WWE diva Ashley Massaro quickly learned that Survivor is a much different game than wrestling, as the 28-year-old from East Northport, NY became the second castaway eliminated from Survivor: China during last night's broadcast of the long-running CBS reality competition series.

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Survivor: China's second episode began in the midst of some intense rain at the Zhan Hu tribe's camp following their trip to Tribal Council, which saw them eliminate Steve "Chicken" Morris.  Dave Cruser, a 37-year-old former model and bartender from Simi Valley, CA, and Peih-Gee Law, a 29-year-old jeweler from Marina Del Rey, CA; also decided to accept a leadership role with Zhan Hu during Tribal Council.

"I didn't want to be in a leadership role," said Dave.  "But instead of resisting things like that -- especially with the people in my tribe -- I think it's actually better to embrace it." 

Dave seemed to take to his leadership role, as he immediately began to give orders, instructing the female tribe members where to place the fire pit.  He said arguing about it would "suck a lot of time and energy" away from getting stuff done.  Erik Huffman, a 26-year-old musician from Nashville, TN, noticed Peih-Gee's role seemed to "balance the power" for Dave.

"Dave has a lot of good ideas, but if somebody questions it or comes up with their own idea, there's this sense that he's probably going to go with his own idea," said Erik.  "It may get to a point where people start getting fed-up and start talking about Dave and how we don't necessarily think he's a good leader anymore."

Meanwhile, members of the Fei Long tribe seemed to be working tirelessly around camp with the exception of Jean-Robert Bellande, a 36-year-old professional poker player from Las Vegas, NV, who was constantly sleeping and snoring.  Courtney Yates, a 26-year-old waitress from New York, NY, commented he "won't do anything."

Amanda Kimmel, a 23-year-old hiking guide and Miss Montana USA 2005 from Los Angeles, CA, approached Todd Herzog, a 22-year-old flight attendant from Pleasant Grove, UT, and the two formed an alliance and discussed their options for a third member.  They decided to target Aaron Reisberger, a 32-year-old surfing instructor and bartender from Venice, CA, because as Todd put, they need "someone strong to call our shots," which "puts the target on him instead of us."

Todd and Amanda convinced Aaron to join their alliance, which they guaranteed would take him to the Final 3.

"Amanda and I have this game in our hands," said Todd.  "We have our alliance.  We have exactly what I wanted to come here to do."

Like Dave with Zhan Hu, Aaron immediately took to his leadership role with Fei Long.  Not surprisingly, his first target was Jean-Robert, who he told to "pull your weight."  However the lazy behavior displayed by Jean-Robert was apparently part of his plan.

"I'm considered one of the bad-boys of poker, and I absolutely am using a similar strategy in this Survivor game," he said.  "I wanted to give the perception that I was a little bit lazy so that later on when I am contributing and putting in the work effort, people are noticing, 'Hey this guy’s doing beyond his normal capabilities.' I can only go up from here."

Zhan Hu was still having a hard time dealing with Dave as the leader, as he was having his fellow tribe members carry heavy slabs of mud bricks to construct a fireplace since they were given flint at Tribal Council.  Dave thought the project was "realistic and achievable," however it didn't sit too well with Ashley and Jaime Dugan, a 22-year-old student from Columbia, SC, who tried to suggest they should eat something before they continue working.  Dave would have none of it.

"We got the flint last night at Tribal Council and we haven't even attempted to make a fire and we're starving," explained Ashley. "It just seems like we take the longest route possible to make something happen. I'm losing faith rapidly."

Ashley then took her feelings public and confronted Dave about cooking up some grub.  He wouldn't budge.

"I don't want to fight with Ashley," said Dave. "If she wants a fight I can give her a fight. The rest of the team is great, Ashley is... ugh."

Fei Long and Zhan Hu then met for the episode's Reward Challenge.  Host Jeff Probst explained explained that squaring off three-on-three in a ring of knee-deep mud, the tribes would push one of two gigantic wooden balls across the other tribe's goal to score a point. The first tribe to score two points would win fishing gear and a new fishing boat. In addition, Jeff said a "twist" will be revealed at the end of the challenge.  Before the challenge started, it began to rain heavily once again.

The first heat saw Aaron; Amanda; and Denise Martin, a 40-year-old school lunch lady from Douglas, MA, compete for Fei Long against Erik; Jaime; and Sherea Lloyd, a 26-year-old elementary school teacher from Atlanta, GA, for Zhan Hu. 

The first heat was a physical struggle from the onset, with neither of the teams making much progress.  Eventually opposing tribe members started to use clothing to get a good grasp.  Amanda was finally able to get a shot at Zhan Hu's goal after Aaron pulled Erik off the ball.  Amanda scored the first goal for Fei Long while topless (and she didn't even receive any peanut butter or chocolate).

The second heat saw Jean-Robert; Leslie Nease, a 38-year-old Christian radio talk show host from Tega Cay, SC; and James Clement, a 30-year-old grave digger from Lafayette, LA, compete for Fei Long against Ashley; Dave; and Michael "Frosti" Zernow, a 20-year-old parkour athlete/student from Chicago, IL for Zhan Hu.

Just as they had in the first Immunity Challenge, James and Frosti locked in battle and created a sort of stalemate while the other tribe members tried to score.  As Jean-Robert rolled his ball, he literally dragged Ashley through the mud.  However he quickly realized if he helped James it would be a lot easier, so Jean-Robert pulled Frosti away.  James easily scored the winning goal for Fei Long, and they became 2 and 0 in challenges.

Fei Long received the fishing gear for winning the Reward Challenge and Jeff explained the twist.  He said Fei Long also earned the right to "kidnap" one person from the losing Zhan Hu tribe until the next Immunity Challenge. Fei Long chose Jaime, and before the tribes left, Jeff gave her with a bamboo tube to be opened only in private.

Things kept getting worse for Zhan Hu, as they returned to their camp to find it completely flooded.  The only thing that appeared to be salvaged was Dave's fire pit.

"I'm really happy I took the time to build the pit," boasted Dave. "This just goes to show that I had a fairly sound idea and I'm glad I stuck with it."

At Fei Long, Aaron explained they chose to kidnap Jaime because she's a "spot of sunshine" and they thought it "completely demoralized" Zhan Hu.  However Todd warned some of his tribe members to be careful around Jaime because of what he read about spies in "The Art of War."  Leslie was impressed with Todd -- gushing how he's a "smart kid" with his "head in the game" -- and wanted to align with him. 

Jaime then opened the tube Jeff gave her at the Reward Challenge, which revealed a sealed clue to the whereabouts of the Hidden Immunity Idol.

"The note actually has a clue for the other team, and it lets them know where the Immunity Idol is," she explained.  "So I am allowed to pick a member of [Fei Long] to give it to them."

Aaron and Jean-Robert continued to argue about the amount of work the latter was doing around camp, which Jaime described as a "ridiculous bitch fight."  Courtney was pissed Aaron and Jean-Robert were airing their grievances so openly in-front of Jaime, who became upset because she couldn't believe Zhan Hu was losing to what appeared to be a discontent Fei Long.

But back at Zhan Hu's camp Ashley and Dave continued their bickering with one another.  Ashley thought Dave constantly addressed her with an "attitude," a sentiment that other Zhan Hu members agreed with.  "I do think that Dave talks down to Ashley, telling her what to do," said Sherea. The arguing continued.

"I have a feeling that Dave is going to shoot himself in the foot," said Ashley.  "He's the most irritating person on the planet.  He's just so... patronizing!"

Leslie said she felt "really sick" as well as "dirty and miserable" and also missed her Bible, but her spirits were about to be lifted.  Jaime decided to give the clue for the Hidden Immunity Idol to Fei Long's "weakest link" to "keep their team weaker," so she gave the clue to Leslie, who saw it as a gift from God.  While Leslie was "really confident" she could find the Hidden Immunity Idol, it went un-found despite its obvious placement in the Fei Long camp, so she came up with another plan.

"I think what I really want to do with this information is use it to gain someone's trust," said Leslie. "Todd, he's a sharp kid, I wanna team up with him."

Jaime's plan backfired as Leslie shared the clue with Todd, much to his delight.

"I can't believe she told me!  I'm in shock! I would never tell anybody! What was she thinking?," wondered Todd.  "Leslie's sick, so if she goes, I'll be the only one who knows about it.  So my goal is to find that thing as fast as I can and if Leslie gets sick and has to leave I'm the only one that knows about it.  Fantastic!"

The tribes then arrived for their second Immunity Challenge, and Jaime rejoined Zhan Hu.  Jeff explained six members of each tribe would use a large Chinese puzzle log to smash through two walls. Once through both walls, they must complete the maze carved on the outside of the puzzle log. The first tribe to finish the maze and hit the gong would win Immunity.  Jaime sat-out for Zhan Hu while Courtney and Leslie sat-out for Fei Long.

Zhan Hu established an early lead but was quickly overtaken by Fei Long -- who had the muscular James and Aaron in the front -- allowing them to smash through the first wall with little trouble.  They also quickly smashed through the second wall with ease and headed for the puzzle.  Zhan Hu was having a problem breaking down the wall with Dave in front, as he looked exhausted, presumably from all of the energy he'd exerted at camp over the last few days with little or no food.  Frosti switched places with Dave, who got yelled at by Jeff, which is always embarrassing.

"Dave get a hold of the log... Get it you're still in it!" screamed Jeff.

Both tribes had problems with the puzzle, allowing Zhan Hu to catch-up.  But Fei Long eventually won and raised their record to 3 and 0 in challenges.  Back at Zhan Hu's camp, Dave felt like the goat.

"I feel really bad because we blew it today and I feel like I let the tribe down," said Dave before apologizing and explaining he lost his footing, rhythm and power. 

He thanked Frosti for stepping up and added how he hoped to be judged on the last six days and not the challenge alone.  Dave said he was "very confident" how Tribal Council would go and that he'd be safe, while Ashley said she was aware Dave would be voting for her.  Rather than argue with him at camp, she decided it was best to instead confront him at Tribal Council. 

Erik, Jaime and Sherea discussed their options for Tribal Council, and realized Zhan Hu's only conflict is between Ashley and Dave, so one of them would have to be removed.

"The vote is probably dead even between Ashley and Dave," said Jaime. "It puts me in a hard place because Ashley is my friend but Dave's such a hard worker and he knows what he's doing out here. So I'm not really sure what's going to happen."

Survivor: China's second Tribal Council then commenced, and Ashley explained her problem with Dave.

"Dave and I have butt heads, sort of," she said.  "Our personalities just don't mesh well.  But I respect him as a leader and when I have questions I will ask him."  Dave said questions are "totally welcome" and he's just focused on getting camp-life "fully squared away."  Ashley then put her plan into motion.

"He goes off on his rants and patronizes and talks down to you and treats you like a child," she said, before telling Jeff she thinks Dave is guilty of treating other Zhan Hu members like that as well.  "Dave talks in circles a lot, and he always wants to be the martyr.  The way he handles that leadership, for me, it's intolerable."

Jaime agreed that Dave is "over the top" when trying to prove himself, and added Dave and Ashley "just clash heads."  She recommended that Dave re-phrase his demands as to not intimidate people.  Sherea expanded upon Jaime's comments, saying how she hasn't "enjoyed a single moment" since the game started, and blamed it on Dave's hard work ethic.  She suggested more of a open process to get things done, one that doesn't have Dave always giving orders.  Jeff asked Ashley what the criteria for her vote was.

"I'm voting for Dave," she answered.

"I expect more than one vote tonight," responded Dave.

He was wrong, as Ashley's vote was the only one cast against Dave and Zhan Hu eliminated Ashley by a unanimous 6 to 1 margin.

"I'll see you soon," said Ashley to Dave prior to Jeff snuffing out her torch.

"I think I got voted off because of a personal conflict with our leader," explained Ashley after her elimination.  "Dave is going to show them the reason he shouldn't be in control, and I guarantee you I'll see him on the flip side way sooner than he imagined. Dave, if I had one word to describe him, he'd be a tool.  That's the perfect word to describe him... a tool."

Survivor: China's next episode will air Thursday, October 4 at 8PM ET/PT on CBS.
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio

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