Episode 10: The James blindside

Published: February 25, 2018

Historically, James Clement's blindside in Episode 10 of Survivor: China has been viewed as a catastrophic mistake by James. In retrospect, however, just about everyone playing made a ridiculous error of some kind in this episode. If anything, it was a collective fail.

Episodes 8-9: Swim or sink

Published: February 21, 2018

Survivor: China's Episodes 8-9 mark the last good chance of the Zhan Hus turning the tide against Todd's alliance. They seem to come dangerously close, and then everything collapses, and the rest of the season is pretty much coasting for the Fei Longs. Jeff explores parallels to other seasons, and an underrated departing juror.

Episodes 5-7: Crime and punishment

Published: January 29, 2018

Survivor: China's Episodes 5-7 serve as a mini-Survivor morality play, all about the inherent sinfulness of throwing an immunity challenge, even when everything works out exactly as planned. The swap, its fallout, and the merge vote serve as the fall of Zhan Hu, who obviously must be punished for their heresy.

Episodes 3-4: The leader curse

Published: January 22, 2018

Jeff explores the themes in Survivor: China's Episodes 3-4, a two-episode arc of people getting booted after being kidnapped, and leaders being removed. Also Jean-Robert going from full villain to surprise hero, and other general oddness.

Episodes 1-2: Shining through the mud

Published: January 18, 2018

In re-watching the first two episodes of Survivor: China 10 years after their original airing, Jeff Pitman finds the characters and location really hold up, except maybe for the excessive amounts of mud.