A new episode of Survivor airs tonight on CBS. Read a live recap here.
The tribe returns to camp after tribal council. Deshawn laments losing Liana since he wanted to go to the end with her and Danny. Nonetheless, he’s relieved his game didn’t end due to the new “do or die” twist. He talks game with Danny, and they realize they are on the outs of the tribe. Danny is most surprised that Xander didn’t side with them in voting out Ricard. Danny asks Xander for an explanation. Xander tells him he wanted to keep Ricard for one more vote. He says if Ricard doesn’t win the next immunity challenge, then he will be voted out at the upcoming tribal council. The next morning Heather and Erika talk to Deshawn about the race issue he brought up at tribal council. They are appreciative learning about his perspective and having conversations about diversity.
It’s time for the reward challenge. They will be divided into two teams of three. One at a time, one team member must dive into the water and release buoys. After they collected all their buoys, they must then toss them into baskets. The first team to land three baskets will win reward. They have the choice to win either chicken and vegetables or cake and cookies, but Deshawn says he would rather have a letter from home. The challenge begins. On the Blue Team are Ricard, Heather, and Danny. On the Yellow Team are Erika, Deshawn, and Xander. They all manage to reach the throwing portion of the challenge. The Blue Team’s struggle allows the Yellow Team to land their three balls first. Erika, Deshawn, and Xander win reward! They choose chicken and veggies for reward.
Erika, Deshawn, and Xander enjoy their reward meal. As they are eating, they discuss working together to vote out Ricard next. Xander and Erika even bring up a possible Final 3, and Deshawn is agreeable. However, Deshawn admits in a confessional that he does not trust them. Meanwhile, Danny is searching for a hidden immunity idol back at camp. While he’s gone, Heather and Ricard note his absence. Danny eventually returns, and Ricard is suspicious by his happy demeanor. He believes Danny found a hidden immunity idol. Heather agrees that there’s more “pep in his step.”
The next morning Deshawn and Erika discuss their Final 3. Deshawn says all three of them will have a different story to pitch to the jury, but he believes Erika and Heather are too similar. Erika reluctantly agrees that it may not be best for her game to go to the end with Heather. She is leaning more towards going to the Final 3 with Xander and Deshawn. Deshawn admits in a confessional that he just wanted to plant a seed for Erika to change her mind about going to the Final 3 with Heather.
It’s time for the immunity challenge. They must spin to unspool a coil of rope. They must then go through a series of obstacles and collect puzzle pieces to assemble a word puzzle. The first one to correctly put his or her puzzle together will win immunity. The challenge begins, and the castaways are dizzy as they spin to unspool their rope and go across a net obstacle. They reach the balance beam and collect their puzzle pieces. Everyone is working on their word puzzle at the same time. Ricard takes an early lead and Deshawn tries to copy him. Ricard works quickly and he solves the puzzle first: “Don’t make this next vote your last.” Ricard wins immunity!
The tribe returns to camp after the immunity challenge. Danny feels like telling everyone “I told you so” since he wanted to vote out Ricard last time. Danny and Deshawn know they are on the chopping block tonight. Ricard is still suspicious Danny found a hidden immunity idol, and he confronts Danny about it. Danny neither denies nor confirms having an idol. Danny admits in a confessional that he did not find the idol, but he hopes this paranoia will end up saving him. The other castaways weigh the pros and cons of voting out either Danny or Deshawn. Xander and Heather discuss keeping the one more likely to beat Ricard in a challenge. As the discussion continues, Erika tries campaigning to keep Deshawn as subtly as possible. She explains in a confessional that she believes it’s better for everyone else to keep Danny, but she wants to keep Deshawn for her own game.
It’s time for tribal council. Deshawn tells Jeff right away that he knows he’s on the chopping block tonight. He says either he or Danny will be voted out tonight. Deshawn and Danny also bring up how it was a bad game move for everyone else to vote out Liana last time instead of Ricard. Erika explains that she and Ricard have built trust and she had no reason to doubt him. She adds that Liana has written her name down before. Heather says the game is like a chess game. She says it’s subjective for Danny and Deshawn to call it a mistake to keep Ricard in the game. As the discussion continues, Xander says the jury management portion of the game has started. Danny says he will accept whatever the outcome is. Deshawn decides to drop a “truth bomb.” Deshawn reveals to everyone that Erika said she does not want to go to the end of the game with Heather. Erika is hurt that Deshawn decided to drop a truth bomb against her since they built a friendship. Now she knows she can’t trust him. Ricard is amused that Deshawn chose to do that since he may have been the one to have survived the vote tonight. This may not have benefited Deshawn at all. Deshawn says he went with his gut and doesn’t regret revealing this information. Afterwards, it’s time for the vote.
Jeff reads the votes. The first vote is for…
Deshawn
Danny
Danny
Deshawn
Deshawn
Danny
It’s a tie. Everyone but Danny and Deshawn must now vote again.
Jeff reads the votes. The first vote is for…
Danny
Danny
Danny
Danny is the thirteenth person voted out of Survivor 41.
And that wraps up tonight’s episode of Survivor. Thanks for reading and come back next week for another live recap.
