Survivor: China "Love is in the Air" Review

On Survivor: China's episode "Love is in the Air" there was more than just love happening around camp. Love, or something like it, was beginning between Erik and Jaime of Zhan Hu, as spending time together gave them more reason to bond for game play as well as to consider beginning a possible love relationship.

After a special bonding scene between Erik and Jaime, each tribe received a message telling them to choose two members from the other tribe to join them in theirs. Tribe Fei Long selected Sherea and Frosti of Zhan Hu, while expecting Zhan Hu to have probably selected James and Aaron from their tribe.

Tribe Zhan Hu gleefully chose strong-players James and Aaron of Fei Long, thinking that those two extra members would make their tribe a larger one. Well, Zhan Hu was surprised to learn not only that two of their members would leave them as well, but also that their tribe would remain with the same amount of people. Later Sherea said that her former tribe never once even considered they'd have two tribe people leaving as well. How they forgot to realize this possibility is beyond me, as most tree mail or other messages received on one tribe is almost always received by the other tribe.

Of the two newly changed tribes, Zhan Hu probably had the most promise of being the stronger, as the three remaining tribe members Erik, Jaime and Peih-Gee got along well and seemed strong and intelligent enough, while the two newly added members James and Aaron were ready to work hard for their new tribe to win the upcoming immunity challenge.

Despite their healthy tribe, Peih-Gee suggested to Jaime that the two of them possibly throw the immunity competition in order to eliminate either Aaron or James. Eliminating James and Aaron from their tribe should give the two girls, as well as Erik the numbers to remain in the game with their former tribe members, once the very-likely tribal merge happens.

Amid the immunity challenge, Peih-Gee and Jaime mentioned to James that they'd take care of the puzzle pieces, trying to point him elsewhere in the challenge and let them pretend to fail on the puzzle. But James, the overall great athlete and smart player, didn't see their logic in their suggestion to him, and later during the puzzle race noticed the girls acting silly and not at all urgent in winning the challenge.

After they lost the competition, James told the tribe that he worked hard at the puzzle but the two girls didn't do well at all. He told the other two guys to decide which of the happy, giggling girls should go home. The girls quit their giggling and smiling while he said that.

Next the girls left to speak, or laugh rather, in private, saying that James was clueless of what they'd done with the challenge.

With the girls away, James asked Erik what he thought about their actions, and Erik said he'd go and find out. The girls told Erik they'd thrown the competition, and Erik said he hadn't realized what they'd done (and later told the camera that he wished they hadn't purposefully lost, but felt he had to stick with Jaime in their alliance and new-found trust). Either James or Aaron would be voted out.

James said it should be him voted out, since he did not want to be on a team of quitters. The three original Zhan Hu tribe members told him fine, that they'd vote him out. But in tribal council that night, Aaron was the one who left, leaving an unhappy James among the other three members.

Although Aaron had packed and brought his bag with him to tribal council, he did not expect to leave that night, and even wrote down James's name as his vote to be loyal to his other new tribe members.

With James left alone with the three original Zhan Hu members, he either will have to motivate his tribe to try to win their next immunity competition or be the next one to leave his tribe in the upcoming week, most likely.