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.
The clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy’s will to be imposed on him. - Sun Tzu, The Art Of War
Last week we saw one of the worst self destructions in the history of Survivor when James failed to play either of TWO immunity idols and was blindsided and voted out by his former alliance. This week we were hoping to see some of the others learn from his mistakes and make some moves to help themselves overthrow the power team of Todd and Amanda and go for the win.
We were disappointed.
It’s not just that some people can’t think strategically far in advance. I could live with that. What annoys me are those that can’t even see the writing on the wall even when it is right in front of them and their demise is so glaringly obvious. How can these people just sit around and await the fate that they must know is soon to befall them? I don’t get it.
I’ll get to that in a bit. First, let’s break down what happened.
So, everyone gets back from Tribal Council and they’re incredibly relieved that James is gone, not so much because of the strategy but because they feared for their lives if he had come back to camp with them. I’m thinking they have a point since he could have dug their graves and had them buried by morning.
The next day is a rainy, miserable one. They spend half of it huddled in the cave, missing home. Doesn’t make for great television. Todd shows us that he’s still thinking about the game by telling us (the camera) that getting rid of him would be the best move for the rest of the people (but he’s not going to tell them that, of course). I agree it would be smart for most of them.
The Reward Challenge was the annual “bring your family to Survivor” challenge where everyone had a significant other who came to compete with them and cry with them to let us know just how much they miss their families. Everyone is crying and hugging and it’s touching - for some people, I guess…not me.
But then, it gets interesting. Todd’s sister, Brandy, comes out and hugs him and Todd asks her how his little sister is. Brandy tells Todd that she miscarried. Probst, who hears and knows all, has Todd explain what’s going on. We hear that Todd’s little sister was pregnant but that she miscarried. She’s okay, though, and that’s all that really matters. Cue the sad music…
Okay, I have to explore this further simply because of the Johnny Fairplay, dead grandma thing a few seasons back. Now, I don’t really think that Todd was making this story up. I think he’s too smart to try to pull the same trick Fairplay pulled. What I don’t understand is why he even asked about it in the open like that. The smart thing would have been to whisper in his sister’s ear and get the response the same way. As a smart player, he had to know how it would look to receive that kind of news. Maybe he didn’t think it through or it was a spur of the moment thing or whatever, but it was a bad misstep that could easily come back to hurt him later. The other players, in fact, talked about it at length. Whether or not they believe him there will still be some doubt in their minds.
So I got that off my chest.
The challenge is a maze where the family teams have to maneuver and meet up with one another using only their hands and voices (because they’re blindfolded) - some kind of crazy Marco Polo, I guess. First team to meet in the center and climb the steps to the top wins. Amanda and her sister, Katrina, were pretty funny making weird bird noises. Denise and her husband ended up winning. She chose Todd and Amanda (and their family members) to go with her.
So they go and do their thing and it’s mostly boring. Denise makes it clear to her husband (yeah, she’s straight) that she plans to stick with Todd and Amanda because she actually thinks they’ll take her to the final three. Why, she thinks this is beyond me. Ironically, Amanda tells the others that she thinks Denise will be cool if they take her to final four and then get rid of her…that is, she’ll understand not making it further. Somehow I doubt it.
They go back to camp with melted chocolate on their fingers and let the other lick it off like their making some kind of kinky porn movie. I find it disturbing and not attractive. Peih-Gee waits until the family members are gone the next morning before telling Denise how pissed off she is for not taking her on the Reward since Peih-Gee took Denise to the kung-fu thing. But then, Peih-Gee is always pissy about something so I doubt Denise really cares too much.
The Immunity Challenge is a rope course that each person is attached to and must maneuver while answering questions correctly to choose a key that will open a lock. If you get the question correct you choose the correct key. Otherwise you have to go back and get the other key. Everyone is so tired it looks like they’re running the race in slow-mo. I’ll spare you the details and just say that Peih-Gee ends up winning.
So now we come to the fun part. With six people left there’s only so many ways this thing can turn out. Pretty much all of them hinge on what Denise decides to do. At this point we know that Erik and Peih-Gee are going to vote the same way because they have no reason not to. Courtney and Todd will almost surely vote the same way as well with Amanda more than likely to vote with them. Denise makes up the fourth member of the main alliance, but it’s obvious to everyone (even her it appears) that her place is set at four. Peih-Gee points out to Denise and Denise agrees that once Erik and Peih-Gee are gone Denise is next.
There is a certain rationale at this point for Denise to turn the tables and side with Peih-Gee and Erik and thus, force a tie. A tie at this point would likely be between Todd and Erik and would not directly involve Denise which means she would not be the one voted out. In the worst case scenario, Erik loses the tiebreaker and is voted out. Denise is then in the losing alliance with Peih-Gee and is either the next to go or one after that (fifth or fourth). As it stands, she’s fourth now.
In the best case scenario, Todd loses the tiebreaker and is voted out. Now Denise, Peih-Gee and Erik have the upper hand on Amanda and Courtney who will be the next to go (well, maybe, since Courtney is still the best one to take to the finals, but you get my drift).
Best case is much, much better for Denise than worst case is bad and worst case is only slightly worse to no worse than where she is at now. Denise, however, is simply incapable of seeing the logic in this line of thinking. She remains convinced that a solid fourth place finish is somehow better than taking a chance. In all fairness, of course, that fourth place could be better than risking everything because she could win immunity and get into the final three. Of course, that requires doing something that she hasn’t shown any capability of doing so far. I personally would rather rely on my mental strategy than rely on the skill and luck required for winning a challenge.
Needless to say, Denise stayed with the alliance of four and voted for Erik, thus securing his fate (and probably her own). Getting rid of the likable Erik was actually probably good news for Amanda, though. She continues to lead her alliance without taking on my dirt than necessary. Todd’s stock is dropping as he continues to make himself appear more and more shifty. Meanwhile, Courtney and Denise continue to serve as the useful idiots they are…lambs led to the slaughter. Peih-Gee, on the other hand, remains dangerous only because she continues to win immunity and could be a disruptive force at the end.
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