Well, there goes a season of my life I'll never get back.

This Survivor was the most disappointing, by far.
And the fact that Todd won it made me all the more angry.
He was horrible, and watching his "smarminess" always made my stomach turn.
I wasn't a fan of Courtney, but I would've been happy if she'd won. Even happier if Amanda had won.
UGH. Anyone but him.
Oh, and that attitude he had at the reunion?

Just thinking about this is getting me all worked up again. :(

This season was definitely inferior to Fiji. Good lord Amanda choked at the final council. She had it won if she hadn't felt so damn guilty. Anyway, I can understand why you didn't want to go into the ridiculous Denise pity party at the reunion. Good lord I wanted to puke. Custodians make MORE money than freaking lunch ladies and way higher on the totem pole in the school system. She got a promotion and she's crying about it? Please. And then the 50 grand from Burnett. Give me a break. The other members of the cast from this season and seasons past should be outraged. Pathetic.

I hope that Amanda's loss doesn't force her to do something drastic like, pose for Playboy. Because that would be awesome, I mean, horrible...

As for me I've cashed in my Survivor chips (again) -- this time for good.

Thanks for all of the recaps!

Schoonie - Thank you for great recapping all season... for what was a not great show.

I would have been okay with anyone but Todd. I think Amanda DESERVED it the most, in terms of the best all-around game play/strategy/challenge-winning.. In spite of myself, I came to have an appreciation for Courtney, who I loathed at the start of the show. She did make a good point....who would've expected her to make it to the finals?

Anywho....crappy season, but fabulous recapping improved the overall experience.

Schoonie Thanks for all the recaps. Honestly, you've made me see Survivor in a whole new light - I'm not as easily led anymore to "like" or "dislike" certain characters due to editing; and generally I watch the show with a higher sense of strategy because you've shed light on how the game SHOULD work, though it doesn't always turn out that way, does it?

Anyway - my take on the final immunity challenge (and actually most of the immunity challenges throughout the season): it seemed to me that there was more non-physical challenges this season, it seemed like alot were to do with balance, or throwing stars, stacking dishes.... not alot of scaling 50 foot walls and swimming for miles... I think they were trying to level the playing field (for Denise most likely) and not make it such a muscle-bound, superman challenge fest where only the strong survive.

Ah well, this season was the best or the brightest, but perhaps Courtney will come back for the next All Stars and then at least we'll have someone to say exactly what we're all thinking the "most assholish way possible".

Thanks Schoonie - see you around BB time!

It was a great season and I AM SO GLAD TODD WON! I would have been happy if Amanda or Denise had won too though(for different reasons).

On the CBS website it states that TODD was president of his high school SURVIVOR club.

Oh, also, either at the CBS website or a link to it (I forget) Todd says that Courtney was helpful in getting him to the final 3.
When Amanda was deciding who to vote off Courtney went to Amanda and explained to her how important the game was to TODD so...

Now I like Courtney even more and she looked pretty and healthy on the reunion show.

Once again, fantastic job with all of the recaps, Schoonie. It's been a pleasure reading them all season long.

Overall, I liked this season well enough. It certainly was not a Cook Islands, but thankfully it was not a Fiji. Yes, I know that there are a lot of Fiji lovers on this board, but in a sense I look at Fiji and China as a season of opposites. While Fiji was strategically interesting, the season was filled to the brim with unlikable, ugly, and bitter people. Alex and Lisi anyone? China, on the other hand, cast people with great personalities, but had some of the dumbest moves I've ever seen on this show. For example, Amanda (as much as I liked her and wanted her to win) made a huge mistake in not voting out Todd in the Final Four. If she had, I think she would have won hands down. I truly believe that it was her guilt in voting out Denise that began her downfall.

Was anyone else as surprised as me that Jaime was so damn bitter in her Tribal Council speech. She gave me the impression of being a pretty nice person during her stay in China. I was really taken aback by her statements.

Overall, although I do think that Amanda was the best player and should have won, I'm happy with Todd's victory. This guy was been a survivor fan since day one and it was refreshing to see such a huge Survivor geek take the victory (unlike Cook Islands and Fiji, where nonfans ended winning).

One final thing on this season: James' victory as the fan favorite forever proves to me that the public at large has no love for strategically minded players. I'm from the same state as James, but have no idea how such a strategically dull and argumentive person found love in the Survivor audience at large.

I think that Survivor Fanatics Vs. Fan Favorites should be interesting. If the spoiler cast list that I looked at is correct, they have convinced a great collection of former cast members to starve themselves again for our entertainment. Can't wait!

"Courtney's plates fall next, which is surprising because you would think she would be really good at this."

I'm shocked that you would think Courtney would have any familiarity with how to stack dishes. Aren't dishes those things that carry food? Yeah, Courtney would be lost with how to handle that stuff.

"I wonder who will be booted? WHO? The suspense is...what's the opposite of killing me? The suspense is giving birth to me!"

That line made me develop a little crush on you Schoonie. Don't tell Peg, she could totally kick my ass.

Awesome recap my friend, can't wait to have you and BB in February - what a delicious treat.

I don't think the problem was that Amanda actually felt SO guilty. I think that is just the angle that she decided to play for the final tribal council, and it was a terrible strategy. I wanted her to win, but like PG, even I was getting tired of her puppy dog eyes as she looked at and talked to the jury members. I think she was playing it up too much, and it backfired.

Sweet - nobody else has commented yet, so let me be the first to give mega-ups for the classic Willy Wonka reference.

"I said GOOD DAY SIR" is exactly how I feel about a lot of people, lunchladies included...

Hey, don't ask me why, but Amanda lost her guts when she needed them most.

So-so, season, hated the winner. Todd's a little David Spade-like weasel without the humorous side, I bet he got beat up a lot in high school.

Funny, but Courtney seemed to have put on a few pounds at the reunion. She actually looked pretty hot!

And, poor, deluded Denise got the last laugh, whining herself into $50K by fooling the producers into thinking she'd lost her "good" job by being away for "Survivor". Pretty crafty. And, BTW, I doubt she's as meek as she claims to be. She looked pretty kick-ass putting on the moves for the Shaolin guys.

Thanks for the great recaps, Schoon. Let's do some hatin' in February, when the Chenbot returns.
Word!