind of game they’re playing. Courtney seems to be a misstep, but I don’t know whether you can blame Todd for that; she seems to want to be an archetype, some “bigger picture” character, where Todd apparently responded to her as an actual person.

Or, maybe Courtney is just a stereotypical NYC bitch.

Yes, I think he does.

That’s supposed to be the plan. The previews for next week are very clear that this is not the case. Not that previews are a reliable predictor of the future