A new episode of Survivor 44 airs tonight on CBS. Read a live recap here.
The episode begins with the tribe returning to camp after tribal council. Yam Yam feels lucky to survive the vote. He knew it was either going to be him or Matt voted out. Frannie is upset to see Matt get voted out. She lost her best friend and closest ally in the game. She says Matt felt like home to her. Kane and Brandon are happy to see Matt go. They think it was a good move since it separated Matt & Frannie and decreased the Soka numbers.
Later, Heidi explains to Yam Yam why she used the advantage to get Lauren to vote for him. She claims she wanted to make the choice that ruffled the least amount of feathers. However, Heidi is determined to vote out a former Ratu member next. As the tribe stands now, there are three former Tika, three former Soka, and four former Ratu. Yam Yam notes in his confessional how Tika is in the middle of the Soka vs. Ratu war. Yam Yam suggests to Carson that they should keep playing the middle and flip sides, and Carson agrees. Carolyn also notices how they are in a good position. She plans to keep being underestimated by her fellow tribe members.
The next morning, Carson is feeling sick. He throws up in the bushes and calls today a low point for him in the game. Later, the tribe gets tree mail informing them they will be paired up at the upcoming immunity challenge. They have to choose their pairs before they depart for the challenge: Carolyn & Carson, Danny & Lauren, Kane & Brandon, Frannie & Yam Yam, and Heidi & Jaime.
Jeff explains the rules of the challenge. For the first two rounds, they will work with their partner to go through a series of obstacles. After the first round, the first four pairs to complete the obstacle advances to the second round. After the second round, the first two pairs to complete the obstacle advances to the final round. For the final round, it will be four individuals competing for immunity. It will be an endurance challenge requiring them to stand between two walls with their feet on narrow footholds. As the challenge progresses, they will have to go down the wall and place their feet on smaller perches. The last one standing will win immunity.
The challenge begins, and Carolyn is struggling with twisting out of the net obstacle. She and Carson fall way too far behind and are unable to catch up. Carolyn finally gets out of the rope obstacle, but the other four pairs already advance. Carolyn and Carson are the first two eliminated from the challenge. The second round requires them to use planks to cross a rope bridge. Kane & Brandon and Danny & Lauren are the two pairs to cross the bridge first. They advance to the final round. All four manage to make it to the third stage of the challenge before anyone falls. Eventually, Kane is the first to fall, and he’s followed by Brandon. It’s now a showdown between Danny and Lauren. They make it to the final stage of the challenge, standing on the smallest perch. Danny drops next. Lauren wins immunity!
The tribe returns to camp after the immunity challenge. The former Ratu tribe members want to target Frannie, and they hope to count on the former Tika tribe members Carson, Carolyn, and Yam Yam to vote with them too. Brandon also suggests voting out Frannie to Danny and Heidi, and they pretend to go along with this plan. However, Heidi and Danny don’t want Ratu to get the majority. Heidi suggests voting out Brandon tonight. Danny says he’s on board. He also would consider playing his hidden immunity idol on Frannie to blindside Brandon.
Later, Heidi makes her pitch to Yam Yam and Carolyn. She says Ratu has four tribe members, but Tika and Soka can come together as a group of six. Yam Yam later discusses the plan with Carson, but Carson is afraid of making enemies with the Ratu tribe members. Heidi joins their conversation, and she reveals Danny has an idol he plans to play for Frannie. She hopes this information will sway them into working with the Soka tribe members. Danny even tells Frannie he will play the idol for her. However, he later learns from Carson that Heidi told him and Yam Yam about the idol. Now Danny is worried this will ruin the plan. If Yam Yam leaks their plan to the Ratu tribe members, then their plan could backfire.
It’s time for tribal council. Kane says the game is different since there’s now a jury. Heidi points out how everyone is vulnerable except for Lauren. The pool is larger than it has been before. She hopes she is on the right side of the vote. Carolyn adds nothing is ever certain in Survivor. Jeff asks what’s the key to Survivor. Yam Yam says it’s knowing what’s going on behind the scenes. Heidi says her level of anxiety and adrenaline was 10/10 when she returned to camp after the immunity challenge. Jaime says they have to be “on their toes” at all times. Brandon says the difficulty of the game is not knowing if they are on the right side or being lied to. Lauren says it could be a majority vote tonight, but she’s always thinking long term. Danny says it’s never good to be in the minority of the vote, but the jury respects a comeback too. Kane wants to make sure he’s always moving with intention, whether it’s to make a big move or establish trust with new friends. Frannie notes how the direction everyone is going towards could change after each tribal council. Heidi says tonight’s vote will show where they all see themselves in the game at the moment. Afterwards, it’s time to vote.
Before Jeff reads the votes, Danny plays his hidden immunity idol for Frannie.
Jeff reads the votes. The first vote is for…
Frannie
Frannie
Frannie
Frannie
Frannie
Frannie
Brandon
Brandon
Brandon
Brandon is voted out and the second member of the jury.
And that wraps up tonight’s episode of Survivor. Thanks for reading, and come back next week for another live recap.
