Family drama on 'Survivor: China'

Last week's episode of Survivor: China may have been the season's most exciting to date, with the demise of the game's former power player. Could Thursday's (Dec. 6) episode complete? No, not really.

Pre-credit sequence. James and his two Idols are out of the game, leaving only six players. As the remaining castaways return to camp, Amanda describes it as the most shocking Tribal Council yet. Todd is overjoyed, even though he had a vote cast against him. It's so adorable the way Todd thinks that he's masterminding the game when Amanda has proven to be the brains and decisive leader for just about every major move. Meanwhile, the only people with an actual reason to feel cocky are Erik and Peih-Gee, whose presence in the game may be a mistake the surviving Fei Long-ers come to regret. Peih-Gee gloats, "I'm not giving up until I'm voted out and I love it that I'm still here."

Raindrops keep falling on my head. The downpour continues outside as the Top Six huddle in their muddy hole. "I can't even describe to you how miserable I feel," Todd whines, missing home. The winner only has a week left, but they're beginning to see a viable consolation prize in the shelter gained from elimination. When he isn't moaning about the rain, Todd admits that now would be a smart time to get rid of him. "Of course I'm not going to tell them that," he adds.

We are family. I've got at least two sisters with me. The contestants are paired off and placed at opposite sides of a maze and blindfolded. But they aren't paired with each other. Nope, it's the family challenge, as Erik's mom, Amanda's smaller and blonder sister, Peih-Gee's dad, Todd's cute-as-a-button sister (who comes with bad news about his younger sister's pregnancy), Courtney's amusing identical (and English) father and Denise's hubby show up as partners. Many tears are shed along with comments about thinness, aroma and facial hair. Want to know what they're playing for? A boat journey, a big meal and fully sponsored phone call home. The obvious highlight is Amanda and her sister communicating with bird calls, followed closely by Courtney telling Jeff Probst to quit his commentary. The winners are Denise and Robert, plus Sprint. Denise gets to choose two castaways and their loved ones. She goes with Todd and Amanda and their respective sisters. After what must have been a long flight to China, the other three loved ones pack up and head home.

Thanks for the food, Sprint. Pizza, ribs, chicken, wine and additional bounty greet the winners. That's still less exciting that the rich chocolate cake, which causes matching conniptions from Todd and Amanda.

Toddy Fairplay? Back at camp, Courtney and Peih-Gee and Erik wonder why Denise chose Amanda. Peih-Gee is outraged that after taking Denise to the Shaolin Temple last week, the lunchlady shunned her. The bitter trio is also beginning to doubt Todd's sob story about his sister's miscarriage. Actually, Courtney's doubting the story, while the others look on and laugh nervously. Courtney has a full interpretation of Todd's Oscar-worthy performance and the name of Jonny Fairplay is even invoked. The jokes about reproductive misfortunes cease when the boat returns and, even from a distance, the losers can see melted chocolate on Todd's fingers. At this point, pride is out the window and everybody gathers around to lick Todd and Amanda's soiled hands. Todd is aware that his histrionics may have appeared excessive, but he swears to Amanda that everything he did was straight from the heart, adding "I wasn't out to be some snake right there. I really was concerned about my home."

Oh Todd's sister, I'm going to miss your short-shorts most of all. The next morning, a boat arrives to take the non-players away. That means more kissing, hugging and crying. "You can't stop the game, because the game keeps going," Todd says, warning constant nervousness and vigilance. After resuming her seemingly regular position curled in a fetal position in the shelter, Peih-Gee airs her grievances to Denise. Although Denise explains that she had to shore up that original alliance and that Amanda seemed more in need of sustenance, Peih-Gee isn't buying it, but she makes nice anyway, knowing she may need Denise's vote. Once again, Peih-Gee figures that without Immunity, she's doomed.

And speaking of Immunity. It's an obstacle course ending in a series of true/false statements about Chinese inventions linked to keys and, in turn, to three locks apiece. Fueled by chocolate cake, Todd and Amanda race out to an early lead. One wrong guess throws Amanda off and lets Peih-Gee move into second and when Todd's last key doesn't open a lock, Peih-Gee wins Immunity again. If you thought she was insufferable before...

A half-hearted effort to make things interesting. "I'm still crying about it," says the Immunity-shocked Peih-Gee. "Wow. I've been an underdog this entire time." She's safe, but her former Zhan Hu colleague Erik isn't so lucky. Todd goes so far as to call this the season's easiest vote, raising only the remote possibility that Amanda might flip. Indeed, after cutting to Amanda and Erik out fishing, it appears that she may be sympathetic to Erik's complaints about Todd's potentially insincere Reward Challenge tears. Peih-Gee takes up Erik's cause with Denise, warning her that if they don't vote out Todd, her progress will peak at No. 4. Denise suddenly could be the swing vote and she's flummoxed. Or, as she puts it, "I'm a little nervous. I'm a little scared. I'm a little in turmoil. I'm a little flippin' out." She asks God for help, but gets only thunder and lightning in response.

Tribal Council. As Amanda discusses the love Denise has for her husband, we keep cutting back and forth to Jaimie. Is that because Jaimie's souless dimples are photogenic or because she and Frosti had an initial supposition about Denise's personal life that may have been proven incorrect? Peih-Gee tries stirring things up, but the Tribal Council is all about Denise, who hopes that tonight is the night she can trust people.

The vote. We see Todd go with Erik and Erik go with Todd. Denise just tells the camera that this is the biggest mistake she's going to make in the game. We never saw enough evidence that Erik and Peih-Gee had succeeded in convincing anybody else to their cause, so it isn't at all surprising that Erik's torch is snuffed out.

Any thoughts from this week's episode?

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