Day 17
The ninth episode of “Survivor 50” commenced with the chaotic fallout from the previous Tribal Council, where Rick Devens found his fake Immunity Idol to prevent others from voting him out.
“I really came into ‘Survivor 50’ trying to control my more chaotic tendencies,” Devens said in a confessional. “But I missed causing chaos at Tribal. That’s the most fun Tribal I’ve had all season.”
Jonathon Young and Aurby Bracco conversed the next morning about where Bracco stands with the rest of the tribe now as Deven’s questionable ally. In turn, she shifted the discussion with Young into a proposal to work together, which he accepted.
Later in the afternoon, Christian Hubicki sought to pivot his game and regain trust with those he had blindsided after being one of the many votes to send Benjamin “Coach” Wade home alongside Chrissy Hofbeck at the previous Tribal Council.
Finding Young back in the hammock, joined by Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick, Hubicki was confronted.
“Christian, I got to be real with you. If you do, in the future, want to work with me, how are we gonna get to that point?” Young said.
“If this comes to a situation where you need me to give you my Shot in the Dark, if it’s something that will help you get over that hump, I’m willing to do that,” Hubicki said in response, with genuine concern for Young and Kendrick’s trust in him.
The Immunity Challenge
Immunity was back up for grabs for the final 11 players. They were tasked with holding onto a handle that was attached to a bucket containing 25% of their pre-game body weight. The last player with their bucket still suspended in the air would earn safety at Tribal Council.
Around day 18 of the season, host Jeff Probst usually holds a negotiation at the immunity challenge for a bag of rice. He did just that, revealing a hefty bag of rice to hold the players over until the end of the season.
“If you want to earn your rice, you have to do it by outlasting me,” Probst said, revealing that he, too, would be competing in the challenge.
Young, Joe Hunter, Tiffany Nicole Ervin and Ozzy Lusth volunteered to compete in a side bet against Probst. If even one of the four dropped out, the entire tribe would lose the rice.
“I need someone to drop so they can do the hosting,” Probst said jokingly during the challenge.
In the end, the four outlasted Probst, who dropped his bucket just seven minutes into the challenge. Hunter was the eventual victor of the challenge and was then tasked with choosing one player to go on a journey. His choice was to pin the volunteers against one another in rock-paper-scissors, where Hubicki won the fight, hitching a ride in a boat.
The Journey
“I’m excited to go on this journey,” Hubicki said in a confessional. “Going around in the Pacific Ocean, in a boat for one.”
Upon Hubicki’s arrival at the barge in the middle of the ocean, he read a note sitting on the table of the platform.
“Hey, it’s Jimmy Fallon,” the note read. “If you finish the puzzle in time, you’ll earn a new advantage for ‘Survivor 50.’”
If Hubicki completed the puzzle before time ran out, he would earn the chance to write a vote for someone at Tribal Council, and it would already be in the urn upon voting, another “Survivor” first.
If he failed to complete the puzzle, Hubicki would have to take a closed envelope back to camp to read aloud to his tribemates.
“I worry I’ll lose my vote, or worse,” Hubicki said in his confessional.
In the end, Hubicki failed to complete the task, and his puzzle was sent flying into the ocean.
“I don’t think people realize how often people who you think are smart feel so stupid,” Hubicki said in a moment of reflection. “We try to keep it to ourselves, but here, you can’t.”
Tribal Council
Hubicki returned to camp and read aloud the note of failure.
“You will make history at tonight’s Tribal Council by being the first player to cast a vote against themselves,” the note read.
“Perfect,” Cirie Fields said in a confessional. “Christian was already on the hook; now’s the time to take the shot.”
Later, Devens and Hubicki chat for the first time during the episode.
“I need you to not panic,” Devens told Hubicki regarding the vote. “But it’s moving towards you.”
“Jimmy Fallon has put my game in jeopardy,” Christian said humorously in a confessional. “On top of that, who’s the other target? Rick, my closest ally. How did we end up in this position?”
As promised the previous day, Hubicki handed Young his Shot in the Dark as a sign of trust.
“I’m starting to get excited about tonight because I’m gonna vote out Christian with his Shot in the Dark in my hand,” Young said in a confessional, completely rejecting Hubicki’s offer of trust.
Right before the vote, Emily Flippen attempted to shift the votes off of Hubicki and onto Lusth, under the circumstances that he has an Immunity Idol. However, she told this information to Fields and Ervin, two close allies of Lusth.
“I gotta go for the gusto. Tonight, I’m voting for Emily. That woman is causing a lot of chaos,” Ervin said in her confessional.
“At this point, we don’t know what’s gonna happen,” said Fields in the final confessional of the night. “First, the majority said it must be Devens. For about 30 minutes, it was Christian. 30 minutes later, we’re switched to Emily. 15 minutes after that, it was switched back to Christian. They’re all threats. For me, it’s just moving me one step closer to those final three chairs.”
The final verdict was read, and Hubicki was humbly voted off with six of the 11 cast votes, three of which went to Devens, with the others being cast for Lusth.