After last night’s episode of “Survivor 48,” there is just one more remaining before the big finale. This season has been about whether to invest in trust or paranoia. The castaways of “Survivor 48” continuously talk about loyalty prevailing, all the while knowing only one person can win the game.
Let’s dive in to see where things stand after Episode 11 with the end in sight.
(Warning: Spoilers Ahead)
“Survivor 48” Episode 11 Recap + Castaway Betting Odds
Episode Recap
A Pivotal Point in the Game
Whenever there’s an odd number of castaways left, it’s natural to see a majority form. At the final seven of “Survivor 48,” there is an opportunity to seismically change the game. Mary pitches to Kamilla and Mitch that keeping her around makes breaking up the game-long alliance of Joe and Eva easier. By pulling in either Kyle or Shauhin, a new majority would form to control the vote.
Meanwhile, Joe sees that he, Eva, Kyle and Shauhin are an airtight alliance. These four believe they can all make it to the end and battle it out from there. Mary tries to find cracks. She pitches her aforementioned plan to Kyle. He recognizes Joe as a frontrunner, which he has been, or close to, in this “Survivor 48” power rankings series.
Messy in the Middle
While Joe and Eva have been a very public and strong alliance, the secrecy of Kyle and Kamilla’s alliance is that much more impressive. Kyle acknowledges that he and Kamilla have perfectly played “Survivor 48” from the middle. They’ve been on the right side of the vote, but haven’t burned any bridges. Whether it’s one or both of them, they’re talking to everyone.
After speaking with Mary, Kyle asks Kamilla if he thinks Mary’s plan is legitimate. Kamilla assures him that Mary has nothing to lose, and creating a group of four to vote out Joe is her best play. As Kyle realizes this, he acknowledges that as he keeps pushing toward a win, many people he cares about will lose along the way. He realizes “every single path harms someone.”
A Joke of a Journey
The final seven of “Survivor 48” must choose one person to go on a journey or draw rocks to decide. They ultimately draw rocks, and Eva is chosen to go on the journey. Once there, she learns she has lost her vote, but can earn it back by playing a game.
Eva must stack layers of tiles in a circular pattern on a spinning disk. Once she reaches four layers of tiles, she earns her vote back. If she is able to stack eight layers, she earns a “Knowledge is Power Advantage.” However, if the tiles fall, she has to start over again. The two big catches with this game are that she must rotate the platform only using her feet, and a sand timer determines when the game is over.
Eva quickly stacks four layers and reclaims her vote. She chooses not to push for the Knowledge is Power advantage. What that advantage does is give whoever is in possession of it the ability to ask a person if they have an idol or advantage. That person must answer honestly and, if they do, hand over whatever they have to whoever is asking.
Eva is completely honest with the remaining castaways. In fact, she’s so honest that her recount of her journey seems to come across negatively. She acknowledges to the rest of the tribe that they could have all used the advantage from the journey much more than she could have, but… oh well! Yikes.
Outwit. Outplay. Outlast. Outloyal?
After Eva returns, Mary is hard at work again, trying to get someone to flip. Shauhin is next on her list as she knows Joe would never flip on Eva and vice versa. Mary’s big pitch to Shauhin is that there’s no “outloyal” component of “Survivor 48.” If everyone is loyal to the end, then that attribute loses value to the jury.
Shauhin tells Mary that he’s interested in flipping to take out Joe. However, Shauhin knows it must be a blindside. If anyone catches wind of a potential blindside, then it falls apart. Shauhin seems like the most likely castaway to pull off a big move, especially of the core four. He is just, as he mentions, afraid to get into the driver’s seat of “Survivor 48” because it’s a scary place to be.
The Immunity Challenge
The immunity challenge is divided into three parts. First, each castaway must maneuver a one-wheel wheelbarrow carrying a small vase across two different style balance beams. Once across both, another vase gets added, and they must navigate the wheelbarrow over three small bumps in the sand to get to the final stage.
Once at the final stage of the immunity challenge, the castaways use keys on their vases to unlock a collection of block puzzle pieces. When arranged correctly, these blocks spell “UNFORGETTABLE,” which can be read from both sides. These blocks must be arranged not only correctly, but in an arch pattern, hovering in the air.
We see everyone but Mary get to the final puzzle, and all come close to finishing it. In the end, Joe claims to have solved it and is declared the winner just seconds before Kamilla. However, after a quick review, Jeff Probst notices a mistake in Joe’s arrangement of one of the blocks, and Kamilla is determined to have won her first immunity challenge.
Kamilla decides to take Mitch and Eva on a post-challenge reward. Mitch is her first decision to help someone who has not eaten as much as others. Choosing Eva is more of a strategic move. Kamilla hopes to keep Eva calm and confident on this reward so she doesn’t suspect a potential Joe blindside.
Tribal Council
Just before tribal council, Kyle and Kamilla meet one last time. Kyle reveals to Kamilla that he’s a lawyer. Kamilla has now heard for herself Eva’s clear intentions of surviving this vote and using her idol to advance to the final five. Even better, if she wins immunity, she makes it clear she will use her immunity idol on Joe so he also makes it to the final five.
Mary flat-out tells Joe she’s writing his name down at tribal council. This sparks a bit of paranoia in Joe, which frustrates Shauhin. He dislikes the fact that Joe is uncomfortable after hearing his name at camp despite having won three immunity challenges already. Joe then tells Mitch and Kyle he wishes to put one vote on someone else, just in case Mary has an idol, but voting for someone else would create more distrust moving forward.
At tribal council, there is a clear acknowledgement that making a move when there is a potential for four versus three votes at the final seven is much easier than next time, when it’s potentially a split of three versus three. Despite this entire episode and blog discussing the potential biggest blindside of “Survivor 48,” Mary is ultimately voted out with a 6-1 vote.
As she exits, David stands up from the jury bench as if to show respect toward her. While I’m sure he thought that moment was cool, it would have been a lot cooler if this group actually made a move to take out a bigger threat!
“Survivor 48” Castaway Betting Odds + Power Rankings
Every week, I’ll have the remaining “Survivor 48” castaways ranked and paired with odds to win the game. Just like any other set of rankings, these are fluid based on new information from each episode. After Episode 11 of “Survivor 48,” these power rankings reflect my thoughts on each player’s chances to win the game.
In seven straight episodes, a player near or at the very bottom of the previous power rankings has been eliminated.
- Eva (+300)
- Kamilla (+500)
- Kyle (+500)
- Joe (+600)
- Shauhin (+600)
- Mitch (+1000)
Power Rankings Analysis
Eva has a hidden immunity idol (which was Star’s for those that forgot!) and a Safety Without Power advantage. She is in the best position to not only progress herself further into “Survivor 48” but also save Joe, her biggest ally, if need be. She made that very clear. It’s incredibly confusing why the other castaways have not targeted her or Joe, especially as of late.
Kyle and Kamilla are very intent on at least one of them making the final three. I believe them. They’re both very intelligent, strategic and each has an immunity win to their name. It wouldn’t surprise me if both of them end up in the final three and Kyle is perceived as having burned a few more bridges.
Joe and Shauhin are still very much in the mix. Shauhin is seemingly more likely to make a big move, perhaps even against Joe. However, Joe has Eva looking out for him, so even an immunity challenge loss may still guarantee Joe a spot in the “Survivor 48” finale.
Mitch is toast. This isn’t meant to be critical of his game. If you look at the final six, however, which combination of two others does he realistically have a chance of winning against? It’s hard to imagine. He will have to be solely responsible for at least one big blindside and/or win one immunity challenge at the end to stand out to the jury.
Thanks for reading my “Survivor 48″ Episode 11 Recap + Castaway Betting Odds.” For more entertainment content, check out our other blogs here at In-Between Media (IBT). And be sure to follow me @Colin_McT for more Survivor content.
