This article is about the fifteenth U.S. Survivor season. For the Chinese version of the franchise, see
Into the Shangri-La
.
Season of television series
Survivor: China
|
---|
|
Region 1 DVD cover
|
|
Presented by
| Jeff Probst
|
---|
No.
of days
| 39
|
---|
No.
of castaways
| 16
|
---|
Winner
| Todd Herzog
|
---|
Runner-up
| Courtney Yates
|
---|
Location
| Mount Lu West Sea
,
Jiujiang
, China
|
---|
|
No.
of episodes
| 14
|
---|
|
Original network
| CBS
|
---|
Original release
| September 20
(
2007-09-20
)
?
December 16, 2007
(
2007-12-16
)
|
---|
|
Filming dates
| June 25
(
2007-06-25
)
?
August 2, 2007
(
2007-08-02
)
|
---|
|
|
List of episodes
|
Survivor: China
is the fifteenth season of the
American
CBS
competitive
reality television
series
Survivor
. The premiere aired September 20, 2007. Host
Jeff Probst
claimed the show was the first full American TV series to be filmed entirely within
China
.
[1]
The specific location is in
Mount Lu West Sea
,
Jiujiang
. It is also the northernmost Survivor season held to date, well outside of the tropical zone. Applications were due on January 30, 2007. Around March 2007, about 800 applicants were selected for an interview by CBS. Out of those 800, 48 semi-finalists were selected to go to
Los Angeles
in April?May 2007. From these semi-finalists, 16 were selected to participate in the show between June and August 2007. The final contestants and their original tribes, Fei Long (
飛龍
) and Zhan Hu (
戰虎
), meaning Flying Dragon and Fighting Tiger respectively, were officially announced on August 20, 2007.
[2]
[3]
The merged tribe was Hae Da Fung (
黑打風
), which means Black Fighting Wind, a name proposed by Peih-Gee Law.
[4]
The "Outwit, Outplay, Outlast" slogan used in previous seasons' logos has been replaced by
Chinese characters
. The characters translate to "compete in intelligence" (
比智慧
,
b? zhihui
), "compete in skill" (
比技巧
,
b? jiqi?o
), and "compete in endurance" (
比耐力
,
b? naili
).
[5]
Among the many aspects of Chinese culture and history included this season were a
Buddhist
ceremony and a 100-foot (30 m) tall replica of a historic temple used for
Tribal Council
. Each tribe received a copy of
The Art of War
by
Sun Tzu
. As stated by Probst: "
Survivor
is a war. The book deals with leadership and how you defeat the other tribe. It's interesting how much it plays into the game all the way through." The show had "unprecedented access" to several historical Chinese monuments, including the
Shaolin Temple
and the
Great Wall of China
.
[2]
Exile Island from the previous three seasons was not used for this season, but the Hidden Immunity Idol was still part of the game. In lieu of Exile Island, the tribes had the ability to kidnap a player from the opposing tribe as part of winning a Reward Challenge. The kidnapped player remained with that tribe until the next Immunity Challenge and received a clue to the location of an Immunity Idol at that camp. However, this clue had to be given, unread, to a member of the other tribe prior to the next Immunity Challenge. Ultimately, neither of the two Idols available to the castaways were used; James Clement was voted out with both in his possession. Three players went to the Final Tribal Council, continuing the pattern that began in
Survivor: Cook Islands
and again in
Survivor: Fiji
. Probst explained that having a final three "prohibits one person winning through to the end and then taking an extremely unlikable person with them."
[6]
In the end,
Todd Herzog
won, defeating
Courtney Yates
and Amanda Kimmel by a vote of 4?2?1. During the reunion, James Clement was awarded a $100,000 prize as the most popular player in
Survivor: China
, beating fellow favorites Denise Martin and Peih-Gee Law.
Contestants
[
edit
]
Season 15 features 16 new castaways, split into two tribes. The translation for Fei Long (
??
) and Zhan Hu (
?虎
) mean Flying Dragon and Fighting Tiger respectively. The name of the merge tribe created by Peih-Gee Law, Hae Da Fung (
黑打風
), translates to Black Fighting Wind. Among the 16 contestants who competed in this season were poker player
Jean-Robert Bellande
, the 2005
WWE Raw Diva Search
winner
Ashley Massaro
.
List of
Survivor: China
contestants
Contestant
|
Age
|
From
|
Tribe
|
Finish
|
Original
|
Switched
|
Merged
|
Placement
|
Day
|
Steve "Chicken" Morris
|
47
|
Marion,
Virginia
|
Zhan Hu
|
|
|
1st voted out
|
Day 3
|
Ashley Massaro
|
28
|
East Northport,
New York
|
2nd voted out
|
Day 6
|
Leslie Nease
|
38
|
Tega Cay,
South Carolina
|
Fei Long
|
3rd voted out
|
Day 9
|
Dave Cruser
|
37
|
Simi Valley,
California
|
Zhan Hu
|
4th voted out
|
Day 12
|
Aaron Reisberger
|
32
|
Venice,
California
|
Fei Long
|
Zhan Hu
|
5th voted out
|
Day 15
|
Sherea Lloyd
|
26
|
Atlanta,
Georgia
|
Zhan Hu
|
Fei Long
|
6th voted out
|
Day 18
|
Jaime Dugan
|
22
|
Columbia,
South Carolina
|
Zhan Hu
|
Hae Da Fung
|
7th voted out
1st jury member
|
Day 21
|
Jean-Robert Bellande
|
36
|
Las Vegas,
Nevada
|
Fei Long
|
Fei Long
|
8th voted out
2nd jury member
|
Day 24
|
Michael "Frosti" Zernow
|
20
|
Chicago,
Illinois
|
Zhan Hu
|
9th voted out
3rd jury member
|
Day 27
|
James Clement
|
30
|
Lafayette,
Louisiana
|
Fei Long
|
Zhan Hu
|
10th voted out
4th jury member
|
Day 30
|
Erik Huffman
|
26
|
Nashville,
Tennessee
|
Zhan Hu
|
11th voted out
5th jury member
|
Day 33
|
Peih-Gee Law
|
29
|
Marina del Rey,
California
|
12th voted out
6th jury member
|
Day 36
|
Denise Martin
|
40
|
Douglas,
Massachusetts
|
Fei Long
|
Fei Long
|
13th voted out
7th jury member
|
Day 38
|
Amanda Kimmel
|
22
|
Los Angeles,
California
|
2nd runner-up
|
Day 39
|
Courtney Yates
|
26
|
New York City,
New York
|
Runner-up
|
Todd Herzog
|
22
|
Pleasant Grove,
Utah
|
Sole Survivor
|
Future appearances
[
edit
]
James Clement and Amanda Kimmel both returned to compete in the following season,
Survivor: Micronesia
.
[7]
The pair returned again in 2010 for
Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains
along with Courtney Yates. Peih-Gee Law returned for
Survivor: Cambodia
.
[8]
Season summary
[
edit
]
The two tribes, Fei Long and Zhan Hu, were predetermined prior to the start of the game. As an added bonus for winning reward challenges, the winning tribe was given the opportunity to kidnap a member from the losing tribe, where they would live at the winning tribe's camp (in cases where the reward is a trip away from camp, participate in the reward trip with the winning tribe as well) until the next Immunity Challenge. This person would receive a container with a clue to the hidden immunity idol that they had to give to one of the winning tribe members.
After the first 12 days, Fei Long held a slight edge thanks to the strength of James and leadership of Aaron. A strong alliance had been formed on Fei Long between Todd, Amanda, Aaron, and Courtney. On Day 14, each tribe, separately, selected two members of the other tribe to bring into theirs; Fei Long selected Sherea and Frosti, while Zhan Hu selected James and Aaron. Believing that James and Aaron would remain true to the other Fei Long members when the merge occurred, Jaime and Peih-Gee struck a plan to lose the next Immunity Challenge on purpose so that they would be able to remove the former Fei Longs from the game. Zhan Hu would end up losing the challenge, and subsequently voted Aaron out.
On Fei Long, Todd had been working to find the Hidden Immunity Idol. At the next reward challenge on Day 16, Fei Long won and kidnapped James. With the clue from James, Todd was able to find the idol, which he gave to James to use and eliminate a Zhan Hu, and also told James that the same clues would apply at the Zhan Hu camp. While James found the second idol, Zhan Hu won the next immunity challenge thus rendering Todd's plan moot and leaving James with both idols.
The tribes merged on Day 19, with the former Fei Longs holding a 6?4 advantage. After voting out Jaime, Jean-Robert and Frosti, Amanda became concerned that James would not give back one of the two idols, and worked with her other tribe members to blindside him, with James leaving the game with the two idols still in his possession. The remaining Fei Long held on to their lead, and Todd, Amanda, and Courtney's alliance held strong and the three went to the Final Tribal Council.
At the Final Tribal Council, all three finalists were criticized by the jury: Amanda for being overly apologetic, Courtney for her sassy attitude, and Todd for his deception and manipulating the jury. Amanda couldn’t own her game and her moves and the jury believed that her game was attached to Todd’s. Courtney was criticized for not making strategic moves in the game and personally attacking some of the jury members. Unlike Amanda and Courtney, Todd owned his strategic game to earn the jury's respect, leading to his victory in a 4-2-1 decision over Courtney and Amanda, respectively.
Challenge winners and eliminations by episode
Episode
|
Challenge winner(s)
|
Eliminated
|
No.
|
Title
[9]
|
Original air date
|
Reward
|
Immunity
|
Tribe
|
Player
|
1
|
"
A Chicken's a Little Bit Smarter
"
|
September 20, 2007
|
Fei Long
|
Zhan Hu
|
Chicken
|
2
|
"
My Mom Is Going to Kill Me!
"
|
September 27, 2007
|
Fei Long
|
Fei Long
|
Zhan Hu
|
Ashley
|
3
|
"
I Lost Two Hands and Possibly a Shoulder
"
|
October 4, 2007
|
Zhan Hu
|
Zhan Hu
|
Fei Long
|
Leslie
|
4
|
"
Ride the Workhorse Till the Tail Falls Off
"
|
October 11, 2007
|
Fei Long
|
Fei Long
|
Zhan Hu
|
Dave
|
5
|
"
Love Is In the Air
"
|
October 18, 2007
|
None
[a]
|
Fei Long
|
Zhan Hu
|
Aaron
|
6
|
"
That's Love, Baby! It Makes You Strong!
"
|
October 25, 2007
|
Fei Long
|
Zhan Hu
|
Fei Long
|
Sherea
|
7
|
"
I'm Not As Dumb As I Look
"
|
November 1, 2007
|
None
[b]
|
Frosti
|
Hae Da Fung
|
Jaime
|
8
|
"
High School Friend Contest
"
|
November 8, 2007
|
Amanda, James,
Jean-Robert, Todd
|
Courtney
|
Jean-Robert
|
9
|
"
Just Don't Eat the Apple
"
|
November 15, 2007
|
Amanda, Courtney,
Erik, Frosti
|
Peih-Gee
|
Frosti
|
10
|
"
It's Been Real and It's Been Fun
"
|
November 22, 2007
|
Recap Episode
|
11
|
"
Ready to Bite the Apple
"
|
November 29, 2007
|
Peih-Gee
[Denise, Erik]
|
Erik
|
Hae Da Fung
|
James
|
12
|
"
Going for the Oscar
"
|
December 6, 2007
|
Denise
[Amanda, Todd]
|
Peih-Gee
|
Erik
|
13
|
"
Hello, I'm Still a Person
"
|
December 13, 2007
|
Denise
[Courtney, Todd]
|
Amanda
|
Peih-Gee
|
14
|
"
A Slippery Little Sucker
"
|
December 16, 2007
|
Amanda
[Todd]
|
Amanda
|
Denise
|
15
|
"
The Reunion
"
|
|
- In the case of multiple tribes or castaways who win reward or immunity, they are listed in order of finish, or alphabetically where it was a team effort; where one castaway won and invited others, the invitees are in brackets.
- ^
There was no reward challenge due to the tribe swap.
- ^
There was no reward challenge due to the merge.
Episodes
[
edit
]
Voting history
[
edit
]
Reception
[
edit
]
Survivor: China
received positive reviews, and is a favorite among the fan-base due to the level of gameplay and entertaining cast of characters. The villainous gameplay of winner
Todd Herzog
, the snarky, sarcastic personality of runner-up
Courtney Yates
, and the entertainingly over the top personality of James Clement each received high praise from both fans and critics alike. Dalton Ross of
Entertainment Weekly
ranked this season 16th out of 40 saying it "featured a really good cast stuck in a really bad location."
[10]
In 2014, Joe Reid of
The Wire
ranked this season 13th out of 27.
[11]
In 2015, a poll by
Rob Has a Podcast
ranked this season 6th out of 30 with
Rob Cesternino
ranking this season 11th.
[12]
This was updated in 2021 during Cesternino's podcast,
Survivor All-Time Top 40 Rankings
, ranking 5th out of 40th.
[13]
In 2020,
Survivor
fan site "Purple Rock Podcast" ranked this season 10th out of 40 citing its "truly fantastic cast".
[14]
Later that same year,
Inside Survivor
ranked this season 6th out of 40 saying "what really makes this season so good is the way the cast interacts with each other."
[15]
Controversy
[
edit
]
At the reunion show, Denise Martin claimed that she lost her job as a
lunch lady
after returning home from filming. As a result, producer
Mark Burnett
awarded her $50,000. However, the school district for which Denise worked later refuted her version of what happened after she returned from China. According to Douglas Public School District Superintendent Nancy T. Lane, Denise asked for and received a promotion to the higher-paying, full-time custodian position before filming began for
Survivor
. When Denise returned to work, she returned to her new position. She requested to transfer back to her old position but it was no longer available.
[16]
On the December 19, 2007, broadcast of
The Early Show
, Denise apologized, stating that it was "not [her] intention to be misleading" and asked that the $50,000 be donated to the
Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation
.
[17]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Survivor: Fiji
live reunion special, May 13, 2007
- ^
a
b
Rudolph, Ileane (August 20, 2007).
"Survivor: China Exclusive: Meet the Fei Long Tribe"
. TV Guide
. Retrieved
August 20,
2007
.
- ^
Rudolph, Ileane (August 20, 2007).
"Survivor: China Exclusive: Meet the Zhan Hu Tribe"
. TV Guide
. Retrieved
August 20,
2007
.
- ^
"SURVIVOR: JEFF, I HAVE IT!"
. mtv.com
. Retrieved
August 28,
2017
.
- ^
Washburn, Dan (May 21, 2007).
"Survivor China Update: Remote island of ... Jiangxi?"
.
Gothamist, LLC
. Retrieved
July 31,
2007
.
The Chinese characters on the logo say, 'Compete in intelligence, compete in skill, compete in endurance.'
- ^
"Returning Shows"
. Archived from
the original
on July 9, 2008
. Retrieved
September 21,
2007
.
- ^
Ross, Dalton (January 3, 2008).
"New 'Survivor' cast revealed!"
.
Entertainment Weekly
. Retrieved
February 22,
2021
.
- ^
Ross, Dalton (May 20, 2015).
"
'Survivor: Cambodia?Second Chance' cast revealed"
.
EW.com
. Retrieved
June 21,
2022
.
- ^
"Survivor: China Episodes"
. TV Guide
. Retrieved
November 7,
2007
.
- ^
Ross, Dalton (May 6, 2020).
"
Survivor Winners at War
recap: Double elimination smackdown!"
.
Entertainment Weekly
. Retrieved
March 12,
2021
.
- ^
Reid, Joe (May 6, 2020).
"
Survivor Winners at War
recap: Double elimination smackdown!"
.
The Wire
. Archived from
the original
on February 3, 2016
. Retrieved
March 12,
2021
.
- ^
"Survivor Top 30 All-Time Season Rankings Results"
.
Rob Has a Podcast
. September 21, 2015
. Retrieved
March 12,
2021
.
- ^
"Survivor All-Time Top 40 Rankings | #5: China"
.
Rob Has a Podcast
. August 17, 2021
. Retrieved
August 18,
2021
.
- ^
"Survivor season rankings (with spoiler-free summaries)"
.
The Purple Rock Survivor Podcast
. May 22, 2020
. Retrieved
March 12,
2021
.
- ^
Stanley, Garrett (November 13, 2020).
"Best Season Rankings ? No. 6 ? China"
.
Inside Survivor
. Retrieved
March 12,
2021
.
- ^
"Worcester Telegram & Gazette Mega News"
.
- ^
"
'Survivor' lunch lady to donate $50,000 gift"
. December 19, 2007.
External links
[
edit
]