Tonight, a new episode of Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers aired tonight on CBS. Read a recap here.
The episode begins on the morning of Day 22. Mike is feeling uneasy about his vote. He followed Ben’s orders and voted for Joe. However, Desi was sent to the jury instead, and he’s worried that the majority alliance is going to continue to pick off the remaining Healers. To buy himself a few more days, he’s planning to throw the other Healers under the bus. While talking to Ben, Lauren, and Ryan, Mike tells them that the Healers fell apart after the tribes were mixed up. He said Cole was sharing secrets and stealing peanut butter. Mike says in a confessional that he hopes Cole and Joe will be the next two voted out. Elsewhere, we hear Lauren talking about her secret advantage. She chose to not cast a vote in the previous tribal council, but this means she’ll get to vote twice at an upcoming tribal council. She feels good about her advantage, and the only other person who knows about it is Ben. She trusts him the most; she wants them to be a tight duo. Meanwhile, Ryan and Devon are talking game, too. Ryan reveals to Devon that he found the hidden immunity idol at the last reward challenge, and Devon is excited to learn this information. Ryan knows he can trust Devon, so he feels good about his decision to share this info with him.
It’s time for the next reward challenge. In the middle of the ocean, they will be divided into two teams. They must swim out into the water and reach a platform where there is a large ladder. They must climb up the ladder and then leap into the ocean to retrieve a key underwater one at a time. Once they have three keys, they must use them to unlock a chest with balls that they must shoot into baskets. The first team to shoot five baskets will go on a luxury yacht and tour the islands. They also will have food and beverages too. Before the challenge begins, they are divided into the two teams. On the Blue Team are Ben, Devon, Ashley, Ryan, and Lauren, and on the Red Team are Cole, Chrissy, JP, Joe, and Mike. The challenge begins with Ben and Chrissy being the first two to retrieve keys for their respective teams. Chrissy gets an early lead for the Red Team as Ben is struggling retrieving a key, but he finally gets one. Cole is the next to go for a key, and Ashley is the next for her team. Ashley manages to catch up to Cole, making up time for the Blue Team. JP and Devon are the next two in the water, and JP manages to retrieve the ball very quickly without having to come up for air. Ryan and Lauren open the chest for the Red Team. The Red Team can now shoot baskets, but the Blue Team are not far behind. Joe and Ben are shooting baskets, and Ben manages to get a few in a row. However, Joe lands all the baskets first. Cole, Chrissy, JP, Joe, and Mike win reward!
On the reward, they are all excited as they’re watching dolphins in the water and getting to eat a great meal on a luxury yacht. Cole is hoping the food on the reward will give him the energy to help him win the next immunity challenge. In a confessional, Joe points out how there is an alliance of seven people, although there are ten people in the game. He still plans to play hard and hopes he can somehow survive. The yacht also passes by their camp, and the losers of the reward challenge all simultaneously moon them. Afterwards, we see Ryan and Ben talk game. Ryan chooses to tell Ben that he has the hidden immunity idol. Ben is excited to learn this, especially since it means Cole does not have the idol. However, he will be keeping an eye on Ryan since he believes it’s evident that Ryan is playing hard to win too. But for the time being, Ben wants the group of seven to stick together.
After the reward challenge, Joe continues searching for the hidden immunity idol under the tribe flag. He’s aware that the idol is probably gone, but he’s hoping his aggressive gameplay and demeanor will make him too obvious of a target that people will keep him around as an easy person to get rid of later. The tribe comments how Joe is still searching for the idol, and Joe candidly asks if they are talking about him as he walks back to their shelter. The conversation gets heated, and Joe accuses Ashley of being a goat that will be dragged to the end, and he adds that he doesn’t respect Chrissy. Ashley is fed up, and she really wants Joe gone before Cole. She calls Joe a bully and someone that is very unpleasant to be around.
Next, we see Ben and Devon talk game. Ben wants someone else to join him and Lauren, and he thinks Devon will be a good choice. He thinks Devon has a good soul. The two of them talk about going to the end together, and Ben also reveals to Devon that Ryan has a hidden immunity idol. Devon acts surprised, but Ryan already told Devon this information. Devon thought he was the only person Ryan shared this info with, so now he has doubts about Ryan. In a confessional, Devon says he’ll move on from Ryan, and he plans to work closely with Ben moving forward.
It’s time for the immunity challenge. They will have bars on their shoulders that will force them into a squatting position. If they go too low, a flag behind them will rise. If they go too high, an urn attached to the bars will drop. If either the flag rises or the urn drops, then they will be eliminated from the challenge. The last person standing will win immunity. The challenge begins, and Ashley and Mike are the first two to drop. Later, JP is the third person out of the challenge, and he’s followed by Devon and Joe. Ben is the next one out, meaning Cole, Lauren, Chrissy, and Ryan are the last four left in the challenge. After 20 minutes into the challenge, Chrissy is the next one out, and she’s followed by Ryan. Cole and Lauren are the last two left in the challenge; one of them will win immunity. Cole’s urn drops. Lauren wins immunity. Before the commercial break, Cole is aware he’s a target. He knows people dislike Joe, so he is hoping they will vote him out tonight instead.
The tribe returns to camp after the immunity challenge. Ben is very excited Cole did not win immunity since Ben hates Cole. He wants him gone, but he still wants to split the votes due to a fear of a hidden immunity idol being played. Ben wants to put votes onto Cole and Mike, but Ashley does not agree with this. She wants Joe gone tonight, and she tells the majority alliance this. However, Ben is shooting her thoughts down and says that they must put votes on Cole and Mike. Ashley is annoyed by Ben’s bossy demeanor; she doesn’t want to be told what to do. She talks with Chrissy, Devon, Lauren, and Ryan, and she wonders if they should just vote out Joe tonight regardless what Ben says. Meanwhile, Mike is asking Ben what the plan is, and Ben tells him it’s Cole that will be voted out tonight. However, Mike doesn’t want to play Ben’s game and wants to do something to change things up. Mike talks to Joe next, and they don’t like how safely the majority alliance is playing. Mike wants to have tribal council blow up by revealing his hidden immunity idol and making them guess how the idol will be played. Later on, Chrissy asks Ben why he wants to have some votes fall on Mike instead of Joe. They can’t seem to get on the same page about the vote. In their confessionals, Chrissy remarks how it’s either Ben’s way or the highway. Ben says he doesn’t want to be a dictator, but he believes people care too much about morals when they shouldn’t.
Before tribal council officially begins, Mike tells Joe to follow his lead. After Desi is welcomed as the first juror, Jeff talks to Joe first. Joe remarks how he’s not one of the knights of the roundtable as Ben called it in the previous tribal council, and Mike chuckles in agreement. Mike calls himself a court jester before they tell Jeff that the three not part of the majority alliance are Cole and themselves. Cole agrees and admits that he and Joe are especially on the outs. Cole says there is no game talk he can do to save himself. Jeff asks Chrissy about the vibe around camp, and she says Joe took it too far with a barrage of insults at her and Ashley. Mike says that they should play the game ethically with a moral character. He hints that it’s somewhat hypocritical for the majority alliance to talk about playing an ethical game, but it’s not good morals to continuously make Joe a social pariah if they refuse to vote him out. He also says that if Ben is King Arthur of the roundtable, then he’ll be the Statue of Liberty since America wins in the end. As Ben chuckles in disbelief, Jeff asks Lauren about how to justify any of their decisions in the game. Before Lauren can finish her thought, Mike interrupts her and repeats how they have poor moral character. Lauren asks Mike if he just wants to take a shovel and bury himself deeper since he’s digging a hole for himself. Chrissy says their decision tonight will be to do whatever is necessary to make them successful at the next tribal council. Mike asks Chrissy who is the “we,” and Chrissy says “the alliance of seven.” Jeff asks Cole his thoughts about Chrissy’s response, and Cole admits he is worried since he’s someone that could potentially ruin their plans due to his prowess at the immunity challenges. Joe adds that the alliance of seven isn’t even playing the game. He says they’re all just waiting for it to get down to the seven of them to finally start playing. Mike also points out how once all the Healers are gone, there will be four Heroes and three Hustlers. Three does not beat four, so he wonders when people will realize that. Ashley says the game is much deeper than numbers. It’s all about relationships they create with each other. The tribe ends on an uncertain note as a couple of silent whispers are shared among people, reconfirming the plan for tonight. Afterwards, it’s time for the vote.
Before the votes are read, Mike plays his hidden immunity idol for himself.
The first vote is for…
Ben
Mike
Mike
Cole
Cole
Cole
Cole
Cole
Cole is voted out and the second member of the jury.
And that wraps up tonight’s episode of Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers. Thanks for reading, post your thoughts in the comment section below, and come back next week for a live recap.
