Tonight, a special two-hour edition of Survivor airs tonight on CBS. Read a live recap and join the discussion here.
The morning after tribal council, Sarah says she doesn’t forgive Varner like everyone else did. Tai says he wanted to give Varner some comfort on his way out, but he’s still emotional about what Varner did to Zeke. Sarah once again mentions her conservative background, but she has no different feelings toward Zeke. As for Zeke, he discusses in his confessional that he doesn’t bring up the fact he’s transgender since he doesn’t want people to only focus on that fact. He just wants to focus on the game.
Later on, we see the castaways meet Jeff where a table of food is waiting. They all were anticipating a merge feast, but Jeff reveals a twist. Two people from each tribe must volunteer to sit out of the feast. If no one sits out, then all they’ll get is a cracker with cheese and iced tea. Brad is the first to volunteer to sit out. He says that is what his wife Monica would do. On the Mana tribe, Tai decides to sit out of the feast. In her confessional, Cirie mentions how appreciative she is of Brad and Tai sitting out, but she’s still suspicious since every move in this game is calculated.
While everyone else is eating, Brad and Tai sit together on a log. They discuss game, and Brad tells Tai he wants to target Hali and Michaela. In addition, Debbie pretends to be drunk to make people underestimate her. Everyone is amused by Debbie’s wild antics, but she says in her confessional that it was all for game.
After the feast, the castaways return to camp together. Debbie apologizes to Brad for screaming at him since that’s what Cochran advised her to do. Afterwards, Zeke tells everyone about what Varner did in the last tribal council and what Varner said about him being transgender is true. Aubry is especially impressed by how Zeke handled that situation. After the group discussion, we see Brad talk alone with Ozzy and Troyzan about the game. They agree to target Michaela. Soon enough, the plan to target Michaela gets around the camp and everyone seems to be on board with voting her out. However, Zeke wonders if Michaela could be a number on his side to help take out Brad and his close allies. He doesn’t want Brad to strike against him or his close allies first.
Hali notices how there are several conversations going around camp, and she fears she and Michaela are out of the loop. She wants to work with Michaela, and Hali lets Michaela know her name has come up. Hali wants to light a fire under Michaela so she’ll fight for her spot in the game. Michaela is unhappy to hear this, so she goes to talk to Cirie. She wants to work with people she can trust. Cirie says Michaela wears her heart on her sleeve, and they have a heart-to-heart conversation as Cirie gives Michaela advice on how to improve her social game. She points out how perception is reality is this game, and she can’t let others know when she’s feeling hungry or mad. In her confessional, Cirie acknowledges how Michaela is public enemy #1, but she says she’ll save Michaela if she can pull it off.
It’s time for the first individual immunity challenge. It’s an endurance challenge as they have to balance on a plank while holding a block of wood against a frame with their head. Once they all get adjusted, the challenge begins. Hali, Troyzan, and Zeke are the first three out seconds into the challenge. Cirie is next, followed by Debbie. Michaela was struggling and shaking, but managed to stay in it until she does eventually drop her block of wood. Ozzy is the next one out, followed by Aubry and Brad. 25 minutes later, only four people remain. Sarah is the next one out, followed by Sierra. It comes down to a showdown between Tai and Andrea. Who will win? Tai is the next one out. Andrea wins immunity!
When they get back to camp, Sierra is worried about Hali having a hidden immunity idol since Hali seems too confident. Now the plan is to split the votes between Michaela and Hali with the plan to still vote out Michaela. When Cirie, Brad, and Sierra are wondering what they should tell Michaela and Hali, the two of them walk up to the group conversation. They are told Zeke is the plan. However, Michaela is aware that her name is going to be written down tonight. Nonetheless, Cirie is not on board with getting rid of Michaela since she knows that won’t be good for her game. Cirie would rather get rid of Hali between the two. Zeke and Cirie later approach Sierra about why they’re voting Michaela out instead of Hali. Sierra says it’s because camp life would be awful if Michaela returns after receiving votes at tribal council. While Sierra asks Debbie what’s Zeke’s problem is before dubbing herself the sheriff in town, Cirie is letting Michaela know that she and Zeke are trying to save her.
It’s time for tribal council. Zeke gets the first question about the merge, and Zeke says several conversations going on at once is something to get used to. Andrea says that the merge sets the tone for the rest of the game as lines are being drawn. Debbie says tonight won’t be a shock. Hali says she’s in the dark with this vote. She says four of them are blindfolded and one of them will be shot. Michaela agrees, and she says no one would talk to her. Michaela wants to understand what is guiding people’s vote and if people are really playing individually. Tai says it’s not just about the vote tonight, but the rest of the votes down the line. Ozzy says risks and idols are the criteria on whom to vote out. Debbie thinks the present is always a good time to flush out an idol. Hali says she’ll let everyone know she doesn’t have an idol. She’s willing to empty her bag, but only if someone asks her to. Hali says if they’re targeting her, it’s a mistake since she’s a free agent not controlling the game. Sierra says it’s a good point, but it’s all about having numbers at this point. Afterwards, it’s time to vote. We see Cirie vote for Michaela, but she says it’s actually to save Michaela.
Jeff reads the votes. The first vote is for…
Zeke
Zeke
Michaela
Hali
Michaela
Hali
Michaela
Hali
Michaela
Hali
Hali
Hali
Hali is voted out and the first member of the jury.
The next morning, Michaela says she’ll stay loyal to Cirie. She is appreciative to work with another African American woman like Cirie, and she doesn’t want to do anything to jeopardize either of their games. However, Cirie wants to keep their alliance a secret. Cirie says the war is going to start, and she sees Sierra as controlling Brad and Brad as controlling Troyzan. Cirie, Zeke, and Aubry talk game, and they are on board with targeting those three. Aubry points out how it’s a war between two sides, and she’s fine to be on Team Cirie. Later, Zeke goes talk to Andrea, and Andrea says she sees Brad and Sierra as threats too. Andrea also says Debbie is a wildcard. Andrea wants to target Sierra and then Debbie afterwards. However, Zeke wants to be the person in control, and he sees Andrea and Cirie as running the game instead of Brad and Sierra. Zeke wants to be the one calling the shots, so now he wants to take out Andrea or Cirie at this next vote.
It’s now time for the reward challenge. Two players from a team of six will dive into the ocean to retrieve fish puzzle pieces tied to a net. Afterwards, the other team members must hook their fish onto a pole. Once all the fish pieces are hooked, they can carry them over to a table where the last two team members must solve the puzzle. The first team to solve the puzzle win a spa day reward. After a schoolyard pick for teams, Sarah picks Brad, Aubry, Michaela, Cirie, and Sierra on her team. Andrea picks Tai, Ozzy, Troyzan, Debbie, and Zeke. Afterwards, the challenge begins, and it’s a fairly even challenge as both teams are dragging the nets with the fish pieces to shore. Andrea and Tai make a mistake while taking the fishes to the table. They left a fish behind, so they must go behind to retrieve it. This allows the other team to overtake them with Cirie and Sierra working on the puzzle before the other team. Nonetheless, the other team gets to working on the puzzle before Cirie and Sierra finish theirs. However, Cirie and Sierra start struggling with the puzzle as Zeke manages to solve it for his team. Andrea, Tai, Ozzy, Troyzan, Debbie, and Zeke win reward!
The losing team returns to camp, and Cirie feels bad about losing the challenge since she was working on the puzzle. She equates losing the challenge as a mother unable to feed her hungry children. Meanwhile, the winners of the challenge are enjoying their reward. They have showers and food available to them. Tai even streaks around the area as a joke. Afterwards, it’s back to game talk. Zeke says in his confessional that he wants the war to start his way, which means him being in control. Zeke talks to Tai and Debbie on the beach, and he throws out Andrea and Cirie as targets. Debbie tells Zeke she is on board, but she says in her confessional that she’s really skeptical about Zeke’s plan. She doesn’t seem to trust him.
It’s time for the immunity challenge. It’s another endurance challenge, but this one requires them to hang onto a pole as long as possible. The last person left on his or her pole will win immunity. The challenge begins, and Jeff points out how Ozzy has won this challenge before twice. Cirie is the first one out of the challenge as she slides down the pole. She is followed by Brad, leaving ten castaways left to compete. Aubry is the next one to drop, and she’s followed by Debbie. Zeke is the next one out of the challenge, and he is followed by Sierra. Troyzan is the next one eliminated from the challenge, and he’s followed by Sarah. Twenty minutes later, only Michaela, Ozzy, Tai, and Andrea remain. Ozzy says he plans to break his record, and Michaela drops out next. She believes no one is going to be able to beat Ozzy in this challenge. Andrea drops next (from very high up too). One hour has passed, and only Tai and Ozzy remain. Ozzy says if he wins, he can go fishing and provide for the tribe. If not, then he won’t go fishing. Tai isn’t bothered, and he says he wants to win this challenge too. The challenge continues, but who will win between Tai and Ozzy? And to lots of people’s surprise, Ozzy eventually does slide down the pole. Tai wins immunity!
They return to camp, and Zeke is glad Andrea did not win immunity. He wants her out. Zeke goes talk to Sierra, and he tells her that Cirie, Andrea, and Aubry have brought up Sierra’s name. He wants to vote with Sierra to get Andrea out. Sierra doesn’t trust Zeke, so she tells Cirie what Zeke have told her. Soon enough, word gets around that Zeke has thrown Andrea and Cirie under the bus. Now there’s discussion to vote out Zeke instead. However, as Sierra and Debbie are lying on the hammock, Sierra asks what they should do. Debbie tells her they should vote out Ozzy tonight. Sierra says she’d do it, so Debbie goes around telling people, such as Troyzan, Tai, and Sarah, to vote out Ozzy tonight. They want to blindside him. Sarah discusses the vote in her confessional. She can either side with the group voting out Zeke, or she can side with the group voting out Ozzy.
It’s time for tribal council, and Jeff asks Ozzy the first question about the game. Ozzy says the game is more cutthroat this time around. Sarah says she doesn’t know what the pairs or groups are yet, and jokes they are all a bunch of single people waiting to hook up. Jeff asks Ozzy about losing the immunity challenge and if he’s worried, and Ozzy says he has value to the tribe since he can feed them. Zeke discusses how tricky it is to put people on the jury that would be willing to vote for him. Tai discusses how cagey everyone is, and Debbie says she doesn’t know who she is with. She mentions how in the Air Force, it’s a team effort where everyone is supporting each other. However, here she has daggers pointed at her. Afterwards, it’s time to vote. We see Sierra vote for Ozzy, and Andrea vote for Zeke. But who will be voted out?
Before Jeff reads the vote, Debbie uses her advantage. She goes cast an extra vote. Afterwards, Jeff tallies the votes. The first vote is for…
Ozzy
Zeke
Sierra
Aubry
Zeke
Ozzy
Zeke
Ozzy
Zeke
Ozzy
Ozzy
Ozzy
Ozzy is voted out and the second member of the jury.
And that wraps up tonight’s episode of Survivor. Thanks for reading, post your thoughts in the comment section below, and come back next week for another live recap.
