Survivor Season 39 Island of the Idols Week 10 Recap and Live Blog

A new episode of Survivor: Island of the Idols airs tonight on CBS. Read a live recap and join the discussion here.

Half of the tribe returns to camp after the double tribal councils. In her confessional, Lauren says no one can ever feel comfortable in this game. Her biggest fear is that Tommy will be targeted, but she is relieved when Tommy returns with the rest of the tribe from the second tribal council. Tommy is her #1 ally. Karishma is also excited that she survived tribal council without having to play her hidden immunity idol. Elizabeth, however, says she feels stranded after losing her closest allies Aaron and Missy. She’s determined to do whatever she can to stay in the game.

The next morning, Tommy says he was nervous last night, but he feels a lot better today. He says blindsiding Missy was a huge move to add to his resume. He, Lauren, and Dean talk game and agree to target Karishma. Dean wants himself and Tommy to team up with Elizabeth against the “Goat Army.” He believes they will be picked off by everyone else if they continue to target big players now that Aaron and Missy are gone. Tommy likes Dean’s idea of stopping a “Goat Army” from assembling, but he points out in his confessional how Elizabeth is an Olympic athlete. He would rather see her go next.

Later, a boat comes to camp to take someone to the Island of the Idols. Lauren volunteers, and she’s excited about possibly getting an advantage. In her confessional, Karishma remarks how she was bothered how Lauren volunteered right away before anyone else had a chance to volunteer. Lauren gets on the boat and arrives at the Island of the Idols. She’s excited to see Rob and Sandra. She says they are the reason why people want to play the game. They ask her how is she doing in the game. She admits she’s just doing okay, but she is confident in her strategic skills. Rob says her lesson today is situational awareness. If she correctly guesses who wins immunity, then she will win a hidden immunity idol that will be good for the next two tribal councils. If she guesses incorrectly, then she will lose her vote at the upcoming tribal council. Rob and Sandra tell her the details of the the immunity challenge. It is an endurance challenge that will require castaways to hold onto an handle to stop a ball from releasing from a chute. In addition, the castaways will be tempted with food. If they accept food (pancakes, bacon, hash browns, and orange juice), then they won’t be able to compete. Lauren contemplates which castaways will have a good chance at winning immunity. She could see either Noura or Elizabeth winning this immunity challenge, but she’s torn. Rob then doubles her odds. She can pick two names. If one of the two names she picks wins immunity, then she will win a hidden immunity idol. Lauren accepts the offer and predicts Noura or Elizabeth will win immunity.

Back at camp, Dean ponders the fake advantage gifted to him from Jamal. He doesn’t know if it’s real or not, but he’s choosing to believe it’s real. This supposed Legacy advantage is good when there are nine or six people remaining in the game, and there are nine people in the game right now. Dean then gets an idea to create a fake copy of this advantage. He gets a piece of parchment and paint, and he secretly writes down another fake advantage.

Lauren returns to camp and she tells them she learned the details of the upcoming immunity challenge. She also tells them that it’s a play or eat challenge. Later, Lauren reveals the full details to Tommy since she trusts him the most. She lets him know that if Noura or Elizabeth wins immunity today, then she will get a hidden immunity idol since she bet on them. Tommy says he’s her wing man, and he’s prepared to help her out. He then talks about the food with the rest of the tribe to sway them into choosing to eat instead of playing. He says he himself will be sitting out to eat as well. Dean is already looking forward to eating some food. Karishma, Elaine, and Janet are torn. Noura is a vegan, so she’s already planning on playing in the challenge.

The tribe greets Jeff for the immunity challenge. He tells them the details of the challenge, which they already know. They will be holding up a handle to prevent a ball from falling down a chute above them. If the handle drops, then the ball will fall. If their ball falls, then they are out of the challenge. Before the challenge begins, they all decide whether or not they want to eat or play. Jeff shows them the food, and he’s surprised there is no reaction from the tribe. Lauren lets him know that she already shared info about it from the Island of the Idols. Afterwards, they all make their choices by revealing a colored stone in their hand. Tommy, Dan, Dean, Lauren, Janet, and Elaine choose to eat. Only Karishma, Elizabeth, and Noura will be playing. The challenge begins and the others start eating their breakfast food. Before long, Karishma is the first one out. Lauren will be receiving a hidden immunity idol. Karishma won’t be allowed to eat any food, and she is feeling emotional. She says she feels like a failure and wonders why her body isn’t cooperating. Jeff says playing Survivor for thirty days will affect even the strongest. The challenge continues, and Elizabeth is the next one to drop her ball. Noura wins immunity!

After the tribe returns to camp, Lauren and Tommy rush to the forest where Lauren’s hidden immunity idol awaits. The two of them agree to vote out Elizabeth tonight instead of Karishma. Tommy says Karishma is someone that can be voted out anytime. However, Elaine would rather see Karishma voted out tonight. She says Karishma has had nine lives in the game, but Elaine doesn’t want to go against her alliance’s wishes. Meanwhile, Elizabeth and Noura talk game. Elizabeth says she feels like she’s floating in the game and hopes she survives the vote tonight. She also really hopes Karishma doesn’t have a hidden immunity idol. Later, the two of them go through Karishma’s bag and Noura believes she can feel an idol in her bag. However, after going through her belongings, they agree that she does not have a hidden immunity idol. Unbeknownst to them, Karishma has her hidden immunity idol with her instead of in her bag. Meanwhile, Karishma and Dan talk game, and Dan tells her they will be splitting votes between Janet and Elizabeth (instead of splitting votes between Karishma and Elizabeth). After Dan is done talking with Karishma, he goes talk to Lauren as Karishma starts talking to Elizabeth. Karishma tells Elizabeth that Dan is running things and she thinks they can get the numbers to vote him out tonight. Lauren can read lips, and she lets Dan know that Karishma just said Dan’s name. Dan walks over to confront her, and Karishma denies saying Dan’s name. She says she said Janet, not Dan. Dan asks her why talk about the vote with Elizabeth when they already discussed it. Dan walks away, but he’s done with Karishma. He brings up voting out Karishma again, and Dean is on board since he wants her out anyway. Meanwhile, Karishma is fed up with people babysitting her and telling her who she is and isn’t allowed to talk to. She now wonders if she should play her hidden immunity idol tonight, but she wants to play it correctly. She hopes she doesn’t waste it, but she doesn’t want to be voted out with an idol in her pocket either.

It’s time for tribal council. Rob and Sandra are observing from their secret shack, and they realize Lauren got the hidden immunity idol since Noura has the immunity necklace around her neck. The discussion begins, and Jeff asks the three participants why they chose to play and not eat. Elizabeth says her alliance members Aaron and Missy were voted out, and she needs immunity. Karishma says she knows she’s on the bottom of the tribe, and she wanted to test her strength. Noura says she feels good in the game and she wanted to give the tribe a chance to eat. Dean tells Jeff about his Legacy advantage that he got from Jamal, and he says he can play it tonight. The discussion continues about the vote, and Karishma says people should take people out before someone takes them out. Jeff asks if it would be an easy vote tonight, and Lauren notes how tribal council is never easy. Karishma agrees since there have been multiple blindsides so far in the game, so the votes aren’t ever easy. Tommy says it’s difficult to get eight other people to agree on a single decision. Elizabeth agrees that the game is fluid, relationships change, and anything can happen. Afterwards, it’s time for the vote.

Before Jeff reads the vote, Dean plays the fake Legacy advantage. Jeff informs him that it is not a real advantage. Afterwards, Karishma plays her hidden immunity idol on herself. There are several stunned reactions from the tribe. Afterwards, Lauren plays her hidden immunity idol on herself, saying she’s not risking going home tonight.

Jeff reads the votes. The first vote is for…

Karishma

Karishma

Karishma

Karishma

Karishma

Karishma

Karishma

Janet

Elizabeth

There is a tie between Janet and Elizabeth. Janet and Elizabeth will not vote. Everyone else will vote again, and they can only vote for either Janet or Elizabeth.

Jeff reads the votes again. The first vote is for…

Elizabeth

Elizabeth

Elizabeth

Elizabeth

Elizabeth is voted out and the sixth 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.

About Steven Curtis 540 Articles
Steven is a graduate of the University of West Florida with a bachelor's degree in communication arts. He enjoys watching reality competition shows, such as American Idol, Survivor, Big Brother, and The Amazing Race.