A new episode of Survivor airs tonight on CBS. Read a live recap here.
Rachel says she’s breathing the largest sigh of relief. She was gifted the Safety Without Power advantage, allowing her to leave tribal council before the vote. The other tribe members arrive after Tiyana was voted out. Gabe is disappointed that Rachel couldn’t be voted out instead. Sol gave Rachel the Safety Without Power advantage, but he doesn’t tell anybody except Rachel. He asks her not to tell anybody. Rachel is excited that she has a trustworthy ally. In addition, both Sol and Sam separately tell Rachel she was going to be voted out if she didn’t have that advantage. The former Tuku members were scrambling after she got to leave tribal council. Sam predicts Gata and Tuku will be at war at the upcoming vote.
The next morning, Caroline reads a note telling them to get ready for the Survivor Auction. They must collect tubes of money scattered around the jungle. They will need this money to bid on items at the auction later. Everyone goes hunting, and Sierra ends up finding more tubes than anyone else. Andy is the only one who didn’t find any tubes of money.
Jeff welcomes them to the Survivor Auction. Whoever has the most money by the end of the auction will lose his or her vote at the upcoming tribal council. The auction begins. The first item is potato chips and soda. Sol buys it for $60. Next, Teeny buys macaroni & cheese for $640. The third item is covered. Sierra buys it for $800. The covered item ends up being chips, salsa, and a margarita. The fourth item is covered too. Kyle buys it for $560. Kyle is a vegetarian, but he ended up buying buffalo wings and celery. Kyle decides to eat it anyway. He says he’s disappointed in himself, but he’s hungry.
The fifth item is covered too. Gabe buys it for $660. Jeff gives him the option of trading it for another covered item. Gabe sticks with the first option, which ends up being a single coconut. Jeff offers the covered item Gabe turned down next. Sol buys it for $540. It’s a giant apple pie with cream. Jeff offers the next covered item, and Rachel buys it for $500. Its ends up being a burger, fries, and a beer. Jeff goes to get the next item. Meanwhile, Rachel notices a tiny piece of paper in her bowl of fries. It’s an advantage, and she sneaks it under her shirt.
Genevieve spends all her money on the next option. She bought a dessert tray. The next item is shown, which is a breakfast tray. Jeff says there’s a twist. This will be bought for $200. Sam, Caroline, Sue, and Sierra all want to buy it. However, they must eat two grubs to buy the breakfast tray with blueberry pancakes for $200. Sierra changes her mind. Sam eats the two grubs, allowing him to buy the breakfast tray for $200. The tenth item is a burrito. Sue spends all her money on it. The eleventh item is bought by Caroline. It ends up being fish eyes. The twelfth item is bought by Sierra. It’s peanut butter and chocolate, and she can share it with two people. She shares it with Gabe and Caroline. That was the final item. Sam had the most money left, so Sam will not vote at tonight’s tribal council.
The castaways return to camp. Rachel reads her secret note, informing her there’s a hidden immunity idol sewn into the corner of the tarp. Meanwhile, Sierra wants to solidify an alliance with the Lavo and Gata tribe members. They want to target Kyle if he doesn’t win immunity again. However, Genevieve is wary of Teeny getting close to the Gata tribe members. She talks to Caroline and Sue about the possibility of targeting Rachel at the next tribal council. Caroline is on board. While everyone is chatting around camp, Rachel manages to retrieve the hidden immunity idol from the tarp without anyone noticing.
It’s time for the immunity challenge, which is an endurance challenge. They must grasp a handle and hold a bucket with 25% of their pregame body weight. If they drop their bucket, then they are eliminated from the challenge. The last man and last woman standing will each win immunity. The challenge begins, and Sam and Genevieve are the first two to drop their buckets. Teeny drops her bucket next. Sierra is the next one out of the challenge. She’s followed by Gabe. Caroline is the next to drop her bucket. Sol drops his bucket next. Rachel drops her bucket too. Sue wins immunity! It’s now down between Andy and Kyle for the men. Andy drops his bucket. Kyle wins immunity!
The castaways return to camp after tribal council. Kyle knows he has a target on his back after winning three immunity challenges, but he’s relieved he’s safe tonight. Sam pitches targeting Gabe to decrease the Tuku numbers, even though he doesn’t have a vote tonight. Sierra lets Andy know the plan to vote out Gabe. Andy, however, feels like Sam and Sierra only see him as a pawn in their game. He wants to transform into a strong player and become a new Andy. Andy would rather split up Sierra and Sam tonight. Andy tells Gabe he wants to target his former Gata tribe members, and Gabe is on board. Gabe pitches voting out Sierra. The plan goes around to the other Lavo and Tuku tribe members. Teeny is close to Sierra, so she would rather vote out Sam tonight. In addition to wanting to protect Sierra, she believes Sam is the bigger threat. Before tribal council, Genevieve throws out the idea of targeting Rachel. She fears Sam or Sierra would play an idol for each other, but they wouldn’t play an idol for Rachel. Sol wants to work with Rachel, so he pushes back and wants the target to stay on Sam or Sierra. Genevieve would still rather see Rachel get voted out, but she notes there are a lot of cooks in the kitchen.
It’s time for tribal council. Jeff asks where is the game heading. Sam says they are waiting for war. Gabe agrees that Survivor is a war, but there’s always moving parts. Andy jokes he’s already under attack since he received two votes at his last tribal council. Gabe feels like the Survivor Auction was like a ceasefire, but then they went back to battle. Teeny agrees they are friends, but it’s not a game about being friends. Genevieve says they need to rely on a lot of people in a large group. Sierra says it’s tough to keep track of everything to see where their trust lies. Sierra says tonight will say what the rest of the outcome will look like. Sam says they want to have their finger on the pulse of the game. Kyle believes whomever gets voted out is because the target is good at the game. Andy predicts people will be upset since it’s likely some will be left out of the plan. Teeny says everyone should be worried at tribal council with eleven people. Afterwards, it’s time to vote.
Before Jeff reads the votes, Rachel plays her Shot in the Dark. The scroll says Not Safe.
The first vote is for…
Sam
Gabe
Sam
Sierra
Sam
Sierra
Sam
Sierra
Sierra
It’s a tie. They must revote. Since Sam didn’t have a vote due to losing it at the auction, Sierra will be allowed to vote again. Sam and Rachel won’t vote.
Jeff reads the votes again.
Sam
Sierra
Sierra
Sierra
Sierra
Sierra
Sierra is the eighth person voted out and the first 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.
