A new episode of Survivor 48 airs tonight on CBS. Read a live recap here.
The Vula tribe returns to camp after tribal council. Kyle saved himself with his hidden immunity idol, meaning Thomas was voted out instead. Shauhin laments his #1 ally going home. Kyle says he and Kamilla pulled off a “master class in deception.” Kyle tells Joe he wants to put this behind them. In his confessional, he explains that it can’t be a two against two deadlock next time. Kamilla is excited that she and Kyle survived another day. She also doesn’t want Shauhin and Joe to realize she and Kyle are actually a very tight alliance.
It’s time for the reward challenge. They must throw sand bags at rotating targets to release balls. They will then toss balls onto a trampoline to land in a net basket. Finally, they must land balls into three targets. The first two tribes to finish will win a pastry reward. The tribe in first place will get to go to the sanctuary. The tribe in second place will receive a small delivery of pastries. The challenge begins, and Civa takes the early lead. However, Lagi takes the lead halfway through. Eva lands the first ball at the final stage of the challenge. Shauhin lands the first ball for Vula. David lands the second and third ball for Lagi. Lagi wins reward! Shauhin lands the second ball, and then Kyle lands the third ball before Civa lands any. Vula wins reward! After the challenge, Jeff asks Lagi for their reaction. Mary is excited, and she adds that Lagi still has leftover fruit left back at camp too. Sai says Mary is gloating, and she should be more tactful. In his confessional, Mitch says that Sai should’ve kept her opinion to herself.
Back at the Civa camp, Sai is getting on Chrissy’s nerves. Sai refused to compete in the challenge, yet she helped herself to some fruit right when they got back to camp. Mitch tells Chrissy that Sai is getting on his nerves too. They talk game, and they discuss voting out Sai. They originally wanted to vote out Bianca, but they don’t think she’s as much of a threat now that Thomas is gone. Later, Mitch proposes an alliance to Bianca. He asks if she would be willing to vote out Sai, and Bianca says “100%.” In her confessional, Bianca says she wants to weigh her options since she doesn’t have a vote (she lost it at the Journey). Bianca knows Sai wants to work with her. In her confessional, Sai wants to have Bianca and Cedrek as numbers on her side moving forward.
We next see the Lagi tribe enjoy their reward at the sanctuary. They discuss Sai’s comments after the challenge. They call Sai a sore loser and add Mary had a right to be excited after losing so many challenges before the swap. Charity also gets emotional as she claims that she likes them all. In her confessional, Eva calls Charity fake. She doesn’t think she can trust her.
Meanwhile on Vula, they’re enjoying their smaller reward. We also hear Shauhin’s backstory. His parents were refugees. Kamilla’s family in Sri Lanka had a similar experience during a civil war. Joe shares that his father lived during the Jim Crow era. In her confessional, Kamilla gets emotional after they’ve bonded. She doesn’t want to vote any of them out. The four of them agree to stay loyal to each other if they make it to the merge together.
It’s time for the immunity challenge. They must swim from the ocean and back to shore while pulling a boat with a chest. Then they must carry a chest to shore and use keys to unlock it. Then they must dig and go under a log and then complete a table maze. Everyone on the tribe must maneuver and land one ball in the table maze. The first two tribes to finish will win immunity. The challenge begins, and Lagi takes the early lead. Eventually, all three tribes are at their table mazes at the same time. Mitch lands the first ball for Civa. Joe lands one for Vula. Shauhin lands the second one for Vula. Kyle lands the third ball for Vula. Eva is trying, but she swaps with David. Kamilla lands the fourth ball for Vula. Vula wins immunity! David lands the first ball for Lagi. Bianca lands the second ball for Civa. Charity lands the second ball for Lagi. Mary lands the third ball for Lagi. Eva is trying again while Sai is struggling for Civa. Eva is struggling too. Chrissy switches out with Sai. Chrissy lands the third ball for Civa. Eva is crying as she can’t land her ball. Joe is encouraging her from the sidelines, as are Eva’s Lagi tribe members. Eventually, Eva lands the fourth ball. Lagi wins immunity! Civa will go to tribal council. Eva is crying, and Jeff says it’s okay for Joe to give her a hug. Joe helps soothe Eva until she feels calm. Jeff discusses what just happened. He says Joe and Eva may have just exposed their tight alliance. Joe explains that he wanted to be a role model for his kids, regardless if it exposes his game. Eva shares with everybody that she has autism and she had an episode. After she tells her story, Jeff breaks down in tears too.
Back at Lagi, Eva feels better that everyone is so understanding. She doesn’t feel embarrassed, and she says her autism isn’t something that should be viewed as a problem. She hopes her message connects with the audience and inspires other kids with autism. Star feels like being honest with the tribe too, so she tells everyone that she has the Beware Advantage. They all try to help her decode it together. Eva ends up opening the cylinder for Star, revealing the hidden immunity idol. Star tells Eva she can keep the hidden immunity idol for herself.
Civa returns to camp after tribal council. Bianca says she’s in a predicament without a vote. Her plan is to pit the two duos against each other. Bianca tells Cedrek that Mitch and Chrissy want to vote out Sai tonight. Bianca tells Mitch and Chrissy that she is on board with voting out Sai tonight. Bianca talks to Sai too, and Sai tells Bianca that Cedrek will vote out Chrissy with them. However, Sai shares in a confessional that she’s worried that Cedrek could write her name down again. Meanwhile, Chrissy and Mitch try to persuade Cedrek to vote out Sai tonight. In his confessional, Cedrek admits he’s not willing to vote out Sai tonight. In her confessional, Chrissy says that Cedrek will be out of his mind if he doesn’t vote out Sai tonight.
Later, Chrissy shares with Bianca that Cedrek told her he is voting out Sai tonight. Bianca talks with Cedrek later to know what his plan is for tonight. He says Sai could be a liability, but he’s writing down Chrissy’s name tonight. Bianca is anticipating a 2-2 vote tonight. Right before tribal council, Bianca comes clean to Cedrek that she doesn’t have a vote tonight. She wants to build trust with him. She suggests that he just votes for Sai tonight to make it an easy vote. However, in his confessional, Cedrek says he’s torn. He can stay silent and vote out Sai, or he could try to turn it back on Bianca at tribal council tonight.
It’s time for tribal council. Jeff asks how to use tribal council to their advantage. Cedrek says the experience of tribal council makes you wiser. Sai adds that they know what to look out for. Jeff asks what is the tribe dynamic. Chrissy says it’s a 2-2-1. Bianca could be the easy vote since she’s the lone former Lagi. Cedrek says Survivor is more complex than that. Mitch says it would make sense to get rid of Bianca, but the underdog tribe can still do well in the game. Jeff notes he’s talking about Sai and Cedrek. Sai says tonight is a test of who comes across as genuine. Bianca admits she’s terrified, but she could be a third person for one of the duos. Cedrek says small nuances can matter to how people are perceived. Mitch says relationships matter in Survivor. Chrissy says she did talk to Bianca about working together, and hopefully her gut tells her the right way to go. Sai says trusting your gut is important. Jeff says it looks like the walls are closing in. Bianca says it’s human nature to second guess. She hopes people trust what she said. Finally, it’s time to vote.
We see Sai vote for Chrissy and Mitch vote for Sai. But who will be voted out tonight?
Jeff reads the votes. The first vote is for…
Sai
Chrissy
Bianca
Bianca
Bianca is the fifth person voted out of Survivor 48. Bianca breaks down in tears while Sai is confused. Chrissy tells Sai there were only four votes, so Bianca didn’t have a vote. Bianca gets her torch snuffed and walks away.
And that wraps up tonight’s episode of Survivor 48. Thanks for reading, and come back next week for another live recap.
