You will recall that our last tribal council ended with assurances out the wazoo that something incredibly important was going to happen at the beginning of this week's episode before we even had a chance to get away from tribal council. Said "more business" turns out to be a reward challenge, boo! It's trivia about China, and Peih-Gee walks off with the victory, allowing her to take a couple of people with her on the reward. She takes Erik and Denise, leaving Todd, Amanda, James, and Courtney to sit around and salivate over being the final four together. Or that's what Todd thinks. In fact, Amanda wants no part of going to F3 with James, so she's got it in mind to surprise him at tribal council and get him out before he even thinks to play the idols. Now at this point, he has two idols and three tribal councils at which they could possibly be played, so you'd think it would take some kind of fairly wonderful play to actually get him to sit on two idols. But after Erik wins immunity, Amanda talks Todd and company into booting James, and she gets Peih-Gee to play along in defeated silence, acting like she knows she's going home. At tribal council, rather shockingly, James sits there and allows himself to be voted out while he holds two immunity idols. Now I ask you, what is stupider: playing what you think might possibly be a fake immunity idol and having it not be one, or failing to play either of the two real idols that you have? Oh, show. Sometimes you find hubris when you aren't even looking.
Previously: Courtney chilled with Frosti (see what I did there?), and Todd glowered at them like a tiny, angry mouse. With a headwrap. A drum-handling challenge deprived Peih-Gee's team of a reward, and ultimately it led to Peih-Gee and James having yet another fight. Meanwhile, Erik bonded with Amanda, and it seemed like maybe he was going to work his way into hubba-hubballiance #2 for the season. Peih-Gee was all set for booting, but when she won immunity with her crazy stabbing skills, that didn't work so well, so they booted Big Threat Frosti -- or, as my fingers apparently think his name should be typed today, "Fristo," who sounds like one of the Three Musketeers or possibly Jack Wagner's evil twin. So that was that. OR WAS IT? It was not, entirely, because at the end of the voting, Jeff announced that we were not done yet, and that there would be "more business" at this tribal council before anyone could leave.
This week, we pick up at "more business," and Jeff starts by dismissing Jaime and J-R, because this doesn't involve them. Hmm. That would tend to make you think it is not a booting, since the jury views all bootings. I wonder what this means. Naked charades? Jeff solemnly announces that they won't be going back to camp, because...they'll be participating in a reward challenge! A reward challenge? That's the "more business"? Of course, everyone is totally relieved, because, like us, they thought that something was actually going to happen that would be significant, and it turns out that absolutely nothing is going to happen other than a quiz. A quiz! I can't believe I put on perfume and had my nails done for this episode. Jeff explains that at least it's an extra-good reward, in which the winner will go on a private jet "hundreds of miles" to the Shaolin Temple, which Jeff claims few people get to visit, although there's an awful lot of travelers' information online indicating that you can visit. Visiting it is obviously special; I just don't know how rare it is. The temple is the home of kung fu, which makes Denise very excited. Jeff tells them that it's a rare opportunity, special, once in a lifetime, etc. What Jeff will not mention is that this temple is not merely a cultural and kung fu haven; it's a highly charged political symbol, having been burned and attacked and seeing its monks beaten and persecuted over its long history. Or so says Wikipedia, which is right about everything. At any rate, the winner can take two people along on the trip, so that's a good thing if you don't like hanging around with just monks.
Credits. Nice touch, the snake appearing to scream. Some days, I know just how he feels.
When we come back, Jeff says that this will be a quiz on "Chinese culture." First person to get five points wins reward. The first question is whether it's true or false that China is credited with inventing the abacus. Todd, James, Peih-Gee, and Denise got it right; Courtney, Amanda, and Erik got it wrong. Okay, let's speed up, because I still hate explaining challenges, especially when they involve trivia questions. Peih-Gee and James are the first to surge. Interestingly, James gets all the questions right until the one where Peih-Gee hunches over her answer. You can then see him looking over at somebody else's cards while they're all trying to answer -- it's not cheating, really, if people make their answers visible, and it could be a coincidence, but it does appear that maybe there's a little peeking going on, probably from everyone, but certainly from him. At any rate, Peih-Gee is the ultimate winner of reward, and she looks very happy. I will freely admit that I spent this entire challenge saying to Joe R and our pal Survivo-Nerd that there was nobody in this group who was going to take Denise on the reward, so of course, Peih-Gee proves me wrong by first choosing Erik, and then choosing -- you got it -- Denise. I think Peih-Gee made the right choices: if you leave Erik back at camp with Todd, etc., you risk plotting with him that you don't know about that might make your situation even worse. You also piss him off, or you would if he wasn't so serene. The only other good choice other than Denise is Courtney, so my guess is that Peih-Gee was taking a shot at which of the two was more likely to be flippable and which was more likely just to stay with Todd. I think it was probably about even between those two, but Peih-Gee certainly would have gained nothing from taking Todd or Amanda. Or, obviously, James. Denise looks seriously psyched about the reward. Everyone is going back to camp, and the rewardees will take off in the morning.
The morning is a dewy Day 28 at Hae Da Fung. Everyone is asleep except James, who is breaking some wood (hee/ouch) when the boat comes to retrieve Peih-Gee, Erik, and Denise. Denise tells us that she's seriously excited about the reward and has big love for Peih-Gee at this moment. On the other hand, leaving everybody behind at camp always makes you a trifle nervous. This is true. As it has been for the past fourteen seasons when similar interviews were broadcast. These three leave for the reward. Amanda immediately declares that the four remaining at camp -- herself, Todd, Courtney, and James -- should eat a lot while everyone else is away. James wholeheartedly agrees. Todd smugly declares it a "nine-day advance sneak preview" of what F4 will be like. He interviews that he was really pleased that when they discussed just going to F4 with these people, "there was no arguing." He is so naïve. James announces that he wants the group to "frolic all the way to four." He returns to his apple metaphor to explain that the four of them are in the Garden of Eden, and that if Eve had listened to God, they'd be "frolicking nekkid in Heaven." I wonder if he knows that it wasn't Heaven. It was a garden, in theory, on Earth. Which is the point, kind of. It's like he heard the story, but not all of it. Anyway, he says he wants them to frolic as long as possible. "Don't bite the apple; leave it alone!" he urges rhetorically into the camera. (Camera guy, looking around: "Uh...okay.") Todd keeps prattling that this will be the top four, and Amanda gives a tentative "yeah." She interviews as follows: "I don't feel comfortable going to the final three with any of them." Hear that? With any of them. She wants out of this whole thing. Doesn't want Todd to get to the end, or Courtney, or James. "This is my chance to make something else happen the way I want it to happen," Amanda voices over as we watch the rest of the group sit around, happily unaware of her plotting.
Back from commercials, we see the rewardees on their private plane. They scramble aboard happily, and Peih-Gee discusses the contrast between the beautiful plane and their stinky, raggy selves. The plane takes off, and champagne is served. They all toast. When they're one sip into their champagne, Peih-Gee says that after the boot the night (of Frosti), the three of them could be final three. (At this point in the show, Survivo-Nerd holds up three fingers on one hand and four fingers on the other hand and makes a "Wha?" face.) Peih-Gee's idea is to get James to vote with them. Denise is bringing new meaning to the word "noncommittal" as her response is "You never know what's going to happen, though." You know, Peih-Gee, I'd say she's not fully on board. Denise interviews that Peih-Gee is, of course, "working her strategy"; Denise doesn't want to "make enemies."
The rewardees arrive at the temple, which is certainly beautiful. The gravity of the situation is implied in the form of shots taken from foot-level show them approaching the temple, and then they enter. They are greeted by two monks, and Peih-Gee says that, as a Chinese person, it was interesting to experience this, which was a "separate, foreign world" to her nevertheless. She says that the monks were playing music and meditating...while not being distracted by enormous cameras, of course. As they walk, Denise tells them that she's taken karate and opened her own school (!), and her black belt is "coming up." One of the monks asks her how long she's been doing karate, and she says it's been eight years. Denise tells us that this was the reward she wanted the most, as we watch them change into temple clothing that's been laid out for them. They all sit quietly and watch a martial arts demonstration as Denise talks in an interview about what a special an experience she found this to be, given that the temple is 1500 years old. The demonstration is pretty amazing, and Denise beams through the entire thing. Some of the demonstration looks...remarkably like breakdancing. It turns out that monks invented the worm. (I have read the stuff saying that these are technically more performers than real monks, but...I'm working with the theme as it's being presented.) It's very graceful and fascinating, and watching it really drives home how much of martial arts is the concentration. There's a great moment where Peih-Gee silently mouths, "Wow," and Denise looks over at her with this great nod, like, "I know, right? Told you." The performers bow, and it's over. Pretty spectacular.
After the main demonstration is over, a bunch of kids emerge from the temple, and Erik, Peih-Gee, and Denise are allowed to participate in a class. The monk asks Denise to show a little of what she knows, and to her credit, she agrees, in what are just about the most intimidating circumstances you can imagine. As she does it, Erik voices over that seeing her do this was pretty cool: "I was like, 'Denise! Who knew?'" Well...exactly. Who knew? Denise interviews that it's an experience she's going to treasure forever.
That night, the rewardees share a delicious feast. Looks better than the Chinese food on my block, I'll tell you that. For one thing, no baby corn. GO AWAY, BABY CORN. Baby corn makes me feel like I've suddenly become twenty-six feet tall. It's very disconcerting. Peih-Gee interviews that this was quite an improvement from "squatting on logs" to eat. Denise, at dinner, is still raving about the demonstration, and they all agree that they love the reward. They do wind up sleeping on mats on the floor. It's not like I wouldn't be incredibly honored to sleep in the temple and incredibly grateful for the generosity, but I freely admit that after almost a month sleeping on the ground, I would be like, "Oh, mats on the...floor...that's very nice of you." I would never let my pain show, though, because I was raised correctly. Peih-Gee says that being at the temple is inspiring, even though she knows she's still in big trouble, game-wise. "Best reward ever," she says.
Day 29, Hae Da Fung. It is crazily raining, so the four people left at camp are huddled in a little cave to stay dry. Or drier, I guess. Todd interviews that this particular storm was "hell," and makes reference to wearing "a swimming suit that you've been wearing for a month." Yes, he said "swimming suit." I wonder where you wear that. You know, decade-wise. "I'm done with the rain. Done!" he declares.
The rewardees return on their boat as the people in the cave declare that they're not getting out of the cave to greet anyone. Denise says that she didn't understand where everyone was when they came back to camp. Amanda emerges in a camo bikini -- is that the same one she's been wearing? -- and she at least says hello. What follows is a typical sequence in which everyone back at camp is very resentful of the people who went on the challenge, and the people who went can't seem to keep their traps shut about all the wonderful treats they enjoyed. What's typical, too, is that Todd sits there and quizzes Peih-Gee about what they did and what they ate -- going so far as to ask whether the cookies were chocolate -- and then everybody acts like she was just coming back and rubbing it in out of nowhere. Courtney interviews that she was fine in the cave, and didn't like other people intruding by coming up and talking. I sort of sympathize with her, but this is all just a lot of misplaced crapola that's really the same old crapola about resenting people who do better than you do and get things you don't get.
And now, Todd has to debrief with Denise. Ew, not like that. He tells her that they were all so happy she got to go on the trip (lie!) because she likes her kung fu. Denise wants to know if "everything's still cool," and Todd tells her that everything is fine, by which he means, "You'll still be fifth." Denise goes on to explain to him that of course, Peih-Gee and Erik tried to "work on" her, but of course, she resisted. In an interview, Todd talks about the fact that Denise apparently reported back that Peih-Gee suggested voting out Todd. And what does Todd think of that? "And I'm thinking...bitch. You expect anybody to get up on your side? Anybody? Good job, because now I hate your guts." You hate her guts? Really? For trying to beat you? Just for trying to get you out, you hate her guts? Whatever. I think you're not giving her guts a fair chance, Todd. They might be very nice guts; they're just competitive guts, and you really shouldn't hold that against her.
Erik has a discussion with James in which he mentions Peih-Gee's concern about Todd and says he doesn't know whether James and Todd are close. James says he's going to try to win immunity, and then see what "the powers that be" want him to do. So...you're going to take advice from Todd about whether to boot Todd? I think I can probably guess what he'll say. It might save you some time. Erik chuckles at this and wants to know who "the powers that be" might be. (It means Todd, Erik! Look at the world outside your hair!) James grins and laughs at incredibly stupid Erik while pointing out that, obviously, if there's a group of five and a group of two, nobody from the group of five would be dumb enough to wander. James, as he is fond of doing, interviews that he's smarter than everyone -- specifically smarter than Erik, because he'd never wander from his wonderful alliance that is going to awesomely protect him forever. "I'm not going to flip on nobody; it's pointless," says James with a shrug.
Back from commercials, it is (still) Day 30 at Hae Da Fung. James eats and watches everyone sleep. When she wakes up, Courtney stretches and says she's "over the bamboo," and Amanda asks her if she'd like to take a walk. They find some treemail that strongly suggests with the use of props that the upcoming challenge will involve throwing stars. "We're just flinging stars at people?" Courtney asks. "Like, isn't this kind of dangerous?" You can tell that she's partly thinking, "I don't want to hurt anyone," and partly thinking, "...now that Jean-Robert is gone." Before they head back to talk about the challenge with everyone, Amanda wants to talk to Courtney. This is smart, because this is a situation where everyone won't automatically be suspicious of the "go off together" business, because they appear to be going off to retrieve the mail, which somebody has to do anyway. Anyway, Amanda says that she's been "up all night thinking." And what is she thinking? She has a "really good idea." By which she means, "a better idea than letting James walk to F3." What she wants to do is get rid of James tonight by surprising him so that he won't play an idol. Amanda tells Courtney that if they're going to do it, they have to do it when James doesn't expect it, like...now. Amanda says that she'd formulated this plan because James has too much control, "because he has the immunity idols." For which she can thank...Todd. Amanda argues to Courtney that if James makes it to F3, he'll win, because he's good in challenges and works hard around camp. Despite the fact that no one has ever won on that basis, Amanda apparently thinks this will be the first time.
I'm actually not sure this is Amanda's real reason for enacting this strategy. I think part of what Amanda is doing here -- and I might be giving her too much credit -- is making sure she isn't treated like Becky. If she knows the show, she knows that the biggest threat when you're the Amber or the Becky or the other person who appears to be attached to someone more visually strategic than you are is that you'll look like you sat there and did nothing while they did all the dirty work. In a way, Amanda needs to make one big move that she can legitimately claim later was her idea. She's seen women like Cassandra sit at tribal council trying to argue that their play was as good as anyone's because they knew how to shut up and let the bullets not hit them, but that hasn't been an argument that's been easy to sell. The best reason for Amanda to do something unexpected at this point is really for its own sake; something strategic she can later say was her idea, so that she doesn't seem to have sit there while Todd schemed on her behalf. If people don't like James or don't want him to win, it's an even better move, because the jury will respect her for getting rid of him. Amanda interviews that she's had all the apple metaphors she wants (so apparently, James does that at camp as well as in interviews), and she's ready not to only "bite the apple," but "make the whole frickin' pie." I don't really know what that means, and I'm not sure she does either, but if she's saying she's done with Garden Of Eden comparisons, I certainly support her. So she says that if James doesn't get immunity today, she wants to send him home.
Immunity challenge. This is your basic star-throwing target challenge. They'll each get three stars to throw. The targets look like crouching bodies, which is...weird. You can score one, two, or three points for hitting one of the body targets, or you can score five points for hitting the three-point target's "heart," which in this case is a circle with a "5" in it. The three people with the highest scores will go to a one-throw round, which Jeff calls "sudden death," which it is not at all. "Sudden death," Jeff, means that you go until someone does something that gives them a point, and that person then immediately wins. This is merely a second round. Dummy. Jeff does his usual fibbing by saying that whoever wins immunity has a one-in-six shot at a million bucks. Do you really think that winning immunity would give, say, Peih-Gee a one-in-six chance of winning? No. It would not. What I don't understand about the targets here is that they all look like they're the same size; they're just to each other in a row. If anything, more of the three-point target is exposed, because of the layout. It's like a backwards bulls-eye or something. I don't know.
Anyway, Peih-Gee is first. Her first star goes into the ground. Her second one hits the board, but not any of the targets. Her third bounces off the board. So that's zero points for her.
Todd is . "The mark to beat is zero!" Jeff announces in his assiest voice. Somebody should tell Todd that the green scarf he has tied around his head doesn't make him look tough; it makes him look like a quirky old painter, who is a lady. His first shot misses the targets, but not by much. Second one bounces off. Third one hits the three-point target. Todd actually does a little dance about the awesomeness of his third shot, which appears to rely on Goldilocks principles ("too high...too low...right in there!"), but I don't think Goldilocks ended her presentation of the soft/hard-bed dilemma with a James-Brown-y "Ouch!" as Todd does here.
Erik steps up. His first throw scores three. ("Southpaw scores three!" says Jeff Probst, who always thinks sports lingo makes him sound less like a dork, and who is always wrong.) Erik's second shot misses, but barely. His third is good for three, so that's six points for him, putting him in the lead.
Courtney steps up. Her first one scores three, and even Todd looks tickled for her. She seems to miss it, even, until she's suddenly all, "Oh, score!" Her second throw hits the two-point target, so she's at five. Third throw hits the one-point target, so that ties her with Erik. Pretty good showing -- she's the first one to hit all three times. Todd looks around incredulously, which takes him from "happy for her" to "passive-aggressively making fun of her in her moment of triumph," because really, he's an ungenerous dick, and it didn't take long for it to come out. Or to come back out, I guess.
James the alleged challenge monster is up . First one bounces off. Second one gets three. Third one gets three, so he's tied with Courtney and Erik. James and Courtney -- a couple of power players.
Amanda gets three points, then no points, then three points, so she scores six. Amanda and her blurred behind are tied with Courtney, James, and Erik.
Denise is up last. She gets none, then two, so she has to hit the five-point heart to stay in it. She comes tantalizingly close to actually getting it; the star may have actually bounced off the heart. But it doesn't stick, so she's done. So Peih-Gee, Denise, and Todd are out, and Amanda, James, Courtney, and Erik are going up for the second round.
For the second round, they've moved the target another ten feet away. It's also configured a little differently. Courtney misses. Boo! Amanda scores two. Erik scores three. So now, it's James. Jeff Probst's favorite player is up! All hail! James stretches out his huge arms. Over on the bench, Erik clasps his hands together in good-natured hopes for James's abject failure. James throws and...bounces it off the board. So Erik is the big winner of individual immunity. Courtney winks at Amanda. Ooooh. Erik goes over to receive the necklace.
After commercials, we find ourselves at Hae Da Fung on Day 30, where we move from a hatchet in the foreground to the flag in the background. Nice shot. The group returns, and everyone is pretending to be happy for Erik, as always. James tells us in an interview that this is perfectly okay, Erik having immunity, because they can just get rid of Peih-Gee and clear out Erik time, and then "it's all cake after that."
But little does James know, Amanda is having a little talk with Todd right this minute. She tells him that they're essentially letting James free-ride to F3, where she thinks he will get votes. So she would like to "take control" right now and get rid of James. Todd says he's more afraid of Erik and Peih-Gee, because they're "fighters." That's just much too...squishy, I think, to be your theory at this stage of the game, you know? "Fighters" is not a good reason. Now is a time for numbers, not philosophy or character studies. In my favorite moment, Amanda says of Peih-Gee, "She hasn't won anything!" and Todd says, "She's won two in a row." Yeah. Not your best argument, there, Amanda. Amanda changes her argument, saying that it's okay, because if they get rid of James, they can still boot Erik if Peih-Gee wins immunity. Todd admits that if there were going to be a moment to boot James, this would be it. These people are SO STUPID. You think? When he has two immunity idols and there are three tribal councils left where they are good? You think you might want to choose tonight as your go-to night? I hate people.
Denise and Courtney show up, and Denise asks what they want to do. Todd says that he'll do whatever everybody else wants to do. Amanda says that they should vote out James. Courtney agrees. They ask Denise, and she nods. Denise points out the obvious, which is the risk that whoever Erik and Peih-Gee write down will be the one to go home if James is smart enough to play the idol. Todd tells her it will be him, and he repeats this in an interview. He stresses that the key to this entire plan will be to convince James that they're voting out Peih-Gee. Todd claims that lying to James's face "hurts really bad," because he likes James. "But I like a million dollars, too," Todd adds, not realizing that the mugging way in which he always says stuff like that detracts significantly from how amusing it is.
Peih-Gee and Erik lie on their backs in the shelter and talk. She's happy that three out of four individual immunities have been won by original members of Zhan Hu. Peih-Gee notices that the immunity idol is stashed up in the roof of the shelter, and interviews that the last card she can think of is that James has the immunity idol, and that there might be something to be made of that. So Peih-Gee has a talk with Amanda in which she says that she's basically resigned to going home. But she has something she wants to talk about. She asks Amanda if she knew that James had an immunity idol. When Amanda sits there dumbly, Peih-Gee asks Amanda if she knew that there were immunity idols. Amanda gets defensive, putting on her bitchface and declaring, "I'm not stupid." Well, Amanda is right, I suppose. Why is Peih-Gee so stupid that she doesn't understand that Amanda brilliantly participated in giving away the immunity idols to someone else? She's not stupid, you know! Trying to backpedal in light of Amanda's reaction, Peih-Gee says that she just found out herself, which I don't think is true. I think her reaction to finding it in the shelter smacked of "so this is where James is keeping it," rather than "it never occurred to me that there were immunity idols," or even "I didn't know James had an immunity idol." I could certainly be wrong, but I'm not sure she was as gobsmacked as she's letting on. Peih-Gee goes on to tell Amanda that she really thinks this would be a good time either to "flush it out" and at least make James play it, or to "blindside him." Amanda gets incredibly condescending -- the moment in which I have liked her the least all season -- and tells Peih-Gee to "slow down," as if Peih-Gee is doing something ridiculous by pointing out EXACTLY what Amanda was telling people earlier in this same episode, but because it's Peih-Gee doing it, now it's stupid and crazy and random. Amanda tells Peih-Gee that she should "trust" Amanda and not say anything or do anything for the rest of the day. Peih-Gee looks at the ground and laughs, saying, "Amanda, I can't..." Amanda says, "It will be in your best interests [wink] if you don't." Like, it's a literal wink. So Peih-Gee is put in a very difficult position, where Amanda is basically telling her not to do anything to protect herself because she doesn't need to, and she's pretty much saying that scrambling will make it worse. It's a tough call what to do there. Peih-Gee could tell James; it would be interesting to see what the results of that would be.
Peih-Gee talks to Erik back at the shelter, telling him it seems like the alliance is ready to move against James tonight. Peih-Gee tells Erik that she thinks the two of them should vote for Todd, because that way, if James does play an idol and the plan backfires, it will be Todd who goes home. Otherwise, obviously, you run the risk that whoever James votes for will go home, and that's likely to be Peih-Gee. So she's pretty much asking Erik to vote for Todd as protection for her. Erik interviews, quite correctly, that voting against Todd is good, in the sense that his leaving would be kind of good, but that he also takes a big risk by doing it. That's a legitimately tough position, because I think he feels some genuine loyalty to Peih-Gee, but I think he senses that his best chance at getting to the end is to jettison her and let her get bounced, and then see if he can sneak in with, say, Amanda and Courtney. Depending on what's been said to him about Amanda's belief that she doesn't want to go to F3 with Todd or Courtney OR James, Erik might legitimately think that as much as he's been on the same side as Peih-Gee, it's time to quit trying to put something together with her.
James and Amanda talk, and James says that he doesn't blame Peih-Gee for being "on her hustle." Amanda says that Peih-Gee knows she's going home. "She'd better, 'cause I can't leave before her," says James. He keeps telling Amanda that there's no reason to mess with the successful plan they already have, blah blah. He interviews that he's "been the main guy" attempting to make sure nothing happens to the alliance: "We get past tonight, I'm good!" Well...right. Because this is literally the last night he can be voted out before he has one immunity idol for every remaining tribal council at which the immunity idols can be used. I wonder if anyone else might notice that. I wonder. Elsewhere, Courtney asks Todd whether he thinks "it" will work, and James voices over that he's going to have the idols with him, "in [his] possession," at tribal council. That way, should he "get a sense that someone's going to do something they're not supposed to do," he can play the idol. So the way everyone plays tribal council here is important.
Tribal council. All are seated. The jury comes in: Jaime, J-R, and Frosti. Frosti is adorable and grinning. Jeff tells Denise that she's "beaming," and he asks about the reward. She says that it was "so much fun," and that she loved the energy in the temple, and now she has "plenty of energy." Jeff asks Peih-Gee whether she's tried to "penetrate" the Fei Longs, and Peih-Gee says it's "like butting against a brick wall." Jeff makes this extremely idiotic comment to James: "For all this talk of 'Fei Long,' Peih-Gee's still in this game, just like you!" Well...right, Jeff. They haven't had enough tribal councils to get rid of all the former Zhan Hu just yet. They did get rid of J-R, but that's because "Fei Long" decided to. So...what? James basically says that he has it easy, since he's in the guaranteed five, instead of the sad little two. And he says that, obviously, with anyone left from the little two, you have to get rid of them. Dude is just...not a very strategic thinker. If there are five, then they don't need all five, so the wisdom of remaining a group of five becomes...less. They can still boot the two without you. That's what makes this time perilous. And the idol situation...James should be able to see this coming. He really should. But he doesn't, and actually, he accuses Peih-Gee and Erik of trying to "just slide in" or "keep on losing to win." Peih-Gee takes offense, which is exactly right, because she and Erik are winning immunity. If anyone is trying to "slide in," it's James, who hasn't won any immunities and hasn't played any idols and only has idols because they were given to him. So let's not get too "you gotta want it" about this whole thing, there, Gravedigger. Peih-Gee also points out that even if James's five successfully vote out her and Erik, they'll want votes from them in about a week, so maybe a little less hurling of insults.
Jeff asks Todd, on a scale of one to ten, how important trust is. Todd's eyes bug out. "Probably a ten," he says awkwardly. "Well, the opposite would be not trust," says Jeff seriously. Wow, he's smart. High SAT scores, I bet! Jeff asks Denise what her take on trust is, and Denise basically gives the "you can't really trust anyone; people could change their minds at any time" answer. That's a little dangerous, as far as not tipping off James. Jeff asks James whether he could possibly trust anyone, and I half-expect Jeff to be like, "For instance...me? So that we might make a life together?" James gives a decent explanation of game trust, saying that trust means having the same strategy and goal, period.
Jeff asks who is pretty confident that it won't be them tonight. Everyone sits stony-faced. And then Erik slowly and sheepishly raises his hand, which is awesomely cute. Jeff's like, "So, even with a supposed five against two, nobody feels safe?" Everyone sits. Jeff asks what Peih-Gee thinks her odds are, as the only Zhan Hu sitting there without individual immunity. Peih-Gee says that she thinks her odds suck. She expects it will be she who leaves tonight.
Erik is not giving away immunity, and now, it is time to vote. Amanda is up first. She votes. Peih-Gee votes for Todd, calling it "insurance." Denise votes. James votes for Peih-Gee, going for the final "zinger" by saying, "You lost to win." She also...won immunity to win, but I guess we're not counting that. It's one more immunity victory than he has. Erik votes, and it's interesting to me that J-R throws him a wink as he passes. Todd votes for James, saying, "I hope this works."
So now, it's time for Jeff to tally the votes. AND WEEP. Jeff returns with the urn. "If anyone has a hidden immunity idol, now would be the time to play it," he says. The editing suggests that Todd screws up his face at this point, but...I have to think Todd has a better poker face than that. Jaime has a better poker face than that. I think that is a trick. James appears to glance at his bag, but he plays no idol. Todd smiles. First vote goes to Todd. Then James. Peih-Gee. Then James. The second vote is not good news for him at all, because if there's a vote for Todd and there are two votes for him, something is terribly wrong in the group of five. There's another for James, then another for James, and that, ladies and gentlemen, will be it. James covers his face in obvious self-loathing. Todd pulls his hat down over his face, and in my favorite shot of the episode, Frosti openly laughs hysterically, which is adorable, because he doesn't have a speck of meanness in him, so this is pure "Oooooooh, BURN!" in the best way. J-R and Jaime laugh, too, and Peih-Gee looks over long enough to share a chuckle with them. Hey, she's still probably doomed, but look what happened there: James left before she did, and Jaime -- ridiculed for her fake-idol moment -- certainly now knows that she's not the dumbest person of the season by any stretch. Which is dumber: playing an idol that isn't an idol, or failing to play either of TWO idols that ARE idols? I know the answer. I mean, look. You have two idols, you have to be willing to gamble a little to use them to their fullest advantage. But. Here, there are three tribal councils left where they're good, and you have two of them. All you have to do is successfully bluff one time. If he had said, "I'm going to play one tonight, just to make sure," they would never have voted for him, and he wouldn't have had to play it anyway. Bluffing won't work forever, but there's no way it wouldn't have worked once. It also would have worked to play it this week and scare them for week, and bluff then. Saving them until genuinely, truly the last possible minute is not optimizing their value, any more than playing them in the first two tribal councils where you had them would have been. You've got to have a little finesse, or you're not even really playing. It's certainly not always dumb to gamble and not play it, but it was all kinds of dumb here.
In his farewell words, James says that it was just too hard "holding those Froot Loops together." Well, then, he'll be glad to be sent home, I suppose.
week: the overwrought wailing that only family can bring. Denise is a "swing vote." And "Amanda turns on her closest ally." Ooh, really? Awesome.