Last time James and Ryan were voted out at two separate tribal councils. Karla was supposed to be left out of the vote, but Sami clued her in on his, Owen, and Noelle’s plan to blindside James. Jesse feels good about his spot in the game. He had two idols, and he knows Karla has an idol too. Jesse believes he, Cody, and Gabler are sitting comfortably in the middle.
It’s time for the reward challenge. They must spin in a metal frame, which will make them dizzy. Next, they must race through a series of obstacles to collect a sandbag. Lastly, they must toss the sandbag to land on top of a tower. The first person to land his or her sandbag will win reward: a night at a sanctuary. They will enjoy pizza, cheesecake, brownies, beer, and wine. They will also stay there overnight and have pillows and blankets. The challenge begins. Owen takes the early lead, but Cody passes him on the balance beam. Noelle is struggling on the balance beam. She is unable to get across, and she has difficulty with her artificial leg. Everyone is tossing their sandbags while Noelle remains in last place. Eventually, Noelle is able to get across the balance beam and start tossing her sandbag too. Soon enough, Noelle is the first to land her sandbag. Noelle wins reward! She’s very emotional, and her fellow tribe members and Jeff give her kudos on her win. Jeff shares that she also gets letters from home with her reward. But she’s not the only one that can enjoy the reward. Jeff lets her pick three people to join her. Noelle chooses Sami, Jesse, and Owen.
We next see Noelle, Sami, Jesse, and Owen at the sanctuary. They read their letters from home, and they are emotional hearing from their family. Eventually, the talk turns to game. Sami wants them to stick together. He tells everyone he wants to vote out Cassidy next. Noelle explains in a confessional she wanted to bring Sami to the reward since he tends to flip allegiances. She thinks he’ll be comfortable if he’s there at the reward with them.
Back at camp, Cody laments losing out on the reward. He also talks game with the three people there at camp. Cody throws out Sami’s name, and Cassidy says she has not built trust with Noelle or Owen. Cassidy feels like this could be a good chance to get numbers on her side, but she’s still hesitant to trust Gabler. Cassidy says Noelle is a big threat in the game. She asks Gabler his thoughts on Noelle, but he’s noncommittal about voting her out.
It’s time for the immunity challenge. They must steady a balance board with one hand and use their other hand to build a house of cards. The first castaway to build a house of cards high enough to reach a finish mark will win immunity. The challenge begins, and everyone initially struggles. All the house of cards keep collapsing, even after Owen, Cassidy, and Karla make some progress. Their cards fall too, which resets the challenge. Everyone keeps getting frustrated as they have to start over. Cards keep collapsing as Jeff tells them to keep trying. Eventually, Cassidy and Karla take the lead. They both have very high towers and are pretty much even until Karla’s cards collapse. Cassidy places her last card, which reaches the finish mark. Cassidy wins immunity!
The castaways returns to camp. Noelle says Cassidy winning immunity is a hiccup in their plan as they were planning to split the vote between Karla and Cassidy. Gabler gives Noelle a heads up that she’s being targeted tonight. Noelle feels like she can trust Jesse, Cody, Owen, and Gabler. She’s unsure about Sami, but she feels good they can still have the numbers to vote out Karla. Meanwhile, Cody and Jesse discuss their options. Jesse will feel bad about voting out Noelle, but he thinks it may be the best move for his game. Sami wants the vote to be a split between Noelle and Sami. After Jesse talks to Sami, Sami admits that going to the end with Noelle may not be a good idea. Jesse uses this to throw Sami under the bus to Noelle. Jesse thinks his plan to have a split vote between Sami and Noelle is going well, and he can sit back and watch it all play out. However, Gabler recognizes how Jesse and Cody are running the game. He shares his concern with Karla, and she is on the same page as him. Gabler wants to do what is best for his game.
It’s time for tribal council. Jeff starts the discussion by giving kudos to Noelle again for her reward challenge win. She wants to not only prove to herself she can succeed, but she wanted to inspire those watching from home too. The talk turns to game, and Gabler says they are all trying to figure things out. He says a lot is happening. Noelle agrees that they think they can know how others will play, but they never really know. Owen says they need to figure out who has their backs. He feels okay, but he’ll see what happens. Jesse says trust is currency, and those who are most trustworthy are most valuable. Cody says strategic talk changes throughout the day. Everyone is talking to everyone, so people can change their minds. Sami says they can’t help but compare their conversations with other people. Gabler says everyone is precise with their targets; he compares them to assassins. Karla says this is what makes people nervous since they won’t be able to see the blindside coming before it’s too late. Noelle adds they have to play like assassins due to hidden immunity idols currently in play. Jesse adds that he has to make the play to “get that money, baby.” He quotes the letter he got from his son. Afterwards, it’s time for the vote.
Jeff reads the votes. The first vote is for…
Karla
Noelle
Sami
Karla
Noelle
Noelle
Noelle
Noelle is the eleventh person voted out and the fourth member of the jury.
And that wraps up tonight’s episode of Survivor 43. Thanks for reading, and come back next week for another live recap.
