A new episode of Survivor: Ghost Island airs tonight on CBS. Read a live recap and join the discussion here.
The episode begins with Desiree expressing interest in turning against the majority Naviti alliance. She doesn’t want to continue to be told what to do; she wants to be the one making moves. She wants to strike against Domenick, Wendell, and Kellyn. She expresses this to Laurel, Donathan, and Jenna, and she says she can pull in Michael, Angela, and Chelsea to their side as well. We hear a confessional from Laurel, and she’s uncertain whether or not she wants to stage a coup against people in the majority.
It’s time for the reward challenge. They will be divided into two teams of five. Two tribe members will start on a boat and paddle to another tribe member trapped in a cage. After they rescue three people from a cage, they must make their way to shore and put together a big block puzzle. The first team to win will win reward, which is an afternoon picnic. Before the challenge begins, they do a schoolyard pick for teams. On the Orange Team, Michael and Sebastian are in the boat with Chelsea, Kellyn, and Jenna in the cages. On the Purple Team, Wendell and Domenick are in the boat with Laurel, Desiree, and Angela in the cages. Donathan was not picked, therefore he is sitting out and has no chance at reward or being sent to Ghost Island. The challenge begins, and the Orange Team takes an early lead. They are the first to reach the shore and begin solving the puzzle. The Purple Team eventually catches up at the puzzle-making portion of the challenge, but the Orange Team maintains their lead and complete the puzzle. Michael, Sebastian, Chelsea, Kellyn, and Jenna win reward! After a rock draw, Angela will be sent to Ghost Island.
We see the winning tribe members take a helicopter ride to their reward before they eat some food at the picnic. Since Michael received seven votes at the previous tribal council, he wants to try to bring people to this side. He gives a pitch, and Sebastian vaguely says you never know what will happen. Kellyn is reassured by the reaction of her alliance members since it means no one is thinking of flipping from the plan. Meanwhile, at Ghost Island, Angela has a chance to play for an advantage. She decides to risk her vote since she’s confident her alliance has the numbers. She picks one of the three bamboo, but she gets a parchment that says “no vote.” She cannot vote at this upcoming tribal council.
Back at camp, Laurel reveals to Domenick that people are considering targeting him. He’s bothered by this news, and he later talks to Kellyn when she returns from the reward. Domenick tells Kellyn that Desiree and Chelsea are planning on flipping, and Kellyn doesn’t believe that’s true. She assures Domenick that there is no way Chelsea or Desiree will flip against them. She’s confident Michael is still the target.
Michael is aware that he’s the target, so he wants to go look for a hidden immunity idol. He tells Laurel and Donathan that he believes that there is an idol at camp, and Donathan agrees to go searching for one with him. While they’re searching separately, Donathan finds a hidden immunity idol. He goes back to the shelter and later reveals to Laurel, Michael, and Jenna about the idol. In a confessional, Donathan is torn how to play the idol. Does he play it for the former Malolo tribe members or should he keep it for himself?
It’s time for the immunity challenge. It’s an endurance challenge that requires castaways to balance a ball on a disc while holding onto ropes. The challenge begins, and Wendell is the fist to drop his ball. After he drops, Jenna, Desiree, Laurel, and Angela all drop their balls one after another. Donathan is the next to drop his ball, and he’s followed by Domenick. The next to drop his ball is Michael, leaving only three people in the challenge. After ten minutes have passed, Kellyn is the next to drop her ball. It is now a showdown between Chelsea and Sebastian. One of them will win immunity. Sebastian is the next to drop. Chelsea wins immunity!
The tribe returns to camp, and Desiree is glad Kellyn did not win immunity. She sees Kellyn as a threat to win this game, so she wants to try to vote her out. However, Kellyn pulls Desiree and Chelsea aside and she tells them that Laurel told Domenick that they want to vote her out. Desiree denies this plan and says that Laurel is trying to stir things up. In her confessional, Desiree is upset that the blindside has blown up. She now has to go back to the original plan of voting out Michael, as well as cover her tracks with everyone else. The tribe becomes a bit chaotic after Desiree confronts Laurel, and Laurel says it’s now a “he said, she said” situation. Later, Domenick pulls Michael aside as Laurel and Jenna tell Kellyn that Desiree did want to target her. Later, Kellyn and Domenick have a conversation. Kellyn is unsure who to believe between Laurel and Desiree. Domenick is unsure if Desiree can be trusted, so he says he’s willing to vote out Desiree. However, Kellyn is adamant that Michael needs to be the one voted out tonight.
It’s time for tribal council. Jeff asks if Donathan is starting to feel the pressure now that the numbers are getting smaller, and Donathan says yes. He even brings up the drama between Desiree and Laurel. Desiree said she heard her name being thrown out, so she went to the source (which is Laurel). Laurel immediately calls out Desiree about wanting to make a plan against Kellyn, but Desiree continues to deny wanting to flip the vote. Laurel, Donathan, Jenna, and Michael say Desiree is lying, but Desiree does not budge on her stance. Jeff points out how everyone is sticking to his or her story, so no one really know what the truth is. Michael says he’s relieved something has blown up at tribal council, but he’s still nervous it could be him going home. Jeff points out how only one story is true, and Kellyn says she wants to look at the situation as a detective and make her decision based on what’s best for her game. Desiree adds that she hopes fate is on her side, and she wants to just get to the vote.
Jeff reads the votes. The first vote is for…
Desiree
Desiree
Desiree
Desiree
Michael
Michael
Desiree
Desiree
Desiree is voted out and the third member of the jury.
And that wraps up tonight’s episode of Survivor: Ghost Island. Thanks for reading, post your thoughts in the comment section below, and come back next week for another live recap.
