Survivor 44 episode 7 recap: Heartbreak after the immunity challenge fallout (2024)

Survivor 44 episode 7 breaks hearts and there’s no working your way around it. The show’s producers introduce a new twist into the final 11 immunity challenge and subsequent vote, and the fallout from what happens after this twist is devastating to watch play out.

Although last week’s episode was more chaotic regarding who was going home, this week was much more straightforward and sad.

With 11 players making the merge, the individual immunity challenge is revealed to be anything but that. First things first: the immunity challenge is one where each castaway must balance a long pole on their head with a ball balancing on a small flat platform at the end of the stick. Plus, they are balancing on a narrow beam during the entire challenge, while moving forward at intervals to increase the difficulty level.

Despite this being a tough challenge, host Jeff Probst announces that the castaways will be divided into two tribes of five players. The last person standing from each tribe will win immunity and the last person overall will win immunity for their entire group. The other group will go to tribal council, but the immune tribe will only attend to witness the events – they will not vote.

Summation: The winning group will avoid being voted out, but will not vote or participate in the conversation that happens at tribal council. On top of that, the losing group goes to a separate beach where the five players will discuss who goes home during their time apart from the winning tribe who also won a reward in the form of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and potato chips.

It’s important to point out that Carson was the odd one out in the random group draw, but he did pick the winning group. Although Frannie was the last person left on her side, she withstood four other remaining players from the other team to win overall immunity. This meant that Frannie, Kane, Heidi, Danny, Carolyn, and Carson were safe at tribal council.

Did the losing group going to a separate beach influence the vote in Survivor 44 episode 7?

The losing group of the immunity challenge in Survivor 44 episode 7 was at a dramatic disadvantage – depending on perspective. Three of the five players were original Ratu tribemates, which meant that Matt and Yam Yam were at an immediate disadvantage as soon as the challenge concluded. On top of not knowing players would be separated after the challenge, Matt did not even bring his bag that included his fake idol and his “shot in the dark” vote. This meant he could not take a one-in-six shot at gaining immunity if he wanted to sacrifice his vote at tribal council.

It was quite apparent the vote would come down to Matt and Yam Yam in this vote, but there was an additional wrinkle thrown into this vote. The winning team was given a clue after they finished eating their reward. Keys were hidden throughout the forest and one of those keys unlocked the birdcage, which provided a new advantage. Six players raced through the jungles of Fiji to find one of the multiple keys to unlock the birdcage, but only one was victorious.

Heidi unlocked the cage and discovered a new advantage: She was able to control one of the five votes at tribal council. Frannie is Matt’s “BFF” and she tries to protect Matt – and who isn’t rooting for these happy two in and out of the game? – but Heidi is listening to everyone on this particular subject. Yam Yam is a very social player and seems very capable of adapting to multiple situations, but Matt is aligned with more castaways – including a very special bond with Frannie.

If the entire group would’ve come together after the challenge, it might’ve impacted the end result. However, this separation clearly directed who was sent home.

It’s with painful sorrow to announce the departure of Matt from the game. Despite Yam Yam thinking of a way to combine his and Matt’s vote against Ratu’s remaining three players, Heidi announced that she was stealing Lauren’s vote to put on Yam Yam probably sealing any chance for Matt. If Yam Yam and Matt were working together, and the “control a vote” was put on Lauren (or someone else), perhaps Matt and Yam Yam could have still voted together.

Once the vote was put on Yam Yam, it was clear he was going to vote for Matt and vice versa. In a vote of 3-to-2, Matt was sent home. Even before the vote, his emotions bubbled over as he described his anxiety at attempting such a herculean thing like Survivor. Despite Matt’s heartbreaking exit, he walked away with triumphant support for Frannie and congratulated her on her immunity win. This irrevocably displays the bond they have and Matt’s ability to seek out his light in the darkest of times.

Were you crushed by Matt’s exit in Survivor 44 episode 7? Did you predict his exit once you saw the group dynamics after the immunity challenge loss? Do you think he could have done anything differently to save himself? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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