Survivor 48 is the forty-eighth season of the American competitive reality television series Survivor. It premiered on February 26, 2025, on CBS in the United States, and is the sixteenth consecutive season to be filmed in the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji.
The 18 castaways competing on Survivor 48 were officially announced on January 29, 2025, with the eighteen castaways were divided into three tribes: Civa, Lagi, and Vula.[5]
↑ At the start of the individual phase of the game on Day 12, players had to earn their way into the merged tribe by either winning immunity or surviving the Day 13 Tribal Council.
Marooning Challenge: Each tribe formed 3 pairs. Each pair sprinted down the beach and crawled through a mud pit under a heavy cargo net and then ran to retrieve a heavy chest and carry it back to their mat before the next pair could go. After retrieving all three chests, three tribe members climbed a steep slide to the top of a platform. Using a pole, they knocked off a key ring used to open the chest. They retrieved sandbags from the chest and tossed sand bags onto three small high platforms. The first tribe to land all three sandbags on the platforms won a pot, machete, and flint.
Lagi won the challenge. Kyle from Civa and Kevin from Vula were selected to compete for their tribes' supplies.
Supply Challenge: Following a buried rope that had a machete locked to the end, they used the machete to chop open a coconut to retrieve a key to unlock the machete. They then had to retrieve a pot from the top of a tall pole by any means possible. They filled the pot with seawater and used that to fill a large glass jug to float a key to the top that would unlock a flint. The one who unlocked the flint won the supplies. Kevin won when Kyle accidentally broke his jug. Kyle, in a demonstration of sportsmanship, then helped Kevin finish filling his bottle.
At Civa, Kamilla and Kyle bonded and brought Chrissy and David into a majority. The whole tribe tried to decipher the meaning of numbers and animal symbols at camp. At Lagi, the men created the "California Girls" alliance (named due in part to all three being from California) and debated whether to bring in Bianca (who Thomas bonded with) or Eva (who Joe bonded with) into a majority. Feeling the odd person out, Star searched for an advantage, but her extended absence was noticed by everyone else. At Vula, Saiounia’s frustration with Mary and Stephanie’s disinterest in strategizing led her to align with the men. She discovered a Beware Advantage and, with the help of her alliance, cracked the cypher to earn an idol.
Immunity Challenge: Players raced over a massive net ramp and through a net tunnel. One player used a Fijian war club to smash a mask, releasing a box with a key in it. The key unlocked a heavy sled that the team moved down a track, then over some sandbags, and finally up an incline to the top of a tall platform. Two players then used the pieces inside the sled to assemble a Survivor logo puzzle. The first two teams to finish won immunity plus a large shelter-building kit for first place and a smaller toolkit for second place while the losing tribe had to forfeit their flint.
Lagi and Civa won the challenge. Stephanie was targeted by Saiounia for her puzzle performance; Mary and Stephanie in turn targeted Saiounia, feeling threatened by her aggressive gameplay. Justin and Kevin debated turning on Saiounia despite their wariness of her idol. At Tribal Council, Saiounia and Stephanie clashed over their differing approaches to the game. Ultimately, everyone except Mary voted out Stephanie, who attempted a failed Shot in the Dark.
Despite Saiounia's insistence that Mary be the next to go, Kevin told Cedrek and Justin he hoped to blindside Saiounia. At Lagi, Star found the Beware Advantage and asked everyone except Eva to help her decipher it; Thomas tried to convince Shauhin to ditch the advantage clue and stall long enough to vote Star out, making Shauhin wary of Thomas.
Journey: Mary, Mitch, and Thomas went on a journey where they had to solve a timed puzzle involving arranging numbered wooden blocks. If they failed to complete the puzzle in the time allotted, they lost their vote; if completed in time, they received an advantage. Mitch won a Block A Vote advantage and Thomas won a Steal A Vote advantage. Mary lost her vote.
Back at Vula, Mary confessed to losing her vote. Thomas told Lagi he protected his vote by not playing, while Mitch told Civa he won a Block a Vote. The players on Civa searched for an advantage, which Kyle found and Kamilla helped decode, earning Kyle an idol.
Reward/Immunity Challenge: Starting on a floating platform, one player climbed a ladder to the top of the platform and dove into the water to swim under a platform and release two buoys. They placed the buoys in trays on the platform and then swam under a second platform over to a third. Once there, the remaining players swam in pairs to the first platform and, working together, transported the buoys over a balance beam using poles. Once all players had reached the final platform with their buoys, they took turns shooting the buoys into a basket. The first two tribes to land all five buoys won immunity and a fishing kit.
Thomas was injured when Bianca accidentally jabbed her pole into his eye, but both continued playing in the challenge. Despite making some initial headway, Vula stalled when Cedrek and Kevin repeatedly failed to transport their buoy and Civa and Lagi won immunity, with Mitch's free-throwing skills being praised by Jeff. Saiounia rallied against Mary, who appeared helpless without a vote, but Kevin continued to target Saiounia. Cedrek urged Saiounia to play her idol, making Saiounia target Kevin instead, though Cedrek and Justin were reluctant to vote out their strongest member. At Tribal Council, Saiounia played her idol to negate Kevin’s vote, and everyone except Mary blindsided Kevin.
At Vula, Saiounia followed Mary around to stop her finding an advantage, while Mary made repeated attempts to evade her. Tipped off by Joe about Star's unsolved Beware Advantage, Eva decided to test Star's honesty by appearing to talk strategy, but this backfired when Star told Bianca and Thomas that Eva had thrown their names out as possible sacrifices. Shauhin and Thomas were also wary of Eva’s close bond with Joe, which she made no secret of in front of the rest of the tribe. At Civa, David and Kyle weighed their options after Mitch approached them for an alliance with himself and Charity.
Reward/Immunity Challenge: A caller for each tribe directed their three blindfolded tribemates around and through obstacles, searching for three key bags that were used to unlock a slide puzzle. The caller then led the blindfolded members to the puzzle table and directed a still-blindfolded tribemate in solving the puzzle. The first two tribes to complete their puzzle won immunity and a large comfort kit for first place and a smaller tarp for second place.
Lagi and Civa won yet again. Immediately following the challenge, Lagi were asked to choose one person from each tribe to go on a journey; Bianca, Justin, and Kamilla were chosen.
Journey: The players were taken to Monu Island where they each had to roll seven dice with flames and skulls until they got four of either; four flames won the advantage, while four skulls cost them their vote at the next tribal. Bianca and Justin lost their votes, while Kamilla won an extra vote.
Following Mitch's example, Kamilla reluctantly told the rest of Civa about her extra vote, while Bianca confided in Thomas about her losing her vote after keeping it from her other tribemates. At Vula, Justin pretended he had played for a tribe reward and hadn't risked his vote, even when speaking one-on-one with his closest ally Cedrek. Mary intentionally refrained from searching for an advantage to give Saiounia the perception she had already found it. Saiounia felt uneasy about Mary’s behavior and tried to convince Cedrek to split the vote on Justin; both Cedrek and Justin argued that Mary was bluffing, which Mary played up when Saiounia directly confronted her. At Tribal Council, Mary played her Shot in the Dark and successfully negated the two votes against her. On the revote, Saiounia voted Justin while Cedrek voted Saiounia; neither changed their vote on the second revote, leading to an unprecedented deadlock. Cedrek, the only person who had not been voted for, was left with the final decision. Saiounia passionately argued that Justin's hiding his lost vote was a sign of his dishonesty. Cedrek, on the condition that Mary and Saiounia learn to work together, chose to send Justin home.
Jeff gathered the tribes for what looked like a challenge but after some questioning he said "Everybody drop your buffs, we are switching tribes". Each survivor selected a packaged buff from a tray. The new tribes are: Civa-Bianca, Cedrek, Chrissy, Mitch, Saiounia; Lagi-Charity, David, Eva, Mary, Star; Vula-Joe, Kamilla, Kyle, Shauhin, Thomas.
Reward/Immunity Challenge: Tribes raced to remove heavy sandbags from a large cube that they then moved under a high structure to retrieve two bags of small sandbags. They then had to toss the sandbags through a rectangular frame and land them on a barrel. If they knocked down the frame, they had to reset it and start over again. They then had to dig up a large puzzle piece and race to a platform and build a temple puzzle. The first two tribes to complete their puzzle won immunity and reward. As reward, the first tribe to finish gets a large array of fresh fruits. The second tribe gets a smaller group of fruits.
Lagi and Civa won the challenge. Back at Vula, Kamilla and Kyle strategized and set a plan to have Kamilla appear to betray Kyle in order to get the former three Lagi players (Joe, Shauhin, and Thomas) to vote for Kyle who would then play his idol. The Lagi players discussed who they wanted out, tentatively agreeing on Kyle. At tribal, Kamilla and Kyle both communicated that they knew they were vulnerable in their new tribe and would throw the other under the bus if necessary. Before the votes were counted, Kyle played his idol, negating the three votes cast against him and sending Thomas home with an advantage in his pocket.
Back at Vula following tribal, Shauhin commiserated about how the “California Girls” alliance didn’t last their first tribal. Kyle, who confirmed he used Kamilla's extra vote at the prior tribal, continued his charade of working with Joe and Shauhin all the while trying to do damage control.
Reward Challenge: Tribes threw sandbags at a rotating target to release a bag of three balls. They then bounced the balls off a tight net into a basket. When all three balls were in the basket, they carried the basket to the final phase where they rolled the three balls on sloped platforms into three target holes. The first winners got a trip to Sanctuary where there was beverages, cheese, coffee, pastries, and sandwiches. The runner ups got a platter of pastries with juices back at camp.
Lagi won and went to Sanctuary and Vula finished second. Back at Civa, Bianca and Mitch discussed voting out Saiounia. Meanwhile, Cedrek and Saiounia discussed eliminating Chrissy.
Immunity Challenge: Tribes jumped into the ocean and swam to shore pulling a boat with a chest in it. They then carried the chest up the beach where they had to unbraid ropes to retrieve a key to unlock the chest. They then dug in the chest for four balls. Once they had the balls, they then dug a passage under a log. Once everyone had passed under the log, each tribe member had to maneuver a ball through a table maze to a different target hole.
Vula and Lagi won immunity. Following the challenge, Eva had an episode attributed to her autism. Joe was able to calm her. Jeff asked to talk about what happened, specifically asking Joe why it was important for him to give comfort to someone who was struggling. Joe kept Eva’s autism out of his response, saying his kids were watching and he wants them to see him being the man he wants them to be. Eva then explained to everyone what happened and why, revealing her autism and how with the help of her parents and people like Joe, she has overcome the low expectations given to her by her doctors while growing up.
Back at Civa, Bianca was worried about not having a vote and decided to talk with Saiounia about who she was thinking of voting for. Saiounia wanted Chrissy out but also was still miffed that Cedrek had voted for her. Bianca then spoke with Cedrek about the same things, but Cedrek said he was voting for Chrissy. To build trust, Bianca told Cedrek she didn't have a vote in the hopes that he would instead vote for Saiounia and not her. This ploy turned Bianca's fears into a self-fulfilling prophecy, as Cedrek joined Chrissy in voting her out in a 2-1-1 vote.
Back at Civa following Tribal, Saiounia was mad at Cedrek who was then forced to do damage control by explaining that he learned about Bianca losing her vote minutes before tribal and that he only had time to tell Chrissy to vote for Bianca, adding that they were all being played by the latter. Later at all the camps, teams were notified to "Drop Your Buffs". Civa and Vula were told they had 10 minutes to gather their things and get on boats to be transported to Lagi's beach. After the meet and greet at Lagi, the players were all told an advantage was somewhere in the area and a scramble immediately ensued. Sai just beat Charity to the advantage.
Reward/Immunity Challenge: Players formed two teams of six for a two phase challenge. Sai's advantage exempted her from Phase One. Phase One: In pairs, teams proceeded through a mud crawl to a mat, whereupon the next pair could go. This continued until all had gone through the crawl. They then navigated an over/under wood chip-filled obstacle and proceeded to and climbed a rope ladder to the top of a cage. Using a grappling hook, they then retrieved a bag with a key in it and then down a slide. They then had to climb a sloped slide to the top of another platform, and then use the key to open a box of puzzle pieces. Two team members then solved a puzzle using the pieces. The winning team earned a merge feast after the challenge and moved on to Phase Two. Phase Two: The Phase One winners and Saiounia had to balance a ball on a platter attached to a pole while periodically adding segments to the pole. The last one remaining won immunity and a merge buff.
Kyle won immunity and the buff. At the Merge meal, Chrissy, David, Kamilla, Kyle, Mary, Saiounia, and Star enjoyed a much-needed feast and Charity’s name, Eva’s idol, and Mitch’s advantage came up in a discussion about who should be voted off next. Back at camp, Cedrek was very concerned about his dismal performance during the challenge, feeling he had caused his team to lose. Charity discussed with Cedrek and Mitch about voting out Saiounia. Eva, Joe, and Shauhin discussed voting out Charity to break up the six Civa players. At tribal, they discussed the new dynamics of the tribe and trust between players. In the end, Charity was voted off. After her torch was snuffed, the remaining eleven buffless members received their new tribe buffs.
Back at Niu Nai following tribal, Mitch was upset that his ally Charity was voted off and no-one had told him that was going to happen. Expecting to maybe see her name, Sai was surprised to see it five times while at the same time confessing, she wrote Cedrek’s name down to “get her lick back” at him for voting twice for her. Moving forward she wants to see Mitch go next.
Reward/Immunity Challenge: Drawing lots, Survivors were formed into two teams; Orange and Purple. David, Mary, Cedrek, Shauhin, Kyle and Kamilla were on the purple team. Eva, Joe, Star, Sai, Mitch, and Chrissy were on Orange. Survivors had to grip a bar with rope wound around it that held up a bucket with 25% of their pregame weight in sand. Letting the bucket drop broke a tile eliminating that player from the challenge. The last person on each team won immunity. The last to remain also won a food reward for their team. As a twist, both teams would vote someone out at tribal with the challenge losing team voting first and the person voted out not making the jury.
David and Joe both won Immunity with David winning the reward for the purple team where they enjoyed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with chips and drinks. Cedrek was worried as he had no alliances with any of the purple team. Team orange returned to Civa’s old camp for the night with no flint, food, or supplies. Sai felt she was on the bottom and talked with Joe about her status. She then started talking with everyone and pitching Mitch. Eva and Chrissy discussed voting Sai. At the first tribal, Jeff asked about what happened back at camp following the challenge. Everyone said there was a lot of open discussion. Sai's worries came to pass and she was voted out. At the second tribal, Jeff asked them to discuss this tribal vote since it would decide the first jury member. All agreed, a lot of thought had to go into this vote. In the end, Cedrek was sent to the jury.
↑ On Day 14, a split Tribal Council was held. The castaways were divided into two groups of six; each group went to Tribal Council separately to eliminate one castaway from each.
1 2 Mary successfully played her Shot in the Dark; therefore, both votes against her did not count. As there were no counted ballots, and Justin was not eligible to cast a vote, both eligible castaways then re-voted between those who weren't immune.
↑ The vote resulted in a tie. Per the rules, a second vote was held. As one of the castaways involved in the tie had lost voting privileges, all the remaining castaways with votes were eligible to vote for those players who tied.
↑ After three rounds of voting, Tribal Council remained tied. Normally, per the rules, the non-tied castaways who had the ability to vote must come to a unanimous decision as to whom to eliminate between the tied castaways, however Cedrek is the sole castaway with a vote and not voted for in the tie.
↑ Saiounia played a hidden immunity idol on herself; therefore, one vote for her was not counted.
1 2 Due to a deadlocked tie, the only non-tied castaway eligible to vote, Cedrek, had to come to a consensus decision by himself to vote out either Justin or Saiounia, or else he would be eliminated without a rock draw. Cedrek decided to eliminate Justin.
↑ Kyle played a hidden immunity idol on himself; therefore, three votes for him were not counted.
↑ Kyle played an extra vote advantage, allowing him to cast two ballots during a single vote.
1 2 3 This player lost a vote attempting to gain an advantage.
1 2 This player played the Shot in the Dark, and as a result, had to sacrifice that night's vote.
↑ Per the rules, if a tied vote between castaways occurs, and one of the castaways in the tie does not have a vote to begin with, their votes do not cancel each other out, and all castaways eligible to vote still retain voting power within the revote(s), although Saiounia could only vote for Justin on the third revote.
↑ Saiounia was not eligible to vote at Tribal Council, as Mitch secretly used his block a vote advantage on her.
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