Survivor 48 Episode 7: Double Elimination Recap
Two players are voted out, but only one makes the jury
Survivor 48 episode 7 is a two-for-one special, in the worst way possible. The castaways find themselves in a situation where two players will be voted off tonight, but it’s never quite so simple. The remaining twelve players arrive to compete for immunity at the challenge, and then they realize that each player will be divided into two teams.
Each player draws a rock from a bag and then they land on one of two teams: orange or purple. Everyone competes to hold a spinning grip in place to keep a rope from dropping a bucket. If you can hold the bucket up the longest for each group, you win immunity. If you’re the last one left standing, that player wins reward for the group in the form of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich buffet.
Immunity Challenge Sees a New Record in Survivor 48
The immunity challenge is hard to describe, but everyone is holding up 25% of their pre-Survivor weight. This weight is filled in a bucket and each player must hold up a rope long enough to ensure they can’t be sent home early. Plus, the twist of Survivor 48 episode 7 is that it is a double boot episode.
Two players will be eliminated, but the team that doesn’t win reward will go to tribal council first. By going first, the person voted out will not make the jury and no longer have a voice in the game. The second team who attends tribal council, the person voted out will be the first member on the jury, which means they’ll attend every future tribal council to hear what’s been happening.
The immunity challenge involved some players exiting quickly, while others were able to last a long time. First, this challenge looked excruciating to try and use hand, forearm, and bicep strength to hold up a weighted bucket full. Second, it seemed clear that a few individuals were in for the long haul.
After most of the castaways were unable to hold out for too long, Eva, Joe, David, and Kyle were left standing. Eva and Joe were on the orange group, while David and Kyle were a part of the purple group. Kyle literally talked about his skin scraping off trying to hold on and keep the bucket into the air, while Eva didn’t move an inch until we saw a fly land on her hand. Finally, Joe and David are the last ones standing, each winning immunity in their groups.
Oh, by the way, Shauhin was making great sound effects to add to the moment, and there was a reference to “Apply to Survivor” – and Jeff used that comment to highlight during the episode, and Kyle said, “Get off the couch and apply.” It was a fantastic part of the show that highlights the players having fun, which hopefully will always be a highlight or reason to want to be on the show. Finding joy in such an excruciating reality TV show has to be a positive, right?
The Double Vote in Survivor 48 Episode 7
Despite his efforts, Joe was not able to hold off David in this immunity challenge, which set a Survivor record for length of time (52+ minutes!). Despite David’s confident “trash talking” to Kyle earlier in the challenge, it did seem that he appreciated Kyle, Eva, and Joe’s efforts in the challenge. He even went out of his way to stop and congratulate Joe on his performance in the challenge once it was said and done.
After the challenge was over, the purple group was able to go back to camp and feast, while the orange group had to go back to the old Civa camp where there weren’t any supplies. Obviously, the orange group started with one-on-one or small group conversations to determine what was the best path forward – and who wouldn’t make the jury. In this case, it appeared that Sai and Mitch were the early targets.
Sai was a target because she had been a target previously, while others recognized how dominate Mitch had been in challenges and being a super likeable person. And when it came to tribal council, those two people seemed to be the obvious choices, and then Chrissy talked about how everyone is going to have to stop this “loyal” game and start lying to each other – or something to that effect. Did she just become a target?
Although she wasn’t voted out, it did appear that the rest of the group paid attention to what Chrissy said, and then Sai was voted out. As for the purple group, it really appeared that Kyle and Kamilla had a decision to make. They are the invisible duo that no one seems to know about, and Kyle recognized Shauhin’s game as someone he needs to get out. Eventually, everyone starts talking about Shauhin, despite the obvious vote of Cedrek being mentioned early.
Survivor 48 episode 7 is the type of episode where it definitely feels like a major player is going to be blindsided and someone who doesn’t appear as relevant coasts through. In this case, it felt like Shauhin’s number was up, because people recognized he was the bigger threat. In Shauhin’s own words, he said that he had to keep taking deep breaths and trust in the people he worked with. He recognized he was vulnerable, and he genuinely looked worried that it was going to be him.
Fortunately, for him, Cedrek was the one who received all but one of the votes. So, the original Vula tribe sees two of its original members voted out; Sai missing out on the jury, while Cedrek is the jury’s first member. Will letting Shauhin sneak through be a mistake for Kyle, Kamilla, and David? Only time will tell and I’m definitely looking forward to watching how that plays out.
Thank you for reading!