Survivor Recap: A Hard-Fought Immunity Win Tees Up Some Major Ploys — But Who Got Caught In The Crossfire?
Drew, Drew, Drew. It only took one individual immunity win for him to set his alliance ablaze... but what a riveting watch it was!
On Wednesday's episode of Survivor, the majority Reba alliance finally experienced its biggest turmoil when Drew pitched a plan to cut fellow Reba ally Julie. But Austin's allegiance to Dee set off a domino effect of what-ifs and info leaks that led into a truly mysterious and largely unpredictable Tribal Council. Let's recap all the madness from the top!
As the remaining players celebrate Bruce's ousting, Emily fills everyone in on how and why Bruce didn't play his idol. While everyone seems impressed by her strategic feat, shouldn't she have saved that little tasty morsel for her final Tribal Council speech? We all know once big moves start being made, targets tends to grow. Say less, Em!
Oh, great. It's a Boston Rob and Amber montage. Call me a hater, but I couldn't care less about showmances on Survivor. (Sorry Dee and Austin!) The two Rebas promising each other Final 3 is cute and all, but we want to see cutthroat competition and blindsides, not some kumbaya "I promise you the world" flirtmance! Here's to hoping one of them has a change of heart and sprouts some devil horns or something.
JOURNEY | The tribe draws rocks to choose who will get on a boat for an adventure and Emily becomes the lucky soul. But while she's gone, Julie and Drew are clocking her growing resume. Julie says she would've sat next to her in the Final 3 before, but the Bruce vote seems to have changed things. Drew asks Julie if she wants to do something wild with her idol (Austin's idol, really, which she apparently didn't return). His inquiry makes Dee and Julie question him... is he a crack in their tight alliance of four?
Meanwhile, Emily gets the chance to complete a Savvy puzzle. If she succeeds, she's immune from Tribal Council, but if she fails, she loses her vote. She plays it safe and opts to head back to camp. Normally, I'd side with our hostmaster general on all his "you gotta swing for the fences on Survivor!" rants, but enough with the lost votes already! I can't and don't blame Emily for bailing.
Back at camp, Drew approaches Jake and Katurah about possibly shaking things up. Out of the Rebas, Katurah eyes Julie as the next to go, and even Austin seems open to it. But blindsiding Julie means blindsiding Dee, and that's the part that he isn't sure about. But with all of this talk about targeting Julie, the edit seems to be setting us up for a Julie immunity win, am I right?! Wrong!
IMMUNITY IS BACK UP FOR GRABS | Drew wins the challenge that involves untangling a rope, throwing sandbags at blocks and solving a word puzzle. He also wins a reward: A DIY barbecue back at camp. He selects Jake and Austin to join him for the grub, which is served with a side of scheming — my favorite!
STRATEGY | Austin continues to struggle with keeping Dee in the dark. Against his better judgment, he tells her that there's a strong movement against Julie. He doesn't tell her how to vote; rather, he asks her what she wants. She refuses to write Mama J's name down, but Austin tells her he thinks it's going to happen anyway regardless of how they vote. Just as Austin wrestled with telling Dee this information, Dee now wrestles with telling Julie or not. Ultimately, she does, telling the Camp Mom that she's got to play her idol to save herself. Mama J even toys with taking out Austin, despite Dee's begging and pleading.
Julie then goes rogue! She tells Jake and Emily that if she does what she's been told, the vote will fall on one of them. These three then begin to speculate whether they can get Katurah to vote for Austin. When Drew and Austin later compare notes, they deduce that Dee must've told Julie, which disrupts every single player's plan. Prepare for anarchy!
THE TRIBE HAS SPOKEN | The players talk about the difficulty of playing hard and ruthless, while still maintaining friendships and generally liking each other. Julie tells Jeff that at some point, one has to give him- or herself permission to just play the dang game already.
When the castaways go to vote, we watch on as almost everyone writes down Julie's name. Dee even says into the camera, "Play the damn idol!" as she writes her ally's name. Jeff calls for idols and Mama J smartly plays Austin's her idol for herself. Austin does not play his. Six votes come in for Julie, but the seventh — Julie's sole vote — decides it all. Jeff opens up that parchment and Emily becomes the fifth jury member and 12th person to leave Survivor 45. (Read our Q&A with Emily here.)
Were you happy to finally see some discord within the former Rebas? Feelings about Emily leaving the game? Shout to your heart's content in the comments below.