Survivor: Thinking Ahead

Watched all three hours of the Survivor: China finale. I thought for sure that Amanda would walk away with the million, which made me pretty happy. Of the final four, she's the one I wanted to win.

But no.

Amanda completely whiffed on her arguments to the jury. I wanted to shake the TV and tell her to spit out something along the lines of, "It was really difficult to vote out Denise, because I like her so much and I felt like we formed a bond. And she fought like mad to stay in the game, which I respect. But I went with Todd at the end--despite the fact that he's probably my biggest threat--because I gave him my word on day one. It was a huge risk to do that, but I hope that honoring my promise from day one earns me your vote. I also fought hard on every single challenge, helping my tribe win a lot of the immunities--that's what gave us all a fighting chance at the million." Her half-answers cost her a number of votes...and the million.

On the other hand, Todd didn't apologize for anything, and emphasized all of his accomplishments. His great presentation to the jury earned him a million. And Courtney, who couldn't even cut through a rope with a machete, managed to earn herself a few votes by focusing on her underdog status and keeping everyone laughing with her blunt comments.

Amanda, you had a shot, but you blew it. You didn't think ahead and plan out what you wanted to say (at least, it didn't seem like you did.) Just like my fave player, James, blew it by not thinking ahead.

Denise blew it a few weeks ago by voting out James. If she'd have warned him about Amanda's plan, the two of them could've flipped on Todd and Amanda, and they'd have gone all the way to the end. (Pretty nice of Mark Burnett to give her $50,000, though!)

Can't wait for next season..."Fans vs. Favorites" starts in February. Anyone else planning to tune in? Who do you want to show up on the "faves" team? I'm crossing my fingers that James will be there.