Episode 12 of Survivor 48 saw Shauhin Davari voted out of the game in what was essentially a brilliant blindside. And with just five players left, everyone has a chance to make it into the final three, and it feels like a celebration back at the camp.
As a new day dawns in the Survivor 48 finale, the players don't find tree mail, but instead puzzle locks with each player's name on it. And all around camp, there are clues to help everyone solve their puzzles to get an advantage at the immunity challenge.
Kamilla quickly realizes that the animal plaques now have dots on them, and she believes that they correspond to the letters of the alphabet. She also admits that she has spent the entire game lying and deceiving, but it has gotten her this far.
While Kyle thinks he is close, and even tries with the word "rescue" it is Eva who is able to solve the puzzle with the word "secure" and earn an advantage at the immunity challenge.
Kamilla Karthigesu wins immunity at Final Five
The players have to go up and over a ramp net before crawling through a twisting, muddy net. Then, they must toss a ball through a target before having to get sandbags out of a net tunnel to get access to the ball that they need for the next stage. The next stage is tossing the ball into a basket to get a number that allows them to get the key needed for puzzle pieces. Then they have to solve a Survivor fire puzzle.
The challenge is a clear struggle for Kamilla, as she gets stuck in the muddy net tunnel. At the front of the group, we have Joe, who is able to get the numbers he needs to get the key he needs to get, and Mitch is right behind him, as is Kyle. Even with Kamilla in last place in the challenge, she is still in it, as the puzzle seems to be the great equalizer.
Eva and Kamilla may have been at the back of this challenge, but once they hit the puzzle, they ended up taking the lead towards winning the individual immunity. Ultimately, Kamilla takes the lead when it comes to building the puzzle, and it quickly becomes clear that she is winning the immunity.
In a "massive comeback," Kamilla ends up winning the immunity challenge. And, with a reward on the line, Kamilla chooses Eva to go with her for food at the sanctuary.
Back at the tribe camp, Mitch tells Kyle now is the time to get Joe out, but on the other hand, we have Joe and Kyle talking about Mitch going home. Kyle points out that Mitch is a big threat in his private chat, since he has no blood on his hands.
At Sanctuary, Kamilla and Eva talk about the game and making it to this point. And Eva mentions voting out Mitch to Kamilla. She also makes it clear that she is using her idol on herself, at least in the private interview.
Kamilla talks to Kyle about voting out Mitch. And, they agree. Then Kamilla goes to Mitch and tells her that she can't sit next to him. And then both Eva and Joe confirm that they are doing the same thing because he is "too likeable."
Mitch is the 14th player voted out on Survivor 48
It's an emotional tribal council as Mitch makes it clear that it hurts that the people he has been playing with the whole time admit that they can't go to the end with him. He also says that he has no regrets and that he understands where everyone is coming from.
The votes go one vote to Kyle and four for Mitch, meaning that Mitch is the 14th player voted out on Survivor 48.
After voting out Mitch, the final four head back to their camp celebrating making it to the end. And they have one more immunity challenge to go, and Eva admits that if she wins she will take Joe to the final three.
Kamilla tells Kyle that she doesn't think that she wins if they sit next to each other at final three. So she tells him if she wins immunity, she would put Kyle and Joe up to make fire. And he says that he is thinking the same thing. Joe makes it clear if he wins, that he is taking Eva to the end. Kyle tells Joe that he would likely take him to the end.
Kyle Fraser wins the final immunity challenge of Survivor 48
The final challenge of Survivor 48 sees the player dropping a ball in a tube with one hand tied behind their back. As they play, they must add more balls to the tube. But they must not allow any balls to drop. If a ball drops, the player is out.
Eva drops with three balls in play and is the first person out of the challenge. Kamilla is the second player out with four balls in play. This leaves Kyle and Joe with a chance at immunity. Ultimately, Joe drops next, leaving Kyle winning the final immunity of the season.
Kyle is guaranteed a spot in the final three, with a chance to plead his case for the title of Sole Survivor.
Back at camp, Kyle tells Joe that he is taking him to the final three. He also tells Eva that she will be doing the fire-making challenge. As Eva tries to practice fire making, she ends up breaking down, and when Kyle and Joe hear that, they are worried about her, and Joe goes to check on her. Kyle questions if this is the right decision to make.
Joe goes to calm Eva down and tries to convince her that he will take her spot, but Eva refuses. She tells him that she has to do it. As they work together, he shows her what she needs to do to build a fire. When she does it, the smile on Eva's face is overwhelming.
Eva beats Kamilla to earn a spot in the Final Three with Joe and Kyle
Kyle makes it clear that he is letting everyone know what he plans to do. He tells Jeff that he promised Joe he would bring him to the end. This means that Kamilla and Eva are making fire.
Kamilla starts getting sparks going, but Eva is right behind her. Eva is able to get a small fire going. Eva starts building her fire and uses the sticks to really build up the flames. As Eva's flame grows, Kamilla can't get a spark to stay lit, but then, the wind starts to push Eva's fire to the side and makes it nearly go out.
Eva starts panicking, and this leads to Kamilla encouraging her. Kamilla can't get a spark going, and after rebuilding her fire, Eva pulls out the win and is the third member of the final three.
Kamilla is the 15th player to leave the game
Joe, Eva, and Kyle are in the final three of Survivor 48. And now it is all about proving to the jury that they deserve to win the game and the $1 million based on the game that they each played.
As Day 26 dawns, the final three enjoy an amazing breakfast. But, Kyle knows that you "never know what a jury is going to do." And as the players get ready for their final tribal council, we get to hear not only their own thoughts on this game, but also what different members of the jury think about each finalist.
The final tribal sees Joe, Eva and Kyle make one last plea to the jury
Cedrek kicks off the jury questions by asking about what the players believe their weaknesses were and how they used them to propel themselves forward in the game.
Eva talks about her autism, while Joe mentions the fact that he is too trusting, and Kyle talks about how he didn’t really have the best start to the game.
Mitch is the second person to ask the players a question, and he wants to know about the relationships they built in the game. Eva talks about how she made a solid bond with Joe from the very beginning, but the jury wants to know how these two are going to differentiate themselves from each other. Eva makes it clear. She’s not going to throw him under the bus, and he’s not going to throw her under the bus because they feel like they can win on their own as loyal players.
Star decides to ask what hidden moves the players made to get them to this point. And, Eva opens up about the reward that she earned, but never used. Kyle admits that he was incarcerated. He also reveals that he is actually a lawyer. Eva admits what she really does and that she is in a PhD program.
David is tired of the words, and he wants clear examples of their gameplay. This leads to Eva talking about the Shauhin vote. Shauhin makes it clear that he had no intention of getting Eva out, and his plan was to vote out Mitch. Kamilla cut Eva off and says it’s time for Kyle to reveal his move, which was the move that actually got Shauhin out of the game. And, Kyle makes it clear that while Joe and Eva might’ve been the strongest public duo in the game, he believes that he and Kamilla were the best private duo.
After a mostly silent Final Tribal Council, Joe finally starts to speak about where he is in this game. And he makes it clear that winning the immunity challenges really got him to this point and allowed him to save people in the game as well. He also talks about how winning the challenges could have led to him breaking a record, and it was something that he really didn’t think about as the game progressed.
With questions wrapping up, the finalists get to give one final plea as to why they deserve to be voted the winner of the season.
Kyle does end up admitting that he did play the middle quite often in this game, but he thinks that that was the way he needed to play the game. And he points out that he did make moves as needed.
Joe talks about the fact that he won the most challenges in this season, but that he also made positive relationships in the game. He made solid connections with people and he played a loyal, honest game overall.
Eva believes that the jury should pick someone unprecedented to win Survivor 48. She thinks that the season should have a winner that they haven’t seen before. And she believes that she has proven that she deserves to win. She even reminds everyone that she made Jeff cry.
So what will the jury do now? Who do they think deserves the title of sole survivor?
Kyle is the winner of Survivor 48
As Jeff points out as he gets ready to read the final votes, there can be only one winner. So who will that winner be?
We end with one vote for Joe, two votes for Eva, and the other five votes went for Kyle. And that means that Kyle is the Sole Survivor of season 48!