Recap
Host Jeff Probst explained the Ghost Island premise to the 20 new castaways upon their arrival, saying they had a chance to reverse the curse of bad Survivor decisions if they were to visit Ghost Island. Jeff instructed each tribe to choose a leader: Malolo selected Brendan, while Chris volunteered for Naviti. Jeff also told the castaways they would only start with a machete, pot, a fishing kit, and a smaller supply of rice.
Reward Challenge: A designated runner will have to race through a series of obstacles to dig up three sets of keys. Then, a designated puzzle solver will use the keys to unlock a slide puzzle. The first person to finish their puzzle wins a massive shelter building kit reward for their tribe. Additionally, the losing tribe will be forced to forfeit their fishing kit. However, if the tribe leader decides to forfeit the challenge during the puzzle solving portion, their tribe will get to keep the fishing kit, but the opposing tribe will get 20 eggs and flint in addition to the shelter building kit.
For Malolo and Naviti, respectively, Michael and Sebastian were selected to run the course, while Laurel and Desiree were selected for the puzzle. Chris pulled the lever on Desiree, preserving Naviti’s fishing kit but giving the larger reward to Malolo. As the Malolo tribe set up their shelter and got to know each other, Jacob openly stated his intention to search for a hidden immunity idol, causing his tribemates to distrust him. He also poured some of the tribe’s rice in his dirty sock to see if a clue was hidden in the jar, which there wasn’t. Meanwhile at the Naviti camp, a power struggle started between Chris and Domenick, who questioned Chris’s decision to forfeit the opening challenge.
Immunity Challenge: Each tribe will have to race across a net bridge to where two bags are hanging. Working together, they will then need to untie the bags to obtain a pair of ropes. Using the ropes, the tribe will need to slide a sled full of giant puzzle pieces through a course. At the end of the course, they will need to solve a cube puzzle to win immunity.
Naviti won the challenge, and they also received a flint reward, as Malolo already had flint after winning the first reward challenge. For winning the immunity challenge, Naviti had to send one person from Malolo to Ghost Island, where they would be immune from the vote; Naviti sent Jacob after he declared Malolo was the best tribe in Survivor history. On Ghost Island, Jacob had to break an urn to play a game for an advantage; if he lost, he would have to forfeit his vote at the next Tribal Council. He subsequently won a game of chance which gave him Sierra’s legacy advantage from Game Changers. He had to will it to someone from Naviti, and he chose Morgan. He also made a fake idol. At the Malolo camp, the tribe had to come up with a new plan, as Jacob was their intended target. Gonzalez rallied votes against Donathan for being the tribe’s weakest link, but at Tribal Council, her paranoia got the better of her as she whispered into the ears of her tribemates, sans Donathan, asking who they were targeting that night. Although everyone told her they were targeting Donathan, it was revealed that they had lied to her, and Gonzalez was unanimously blindsided, becoming the first person voted out.
At the Naviti camp, Domenick searched for a hidden immunity idol in the middle of the night, which he eventually found; it was revealed to be Andrea’s idol from Caramoan. The next morning, he attempted to bury the hatchet with Chris, but the tension still lingered between the two. At the Malolo camp, Jacob kept the legacy advantage information to himself and told his tribemates that he had found an idol on Ghost Island, but that he had left the paper behind, making Brendan suspicious.
Reward/Immunity Challenge: Two pairs from each tribe will race through a series of obstacles in the water. They will then have to dive to release two sets of buoys. Another member will need to gather all of the marked buoys to the finish, where the last four members will need to get all eight in a basket to win immunity and a comfort reward of chairs, pillows, blankets, and a washboard.
Naviti easily won after James couldn’t even dive a foot in the water. Donathan panicked before eventually diving down and releasing the buoys for Malolo. Naviti sent Donathan to Ghost Island, and the urn he smashed was a dud. At Malolo, Stephanie considered working with Jacob to blindside Michael, but Jacob spilled the beans about the legacy advantage to Stephanie. At Tribal Council, Libby and Michael voted against James in case Jacob did indeed have a real idol, but ultimately, the tribe stuck to the original plan, sending Jacob out of the game.
