Amanda was not to be distracted by either caves or cookies. She had decided that James needed to leave yesterday and that the only way to get rid of him was to vote for him when he wasn?t expecting it. If James won the Immunity Challenge, her plan would be decidedly useless.

In the IC, the contestants had to fling throwing stars at targets. First kung-fu, now throwing stars? I?m beginning to think this Survivor thing is a front for a secret ninja assassin training camp ? like Get Smart only with more incompetence. PG proved she was better at throwing challenges than throwing stars, while Courtney surprised the world with yet another thing she was good at. James looked like a real threat but Erik prevailed instead to win the immunity necklace and a place at the Burnettian Elite Ninja Training Academy.

Step two in Amanda?s plan was to get Todd and Denise on board the James-Must-Go express along with herself and Courtney. Since she seems to dictate who stays and who goes at the best of times, this proved to be simple, even with Todd?s reservations. He knew that he would probably be the one with the second-most votes. The less simple part was ensuring no-one spilt the beans in any way and got James suspicious enough to play one of the idols he did have.

Cue PG, who discovered an idol hidden above James? regular sleeping spot, and immediately went to tell Amanda about this stunning discovery. PG started Jean-Roberting ?OMG, AM I BLOWING YOUR MIND WITH THIS INFORMATION?!? before asking if Amanda was aware a hidden immunity idol even existed. Jeff asks about the bloody thing every TC, you blithering idiot! Everyone flipping knows! Amanda was all ?Uh yeah, I?m not stupid? and admirably managed to avoid calling PG a dumbass.

PG then started off spouting excitedly about how they needed to blindside James. She was interrupted by Amanda, who advised her to be cool and trust her in a calming and Jedi-like manner. PG then gave a rare smile as she realised exactly what Amanda was hinting at.

Digging his own grave

Where was James in all of this? Talking about apples, as usual, and how no-one needed to be grabbing the apple before the final four. I?d be more worried about Amanda grabbing those two tasty cookies straight out of your hands if I were you, James. He also interviewed that he was the one basically holding the alliance together. Since when? I wonder if there was a brain swap cut out of a previous episode because he?s showing JR levels of delusion as to what exactly his position is in the game.

Pride cometh before a fall and nowhere is that more true on a heavily edited reality show where they can pick and choose soundbites of your most overconfident moments.

Boy, were there a lot of nervous faces during TC. The situation was a delicate one. One misplaced word, one guilty glance, and James would sniff out what was happening. Todd fidgeted, PG allowed a glimmer of hope to flicker across her normally Droopy Dawg-esque demeanour, and even Amanda almost let her poker face slip a few times. Surely, James would figure it out? Surely?

The votes were cast and Jeff asked if there was anyone who wanted to play the hidden immunity idol. A loooooong moment of silence followed as the camera cut from a suspicious-looking James to a twitchy Todd. Yet somehow, James did not pick up on how everyone was giving him the shifty side-eye. The moment passed and Jeff read out the votes.

Todd stopped twitching and smiled a triumphant smile. All the tension fell from PG?s shoulders. Amanda?s face remained neutral because she is stone cold awesome like that. And James? Well, James looked less shocked than you would expect. In his exit interview, he was understanding about the whole thing, smiling as he showed off his useless immunity idols. Maybe he can auction them off on Ebay.