'Survivor 45' recap: Double elimination time! (2024)

Folks, I don't want to brag or anything, but I feel it is only fair to inform you of the following: I can totally see the future. I know that may sound like a highly debatable statement based on my past prognosticating skills (or lack thereof) when it comes to Survivor winners, but it's totally true. I can see the future! And I mean actually see it. Like, just right now. Here I was sitting on my couch watching my favorite TV show while eating all the Halloween candy that I deemed too delicious to give out to children so separated off into a "secret stash" when all of a sudden… A VISION! A vision of the future!

I saw someone voting for Kaleb! I saw someone voting for Julie! I saw Jeff Probst standing with an urn looking very solemn and serious-like, knowing he was about to once again assume the form of a reality TV grim reaper and snuff someone's torch. But how could this be? We weren't even close to Tribal Council time, especially with the longer 90-minute episodes. The only logical explanation: I CAN SEE THE FREAKIN' FUTURE!

Either that, or producers did something super wacky by showing us clips — and actual votes! — from a Tribal Council that had not yet even occurred. Was this a peek into the future? A snippet from the Survivor multiverse, perhaps? (Even the mere consideration of multiple Emilys makes me so happy.) At first, I thought perhaps the editors were splicing in footage from previous Tribal Councils to visually illustrate Jake's elaborate rock-pulling scenario, but no! It was not from previous Tribals. This was for the one coming later that night. And they actually showed some of the votes being cast and read.

Survivor started experimenting with non-linear storytelling back in the David vs. Goliath season. Instead of always showing a person finding an idol in real-time, they occasionally started playing with going back in time to show that the event had actually happened a few hours or days prior. The most famous example of this is probably during Survivor 43, when we found out in a subsequent episode that Dwight had, in fact, not left the game with Jeanine's idol in his pocket, but rather had given it to Jesse Lopez before Tribal Council (forcing Dwight to keep the ruse going during his exit interviews so as to not spoil the surprise once it aired the following week).

But never have we looked into the future to see key votes being cast — a huge leap for a show that traditionally keeps such state secrets under lock and key. So what do we think about this bold editing maneuver? My inner Emily Flippen, who has to nitpick pretty much anything and everything, will point out that as soon as I saw Jake's revote-to-rock-pulling scenario illustrated with actual footage from the Tribal, I pretty much knew that meant the scenario would not actually play out — because then they would not be showing it, they would be saving it.

Showing it in this spot was an attempt to build tension and drama for an event that would not ultimately come to pass. And they weren't just showing you players talking about it — they were showing steps of the scheme actually playing out in front of you, dialing up that tension to display how the first stage would go. But would the other steps follow suit? That was the question this editing technique posed. And while the answer was no, you know what? It worked! I always talk about how the producers like to keep players on their toes, but it's fun sometimes when they surprise the viewers as well. And while the gambit may have tipped off savvy viewers that a rock draw was most likely not in play, it still left a very open question as to whether Kaleb or Julie would be the one to go, heightening that tension.

So I guess what I am saying is that perhaps I am not so clairvoyant after all. Which really is a bummer, because that also means that dream I had the other day about Bruce and Katurah yelling at each other and then pausing dramatically before passionately locking lips might just be more disturbed fan fiction than an actual premonition. Whatevs. I just looked into my crystal ball and it showed a meandering, tangent-filled recap of Survivor 45, episode 7 in our future, so let's do that instead.

The Bruce is (almost cut) loose!

The week after Halloween is best known for the consumption of absurd amounts of leftover candy. Fun-size, full-size, those super-annoying minis — it's an avalanche of processed delights… and a dentist's nightmare. But I am going to do the most un-post-Halloweeny thing imaginable and not sugar-coat this next sentence: This was a rough episode for Bruce.

Sure, we had Katurah continuing her worldwide anti-Bruce campaign, hilariously telling us that "I am permanently, seethingly, ridiculously, annoyingly pissed." Katurah was so angry that she called him Papa Bruce, who I guess is like an alternate universe of Uncle Bruce, only with 68 percent less robot, and 312 percent more arguing about palm fronds and women giving birth.

Oh, but it was not only Katurah. Continuing the trend from last week, we had several other tribemates who were exasperated by the world's biggest Kane Fritzler fan. Kendra must have not liked Bruce's astrological sign because she was ready to vote his ass out. Kaleb apparently had to listen to a complete Xs and Os breakdown of Bruce's son throwing an interception in a football game, later calling it "the most frustrating Survivor conversation."

But the harshest evaluation came from Kellie, who described Bruce as "an anchor I've been dragging around this entire game." Look, it's one thing for Katurah (who Bruce never jelled with) to bad mouth him. And it's understandable that Kaleb (whom Bruce had openly been trying to eliminate) would not be too psyched with the guy. But Bruce literally called Kellie his number 1, also telling us that "Kellie and I are rock solid." (Hey, a rock can be an anchor, right?) For Kellie to be so annoyed with Bruce — and her body language in her confessional interviews when talking about him told you everything you needed to know — that is pretty damning.

Luckily for Bruce, there was someone else that tribemates seemed almost equally annoyed by that proved to be a more strategically viable option at Tribal Council, but we're getting ahead of ourselves.

Get a grip

What an awful, disappointing immunity challenge. I'm saying that because nobody slid all the way down the pole from super high up and landed awkwardly on their butt. Disappointing. Otherwise, it was great! Of course, this is a classic challenge where players hold onto a pole for as long as possible, but the producers did that thing they now do where the divide the tribe up into two groups, and give away two immunities, and have two two people voted out at two Tribal Councils. It's double trouble!

I know a lot of fans don't like breaking the big tribe up into two smaller groups and think it's super unfair, but I totally get why producers do it. Not only does it make for more difficult decisions and forces players to quickly react to their new surroundings, but there is also a new level of unpredictability — sometimes two — for viewers that you ordinarily may not get at this point in the game, where there is a big unanimous vote (like there was last week for both Kaleb and J Maya). Bottom line: They are making a television show, and the split-up more often than not is going to make for better television. Also, they always need a double elimination at some point in the season, and this tribe split format easily lends itself to serve that goal.

The real twist was not the double elimination, but rather the fact that the first person voted out would not be making the jury. Brutal. Absolutely brutal. I guarantee you every single person last week was not celebrating that they had the merge; they were celebrating that they had made the jury. So for one person to have that rug pulled out from under him had to be tough. Although I will say that having someone who made the merge not make the jury is not even .000000001 percent as ridiculous as having a jury member who did not make the merge. (Super shout-out to Cook Islands, which embraced absurdity to the highest degree by having not one, not two, but THREE jury members who did not even make the merge. Man, the cojones on that season.)

Kellie was super impressive, outlasting everyone in the blue group to win the first individual immunity, but there was simply no way she was going to defeat Dee AND HER HORRIFICALLY GINORMOUS BIG TOE for the reward. Essentially the entire wikifeet site come to life, Dee's toe is almost a player in its own right — and may have gotten more screen time than Brando this season. As we watched Dee wedge her natural biology-defying toe into that crevice, offering her all the support she needed and then some, all I could think to myself was… Lord, I hope she never files that nail on Cirie Fields' bed. Anyway, Dee indeed did outlast Kellie, which meant she and the red group had earned a trip to…

We now interrupt this regularly scheduled Survivor recap for a message from our sponsor…

Hi, I'm Jeff Probst. You may know me from the hit television program Survivor. Or from when I interrupted Dalton's recap last week. Did your tribemates just unanimously try to vote you out of the game? Are you suffering from anxiety because you decided to not bring your bag — and advantage — with you to a challenge, not realizing you were on the television program Survivor and that all possessions should be super-glued to your body at all times? Or were you just cornered for a 13-hour dissertation on the dos and don'ts of Pop Warner football? Living with strangers can be no fun. Wouldn't you like to get away from it all? Well, now you can, courtesy of a trip to the Survivor Sanctuary… where good things happen. Good things like tacos, and sandwiches, and… ummmm… more tacos! The Survivor Sanctuary is where all your troubles melt away. Don't worry about the people trying to vote you out. Don't worry about the summersaults your digestive system will be doing after stuffing your starving belly with way too much food that will invariably lead to #SevereGastorointestinalDistress. Don't worry about the fact that we could not come up with a better motto for the Survivor Sanctuary. Just sit back, relax, and keep looking under napkins and baskets for an immunity idol clue even though we haven't done that in years. It can all be yours! Join me, Jeff Probst*, at the Survivor Sanctuary… where good things happen. *Disclaimer: Jeff Probst will only come to the Survivor Sanctuary if one of you gets injured eating a taco or quits the game because that is something people this season seem to be doing.

We now return you to our regularly scheduled Survivor 45 recap, already in progress…

… and thus concludes my rant on why the host should go back to wearing a cowboy hat on Survivor. Anyway, since the tribe (Dakuwaqa, apparently?) was split into two groups, we'll do the same. Let's start with the losers.

Feeling Blue

After the blue group lost, they were sent off to Lulu beach. Only one problem: Drew had left his bag back at camp — his bag with his Safety Without Power advantage that would allow him to walk out of a Tribal of his choice (without voting). Now here's what's interesting: The last episode of Survivor 44 that this cast saw before leaving for Fiji was the mergatory episode that aired April 5. That's the one where Josh was eliminated. They didn't see anything that happened after that. Why that is germane here is that the very next episode that aired after they flew to Fiji was the one where Matt left his bag — with his Shot in the Dark — back at the beach before a similar tribe split and therefore could not use it when he knew he was the target. Had the Survivor 45 cast watched that episode, you have to assume there is no way in the name of Tata the bushman that Drew leaves his bag back at the beach. But they didn't see it. And he did leave it. Still, I'll tell Drew then what I told Matt last season: ALWAYS BRING YOUR BAG!!!!! Drew did assume and did indeed make an ass out of u and me. Or at least him.

But Drew was never really in any trouble. That's because everyone in the blue group seemed more concerned with taking the person out that didn't fit in rather than the biggest threat to win. Bruce was on the outside of original Belo and Sifu was on the outside of original Reba, which meant that both sides seemed perfectly content to eat one of their own. It appeared that Bruce was going to be the one to go, until Kellie stepped in.

Kellie showed what a smart player she is by refusing to make the easy move that would untether her from the anchor that had been dragging her down, and instead opting for the more strategic play. Not only that, but she was able to convince the more emotional Kendra to follow her lead. "Bruce is so difficult," she explained. "But he can't go right now. He is an incredible shield for us." Should she have targeted the far more dangerous Drew instead of Sifu? Perhaps, but that also may have backfired with Sifu, Drew and Emily then uniting to target a Belo, so you can't fault her for taking out another Reba in Sifu.

It's never been fully clear on TV why Sifu never fit in with his tribe. We saw some hilariously unsuccessful spying that may have soured people on him. And maybe the constant air guitar machete thing got a little tiring for folks, but he seems like a good guy. My guess is with all the spying and the lying about having an idol that folks felt they simply couldn't trust him. I imagine he will be a true wild card as a member of the jury. Oh, wait… never mind.

Katurah jumps ship

This was a fascinating series of events that went down among the winning red team before they went to Tribal Council. First off, you had just some really bad reads happening. Dee pronounced that Jake would work with the Reba folks because "he's easy to persuade" — which was immediately followed by Jake telling us how he was ready to make a big move and "take control of this game" by going to rocks and putting his own game on the line to get Dee's lieutenant out in Julie.

Of course, I would argue that Jake likely then made a faulty read of his own in telling anyone who would listen that "Austin's playing the game scared" and would fold before going to rocks. We obviously never got to see that play out, but that hasn't been my take on Austin at all.

But the really good stuff was still to come. It looked like we were gearing up for that three-to-three tie to go down, when Kaleb decided to tell Katurah about Bruce finding the idol. On one hand, that makes total sense in that if she heard it from Austin before him, then his goose was cooked. But why did Austin even know about it? Because Kaleb told him. WHOOPS!

Kaleb's move to tell Katurah backfired in a major way, because once he did that — and then Jake confirmed to her that he made up searching for his ring to help Bruce locate said idol — that made Katurah feel like she was completely on the outs of Belo. And why wouldn't she feel that way? She was the only person on the entire tribe intentionally left out of that idol hunt. And if you're Katurah, you're only being told this right before a crucial vote, so you have to question the sincerity in why people are even telling you that now. Katurah's vote to get rid of Kaleb may have seemed emotional because she was hurt in being left out, but I think considering the information she had and when she got it, it seems like a perfectly rational and strategic decision on her part. If you're on the bottom of one group, time to form another one.

The footnote to this entire affair is that not only did Austin not appear to even tell Katurah about Bruce's idol, but he was actually working at one point to save Kaleb as a shield. But once Kaleb threw Dee's name out there at the previous Tribal Council, that was that. The Cuban got her revenge.

As viewers, it's awful to see Kaleb go. He was a magnetic personality, he gave A+ confessionals, and he actually called someone out by name at Tribal Council, which is pretty much an extinct act in the new era of Survivor. His problem — as we have noted many times — is that his social game lacked subtlety. He was too obviously terrific: the type of person you had no chance of beating at a final Tribal Council, so why let him get close to sniffing it? When Kaleb comes back to play again — and I truly believe it is a matter of when and not if — we'll have to see if he's able to modulate that salesman personality and not stand out so much. In the end, his magical Shot in the Dark play only got him two more days in the game, but as amazing as Kaleb was this season, here's something even more amazing, and I want you take a deep breath before reading the following sentence. EMILY FLIPPEN OUTLASTED THE ENTIRE LULU TRIBE!

That is not a misprint. Noted alien-hater Emily Flippen — who was set to be voted out first on day 3 had Hannah not quit — is now the last Lulu member in the game. And guess what? She may not be going anywhere for a while. Emily has toned down her personality to the point where she does not appear to be annoying anyone, and she is also not seen as any form of threat by anyone in the game. Why would her name even come up at this point? Could Emily actually win this game? It's not as insane as it sounded a few weeks ago. She's not Batman. She's not the Canadian. She's financial analyst Emily Flippen. And when it comes to Survivor 45, that could be enough.

But it's not enough to finish this recap before we deliver some other Survivor goodies. We've got a very fun video of the entire cast talking about the twists they did not want to see this season, so do yourself a favor and check that out. We've also got Hostmaster General Jeff Probst explaining that wacky Tribal Council flash-forward, and an exclusive deleted scene revealing how they came up with the tribe name Dakuwaqa and what it actually means. Plus, we'll have exit interviews with both Sifu and Kaleb, so go absolutely bonkers on those, and I'll be back next week with another scoop of the crispy!

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