A new episode of survivor 44 will air tonight on CBS. Read a live summary here.
The episode begins with Ratu returning to camp after the tribal council. Playing his hidden idol of immunity, Brandon negated the two votes cast against him. His only vote for Maddy eliminated her from the game. Matthew is pleased with how the tribal council went. He wanted the hidden idol of immunity flushed, and he wanted Brandon to stay. Matt, Jaime and Lauren didn’t vote. Matt and Jaime played their shot in the dark. Lauren activated her perk and now has an extra vote in her possession. Kane is the only person at camp who voted for Brandon. Kane hopes he can do some damage control, but Brandon says in his confessional that he won’t trust Kane to continue.
Meanwhile, at the Soka tribe, Matt talks to his castaways about his recent breakup. He also feels down about his position in the game. He is unable to vote on his next two tribal councils after being unlucky to take advantage in the last episode. However, Matt’s spirits are lifted when he’s around Frannie. He is attracted to her and trusts her. She’s the only one who knows that Matt lost his vote for not just one, but two tribal councils. Frannie also likes Matt, but worries that the tribe will see them as a duo.
Next we see various castaways chasing benefits. The Tika tribe go hunting for the key to the birdcage as a group, but no one has found it yet. Carolyn climbed a tree and was startled by a snake. Kane thinks there is another idol being transplanted at Ratu Camp, but he can’t find one. His fellow tribesmen are suspicious of him and assume he is idol-hunting. At the Soka tribe, Danny goes on a quest alone and finds the key to the birdcage. He has no intention of telling anyone. He opens the birdcage alone and gets an idol. He also has a silver coin with no power, but it can be a decoy if he wants to.
Back with the Tika tribe, Carolyn continues to search for the key and finally finds it. She has no intention of telling anyone. She manages to unlock the birdcage while everyone else is gone. She has an idol as well as pearls without power. She fails to put the bag back in the birdcage. She hastily replaces it before everyone else gets back. However, they all realize that the bag has been opened. You can see that the drawstrings are loose and it doesn’t look like anything weighs the bag down. Carson suspects Helen. Yam Yam suspects Sarah. Sarah suspects Yam Yam. Carson later tells Carolyn that the birdcage was opened, and she feigns surprise. She hopes no one will notice she opened the birdcage.
It’s time for the immunity challenge. You have to overcome a series of obstacles, collect sandbags and then solve a snake maze. The first two tribes to complete the challenge gain immunity. The winning tribes will also receive fishing gear. The challenge begins and Soka takes the lead early on. They are very far ahead of the other two tribes, but Tika is in second place while Ratu lags behind in third place. The challenge is evened out after the two tribes catch up with Soka at the puzzle. Josh is working on the puzzle for Soka, Sarah is working on the puzzle for Tika, and Matthew is working on the puzzle for Ratu. Matthew completes the puzzle first. Ratu gains immunity! Next, Josh solves the puzzle. Soka gains immunity! Tika will go to the tribal council tonight.
Tika returns to camp. Helen and Carson discuss options. They’re aligned with Sarah, so they want to choose between Yam Yam and Carolyn. Helen believes Yam Yam’s strength is valuable and Carolyn is too difficult to control. She thinks Carolyn should be voted out tonight. Sarah also wants Yam Yam to vote with them as Sarah cannot vote tonight. Sarah, Helen and Carson tell Yam Yam the plan. He tells them he’s on board. However, Yam Yam doesn’t want Carolyn to leave. Yam Yam runs to Carolyn and tells her that they have to stick together. They also want to vote Helen out tonight. You think she’s too smart. Yam Yam doesn’t know Carolyn has an idol so they need numbers. Carson tells Yam Yam and Carolyn that he will vote with them, but Carolyn is unsure if he will. She remarks on how good Carson gets on with everyone. Carolyn wonders if she should play her hidden immunity tonight. Carson notes in his confessional how he plays both sides. He can side with Sarah and Helen to vote Carolyn out, or he can side with Carolyn and Yam Yam to vote Helen out.
