Who's a Survivor?

Watched my TiVo'ed episode of Survivor: China. Must, must grumble for a minute. I thought Jaime was going to be a smart player, someone I could really get behind. She's been doing everything right--making friends when she got kidnapped, nabbing a clue to a hidden immunity idol through networking, and coaxing Leslie into sharing insider info about the other tribe.

But nope. This week, she ticked me off. Not only did she convince Peih-Gee to help her throw a challenge, she giggled about it the whole time. Just. So. Wrong.

I understand her basic thinking, that throwing the challenge allows her, Peih-Gee, and Erik to get rid of a member of the opposing tribe (who'd been switched onto their tribe), but sheesh. Have they EVER watched Survivor before? They made a whole bunch of assumptions--that the tribes wouldn't be switched back before voting (they lucked out on that one), that the merge will occur at a certain point in the game (that's still to be determined), that their own traded tribe members won't flip (also TBD), and that they won't need Aaron's strength in the future. (BTW...does Aaron remind anyone of Paul Walker?)

No tribe's ever been better off in Survivor for a visit to Tribal Council. Maybe there's more harmony around camp after a particularly annoying person is ousted, but the decreased numbers always come back to bite a tribe in the tail.

Aaron, you tried hard. I hope James fights on and finds a way to get Jaime, but good.

And Erik, a heads-up: I think Jaime's playing you. I hope future episodes show you being a little more cautious. (Hey, even Rob Mariano expressed doubts about Amber Brkich during Survivor: All Stars, telling the camera he thought she might be playing him. And he ended up marrying her.) There's a million dollars at stake and Jaime's known you for less than three weeks, Erik. Think about it.

Speaking of survivors, the Sox live to play another day, this time at Fenway. Here's hoping the series goes the full seven games! Josh Beckett, you rule.