A new episode of Survivor airs tonight on CBS. Read a live recap here.
The episode begins with the castaways returning to camp after tribal council. Naseer and Evvie were voted out at the last tribal council. Ricard and Shan share how she played her extra advantage to send Naseer out of the game. In her confessional, Erika calls Shan the biggest threat. She says people are scared to target her since she has a hidden immunity idol. Erika talks game with Deshawn, and they agree that Shan needs to be voted out before Xander. In his confessional, Deshawn admits he is somewhat hesitant to take out Shan since he is in an alliance with Shan, Liana, and Danny. Nonetheless, he asserts he is ready to take out Shan when the opportunity presents itself. Meanwhile, Shan notices Deshawn talking to Erika. She is unsure if she can trust Deshawn moving forward. Shan and Deshawn talk the next morning, and they agree they need to play their own games moving forward. They are torn between playing their own individual games or playing “for the culture.” There’s an alliance of all the African American players, but Shan and Deshawn struggle giving up their own games to play for a bigger purpose.
Next is the reward challenge. They must go through a series of obstacles and then assemble a puzzle. The winner will receive an overnight reward that includes pizza and sleeping in a comfortable bed. The challenge begins, and the challenge is fairly even. All players are eventually working on the puzzle simultaneously, but Ricard eventually takes the lead. Ricard completes his puzzle first. Ricard wins reward! Jeff tells Ricard he can pick one person to join him. He chooses Shan. Jeff tells him he can pick one more person. He picks Heather. He explains that both Shan and Heather have not enjoyed a reward yet. Jeff tells him he can pick one more person. Ricard chooses Xavier since he gave up a shot at immunity to receive rice for the tribe. Before the commercial break, we hear a confessional from Danny. He says you must take out the people you can’t beat, and Ricard is becoming one of those people. He wants to target Ricard sooner rather than later.
Danny and Deshawn talk game when they return to camp. Danny says Ricard needs to be the next one to go. Deshawn says he is on board, but he claims it will be tough to vote him out. Deshawn points out how Shan will be angry about this plan, but she will have no one else to turn to if Ricard is gone. Danny and Deshawn share this plan with Liana. She seems hesitant with this plan, but she tells Danny and Deshawn that she is open to the idea. Meanwhile, Ricard, Shan, Heather, and Xander enjoy their pizza reward. The talk turns to game, and Ricard and Shan have a candid conversation about how far they can go in the game together. They admit they are each other’s closest ally, but they don’t think they can win against each other. Shan ends the conversation and says she doesn’t want to think about it right now. Ricard agrees and says now’s not the time anyway.
The next morning Shan and Liana talk game. They discuss whether or not to stick with the alliance with Danny and Deshawn. Shan admits he does not trust Deshawn. Liana gets emotional and says the most significant moment she has had in the game was with Shan at the summit. Shan feels the same way. Liana then confesses how Danny and Deshawn worked out a plan to vote out Ricard next and then Shan afterwards. Shan is appreciative to receive this information, and Shan and Liana agree that Deshawn needs to be the next one voted out. Shan later shares this news with Ricard. Ricard is surprised Shan told him about this plan. He also agrees that Deshawn needs to be voted out next.
It’s time for the immunity challenge. It’s an endurance challenge that requires them to balance a ball on a disc on a pole they are holding. They are also standing on a narrow beam. The challenge begins, and Liana is the first to drop her ball. Danny is the second to drop his ball. Everyone else advances to round 2. They must move down a narrower part of the beam and move their hands farther down their poles. Round 2 begins, and Erika drops her ball right away. She’s followed by Heather. The remaining castaways advance to the third round. Once again they must move down the beam and move their hand down their poles. Round 3 begins, and Shan drops her ball right away. Deshawn drops his ball next. It’s now a showdown between Ricard and Xander. Xander drops his ball. Ricard wins immunity!
The castaways return to camp after tribal council. Since Ricard is safe, Shan does not believe it’s necessary to target Deshawn tonight. She wants to keep their trust for now and target Erika instead. However, Ricard is ready to send home Shan. Ricard begins to gather the numbers to vote out Shan tonight, including recruiting Xander, Heather, and Erika. Xander says he plans to use his hidden immunity idol on himself tonight, but Ricard tells him he doesn’t need to. Ricard also approaches Deshawn and reveals that he knew Deshawn was targeting him tonight. Deshawn lies about wanting to target Ricard, but he agrees with the plan to vote out Shan tonight. Erika is worried about Shan’s hidden immunity tonight, so she wants to split the votes between Shan and Liana. Erika and Heather talk to Danny about targeting Shan tonight, and he’s surprised to learn that Ricard is on board with voting out Shan. However, Danny is getting concerned about Erika. He views her as a threat too, but he says Shan is the one who broke his trust. Danny believes he is the swing vote that could send home either Shan or Erika tonight.
It’s time for tribal council. Jeff asks how was it at camp after the immunity challenge. Xander says he’s been the lone soldier and he just hopes he will be on the right side of the numbers. Heather also believes she is on the bottom of the tribe. Erika feels the same way, but she believes they can all make a move together. Shan says anyone can feel like they are on the bottom or the top. It all depends on their individual relationships. Ricard adds that they can only trust each other for as long as it’s possible. Danny remarks how they all feel like they have trustworthy relationships, but they don’t really know until the votes are read. Shan and Erika admit how they didn’t talk strategy today, but they did work together in the past. They say they hope they are okay for tonight. Jeff points out how everyone is aware of themselves and how the game is played, but he predicts it’s going to be a blindside. Liana says she believes everyone is thinking they are part of the plan tonight, but someone will be wrong. Afterwards, it’s time for the vote.
Jeff reads the votes. The first vote is for…
Erika
Erika
Shan
Liana
Shan
Liana
Shan
Liana
It’s a tie between Shan and Liana. Everyone but Shan and Liana will vote again. “Don’t trust anybody,” Shan whispers to Liana during the revote.
Jeff reads the votes again. The first vote is for…
Shan
Shan
Shan
Shan
Shan is the eleventh person voted out and the fourth member of the jury. Before Jeff snuffs her torch, Shan gives a hug goodbye to Liana, tells Ricard he has her vote for the million dollars, and she calls Deshawn a snake.
And that wraps up tonight’s episode of Survivor. Thanks for reading and come back next week for another live recap.