Heading into the 11th episode of “Survivor 45,” the remaining players had just succeeded in ousting their common enemy, Bruce Perreault, when he lost the individual immunity challenge. That left just seven people still on the island: Austin Li Coon, Dee Valladares, Drew Basile, Emily Flippen, Jake O’Kane, Julie Alley and Katurah Topps. So whose torch was snuffed tonight?
Below, read our minute-by-minute “Survivor 45” Episode 11 recap/live blog of “This Game Rips Your Heart Out” to find out what happened Wednesday, December 6, 2023 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT. Then be sure to sound off in the comments section about your favorite castaways on CBS’s reality TV show, who annoys you the most and who you think will ultimately join the “Survivor” winners list and take home the $1 million grand prize. Jeff Probst once again hosts the long-running competition series.
Keep refreshing/reloading this “Survivor 45” live blog for the most recent updates.
8:00 p.m. – “Previously on ‘Survivor’!” In the 10th episode, Emily won the reward challenge and made it a “girls’ night” when she picked Dee, Julie and Katurah to join her at the Survivor Sanctuary. That left Austin, Drew, Jake and Bruce back at camp to have their own “guys’ night.” Later on, Emily was able to convince Bruce that he was safe and that Julie was the real target, so he ended up not playing his hidden immunity idol. Thus, Bruce walked off the show with an idol in his pocket — ouch!
8:02 p.m. – Following the blindside, the remaining seven players celebrated that they were able to flush both Bruce and his idol out of the game. They were further shocked when Emily revealed that she was able to convince Bruce to not use his idol by making him believe that Julie was playing him and letting him believe the plan was to oust her instead. Julie called it a “genius move” and sees it as a rising in Emily’s overall threat level. That same night, the core four from original Reba spent the night on the beach together solidifying their majority alliance through the end of the game in a commitment to remain strong and together. Within the four, Dee and Austin were a tight pair that discussed how deeply they feel for each other and would be happy to sit next to each other at the end of the game.
8:08 p.m. – The next morning, Jake was once again reflecting on the feelings he’s left with after receiving votes at Tribal Council and being left in the game with little to no agency to make a move of his own creation. In a conversation with Katurah, Jake committed to work with her through the next three votes and she engaged the topic of him being a lawyer without him knowing that she is one as well. After Julie joined the convo, Katurah opened up about her own story that involved being removed from the school system as a child when her family joined what turned out to be an “extreme religious cult.” Katurah explained that she was out of school for years and forced to work jobs until at the age of 13 when the cult leader declared her his next wife, her mom took the family away and Katurah was able to “shuffle back into the world” and school at 14. Katurah said that it was at that age that she also realized that she’s Black, and a woman, and queer and created her own dream to become a lawyer and living in her ideal city which she has since realized for herself.
8:17 p.m. – The survivors were stunned when a motorboat arrived at their beach with an opportunity for one of them to leave on a journey. As explained, only one player could go on the journey and if more than one person wanted to go then it would be decided by drawing rocks. Many people wanted to go so the tribe decided that they’d all draw rocks to decide. Emily drew the lucky green rock, but she was not immediately pleased with the result. Though she agreed to go, Emily admitted privately that it would put a target on her back and also be a “way to push [herself] forward in this game.” Emily going on the journey raised Julie’s eyebrows once again and made her think that Emily’s resume may be too good to ignore at this point.
8:20 p.m. – In a one-on-one with Julie, Drew threw out the question of whether she’d want to do something with “her idol.” He explained in a confessional that Julie is still holding on to Austin’s idol that he gave her to hold on to and he’s worried that she may use it to her own advantage. That Drew asked a question of it the very morning after the Reba four solidified their agreement was unsettling for Julie. She went to Dee to let her in on Drew’s move and they shared concern that if any of them is likely to make a move it would be Drew. Dee knew that Emily is close to Drew and so maybe they should start spreading word that Emily is dangerous.
8:22 p.m. – On her journey, Emily took a moment to reflect on her progress in the game and how far she’s come since her volatile start at the first Lulu TC where she was called “confrontational.” She acknowledged that she brings a “softness” to her conversations now and has built deeper emotional connections to others. In front of Emily on the journey was the “Savvy” task that others failed at with an option to play or pass. If she were to play and succeed, she’d earn immunity at the next TC. If she were to play and lose, she’d lose her vote at the next TC. Choosing to “play it safe” and not risk her vote, Emily decided to opt out of playing in the task.
8:30 p.m. – While Emily was away, Drew approached Katurah and Jake with their thoughts about the end game. Drew wondered if they had thought about who they need to get rid of before the finals. Drew asked if they see themselves beating Dee or Julie in the end and said that both he and Austin would be willing to vote one of them out. Julie was the name Drew threw out to them as the more dangerous of the pair and so there was a new plan floating in the air to dissolve the core four. Katurah went to Austin later about the Julie option and Austin affirmed that he also sees Julie as a threat because “Mama J” is a friend to everybody.
8:32 p.m. – When Austin met with Drew to discuss the Julie option, Austin suggested that pulling off the blindside would require not telling Dee and that puts them both in a very tough spot. For that reason, Austin optioned taking Emily out first, but Drew pushed back on that because he sees Emily as someone completely willing to work with them. Still, because of his relationship to her, Austin wrestled with the idea of having to blindside Dee in the plan to take out Julie. But on the plus side, Austin would be able to flush out his own idol that he gave Julie and so getting her out before she can use it against him/them is important.
8:34 p.m. – Upon her return, Emily was open and honest with the tribe about what her task on the journey was and her decision to not compete in the risk. Dee did not buy Emily’s story, but everyone thanked Emily for telling her story. As soon as he could get her alone, Drew told Emily that her name came up as the target from Julie, but not to worry because he’s working on a plan to take Julie out instead. Austin and Katurah later affirmed for Emily that they have her back against Julie as well, but they all agreed that none of them can tell Dee because she’ll spill the beans to Julie.
8:41 p.m. – For the next challenge, Jeff had the players compete in a race to untangle themselves from a long rope that would need to extend far enough for them to retrieve sand bags and blocks that they’d use to solve a word puzzle at the end of the course. The first player to finish earned their spot in the final six and the reward of a do-it-yourself barbecue lunch.
8:44 p.m. – Jake was the first to attempt to extend his rope, but he ran out by the third huddle. Drew attempted next and was surprised to find out he had enough to get to the sand bag station to begin knocking over his blocks. Jake was able to get to the sand bags on his next attempt, but after failing to knock his blocks off he realized he didn’t have enough rope to reach the sand bags he threw. All the while, Drew was still throwing sand bags by the time Austin reached the station to throw his bags. Eventually Drew knocked all his blocks off and could begin the word puzzle. Emily, Julie, Dee and Katurah were all still trying to untangle their ropes.
8:47 p.m. – Drew quickly unscrambled the word “resourcefulness” that needed to be assembled in a self-supporting arch with the word written correctly on both sides, but he struggled to get the arch to remain up. Austin figured out the word as well and was much better at getting the arch to support itself, but when he asked for a check Jeff told him that “something is not right and it needs to match on both sides.” Austin remained stunned trying to figure out was right despite it being clear that the back side of his arch did not spell “resourcefulness.” In one final attempt, Drew managed to get his arch to stay up and confirmed for Jeff that both sides correctly spelled the word and so he was declared the winner.
8:50 p.m. – With his win, Drew was offered the opportunity to bring two other players along with him on the reward. His first choice was Jake, who he said has gone as long as him without a reward experience. His second choice was Austin in order to make it a “guy’s night 2.0” in response to the recent decision for all the women to go on a girl’s night reward.
8:56 p.m. – Back at camp, the women decided to have a “spa day” in the beach water, but they quickly realized there wasn’t much to discuss in terms of strategy because the undercurrent of the day was that Julie was targeting Emily and Emily was targeting Julie. Instead of game, the women made small talk and pretended to “throw out Jake’s name” as the easy target and wondered what the guys were talking about.
8:58 p.m. – Drew used the reward as an opportunity to pull Jake back in and build “strategic trust” that he’d need at final six. Jake asked Drew and Austin that Emily not be the target and so they all considered that Julie has the best chance of winning challenges and beating them all at the end of the game. Jake understood that they needed Jake’s vote this round and so he was willing to go along with them in the idea to take Julie out.
9:01 p.m. – When he returned to camp, Austin felt uneasy about the plans that were in the works because he knew he’d be hurting Dee to leaving her out of the loop on the blindside against Julie. When the two of them talked privately, Austin confessed to Dee that there’s a “strong movement” brewing against Julie.
9:07 p.m. – Dee told Austin that she won’t write Julie’s name down, but Austin said that even if they both don’t then Julie is still going to go home, meaning that Drew is certainly voting for Julie with the other three. Dee didn’t understand why Emily isn’t an option, but that with Drew, Emily, Jake and Katurah all voting Julie then the only way to save her is for her to play an idol. The revelation put Dee in the tough position of considering if she tells Julie or she puts herself in danger by exposing the plan.
9:09 p.m. – Later, Dee told Julie that she needs to put on her “biggest acting face” because she’s the “other option” and needs to play the idol. Julie was enraged by the idea that Drew and Austin were willing to turn on her after she’s protected them all game and they are jumping at the chance to break the plan. Julie went to Jake and Emily saying that if what’s told will happen actually happens then it’s going to be one of them that goes home. She heavily threatened that she’d have the power to decide the outcome and gave them the option to vote with her against Austin instead, but because they didn’t know that she has an idol they didn’t realize that she actually had any power to sway their votes.
9:10 p.m. – Word got back to Drew that Julie was going around trying to flip the vote on Austin which told him that obviously someone spilled the beans to Julie. Drew went to Austin and Dee with that news, shocking the entire group and setting off a day of theorizing about the potential of Julie playing the idol. Austin told Drew that if Julie plays her idol then he’ll just play his as well. Separately, Julie told Dee that she’d be voting Austin out because it weakens Drew, but Dee pleaded with her that she not go against Austin and vote Emily instead. Dee fashioned the plan that Julie needs to write Emily’s name and that Dee is going to vote for Julie as well and they can pretend to be enemies afterward.
9:20 p.m. – At TC, Jake told Jeff that the game gets harder at this point because you learn more about each other, but Drew and Julie countered that the game actually gets easier as it nears the end because you settle in to the betrayal aspect and you “give yourself permission to play the game.” In that regard, emotional decision-making became a central topic for the night’s discussion and many of the players agreed that success in the game means you can put emotion aside and look at your decisions from a strategic angle. When Jeff asked about idols and advantages, Katurah pointed out that the lack of play of them was a sign that everyone was keeping their cards close to their chest and the chances of being a “ricochet vote” on an idol play were greatly increased.
9:25 p.m. – At the voting box, we saw everyone write Julie’s name down with commentary about how much of a threat she is as the mother figure around camp. Sure enough, Julie stood to give the idol in her possession to Jeff and to play it in her name, nullifying any votes cast against her. Austin went back on his own word and made the decision to not play the amulet idol. Jeff read the votes: Julie, Julie, Julie, Julie, Julie, and Julie all did not count and so the elimination was left up to Julie’s sole vote. That final vote was for Emily. On her way out, Emily told Julie to “not feel bad” and expressed openly to everyone that her “vote’s going to the best player.” The jurors looking on from the sidelines were left stunned.
NEXT TIME: Austin refers to Julie’s moment as an “absolute disaster,” Drew and Julie are “at war with each other,” and Katurah and Jake make plans to “blindside somebody.”
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