***WARNING: SPOILERS***

Survivor is certainly not the water-cooler show that it was when a naked love-to-hate Richard Hatch schemed and plotted to became the show’s inaugural winner during the summer of 2000. If you are not watching this 15^th edition, Survivor: China, you have not only been missing out on its most engaging and competitive outings in years, but also on the strategic play of a 22 year-old gay Mormon flight attendant named Todd Herzog.

Todd has been a force to be reckoned with since he stepped foot in China, and for my money is the most charming, clever, and confident player to ever represent us on this show and has proven that he is much more than the obligatory gay cog in the cast of usual reality TV suspects. He also happens to grace the 2007 year-ending issue of Instinct.

This episode opens immediately after a brutal Tribal Council which resulted in a total blindside offing of James, this edition’s strongest, buffest, and seemingly set in stone player to reach the finals. Every gay man must have needed a little something to take the edge off after watching last week’s episode as Todd’s head was on the line and could have easily been the one sent home.

After some scary night vision footage of the last remaining six players celebrating the end-result of a strategic move that could have backfired in a huge way, the increasingly competitive mullet-sporting “Lunch Lady” states, quite convincingly, that if their move had not succeeded, they “would all be dead'' (and I don’t think that she was even taking into account that James owns a burial service and is a gravedigger).

It was a smart move to get rid of James, but we lost a stunning example of the male form. Here’s a hard-to-find James souvenir image to last you until the next edition of the show, which (***possible gossip-based spoiler***) he is rumored to be a part of. I am a facts man, so the alleged 2^nd All-Star Edition Internet noise is just that until I receive verifiable confirmation.

Shortly before the photo below was taken, a miserable-looking Todd finally took off his Survivor buff which he had styled into a babushka that had my man-child looking like a disturbing combination of my maternal great grandmother and a strung-out Little Red Riding Hood.

Todd talks of not being a sentimental person but is missing his family, which any Survivor fan worth his nickel knows will be immediately followed by a manipulatively sweeping musical score as the remaining players are brought together with loved ones to participate in a reward challenge.

Everyone cries upon seeing their loved ones, and viewers are treated to seeing how far the apples have or have not fallen from the tree. Nothing too surprising here, with the exception of Courtney’s daddy Graham sounding quite British and looking like the inspiration for Lisa Birnback’s The Official Preppy Handbook, which was published 27 years ago. Even super stud host Jeff P. notes that Courtney’s daddy looks quite “debonair.” The man lookes like he would be overdressed even for afternoon cocktails with Orson and Bree Hodge (formerly Bree Van de Kamp) (née Mason) from Desperate Housewives.

Courtney only needed to go back to Robert Latham’s 2003 relic, The Hipster Handbook to get her urban shtick down. I can see her trying to get a reaction from daddy by threatening to quit her waitressing job to travel to experience the new Venezuela, which will soon free itself from the evil empire. Of course she’d expect her usual allowance for this excursion.

Since all I care about is Todd, I was concerned when I heard his little sister Brandi give him bad news. Jeff P. asks Todd to share with the class. Todd tells the group that his other little sister at home was pregnant and lost the baby. Could my sweet Todd be pulling a sleazy Johnny Fairplay move from Survivor: Pearl Islands? During that 7^th cycle, Fairplay had prearranged to have a family member come to “inform” him that his grandmother had died, which turned out to be a ruse to gain sympathy.

The details of the challenge and reward are irrelevant. Denise and her hubby win. Denise chooses Todd, Amanda and their respective family members to participate in her reward. Peih-Gee, Erik, and Courtney say goodbye to their loved ones and go back to camp to whine. Virgin Erik says that he does not believe Todd’s story. Well, I want Erik to prove that he's a virgin ... Never trust all those nice "sounding" people. More on this in another post.

The show’s editors go on overdrive with the potential impact of Todd's news. Courtney says what many in the audience are thinking via a hilarious impersonation of Jeff P. interviewing Todd about the "convenient miscarriage" that his sister had. She'll probably burn in hell for it but I will too, so we're even.

People finally come back from the reward challenge, chocolate gets sucked directly from Todd and Amanda’s fingers, loved ones complain of Denise and Amanda’s body odor, Amanda’s sister receives the same butt-blur that Amanda receives every single episode, loved ones leave and on we go to the most important individual immunity challenge to date, which involves quintessential Survivor elements: Mud, rope, lockboxes, keys, location-related questions, and a raising flag.

Unless Todd wins it for the first time, he may be in trouble yet again at Tribal Council as the winds seem to be turning on him. The challenge begins and he quickly takes the lead and lit ooks like we won't have to worry about him afterall. He may not have been born when Charlie's Angels first aired its highest rated and now camp classic episode ("Angels in Chains"), but the image below proves why the 1976 episode is timeless.

As Todd looks like he's about to win, his one mistake allows Peih-Gee to come from behind and secure her safety yet again. Unless Denise flips, Erik should be the one to go, but the doubt surrounding Todd’s “disclosure” coupled with compelling reasons for Denise to flip, put our Todd (for the second week in a row) in serious danger of going home Thankfully there are no surprises at yet another dramatic Tribal Council, and Erik’s torch is extinguished, thus leaving Todd as the last male standing in the game along with Denise, Amanda, Courtney, and the still alive Peih-Gee.

Previews for Thursday’s show make it look like Todd will finally be toast. I refuse to believe it as it should finally be Peih-Gee’s swan song, but she could win immunity. And what about the always entertaining car reward challenge? No mention of it, and since this Sunday brings the big 2-hour finale, it must take place during the regular Thursday episode. Todd better not wind up winning a car as none of the 14 previous vehicle winners has ever gone on to win Survivor. Who do you think will be the next one to go? Does Todd really have a chance to win this whole thing?