When Amanda Kimmel made her way into the final 3 of Survivor: China, I was convinced that she would win.  I suppose I underestimated the friendships that Todd made, instead thinking that he had pissed a lot of people off.  I knew Courtney had no shot in hell but I was a little surprised she received two (or any) votes from the jury.  I guess I can't be totally surprised Frosti threw a vote her way.  He was practically drooling over her in the final tribal council.  The BuddyTV readers got behind Amanda and felt she deserved more than she got in that final vote.  Now that the season is over, we can take a look back and try to figure out where Amanda went wrong.

Here are the flaws with Amanda's plan.  Two of her biggest allies sat behind her in the final three.  You can't take your friends to the finals because your friends are the ones who are going to vote for you.  She made a huge mistake in not taking out Todd when she had the opportunity.  She refused to bond with the Zhan Hu women after the merge, focusing only on Erik - and that's because he's good looking.  Both Peih-Gee and Jaime gave their votes to Todd while Erik showed the love back to Amanda, giving her the single vote.

Perhaps the biggest problem with her plan was that she probably assumed she could pull a good cop/bad cop scenario with Todd.  Very Rob and Amber of you, Amanda.  The problem with that is that Rob actually WAS the bad cop during Survivor: All Stars.  By the time people suspected Amber, it was too late.  Amanda made herself known early on after the merge, getting rid of James, a member of her alliance.  She didn't have the people skills that Todd did and that's really what cost her the game.

Here's the good news.  If BuddyTV is correct, Amanda will get her shot at redemption on next season's Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites.  She's going to have to be tough if she makes it to the merge, going up against the likes of Ozzy and Jonny Fairplay.  I'll be surprised if she makes it far next season but I guess, in the game of Survivor, you never know.


- Gina Scarpa, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of CBS)