Fans fell in love with James Clement, the charming gravedigger, during Survivor: China, but it’s actually his humbling exit that solidified his legacy as one of the most remembered players of all time. Even newer Survivor fans who might not have watched China know about the guy who got voted out with two idols in his pocket.
And just like with our other favorite players who left the game without playing the idol they brought with them to Tribal Council—most notably Ozzy Lusth—fans always like to wonder, “what if…” What if James had played not just one, but both of his idols at some point? Would he have made it to the end? Would he have won?
We take a look back at that season to analyze how things might have gone different had he played his idol.
Who would have gone home instead of James on day 24?
When James failed to play one of his hidden immunity idols, he went home in a 5-1-1 vote. The other two people on the chopping block were Peih-Gee Law and Todd Herzog. In a revote, the majority four—which included Todd—would have swapped their vote to Peih-Gee, making her the 4th member of the jury.
The following immunity challenge, Swamp Donkey, was originally won by Peih-Gee and is likely one James would not have been great at as it’s meant for more nimble bodies. With Peih-Gee out of the picture, Todd would have likely won based on his original challenge performance, forcing James to play his second immunity idol. Since the majority alliance only knew about one of James’ idols, it’s possible they would have targeted him again, giving him a chance to blindside one of the four.
Assuming he would have a big reaction to the majority trying to blindside him at the Tribal Council prior, I could see him voting for Amanda Kimmel. If the majority placed all votes on James—like they had been doing with their targets all season—that would have made Amanda the 5th member of the jury.
With both idols played, could James make it to the Final Four?
Now idol-less, James needs to win immunity to stay in the game. Amanda originally won the next immunity challenge, but with the sequenced challenge—Chinese Leftovers—it was likely James would have gotten out on the third round. With Erik Huffman still in the game, he would have been most likely to win and take immunity. Since Erik had been voting with the majority up to that point, I’d expect he’d also stick with the three remaining majority and this time, effectively vote out James, making him the 6th jury member.
While Amanda originally won final immunity, I’d expect Denise Martin would have taken the final necklace and Erik would have been voted out, sending Denise, Todd, and Courtney Yates to the Final Three. With the only jury difference being Amanda voting for a winner instead of Denise, the original 4-2-1 vote more likely would have ended as a 5-1-1 instead, but Todd would still be our Survivor: China winner.
So while James would have survived two more votes with his idols, it’s most likely that he couldn’t have made it past that as the majority would still be targeting him just as they eventually did Erik and Peih-Gee. But history definitely would have been changed if Amanda hadn’t been a finalist. Her Survivor legacy in the history books might not exist as it does now.
But overall, it doesn’t seem much would have changed and we still would have seen one of the best Final Tribal Council performances of all time by Todd.
Add us as a preferred source on Google