The castaways of “Survivor 48” are doing everything they can to establish a solid foundation in the game.
However, cracks, both big and small, are beginning to form in each of the three tribes. The updated castaway betting odds and power rankings reflect the advantages, lost votes and everything in-between after the first few days on the island.
(Warning: Spoilers Ahead)
“Survivor 48” Episode 2 Recap + Castaway Betting Odds
Episode Recap
Vula Tribe Numbers
It’s always an awkward scene back at camp after tribal council, especially the first one. There is obvious tension between Sai and Mary after the latter voted for Sai, but was outnumbered 4-1, sending Stephanie home. Mary does the obvious by claiming it was Stephanie’s plan to vote for Sai in an attempt to deflect blame. No matter what she explained, Sai can’t feel great having seen her name come up so early on in Season 48, but plays cool, shrugging off the vote in front of Mary.
As for Kevin, Cedrek and Justin, Kevin proposes a “guys alliance” to maintain a majority vote. Kevin foresees a plan in which all of the guys vote for Sai. If she doesn’t play her idol, she will be voted out. If Sai does play her idol, then Mary will go home. With this plan, it leaves the guys in an even better 3-1 majority if they do, in fact, have to vote another member out. Kevin makes it clear he doesn’t expect to win many Season 48 pre-merge challenges with this group.
Civa Tribe Idol
Kyle finds a Beware Advantage inside of a tree and celebrates with David. Similar to the Vula idol found by Sai, it’s a cylindrical container locked by a word scramble puzzle. Instead of finding animals matching the color of a sheet with numbers, the letters to this puzzle are painted all over camp on small objects, each associated with a small animal picture. Kyle shares the news of the Beware Advantage with Kamilla in hopes she can help solve the puzzle and retrieve the idol.
Kamilla remembers finding letters around camp prior to the knowledge of this puzzle. She doesn’t need to go searching for them, so she remains in camp, trying to solve the puzzle in the sand. Kamilla ultimately solves the puzzle, unlocks the container and Kyle retrieves the idol from her. That idol is as much Kamilla’s as it is Kyle’s. This moment of teamwork will be huge to reflect on later when we see how the idol is played, if at all.
Lagi Tribe Loyalty
Early on, as the Lagi tribe is strategizing on the beach, Eva suggests Star sit out during the next immunity challenge. This suggestion leads Star to believe she may be at the bottom of the tribe. So, she goes idol hunting and finds the Beware Advantage. In an attempt to gain allies, Star shares the news with Joe. He then recruits Shauhin to help solve their container’s puzzle. Shauhin now has a decision to make. He can either help Star find the idol, act like he’s trying to find it, fail to do so and cost Star her vote, or completely sabotage the hunt, making it known to Star she won’t have a vote.
Star decides to also share the news of the Beware Advantage with Thomas and Bianca. When Joe hears this, it becomes clear to him that Star wants everyone to know except Eva. Unfortunately for Star, her plan to bring people in with this idol hunt may cause a further divide. Not only is Joe closest with Eva, but Thomas suggests to Shaunhin that they destroy the clue that solves the puzzle, leaving Star without a vote.
The Journey
Each tribe must play a quick game to determine which of them will go on a journey. At the count of three, all tribe members are to reveal a number with their fingers on one hand. Whoever shows the lowest unique number goes on the journey. Sure, you can show a five on your hand, hoping it’s the default highest number to prevent a journey. However, if all others reveal the same number as anyone else, the five is the lowest unique number. Mitch of Civa, Thomas of Liga and Mary of Vula are the members from each that end up going.
Once on the journey, Mitch, Thomas and Mary must solve a sliding number puzzle in an allotted amount of time measured by an hourglass. If unsuccessful, they lose their vote. Mitch and Thomas are successful in completing the puzzle. As a reward, Mitch earns a Block a Vote advantage while Thomas claims the power to Steal a Vote. Mary, who could have used either, leaves the journey empty handed. She doesn’t even have her own vote. Mary needed her vote more than the others considering Sai is seemingly gunning for her.
Mitch is forthright with the Civa tribe about what happened on the journey. His success and sharing motivates Kyle, with help from David, to go on the aforementioned successful idol hunt. Thomas, on the other hand, does not tell any of the Liga tribe about the true nature of the journey. He simply explains that he chose not to participate in order to keep his vote.
Tribal Council
Cedrek is emotional after failing the second leg of the immunity challenge, which ends in another Vula loss. He understands his inability to cross a balance beam may be an easy enough reason to vote him out of “Survivor 48.”
This tribe has other plans.
At camp, Kevin lays out a plan for everyone to vote Sai out of Season 48. It involves Sai believing that Mary, who everyone knows lost her vote, is a consensus decision. Cedrek decides to secretly tell Sai that she needs to play her idol to stay in the game. It is revealed to her that Kevin has a plan in place to vote her out. When Cedrek checks in with Justin, a plan to blindside Kevin comes together. They realize that if Mary doesn’t vote, Sai votes for Mary, and Kevin votes for Sai, they can put two votes on Kevin, ending his game.
At the second tribal council of Season 48, tension continues to build between Sai and Mary. Confidence is in the air, though Kevin believes it’s either Sai or Mary that will be leaving, depending on if the idol is played. Sai does play her idol, just in case, but she, Cedrek and Justin blindside Kevin. His torch gets snuffed after a 3-1 vote.
It’s hard to imagine the four remaining Vula members winning an immunity challenge. With their numbers dwindling, whoever remains at the Season 48 merge may have to start over and find new bonds to build.
RELATED: “Survivor 48” Premiere Recap + Castaway Betting Odds
“Survivor 48” Castaway Betting Odds + Power Rankings
Every week, I’ll have the remaining Season 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 the second episode of “Survivor 48,” I’m ranking the remaining 16 castaways based on tribe strength, challenge performances, advantages, alliances (however strong) and everything in between:
- Joe (+400)
- Kyle (+400)
- Thomas (+400)
- Mitch (+400)
- Eva (+500)
- Shauhin (+650)
- Kamilla (+650)
- Bianca (+1000)
- Chrissy (+1000)
- David (+1000)
- Justin (+1200)
- Cedrek (+1200)
- Charity (+1400)
- Saiounia “Sai” (+1400)
- Mary (+1400)
- Star (+1500)
Power Rankings Analysis
The Favorites
Joe, Kyle, Thomas and Mitch sit at the top of the Season 48 power rankings after Episode 2. Joe doesn’t have any advantages, but he gets approached by everyone in the Liga tribe. He feels like a lock to make the merge. From there, he should have an edge in physical immunity challenges.
Kyle is in possession of the only active immunity idol in the game. That’s enough to put him inside the top three for now. Thomas comes in at third in possession of a Block-a-Vote advantage that nobody knows about. That, plus being a member of the Liga tribe, is a good place to be. Mitch also has a Block-a-Vote advantage, but the entire Civa tribe knows about it. He’s a proven asset, especially after such a prominent role in the immunity challenge, that seeing him leave before the merge feels very unlikely.
The Mid-Range
Eva doesn’t have an advantage, but she has Joe. They appear to be the tightest duo in regard to reciprocal trust. Not far behind her in the updated “Survivor 48” betting odds are Shauhin and Kamilla. They both respectively seem to be in a good position in the Liga and Civa tribes. Both have shown us flashes of strategy and/or strong physical and mental traits in challenges.
Bianca, Chrissy and David all sit in the same tier. Neither of the three has had any standout moments – good or bad – so far, two episodes into Season 48. David is most likely to be a victim of a blindside if a common discussion of eliminating obvious physical threats is brought up.
The Longshots
Justin and the five Season 48 castaways below him in the power rankings all have rough paths to winning this game. I know how ridiculous that sounds this early on. However, as noted, the Vula tribe is down to four and struggles in challenges. Cedrek and Justin will probably pull in either Sai or Mary to get the other out.
Though the Civa tribe is described as “family” by David in this episode of “Survivor 48,” there was still a comment made about the concern with how close Mitch and Charity are. It still seems like Charity is the first to go if Civa ends up at tribal council any time soon.
Star is at the bottom because her fate is in the hands of others. The clue needed to retrieve her immunity idol is quite literally in the hands of Shauhin. The Liga tribe is strong, but they’ll want an easy out if they stumble. Star looks to be it.
Thanks for reading my “Survivor 48″ Episode 2 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.
