♪ ♪
RYAN: Guess what we got.
-We have tree mail. -CASSIDY: Ooh.
-RYAN: Yeah. -♪ Da, da, da, da.♪
Whoa.
Oh, yeah!
-What? Read it. -Whoa, whoa, whoa.
-[cheering] -Yes!
-What?! -Yo!
I'm gonna wait. It's Survivor.
While it's exciting, "Yes, oh, my God,
the merge is coming," it'sSurvivor, right?
And for the last two seasons,
we've seen that the merge doesn't come easy.
There's a huge papaya that I grabbed.
'Cause if we came in with fruit and stuff,
they're gonna be like, "Oh, my God.
-We like these people, don't we?" -Yeah.
RYAN: For me, honestly, this is some perfect timing.
After yesterday's Tribal Council, you know,
I felt left out.
And now I feel like I just went from the top to bottom.
So I'm not necessarily tied down with Coco anymore.
I'm a free agent now.
I can say, "Hey, I'm on the outs,
and I'm ready to vote for who you need taken out."
So it's perfect time, in my opinion.
DWIGHT: Well, we made it to the merge.
NOELLE: Wow, guys.
Let's go, team, 'cause you know that clock has started already.
JESSE: The first phase of the game, when it's all about
the tribes and stuff, and you're in your little
six-person tribe, to me, that's like gladiator school.
Like, you know, just, you're just learning the ropes.
You're starting to learn how to
make the moves and things like that.
And I'm, like, excited,
but I'm nervous, so, like, I got this mix of feelings going on.
But this is where you got to really prove yourself.
This is where, you know, it really gets going.
♪ ♪
[whoops]
Yeah! Hello!
-BYOB! Where's the party at?! -Huh?
[indistinct chatter]
JEANINE: The game is starting.
I am so excited. I've
looked forward to this moment
since I was a little girl.
I wanted to be able to say
I made it to the merge.
James. I'm Elie. It's nice to meet you, James.
-Very nice to meet you. -Oh, my God.
CODY: We have been competing against these tribes
and looking at them as our foes,
and now, all of a sudden,
everybody gets on the beach, and we're like, "Hey!
"Nice to meet you.
I've been waiting to meet you. I can't wait to meet you."
And I'm going, "Man, you all are lying."
It's like Normandy here, and it's about to hit the fan.
-So great to meet you, dude. -[overlapping chatter]
CODY: I get it, I mean, it makes sense,
but I find the whole thing kind of comical.
But, hey, if you can't beat 'em, you might as well join 'em.
NOELLE: I don't know what to think, because
I don't have a buff yet. So it's not a traditional merge.
We don't have a merge feast.
So we know something big is coming.
It's great to be here. I'm just scared
to death at what's coming next.
Yeah, no, it is huge.
-I was like... -OWEN: I wish I had the chyron
on the bottom third of my screen right now
that could tell me who's got an idol,
who's got an extra vote, who's got an advantage,
'cause in this new era of Survivor,
there are so many trinkets
running around in Jeff's bag of tricks.
Okay.
The known menu of advantages we have right now,
starting with Baka.
Gabler has an idol
that is good for one more Tribal Council.
Jeanine has the hidden immunity idol
that she got from the Beware Advantage,
but Jeanine can also not vote at this first Tribal Council.
Going over to Vesi,
I know Jesse does not have a vote,
and I know Noelle has the Steal a Vote
from our journey together.
And then with Coco, someone could have their idol.
That I don't know.
So as far as I know,
I'm aware of two idols and two no votes
and a Steal a Vote.
So five different things we're trying to keep track of
right now, on top of 12 other people.
So it's-it's a lot.
It's a big deal, you know,
even though it's not really a merge.
-Yeah. -Yeah. -NOELLE: I'm so hyped.
You'll love Cody. Like, you literally, like...
-He-he's... he's amazing. -What you see out of him is, like, what you get.
ELIE: Noelle mentions Cody has a bead from everybody's bag.
And my ears perk up.
Cody's got the idol from the Vesi camp.
So, Cody has the other idol.
Because Noelle was talking about Cody had
-all the beads on all her bags. -All the beads...
-But we know. -We know.
And she-I don't think she knows.
-I don't think she knows either. -So...
-Yeah, yeah. Okay, yeah. -Right?
-And that's, like, a supermajority. -Yeah.
-We at least know where Vesi's idol is. -Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
ELIE: I feel like I was made forSurvivor.
I've kind of figured out how to hack things
and, I don't know,
I just feel like this is my environment.
And the social element of the game,
I knew I was gonna be good at,
but I'm way better than I even thought.
And honestly,
that's exactly where you want to be at the merge.
♪ ♪
Come on in.
♪ ♪
All right. Shall we get into it?
-Yes, sir. -PROBST: All right, first things first.
I'll take back the tribal idols.
Thank you.
No need for these anymore.
-[gasping] -Oh, my God.
Because we're no longer in the tribe stage of the game.
Yesterday, you received a note with tree mail
telling you to drop your buffs.
You also don't have your merge buffs yet,
because you have not made the merge.
You're at the threshold where you're trying to transition
from one stage of the game to the next.
Here's what you're gonna have to do to earn that buff.
For today's challenge, we're gonna be divided
into two teams of six.
On my go, you're gonna race to remove
a heavy pile of debris to reveal a sled.
You'll then drag that sled to a series of stations,
collecting large wooden crates along the way.
When you have all six crates,
you'll use them to build a staircase.
Retrieve a ring of keys.
You must then work together to get up a very steep ramp...
...to the finish where you will solve aSurvivor word puzzle.
First team to finish,
all six players safe tonight at Tribal Council.
You earn that merge buff and, in addition, a merge meal.
-Whoo. -It's yours, no twist, no player gonna take it away.
Oh!
PROBST: Losers, not the same story--
no buff, no food, no immunity.
Your threshold will continue at Tribal Council,
where you will now have to survive the vote
in order to make the merge.
And to be clear, tonight at Tribal,
everybody goes. Everybody's voting tonight.
Sound good?
-Sounds good. -Yes, sir.
All right, we're gonna divide into two teams of six.
One final twist. There's one extra person.
If you draw the gray rock, you will not compete,
but you will choose one team to align with
and ride or die with them.
You will win with them, or you will lose,
but you will not have any say in your fate.
-Make sense? -Yes, sir.
-PROBST: Shall we draw? -Let's do it. -Yes, sir.
All right, let's do it.
Grab a rock and keep it a secret.
-Oh, God. -[kisses]
PROBST: Sometimes the game comes down to these moments of chance.
You're just drawing a colored rock.
All right, everybody, turn your palms up...
...and reveal.
♪ ♪
All right, everybody, turn your palms up and reveal.
Oh. No way.
PROBST: If you have a red rock, go to the red mat.
If you have blue, go to the blue.
Noelle, you have gray.
You're in the middle, in between the two.
[quiet chatter]
-Oh, my God. I'm so sorry. -[laughter]
[laughs]: Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
Oh, Noelle.
All right, let's look at the Blue team.
We have Gabler, Jesse, Ryan,
Jeanine, Dwight and Karla.
Let's go to Red.
We have Cassidy, James,
Elie, Sami, Owen and Cody.
I got to say, from here, it looks pretty even.
Yeah, my decision sucks right now, Jeff.
[laughter]
PROBST: All right, Noelle,
if you choose the team that wins, you are safe.
If you choose the team that loses,
you go to Tribal tonight vulnerable,
and it could be you going home.
NOELLE: It's tough, because it's so freaking even.
[groans]
I'm gonna go with... I'm gonna go with Blue.
All right, Noelle, you're gonna sit right here.
You can see everything from here.
Everybody else, I'm gonna give you a minute to strategize,
and we will get it on.
-Here we go. Making the merge, right here. -[excited chatter]
♪ ♪
PROBST: Here we go.
For immunity, safety tonight at Tribal Council,
earning the merge and a merge meal.
Survivors ready?
Go!
First, you've got to get all 20 sandbags onto your platform.
That is stage one of this challenge.
Here we go, Blue!
PROBST: 20 sandbags.
Red working very quickly together.
Coconuts being tossed all over, big heavy ropes,
but the sandbags are what matter.
You got to get all of 'em.
-Let's keep moving! -All right, now this side.
This side.
-PROBST: Blue very close. Red very close. -[grunting]
-The last bag, is that it? -That's it.
-You're good! -Jeff.
-Pull it, pull it, pull it. -Blue, you're good!
JEANINE: One, two, three.
PROBST: We're dead even right now.
-Just here. Just to the nose. -Here?
PROBST: Now you got to get your sled to that first station.
Let's go, guys. Here we go, Blue.
PROBST: Load those crates on your sled and move on to the next station.
You got to cross a threshold--
-the theme of this challenge. -NOELLE: Let's go, guys.
From one stage to the next. Here comes Blue.
-And here comes Red. NOELLE: Let's go, Blue!
SAMI: This way.
JEANINE: Nice. Nice.
-Blue in the lead. -Nice job, Jesse.
They've got three crates on the bottom,
-same as Red. -Pass me the crates.
Here we go, guys.
-You got it? -Yep.
PROBST: Now they're gonna get a little wobbly.
Oh, watch out. Careful, careful.
-JEANINE: You got it? -RYAN: Go ahead.
-Now it's Blue. -Oh, it's caught. It's caught. -What's it caught on?
-On what? -Blue is stuck, and here comes Red.
This way, this way.
PROBST: Well, we've got our first lead change here.
It's now Red in the lead. Blue's gonna have to wait.
-We could have a collision. -Hurry. One, two, three.
You got to push. You got to push.
-One, two, three. -[grunting]
-One, two, three. -One, two, three.
-Stop. -[indistinct chatter]
Red doing a great job to keep the crates on their sled.
You're good. Now start building a staircase.
You now have six crates that you're gonna use
to build a puzzle staircase.
-Y'all got it? -We got it, we got it...
You're good.
Now you got to get the crates off.
Okay, that's gonna go on top.
We know that.
Where's the O-R in Survivor?
-Where's the O-R? -Oh, my God. Are you okay?
PROBST: Karla got smashed by one of the crates.
-[breathing sharply] -DWIGHT: Where's the O-R?
-Oh, there's the "R." -Okay.
Karla with an injured hand.
-You all right, Karla? -You okay?
-All right. -PROBST: Karla bleeding.
You know you're on Survivor when you got blood.
[indistinct chatter]
PROBST: Red making progress on that crate.
-We're good. -You've got it. Go up.
Come on, come on...
PROBST: Owen gonna go up to untie the ring of keys.
It is now Blue trying to stay in it.
Red's still in the lead. Still a lot of challenge left.
Boy, Red is not messing around.
They don't want anybody to see their puzzle.
-Now you got to get up the ramp. James... -Okay, hold on.
-That was impressive. James scaled the entire wall. -Attaboy, James.
-Wait. -Owen gonna give it a try.
Owen did it as well. That is not easy to do.
That is the biggest ramp in Survivorhistory.
-All right. Ryan, get up there. Ryan, get up there. -PROBST: Blue, you're good.
Ryan gonna head up.
Blue trying to close the gap.
Merge buffs on the line.
Immunity and Tribal Council and a merge meal.
JAMES: You're good, you're good. Step on...
PROBST: Elie now up for Red.
Cassidy standing on the back of Cody.
-James has her. -I got her. I got her.
-DWIGHT: Probably a good idea. -PROBST: Here goes Blue.
-They've got their ring. -NOELLE: Good job, Blue.
Here we go. Here we go.
PROBST: Here goes Cody.
The last for Red. Can he do it?
-JAMES: Yes, sir. Yes, sir. -That is how you do it on Survivor.
Let's go, baby!
Let's go. Let's go.
-PROBST: Big lead for Red. -Key, key, key.
PROBST: Here goes Blue now with a different story.
-Gabler using his back. -Come here.
Ryan goes up on his own.
-[grunts] -Here we go. Next, next, next.
Elie has the key. Crate open.
-Let's go, baby. -Last puzzle piece. You are good. Start working.
It's gonna be Owen and Elie.
Grab with both hands.
Push him up.
PROBST: Jesse trying to get up.
Gabler just pushes Jesse up.
-Same thing. Same thing. Gabler and I will push you up. -Ready?
PROBST: Karla now gonna have to go up for Blue.
-She's gonna need a hand. There's Ryan. -[grunts]
PROBST: Karla has had a hard time in this challenge.
-No, no, no. Go, go, go. -PROBST: She's had her hand smashed.
-She just slid down the wall. -JEANINE: All right, I'm coming.
Red has been in the lead from the beginning, really.
Noelle put all her faith on Blue.
Six people wearing Blue.
Jeanine is up. Get over that wall.
Jeanine's good. Here comes Karla.
Come on, Karla!
PROBST: She's getting a hand. Look at that.
-Ryan upside down... -Grab my feet. Grab my feet.
like Spider-Man.
Hold on. Let me grab your...
PROBST: Will it work?
DWIGHT: Yes, Karla.
-You got it! -Give me your hand.
-PROBST: Karla digging, digging. -JEANINE: Get up here...
Grab her hand, Dwight!
I got it, I got it, I got it.
I'm going. Okay.
-You're up, Karla. -JEANINE: Yes, yes, yes.
-I got it. -Go ahead. I got it, I got it...
PROBST: It is now Blue trying to catch up.
-Karla bleeding, in pain. -Yeah, yeah.
Here we go, everyone. Great job!
PROBST: There you go. Now get that piece free.
Now you can start working on it, Jeanine.
-Okay. -It's Dwight and Jeanine for Blue.
It is Elie and Owen for Red. And a mass of letters.
You are trying to solve the Survivorword phrase.
Get rid of that, and put this one up there first.
PROBST: Red has had more time to study the puzzle.
First.
Okay. You think it's three lines?
-Yeah, I do. I do. -Okay, cool.
PROBST: Dwight gonna make a move now.
They've got an idea.
No, hey, this-this one goes right on the bottom.
-It's gonna say "S." -Yeah, yeah, yeah.
PROBST: James with a lot of thoughts
about where these letters should go.
♪ ♪
-Yeah. -PROBST: Another piece by Blue.
Do they think they have something?
-There you are. -Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
PROBST: Red now with another piece.
Elie and Owen think they have something going.
-[shushing] -Shut up. Shut up.
[shushing]
PROBST: Both teams are now whispering.
Both teams think they know what it is.
They just got to figure out how to do it.
Another piece for Owen and Elie, and another piece
-for Dwight and Jeanine. -Right there.
-No, that's too high... -PROBST: Both teams appear to have the very same thought
-in mind for the phrase. Now who will solve it first? -Hurry, hurry, hurry.
No, no, this one goes... This one. It's this one...
Panic now. Jeanine racing to get a piece.
-Owen trying to hold a piece up. -[overlapping chatter]
They need a different piece. Which one is it?
-Owen, Owen, all right... -Immunity on the line.
Guaranteed spot in the final 12.
-Dwight with another piece. -KARLA: Help her, help her...
PROBST: Here goes Jeanine and Dwight with another piece for Blue.
Blue trying to close the gap.
JAMES: E, E, E, E, E.
PROBST: Both teams know they have it.
They've just got to get their puzzle put together.
It is Blue now with the momentum.
-That one, that one, that one. -This one, this one, this one.
Blue is now in the lead.
GABLER: You got it. Don't worry about it.
PROBST: Elie trying to shove a piece in.
-Hey, Elie, no. -That's not it. That's...
[overlapping chatter]
PROBST: Blue with another piece.
They're down to two pieces.
-This would be a big comeback for Blue. -[cheering]
PROBST: Say it! Say it!
"Earning your spot at every stage."
That's what you just did.
-You earned your spot in the merge. -[cheering]
Nobody from this six going home. Noelle is safe.
-We're not going home. -PROBST: Noelle picked the right group
and she is safe tonight as well.
Thanks for believing in us.
[crying]
RYAN: Come here. Come join us.
Share those happy tears. -[crying continues]
Wow.
Sorry, bro.
...
Thank you guys so much.
PROBST: All right.
Six buffs in here, and one for you.
Oh, my God, they're so pretty.
My daughter's gonna love this.
PROBST: Jesse, Dwight, Jeanine, Ryan,
Karla, Gabler and Noelle, safe tonight
at Tribal Council, cannot be voted out of this game.
In addition, you'll return to camp and enjoy a merge meal.
You six will not have any food, you don't have a buff,
but what you do have is a lot of uncertainty.
Which one of you is going to be voted out tonight?
Grab your stuff, head out.
See you tonight at Tribal Council, where somebody
will be the sixth person voted out of Survivor 43.
SAMI: The winner's got immunity at tonight's Tribal Council.
They are set. The rest of the six of us,
somebody's dream of being a part of the merge
is going to end one night short.
The craziness, the madness has not even started yet.
It's about to get really wild around here.
♪ ♪
JAMES: I mean, whatever tonight,
-we ran that thing hard. -We sure did.
All righty, y'all. Let's have a little losers' lunch.
JAMES: Oh, so, I'll get the fire going, and...
[sniffles]
JAMES: No, no, no, no, no, don't.
-We were all in it together. -No, we were all, we were all there.
I know, I just, I couldn't focus, and I'm sorry.
We were licking our wounds a little bit.
I volunteered
to be on the puzzle,
and so I feel responsible.
SAMI: Let's push through it.
Let's make the most of what we can.
-Get some little sticks. -CASSIDY: Right now, we're kind of in "mergatory."
Half of us have not made the merge.
You know, the six of us are in limbo right now.
We're fighting to stay in the game.
So it's me, it's Elie, it's Cody,
it's Sami, it's Owen and it's James.
And one of us is going home.
-One, two, three. -ALL: Team Red.
So, like, there's nowhere to hide right now.
Cody, can I just talk to you for one sec?
♪ ♪
I'll tell you what, James is sketching me out.
-Yeah. -The fact that James was like,
-"Cody, let me talk to you," like that. -I know.
So I want to talk with Cody at some point,
-'cause I would like for him to be the name. -Mm-hmm.
Like, I think that we... Yeah.
-Like, we tell Coco that it's gonna be Cody. -Cody.
As fast as we can.
I've been getting the best vibes
from people on the Vesi tribe.
They seem to want to work with us,
really for the past few challenges.
NOELLE: Elie. Elie.
Have him switch that over here.
PROBST: Vesi is very clearly helping Baka.
ELIE: So I think they would be comfortable
with a Coco going home first,
where we do a split on Cassidy and James.
And so, I'm gonna tell them that I'm open to a Cody vote,
but the real plan is to vote out one of them.
I'm just gonna have to lie about it to their face.
-Yes. -Okay.
-And I'm with James. -Okay.
So I don't want to throw anybody's name out there,
-but I'm just saying, like... -Get Cody?
Yeah. I mean, I don't know. What do you think?
-I'm okay with that. Yeah. Yeah. -That's... I'm totally okay with that.
CASSIDY: There's a lot riding
on tonight for me, and I'm
-definitely nervous. -I've made
a better connection with James
-than I have with Cody. -Yeah.
-So far. -CASSIDY: Me and Elie
talked about voting together.
And I feel like us girls could kind of get together
and maybe do something.
Unfortunately, that means it's Cody tonight.
ELIE: I think that we're down to team up with Coco,
-'cause that's an easy majority. -So you just tell me
the name so I know where to go.
ELIE: I mean, we don't have to beat around the bush.
-I would like to work with Coco. -Okay.
And so that means you and Cassidy are safe.
I don't want to vote out a Baka,
and that means Owen and Sami are safe.
-Okay. -Not gonna vote for myself.
-Yeah.. -JAMES: Okay.
-Uh, yeah. -You don't have to say anything else.
I pulled Elie aside to see where she wanted to go.
She didn't want to give me a name,
and then she reluctantly gave me Cody's name.
I want to keep her very confident, but I'm not with her.
She doesn't tell me anything, and
I don't trust her.
[cheering]
-Oh, my God. -Oh, my God.
Ah, how do you start?
NOELLE: I haven't eaten for
13 days. I haven't eaten a real meal,
so I'm gonna enjoy this.
The hell is this?
And I don't even
know what I'm putting in my mouth at this point.
I don't even know what the tastes are.
I'm just trying to stuff it as much as possible.
So sorry. Manners out the door.
I'm so sorry, Nana. I'm so sorry, my mom.
RYAN: My mom loves dragon fruit.
Does anyone want a beer?
-Would that be crazy? -GABLER: Yeah, I'll have a beer.
-Who wants a beer? -I'd like a beer.
-Here, darling. -Thank you.
We're having a great time because we're safe.
That means that we don't have to come back to camp and scramble.
-[cheering] -KARLA: But at the same time,
there's, like, this tension of like,
"All right, let's talk."
-Oh, my God. Uh... -Oh.
RYAN: So, tonight.
Yeah, let's, like... What's...
-What's the scoop? -RYAN: What's the plan?
We could be the final seven.
That's the thing. We could be the final seven.
We have the numbers. We got this spot
by winning today.
JEANINE: Ryan starts talking about how it makes sense
that the seven of us are strong,
and I'm not interested in his pitch.
It's just a little ridiculous,
the fact that we're just gonna
become an alliance because you boosted me up a ladder.
I have my own alliance at this point.
So we need to find somebody that,
you know, would help us get further in the game.
NOELLE: Yeah. I mean, I do have a good relationship with Cody.
-RYAN: Mm-hmm. -KARLA: Okay.
-I'd like to keep Cody. -I'd love to keep Cody.
I'd like to keep Owen and Sami.
JEANINE: I'd like to keep Elie.
KARLA: It was pretty evident that
everyone wanted everyone to stay,
with the exception of Gabler.
Elie went through my bag on day three.
So that's something for me that I remember.
KARLA: I was just like,
"Uh," and then I took a sip of my beer,
because this is one of those moments
where you're just like, "Oh," you know?
It is very evident that Baka is fractured.
JEANINE: Gabler. Oh, my God. In that moment,
my jaw drops, because I am just
flabbergasted that he would just throw her under the bus
like that. And it's wild to me what comes out
of that man's mouth, especially in front of me, who...
He knows it's gonna get back to her.
It's gonna be pretty tough for all of us to vote unanimous.
-Mm-hmm. -Yeah.
GABLER: Everybody was fractured, they need something to go for.
And by throwing out
Elie's name, I was trying to... throw out Elie's name.
The trust has been broken with me and Elie since day three.
So right now, I'm targeting enemies
that I know are enemies that are plotting against me.
And if I can do that with people,
then we build a little bit more trust together, because
if we're gonna vote Elie out, it's today.
I want to look like I'm decisive and trustworthy.
I think it's really important for me
to not just talk to talk but walk the walk.
And I'm walking that walk tonight.
♪ ♪
JEANINE: Oh, God.
-No. No. -DWIGHT: No.
DWIGHT: Okay.
CODY: Oh, my God.
It sounds like Coco is putting me on the block.
I am the only Vesi member that's not immune at Tribal Council.
So it's easy for them to just be like,
"Well, let's just pick off Cody."
Fortunately, Baka wants to work with Vesi
to take out James.
And if that's the case,
then I don't need to play my idol tonight.
-JEANINE: Yeah. -ELIE: Why me?
I know, you didn't.
ELIE: It seems that at the merge feast,
Gabler told everybody there that on day three,
I searched his bag, and he essentially serves me up
on a silver platter of somebody that he would like to vote out.
I have heard that you're telling people
I searched your bag on day three,
and I have literally never searched your bag.
I have no idea where you got that information.
Owen and Sami said they saw you.
They told me that you looked through my bag with Jeanine.
Well, it's not true.
Why would you throw me under the bus?
You've been throwing me under the bus, too.
I have not. That's the thing, Gabler.
-I'm not playing like that. -Somebody went through my bag.
-I still felt... -Was it Jeanine? Who was it?
-Somebody did it. -I'm not gonna do that. I'm not like that.
It's important for you to do that.
-I'm not like that. -Okay.
-Then I-I got to assume that you guys were together. -So...
Of course. Jeanine is my best friend.
Does Jeanine have a hidden immunity idol?
-Did she find something? -Yeah.
Yeah, but nobody told me, right?
Why would I tell you someone else's business?
I'm not gonna tell your business...
Am I your ally or am I not your ally?
I feel you have turned on me.
All right, well, it's not true.
We wanted to stay Baka strong.
-I have not faltered. -Then you should have shared information with me
when you could have, and brought me in and kept me in the loop.
-So... -Well, I have to go talk to other people
-I know. I know. -because you have now put me
on the chopping block, and I have to deal with that, so...
-I don't know that it was me. -It was you.
We talked in circles, and there was no budging.
He's not believing me at all.
So Owen and Sami really screwed me over.
You told Gabler that I searched his bag, and I did not.
And then he told everybody at the feast
that I was searching his bag.
He got my name. He said from you and from Owen.
-What? You-you... -He told my name to everybody
-at the merge feast to vote for me. -Yeah.
What the hell?
Gabler blew everything up.
Now Elie is suspicious of me. And she has enough skill
in this game to turn it right back around on me.
So we got to make her feel comfortable.
ELIE: The two of you told Gabler that I searched his bag.
-I, first of all, I did not search his bag. -I didn't tell him.
-Does Gabler want to vote for you? Or is he just trying... -ELIE: Yeah. Yeah.
OWEN: Gabler threw Elie under the bus.
And now she is panicking
that she is gonna get voted for by basically everyone
for being a snake.
I don't know what he's talking about.
OWEN: I think he's just scared of you. I don't know what it is.
Then I-I need you to help me clear my name then.
-SAMI: Yes... -Like, if y'all are legit.
-We got it. -I trust you both, and...
OWEN: Who do you want to vote for?
-Okay. -I want to get out there and talk to people,
because I feel like the longer it festers,
-I'm just not... -OWEN: No, let's get out there.
-not trying to have, like... -Okay, and whatever you do,
whatever you hear, keep coming back to us, please.
James would be a really easy target to get rid of,
but Elie is so much more of a threat to have around here.
So I think Elie has to go tonight.
So, you and Elie are sisters,
-and I get that, but... -Yeah.
...somebody went through my bag. I know it.
I also know that you guys found
the hidden immunity idol out here.
-Actually, is it okay if we, maybe, just talk? -Yeah, yeah...
-Is that okay? -I don't mind. I won't disclose any information now.
-We'll see you in a minute. -Thank you so much.
Coming back to camp, all hell broke loose.
Gabler goes off his rocker
and keeps throwing Elie under the bus
and starts telling everyone that I have an idol.
I honestly don't know
how this information got out at this point.
I don't even care to deal with it right now.
All I care about is that people feel good
within the Baka five enough to just vote together.
I think for this vote, guys, we got to stay Baka strong.
-I agree. Please. -JEANINE: We have to. We have to.
We'd be so, so, so, so dumb to implode right now.
Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yeah.
GABLER: The problem is I don't know that I can work in the game with her.
That's fair, but we just got to make it to the next step.
Me and Sami need our buffs.
-We can settle this later. -Okay.
JEANINE: My main question is is Gabler with us?
And I think he understood where I was coming from.
So hopefully he'll stick true to his word,
and we will vote together.
SAMI: Maybe just tone it down a little bit,
-'cause Jeanine's got an idol. -GABLER: I know.
-She could play it for Elie. -Yes.
So you got to keep things cool.
-That's all I'm saying. -Okay, okay, okay. Got you. Got you.
ELIE: Yeah. I'm freaking down.
-I don't want to scramble. -Yeah.
I want to trust, you know, in the things
-that I talk about and say and call it a day. -Yeah. Yeah.
JAMES: Elie is still saying Cody's name,
but I feel something sketchy is up.
So I need to talk to everybody
to see where everybody's head at.
Yeah.
According to James,
Elie put Cody's name on the chopping block.
It seems like Elie's out here trying to, like,
make moves, and, like, you know,
cause discord and spread a little bit of misinformation,
from what I can tell. And so
Elie's name, you know, was already out there by Gabler.
And so I think that's the way to go.
-Elie's the one... -Elie's the one that's doing it.
And I think that we need to break up Elie and Jeanine.
-And... -DWIGHT: Yeah. I agree with that.
-What's up, bro? -What's up, buddy?
Elie.
All right.
-KARLA: Okay. -CASSIDY: If we can get Gabler, we have the numbers
-to get Cody out. -Gabler's not gonna vote that way, though.
-You don't think? -No. Gabler wants Elie out.
He may give it to me.
Frickin' Elie and Jeanine,
guess whose names they're throwing out.
-Who? -Who?
-You two. -Shut up.
I swear to God.
JAMES: Damn.
Elie was targeting Cody, and now she's coming after me.
I knew that I couldn't trust her, but then
a lot of people don't trust her,
and that's good for me.
So it's important that Baka votes James.
Everyone in Baka is voting James.
-James? -Yeah.
-Can we do this? Now's the time. -Yeah.
No, I understand. I understand.
Jeanine is really scrambling
to try to get me on board, but it's too little, too late.
We're still not
Baka strong. We're a Baka ... show.
These people think that they've got me fooled,
but I know what's going on here.
I'm being played.
So I'm gonna vote Elie tonight, and that's it.
-He just came to me, he said... -Why would I ever trust him?
I'm gonna go home.
-Okay? -Okay.
-I'm down. -No, I know.
I'm the one without any power.
I thought I was in a position where I could call the shots,
but now I think I might be going home.
Fortunately, Jeanine might be willing to play her idol for me.
Either way, it's gonna be a real trial for me tonight,
and I don't want Gabler
to be the person that crafts my exit out.
♪ ♪
Wow. A lot of people.
-[laughter] -A lot of people.
PROBST: All right, so, big day.
The result is seven people are safe.
Six people still have to get to the merge.
So, Gabler, what happened when the seven of you showed up
and now we have 13 people all back together in camp?
GABLER: We started off at the merge meal.
There was a little bit of talk of strategy,
and then we leisurely walked back in, and boom,
everything just exploded.
I thought I was gonna go lay down
and just try to digest for an hour... -[laughter]
...and I have not stopped talking all day.
-Really? -Oh, yeah, Jeff. It's gonna be
very interesting this evening, I think.
PROBST: Cody, how'd you see it?
-Oh, it was nutso. It was complete chaos. -[laughter]
There was, there was no organized chaos going on.
-It was a dust storm. -Really?
CODY: Absolutely crazy.
-It was almost nauseating. Man. -DWIGHT: It was a lot.
PROBST: So, Sami, tonight there are essentially
seven people who have individual immunity.
What are you feeling?
Because you're one of the six that's in trouble.
SAMI: Honestly, as soon as we lost the challenge,
all I could think about was how scary it is
to be vulnerable versus being safe.
It gets to the point where every conversation that
you have with somebody, every look that you give somebody,
it really matters,
because it gets back to you, at some point.
-PROBST: Cassidy, you were nodding. -CASSIDY: Yeah, it's true.
And it's hard to know what dynamics
are going to shift when you bring
a certain group of people together, you know?
And anything that anybody tells you could be a lie,
it could be the truth, and it's really hard to differentiate.
So it can form bonds,
but it can also cause chaos, too.
Jeanine, how is this vote different now that
we are into the individual portion of the game?
It could not be more different than a-a tribe vote.
Like, we're all trying to gauge not only what is best
for our individual game, but what is every other
individual thinking is best for their game.
And that's just, I don't even know what factorial that is,
but 13 to the 12th?
Like, that just, there's so many permutations of people
working together and thinking different things.
PROBST: Elie, Jeanine just hit on something so important,
which is you have to look at the game from every single
person's point of view, and it gets very complicated.
Yeah. Everybody's got their own mission.
Everybody's got their own goals and their checklist.
And so today was no different.
I was thrown a little bit, because, all of a sudden,
my name had at least, you know, had-had bubbled to the surface.
And in that moment, I'm like, "Oh, this is Survivor?
Like, what have I been playing?" And so I felt really panicked.
And spending a lot of time with somebody who doesn't
see me as an asset, that's a wasted five minutes.
And in this game, five minutes could be your life.
PROBST: Wow. So, Owen,
is it that tight that you really have to decide
where you're gonna spend your time?
Right. Trust is the only currency we have out here,
and that's the beauty of Survivor
is that you can never trust anyone 100%.
We can only trust ourselves
in trying to figure out who trusts me.
Do I trust them? And, like, all the possibilities
that come after that, it makes your head spin.
So it was, uh, it was an exhilarating afternoon.
So, Karla, there had to be talk of advantages,
idols, Shot in the Dark, all the things
that could change or blow this Tribal up.
Of course. Right. You...
Not only do you have a combination of alliances
or just people working together,
but there's been nine people on journeys already.
You don't know what people have and what's out there.
And so that adds another element of stress.
And, Gabler, when you have an advantage
or an idol, you don't want to play it
if you don't have to, 'cause you want to save it.
Absolutely, Jeff. That is riding the razor's edge.
You know, the people that have idols or advantages
in their pockets, playing them at the right time
is the masterful piece of Survivor.
And if you play 'em wrong,
you've got bad jewelry to go home with.
PROBST: So, Sami, it sounds like there were
at least some discussions where people said,
"So-and-so might have this,"
or "So-and-so has this" or "I have this."
-Were you a part of that? -Yeah, and I think
one of the more important things is, like,
the way that those advantages and idols are played,
whether they're played the right way or not,
can change the way that people view an alliance, you know?
If you said you had somebody's back and they went on ahead
and played an advantage or an idol or something,
what does that tell you as a person in a group?
That tells you they didn't really
come in here trusting you.
James, couldn't have said it better than what Sami just said,
and yet, it doesn't solve anything,
because if you think you got to play it,
you got to play it, because you got to get to tomorrow.
For me, I'm just like, "Hey, I trust the people that
I've talked to, and it makes pragmatic sense."
The vote I'm gonna make tonight,
just trying to not flunk kindergarten, Jeff,
and move forward.
PROBST: Jeanine, if you look at what Sami's saying a different way,
he might really be saying that sometimes a big move
is to not make the big move.
If you're right, it can lock you like this.
If you're wrong, your torch is here and you're gone.
This is a game of paranoia versus gut.
And the difference is paranoia is very present,
and gut is the ability to latch on to things
that are behind you that
you can look back on and say, "My gut instinct is that
that relationship in the past worked,"
or, you know, "I can trust that person."
And it's not just so caught up in the momentary
feeling of what you should be doing right then and there.
♪ ♪
All right, time to vote. Jeanine, you're up.
♪ ♪
If anybody has an advantage or an idol
and you want to play it, now would be the time to do so.
♪ ♪
All right, I'll read the votes.
First vote, Elie.
James.
Owen.
Cassidy.
-One vote Elie, one vote Owen, -[laughter]
one vote James, one vote Cassidy.
DWIGHT [whispering]: Geez, what a crazy game.
James. That's two votes James.
Elie. We're tied.
Two votes Elie, two votes James,
one vote Owen, one vote Cassidy.
Elie. That's three votes Elie.
Elie. That's four votes Elie, two votes James,
one vote Owen, one vote Cassidy.
Sixth person voted out
of Survivor 43...Elie.
-Dang. -You need to bring me your torch.
-ELIE: All right. -OWEN: Be safe.
-SAMI: Love you, Elie. -[Elie sighs]
-Sorry. -Bye. -You're good, bro.
Y'all see what trusting Gabler will get you?
-Ooh. -Ooh.
Right back at you.
Elie, the tribe has spoken.
Thanks, Jeff.
-Time for you to go. -Thanks.
♪ ♪
Congratulations. You have all now made the merge.
[cheering]
[laughter]
Grab your torches, head back to camp.
-Good night. And the game continues. -Thanks, Jeff.
[indistinct chatter]
Captioning sponsored by CBS
Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org
JESSE: You can watch Noelle accumulate this power
or you can make a move now.
An alarm bell's going off for me, like, "Oh, my God."
None of us know what to do. What's happening?
What do you mean, "He found something"?
"Alli-Gabler" came up to the surface. I'm ready to strike.
They got me. I think it was a good move on them.
I had a lot more game to play.
Gabler really threw me under the bus.
I think he's the reason I'm here today.
I'm sure I came out of the gate playing a little too hard,
but I don't have any hard feelings.
And I had so much fun.
This was an opportunity of a lifetime.
I will never ever forget the people that I met.
And it was the best time of my life.
[roars]