(September
21st, 2007. - Editor)
Host Jeff Probst challenges 16 contestants to Outwit, Outlast and
Outplay each other for a $1 million first prize, in the 15th version
of the reality game show series Survivor: China airing Thursdays on
CBS.
The
far East will serve as the background as American contestants from a
variety of backgrounds and ages compete for financial security and a
small measure of fame. The game begins with the contestants gathering
at the four hundred year old HuangPu Mountain's Mi Tuo Temple, near
Shanghai to witness a Buddhist religious ceremony. From there, they
traveled to Jiangxi province beside the Lake Of A Thousand Islands,
where they will remain for the balance of the game. The members of the
group were each presented with a cloth bag containing their red or
yellow tribal buffs. The Feilong tribe, which means Flying Dragon,
made up of Aaron, Courtney, James, Amanda, Denise, Jean-Robert, Todd
and Leslie will face off against The Zhan Hu Tribe, which means
Fighting Tiger, made up of Dave, Jaime, Frosti, Ashley, Chicken,
Sherea, Peih-Gee and Erik. At the start of the game, both tribes were
instructed to honor a Buddhist tradition of minimalist living, by
dropping all of their possessions and beginning the game with just the
clothes on their backs, a map to the new home and a copy of the
infamous Chinese text The Art Of War. The two tribes each found the
stark camp sites they will call home for 39 days and began the
difficult task of finding food, water and shelter from a cold and wet
Chinese climate.
I am disappointed that the very exotic location of China, a country
that has not been seen by the West very much, is not featured more in
the first episode. This version of Survivor sent very little time
educating the audience about the location before shipping the
contestants off to the very remote locations of their camp to begin
the game. Except for a few props it is hard to tell what country they
are in and what cultures may be a part of the location. I am sure that
will change as the game progresses, but so far the 5,000 year old
civilization of China has not been given much of a chance to have an
influence on the game players or the game.
The photography and sound recording used for the game remains a very
high quality, with digital pictures and sound making sure we see and
hear every part of the game. But with such a stunning backdrop for the
version, I was expecting something bigger from this talented group
behind the cameras and in the editing rooms. The great wall is
photographed, a few other ancient sites have been featured, but there
is little in the opening episode that one would say contributes to the
WOW factor. Photography for the first episode seemed to be limited to
the recording of events, rather than trying to add a little spectacle.
Likewise, the props and equipment also seemed to be of lower quality,
suggesting to me that this version of the game may have been produced
on a lower budget. That is never a good sign.
The two tribes are very mis-matched, even though the two sides were
picked in advance by the producers. Each side has four men and four
woman, but the strengths and weaknesses are nowhere near equal. I
suspect that the producers are doing a little staging with the cast
members, trying to get a little more conflict between the players and
perhaps helping to boost the ratings a bit for this series. As
expected, the obviously stronger tribe won and the weaker and less
organized tribe was forced to eliminate a member at tribal council
before anyone really had a change to know anyone, or to understand
their strengths and weaknesses. Such is the game. But the casualty of
the circumstances was Chicken, a farmer and outdoorsman, who likely
could have proven himself to be an asset had he been given a little
more time.
This version of Survivor may be filled with more stunts than before,
as ratings for the series are slipping and the show needs something to
help it keep its position on the top of the reality game show heap.
The show has Outwitted, Outlasted and Outplayed all competitors, but
if the legacy is to continue, this version of the game needs to find
some of that old sparkle. So far, I'm not feeling it.
-- Editor --
