By now, you've read it in the recap, heard about it in the news, and seen our interview with the winner of Survivor: China, the openly gay - and very cute - Todd Herzog. But what happened in the final episode? What crazy secrets did we learn at the Live Reunion Show? And more importantly, who looked good and who didn't?

As you might have guessed with this bunch, there was plenty of drama and plenty to talk about. Jon and I do our best to hit all the high (and low) points of four hours of television. It's a long one, so grab a cup of coffee (or your favorite cocktail) and enjoy the show!

And yes, we did film the vlog in our undies ... Watch the video after the break.

*** WARNING: MANY SPOILERS ***

Unless there is some serious animosity among the final 4 competitors, the darkest of horses wins the final Individual Immunity Challenge, or there is a tie, Survivor finales tend to be among the most bloated and least exciting episodes of the season.

The standout for me is still without a doubt the very first edition, Survivor: Borneo, which ended with Richard Hatch, who many at the time called Reality TV’s first gay villain, taking the $1,000,000 prize. Not only was Hatch’s victory unexpected, but the finale pre-vote was dominated by the campy vitriol of a then 39-year old truck driver from Wisconsin named Susan Hawk. If you have not seen Susan’s downright Shakespearean closing (which was unscripted as she tossed what was given to her), just imagine Roseanne Barr channeling Helen Lawson from Valley of the Dolls talking about vultures, rats, snakes, and Mother Nature.

Tonight’s finale seemed very promising, with the possibility of cutie Todd Herzog, the 22–year openly gay Mormon, going all the way, thus becoming the first openly gay contestant to win since Hatch. Even if Todd did not make the final 3, there was potential for some serious fireworks at Tribal Council as some of the members of the Jury had already shown that they could be explosive, and Todd would not likely disappoint.

So how did Todd place? At this point all that I can tell you is that I have a horrible history of predicting winners, that there is no car challenge (for the first time in 14 seasons), and that this finale was probably even more bloated than any in recent history. It did include two elements that really stood out for me, the first being how many of the members of the jury were still very undecided about who to give their vote to at the end, and the other has to do with something that I would only be able to confirm by the end of the Reunion Show, which followed the 2-hour finale.

The Finale

After a surprisingly short summary of what happened from day 1 through the evening of day 36 (kudos to CBS), the show opens with Todd, Amanda, Denise, and Courtney returning from Tribal Council after having voted off Phei –Gee. Todd is very pumped as it looked like he could have been a goner yet again.

Day 37 begins with a really cool Reward Challenge that has the players building their own version of the Great Wall of China. They are playing for the most delicious looking pizza I’ve ever seen, beer, drinks, and even brownies. As is the case with last challenges, this one involved a combination of puzzles, balance, climbing, but for once no flags. Todd takes the early lead, but loses to Amanda yet again. At this point Todd still has not won a single Individual Reward Challenge or Individual Immunity, the latter of which is more problematic than the former.

Amanda has the choice of either stuffing her face alone or can share her reward with 1, 2, but not all 3 remaining players. Amanda is very nervous and puts her pageant experience to good use to try and figure out the best move for her as if she were in front of an audience. I would taken both Todd and Courtney, and certainly would have not eaten it alone, as that would have given the other 3 players too much time to be bitter and have an impact on the final vote as there was one remaining Immunity Challenge that was up for grabs. Amanda decides to only take Todd.

UPDATE: The full recap is now up. Check it out!

In case you missed it, Survivor: China wrapped last night and crowned the reality mainstay's latest million-dollar winner. Most of the people frequenting this site were likely tuning in to see if the puckish flight attendant from Utah, Todd Herzog, would take the title after making it into the finals.  

We'll have a full recap going up later this morning, but for the meantime here's the outcome of the finals for those who want to discuss right away. Click through the jump for the spoiler.

*** WARNING SPOILERS***

If you are a Todd Herzog fan, watching the last two episodes of Survivor: China has not been a particularly fun experience. Whether via outstanding editing and/or actual representation of the game, our gay powerhouse player has looked like he’s been in serious danger of being voted off.

Last week’s previews made it seem like Todd would finally be blindsided by Amanda, who, after masterminding James' unexpected offing, is starting to remind me of the title character in 1950’s Oscar-winning All About Eve. Will our beloved Todd’s torch be snuffed before its time just as Margo Channing’s was by the outwardly meek Eve? If Todd has not seen Bette Davis’ classic tale of deceptive ambition, I hope that he has enough Mean Girls wisdom to finish off what he started.

The show gets to business right away with a Reward Challenge that has the Final 5 using a replica of a 4th Century Chinese crossbow concoction to fire arrows at a target that has their names randomly written on it. To give it a wicked edge, the number of arrows that each player will fire will be based on how each player “secretly” distributes the 5 arrows that they are given. The winner will get to go on an overnight trip, via private jet, to the Great Wall of China.

Out of the total of 25 red roses (wrong show) arrows to be awarded, there are no surprises, as non-challenging Courtney receives a whopping 12 arrows. Outcast Peih-Gee receives only 1. Denise gets 2, Amanda 4, and our Todd 6. If the game were based on acumen, Todd would have won hands down as he was able to hit his own name with 5 out of the 6 arrows that he received. He would have been followed by Courtney and Denise who tied with only one hit each; however since the winner is based on how many times a player's name gets hit, urban hipster Courtney accidentally hits Denise’s name 5 times to give the Lunch Lady her second reward over Todd in as many weeks.  

Denise is allowed to invite two other players to join her in her reward excursion. She picks Courtney  and Todd, who always gets picked by the members of his alliance as they want to be on his good side. Amanda and a whiny Peih-Gee get sent back to camp with nothing. The winning threesome take off on the private jet, and we are entertained by our favorite flight attendant, who works it by welcoming all on board, announcing that they are on “Survivor Airlines Flight 15”, and making reference to how cool the passengers are. All in all, a cute sequence with Todd being the charming man-boy that he is.

It was another great episode of Survivor: China this week, but I think the vlog might even be more entertaining. I'll get to that in a second. It's family reunion week, which means there are tears and drama aplenty, Courtney sinks to a new low, and everyone seems to be gunning for Todd. Will he survive another week? Watch the video to find out, and find out what we thought about this week's episode.

Jon has been sick all week and, as he puts it in the vlog, he was "hopped up" on cold medicine when we recorded this week's gaycap. It makes for some interesting footage, especially when he seems to get confused about whether we're recapping Survivor or Ugly Betty.

Enjoy after the break...

***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.

After a week off due to Thanksgiving and a clip show, we're back with a new, edge-of-your-seat episode. We've got awesome rewards, power plays from unexpected sources, and ninja throwing stars. Amanda decides it's time to it's time to go after James, but will he be dumb enough to fall for it, or will the plan backfire thanks to Peigh-Gee and send Big Gay Todd home?

So who went home? And what did we think of all the goings on? Watch the video after the jump, then share your thoughts with us. Maybe we'll give you a shout out in next week's Survivor Gaycap!

Big Gay Todd survived another week. The end. Well, not really, but it might as well be. This past episode wasn't as riveting as the previous weeks have been. Pei-Gee painted a big red target on her chest, but managed to dodge the bullet by winning immunity. That left the rest of the tribe with the perfect opportunity to go after James, but did they? What do you think?

Quick poll: Was Jean-Robert REALLY as dumb as they made him out to be on the show? And if so, how could he possibly a professional poker player? I thought they had to be cunning and intelligent. Have I been misinformed all these years? Granted, I don't get poker at all. My brain just doesn't seem to work that way, so my knowledge of the game is sketchy at best and mostly based on Kenny Roger's "The Gambler."

So yeah, Jean-Robert = Really Dumb. It made for some entertaining TV at least. Big Gay Todd seems to have the most going on in the brains department, and he continues to pull strings and hatch plans faster than you can say "can I have a bag of pretzels, please?" I'm still rooting for him to win, although our final four promise is starting to make me a little nervous...

For more of our thoughts and commentary on this past week's episode, watch the video after the jump!