Reward Challenge
We’ve seen previously how Dave is a liability in physical challenges, and once again, he failed to deliver. Twice Dave went in and rushed the Fei Long men, and twice he was dispatched rather quickly, leaving Erik and an undersized-yet game Frosti to deal with the bigger Fei Long men.
On the flipside, the Zhan Hu women came up with a strategy, and it carried them to victory. It was pretty simple – rush as a team toawrds Fei Long and quickly take someone out – it didn’t matter who, although it did work to their advantage to keep Denise in, as she gassed pretty quickly.
Immunity Challenge
This was lost pretty much right away, as Courtney proved to have absolutely no arm strength whatsoever, allowing Zhan Hu to get a huge lead and win this challenge with ease. Not even the Idiocy of Dave could screw that up for Zhan Hu, and as a result, a win and the tribe’s first Immunity win.
Tribal Council
I’m not really sure what to think about the decision to boot Leslie. It makes some sense in the long run, but this isn’t even a few days, it’s a couple of weeks down the road that Fei Long was looking. In a two tribe situation, all you need to do is keep winning immunity, and you won’t have to worry about people flipping, because if you keep winning, there won’t be much of the other tribe left come the merge. Leslie is a sure bet stronger than Courtney, and in the short term – with challenges that have been more physical than mental for quite some time now – you’ve handicapped yourself with a very weak player.
Breaking down the votes, we seem to have some obvious reasons for voting off Leslie:
– Jean-Robert, James, Denise and Courtney went with Aaron’s reasoning to vote out Leslie.
– Todd voted for Leslie because voting out Courtney makes him the next target, but if you don’t think he’ll cut Courtney loose to get further in the game, you’re crazy.
– Courtney and Leslie both voted for Jean-Robert, and clearly they knew that one of them was going.
Overall, I’m not surprised to see Leslie go. She was tolerable as far as Godheads go, but she exuded the “just happy to be here” vibe, and that never bodes well for a competitor in reality competitions.
Other Thoughts
– I have to send out my congratulations (condolences?) to Murtz and The Crystal Ball, who had their prediction streak snapped this week at an astounding 40 in a row. The last incorrect prediction was the first boot of Survivor: Cook Islands, and during that stretch, the Ball has come through despite tribe switches, double eliminations and having to predict the elimination order of the final five. Well done, TCB!
– Yes, Jean-Robert is this annoying when you watch him in televised poker. I’ve yet to figure out how this style will help you out in Survivor though.
– Ashley’s right – Dave is a tool.
– Now that both tribes have gone to Tribal Council, the unofficial “feeling out process” appears to be done, and we should start seeing some more strategizing happening on both sides. And hopefully, Dave will be gone soon.
– Finally, it’s scary to think that two franchises that people would never have thought would survive have hit fifteen seasons. The first, obviously, is Survivor. The other? Power Rangers. Who’da thunk it, eh?
Until next week…
