So far, Survivor 48 has been setting us up with a narrative for the core 4 alliance of Eva Erickson, Kyle Fraser, Shauhin Davari, and Joe Hunter to hold strong together to the end. Every vote that's happened so far in the game has made sense from the perspective of their gameplay.
But this week, left fans second-guessing if they're really making the right moves. And even more so, wondering if there's going to be another fracture in the strong person's alliance before the Final Four.
Spoilers for episode 10 ahead!
The aftermath of the last vote
With David Kinne being sent to the jury, the tribe should have been experiencing a major shake-up, but it seemed to go back to business as usual way too quickly. In fact, they took a step back from the gameplay we've gotten used to when all of David's former allies basically tell Mary Zheng that even though she was aligned with him, they don't want to work with her, so best of luck.
And on top of that, Kyle and Shauhin—the two Strong 5 alliance members who were actually willing to put the "honor and integrity" pact aside and play the game—have both decided to just stick with Eva and Joe for the Final Four and not try to make any more resume-worthy moves.
So now we have an alliance calling themselves the "core four"—since they voted out the fifth member of the "Strong 5"—still pushing "honor and integrity" despite the fact that most of them have more than blurred those lines multiple times in this game.
Kyle and Shauhin have both been working with Kamilla Karthigesu behind their other allies' backs. Eva still has an idol she previously said was "our idol" to Charity Nelms, Star Toomey, David, and Mary yet voted each of them out and told Mary she wouldn't use the idol on her. And this week Joe hinted that he had a difficult time being a good person around Star after calling her his "kryptonite."
After a game-changing move in episode 9, it felt like we not only took a few steps back for this season's gameplay, but we took a whole time warp back to an old school era where once a majority was established, and there was nothing anyone could do. There's a pecking order, and that's that. But then, none of them are willing to step out of the immunity challenge for rice? Everything these castaways do is starting to feel contradictory.
When it comes to immunity, Joe can't be stopped
Another aspect of the David vote people are forgetting—especially when discussing Joe's involvement in it—is that now Joe essentially has no competition when it comes to the endurance challenges. And even thought (finally!) this week we got a challenge that didn't rely purely on physical strength, Joe still took the win.
He's becoming unbeatable and approaching a historic record, but all we have to do is look back to Survivor 47 player Kyle Ostwald, who was also sneaking up on joining the five-timers club when he lost immunity and was voted out...in episode 11. That was essentially the time when Rachel LaMont started looking like the real threat to win. And of course, episode 12 gave us the unforgettable Operation: Italy.
So if history is repeating, could we possible see a Joe blindside next week and get an official red flag moment of who this season's winner really could be? Based on this week's vote, I have a feeling we're about to get a big revolution—sorry to steal your word, Star—from someone who was a much bigger threat than the one they took out.
The wrong person went home in episode 10
There was absolutely no strategic reason Star should have been voted out. If the core four alliance's final decision was based on the fact that they would prefer Mary's personality around camp to Star's, then they all just lost the game. That's not how you play Survivor in 2025.
Mitch straight-up told Shauhin that he didn't trust Star and would never work with her. Star has fallen out of every single immunity challenge either first or second since "earn the merge." She was not a threat to them.
Mary, however, already has all their names at the top of her list. They voted out her number one ally. They told her they wouldn't work with her. They told her they wouldn't save her. While they didn't send her home this week, they basically said she'd be going home next. But she is not the type of person who is going to take that lying down.
If she already knows she has nothing to lose, then there's nothing stopping her from pulling out all the stops to take control of this game.
Next time on Survivor...
At this point, all I can do is hope that we get some actual gameplay next episode, because while I love the old school seasons, that vibe does not fit the new era. The editors did what they could to keep us entertained with Star's antics, but having multiple players who could have made a big move simply not make a move at all was rough to sit through.
Do you think new era history will repeat itself in episode 11? Tune in this Wednesday at 8 pm ET on CBS and Paramount+ to find out.