Survivor Season 48 Finale Recap Live Blog – Winner Revealed
The season finale of Survivor 48 airs tonight on CBS. Read a live recap here.
The tribe returns to camp after voting out Shauhin. Kyle thinks he and Kamilla got away with a heist. He says his plan was a success, and he believes he has all the options to get to the Final 4. Meanwhile, Joe and Eva talk. Joe says he trusts Kyle, but he wonders if they got duped. Eva doesn’t think so. Eva has a hidden immunity idol, and the next tribal council is the last time she can play it. She’s willing to play it for Joe or Kyle if she feels like she needs to. Kyle and Kamilla catch up, and Kamilla is amused that Joe and Eva bought her lie about Shauhin and voted him out.
The next morning, the final five is presented with a challenge. They each have a puzzle lock to open. The first person to enter the correct word will win an advantage in the upcoming immunity challenge. There are clues on symbols attached to trees. Everyone runs around the woods to figure out the secret word. Eventually, Eva is the first person to figure out the word: “Secure.” Eva wins the advantage!
Immunity challenge
It’s time for the immunity challenge. They will go through a series of obstacles as they toss balls into baskets. Eventually, they must get keys to unlock a puzzle. The first person to solve the puzzle will win immunity. The winner will also win a pasta and chocolate cake reward. Jeff also reveals the details of Eva’s advantage. The won’t have to toss her ball into a basket at the halfway point. She can just place it in the basket, saving her some time.
The challenge begins. Joe takes the early lead with Mitch right behind him. Joe stays in the lead, but eventually everyone is working on the puzzle at the same time except for Kamilla. Kamilla has been in last place throughout the entire challenge. However, everyone is struggling with the puzzle, and only Eva has a piece in place by the time Kamilla joins them. Soon enough, Kamilla takes the lead with Eva falling behind in second. Kamilla solves the puzzle first. Kamilla wins immunity! Kamilla is allowed to bring one person with her to reward. Kamilla picks Eva.
Joe, Kyle, and Mitch return to camp. Mitch believes he, Kyle, and Kamilla will be the numbers to vote Joe out of the game. Kyle realizes he’s in the middle tonight. He can vote out Joe, or he can side with Joe and Eva by voting out Mitch instead.
Meanwhile, Kamilla and Eva enjoy their reward. Eva says it’s an easy vote tonight. She believes everybody will be on board to vote out Mitch tonight. In her confessional, Kamilla says she has a big decision to make tonight. Does she take out Joe, or does she target Mitch? Kamilla admits she doesn’t want to sit in the Final 3 with another former Civa tribe member.
Kamilla and Kyle talk game. They don’t think Joe or Eva are threats anymore after last night’s blindside against Shauhin. Kamilla and Kyle agree to vote out Mitch. Later, Kamilla tells Mitch to his face that she doesn’t think she can win against him. She says he’s too likable. Mitch realizes he’s going to be voted out tonight, and he is crushed.
Eva plays Hidden Immunity, First elimination
It’s time for tribal council. They talk about the immunity challenge first. Kamilla hopes the win tonight will encourage her to listen to the positive voice in her head rather than the negative one. The talk turns to the vote. Kyle says things were more direct today, but it doesn’t make it easier. Kyle tells Jeff they all agreed to vote out Mitch tonight. After Kyle says this, the jury exchange confused looks with each other. Mitch tells Jeff it’s heartbreaking to know people he trusted are going to vote him out. However, he understands it’s a game and they have to do what is best for their game. Mitch says he has no regrets, and that’s enough. Afterwards, it’s time for the vote.
Before Jeff reads the votes, Eva plays her hidden immunity idol for herself.
Jeff reads the votes. The first vote is for…
Mitch
Kyle
Mitch
Mitch
Mitch is the fourteenth person voted out and the seventh member of the jury. He gives everyone a hug before getting his torch snuffed and walks away from the tribal council area.
The Final Four continues
The Final 4 return to camp. There are two duos in the end: Joe & Eva and Kyle & Kamilla. Joe and Eva have been a public duo, but Kyle and Kamilla have been a secret duo. The next morning, Joe and Eva talk about the upcoming final immunity challenge. Eva wants to bring Joe with her to the Final 3 if she wins.
Meanwhile, Kamilla tells Kyle her best chance is not sitting next to Kyle at the Final 3. She says the jury votes will be split between them. Kamilla says if she wins the final immunity challenge, then she will put Joe and Kyle in the fire-making challenge. Kyle appreciates the honesty, and he admits he was thinking the same thing.
Joe doesn’t want to go to the fire-making challenge. If he wins, then he’s bringing Eva with him to the Final 3. If Kyle wins, then Joe hopes Kyle will bring him to the Final 3 and put Eva and Kamilla in the fire-making challenge.
Survivor 48 final immunity challenge
It’s time for the final immunity challenge. It’s a Survivor classic. They must drop balls into a chute and watch them spiral before catching the balls before they fall. They will do this task with one hand behind their backs. If their ball falls to the ground, then they are eliminated from the challenge. They will add balls as the challenge progresses. The last person standing will win immunity.
The challenge begins. Everyone drops their first ball into their chute, and then later they add a second ball. They are all still in the challenge when they must add a third ball. Eva is the first to drop a ball. She’s eliminated from the challenge. The remaining three must add a fourth ball now. Kamilla drops her ball. It’s now down between Joe and Kyle. Joe drops his ball. Kyle wins immunity!
Kyle says his plan is to bring Joe with him to the Final 3. He believes it’s the best move for his game. He also doesn’t want Joe to have a winning moment at the fire-making challenge. Joe says it’s a dream come true to make it to the Final 3. Later, Kyle tells Eva that he’s bringing Joe with him to the Final 3. Eva is in tears knowing her game is on the line at the fire-making challenge. She wants to stay positive and hopes to win. In his confessional, Kyle admits he hopes Eva beats Kamilla at the fire-making challenge.
Kyle talks to Kamilla, and he tells her that he won’t make the mistake of underestimating her. Kamilla knows she will be in the fire-making challenge, so she starts practicing. Eva is practicing making fire too. She’s struggling, and she breaks down in tears. Joe and Kyle overhear her crying, so Joe goes over to her. Kyle feels bad, so he wonders if he should put himself in the fire-making challenge and take out Kamilla himself.
Joe comforts Eva, and he asks Eva to let him do the fire-making challenge instead. Eva refuses, and she says this is something she needs to do herself. Joe helps Eva practice making fire and gives her some pointers. Eva builds a fire, and she’s feeling more confident heading into the fire-making challenge tonight.
Fire making challenge
It’s time for the fire-making challenge. Kyle says winning the last immunity challenge felt great. It meant the world to him. Jeff asks about his decision. Kyle said he already made up his mind before talking to anyone after the challenge. Kyle says he will be bringing Joe with him to the Final 3, which causes some surprised reactions from the jury. Kamilla and Eva said they were practicing a lot today. Eva is nervous, because there is no coconut at the station. She’s been practicing with coconut back at camp, but she’s still determined to do the fire-making challenge.
The fire-making challenge begins. Eva is the first to get a flame. Kamilla is struggling as Eva’s fire grows bigger. However, Eva’s fire dies down and Eva begins to panic. Eva has to rebuild her fire, but Kamilla has yet to get a flame. Eva’s fire grows bigger again and it finally burns through the rope. Eva wins the fire-making challenge!
Another player eliminated
Eva says it was really hard, but she’s so proud of herself. Kamilla is in tears. She is used to thinking negatively about herself, but she’s glad she had the chance to make fire. She never had her name written down, and she’s proud of the game she played. Finally, Kamilla gets her torch snuffed and walks away. Kamilla is the eighth and final member of the jury.
The next morning, Eva, Joe, and Kyle celebrate making it to the Final 3. We also hear confessionals from the finalists and the jury.
Kyle says he dictated votes and viewed the game from an overhead view. Shauhin says Kyle played the most strategic game. Kamilla says he’s a good liar and a good strategist. Mitch says he used relationships to his advantage and needs to own up to his cutthroat gameplay.
Eva says she battled through tough times and dealt with an emotional toll. Mary says Eva wholeheartedly trusted people and was courageous. Cedrek says she aligned with people that had her best interest. Kamilla says Eva might’ve done stuff to lower her threat level. Eva also reveals to Joe and Kyle about her academic successes that she’s been keeping secret. After Eva shares this, Kyle reveals that he’s a lawyer.
Joe wanted to play a loyal and honorable game, and he believes that he has done that. He didn’t want to stab people in the back to impress a jury. Chrissy says Joe is a standup guy. David says Joe broke a lot of promises, and he needs to own that. Star says Joe dominated the game.
Final Survivor 48 Tribal council
It’s time for Final Tribal Council. Cedrek asks the first question. He wants to know what weaknesses they played the game with, and how did they overcome it? Eva talks about her autism and how she can get overwhelmed. She overcame it by choosing an ally who would never lie to her. She thanks everyone for respecting her. Joe says he wears his emotion on his sleeve. He said he was able to turn that into empathy and build strong alliances. Kyle says overconfidence was his weakness. After overestimating himself, it forced him to pivot multiple times in the game.
Mitch asks the second question. He wants to know how they leveraged their personal relationships in the game to propel their game forward. Eva didn’t anticipate the social game being so important. Eva says she knew from Day 1 that she could trust Joe. Eva says she and Joe are one of the strongest duo ever in Survivor history. Shauhin agrees that that is impressive. Chrissy reminds Eva that only one of them can win. She says Eva and Joe need to go against each other now. Eva says they can battle it respectfully. Joe says she’s not going to take jabs at Eva, but he will try to win over the jury on his own merit.
Star wants to know what undercover moves did they make that they did not know. She wants to hear something new. Eva says no one knew about her Safety Without Power advantage. Eva says it mattered more that she got her alliance through a vote than to play an advantage for herself. Kyle said something he didn’t share with anyone is that he spent part of his life incarcerated. He turned his life around and got a legal degree. Eva also shares that she graduated in three years and attends Brown University.
Mary wants to know what they think is the jury’s perspective of them. Eva says everyone probably thinks Eva is just Joe’s “plus one.” Eva says she and Joe collaborated. David wants more details. Eva brings up the Shauhin blindside. Eva says she and Joe were brought information that made it seem like voting out Shauhin was the best move. Kamilla tells Kyle to give his perspective. Kyle reveals that he wanted to make a move against Shauhin, and he also shares that he and Kamilla were a secret duo. He explains how he planted a lie to fool Joe and Eva into flipping against Shauhin.
David talks about challenges. He wants to know how did they use winning immunity challenges to their advantage. Joe says he used it as a reason for people to want to keep him around. Kyle says he won the final immunity challenge, which was the challenge that mattered the most. Eva enjoyed battling it out with everyone.
The Final 3 give their final plea. Kyle says he’s the best average person anyone would meet. He says he’s a well-rounded player and built relationships that mattered to him. He says he rode the middle throughout the game, and he had fun playing the game. Joe says he’s only had his name written down once, yet he made it to the end with a massive target on his back. He wants to win the money to take care of his kids for the rest of his life. Eva says there has never been a player like her. She played a very straightforward game because she’s loyal. It was an unprecedented season, and she wants to be the winner of the season. Finally, it’s time for the jury to vote.
We see Cedrek vote for Joe, Mary vote for Eva, and Kamilla vote for Kyle. But who will win?
Survivor 48 WINNER is…
Jeff reads the votes. The first vote is for…
Joe
Eva
Kyle
Eva
Kyle
Kyle
Kyle
Kyle wins Survivor 48!
Jeff chats with the finalists and jury
They all enjoy pizza and champagne as Jeff chats with the finalists and jury. Cedrek explains he voted for Joe since he related to Joe’s desire to provide for his family. Mary and Star voted for Eva. Mary says she values someone who plays true to themselves. Star says Eva winning the fire-making challenge swayed her to vote for Eva. Everyone else voted for Kyle. Kyle says he can’t describe what it means to win.
Star reveals to Jeff that Kamilla would’ve won the game if she made it to the Final 3. The rest of the jury agrees. Kamilla says she knew the winning game would go to either her or Kyle. Kyle says he and Kamilla were moles and played both sides throughout the game.
Jeff talks to Joe and Eva next. Joe says he decided to stand by Eva from the moment she shared that personal detail about herself with him. Joe says he’s grateful Eva let him show to the world the type of person he is.
Jeff asks about Eva’s advantages. He also asks about the nighttime quest to retrieve an advantage. Joe and Shauhin noticed Eva sneak away, but she didn’t know they saw her until now. Jeff asks about Star’s Beware Advantage too. The idol inside the puzzle lock eventually went to Eva. Jeff also talks to Mary about her successful Shot in the Dark play. Jeff also brings out some milk for David before the next commercial break.
Eva says it was “a lot” to be on Survivor. She feels lucky to have had Joe by her side. She’s proud of her game, and she’s proud to show everyone what having autism is like for her. Kamilla says playing the game taught her to stop negative thinking. Mitch says the biggest thing he wanted to show was that you have to be comfortable being uncomfortable. He says he’s more than capable building relationships with complete strangers. Jeff asks Kyle his feeling. Kyle says this is exactly what he wanted, and he’s happy to represent the season.
The finale ends with a preview of Survivor 49.
And that wraps up the season finale of Survivor 48. Thanks for reading, and come back in the fall for Survivor 49.
