Survivor

Fei Long was poised to blow Zhan Hu out of the water on Survivor: China last week.  Unfortunately, they trusted Courtney with the task of of chopping ropes in the immunity challenge.  Really, really bad idea, it turns out.  Courtney put Fei Long into a massive hole that, despite Courtney's lack of physical strength, they actually almost got out of.  At tribal council, they decided to get rid of Sister Christian Leslie Nease, who sealed her fate when she said that Fei Long lost immunity because they didn't have the heart of Zhan Hu.  It couldn't have been Courtney's fault, Leslie?  Fei Long still has a one person advantage over Zhan Hu, and are probably the overall stronger tribe.  But, how do their members stack up?

#7 – Courtney Yates

If you saw Courtney's performance in the immunity challenge last week, that's all you need to know.  She is as skinny as a person gets, probably around 85 pounds at this point.  No wonder she can't chop down rope.  She also has no real alliance members.  If Fei Long loses and decide to vote based on challenge ability, Courtney has to be the one to go. 


#6 – Denise Martin

I don't think we've heard Denise say one sentence during the first three episodes.  If she truly has no social interaction abilities, her future on Survivor does not look good.  The mullet is still incredibly awesome, but other than that, I can't tell if Denise brings anything else to the table.  I have no choice but to rank her low.


#5 – Jean-Robert Bellande

Bellande rubs people the wrong way.  He's a straight shooter, who's not going to sugar coat anything.  If he can survive a little bit longer, his tribe mates may get used to his abrasiveness.  But, the laziness combined with being unlikable is enough to put Bellande in constant danger of being voted off.  He's a strong dude and pretty good in challenges, but Aaron and James are better.


#4 – Todd Herzog

His early alliance with Aaron and Amanda is the reason Todd's this high.  He seems like a smart player, but I fear that his over-scheming will come back to bite him.  Todd is going to be near worthless in any challenge that requires strength, but I don't think that will matter.  If Fei Long decides to vote based on challenge prowess, Courtney will go first, and Denise second.  Todd looks good for the merge.


#3 – James Clement

James is a beast.  He's going to dominate most challenges.  For this reason alone, it'd be crazy for Fei Long to even consider voting him off just yet.  However, you also risk James pulling off a bunch of individual immunity wins in a row if you let him get to the merge.  If the Aaron/Amanda/Todd triumvirate decides to get diabolical, voting James off could reap rewards down the line. 


#2 – Amanda Kimmel

The second strongest member of the three-pronged alliance is one of the two best female challenge players left.  Amanda is also likable and has a solid alliance.  She's a shoe-in for the merge and once there, will probably go far considering she won't be viewed as a big threat like some of the of the bigger men.  She's been playing a solid game thus far.


#1 – Aaron Reisberger

The de facto leader of Fei Long has kept the bullseye off his back.  He as good a leader as Dave is a bad one.  People like him, he doesn't really bring conflict upon himself, and he's got a nice alliance going.  He could easily butt heads with the James/Jean-Robert duo eventually, at which point things could get ugly.  But, Aaron should breeze through to the merge.

-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of CBS)