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After the five minute season recap, the Survivor season finale was off and running. It was night 36 and the final four were returning to camp after the last tribal council. Denise, Todd, Courtney, and Amanda were so happy they took off their clothes and danced around the campfire. Not really! They all hugged each other and talked about how far they'd come.

They received treemail the next morning and guess what it was about. There would be a reward challenge for food! The challenge itself involved them tackling Survivor's version of the Great Wall of China. They had to cross and build a bridge before carrying building blocks back to the start line where they would "reconstruct" a section of the wall. The first one finished would win a meal for one containing pizza, beer, soft drinks, and brownies.

The race was between Todd and Amanda the whole time. Denise and Courtney were both playing catch-up from the very beginning because they had a hard time building their bridge. Todd and Amanda breezed right through that and began working on their building blocks way ahead of them. In the end though, Amanda was the winner. Jeff told her she could keep it a serving of one or she could share the meal with either one or two people. It was a hard decision for her but she chose to share the meal with Todd because she said she wanted to "pick his brain".

During their meal, Amanda told Todd outright that she didn't trust him. He was shocked and said that he's been honest with her since day one and wants him and her in the final two. Back at camp, Courtney asked Denise who she wants to vote out next and Denise quickly said Todd. Courtney responded back that indeed he was a "slippery little sucker".

Todd was paranoid of the "girl power" when he returned back to camp and decided to chat up Denise. While he was telling Denise he felt that either Amanda or Courtney would win, Courtney was trying her best to listen in on their conversation. She went off to tell Amanda what she'd overheard and while doing that, Todd came up on them and stopped their conversation. He told them he felt paranoid and asked the two if Denise would be the next one going and they both said yes.

The next day brought a new treemail that told them they'd be honoring the memories of their former tribemates on the way to their final immunity challenge. Yes, I know. I hate this cheesy part too. This season, because they're in China after all, they lit a string of fireworks in honor of each person before arriving before Jeff at the steps of some huge statue for their final challenge. This final immunity challenge involved balancing porcelain dishes on the end of a long and wobbly balancing arm. If the dishes fell, you were out. Last person left balancing their dishes wins immunity.

They started off with a big plate and then a large bowl before stacking on other assorted cups, bowls, and plates. 27 minutes into it and Todd began shaking a bit. After adding another small bowl, he began tilting his dishes too much and down they fell. Todd was out. Next up was another rice bowl and Amanda decided to add hers upside down while Courtney and Denise added theirs right side up. Courtney's arm began wobbling after that and lost it. Courtney was out. It was down to Amanda and Denise.

Denise asked if Amanda wanted to make a deal but Amanda told her that she doesn't want to give up yet. After another rice bowl (upside down for her again), she told Denise that she didn't want to deal and that she wanted them to fight it out. Right after that, Denise's stack lost its balance and her dishes came crashing to the ground. Amanda wins the final immunity and is guaranteed a spot in the final three.

Back at camp, Denise began her talk of how she only makes $7.00 an hour back at home and how she has kids and how they have more opportunities in their lives than she does and blah blah blah. I can't stand it when survivors pull this strategy out of their hats. Todd and Courtney told Amanda that they're voting for Denise to go and that Amanda can vote any way that she wants. Denise had already said she was voting for Todd so if Amanda voted for Todd she would still have a shot in the tie vote.

At tribal council, Denise gave one of the stupidest answers ever in response to a Jeff question of why they shouldn't let her go to the final three. She said because she has kids the jury would be sympathetic towards her. She didn't say that she played a good game. She didn't say that she made the right alliances. She pulled the kid card yet again. Blech. Then when Denise mentioned that Amanda "had her back", Amanda stopped her and said she didn't mean today. That blurt caused Todd to mouth the word "burn" and made Amanda look even worse than she'd just made herself to be.

After tallying the votes, it was indeed Denise going home. The tribe has spoken. The power was now in the jury's hands and all they could do is try to persuade the jury to vote for them during questioning the next day. Back at camp, Amanda was upset at Todd because she said that he made her look bad in front of the jury and was mad at him for his comment. She was so upset she didn't even feel like celebrating being in the final three and told Courtney and Todd to celebrate by themselves.

On day 39, they awoke to find breakfast items in place of the usual treemail. Ah yes, another Amanda blurred ass shot. I would have shed a tear if I hadn't seen that one last time. They eat breakfast, burn some trash, and then row away to experience jury questioning at their final tribal council.

We've witnessed final tribal council a million times so there's no need for me to cover everything because it happened the same way it always does. Each of them got the chance to say their final words to the council. Amanda said she aligned herself with the right people and won challenges when she needed to, Todd felt that he lied and backstabbed in his game relationships but his personal relationships with everybody were real, and Courtney said she thought she did good figuring the game out as she went along and was proud of herself for making it to the final three.

The jury questioning, for the most part, was the same old same old too. They asked the typical who lied about what and who lied to who sort of questions. They were all rather nice about it except for Jaime. She came across as quite the bitch during her dirty laundry line of questioning. The tone of her voice, the looks she gave them, and her interrupting them reminded me a child who was kicked off the playground after one ride on the slide. That's right! She was the first person on the jury remember? Denise was the only one that didn't have questions for them -- she decided instead to just make a simple statement to them and then left it at that.

It was finally time for them to vote and the only votes we saw were Jaime voting for Todd to win, Erik voting for Amanda to win, and Denise voting for Courtney to win. Now it's time for the cheesy transition to the live show. Oh my goodness! There was no cheesy transition!

They all looked so different but especially Courtney. She had on tons of makeup, had put on a few pounds, and had her hair dyed a platinum blonde. She was looking quite the Debbie Harry. (If you don't know who that is then the Google is for you.) Amanda looked really weird with makeup on (I think she's prettier without it) and Todd looked like, well like Todd.

It was finally the time they and we'd been waiting for: Jeff's tallying of the votes. The first vote to win went to Courtney, the second to Amanda, and the third to Todd. All tied up! The fourth vote went to Courtney and the fifth vote went to Todd. The sixth vote went to Todd. Sorry Amanda, you're out of it. The seventh and final vote went to Todd! Todd wins Survivor China!

He was so shocked at first and it seemed to take a second for it to sink in. When it did sink in, he ran to his family out in the audience giving them big hugs and kisses.

What can you say? I felt Todd deserved it. Would you have rather seen Courtney or Amanda win? What did you think about this finale episode? What do you think about next season with the superfans vs show favorites theme? I'm not quite sold on that idea just yet.

Until next season everybody! Take care of yourselves.

Ni hao! This week's episode of Survivor was one wonderfully classic fake-out on the part of the producers. Thanks Mark!

The show opened with the remaining castaways returning to their Hae Da Fung camp on night 33 and discussing Erik's ouster. Denise felt she played it safe by voting out Erik. I guess time will tell on that one.

The next day, Peih-Gee proclaimed her unpopularity right before getting the treemail hinting at the reward challenge involving popularity. At the reward challenge, each person was given five arrows to shoot at a board with their names on it. The person who had the most arrows in their name at the end of it all would win reward. But there's a twist -- each person would have to give their five arrows to the other four players. They could split them up any way they wanted to and Peih-Gee wound up on the short end of the stick by receiving only one arrow to shoot. Ouch! Todd received six arrows, Denise received two arrows, Courtney received twelve arrows, and Amanda received four arrows. Clearly, nobody wanted Peih-Gee or Denise to win by giving them so few chances.

However, it wasn't all bad for Denise. Even though Todd was a great shot and landed five of his six arrows on his own name, it wasn't enough. Courtney was just too bad of an aim and her arrows kept landing on Denise's name. Combined with Amanda's hits on Denise's name, Denise wound up winning reward. Yay!

Jeff told her she could bring one person with her to the Great Wall of China where they would eat a huge meal and spend the night right there on the wall. She immediately picked Courtney. Then Jeff told her she could pick one more. Even though Peih-Gee was begging Denise to pick her, Denise decided to pick Todd. Let's just say that Peih-Gee was slightly disappointed.

Back at camp, Amanda and Peih-Gee had a chance to talk and mend fences. Amanda was feeling down about being left out and asked Peih-Gee why she dislikes her so much. Peih-Gee said she didn't and apologized if she had treated her wrong in the past. Then they cooked together, schemed together, and even had some late night girl talk. Amanda told Peih-Gee everything that had gone on with the others when Peih-Gee asked her if she would be up for swinging the vote. Amanda said she was definitely up for it.

Meanwhile, Denise and the others are taking everything in at The Great Wall of China. The scene was truly breathtaking. It looked so gorgeous there. During dinner, they were confused about the food being served because it was all raw. After receiving some iced coffee, Todd brought up the possibility of voting out Amanda if Peih-Gee won immunity again. Perhaps somebody will be making a huge move at tribal council.

The next day, they returned back to an empty camp. Todd began getting a little paranoid before they spied Peih-Gee and Amanda on their way back. They began telling all about their reward, including the confusion concerning the food. Amanda thought it was really ungrateful that Todd and Courtney could find things to complain about on such a reward. When Denise told Amanda that Todd ate all of the leftover sandwiches on the plane, Amanda really didn't appreciate it. She told Denise she had some ideas and they'd have to talk later.

The treemail they received the next day (day 36) was an interesting one: "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, this time it means much more. A second chance to prove yourself, may get you to the final four." Todd knew immediately that it would be a repeat of previous challenges but Amanda said she didn't trust a word Todd had to say.

The immunity challenge was indeed a revisit of four of their previous challenges. Each challenge was a round and at the end of each round, the person ranked lowest would be eliminated. The first round was the Chinese stars challenge and Todd performed horribly and was eliminated. The second round was the eating of balut and Denise gave up and eliminated herself. In the third round, they had to bounce a ball on a drum through a mini obstacle course. Amanda's blurred butt (and it was blurred so many times in this episode) won the challenge while Courtney was eliminated. It was down to Amanda and Peih-Gee now. In the final round, they had to use their sword to chop through rope to release their discs to solve the puzzle. Amanda was in the lead the whole time and, even though she had some problem with the puzzle towards the end, won the round and won immunity.

Back at camp, Peih-Gee was disappointed in herself because she knew she was on the chopping block. Her only hope was Amanda. Amanda and Denise discussed voting out Todd but Denise felt she had a better chance at winning if Todd stayed. Amanda told Peih-Gee she liked her so much now and doesn't want to vote her out. Peih-Gee was hoping they would vote out Todd while Todd was getting paranoid about getting blindsided by the women.

And so it was, on night 36, the tribal council to determine the final four. Denise told Jeff she had to pick Courtney to go on the reward challenge (because it was her that caused Denise to win it), Courtney complained that the food on the wall was confusing, and Peih-Gee expressed her frustration on not going while maintaining she was a positive person in camp (the jury snickered at this). Amanda said that her bonding time with Peih-Gee made her see her in a different perspective. Did you see Courtney's eye-rolling while Peih-Gee was saying that honesty was better than backstabbing and lying in the game? I think I would have rolled my eyes on that too.

It was time to vote and then time for Jeffypoo to tally them votes! The 1st vote was for Peih-Gee. The 2nd vote was for Todd. The 3rd vote was for Peih-Gee. The 4th vote was for Peih-Gee. Poor Peih-Gee has been voted out. Damn you Mark Burnett! I fell for your trickery once again!

In her closing words, Peih-Gee said that she played to her utmost ability. She pushed herself physically, mentally, and strategically but that ultimately everybody was afraid to go against her in the final three. And even though she won't be a millionaire, she still feels richer than she did before. All in all, they weren't bad words but I wonder how she will vote for the winner.

They have three days left in China. Make sure you catch the two-hour finale on Sunday night at 8:00 PM ET and the reunion show immediately after. I'm excited and can't wait to find out who wins!

What did you think about this episode? Do you think they made a mistake voting out Peih-Gee over Todd? What would you have done? Who of the remaining four do you want to win?

Ni hao! This week's Survivor was full of action and emotion so let's not waste any time and get right to the meat of the matter.

Picking up where last week left off, the survivors arrived back at camp after voting out James. All of them were shocked that the plan to get rid of James actually succeeded. Todd was especially glad the plan worked out because if it hadn't, James would have been one ticked off dude back at camp.

The next day, it was time for a reward challenge. With one person at one end and the other person at the other end, teams of two would have to work themselves through a maze and reunite with each other at the center platform. Did I mention they would also be blindfolded? Erik is teamed up with his mother! Yes, this challenge brings their loved ones into the mix and all of them are thrilled and very emotional when they meet their loved ones. Amanda is joined by her sister, Peih-Gee with her dad, Courtney with her dad, Denise with her husband (she wants his socks), and Todd with one of his sisters.

As Todd's sister ran to him and hugged him, he asked her how their other sister was. She told him quickly that she had miscarried but that she was doing good. Jeffypop overheard and asked Todd about it. They explained that he found out she was pregnant right before he left to be on the show. Let's get back to the challenge though. The reward would be a boat trip out on the lake with a huge meal and a phone call from back home. After some bumping into people and a possible bloody nose given to Courtney's dad by Todd, Denise and her husband found each other at the center platform and win reward. Denise gets to choose two fellow survivors and their family member to go with them on the boat and they picked Todd and his sister and Amanda and her sister leaving the others to say goodbye to their loved ones and head back to camp. After they leave, Jeff told the reward winners that their loved ones will also get to spend a night with them at camp too!

After the boat ride with mucho food and Denise's phone call from her oldest daughter, it's time to get back to camp. While they'd been gone though, Peih-Gee wondered why Denise didn't choose her and the others made fun of Todd's reaction to the news of his sister's miscarriage. They didn't believe the story and thought they had been "Fairplayed" but with a less than convincing Oscar performance. When Amanda and the others arrived back at camp, they had a little surprise for the others -- chocolate. Unfortunately, it had melted in their hands so if the others wanted some chocolate they would have to lick it off of them. And lick they did! It might have been an arousing scene if everybody wasn't so dirty. Later, while Peih-Gee continued to opine over Denise's decision not to choose her, Todd and Amanda were in the river with their sisters. He said he hoped that people didn't think his story was a lie and he and his sister told Amanda that it was indeed the truth.

On day 32, the boat came to take the loved ones away amidst much hugging and crying (Denise has lost sooo much weight!). Denise went over to Peih-Gee and apologized for not picking her and explained that she picked Amanda because she had been feeling faint at tribal council. Peih-Gee didn't really buy it though but said she appreciated her talking with her.

It was a test of physical and mental strength at the immunity challenge. Each of them were attached to a rope and would have to untangle their way through an obstacle course. At the end of the course were boxes with true/false statements about Chinese inventions. They had to choose the statement that was true, take its key, and then have to take that key back across the obstacle course. If they had answered correctly, that key would open one of three locks on a box. If they were wrong, they would have to go back through the course and get the correct key. The first person to unlock all of the locks on their box and raise their flag would win immunity. Survivors, are you ready?

Todd and Amanda quickly took the lead with Peih-Gee hanging out in third place. As we were treated to more butt blurs from Amanda, Denise and Erik were fumbling around somewhere on the course and weren't even a threat. Amanda's key didn't fit her second lock so she had to go back. Todd was trying to open his third lock as Peih-Gee gained a spot and picked up her third key. Unfortunately for Todd, he had the wrong key. As he went back to get the correct key, Peih-Gee opened her third lock and raised her flag. Peih-Gee wins immunity! She was happy but exhausted. Actually, they were all exhausted. It looked like a tough challenge.

The next day, Peih-Gee still couldn't believe she had won immunity again calling it one of the proudest moments in her life while crying. Meanwhile, Denise was being approached from both sides of the camp. Todd tells her he hoped it would be apparent that she would vote out Erik. Peih-Gee wants Denise to make a power play and vote out Todd. Does she want to be fourth place in a team of four or have a shot at the final three?

At tribal council, with a still ticked James on the jury, Denise explained how she hopes she might get a sympathy vote in the end but that she's scared and hoped that this night is the night she can trust people. When Denise voted, she said that she was sorry she had to do this and that it would probably be her biggest mistake in the game. Let's tally those votes Jeff and find out what Denise did. The votes: Erik, Todd, Todd, Erik, Erik, and Erik. Erik is the 11th person voted out of Survivor and the 5th member of the jury. Peih-Gee looked utterly dejected that Denise voted the way she did. I really hope Denise didn't make a mistake and just hand Todd the game.

Next week, Amanda targets Todd but Todd fights back and as alliances crumble, no one is safe. Sounds interesting! In Erik's final words, he said that he wanted to win but that today was his day to go. He said he was mentally and physically exhausted but that he was proud of himself and he really wants to see who of the remaining five would come out on top.

What did you think about this episode? Do you think Denise made a mistake in voting out Erik over Todd? How do you think Peih-Gee must be feeling? That girl's going to have to bust her butt in challenges from here on out!

Ni hao! This week's Survivor picked up where it left off two weeks ago -- at tribal council right after Frosti's exit on night 27. Jeff had told them they wouldn't be going back to camp just yet and we were left hanging. It turned out to be no big deal. They were sticking around tribal council because they were going to have a reward challenge.

The winner of a Chinese culture pop quiz would be able to choose two other Hae Da Fung tribemates to go with them on an overnight trip to the Shaolin Temple in Song Shan. They would travel the hundreds of miles to the temple by private jet where they would be treated to a kung fu demonstration and a vegetarian meal. All of them were super excited but James seemed to be the most excited. Unfortunately for James, Peih-Gee won the challenge and chose Erik and Denise to go with her. Back to camp for you James!

The next morning (day 28), James woke the three up when their boat arrived to pick them up. Denise was excited to go but was concerned about the talking that might go on in camp while she was gone. After they left, the four left behind made plans to eat alot and talked about making themselves the final four. Amanda, however, told us that she didn't really want to go to the end with them (James, Todd, and Courtney) and wanted to make something happen on her own.

Meanwhile, Erik and Denise were listening to Peih-Gee's plans on the jet. She wanted them to be the final three and possibly bring in James if they needed to. After arriving at the 1500-year-old temple, they watched a kung fu demonstration that was very cool indeed. Some kids came out afterwards to teach them some kung fu moves of their own. Denise was on cloud nine because she happened to be a karate student herself (she began eight years prior when she was 32 years of age). She even gave her own demonstration before they went to dinner and fell asleep. It was very thrilling as a viewer to see a cast member appreciate a trip like that and I couldn't help but to want to root for Denise even more now.

It's a rainy and miserable 29 back at the Hae Da Fung camp. The four are huddled in a cave trying to escape the wetness when Peih-Gee, Erik, and Denise arrive back from their trip. The only one that came out to meet them was Amanda which didn't surprise Denise at all since Peih-Gee and Erik aren't exactly liked at camp. That made it even funnier though when Peih-Gee invaded the cave telling Courtney and James everything about the reward. That is Courtney's cave dammit! Todd was able to pull Denise aside though and tell her that everything is A-OK at camp and not to worry about anything.

On day 30, Amanda asked Courtney to take a walk and they went off and checked for tree mail. They were provided some Chinese stars and told to practice. Not concerned too much with that, Amanda told Courtney about a plan to get rid of James that evening at tribal council. She said he needed to be felt safe that he wouldn't be voted out. Hopefully he wouldn't use an immunity idol and they would be able to blindside him by voting him out. Of course, he can't win immunity though because that would throw a kink in the plan.

The immunity challenge consisted of two rounds of throwing Chinese stars at a series of targets worth different amounts of points. The three people with the highest score at the end of the first round using only three stars to throw, would move to the second round where they would only have one star to throw. The person with the highest score in the second round would win immunity. In the first round, Peih-Gee did embarassingly bad and was the only one not to score any points. Erik, Courtney, James, and Amanda all tied for the most points (six) so instead of three there would be four in the next round. In the sudden death round, Erik's three points beat out Amanda's two so he became the new wearer of the immunity idol necklace.

Back at camp, James began to work on getting Peih-Gee voted out while the plan of blindsiding James made it from person to person. Peih-Gee was freaking out though and worried that she'd be the one going so when she found a hidden immunity idol hidden in the bamboo canopy of their shelter, she had to go talk to Amanda about it. Amanda told her that she knew that James had the immunity idol. I couldn't believe Peih-Gee still had no clue! Anyway, Amanda told Peih-Gee to just chill out and to not talk to James. She told Peih-Gee to act like she was going home if she knew what was good for her. I'm surprised Amanda didn't just come out and say, "shut the hell up bitch and listen to me." Talking to Peih-Gee seemed to be like talking to a brick wall. Meanwhile, James told us that he would definitely be bringing the immunity idols with him to tribal council. Whew!

At tribal council, Jeff asked the obligatory questions about the reward challenge and then James and Peih-Gee kinda butted heads a few questions later. The only person who said they felt safe in not going home that night was Erik. I can only imagine why! Hahaha! Peih-Gee voted for Todd, James voted for Peih-Gee, and Todd voted for James: the rest they didn't show. After the voting, Jeff asked them if anybody was going to use a hidden immunity idol and, come on James, do it! Damn. James chose to stay quiet and not use it. You stupid stupid man! Of course, James was voted out by a vote of 4-1-1 and he looked pissed about it too. Ah well, I knew James winning would be too good to be true. Did you catch Jean-Robert, Peih-Gee, Erik, and the others laughing at his stupid decision? If you were them, it had to have been funny!

With that, Jeff told them to head back to camp for there were only 9 days left in the game. In James' final words, he said he was disappointed in himself and that he'd caught a feeling that something was up but decided not to play the idols anyway. He said that trying to hold those fruit loops together the whole damned time was killing him and that he's not angry with anybody -- it's just a game. That's a good attitude to have!

Next week the tribe is overwhelmed with emotion, Amanda turns on her closest ally (Todd), and everyone's fate is in the hands of Denise (she's a swing vote at tribal council).

So what did you think about this week's Survivor? Do you think Peih-Gee made the right decision in taking Erik and Denise with her to the Shaolin Temple? And of course, what are your thoughts on James' not using an immunity idol? If your favorite had been James up to now (like myself), who are you rooting for to win now?

Ni hao! This week's episode of Survivor began with James telling us he'll have his immunity idols with him at tribal council from now on. Good boy! James then went and yelled at everybody to wake up. He was just being funny though by channeling the now booted Jean-Robert. Courtney woke up saying it was like Christmas because Jean-Robert wasn't there. It was actually cute the way she said it because she reminded me of a little girl. Later, Denise told James she was upset about being blindsided at the last tribal council. She feels like she got stabbed in the back (you were Denise) but James tried to make her feel better by telling her that she's safe.

The tree mail they received at Hae Da Fung the next day came with a present -- a drum! The message read of an experience of a lifetime in a magical place where they could feed their soul and also feed their face. They would have to divide to conquer and had better be on the ball. If they could drum up some enthusiasm, they just might win it all. Of course, that means it's time for a reward challenge.

They would be split into two teams of four and would have to navigate through an obstacle course while keeping a bouncing ball in the air using drums that were strapped to them. The first team to get to the finish line and get three balls in their bin would win a spectacular overnight cruise on the Li River. Peih-Gee and Erik were randomly chosen as team captains and the teams were chosen by schoolyard pick again. The red team came to consist of Peih-Gee, James, Todd, and Denise. The yellow team was made up by Erik, Frosti, Amanda, and Courtney.

It looked like a really difficult challenge to me but the yellow team had hardly any problems winning and left to go on their cruise. Back at the Hae Da Fung camp, Peih-Gee was mad that they lost and got James all stirred up when she said she didn't give up on the challenge. James was having a hard time believing her and who could blame him? She did throw the reward challenge previously with him.

On the cruise, the reward winners were enjoying mimosas while flirting with each other. Frosti was rubbing Courtney's back while Amanda was giggling at every little thing Erik said. Erik didn't just flirt with Amanda though. He was also flirting with the goats onshore. He makes fabulous goat sounds! For dinner, they had a wonderful meal of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, and rolls. When they returned to camp the next day and Todd was interrogating them about their cruise, they lied about having the meal they did and said they had Chinese food like in that other reward. And seriously, could they blur out Amanda's butt any more? I'm really curious as to how much she could possibly exposing.

The immunity challenge consisted of a memory test but before they began, Jeff offered up some temptation to those who felt they didn't need to win immunity. If anybody wanted to, they could sit out the competition and eat cheeseburgers and fries instead. Courtney, Todd, Denise, and James decided to fill their bellies so only Peih-Gee, Frosti, Amanda, and Erik would be playing for immunity. Luckily for Peih-Gee she won immunity. She would have probably been the next one leaving if she hadn't.

Back at camp, Frosti was frustrated that James, Courtney, Todd, and Denise decided to eat. Couldn't they wait 12 days for that? Frosti and Erik both know that it will probably be one of them leaving at tribal council so Frosti got to work trying to swing things in his direction. He tells Todd that Erik's smooth with the girls and everybody loves him. It doesn't quite work though as Todd is more worried about the little relationship going on between Frosti and Courtney. He starts up the "Vote out Frosti" campaign immediately.

And so it happens -- Frosti was voted out by a vote of 5-1. Courtney gave him a big hug on the way out and Frosti begins the lonely walk to a hot shower and big fat dinner. Jeff tells the others that there are 12 days left and that they should realize they have to adapt moment to moment. He's going to test that right now. They're confused and so am I. They're not going back to camp just yet. They have more business to attend to with Jeffypoo. And roll credits.

Next time on Survivor: injuries take their toll (Peih-Gee's complaining about her knees), James is fed up (he's working so much), and Todd takes a stand. Unfortunately, we're going to have to wait until November 29th to find out what in the world happens after tribal council. I don't want to wait that long!

So what did you think about this week's Survivor? Were you fine with Frosti going home? What kind of business do you think Jeff needs to take care of with them?

Ni hao! What another great episode of Survivor! We had a poker player who obviously didn't pay too much attention at last week's tribal council and a flight attendant who lost his nerve to make what could possibly be one of the biggest mistakes in Survivor history.

The episode begins at the Hae Da Fung camp on night 21. The survivors had returned from tribal council and were laying down for the night. Jean-Robert was still anxious over getting away with the staying for another three days because of Jaime's playing an immunity idol that wasn't. James tells us they have to keep Jean-Robert's "dumb ass in line because they need his votes." The way James said that was pretty hilarious.

It's day 22 and James is up fishing while the others are still sleeping/resting. He caught two fish without even having the net out all the way! Amanda tells us that she's worried that James could win it all because of his having the immunity idols and his physical strength. Perhaps y'all should do something about that Amanda.

At the reward challenge, it will be two teams of four playing against each other. One member will sit in a boat while the other team will toss buckets of water at them trying to sink it. The first team to sink the other team twice wins a trip to an ancient village where they'll have an authentic Chinese meal and will get the magical scroll. Yeah, I know it's not magical but whatev.

Jeff picked PG and Jean-Robert as the captains of the two teams and that begins the time-honored tradition of picking the most popular kids on the schoolground to play with them. PG's team was made up by herself, Frosti, Erik, and Courtney. Jean-Robert's team was himself, James, Todd, and Amanda. Denise didn't get picked and walks away pouting while kicking the rocks underneath her feet (not really).

There was really no competition as Jean-Robert's team kicked major butt in sinking the other team twice within the blink of an eye and, after receiving the scroll, they're off to the village. After several blurs of Amanda's rear (poor Chinese villagers), they sit down at the table and open the scroll revealing a final clue to the whereabouts of the hidden immunity idol. Jean-Robert is blown away by the fact that there is a hidden immunity idol and thinks they should try to find it as soon as they return back to camp. Um Jean-Robert, were you not paying attention at the last tribal council? Did you think Jaime just made up that whole immunity idol thing? Way to read the cards man.

Back at the Hae Da Fung camp, the other five are cooking the fish that James caught earlier and discussing options. Peih-Gee was pushing hard to get Denise to think about joining their side so that they would have the numbers. The reward winners arrive back at camp in the middle of the night and lay down to sleep. Jean-Robert waits until the others are asleep and then he gets up to look for the hidden immunity idol. Haha! He pulls down all four of the plaques from the archway and hides them in the bushes to look at later. He finally lays down as the sun is coming up.

On day 24 (there was no day 23 on the show last night -- weird), Todd says he's tired of James' and Jean-Robert's voice and is upset that James has both of the immunity idols thanks to him and that he hasn't even offered to give one of them back. Todd explains to Amanda his very brilliant plan of blindsiding James at tribal council. How to do that? Convince James that Peih-Gee is a goner so that he doesn't bring his idols to council with him and hope that James doesn't win immunity. Frosti is down with the plan too after being told about it.

Immunity is up for grabs! The survivors, after wading through a swamp to get there, have to sit on barrels filled with water and not lose their balance. The catch? The barrells will be unplugged and slowly losing water making them very unstable and hard to balance on. Jean-Robert was the first one out and then Denise, James, Erik, and Peih-Gee. Amanda disqualified herself by touching the barrel in front of her. After 30 minutes, it was down to Courtney, Todd, and Frosti. Todd falls and then Frosti. Courtney's bony butt wins immunity! Didn't you love how Peih-Gee was blowing her nose and it was picked up in the audio? How funny!

Back at the camp, Jean-Robert told Erik that he has the immunity idol. Erik told him he's wrong and Jean-Robert says he does have it. Finally, Erik coughs up the info about James having both of them and Jean-Robert kicks himself in the butt about being too late to figure things out. When Jean-Robert and James go fishing later, Jean-Robert confronts James about the idols. James plays stupid the whole time which really ticks Jean-Robert even more; enough so that James tells Todd they should blindside James at tribal council. Brilliant plan Jean-Robert! I think we've heard that somewhere though. Not sure where but....

Well now that Jean-Robert wants to use Todd's plan unknowingly, Todd decides to switch things up and try to swing it so that Jean-Robert gets voted out. Amanda thinks that would be stupid and would rather go back to the original plan of getting Peih-Gee out. After telling Courtney and Frosti the new plan, it seems like Jean-Robert might be the one leaving.

And indeed he was. Jean-Robert was voted out by a vote of 5-3-1. James received three votes and Peih-Gee received her vote from poor Denise who was left out of everybody's plans. Jean-Robert was shocked when Jeffybear told him he was out and James looked flat out scared because of receiving his three votes. I don't think he'll be leaving his immunity idols back at camp anymore.

Next week, tension rises at Hae Da Fung and there is a surprise at tribal council. Seems they don't head back to camp after tribal council next week because there is more business to attend to there. Hmmm.

What are your thoughts on last night's show? Can you believe how stupid Jean-Robert was? I think they made a huge mistake in not getting James out (even though he's my fave). Do you think Todd made the wrong choice in switching up the plan? And what do you think happens at next week's tribal council?

Ni hao! This week's Survivor certainly didn't disappoint in the entertainment department. One fan favorite came ridiculously close to leaving and another castaway showed just how smart she was.

At the Fei Long camp on night 18 after Sherea's booting, Courtney's fellow tribe members were questioning her vote for Jean-Robert. Courtney let us know that she dislikes everybody but dislikes Todd and Amanda less than the others. She said Todd and Amanda mistake that for friendship and then flashed a wonderfully evil smile. That was by far one of the best Courtney moments so far this season.

On day 19, after Peih-Gee had a little "trust" talk with James, he found himself alone at camp while the others were down at the river. Guess what time it is. James pulled one of the square wooden symbols off of the archway but it wasn't the hidden immunity idol so he went around to the other side and grabbed the other. The second one was the correct one but he didn't get a chance to put the wrong one back before the others arrived back at camp.

Later that day Jaime noticed a wooden square missing from the archway and found it on the ground. Eric thought it looked "idolish" and put it in his bag. That evening, Jaime (with Eric there) goes through James' bag to see if he has the other one. Sure enough -- she found two of them wrapped up in a pair of his pants. Then Survivor ticked me off by going to commercial. I wanted to find out what she did!

James noticed the blank square (the one he wasn't able to replace) missing the next day and knows that one of them (Jaime or Eric) picked it up. He said he loved knowing that Jaime could have the blank one thinking that it was the real hidden immunity idol. While laughing, he goes on to imagine what her reaction would be if she pulled it out at tribal council to use it only for Jeff to tell her it was not an immunity idol.

Both teams show up for what would normally be a competition later that day only to have Jeffypop tell them to drop their buffs. They're merging! He doles out their black buffs, tells them they'll all be living at Fei Long's camp, and that they have to design their new flag and come up with a new name for their tribe when they get back to camp. But first, they get to take part in a merge feast complete with Chinese cultural performances. Before leaving for that Jeff told them to keep in mind that the game never stops. While Jean-Robert did wonder what Jeff meant by that at first, he dropped it from his mind and everybody enjoyed the food and the show.

After the show and back at the new/old camp, Jean-Robert cracked an awkward racial joke in James' direction while they were trying to figure out what to name their tribe. See, they wanted to incorporate "black" in the name and with James being black Jean-Robert thought he would be funny. After the deafening silence, Frosti tries to save the moment by saying that himself and Peih-Gee were on a yellow team. Alrighty then. They eventually settled on Hae Da Fung meaning black fighting wind.

They have a visitor! And it's Jeff! Surprise -- it's time for immunity and it will be held right there at their camp! After being reminded that the game never stops, they were told they would have to answer questions based on their recollection of events that happened during the feast and competition. Did I mention there had been alcohol consumed at the feast?

James, Amanda, Courtney, and Peih-Gee were eliminated on the first question. The remaining tribe members all answered the second question correctly. Todd, Jean-Robert, Denise, and Eric were out on the third question. Time for the fourth question and either Frosti or Jaime will win immunity. Four cultural dancers with long flowing skirts wore what on their feet? Frosti got lucky and wrote down "nothing" and wins immunity! Dancing his way over to Jeff, he's the first owner of this season's ugly immunity necklace.

Day 21 at Hae Da Fung and James was talking to Todd about his having both of the immunity idols and that he thinks Eric or Jaime has the blank one and Todd thinks that would be great. When James told Amanda about the situation she thinks Jaime has it and wants to boot Jaime out at tribal council. Later, Jean-Robert and Todd have a little chat. Jean-Robert tells Todd that if Todd and Amanda screw him over (Jean-Robert thinks he's their third wheel) that Todd will be the one he holds responsible and would lobby against him something hard if he finds himself on the jury.

The second best part of this week's show happens next. Jaime and Eric tell Frosti that they have the hidden immunity idol and tells him what they found in James' bag. (They didn't switch anything! They still have the blank idol! LMAO!) Jaime then told Todd that she knows who has one immunity idol and knows who has the other two. Jaime is making herself look like such a big fool and I love it. Todd told us that Jaime is on the small bike in the back trying to catch up and then we hear Jaime telling us she's good at playing stupid and that Todd would be surprised if she played the idol that night. Poor girl.

After the standard questioning by Jeff at tribal council, it's time to vote. They only showed us Jaime's vote for Jean-Robert and Courtney writing down a "J" and didn't even show James voting. Regardless, it's time to tally the votes. Stop Jeff! Jaime tells him she wants to play the immunity idol and gives it to Jeff. Jeff told her that it wasn't an immunity idol and threw it in the fire. One of the best Survivor moments ever! Meanwhile, James was having a hard time trying not to bust out into laughter. Jaime knew she was a goner at that point.

Jaime was pissed as her name kept getting called by Jeff and sure enough, by a vote of 6-3, she is out of there and is now the first member of the jury. In her closing words, she told us she's just too nice for Survivor and wishes Eric and Peih-Gee the best of luck. She hated that she trusted James. As far as the immunity idol, she said it was worth a shot playing it. Go have a drink girl. You'll need one as you think about things more.

Next week on Survivor, Todd wants to blindside James and get both immunity idols out of play and Peih-Gee makes a power play. Wonder what that means?

What did you think about this week's Survivor? How would you feel if you were Jaime?

What did you think about last night's Survivor? I thought it was really good - except for the competitions.

The reward challenge was lame. Find eight boards to decode a Confucian phrase? Whatev. I thought it was stupid how the boards were all strapped to the walls in plain sight. You know, it's not like they should really have to work for their reward or anything.

The immunity challenge was almost as lame. Chicken hearts and eels? Even the thousand year-old egg (which are usually only around 100 days old BTW). How simple. I will admit though that I don't think I could have eaten the baby turtles or the chicken fetus. Feathers in my mouth and down my throat? No thank you. But couldn't they have found grosser foods? What about live squid or some shots of lizard liquor? Go ahead and Google it if you must.

I did love how Tweedledum and Tweedledee (Amanda and Todd) went about getting the hidden immunity idol down. It was even funnier when The Snowman went over to unknowingly help them. I was laughing my ass off. James' eye roll at the whole thing was the cherry on top though. Great editing by the producers there.

Of course, the best part of the entire show was Sherea getting the boot. I couldn't believe she actually had the audacity to say in her parting words that she was the strong one in her tribe. Yeah, OK. You just keep believing that Sherea.

It was like a breath of stale air when Courtney handed some of that backbone out that we've been staring at all season at tribal council. She'd better watch her back (and who couldn't) now with Todd though because he might consider throwing her skinny ass off The Great Wall sooner rather than later. And did you hear her bring up Luke Perry when Jean-Robert was talking about how he's the bad boy in the tribe? That was hilarious!!! Whodathunk we'd hear that name in a Survivor episode? Not me.

Next week doesn't look so good for my man James. It seems Jaime and Eric get to the hidden immunity idol before he does. I guess we'll find out how in the world that could have happened. And the big thing about next week's show? The merge. It's about time.

Ni hao!

Was it just me or was Courtney looking extremely emaciated on last night's episode of Survivor? I'm really beginning to worry about her. I couldn't stop staring at her bones every single time she was shown onscreen. It's no wonder she didn't like JR raising his voice at her - she's likely to fall right over from the vibrations in his voice.

Day 10 began with Courtney and JR at the Fei Long camp in a tiff and with Sherea and Dave at the Zhan Hu camp getting into a full-blown argument. Zhan Hu's rice had gone moldy and Sherea was trying to pull the good parts of the rice out. Of course, Dave had to open his big mouth about it. After their yelling match, Sherea stirred the pot herself by taking Dave's shells (he'd been saving them to take home to his mother) and going off to throw them away after Dave told her not to. In the end, the shells were saved and Sherea came off looking like a bigger ass than Dave.

After both teams receive tree mail saying it was important for them to stick together so that they might eat the next day, they trekked over to the tribal council temple for a reward challenge that night. A very cool reward challenge. Using graduated sets of giant chopsticks two members from each team must carry a fireball across the course and drop it into a chute where it will then roll into a wok and ignite fireworks. The reward? A fisherman and his family will come to the winning team's camp to teach them how to fish, bring spices and vegetables for them, and help them make a meal. Oh, and they also get to kidnap someone.

Fei Long won the reward and they decided to kidnap Dave. The next morning (day 11), Dave said he felt like he was on vacation and was on a spy mission for himself and nobody else. Dave went off to open the scroll that Jeffypop had given him and decided that Todd is the person he could trust the most on Fei Long. Dave gave Todd the clue! Todd said he'd return the favor later if he was kidnapped. Todd had better find the immunity idol with all of the clues he now has.

Over at Zhan Hu, they're all laying around talking about how Dave seemed a little too happy to be kidnapped. Sherea was especially glad they took Dave because now she can lay around and do nothing without fear of being called out. It didn't stop her fellow tribe members to talk about how lazy she was behind her back though.

The fishing family arrives over at Fei Long and can you believe it? JR can speak Mandarin Chinese! The others were jealous that he could communicate with the family but what could they do? Aaron and Denise got to go off with the fisherman and they learned how to fish using birds. The birds' necks were tied tightly so that they couldn't swallow the fish that they dove into the water to catch. After catching them, they'd come back into the boat and spit the fish back out. Very cool. Using that catch, dinner was made at camp and everybody loved it.

The immunity challenge was a simple variation on an old competition. Competitors had to dress in traditional Chinese armor and try to smash vases across from them but the team of two across from them would be trying to block their throws. Each side had three shots and whichever team broke the most vases in three rounds would win immunity. What was up with those weird slow motion edits when a vase was about to be broken? Fei long wins immunity!

It's Day 12 and we know what's going to happen on this day. Now back at Zhan Hu, Dave thought it felt strange to be 'home'. It's going to be between Dave and Sherea leaving at tribal council. Their reasoning? Dave works hard but is annoying. Sherea is nice but lazy.

At tribal council, the tribe thinks they did just fine without Dave while he was over at Fei Long. Sherea defends her laziness by saying how she conserves her energy for the challenges. Whatever. It's time to vote and none of them were shown to us. That's never a good thing for somebody. First vote is for Dave. Second vote is for Sherea. Third vote is for Dave. Fourth vote is for Dave. Now why didn't Jeff stop right there because it was obvious that Dave would be going home. The fifth and final vote is for Dave. Adios Dave!

Next week, Jaime and Eric explore new territory (he's a virgin). A twist turns the game on its head.

Hmmmm, I wonder what the twist is and if it's even a good one. Eric's a virgin? OK. Todd is in the catbird set I tell ya. Having all of the clues and not finding the immunity idol would be beyond stupendously stupid on his part. I like him though and hopes he finds it.

What are your thoughts on last night's show?

Ni hao!

It's Night 6 at the Fei Long camp and they're trying to sleep. Unfortunately for them, JR is snoring and tossing and turning and snuggling and hogging the bed made of bamboo. The girls are creeped out by his snuggling and trying to avoid sleeping next to him. I would be too!

Day 7 starts with a fight over meat from a single crab at Fei Long and another hissy fit from Dave at at Zhan Hu. Thank goodness it's time for the reward challenge. I'm really tired of hearing about Dave's fireplace.

The reward challenge is another really physical one. Three-on-three combat while on little boats connected by a couple of walkways. Men versus women. To win a point for your team, you have to push the other team into the water. The first team to receive three points wins comfort - kerosene, a lantern, rope, pillows, a blanket, and a big tarp. First round was women versus women and Zhan Hu scored their first point easily. The next round was men versus men and Fei Long received their first point. It went on exactly like that until the fifth round where once again the women from Zhan Hu prevailed. Finally, Zhan Hu wins its first challenge. Because they won, they also get to kidnap a member from Fei Long and settle on Leslie. Jeffypoo gives Leslie her scroll to open in private once at Zhan Hu's camp.

At ZH's camp, Leslie tells them she's happy and thinks their team has good morale. Leslie gives up some basic gossip about Fei Long while they're bathing and swimming a little bit later. Over at Fei Long, James and JR are off talking about who they want to go next and doing a little bashing of Sister Christian and the anorexic stick girl. In other words, they're talking about Leslie and Courtney. But, they don't realize that Todd and Courtney are overhearing every word they're saying. JR really should have kept his mouth shut when it came to saying he wanted to win a million dollars and some ass (from Courtney). Courtney, you should go build a bed for the females and stay away from JR. haha

At Zhan Hu, Leslie opens the tube given to her by Jeff. She decides to return the favor and give the clue to Jaime. Both of them say they feel they can trust the other. Jaime receives the same clue that Leslie received last week and also receives a second clue as to the whereabouts of the hidden immunity idol. "Waste no more time searching the ground, towards the heaven for what will be found." Jaime thinks it's something right in front of her face (and it is) but can't figure it out yet.

Immunity is up for grabs! Each team will have four choppers and two puzzle builders. The choppers each have to cut through a wooden beam to reveal a rope that then has to be chopped which will in turn drop wooden discs to be used in the puzzle building part of the competition. Fei Long decides to put Courtney in the #1 chopping position and was it a big mistake or what? Zhan Hu finished all of their chopping and started working on their puzzle by the time Courtney finished her chopping. But then, what could you expect? She only weighs about 50 pounds and could only get a chop in every minute or so it seemed. Finally, Courtney finished and the other choppers of Fei Long made quick work to get to the puzzle part. It wasn't enough though and Zhan Hu won their first immunity challenge. Fei Long will be going to tribal council for the first time this season.

Back at camp Fei Long, Courtney's hands are hurt and she says her shoulder is too. JR thinks common sense should prevail and one of the weakest women should go home (Courtney or Leslie). Leslie tells the group that she told the other team that Aaron was their leader (LOL) and also tells them about how she told them more about their tribe. The others are kinda upset about that and Aaron says he can't trust her. Meanwhile, Amanda and Todd want JR to go home and try to convince Aaron of that but Aaron doesn't want JR gone just yet. It's between JR and Leslie it seems.

At tribal council, JR tells Jeff that Courtney and Leslie are the weakest on their tribe. Courtney said she's sick of them talking about how weak she is. JR says they're playing for a million dollars and feelings will get hurt. Leslie then talks about how good the morale is on the other team and how they play with heart and her tribe doesn't. Leslie, I don't think you should have said that.

Alas, Leslie is voted out by a vote of 5-2 with the other two votes being for JR. Jeff tells the remaining Fei Long members that it seems like they need to have more fun and better utilize each person's strengths. Wise words Jeffypoo.

Next week, Courtney and JR get into it. Sherea blows her cool with Dave. And both tribes get a lesson in the art of war.

Leslie says she's proud of herself. She knew that she would be there as long as God wanted her to be. She had a great time and would do it all over again.

What did y'all think about Leslie going home this week? Does anybody else think Dave and JR could be long lost brothers? Do you hope Jaime finds the hidden immunity idol?