"Survivior:China" Recap & Review - Episode 2

Survivor:China
"Episode 2"

Original Air Date: September 27, 2007

Josh - TwoCents Staff Writer

Last week at tribal council Jeff talked to the Zhan Hu tribe about a leader stepping up. Dave and Peih-Gee said they would step up to the plate and be a leader of Zhan Hu. Shortly after we all said bye to Chicken. Now, back at camp it seems Dave can’t wait to tell people what to do, which immediately rubs people the wrong way. Dave and Ashley quickly clash and something tells me this has a lot to do with Dave being intimidated by a WWE Wrestler and reveling in being able to tell her what to do.

Over at Fei Long, Courtney is complaining about Jean-Robert’s snoring and lack of help around the camp. When he finally does wake up, he fumbles his way through an excuse saying that even though he may not be helping physically, mentally he is…or something. I would imagine that being a professional poker player Jean-Robert has a good poker face, which lucky for him, doesn’t involve talking. Fei Long collectively roll their eyes at him.

The reward challenge is a game where balls are dropped into a mud pit and the tribes have to push at least two into the opposing tribe’s goal. The strategy to this game quickly turns to pulling down or pulling off the opposite tribes underwear. Fei Long takes the win and gets the reward of fishing gear and we’re introduced to the new “twist”. Fei Long must choose a person from Zhan Hu to kidnap and bring back to camp with them until the immunity challenge. Fei Long chooses Jaime who Jeff then gives a message but instructs her not to open it until she’s alone.

The message turns out to be that Jaime now holds the clue to the immunity idol for Fei Long and must give the clue to one player on that tribe. Jaime gives it to gives it to Leslie and in an attempt to saddle up to Todd, Leslie tells him she knows. Todd then schemes on finding it before Leslie does.

At Fei Long Ashley and Dave are still bickering back and forth, but Dave’s determination on building a stable fire turns out to be a good move as their camp has turned into a swamp while they were at the reward challenge.

At the immunity challenge both tribes have to collectively hold a puzzle log that they’ll need to ram through a couple of wooden gates, then do a puzzle, and finally use the log to hit the gong at the end. Fei Long has placed Jean-Robert and James at the front and they tear through the gate portion where as Dave’s muscles pretty much give out and puts them behind and the result is Fei Long wins…again.

At the Zhan Hu camp Dave apologizes and blames the loss on himself, but surprisingly he doesn’t point out that the reason he was probably so weak was because of all the work he had done at camp with the fire while Sherea, Jaime and Ashley sat and complained. Erik speaks for the first time and lays it out that on the chopping block is Ashley and Dave. Ashley would rather lay low then come out looking and sounding like a crazy person, and wait until TC to try to sway the votes. Things seem to go according to plan for her, she points out the way Dave talks down to the women, and Sherea backs her up Dave’s leadership tactics. Dave responds by making faces like a 10 year old. Jeff asks something about what Ashley’s basing her vote on and she bluntly states “I’m voting for Dave, Jeff.”

Too bad the others didn’t follow her way of thinking as Ashley, with a 6 – 1 vote, becomes the second person voted off of Survivor China. I blame this on Sun Tzu not including a chapter in The Art of War (a copy of which every survivor received) about misogynistic, head tripping, aging former male models not leading one to victory.