Survivor 45 Recap: A Cantankerous Castaway Begins Her Redemption Arc — But Did It Win Over Her Tribe?
Good intentions and an honorable heart don't always get you very far in the game of Survivor.
But before we dig deep into Episode 2's happenings — the opening credits are back! If you're a huge Survivor nerd like me, you're probably pretty stoked. The music! The emotion! The badass slo-mo action shots! I could go on and on about how integral and nostalgic the theme song is, but I'll just say I'm really glad "Ancient Voices" is back. Hope it's here to stay.
Back to our regularly scheduled recapping.
Following Hannah's quit, it's clear Lulu is still a tribe divided. Emily tries to apologize for being aggressive at Tribal, but Sabiyah has a hard time accepting it. She feels attacked, and that's fair. "Tact is a thing," she says. And it is a thing! A thing Emily doesn't quite seem to understand, or at least didn't when she first hit the beach. But she seems sincere in trying to understand where Sabiyah is coming from, but the two just don't see eye to eye yet. Sucks for them, great for us!
REBA | While Sifu is busy punching trees and being a ninja, J. and Drew are trying to decode the flag symbols without the decoder. Austin, however, has the clue from last week and figures out that the hidden phrase is "Dig at fallen palm tree X." But this discovery only leads to more questions.
BELO | Uncle Bruce. Is. Here. To. Play! While most of the tribe love his energy and vibe, Katurah is clocking him as more of a dad. She sees him as a super extra, name-dropping threat that teeters on annoying, but since no one else sees it, she's on an island of her own. Another two players at odds? We like to see it!
Back at LULU, Emily scrambles to find an idol, but when Sabiyah tells her the tribe decided to "include her" by teaming up to find it, Emily not only reads between the lines, but calls a spade a spade. She knows they don't want her to find it alone. Her efforts are moot though because Brandon is the one to claim the gold. But, he's adamant about wanting no part of opening a beware advantage. He hands it over to Sabiyah, hoping to earn some brownie points with her, and she tears that sucker open with pleasure. Their clue is different than Reba's. It tells them to line up a hole on the clue with their tribe flag. Doing so points them to a tree... but more on that later.
Meanwhile, Emily starts to see the error of her ways. After Kaleb offers her some compassion, she starts to see that she "brought a bazooka to a tea party." While it may be a good thing to play hard, the investment analyst is starting to see that people aren't stocks (huh, you don't say?), and that there's a lot of emotion in the game of Survivor that she's not used to dealing with in her day to day. She has productive conversations with Sabiyah and Brandon... could she actually be climbing out of the grave she dug herself?
BOAT | Three castaways head off to play an advantage game, but first: Can we talk about Bruce playing "now-you-see-me, now-you-don't!" in the boat? Why is this grown man playing peekaboo with his tribemates and where is he getting this energy?! No shade from me! I love the guy. And I also love how much he irritates Katurah! She even calls him her nemesis. I. LOVE. IT. And Bruce. Moving on.
Joining Bruce on the excursion are Drew and Brandon. They each pick a path and by deciding to play the game, they will risk their vote. For the mini challenge, they must match a set of tiles. Then, using the numbers on the three tiles that don't have a buddy, figure out a six-digit combo. They have three minutes to find the right code, pull the lever and release the advantage. Bruce decides to protect his vote, while Brandon plays and loses his. Drew, on the other hand, completes the task and earns the Safety Without Power advantage, which allows him to leave a Tribal Council before the vote to save himself from elimination. The last time he can use it is when there are 10 people left in the game.
Drew returns to camp and tells his tribe the whole true story. The honesty sits well with Austin, who later tells him about his beware advantage. Drew tells Austin he was looking for the "J.T. to his Stephen," and honestly, these two could become a formidable pair!
IMMUNITY IS BACK UP FOR GRABS | Players must climb a tall tower, leap off and smash a tile to collect keys, and traverse a balance beam. Once all three keys are retrieved and everyone swims to the end, two players will unlock and complete a coral puzzle. The winning two tribes will win fishing gear and immunity.
All three tribes are pretty even until Kendra takes a brutal fall on the beam. Luckily for her, the Belo puzzlers are pros, and both they and Reba win the challenge, sending Lulu on a date with Jeff.
STRATEGY | Emily and Brandon know that they're on the bottom, and while Emily may be in hot water socially, Brandon can't seem to succeed in any portion of any challenge. He also doesn't have a vote and neither does Sabiyah. She, Kaleb and Sean do figure out how to get the idol down from the tree, but the dang thing is encased in wax, which must be melted down before the idol can be claimed! (Wow.)
There's another wowing moment shortly after: Emily hands her Shot in the Dark to Sabiyah in an attempt to build trust. This is a very interesting move! Why tread water through the entire game when she can try to make inroads? (Although, one could argue that Kaleb, Sabiyah and Sean would never vote each other out over her, so why bother?) It's a risky gambit, but it could help sway the night's vote. While Kaleb is confident they can use Emily going forward, Sabiyah still feels like Emily would cut her throat at any moment.
THE TRIBE HAS SPOKEN | Brandon tells the tribe that while puzzles may not be his thing, he's loyal and that counts for something. But is that a quality valuable enough to keep him around? Keeping Emily, on the other hand, would be taking a chance, Kaleb says. Sean also says Emily has shown good faith-effort in bettering her game and fitting in with the tribe. Jeff then tells Brandon that he's... the water boy?! Do tribes need water boys? Do water boys help win immunities? If we accept that tribes have water boys, shouldn't they have cheerleaders, too? What are Rob and Sandra up to? I have so many questions.
Brandon and Emily both tell Jeff how much their Survivor experience has taught them and how it's wildly amplified their personalities and weaknesses. Despite the fact that they're both hungry to stay, someone's gotta go! Only three votes are played and when Jeff tallies them up, Brandon becomes the second casualty of Survivor 45. (Read our Q&A with Brandon here.)
Did Lulu make the right choice? Would you have trusted Emily? Go full tilt boogie in the comments and let us know!