PremiereWatch: 'Survivor: China' tears down The Wall

September 20, 06:59 PM

Welcome to Panda Express and Lead-Based Mattel Toys Presents Survivor: China.

[There are spoilers coming up here. Why does that surprise you?]

Survivor: China premiered on Thursday (Sept. 20) and while it was a great relief to get to a location that wasn't somewhere in the South Pacific, it was hard to come away feeling like China had been shown to its best advantage. Survivor is not now, nor has it ever been, about introducing contestants to foreign cultures. It's about dropping people down in isolation and making them get skinny, bug-bitten and devious. Thus, after a few minutes of attempting to prove we were in China -- The Great Wall! Ultra-Modern Shanghai! A Shaolin Temple! The birthplace of General Gao's Chicken! -- host Jeff Probst stopped wasting time and split the castaways into teams.

In past years, we've divided based on race, gender, age and simple high school gym team-picking, but the roots of this year's decisions were an utter mystery.

The yellow tribe is Zhan Hu, or Fighting Tiger, and it initially consisted of Frosti, Dave, Jamie, Eric, Peih-Gee, Ashley, Chicken.

The red tribe is Fei Long, or Flying Dragon, and it initially consisted of Jean-Robert, Leslie, Amanda, Courtney, Denise, James, Todd, Aaron.

In future weeks, I'll be giving more formal minute-by-minute recaps as has been the tradition, but for tonight I'm just going with an overview of the evening's events and the a few thoughts on some of the constants.

Thursday night's episode in a nutshell: With Aaron and James the Gravedigger, Fei Long got the game's two physically strongest players and as a direct result, that tribe was chopping down bamboo and building a shelter in no time. Over at Zhan Hu, WWE Diva Ashley was dancing, Sherea was complaining about the mud and her shoes and everything was in disrepair. Chicken, the oldest guy in the competition, made a number of shelter-based suggestions but got the impression that people were thinking he was too bossy, so he shut up and let them build shelter in a stupid place where the evening rain washed away any progress. The team immunity competition was close, but James' strength ultimately carried Fei Long. When Zhan Hu went back to camp, Chicken was uncomfortable being a leader even though it was obvious the tribe needed one. Thus, despite the fact that Ashley spent the first day at camp curled in a fetal ball moaning about chills and dry heaves, some people voted Chicken out because he was too assertive and others (Pieh-Gee) voted him out because he wasn't bossy enough. Good bye, Chicken. Am I the only one with the distinct sense that Fei Long could run Zhan Hu out of the game before we reach a Merge?

Some Early Favorite Contestants:

Courtney -- Will the other contestants eventually notice that absolutely everything makes this New York City waitress roll her eyes? Everything! I don't know that Survivor has ever had a contestant who used sarcasm as their only form of communication and I don't know if there's ever been a contestant as tiny as Courtney. I respond well to cynicism and sarcasm, plus I like her gumption.

Todd -- Todd and Courtney may eventually butt heads because while Courtney's approach to everything is scorn and derision, the gay, Mormon flight attendant is a Survivor buff and he greets every tree-mail and every minute bit of strategy with boundless enthusiasm. How can I root for both Todd and Courtney? I don't know. By next week I'll probably want to strangle one of them (Todd, I'm guessing).

Frosti -- He's the youngest contestant in the show's history, but I want to see if he can find any use for his parkour skills in the wilderness. After the first challenge, I have to say I'm a bit disappointed. James' brute strength seemed to overwhelm Frosti's agility.

James -- People who enter Survivor with James' sort of obvious musculature rarely do well in this game, but I'm intrigued by how a man who works as a gravedigger because he likes the solitude will respond in a social game. I also look forward to all of his wacky jokes about how he works in the most popular place in town (because people are dying to get in). And I hope he makes at least one "Alas, poor Yorick" joke.

Some Early People to Root Against:

Leslie -- Nobody in the Shaolin temple was bowing to any graven idols. Nobody was forcing anybody to do much by way of participation. And Probst went out of his way to say that the monks weren't engaging in a worship ceremony. But that didn't stop Leslie from misquoting the 10 Commandments and bailing, mid-ceremony. Yes, the ceremony was mostly just a set-up for Leslie to look bad, but I'm a fan of people who go to foreign countries and make an effort to respect the culture rather than insulting it (or at least roll their eyes in silence like Courtney).

Ashley -- The Diva contributed nothing for three days and then complained that people might think she deserved to go home. You figure? I do like, though, the way the camera people are treating her ridiculous fake breasts. The Survivor experience tends to make falsies look hilarious after a few weeks (Heidi, anyone?), so that might be a reason to keep her around.

Peih-Gee -- I was right there with her until she wrote down Chicken's name and said it was because he wouldn't take a stand. Geez, Peih-Gee, when Chicken made suggestions, you were busy pouting about how immature your tribe was. I don't like misplaced passive aggression, so she's on my bad side until she redeems herself.

Dave -- I dunno, something about the way he comforted Ashley and told her that her sickness wouldn't cause her to be on the block and then told the camera that if Ashley was sick, she'd be on the block made him look like a tool rather than a tricky competitor.

What'd y'all think of the premiere? Who do you like? Who do you hate?

in CBS , Reality TV , Recaps , Survivor: China

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Comments (39)

Comments

The Fei Long tribe has some built-in potential for confrontation. Courtney and her smart mouth will eventually grate on everybody. (I'm ready for her to go already.) Leslie's desire to express her beliefs, while I admire them, is likely to not go over well with Todd or Courtney.
All that said, though, the other tribe borders on pathetic. I agree they could all be gone before a merge. I'm a wrestling fan, but Ashley's not one of my favorites - too much up top and too many tatoos and piercings (especially the lip things).
I'm happy to see Chicken fly the coup quickly and whiney Pei Gee needs to go soon, too.
After one episode, I'm sort of pulling for James. I wonder,though, if he knows who Yorick is.

MGC | Sep 20, 2007 7:34:00 PM | #

I don't dislike Ashley or Peih-Gee. We've had too many quiet, coattail-riding women in recent seasons, so I'm happy to see a couple of outgoing women so far this season... as long as they aren't a wacko like Lisi in Fiji.

Dan | Sep 20, 2007 7:43:20 PM | #

Courtney and Leslie are the same damn person, one is a Jesus freak and the other is a snarky bitch, but it both equals up to ignorant and judgemental. I wish they both are booted early.

Kate | Sep 20, 2007 7:55:09 PM | #

Nice to hear how tolerant Kate is of Leslie actually expressing her religious faith instead of selling out her personal beliefs as Kate would prefer that she do. Don't want none of that Jesus stuff around me Kate seems to be saying. Leslie's just one of those Jesus freaks by golly. Don't need known of them around.Look in the mirror to see who is ignorant and judgemental.

David | Sep 20, 2007 8:42:52 PM | #

I found Courtney the most annoying of the bunch - her eye-rolling during the welcome ceremony was extremely disrespectful and she didn't seem to 'get it' at all. I was equally annoyed by Leslie walking out in the middle of the ceremony, but at least she did it on the grounds of her own beliefs (even if I totally disagree with them :P ). I did want to smack her for declaring that she's not a religious person, she just has a relationship with Jesus Christ (and is a host on a Christian radio show...). Who does she think she's kidding? :P

James is my early favorite. His conversation with Leslie in which he acknowledged he liked solitude and the social game was hard for him and general soft-spokenness are welcome contrasts to some of the louder personalities!

Chelsea | Sep 21, 2007 3:21:23 AM | #

My personal fave right now is also James. I'm a New Yorker, and quite sarcastic, but it's pretty sad for Courtney to represent herself as a 'typical' New Yorker, because - she's not. She is, however, not someone I want to continue to see too much more of, at least not unless she show's she got more than eye-rolling going for her. And, sorry, but I have to agree about Leslie - if you choose to be religious, that's fine, but don't push it in my face, and don't disrespect the faith of others, and she did both. Walking out on the welcome ceremony was ignorant and rude, and I think she's a pretty poor person for doing it. JMHO.

Karen | Sep 21, 2007 4:18:50 AM | #

Hey David, if you actually studied the life of Jesus you would know that he studied Buddhism and that behavior like Leslies would make him ill. Leslie is not a follower of Jesus, but someone who has distorted his teachings so she can be ignorant, judgmental, and disrespectful to others. She's a Jesus Freak not a real Christian.

kate | Sep 21, 2007 6:00:57 AM | #

Leslie was a bit much walking out on the ceremony & then crying about it -- pleez.. Courtney just reminds me of a bitch - we'll see how far she gets .. my fav so far is aaron , he stepped up.

catwoman | Sep 21, 2007 6:24:51 AM | #

Even Jeff Probst in an interview (check out http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/jeff-probst-dishes-about-cbs-upcoming-survivor-china-season-5780.php) said that though it was not a worship ceremony it had a "worship element" to it. And from the footage that was shown (bowing with your face to the ground in front of a statue of Buddha) it certainly looked like worship to me. Leslie was obviously upset and slipped out quietly and respectfully as opposed to Courtney who chose to stay but was completely disrespectful of the ceremony and the monks. Of the two, Courtney was the one being judgemental, Leslie was just acting according to her conscience. I think the kindness that Leslie showed to Pei Gee when she was visibly moved by the experience of being in China or how she befriended James who seems a bit shy and awkward around strangers shows her true character. I can't believe that all this venom is coming out just because she removed herself from a Buddhist ceremony. Seems like you had it out for her from the beginning and saw this as an opportunity to attack the token Christian on survivor.

| Sep 21, 2007 6:35:37 AM | #

In China people bow to each other as well, is that worship or just the way they show respect. If you are going to be closed-minded and culturally uneducated, stay home. There are enough ugly Americans on the lose.

Oh and so far Leslie is also the only person who openly and flat out lied (that we know of) "I'm not a religious person". I'm not sure what part of her religion allows that.

Kate | Sep 21, 2007 7:03:17 AM | #

ashley is hooooTT

The World | Sep 21, 2007 7:27:07 AM | #

While I don't condone what Leslie did, in her defense, the ceremony did seem like worship, in spite of Jeff saying it wasn't. And participation was somewhat forced, as evidenced by the monk who kept correcting Courtney's hand positions. That alone would have made me want to leave.

Sandy | Sep 21, 2007 7:51:26 AM | #

Modern Christianity often stresses that it isn't a "religion" in the sense of ceremonies or a "checklist" of things that get you into heaven, but a "relationship" with Jesus. Whatever you think of that, it's probably what she's heard in church for years, and isn't a "lie." I think Leslie was trying to be respectful of the situation while trying not to do something she was uncomfortable with. Slipping out quietly was much more respectful than Courntey's eye-rolling, IMO, and I think her tears were because she really didn't want to be disrespectful.

Lis | Sep 21, 2007 7:58:44 AM | #

And we're back! I haven't seen the episode yet, but I'm glad it's already started arguments. Looks like it's going to be a good season. :)

Siansonea | Sep 21, 2007 8:05:08 AM | #

Lose Leslie ASAP
But keep Ashley for the view.

Mozo | Sep 21, 2007 9:03:56 AM | #

I liked James a lot. Did any of you notice all the scars he has? It looks like he has been in a knife fight or two.

nisleib | Sep 21, 2007 9:05:07 AM | #

I gained a lot of respect for Leslie when I saw her coaching James on how to be social, she didn't have to help him out, and the advice she gave him seemed kind and quite wise, actually.

James is already my favorite.

Courtney is a disrespectful child, hope she learns some base human decency in a hurry.

Michelle | Sep 21, 2007 9:58:10 AM | #

Leslie was just acting on how she felt.
It shows she has courage, and good morales.

Everyone who hates Leslie for that probably were just looking for something to bag on her for since she's a Christian.

So you would think better of her if she didn't stand up for what she believed in?

Maybe the author of this article needs to check himself.

Leslie is a nice person, which is extremely evident in the first episode.

Jonathan | Sep 21, 2007 10:19:50 AM | #

I like James best also. I hope he doesn't disappoint and turn out to be "angry". I didn't notice them, but knife fights and nice person don't usually go hand in hand. We'll have to see.

katie | Sep 21, 2007 10:33:01 AM | #

My fav, James! I hope he goes very far. Courtney, dang girl, b...hy enough, hope she goes soon! I didn't mind Leslie standing by what she believes, poor Chicken, didn't want him gone over whiny Lesley, he would have been fun tv!

JO | Sep 21, 2007 10:47:09 AM | #

I must say, all the comments about Leslie has certainly given her, her 15 minutes of fame! Now my 2 cents worth! Regardless if the ceremony was religious worship or not, be a Proud American. Sit quietly & be respectful. You are not being asked to change for beliefs just view the ceremony.. period!

Ben | Sep 21, 2007 10:48:26 AM | #

I saw nothing wrong with what,Leslie did by walking out of the ceremony, in fact I respected her decision.

Trupen | Sep 21, 2007 11:00:29 AM | #

Courtney is the survivor I like the least! Rude is an understatement. However I hope she sticks around for a while, it will be fun to watch a person like Courtney suffer.

James is my favorite! I don't think I've seen anyone like him before. I found him the most interesting and the person I want to get to know more about. Not sure how well he will do in a social game but I am sure it will be fun to watch.

I am not a religious person, and have to admit I did not want to like Leslie. I did not have a problem with her leaving the temple, I had a problem with her crying about it, then saying she wasn't religious! However Leslie in my eyes redeemed herself and showed that she was a kind heart in her conversation with James. I'm on the fence at the moment.

Ariel | Sep 21, 2007 11:31:57 AM | #

OK, we did it. The wife and I watched 'Survivor' for the very first time -- ever! I guess we figured that any show on the air this long must have some good qualities, and besides, there is very little of interest this TV season. But I don't think we'll make it through Episode 2, since it was as horrible as I ever imagined. And it looked like it was shot on a CBS backlot, save a few "exteriors" to make it look authentic. What a complete, mind-numbing waste of time.

A&S | Sep 21, 2007 3:48:53 PM | #

How ironic Daniel. You talk about misplaced passive aggression. You've misplaced it. Peih-Gee was correct about Chicken being passive aggressive. Peih-Gee was asking him questions treating him with respect and he was acting like a whiny kid who didn't get his way and refused to help.

| Sep 21, 2007 4:55:23 PM | #

All of these comments about Leslie are crazy. How many people would go in and sit in on a christian ceremony if we called it "not a religious ceremony" if it were part of Survivor.

John | Sep 21, 2007 7:08:32 PM | #

dya think james has so many fans, not only cause he's quiet and softspoken and seems to be a thinking man, but because he's so damned good to look at??!!

seems a few of the other contestants also have their eye on him. it'll be interesting to see what develops.

so who's gonna end up the leader of zhan hu? pg or dave? i agree with ashley that leaders rarely fall apart like pg did and then regain their tribe's support. i can tell she's gonna be trouble, too.

despite ashley's falsies and lip rings and illness (whew! that's a lot), i like her. i just hope to see her put all that supposed athleticism to work.

i thought leslie was ridiculous at the temple, too, but she redeemed herself with james. oh, and i'm keeping an eye on him myself. lol

KR | Sep 21, 2007 7:30:47 PM | #

I thought this might help you if you were confused. I found this explanation online and thought it was perfect!

Religion vs Relationship With Jesus Christ

http://newlife919blog.blogs.com/real_life_with_leslie/

Lee | Sep 21, 2007 8:34:28 PM | #

Remember Denise (The Lunch Lady) saying that the whole temple experience was spiritual and emotional for her and almost made her cry? That statement was the mental realization and verbal expression of the empty void in all of us that only Jesus Christ can fill. Denise now knows there is a void and now, due to Leslie's actions, she knows what it takes to fill that void, and it's not BUDDHA!

| Sep 21, 2007 8:39:58 PM | #

umm, anon. above, you're totally right. buddha's about embracing the void, not filling it. good luck filling your void.

existentially yrs.,
b.w.&d.

bunny of wrath and doom | Sep 21, 2007 8:53:17 PM | #

I am a big fan of James... any guy that responds to the what do you do for a living with "i bury people" is awesome. Seeing a guy with zero people skills but the body of a god will be interesting. I hope the annoying Christian, Leslie gives him more 'tips' on how to get along with others... it is great to hear that from someone who managed to annoy most of the other people in the first five minutes of the show. And while I love a little cynacism, what did Courtney think she was getting herself into? Survivor is all about the ra ra, go team crap... I hope she continues with her personal call downs, but plays it up in front of the tribe.

Mandy | Sep 21, 2007 10:20:39 PM | #

Its still amazing to me that so many people who decide to participate in this game make so many obvious mistakes. Chicken started out trying to help with advice on building the shelter, but he did it in such a way that he was not likely to be listened to. And then when no one listened, he copped an attitude and wouldn't listen at all. P.G. jumped in when Chicken checked out and her approach was really no better. I think the only reason she is still there and Chicken is gone is because he had a longer time being an irritant than she had at that point. Despite the fact that I think he brought his departure on himself, I think it was a mistake on the tribes part - I think he has strengths that they will need both at camp and in the competitions and this will hurt them. I personally think they they should have voted out Sherea - she seemed the weakest link on the tribe to me.

Maggie | Sep 22, 2007 8:16:48 AM | #

Never have seen any documents making it clear that Jesus studied Buddhism. And besides Jesus is God and therefore there's no need to study anything......and Leslie, everything you've written is full of sarcasm and hatred. It's obvious that you want a better and more loving and fair world, then why add negativity to it ?

David | Sep 22, 2007 11:41:28 AM | #

Courtney was extremely rude for acting the way she did in the ceremony. She was more insulting than anyone.

Yet, since Leslie silently slipped out with respect because of her beliefs, you think she's more rude.

Seriously, are you guys stupid?

Jonas | Sep 22, 2007 6:13:04 PM | #

Leslie is a big liar why would real Christian's defend her. You need to go pray more and watch less TV.

Belle | Sep 23, 2007 5:55:46 PM | #

Well I can tell you one thing. James has not been in a bunch of knife fights. He is a friend of mine. As well as being a grave digger he is also a bouncer in a few bars in town. He has seen his share of wild nights. You will not see him get angry on the show. He really is one of the nicest, soft spoken guys I know.

Mike | Sep 23, 2007 9:00:03 PM | #

Belle - you say that Leslie is a big liar... yet I don't recall them showing any footage of her lieing. Are you referring to her response to Jeff when she said she was not religious? Being a Christian does not make one religious - and vice versa. For clarity sake, I looked up religious on dictionary.com and there were 5 definitions provided. The first being not much help - "of, pertaining to, or concerned with religion". The 5th made the most sense in this context - "appropriate to religion or to sacred rites or observances"
I believe that Leslie was saying that she is not focused on the ritual of religion, but on the relationship she has with Christ and it was that relationship that made it hard for her to stay in the temple during the ceremony. What was going on around her felt very much like people worshiping Buddha and I can see how that would have made her uncomfortable given her commitment to Christ.

Maggie | Sep 24, 2007 5:18:34 AM | #

It didn't bother me that Leslie left the temple. If she felt uncomfortable with the 'welcome ceremony' she did the right thing. Being in the temple and watching a ceremony is one thing but bowing on the floor and having to duplicate what the monks were doing was going to far. I would have done the same thing.
What was funny was watching their eyes when they found out they could only have what they had on. Why didn't these people know that. Haven't they been watching survivor. Has anyone been able to take a 50 lb suitcase before. Come on....

Karen | Sep 24, 2007 7:13:39 AM | #

Whichever producer told James to just wear his boxer briefs and it would be okay deserves a BIG pay raise. And I'm so glad to finally see someone on Survivor who looks so fine seem like such a decent, intelligent person. And best of all, Daniel, it's good to have you back!!!

walt | Sep 24, 2007 4:05:04 PM | #