Episode #1506 Recap - Days 16, 17, and 18

Hedging Bets -
At Zhan Hu, Peih-Gee, Erik and Jaime lounge in the shelter while James boils water. Convinced throwing the challenge to get rid of Aaron at the previous night’s Tribal Council was a smart move, Peih-Gee entertains the idea of throwing yet another challenge to even the numbers with Fei Long. "If we throw the next Immunity Challenge, James is going to be gone," explains Peih-Gee. "Best possible scenario: we merge at that point. And if that happens, we’ll be able to reconnect with Frosti and Sherea." In hopes of proving his worth to the tribe, James works himself to the bone doing chores around camp to keep the tribe happy and motivated to win the upcoming challenges. "Aaron’s gone and I’m just at their mercy right now," says James. "If they throw another challenge, I’m gone."

Fresh Eyes -
At Fei Long, Todd pulls Amanda away from camp and reveals his secret about the hidden Immunity Idol, enlisting her help to find it. "I was kind of shocked because I didn’t know about any hidden Immunity Idol, so we’re going to do everything we can to find that Idol today. We have to," vows Amanda. Needing more clues to the Idol’s location, Todd hatches a plan. "If we win Reward today, we’re bringing over either Aaron or James, whoever’s left," he explains. "Because they’re going to give us a clue as to where that hidden Immunity Idol is, and Amanda and I will have control in this game."

Reward Challenge: "Search & Decode" -
The tribes meet at their Reward Challenge, where Jeff Probst explains the rules. One person from each tribe will race through the ruins of an abandoned Chinese village, find a puzzleboard, untie it and bring it back to their tribe mat. Then the next person will go. Once tribes have collected all 8 boards, they will use them to decode a phrase made famous by Confucius. The winning tribe will be taken to a Tea House where they will find a shower, bath soaps, towels and a Western toilet. They will also enjoy tea and a snack. In addition, the winning tribe will kidnap a member of the losing tribe, who will remain with the winning team until the next Immunity Challenge.

One by one, the Survivors race through the village ruins. As Peih-Gee searches for a Zhan Hu puzzleboard, she finds her original tribemate Sherea frantically working to untie a Fei Long puzzle board. In the confines of the room, Peih-Gee tells Sherea that Zhan Hu threw the previous challenge to save Sherea and Frosti. To Peih-Gee’s surprise, Sherea makes no effort to acknowledge the information. After retrieving their last puzzleboard, Fei Long begins solving their phrase as Zhan Hu hurries to catch up. But as Zhan Hu flounders, Fei Long solves the phrase first: "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Fei Long wins Reward and kidnaps James, who receives a bamboo tube to be opened in private.

Rub a dub-dub, Jean-Robert in a Tub -
Arriving at the private retreat, Fei Long squeals with excitement as tea and snacks are laid before them. Immersing their exhausted bodies into steaming bathtubs of clean water, Courtney is careful to distance herself from Jean-Robert in order to fully enjoy her break from the game. "He took the [tub] on the far end; I took the [tub] on the other far end. Every single part of me wants to see Jean-Robert go. I just don’t like him. He’s a horrible person." Wrapped in plush towels and silk bathrobes, the tribe enjoys a relaxing moment and a surprise from James, as he stands naked under the warm shower. "[James] was just in the shower lathering up, stripping down," laughs Amanda, "None of us care. He has a nice butt. I mean, might as well show it off!"

Get a Clue! -
Later, with his tribe distracted by the tea and snacks, Todd quietly approaches James and cryptically promises to save his life in the game should he share the bamboo tube with Todd. Like clockwork, Todd watches as James immediately takes the tube and leaves the celebrations at the Tea House. Alone, James opens the tube, learning of the existence of a hidden Immunity Idol. Outnumbered on his Zhan Hu tribe and with nothing to lose, James trusts Todd. "Todd, he’s corner-stoned all alliances on this tribe. So I’m going to go over to Todd and roll the dice and maybe it’ll come up right. If not, I’m pretty much gone anyways."

Tired of Losing -
At Zhan Hu, Jaime, Peih-Gee and Erik grow concerned about their old tribemates, Sherea and Frosti, after receiving the brush off at the Reward Challenge. "We thought we would do anything to save [Sherea and Frosti]. We’d throw a challenge to save them. We did it, but Frosti won’t make eye contact with us," says a confused and worried Jaime. "We don’t know if he’s changed his mind and switched over with them. It’s really hard to deal with, especially with three of us here and so many over there."

Prying Eyes and Idol Hands -
Back at the Fei Long camp, James rolls the dice and hands the clues to the hidden Immunity Idol to Todd. Todd immediately deciphers them, and darts back to camp to survey the grounds. With the rest of the tribe going about their business, Todd finds Amanda under a wooden archway, breaking off shingles for fire. Whispering to Amanda where and what he thinks the Idol is, Todd inconspicuously tugs on a wooden plaque sitting atop the archway as Amanda pretends to continue pulling at the shingles. Suddenly Frosti joins them, scaling the gate to help loosen the shingles, clueless as to what the now panicking Todd and Amanda are up to. "I’m telling [Frosti] to get down and I started panicking!" stammers Todd. With his fingers curled around the wooden plaque and a little tug, the wooden plaque breaks free and in large print on the back it reads: "Congratulations. You have found the Hidden Immunity Idol." Mortified as Frosti notices the writing, Todd tosses the Immunity Idol off to Amanda, who shoves it under her foot, words facing the ground. The excited Frosti jumps down from the gate, asking to see the piece of wood. Both Todd and Amanda hush Frosti and dart out of camp. "This has to be the worst way in history of getting an Immunity Idol," exclaims Amanda. "Like honestly, in front of everybody?"

The Master Plan -
Safe from prying eyes, Todd and Amanda reluctantly show Frosti the Immunity Idol and warn him to keep it quiet. "Being there when they got the Idol cements my place in their group," says Frosti, glowing from excitement. "I’m there for sure. Frosti’s in!" Gears working overtime, Todd hatches a plan and explains step-by-step to James how to turn the tables on the Zhan Hu tribe. "If James takes that Idol, loses Immunity, they vote for him. But he uses the Idol to get rid of Jaime. We sever the tie between her and Erik. Hopefully at ten we’ll merge and we’ll still have our numbers to go strong into the merge."

Believing Zhan Hu might just throw another Immunity Challenge to get rid of him, James is more than happy to use Zhan Hu’s own strategy against them. "So now all I have to do is stay focused, keep my head in the game, lose the Immunity Challenge, get the other Idol, and I’ll have both of them. I mean, it’s going to be wonderful!" exclaims James with renewed hope. Later, to ensure a win at the Immunity Challenge, Todd pulls Courtney and Denise aside, telling them about the Immunity Idol and his plan to get Jaime out of the game. As they depart for the Immunity Challenge, an elated James is ready for battle. "Over at Zhan Hu, I’m pretty much the dead man walking," smiles James. "But now I have the upper hand. They think they’re safe. Wrong. I’ll be able to get 'em."

Immunity Challenge: "Name That Spoon" -
The tribes reconvene for the Immunity Challenge, where Jeff Probst explains how the competition will work. Tribe members will square off against each other in a food eating competition of Chinese dishes. The first person to get their food down and show an empty mouth scores a point; the first tribe to four points wins Immunity.

First up, Peih-Gee for Zhan Hu squares off against Frosti for Fei Long. They must eat ten chicken hearts each. Tossing the hearts one-by-one in his mouth, Frosti quickly finishes his plate, licking it clean and scoring the first point for Fei Long. Up next, Jaime takes on Courtney. They must eat three eels. Gagging on the last of her three eels, Jaime still manages to finish before Courtney and ties the score one-to-one. Next up, Fei Long’s Amanda goes against Zhan Hu’s Erik. On the table, three baby turtles. With both shoving all three turtles in their mouths and chewing everything including the shells, it is close. But Erik clears his mouth first, putting Zhan Hu in the lead two points to one. Ready to execute the plan of throwing the Challenge, James takes on Denise. They must eat two balute (chicken fetuses). As James pretends to gag on the balute, Denise screams at her plate, trying to convince herself she can swallow the chicken fetus. James and the Fei Long tribe watch in anguish as Denise fights a losing battle against the balute. Realizing that Denise will never finish her plate, James reluctantly scoops the remainder of the balute down his throat, putting Denise out of her misery. He unwillingly scores the third point for Zhan Hu. With Zhan Hu in the lead three points to two, and Immunity on the line, Erik steps up to take on Frosti. They must eat a thousand year old egg. Both shove the entire egg in their mouths, chewing franticly, but Erik clears his mouth mere seconds before Frosti, scoring the winning point for Zhan Hu and destroying Todd and James’ plan.

Go With Your Gut -
Returning to camp, Todd picks up the pieces. "Perfect plan, genius idea, smashed," sighs Todd. Looking on the positive side of losing, Todd, Amanda and Denise agree to vote for Sherea at Tribal Council in order to keep the numbers in Fei Long’s favor. But Courtney’s disgust for Jean-Robert is more than she can stand. "After thinking about it for a little while, I actually like Sherea," Courtney explains. "If it came down to it, of who I thought would vote me out quicker I definitely think that she would keep me around longer than Jean-Robert." Convinced she could never vote for Sherea, whom she grew close to, Courtney tells Sherea the votes are aimed at her, and they decide to vote against Jean-Robert. "As far as Jean-Robert, he’ll vote any of them out," warns Sherea. "So the same time they’re looking at me, they need to be scared of each other." Courtney, determined to flip the vote to rid of Jean-Robert, approaches Todd, Amanda and Frosti in the water. Lobbying against Jean-Robert, Courtney argues that he will turn on the Fei Long alliance the first chance he gets.

Watching as the tribe splinters off to conspire, Jean-Robert begins to feel uneasy. "So far, I’ve really felt comfortable about my position in the game. Then all of a sudden something doesn’t feel a hundred percent to me. The plan was either Sherea or Frosti, most likely Sherea, but I gotta tell you, I’m uneasy right now." As Courtney’s words of warning sink in, Todd and Amanda once again are undecided as to whom to vote for.

Tribal Council -
At Tribal Council, worried for her life in the game, Sherea holds nothing back. She tells Jean-Robert point blank that his own tribe can’t stand him. Jean-Robert accepts the criticism, revealing he knows people dislike him, and he calls himself a "bad boy." Courtney scoffs at his self-image, calling Jean Robert a "crappy person." Courtney then unloads her feelings of being on the outside of a very "clique-y" tribe, to the dismay of Todd and Amanda. In the end, Sherea’s torch is extinguished as she is voted out of the game, five votes to two. Sherea is the sixth person voted out of Survivor: China.

Sherea leaves us her final words. "The fact that the Fei Long people decided to stick together because of numbers, you know, it just says that they’re getting played. They’ll realize it later and I hope half of them get screwed since some of them screwed me. They knew they couldn’t beat me in the challenges. I was the strong one. They were the weak ones. So of course they’re going to take out the threat."