Survivor China: A Slippery Little Sucker (season finale)

(S15E13) Well, this is it. Who's going to win it all on Survivor China -- the schemer, the lunch lady, the beauty queen, or the waitress long shot? Now, if I were a wagering woman, I could have won some money on this one. As with the first season with Richard Hatch, I picked the winner from the first episode. So, I'm two for fifteen. I guess I should ask Jean-Robert how those odds do in the real world, eh?

Ah, but I won't say a word about the winner before the jump. I know how dangerous that can be.

But I was right. 'Nuff said.

They really have to do something about the rampant show spoilers which leak about this show. Once again, they were right about the final four, the final three, and much of the way through the show with perhaps a minor slip here and there. Since I'm the type of person who often peeks at the ending of a book, it doesn't bother me or ruin anything. However, I know many folks absolutely hate spoilers.

In the beginning of the first hour of the three Survivor China hours tonight, we had a fairly brief season recap -- 8 minutes. Yes, I timed it. That's not too bad.

From there, it was show on. The final four -- Denise, Courtney, Amanda, and Todd -- were as Courtney put it "happy to be in the final four on Survivor-frickin'-China!" The group has been a fairly strong alliance from not long after the beginning. First it was Todd and Amanda, then the other two joined as a voting block. All along it's been Todd and Amanda calling the shots more than the other two. But is there trust? Nuh-uh. After all, this is Survivor. Hatch sealed the fate of the show in the first season.

The last Reward Challenge of the season may or may not have had influence on the final Immunity Challenge. Oh, I'm sure it was a welcome reward for them -- food! We're talking pizza, beer, soft drinks, and such. Yes, it would give them more calories and potentially more stamina for a competition. But then there's beer. Is that good to brace for a challenge when you've been practically starving? I would think not!

But maybe.

Amanda won the reward in which the castaways had to build a bridge out of puzzle pieces, go through a course, collect puzzle blocks and put them together at the end to complete the show's own version of the Great Wall of China.

Then she faced a dilemma. This right here is the problem I have with Amanda's gameplay. She worries too much about pleasing everyone at times. She jumped in a minute to take James out when it might be perceived to be a Todd move. But put her in a situation where she wants to be friends with everyone and she has a tizzy fit.

After going over all the scenarios, she chose Todd to share the feast with her, something she should have probably done with little thought. She could only invite one or two. She couldn't logically take two leaving one person behind, so it was one or none. Take Todd. He's the original alliance, no brainer. So much drama about such an obvious decision!

Then, back at camp, Denise is riding her "feeling hurt, outsider" pony while Courtney really doesn't care much at all about things. She declares Todd to be a slippery little sucker thus giving the finale a title. You go, girl! I do kind of like Denise, but she so often is on that pity pony that it makes it hard to cheer her on. I know many show fans want the winner of a reality show to be the person who needs it the most, but that's just not me. If people need money that badly, they can't take time off from work to go be on reality shows. Or, if they do, they're not thinking too clearly. I want the person who played the game best to win. Sometimes it happens.

During the feast Amanda told Todd she doesn't really trust him and gave him a clue that he might be betrayed by the alliance. He swore his loyalty, but the seed was planted in his mind. If Amanda wants him gone and she's his closest ally ... oops!

There was the inevitable memory walk, this time with the final four reminiscing and then setting off a string of firecrackers as they worked their way up to a statue of the goddess of compassion and mercy.

Yes, yes ... nice things said about the departed and brief film clips from their time on the show. Me? I liked the firecrackers. I know this is a popular part of the show, but it's not my favorite part of the finale.

Mine is the jury questioning period! Yeah, I like the down and dirty stuff.

After lots of vying for position in the upcoming vote, it was time for the last Immunity Challenge. This one was a bit different and looked pretty tough. Now, you would have that that it was a competition made for Denise. She's a lunch lady in a school cafeteria. What would be the more perfect occupation for balancing plates on a pole?

Yep, although I envisioned an upright broom pole, it was an odd horizontal contraption. One by one they had to add plates, bowls, cups, and saucers. The heat didn't help them any.

From the start Amanda seemed to be the cool one. Todd was quickly out followed by Courtney. And, to give her credit, it appeared she was really trying to win for a change. So it was between Denise and Amanda.

Amanda made a strategic move in the stacking which I think was more responsible for her win than pizza and beer ever could be. She, at one point, placed a bowl upside down in the stack. That provided a more stable base and she won. Denise had tried to cut a deal, but ended up losing without one.

Then it was wheeling and dealing time once again. I really think Denise played her pity pony too much. I don't think she would have been anything better than number four with the group, but it just made her look like a sad sack. Amanda promised her she wouldn't write her name.

Oh, but she's said that before and wrote it. The three decided it would be Denise leaving as I think the whole world figured they would do. Courtney wanted to tell her, Todd wanted to say he wasn't decided. Yet, they still talked about taking Todd out behind his back.

If there was any chance of Denise staying (and I don't think there was), she blew it for herself at Tribal Council. She said how she'd win because of her kids and said that Amanda said she had her back. Amanda refuted that saying that she said it earlier in the game, Todd smirked and got himself in hot water with Amanda for making her look bad in front of the jury. But, in the end, Denise was booted.

For the jury questions, here's a brief take:

James congratulated all of them and asked Courtney what her best time was on the show. She said winning the first challenge and not being voted out first.

Jean-Robert congratulated them, but then mentioned that he had told Amanda and Todd they wouldn't have his vote if they backstabbed him (which they did). He also said Courtney wasn't deserving of a win. Todd managed to bamboozle his way out and said he had to vote for him (JR) because he was the biggest threat in the game. And Jean-Robert bought it!

Peih-Gee asked about strategies and told Amanda she was sick of her doe eyes. She said Amanda lied as much as anyone in the game and wanted Todd to take the fall as the bad guy. She pointed out it was Amanda who got rid of James.

Erik only asked Amanda her riskiest move. Since it had been brought up, she went with getting rid of James.

Frosti asked Todd if he was a real friend or not. Todd told him he played the game on a different level than his personal life. He told Courtney her gameplay intrigued him the most.

Jaime tried to get Courtney and Todd to air dirty laundry about each other, but she didn't get much cooperation. The most she got was the fact that Todd thought he was most deserving of the win. Amanda said that Courtney was ungrateful when they won things and said Todd was too deceitful and lied too much. So Todd came back with the fact he was doing dirty work for the nice girl.

Denise played the lunch lady kids card once again. It was obvious that her vote would be for Courtney because Amanda and Todd hurt her feelings by lying to her.

Then the votes came in ... Courtney, Amanda, Todd, Courtney, Todd, Todd, Todd. We knew that Erik was the Amanda vote because they showed it. Jean-Robert obviously voted for Todd because he said "you stole a million, well-played." Denise voted for Courtney because she was truthful. I would think that the other vote for Courtney had to be Frosti. The kid has a crush on her.

Todd Herzog, the skinny gay Mormon flight attendant, has won Survivor China. As I knew he would all along.

Ahem.

Reunion show tidbits:

• James won the $100,000 voted by fans.
• Denise lost her $7 an hour lunch lady job because the show made her a distraction for students. She took on a job as janitor, but it's the night shift and she's unhappy.
• Mark Burnett, on the spur of the moment on the live show, awarded Denise $50,000 when he heard of her plight.
• Courtney was down to 86 pounds on the show. But she's gained so much weight that she looks healthy now.
• Erik and Jaime are dating and he's still a virgin.
• Sherea looked very nice, as did Amanda. The woman wrestler looked horrible.
• The next season isn't an outright All Stars version. It will be show "superfans" pitted against some of the most popular previous castaways. At least one player from Survivor China will be on the show.