After two people were voted off of Survivor 48 in episode 7, it is time to face the music for the remaining members of the Niu Nai tribe in Survivor 48 episode 8, "A Rift Between Us."
Considering only half the tribe was in on the vote to get out Sai Hughley, while the other half took out Cedrek, it should be interesting to see how everyone reacts after these votes. Plus, there is the fact that Cedrek is the first member of the jury for the season, which could have implications down the line.
In the first moments of the new episode, the first group arrives back at their beach, and Chrissy Sarnowsky immediately tries to cover her tracks after throwing Joe Hunter and David Kinne under the bus while at Tribal Council. At one point we see, Shauhin Davari and Joe talking game, and they are talking about who they trust in the game. While Shauhin mentions that he trusts Kamilla Karthigesu, he does have reservations about Mary Zheng.
After that double vote out, the next morning the Survivors get tree mail to start the day, and it brings back a new Survivor classic. What does that mean? The players have to pair up and run two-by-two for the challenge. As the tribe tries to figure out how they will break into duos, Shauhin takes Kamilla first. David then takes Mary as his partner. Kyle picks Chrissy, and then Eva Erickson and Joe pair up leaving Star Toomey and Mitch Guerra as the final duo.
While Chrissy seems upset about Joe and Eva pairing up, Eva starts talking to people about how Chrissy was acting at the tribal council. Plus, she mentions that Chrissy wanted to take out Shauhin during the last vote. Mitch decides to pitch the idea of having the old Civa voting together to make a big move. And Kyle actually agrees with the idea of moving on a bigger player.
Chrissy Sarnowsky is the ninth player voted out of Survivor 48
While there had been talk of taking out Kamilla before tribal council began, it was clear that her inability to keep her thoughts about the strong players to herself was Chrissy's downfall. Instead of any votes being placed on Kamilla, we saw one vote for Shauhin, while all the others were for Chrissy.
It came as no real surprise after that tribal council that Chrissy was heading to Ponderosa. She is the second member of the Survivor 48 jury. And it should be interesting to see who is going home next.
But how did we get to this point?
The reward and immunity challenge is run in pairs until the final stage
The challenge is run in stages, with the teams collecting puzzle steps. But, only the first three pairs will move to the next stage of the challenge. They must take their collected puzzle steps and build the steps to get over a wall. Once again, only two pairs will move on to the next stage. However, the final stage is done as individuals, so the final four players will go up against each other in a Survivor classic (they have to hold onto a pole for as long as they can).
The final four players will earn a taco reward with cupcakes. But, there is more to this challenge as the first four people out of the challenge will also be going on a Journey, while the four players who make it to the end of the challenge will be enjoying their reward.
Joe and Eva move on to the next stage followed by David and Mary. Finally, we have Kyle and Chrissy moving on. This means that Mitch and Star, as well as Shauhin and Kamilla, are going on the Journey, with their votes at risk.
The three teams moving on get off to a solid start, as they are all pretty much neck and neck putting the stair puzzle pieces in place. That being said, Kyle and Chrissy seem to be struggling the most. Mary and David finish their puzzle stair first and move on to crossing the rope bridge with their three planks. And, they are quickly followed by Joe and Eva.
Mary and David end up finishing the second stage first. While Kyle and Chrissy catch up to Joe and Eva, they end up falling off the bridge. This means Joe and Eva and Mary and David are going for the individual immunity, and they also won the taco reward.
Both David and Joe actually start slipping on their poles pretty quickly after the challenge begins. Joe is actually the first player out of the challenge, but he is quickly followed by David. The ladies on the other hand are fighting hard for the immunity. And, we do see Mary slipping a bit, but she is still able to fight against gravity. In the end, it was Eva who held on the longest and wins the immunity necklace.
Mitch, Storm, Shauhin and Kamilla go on a journey ahead of tribal council
While the four Survivor players who were out first head off on the Journey, the other six head back to the Niu Nai beach. Kyle and Chrissy, who didn't earn the reward, talk about the vote for the night, while Chrissy wants Joe out and he wants to vote out Shauhin.
At the Journey beach, the players are going against each other. The players have to drop grey and red balls into their chutes. The first player to get three red balls in their chute will lose their vote. All the players end up with red in their chutes, but it sounds like they are aiming for Star to be the one who loses her vote. And, that is exactly what happens, as Star ends up with the three red balls.
With Star losing her vote, it seems as if Kamilla and Mitch might be able to pull off the big move that they want. But, what will that move actually be?
As the foursome enjoys their reward, Eva finds a rolled up scroll in the chips that she hides in her pants. Since no one noticed, they start talking about who to vote for at Tribal Council, and one name that gets thrown out is Kamilla.
After the reward, Eva reads her scroll that reveals there is a hidden advantage that she needs to sneak out of camp to retrieve.
Joe tells Kyle about the plan to vote out Kamilla, but Kyle doesn't want to do that since that is his No. 1 ally. This leads to Joe asking what Chrissy has been saying, and Kyle tells him that she wants to take him out.
Kyle pulls David aside to figure out what is going on. David shares that they want to keep the strong five and they need to take out Kamilla, but his doubt means that David is no longer feeling that Kyle is a number. After their talk, Kyle tells Kamilla about what's going on, but the vote looks like it's shifting toward Chrissy.
Because of Kyle's fight to keep Kamilla, David goes to Mary to say that they have to take out Kamilla. He feels like Kyle is hiding something, and technically, he is not wrong. But at the same time, the others see the benefit in keeping Kamilla over Chrissy, even for one more vote.
The first Tribal Council in front of a member of the jury may see a shock elimination for someone
At Tribal Council, Kyle kicks off the conversation by pointing out that it has been a very long day. There are a lot of conversations that have happened along with the challenges and the reward and even a Journey.
Star may not have a vote, but she really brought a lot of energy and fun to the Tribal Council. The way that she described what was happening at the beach was chaotic, but it was also so true.
The conversation devolves, as Chrissy makes it clear that she wants to take out the strong players. She even calls out Joe and Eva being a strong pair. There is even an argument that breaks out between her and David over this thought process.
Unsurprisingly to many of us, Chrissy's decision to call out the strong players backfired on her. And it was ultimately Chrissy who became the second member of the jury.