Survivor: China began with the ousting of a chicken farmer, to the surprise of no one. Since then, the 15th season of Survivor has been one of the more entertaining editions in recent years, thanks to a nice helping of likable castaways, colorful characters, and some quality villains. The China setting has been a triumph for Mark Burnett and crew. It feels different and new, a feat I wasn't sure would happen again with
Survivor. The dalliances with Chinese culture have been fine, nothing special, the typical
Survivor interactions with locals. Regardless of the setting or the various twists the producers conjure up,
Survivor remains one of the most beloved reality series for one reason: the people. The characters, their interactions, their conflicts, their alliances; these are the things that have kept
Survivor interesting through fifteen seasons.
Let's look at the departed
Survivor: China contestants.
Steve 'Chicken' Morris
The Chicken man was not long for Survivor. If you're an older individual going onto Survivor make sure of one thing: you can't piss off the young people. Chicken was at odds with the young 'uns from the outset, yelling at them about proper shelter building, generally being the crotchety old chicken farmer stereotype audiences expected.
Ashley Massaro
The WWE Diva graced us with her massive cleavage for too short a time. I was a big fan of Ashley and her outrageous sassiness. Unfortunately, she incurred the wrath of Dave “Zoolander” Cruser which, somehow, led to her demise. I thought Ashley was going to make it deep into the game – it's unfortunate she did not.
Leslie Nease
The token super-religious lady showed up and acted like an idiot, for the most part. When she told her tribe that they lost their previous challenge because they lacked the “togetherness” of the other tribe, I wanted to puke in my soup. That was the challenge where Courtney single-handedly lost the challenge because she was unable to chop through a thin rope. But, yeah, Leslie – it was the togetherness that killed you.
Dave Cruser
Zoolander was a incredibly hard worker, but also kind of a crazy person. He was a total jerk, a bossy “leader” who turned everyone against him. His departure was a pleasant one.
Aaron Reisberger
Aaron was at the receiving end of the most controversial moment of the season. After a tribal shake-up that brought Aaron and
James Clement into a tribe with Jaime, Peih-Gee and Erik, things got ugly. Peih-Gee and Jaime decided to throw the immunity competition to ensure their original tribal members would have numbers going into the merge. This would later backfire, but Aaron bared the brunt of its short term effects, losing the fixed challenge then being voted off.
Sherea Lloyd
Sherea Lloyd was a sassy lady who had no problems mixing it up with anyone and everyone. She was a stiff competitor, but eventually her personality wore on the others and she had to be expelled from Survivor: China.
Jaime Dugan
The most embarrassing moment of the season goes to Jaime who, thinking she found a hidden immunity idol, mistakenly played the fake idol at tribal council.
Jeff Probst looked at it, scoffed, told her it was a fake and threw it into the fire. She was then voted off. Ouch.
Jean-Robert Bellande
The professional poker player's strategy of being really, really annoying and making everyone hate you didn't work. Fancy that. The man was abrasive and seemingly clueless as to how to act around other people. Maybe that's why he shuns the outside world and makes his living inside of casinos.
Michael 'Frosti' Zernow
It looked as if a possible romance with Courtney might save Frosti, but in the end tribal loyalty won out. Frosti was an exceptional athlete and well-liked person, but he was up against a very strong alliance. When he lost immunity, voting him off was a no-brainer.
Now, there are seven Survivors remaining. Here's where they stand:
The Sitting Ducks – Erik Huffman and Peih-Gee Law
Erik and PG will almost certainly be the next two Survivors voted off. An immunity win would be huge, but the most likely savior (which still isn't that likely) would be a proposed alliance with Courtney and Denise. That's not going to happen though, and expect it to be Erik first, then Peih-Gee.
The Coattail Alliance – Courtney Yates and Denise Martin
Hooray for being in the same tribe as Amanda, Todd and James! That's the only reason these two have made it this far, and will be the reason they stay alive for a few more weeks. If they were smart enough to band together and administer a coup with PG and Erik, things could get interesting, but neither have any real potential at winning the million.
The Power Alliance – Todd Herzog, Amanda Kimmel and James Clement
Todd and Amanda are the brains, and James is brawn. That's not to say that James isn't smart (he is), of Todd and Amanda aren't tough (they are, Amanda more so than Todd). The winner of Survivor: China will almost certainly come from this trio and it will depend upon a lot of late game strategy and the outcomes of the immunity challenges. It should be a fun battle to the end.
-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of CBS)