A new episode of Survivor 47 airs tonight on CBS. Read a live recap here.
The episode begins with Gata returning to camp after tribal council. Anika was blindsided, and Rachel was excluded from the vote too. In his confessional, Andy says it was exciting that a big plan came together like he hoped it would. He’s glad that Rachel is on the bottom. Meanwhile, Sierra apologizes to Rachel. Sam claims he still wants to play the game with Rachel. Rachel is understanding, and she tells Andy she thought he was the consensus vote. In her confessional, Rachel says it feels like a big betrayal. It doesn’t feel good to be on the bottom of the tribe. In his confessional, Sam explains why he chose not to play his hidden immunity idol. It was only good for this tribal council, but he didn’t want to lose Andy’s trust. However, he hopes he can use the idol as a decoy in the future. Rachel says she needs new pathways in the game, so she hopes the merge comes soon.
The next morning a boat arrives at the Gata tribe. They get a message and learn the game is going to change. They’re instructed to drop their buffs, hinting at a merge. Lavo and Tuku are given the same message. Everybody is excited to make it to this stage of the game. All the castaways will be living at the Tuku beach. After everyone arrives, they read a message on the beach together. They will compete in a grueling challenge, but there’s an advantage to the challenge hidden somewhere at camp. They’re told to go look for it.
Everyone searches for the advantage. Genevieve spots a buoy in the water, but Sam doubts it’s anything important. However, the advantage is in fact attached to the buoy. Meanwhile, the other castaways get to know each other. Later, everyone notices the red paint by the water well. This was the paint that splattered when Sue found the hidden immunity idol in the previous episode. Caroline realizes Sue found the hidden immunity idol, but she plans to keep her secret. Later, Genevieve decides to go swim to the buoy to see if the advantage is there or not. She finds the advantage, and she lets everyone know back at camp. Sam is kicking himself for not swimming out to the buoy earlier. The note says Jeff will let her know the advantage at the challenge. After the advantage was found, everyone continues to speculate about the red paint by the well. Caroline pulls Sue aside and lets her know she’s still on Sue’s side and she won’t tell anyone she found the idol. Tiyana, however, is suspicious of Sue. Tiyana spotted Sue by the well when she was covered in paint. Sue is worried about Tiyana too, even admitting that she’s willing to vote Tiyana out to protect her secret.
We see a flashback to a conversation between Kyle and Rome. Kyle shares too much of his thoughts, including that Sam is the biggest threat in the game. Kyle also says that Caroline and Sue have a mother-daughter relationship and aren’t good in challenges. Rome asks about Tiyana, and Kyle says she’s fair. Rome decides to throw Kyle under the bus with this information. He tells Sam, Sue, and Tiyana that Kyle has been throwing their names around. Tiyana is shocked, especially since Kyle is her close ally. Tiyana talks to Sol, and Sol says this is how Rome plays the game. He likes to stir the pot. Sol also gives Kyle a heads up about Rome, and Kyle is angry. He says Rome is twisting his words. Kyle meets with Tiyana, Sol, Andy, Caroline, and Sue by the well to clear his name. He says Rome is his #1 target.
It’s time for the immunity challenge. They will first play in two teams of six. The winning team will then compete individually to win immunity. Jeff reveals Genevieve’s advantage is that she automatically advances to the individual portion of the challenge. She also gets to enjoy reward.
There was a schoolyard pick for teams. Sierra, Rachel, Sam, Sue, Kyle, and Teeny are on the Yellow Team. Rome, Caroline, Andy, Gabe, Tiyana, and Sol are on the Blue Team. Afterwards, the challenge begins. Both teams must go through a series of obstacles before maneuvering a ball through a table maze. The first team to land their ball in the center will win reward and advance to the second round of the challenge. The challenge is fairly even until the Blue Team gets all their members up the ramp first. They are the first to attempt the table maze. Rome and Gabe maneuver the ball together, but their struggles gives the Yellow Team a chance to catch up. The Yellow Team use sandbags to get everyone up the ramp. Sam and Kyle work on the table maze, and they have better success than Rome and Gabe. It’s fairly close towards the end, but the Blue Team drops their ball again as the Yellow team lands their ball in the center. The Yellow Team wins!
Sierra, Rachel, Sam, Sue, Kyle, Teeny, and Genevieve will compete for immunity next. It’s an endurance challenge. They must stand on a narrow beam while balancing a ball on a wooden bow. If they fall or drop their ball, then they are eliminated from the challenge. The last person standing will win immunity. The challenge begins. Sierra is the first to drop her ball. Sam drops his ball next. Minutes later, everyone remaining moves on to the next stage of the challenge. They must move down and stand on a narrower part of the beam. Rachel is the next to drop her ball, and she’s followed by Genevieve. Teeny drops her ball next, leaving it a showdown between Kyle and Sue. Kyle and Sue move on to the final round, which is standing on the narrowest part of the beam. Sue drops her ball. Kyle wins immunity!
After the challenge, the members of the Yellow Team and Genevieve enjoy a food reward. The talk turns to the vote, and Rome seems to be the consensus vote. Kyle especially wants Rome gone, but Kyle doesn’t have a vote tonight. He lost his vote at a previous journey. They also discuss Andy as a possible backup vote, and Sierra and Sam reluctantly agree. Back at camp, Caroline and Andy are on the same page about using their amulet advantages with Teeny tonight. Sol, Andy, and Caroline agree to vote out Rome too. Sol says it will feel like Christmas morning to vote out “the Rome Show.” Meanwhile, Rome says he must shift his target to Sol since Kyle is immune tonight. Andy gives Sol a heads up that Rome is targeting him.
Rome is very confident that he has control of the vote. He says he masterminded everybody voting for Sol. Little does he know, everybody has agreed to vote for Rome tonight. Sam and Sol agree to place votes on Andy in case Rome plays an advantage, but Rome is still everybody else’s target. Unless something unexpected happens at tribal council, it looks like Rome will be voted out tonight.
It’s time for tribal council. Jeff asks about the scrambling before the vote. Andy says everyone is trying to portray themselves as a trustworthy and good number. Rome says it’s only been a little over 24 hours since they’ve been on the same beach. They only have a short time to build trust. Kyle says people have been doing a lot of fact-checking on the beach. Sol says people only looked for the advantage for one minute before getting to know each other. Jeff asks if advantages are disadvantage. Rome says the people with the amulet advantages plan to use it tonight to get rid of it. Jeff even invites Rome to sit in his chair to talk about the pros and cons of the amulet advantage, which amuses everyone. Jeff shifts the talk to blindsides. Gabe says it’s not important to be the architect of a blindside. What’s important is to know where the vote is going. Caroline says past players say the merge is where the game starts. Everybody has been craving for this experience. Andy says everybody wants to be known as someone who makes an impact on the game. No one wants to be simply labeled as a “pre-merger.” Afterwards, it’s time for the vote.
We see Andy, Genevieve, Tiyana, Sam, and Teeny vote for Rome. Sol votes for Andy. Rome votes for Sam while telling the camera he knows everyone is voting for Sol.
Before Jeff reads the votes, Caroline, Teeny, and Andy play their amulet idol for Teeny. Any votes for Teeny will not count.
Jeff reads the votes. The first vote is for…
Sam
Andy
Andy
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome is the sixth person voted out of Survivor 47. He’s blindsided, but he takes his elimination in stride.
And that wraps up tonight’s episode of Survivor 47. Thanks for reading, and come back next week for another live recap.
