By Buzz Byrne

Every season or so SURVIVOR makes an arbitrary twist in the game that serves to whack one of the strongest players or even up lopsided teams. It can be fun if an unlikable player is the victim; it is aggravating when it hits someone with a legitimate chance of going deep in the game. Tonight it was the latter.

The teaser for tonight’s episode was about a budding romance and the above mentioned twist. I was down right giddy when I saw gravedigger powerhouse James making friends with mulleted lunchlady Denise. That would a romance for the reality TV ages. Instead it was Erik and Jaime, two of the most lifeless, bland contestants ever. As they confessed their little crushes to each other, Erik also declared he was a virgin. Jaime looked like she had swallowed a bug, but later realized it only meant she could really trust him.

Or he might have lied and you’re a gigantic dummy, Jaime. But I don’t think so (about the lying part, not the dummy part).

Before the immunity challenge, the twist was announced. Fei Long got a message that they had to select two warriors from the other tribe that would help them win the next challenge. Immediately they asked what the catch was and figured out they would probably have to send two of their players over to Zhan Hu. They selected Frosti and Sherea and knew they would say goodbye to James and probably Aaron.


Zhan Hu never considered a down side. Not once. They were ecstatic at getting better numbers and becoming the dominant tribe. They were stunned when they had to give up Frosti and Sherea. Because of this they didn’t discuss strategy. “We didn’t think about that at all,” Sherea said. “That was really dumb.” No kidding.

In the past the show has pulled a fake merge and this had all the hallmarks of that. Especially once the new Zhan Hu figured that their best move was to throw the immunity challenge. The group who couldn’t figure out the downside was doing some “Outside the box” thinking. It seemed obvious to me that the way they needed to approach the game was to say, “Anything we come up with as a good idea is more likely to be a dumb one.”

Peih-Gee and Jaime committed to throw the challenge with the down side being they would go to tribal council and vote out either Aaron or James. I kept waiting for the second twist to come, for the old tribes to be brought back together and for the likable players James and Aaron to be safe. Especially with Jaime so smugly confident in putting one over on the two new guys.

But there was no second twist. And despite proclaiming that he wouldn’t help his new team by being the workhorse he has been, James was not sent home. Aaron was. It was a smart move for Zhan Hu, as Aaron was essentially the leader of Fei Long but it really lacks in gamesmanship. Why should the game be made profoundly more difficult for the good players and therefore easier for the likes of Jaime, Erik, Amanda or any of the other milquetoast driftwood of this season’s cast?


It is too bad for Aaron. The only upside of tonight’s episode was that Jean-Robert was the first contestant to invoke the first self reference in the third person. Buzz always likes that.