Survivor: China - Episode 9 Recap

The ninth episode of Survivor started much the same way that the prior few seem to have: with Courtney talking about Jean-Robert. The difference this time? She was practically singing in giddy delight at the fact that he was gone. You'd think he was the Wicked Witch. Poor JR.

Of course, this is a happier tribe without him there...until the camera gave a few seconds of devotion to Lunchlady Land, still teeming over the prior vote, where we learn that she was the lone voter for PG. Turns out her fellow former Fei Longers thought she might switch allegiances at the last second and didn't want to risk keeping her in the loop. I wouldn't want that mullet mad at me.

The reward challenge, while somewhat innovative, was another pointless "teaming up" contest, where two groups of four, using drums of various size, had to bounce what looked like tennis balls across a maze (of sorts) and eventually get the balls into a basket. Clever, sure, but the execution was a failure, as the two best dribblers on each team just ended up bouncing the balls to each other the whole time while the other two pretty much stood there watching. The team of Erik, Frosti, Courtney and Amanda won handily (guess which two were prominently involved - I'll give you a hint and tell you that Courtney, who was picked last, wasn't one of them). On the other side, Denise and Todd stood around a lot while James and PG floundered their way to defeat. The reward itself was a leisurely cruise down the Li (?) River, amidst some gorgeous landscape, and though it looked like fun for the castaways, it didn't make for great television, as all the did was sit around and eat and drink. Woohoo!

Meanwhile, back at camp, PG, pissed and whiny because she's the biggest loser there (her words, not mine) decided to rip on James for his performance during the challenge. Say what you will about his reaction to her (something along the lines of "Leave me alone, shut up, go away, stop tossing blame, you diseased bitch."), but she was clearly out of line, and more or less admitted as much in a confessional later ("I was pissed that I'm a big loser and took it out on James"). Still, that was some funny stuff - enough for James to declare PG as the "new Jean-Robert." Burn!!

Let's fast forward to the Immunity Challenge, which begun with some drama. Before beginning, Jeff had a potential offer - food, and lots of it. Immediately, a number of contestants began salivating at their chance to appear cocky (oh, and hungry). Jeff gave them all two coins, one indicating the desire to eat, the other to play; "1, 2, 3, hold out your hand," and just like that four people were out of the challenge (James, Todd, Courtney and Denise), all supremely confident that they weren't going home.

The challenge was a melding of Simon Says and Memory, with each contestant placed in front of a table that had 20 or so tiles, each with a picture of an animal on it. Jeff would read off a group of animals; pick the correct ones that he read, in order, and you advance to the next round. Sounds easy, right? The first round, he reads off five animals. Immediately, Erik is gone. Amanda is out after the second round (also five animals), leaving just PG and Frosti. For the third round, six are read. PG gets it, Frosti doesn't and it's over.

Huh? A group of four people, each under the age of 40, can't remember five or six items in a list? I was shocked. Unless there were some rules we weren't privy to, like the contestants having to wait a few minutes before selecting their tiles, this was a major disappointment and a low point for the three losers.

With PG, who was the front-runner for getting voted off, winning immunity, the focus immediately shifted to Frosti and Erik, the other remaining Jean Hu-ers. Not a lot of drama at camp or at Tribal Council, and Frosti is gone from the game.

A pretty weak episode. And probably a weak recap. As such, I present five Goods and Bads from episode 9:

5 Goods From Episode 9

* At Tribal Council, Jeff immediately asked James why he went for the food rather than going for immunity. James' final reasoning: "It was meat, man." Classic.

* The grub that was so tempting at the challenge was hamburgers and fries. There were 12 hamburgers. James also revealed that he ate seven of the 12. Mind you, this was during what appeared to be a five-minute span. Wow, just wow.

* You know what less Jean-Robert means? That's right - less time for Courtney to bitch about Jean-Robert! A win-win, for her and us.

* Erik's goat impression, which can not be described in words.

* Frosti's penguin t-shirt. Okay, so it's not unique to this episode, but it's still great, and we won't be seeing it again.

5 Bads From Episode 9

* No more Frosti. After all, he was my second favorite after James. And pretty sharp for a 20-year old kid.

* PG winning immunity. On the other hand, maybe she'll get in more "fights" with James, which could prove entertaining.

* My fellow Survivor blogger friend Robb is a big fan of the "Outwit" type of players. I remembered this as I watched neither Frosti nor Erik make the slightest attempt at saving their butts prior to Council. A little effort, guys? They seemed content in playing the odds that the other was going home. Frosti, via his superior skill at challenges and his "relationship" with Courtney, proved the bigger threat. Still, weak attempt.

* The boring reward and disappointing Immunity Challenge. Just not great TV.

* The show ending with a cliffhanger (the contestants were told they weren't leaving the Tribal Council area, followed by the credits). Sure, this might prove interesting, but I'm guessing there's no episode next week with Thanksgiving. Damn you!

Survivor: China homepage at CBS.com