That was the most frustrating episode of
Survivor I've seen in years. Maybe ever.
Survivor: China had begun so promisingly. Prior to last night's abomination, the season was full of physical and well-planned challenges, two distinct tribes boasting vastly different identities, and tribal councils in which there were no slam dunk decisions. Then came last night, when the
Survivor producers panicked and decided to shake up the tribes. Usually, I'm OK with switching up the tribes, but what they did last night was shameful, really bastardizing the entire game, or at least everything that came before the tribe switch. If you didn't happen to watch
Survivor: China last night, each tribe was told to choose two members from the opposing tribe to come join theirs. So, the two strongest members from each tribe traded places, instantly altering the balance of power and allowing two spineless ladies to pull off the most despicable
Survivor move imaginable: throwing a challenge.
Jaime Dugan and
Peih-Gee Law did not make any friends in America last night. Or, at least they shouldn't have. I know everyone I watched
Survivor with last night became unspeakably angry with Jaime and Peih-Gee when it became clear that they threw the challenge. I wanted to kick them in the shins. I understand their reasoning for throwing the challenge (keep their original tribe intact going into the merge), but that doesn't make their actions any less awful. Instead of secretly throwing it, or at least attempting subtlety, those two mental midgets decided to parade the fact that they weren't interested in winning at all, basically spitting in the face of Aaron and James, who were working their asses off.
And, they were laughing! Laughing during a challenge. Just despicable behavior. They aren't the only ones at fault, however. The
Survivor producers who decided to go through with the tribe switch really botched it. What did they think was going to happen if they let each tribe pick the two members they would receive? Of course James and Aaron would head over to Zhan Hu. They opened the door for Peih-Gee and Jaime to throw the challenge. They should have evened up the tribes, done a one for one trade, or a one guy/one girl move. Anything but what they did last night.
And, the award for Worst Backbone of the Night goes to
Erik Huffman, for having the opportunity to make everything right, to punish Peih-Gee and Jaime for their arrogance, for not being included in their plan. But, no, Erik couldn't cross Jaime, his little schoolgirl crush. The whole situation made me want to vomit.
Aaron Reisberger got jacked. He went from being positioned in a great situation with a solid alliance to being voted off through absolutely no fault of his own.
I'll say this: I've never wanted someone to win in
Survivor as much as I now want James to win. Nor have I wanted two people voted off as much as Peih-Gee and Jaime. At least we have some real villains now.
-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of CBS)