Survivor: China: Todd Might Be A Flight Attendant, But He's Not Flighty!

We all know there are no accidents when it comes to editing reality shows so it's interesting that during the Survivor's intro, out gay Mormon Todd Herzog was introduced right alongside Survivor's Christian talkshow host Leslie Nease.

And I don't think they wound up on the same tribe — Fei Long — by accident either. The other tribe is Zhan Hu, but from here on out I'm referring to them as Feng Shui (easier to remember) and John Who as that was what I thought Jeff Probst said every time.

Depending on your point-of-view, Leslie didn't come off so hot even before the tribes were dropped off in the middle of nowhere. During a "welcoming ceremony" at a Buddhist temple, Leslie got overwrought at being asked to kneel in front of a statue of Buddha because the Bible forbids her to bow down before no other gods. Said Leslie, "'I'm not a religious person, but I have a relationship with Jesus Christ, and the only time I'm gonna put my face on the floor is for him."

I so relate! I'm not a drinker, but I do drink daiquiris occasionally, and it's only for a great strawberry daiquiri (or six) that I'm going to put my face on the floor!

Read more after the jump!

I mean no disrespect to the Leslie's religious beliefs, but it's this kind of "literal" thinking that drives me so crazy about religion in general. Is participating in another culture's traditions really such a big deal? It's not like she was asked to get circumcised. Again, she's perfectly within her right to refuse to do this, but I'm glad I don't have to spend the next thirty plus days with her. (Courtney also came off poorly at the temple basically behaving like a whiny five-year-old who needed a bit of a smack in the bum!)

With sixteen contestants to introduce I wasn't expecting to see that much of Todd, but he did score some serious face-time and looks like a serious competitor.

At least one other player thinks so as well. Poker player Jean-Robert told Todd he knew he was devious and a smart-cookie and had his eye on him. Or maybe it was a really bad come on? Either way, it appears he's right as Todd has allied himself with Aaron Reisberger and got him appointed leader. Smart...That way, he's protected by the guy in charge, but if things go south the leader will take the fall. The contestants were given a copy of The Art of War and just maybe Todd has read it.

Naturally there is eye candy as well. (I doubt we're ever going to see Survivor: Greenland.)

This is Erik Huffman. He's in the "Hot as Heck" tribe.

And this is Aaron. I think he's asking what the other tribe members think of his new haircut.

And this is James Clement. He's a grave-digger and so far is the strong silent type. Forget the friggin' pilates. Sign me up for grave-digging!

The elimination competition included catching, killing, and skinning a panda. It then had to be prepared in the traditional Chinese General Tso's Extra Crispy Panda-style. Oh, wait. That was Top Chef: China. My bad! Feng Shui actually beat John Hu in what basically resembled an out-of-control Chinese New Year contest that involved carrying a Chinese dragon and tiger.

So John Hu sulked their way to tribal council and, in grand Survivor tradition voted out the oldest person first. In this case his name was Chicken. Chicken, we hardly knew you and since you're not terribly hot, we're not that sorry to see you go.

Next Week: The castaways play with their balls.