Survivor Season 48 Week 12 Recap and Live Blog – Castaways enter the final six
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. Mitch is glad to have made it to the Final 6. Eva thinks her four-person alliance will stay strong and pick off the two outsiders Mitch and Kamilla. The next morning, the alliance agrees to target Mitch next. In his confessional, Kyle admits he’s torn. His closest ally is Kamilla, but he feels a personal bond with the people in this majority alliance too. He wonders if he should make a move against someone in the four-person alliance or not.
Shauhin believes he’s playing the best game, so he doesn’t feel like he needs to target Joe. Kyle and Kamilla, however, discuss whether they should target Joe at this upcoming tribal council. They recognize he’s a huge threat to win the game. Kamilla believes Kyle is playing a game of chicken with Joe and Shauhin. Kamilla believes this could be their final shot to take a shot at Joe.
The castaways greet Jeff for their next reward challenge, and it happens to be pouring. They will compete in an endurance challenge requiring them to hold themselves up on a slanted platform above the water. As the challenge progresses, they will move down and grab smaller handholds. The last person standing will win a trip to the sanctuary and enjoy a burger and fries reward. In addition, there will be letters from home.
The challenge begins, and eventually everyone makes it to the third round. They’re all grabbing the smallest handhold of the challenge. No one drops by the final round. They all must now have their legs straight out. As they readjust, Kamilla drops right away. Mitch is the next person to fall. Eva bends her legs and gets disqualified. Joe drops right after her. Kyle is the next person to fall. Shauhin wins reward! He can choose someone to bring with him to reward. Shauhin picks Joe. Jeff tells him he can pick one more person. Shauhin picks Kyle.
We next see Shauhin, Joe, and Kyle enjoy their reward. They also get emotional reading their letters from home. Joe also opens up about losing his sister to domestic violence. Back at camp, Mitch and Kamilla are annoyed that Joe was picked for reward. Mitch thinks Shauhin made a dumb decision, and he’s playing the game with a bunch of knuckleheads. However, Mitch is ignoring the fact that he had the chance to vote out Joe before, but he chose not to. Meanwhile, Eva feels left out that her allies went to the reward without her. She’s not bitter, but she hopes they’re thinking about her while on reward.
Back at the reward, Joe and Shauhin discuss voting out Mitch. Shauhin talks to Kyle later, and they agree they’re sitting in the middle. They say Kamilla and Mitch are a duo and Joe and Eva are a duo. However, unbeknownst to Shauhin, Kamilla is Kyle’s true #1 ally. Shauhin and Kyle discuss their options, and Shauhin wonders if they should make a move against Joe. Shauhin wonders if they should target Eva instead since she has an idol. In his confessional, Kyle says he doesn’t want to make Shauhin’s move. He wants to make his own move, and he thinks he can use Shauhin’s words against him.
The next morning, Shauhin, Joe, and Kyle return to camp. Kyle secretly talks to Kamilla right away. He lets her know that Shauhin wants to target Eva. Kyle wants him and Kamilla to approach Joe and Eva to blindside Shauhin. Kyle also wants to lie to Joe and Eva. He wants to tell them that Shauhin showed Kamilla a hidden immunity idol, even though he doesn’t have one. Kyle says this plan will make them look like the brains of the group instead of Joe and Eva. Meanwhile, Joe has a moment alone by the water. He speaks some words dedicated to his sister, apologizing for things he said before she died.
It’s time for the immunity challenge. They will use a rope to balance themselves as they walk on a barrel down a course and then crawl under a net to retrieve balls. They then must maneuver the balls through a snake track on a table. The first to complete the challenge will win immunity. The challenge begins, and Shauhin takes the early lead while Eva is trailing behind in last place. Eventually, everyone is working on the snake track at the same time except Eva and Kamilla. Joe is the first to land a ball. Eva gets to the snake track, but Kamilla is still behind. Kyle and Eva each land a ball too. Joe lands his second ball. Joe wins immunity!
The castaways return to camp. Kyle wants to get Joe on board with blindsiding Shauhin. He thinks it would be trickier since Joe might not want to make a risky move since he’s immune. Nonetheless, Kyle pulls Joe aside and tells him that Shauhin has flipped. He also lies about Shauhin showing Kamilla a hidden immunity idol. Joe freezes for a moment, but he is not sure if he believes Kyle or not. Joe goes to Eva, and he tells her what Kyle told him. He says they need to figure out who’s lying. Eva believes they can trust Kyle more than Shauhin.
Joe talks to Kamilla next. She corroborates Kyle’s story, and she’s glad that Joe seemingly believes the lie. Kamilla adds that Shauhin said that no one can win against Joe at the end. Joe finally goes to Shauhin next. He asks about idols or advantages. Shauhin tells him no, and they all can stick to the plan and vote out Mitch tonight. Joe is clearly annoyed with Shauhin, but he beats around the bush and doesn’t tell him what he’s been told. Shauhin gets irritated, and now he wants to vote out Eva. However, he says Eva has no chance at winning the game and she’s definitely voting for Joe if she’s on the jury. Shauhin still thinks they should vote for Mitch tonight. Kamilla makes sure Mitch is on the plan to vote out Shauhin. Kamilla says she and Kyle are a duo running the game, but Joe and Eva are just a duo sitting there. She says this will be a big move she and Kyle can claim as their own. Before leaving for tribal council, Joe is still unsure who is lying and who is telling the truth.
It’s time for tribal council. Jeff asks if it’s difficult to make a decision tonight. Mitch admits it’s tough, but he has to remind himself it’s just a game. Eva says she just needs to lean on the trust she’s built throughout the game. Kyle says there are less places to hide, which could cause more paranoia. Kamilla says she’s been true to her group, and she made sure not to be chaotic. She was levelheaded with everyone. Shauhin says you don’t realize the personal connections or how fast things can change before playing the game. Kyle says he’ll be lying if he says he never gets paranoid. Shauhin agrees, and he says they need to fight off the paranoia. Joe says they need to think a few steps ahead and move forward. Afterwards, it’s time for the vote.
Time for the vote
Jeff reads the votes. The first vote is for…
Shauhin
Mitch
Mitch
Shauhin
Shauhin
Shauhin
Shauhin is the thirteenth person voted out and the sixth member of the jury. He hugs everyone and takes his elimination in stride before getting his torch snuffed and walks away.
And that wraps up tonight’s episode of Survivor. Thanks for reading, and come back next week for another live recap.
