The “Survivor 48” finale started off with Jeff Probst stating to the audience, “There will be blood, because there has to be. It will be personal, because it is.” No truer words have been spoken when it comes to “Survivor 48.” Over the last 12 weeks, we’ve seen some of the tightest bonds refuse to be broken between castaways. However, there can only be one sole survivor. Let’s take a look at how another chapter of the greatest show on television has come to a close.
(Warning: Spoilers Ahead)
“Survivor 48” Finale Recap + New Era Winner Power Rankings
Finale Recap
Sorting Out the Shauhin Vote
As the final five regroup after voting out Shauhin, there is a clear disconnect. Kyle and Kamilla so perfectly planted lies about Shauhin that led to his demise at the hands of Joe and Eva. Even better, Kamilla voted for Mitch, resulting in a 4-2 vote not to bring awareness to her and Kyle’s secret alliance.
As Joe and Eva look at the game ahead, Eva is certain Kyle is with them. She believes that without Shauhin, they still have a majority of three to vote out Kamilla. Meanwhile, Joe is questioning whether or not they just got played (they did). Kamilla is baffled that neither Joe nor Eva ever fact-checked her lies with Shauhin (they should have).
Securing an Advantage
The final five are presented an opportunity to earn an advantage in their next immunity challenge. Within the jungle, each of them are assigned a hand-held puzzle lock that they must solve to earn the advantage. In order to solve it, they must correctly spin the six individual wheels of letters, spelling the correct word to open the lock.
In order to solve the puzzle and identify the word, they must race through the jungle and determine the letters involved. To do so, there are signs with animals on them around the jungle. On the animals are a number of small bumps. The number of bumps on each animal corresponds with the numbered letter of the alphabet in order. While others are close, Eva is the fastest to solve it by spelling the word “SECURE.”
The Final Five Challenge
The stakes are undoubtedly high for the final five challenge of “Survivor 48.” Eva has an advantage in the challenge itself, but also a hidden immunity idol to guarantee her spot in the final four. A win in this challenge gives her the power to bring Joe along with her. If Joe wins, not only does he make history as one of just seven players to ever finish with five individual immunity challenges, but he and Eva would move on together.
In this challenge, the castaways must crawl up and down a ramp of rope. Once down, they must then crawl through a twist rope tunnel submerged in mud. Upon getting free, they have to shoot a ball into a tall chute and then maneuver the ball through a cage filled with sandbags. They must then shoot the ball into a basket which helps reveal a series of three numbers. These numbers are used in a combination lock that frees a key to unlock puzzle pieces on the top of a platform. Solving the puzzle is the ultimate goal.
Eva’s advantage is that she does not need to shoot the ball into the basket to reveal her numbers. Instead, she can slam dunk it to retrieve the numbers fast. Joe is first to the puzzle, followed by Mitch and Kyle. Eva gets there fourth, followed by Kamilla who trails the others the entire time. All five of the remaining “Survivor 48” castaways make it to the puzzle, but without any leads or progress once they’re all there. Kamilla ultimately goes from worst to first and wins her second individual immunity challenge of the season.
And Then There Were Four
Mitch makes a pitch to Kyle that Joe must go. Kyle feels that he is playing in the middle again, as he has for the entirety of “Survivor 48.” He is loyal to Joe, but understands the logic of Mitch’s case. Kyle confers with Kamilla, his biggest ally. They realize that if they keep Mitch, then there are three original Civa members in the final four, which could impact how the jury votes if all three were to make it to the end.
Kyle and Kamilla ultimately decide that if they vote out Mitch, he will vote for one of them at the end. Joe and Eva see Mitch as an easy vote. It’s very clear that four of the final five have a unanimous decision. They even tell Mitch beforehand that they’re voting for him. In a strategic, yet anticlimactic tribal council, Mitch is sent to the jury with a 4-1 vote.
Simmotion
Whether you’re a first-time or long-time “Survivor” fan, Simmotion is an absolutely classic final challenge. As the final four of “Survivor 48” arrive to the challenge and see the setup, there is a general concern among them for the difficulty of the challenge that awaits.
Simmotion consists of each player having one hand tied behind their back. With the other hand, they must drop a ball into a large, metal course that the ball circles on its way around to the bottom. It must then be caught by the castaway before placing it back into the course. As the ball circles the course, it changes direction and ultimately exits through one of two different openings at the bottom.
When directed, the castaways must introduce another ball, forcing much more intense concentration, planning and effort to prevent any of the balls from hitting the ground. All four castaways seem to have a steady handle on this challenge. They introduce more balls and Eva is the first to let one drop. She is visibly upset, knowing for the first time in a long time that she is vulnerable heading into tribal council.
Kamilla is the next castaway to drop. This leaves either Joe or Kyle to win the final challenge of “Survivor 48.” As four balls are circling each castaway’s courses, Joe cannot keep up and one of his balls hits the deck. Kyle wins his second individual immunity challenge, which is the biggest of “Survivor 48.”
Fire at the Final Four
In recent seasons of “Survivor,” the winner of the final immunity challenge chooses two other castaways to compete in a fire-making challenge. We’ve even seen some individual immunity winners give up their safety to compete in the challenge themselves, as some view the challenge as an opportunity to look good in front of the jury.
Heading into the “Survivor 48” final four fire-making challenge, Kyle made it clear he is taking Joe to the final three with him. He has a clear connection with Joe and as a result, he promised that if he won the final challenge, Joe would be going to the final three with him. So, Eva and Kamilla are set to face off in the fire-making challenge.
Eva and Kamilla are each allowed to practice at camp before the challenge. Kamilla identifies problems with her strategy and corrects them. Eva, on the other hand, is noticeably struggling. Joe hears her crying and offers to compete in her place. She refuses to allow him to step in.
At the tribal council, Eva immediately builds a base for her fire while Kamilla is unable to get any sort of flame. Eva’s fire grows rapidly and begins burning the rope necessary to break and raise the winner flag. But as quickly as Eva’s fire rose to the rope, it shrinks back down, forcing her to build it back up. Meanwhile, Kamilla is still unable to get any sort of flame going. Eva successfully builds her fire back up and wins the “Survivor 48” fire-making challenge and Kamilla is honored to have competed, knowing she was viewed as a threat.
The Winner of “Survivor 48”
In one of the more fair and firm “Survivor” tribal councils, all three of Kyle, Eva, and Joe adequately state their case to the jury as to why they should win “Survivor 48.” A big emphasis from the jury is the alliance between Joe and Eva, and they are asked to show their independence in different ways. Eva’s big moment was revealing to the “Survivor 48” jury that she had the Safety Without Power advantage for the majority game after the merge and not even Joe knew about it!
Joe makes it clear that while he and Eva are an alliance, his goal is to make the jury feel like he deserved to win “Survivor 48” as he is there for his family. Joe’s four individual immunity wins are a compelling case for him to win, as it’s the most challenge wins of any castaway from the season.
Kyle has the biggest mic drop of the “Survivor 48” final tribal council. When asked what each of the three finalists believe the jury’s perception of their game is, Eva claims that voting out Shauhin was her idea to help save herself and Joe. However, with the support from Kamilla on the jury, Kyle reveals his alliance and the grand plan to frame Shauhin. He completely diminishes what Eva thought was a game-saving move.
The final three all do a great job stating their case. Heading into the vote, it’s difficult to say who would win, despite strong beliefs as to who should win. With a vote of 5-2-1, Kyle is named the “Survivor 48” winner over Eva and Joe.
Analyzing the Votes
It’s a well-deserved win for Kyle. He played the middle, kept in touch with everyone, used his secret alliance with Kamilla to his advantage and ultimately won the final challenge to guarantee him a spot in the final three. The jury voted as follows:
KYLE – Kamilla, Mitch, Chrissy, David, Shauhin
EVA – Mary, Star
JOE – Cedrek
This is the first time in the new era in which all three finalists received at least one vote. It’s also the first time this has happened since Season 35!
I’m a little shocked Joe didn’t receive more votes. Kamilla voting for Kyle is the most obvious of all of the votes, but it appears Chrissy, Mitch and David also stayed true to the original Civa tribe bond by voting for Kyle. While Shauhin and Joe were close, Kyle’s masterful lie, which ultimately got Shauhin voted out by Joe, likely earned Shauhin’s respect and vote.
Power Ranking the “Survivor” New Era Winners
After “Survivor 48,” we now have eight winners of the “new era,” which refers to the eight most recent seasons starting with “Survivor 41.” The seasons of “Survivor” are now 26 days long, and the game is faster and more intense with twists, advantages and lack of resources. Since this season has come to a close, we no longer have active castaways to power rank. Instead, let’s look at the eight new era winners and see where their wins stack up against one another!
1. Dee, Season 45
Dee was a key member of a majority alliance of four (Dee, Austin, Drew, Julie) that all made it to the final six. She conspired against one of her alliance members, Drew, which was a blindside to her semi-showmance alliance member, Austin. She revealed this move to Austin in front of the jury at the final tribal council. The duo were seen as equals prior to this, but this move elevated Dee to the title of sole survivor.
2. Kyle, Season 48
He was one half of arguably the best duo in “Survivor” history, or at least in the new era. He was not directly responsible for voting out his biggest threat, Kamilla, who was also his ally, but he did force her into the fire-making challenge that got her eliminated. Kyle winning the final four individual immunity challenge truly won him “Survivor 48.”
3. Rachel, Season 47
Challenge beast! Rachel won four of the final five individual immunity challenges, including the last one of her season. In the only one of these five that she didn’t win, she successfully played a hidden immunity idol for herself that no one else knew about. Before doing so, she listened to Andy’s pitch to her as to why he should win, since he believed she was getting voted out, prompting Rachel to vote for him instead.
4. Kenzie, Season 46
You can make the case that Kenzie shouldn’t have won. Many have and still do. The jury voted in a 5-3-0 split for Kenzie over Charlie and Ben. However, Charlie’s biggest ally, Maria, did not vote for him due to bitterness. Had she done so, it would have been a 4-4-0 tie forcing Ben to cast the final vote and he would have voted for Charlie. However, Kenzie began the game on one of the worst tribes in “Survivor” history and never gave up. She won two individual immunities, including the final four, which put her in a position to plead her case to win.
5. Yam-Yam, Season 44
This win is still confusing to me. Carolyn was one of the most compelling players who underwent one of the biggest transformations that “Survivor” has ever seen. From the first scene of the first episode, the initial perception of Carolyn is that she is absolutely clueless and out of place. Her quirkiness acts as a “Trojan horse” of sorts to mask her strategic moves in an alliance of three with Carson and Yam-Yam. By the end, Heidi gives up her immunity to compete against Carson in the fire-making challenge, eliminating him from the game. Yam-Yam’s biggest claim to fame was having his name written down time and time again, but still finding ways to survive and getting his revenge on everyone who tried to vote him out.
6. Maryanne, Season 42
Maryanne definitely earned the respect of the jury by the end of the game. She was a bit clumsy with her social skills at the start, but learned to adapt over time. She found the merge idol of her season and told no one about it, then revealed it in her possession at the final tribal council. She strategically eliminated Omar based on the promises of others, namely Mike, to get her to the end. Mike was unable to own his undelivered promises to others, while Romeo’s game didn’t stand a chance against Mike or Maryanne.
7. Erika, Season 41
The first winner of the new era didn’t get the best edit. At no point did it feel like Erika was a clear favorite to win the game. Her biggest move was having the ability to “change the past,” swapping the results of a specific challenge. This made the winners of the challenge all vulnerable at tribal council while the losers instantly became safe. Erika did conspire with Ricard to take out Shan, one of the biggest threats in the game, so she was strategic! However, had Xander not taken her to final three with him, he probably would have beaten Deshawn and Heather. He was afraid that if Erika won the fire-making challenge, she would win the game.
8. Gabler, Season 43
Gabler deserves our respect for donating his winnings to a good cause. He made it very clear he wished to donate the entirety of his winnings to United States military veterans. He followed through, donating his entire $1,000,000 prize money to 25 different charities. Gabler sat next to Owen and Cassidy at the final tribal council, who had alternated with each other in winning five-straight immunity challenges. However, Gabler ultimately won 7-1-0 because of his sneaky, social game and the others’ inability to own any significant moves or control of the game. I’ll never agree.
Thanks for reading my “Survivor 48″ Finale Recap + New Era Winner Power Rankings.” 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.