A new episode of Survivor: Edge of Extinction airs tonight on CBS. Read a live recap and join the discussion here.
The episode begins after tribal council on Night 29. The castaways are back at camp, and Julie tells Rick that she feels like Wardog was too much of a liar. Rick was left out of the plan to vote out Wardog, so he’s unhappy. Ron is worried that Rick won’t trust him anymore after lying to him again, so he comes up with a plan. He gives Rick the advantage he found on the boat on the first day of the game. It’s the advantage menu, but its power is expired now. However, Rick doesn’t know the advantage has expired. Ron’s trick has worked. In his confessional, Rick is happy to have this in his possession and says that he hopes he won’t have to use it.
On the morning of Day 30, it’s time for the reward challenge. Jeff reveals their loved ones are here. Among them are Rick’s wife, Julie’s husband, Lauren’s dad, Ron’s husband, Victoria’s dad, Aurora’s brother, and Gavin’s wife. All the reunions are very emotional with a lot of crying. Afterwards, Jeff reveals the rules of the challenge. They will be playing with their loved ones. The castaways must run out into the ocean and fill a bucket with water. They then must throw the water into the bucket of their loved ones. Their loved ones must then fill the water into another bucket. Once that bucket is filled with enough water, a flag will be raised. The first to raise the flag will win a family visit and picnic reward. The challenge begins, and all the castaways seem fairly even. Ron’s husband raises the flag first. Ron wins reward! Jeff tells Ron he can pick two pairs to join him on the picnic. Ron first chooses Julie and her husband. He picks Gavin and his wife second. Before the commercial break, we hear a confessional from Victoria. She says games have been won and lost by the decisions made at the family reward. She now wonders what kind of game Ron is playing.
We see Ron, Gavin, and Julie enjoying time with their loved ones. Ron explains in a confessional that he chose Julie to “keep her in his pocket.” He says he believes Gavin will stay loyal to him by allowing him to have this time with his new wife. After the reward, all the castaways are together at camp. While Rick is away, Aurora looks through Rick’s bag with Victoria, Lauren, and Ron present. Rick notices when he walks back to the shelter. Rick calls her out, but Aurora tells him that it’s allowed. She also tells him that he was probably out in the woods looking for a hidden immunity idol anyway. Rick is unhappy, but he hopes he can use this against Aurora. Rick then wanders around the forest looking for an idol, and he stumbles upon a clue to a hidden immunity idol. The note tells him that the idol is in a tree at camp. Later at night, Rick climbs the tree for the hidden immunity idol while everyone else is asleep. He manages to retrieve the idol without anyone else noticing.
It’s the next day and time for the immunity challenge. It’s an endurance challenge that requires them to balance themselves between two barriers while their feet rest on narrow footholds. The challenge begins, and Rick is the first one to fall. Ron is the next one to drop. While Rick is on the bench, he tells Aurora that she’ll be the next target after him. Aurora simply says that Rick has to go. When Ron joins Rick on the bench, Rick lies to Ron and says he didn’t find anything while looking in the forest. Ron also suggests voting out Aurora at tonight’s tribal council. Victoria drops from the challenge next. Julie and Aurora are the next two to drop from the challenge. Jeff notes how the two of them announced their elimination, as if they simply gave up. It’s now down to Lauren and Gavin. Lauren drops. Gavin wins immunity! Before the commercial break, Ron says in a confessional that he’s confident that Rick will be voted out tonight.
The castaways return to camp after tribal council. Rick notices how no one wants to talk game with him, but Julie and Ron later pull him aside by the well. They tell Rick that they will be voting for Aurora tonight. Rick thanks them and says this will be the second time they saved him. After Rick walks away, Julie and Ron laugh about lying to him. They are confident in their plan tonight. Even if Rick plays an idol, they are sure Rick will be voting for Aurora. However, Victoria and Lauren talk game down by the beach. They both agree about wanting to vote out Ron tonight. Aurora later joins the conversation, and she is on board with voting out Ron. She also tells them about her extra vote advantage (which expires after tonight’s tribal council). She suggests giving her advantage to Gavin since he’s the only one guaranteed to vote if there’s a tie since he has immunity. Afterwards, Lauren approaches Gavin with the plan to vote out Ron. In his confessional, Gavin admits he doesn’t want to vote for Ron since Ron picked him for the family visit. However, he’s worried about burning bridges with Lauren and Victoria, so he is unsure what he should do tonight.
It’s time for tribal council. Jeff asks Rick if he still feels like it’s him going home tonight. Rick says yes, and he tells Jeff how Aurora looked through his bag. Aurora admits to it without any shame. Victoria adds that they all need backup plans just in case, and Jeff asks if the moves made will become unpredictable with so many possible scenarios. Ron doesn’t believe the game is that random. He says it’s all about trust. Ron also says he feels badly about not being able to bring everyone on the reward, but Lauren says his choices were telling. Jeff asks Julie her thoughts, and she says things can still “pinball back and forth” since she has had multiple alliances. Rick says that’s good to hear, and he’s still trying to find cracks. Victoria admits she does not want to sit in the Final 3 with Rick, but Rick points out that not all of them will make it to the Final 3. He says that they will wish they had an extra vote that could’ve been him. Gavin says they all just need to be confident in their plans. Afterwards, it’s time for the vote.
Before Jeff reads the votes, Rick tries to play the advantage menu. Jeff tells him that the advantage has expired. Rick calls out Ron and Julie. He says they are liars and asks them if they wanted him to look stupid in front of his kids. He then plays his hidden immunity idol. All votes cast for Rick will not count.
Jeff reads the votes. The first vote is for…
Rick
Rick
Rick
Rick
Aurora
Ron
Ron
Ron
Ron is voted out and the tenth member of the jury.
And that wraps up tonight’s episode of Survivor: Edge of Extinction. Thanks for reading, post your thoughts in the comment section below, and come back next week for another live recap.
