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Night 21 and the gang of the newly merged Hae Da Fung (black fighting wind) tribe are still talking about Jaime's immunity idol boo-boo. She had thought she had played one of the hidden immunity idols but instead just a worthless wooden plaque. Erik is afraid to bother Jean Robert to get a spot in the shel- ter till James tells JR to move his big butt. James had decided not to tell his old buddy, JR, about the two genuine idols he possesses.
Day 22 and James is up early setting up the fishing net. He's glad he's back with his ex-Fei Long pals. He sees the need to hold his faction together. As he almost gets the net set up, James gets surprised when he catches two fish suddenly. One is a pretty big. While breakfast is made, Amanda ponders about how James is a very strong player and may win it all.
It's time for the Reward Challenge. Split into two teams by way of sequential choosing, the purpose is for each team to have one member per round sit in a small boat. The three other members of the opposing team will then try to throw enough water into the opponent's boat to cause it to sink. Denise gets left out during the selection process. Yellow Team has JR, James, Todd and Amanda, Red Team has Peih Gee, Frosti, Erik and Courtney. First tribe to win two round gets to trip to a thousand-year-old village for a sit-down feast of authentic cuisine. They also get a clue scroll. Round One has Courtney sitting in the Red boat and Todd in the Yellow. Courtney gets hammered by buckets of water and stops trying to bail or paddle away. Todd manages to keep his boat reasonably dry and is in constant motion avoiding the Red Team bucketeers. Yellow Team sinks Courtney, winning Round One. Round Two has Frosti in the Red boat and Amanda in the Yellow. Frosti gets over- whelmed early and Yellow Team wins the challenge!
The winners arrive at the village and are seated at a small restaurant. As the food and wine are consumed, JR reads out loud the 5th clue to the hidden idols. The other three already know that James has both, but keep mum about it. Back at camp, the losers enjoy the left over fish James caught. PG makes a play to try and swing Denise over to her side and boot JR at the next Tribal Council. Denise listens but does not commit. The winners return at night. While the rest sleep, JR wanders off to search for the idols. He gets the two non-idol plaques from the archway and hides them.
Day 24 (I guess nothing happened on Day 23) finds JR complaining about all the food James is eating. James says he's hungry and he's the one catching the fish. JR answers that when he was doing the fishing, he only ate his fair share. Todd is tired of the bickering and nervous about James not offering him to hold one of the immunity idols. He talks with Amanda about blind- siding James to get the idols out of The Game. She is reluctant to go along. Todd then tells Frosti of his new scheme.
It's time for the Immunity Challenge! It's Dragon-Barrel-Balancing Act. Each player sits on a barrel which is part of a large, long dragon. The barrels are filled with water. As the water drains out, they become unstable. Players may not touch any other part of the dragon structure. Last one still riding their barrel wins. Everyone mounts and Jeff tells them to push a yellow lever first, which opens the drain hole. They then push the red lever which unlocks the barrels from the structure. James starts having trouble right away. But it is JR who is first to lose his balance and fall off. Denise goes next. At the 20 minute mark, Courtney is like a statue. James finally succumbs and is the 3rd out of the challenge. Erik is 4th out, followed by PG. Amanda loses her balance and grabs the structure, disqualifying her. Frosti starts singing, composing a song as he sits. Todd is the 7th out. Over 30 minutes pass and Courtney has still barely moved a muscle. Frosti finally loses his balance and Courtney wins!
Back at camp, Courtney is very pleased with herself. She doesn't care who gets voted off tonight. PG begins scrambling for support. JR takes a swim with Erik and tells him he has two 'idols'. Erik tells JR that James has two, probably the real ones. JR is shocked and hatches a plan to blind-side James tonight with Erik, first. Then he has a chat with James, to confirm possession of the idols. JR tries to force James into an alliance, but James isn't biting. JR then goes to Todd and tells him all he knows and discusses blind-siding James. Todd tells James and Amanda what JR is up to. Courtney joins the chat and they decide to boot JR.
At Tribal Council, Jaime takes her seat on The Jury bench. Courtney gets a round of applauses for her victory. James says that he knows he's a strong physical player, but it's the 'talkers' who are a real threat. PG knows that she and the other ex-Zhan Hu members are behind the Eight Ball. JR agrees that they are in trouble. Erik tries to inject suspicion into the Fei Long alliance. JR admits that he's the local jerk of the tribe and is at risk. Amanda is still cautious. It's time to vote. After Jeff collects the ballots he asks if anyone will play an idol. None do and the votes are read. Denise voted against PG. JR, PG and Erik voted against James. The rest give JR the boot. As JR takes his walk of shame, Jeff observes that the old tribal lines are gone and that it's a New Game. Huh? It doesn't look that way to me!
SPOILERS: Todd hates his tribe mates. Tensions rise as PG and James bicker. At Tribal Council, Jeff tells them they won't be going straight home just yet, they have more business to tend to? Could it be a double-boot night?
NOTE: In case you are wondering about the title, it is a poker term, in honor of JR's being booted. John Wesley Harding, perhaps the most vicious and notorious gunfighter of the Old West, was murdered from behind while playing poker by a man who had lost to Harding. When Harding was shot, he was holding a pair of Aces and a pair of Eights, which is now known as… The Dead Man's Hand.
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