Heading into the second episode of “Survivor: Edge of Extinction,” Gold Derby readers thought that Wendy Diaz, Aubry Bracco, Lauren O’Connell or Keith Sowell were most in danger of being the second person voted out — see complete racetrack odds. This week’s eliminated castaway had a choice to make: did they end their adventure or did they visit Extinction Island? As you’ll recall, last week’s season premiere ended in a cliffhanger with Reem Daly obviously choosing the island, so what exactly did that decision mean for her game?
Below, check out our minute-by-minute “Survivor” recap of Season 38, Episode 2, titled “‘One of Us is Going to Win the War,” to find out what happened Wednesday, February 27 at 8/7c. Then be sure to sound off in the comments section about your favorite castaways on CBS’s reality TV show, who annoys you the most, and who you think will ultimately join the “Survivor” winners list. Keep refreshing/reloading this live blog for the most recent updates.
8.00 p.m. – “Previously on ‘Survivor’!” In last week’s first episode, host Jeff Probst welcomed back four former players: Joe Anglim and Aubry Bracco (who joined the yellow Kama tribe) and Kelley Wentworth and David Wright (who joined the blue Manu tribe). While some of the 14 new castaways were happy to have the returnees around for the experience that they brought, others were threatened by them. After Kama won reward and immunity, Manu was sent to tribal council where Reem was voted out. But her journey wasn’t over quite yet as she chose to visit the mysterious Extinction Island.
8:01 p.m. – In the light of day on Extinction Island Reem was able to see that her worst fears were correct: the island is in ruins and has almost no supplies for her time there. She also found a notice warning her to last there as long as she can with no solid timeline and instructions to raise a white flag of surrender in the event that she wants to be saved and removed from the game. She then reflected on her behavior that got her voted out by her tribe and reassured herself that she’s not a quitter.
8:04 p.m. – The tribe that voted her out reflects on their decision to eliminate Reem, including Wendy’s staunch support of her. Wendy admits that she knew Reem would be voted out and wanted to stand by her, but doubles down on her position that Kelley is a huge threat. Her POV resonated with the other vet on the tribe, David, as well as Rick Devens, but they’d need a fourth person to join them in order to gain the majority vote on the tribe. The threat of Wendy caused Kelley to encourage the other players to go on a search for an idol in order to keep it out of Wendy’s hands.
8:07 p.m. – Over at Kama they were obviously in high spirits, but also focused on bonding as a tribe and building friendly connections with one another. Aubry was down for this, but as a vet it also worried her. Later in the day she asked Victoria Baamonde and Julia Carter how they feel about the vets, but they didn’t give her much info. Victoria and Julia were worried about how hard Aubry was working, noticing the panic in her, which started a dialogue among most of the newbies that Aubry should be their first target.
8:13 p.m. – During the Manu tribe idol hunt, David and Rick considered the possibility that Kelley sent everyone on the hunt as a distraction from the possibility the she already has the idol. The bond being built between David and Rick gained strength and they both agreed that Wendy is a player that they need to keep around as a tool in their box.
8:16 p.m. – Idols were on the minds of players at Kama as well, especially superfan Gavin Whitson and his early ally Eric Hafemann who went on a hunt for one. Victoria was one player that was not sure how or where to even look for an idol, a staunchly different approach from Julie Rosenberg who was determined to be a female to find an idol in a game where usually men find them. But the first player to find an idol in today’s hunt was Manu member Lauren O’Connell, one of Kelley’s allies, who vowed to not tell anyone about it. Maybe Julie will be happy it was at least another female?
8:24 p.m. – For this week’s Immunity/Reward Challenge the tribes had to free a large heavy “snake” from a cage in the water and drag it ashore before tossing rings to raise flags and win the challenge. First tribe to finish would win immunity as well as a choice of reward between a spice and cutlery set or fishing gear.
8:28 p.m. – Kama worked expertly together to get their heavy snake out of the cage, but Manu struggled to get it together. By the time Kama was back on the beach to get to the next obstacle Manu finally got their snake over and out of its cage. Surprisingly Manu managed to catch up in the obstacles on the beach, setting up Chris Underwood, their ring-thrower, to catch up to Joe who was tossing for Kama. When Eric swapped out for Joe and Keith swapped out for Chris, Manu fell behind again and there just wasn’t enough time for Chris to mount a comeback when he returned before Joe and Eric together finished it out for Kama to win!
8:37 p.m. – Facing a return to Tribal Council, Manu has forced to debate the pros and cons of its weakest members again. Keith was on the chopping block for being a liability in the challenges, joining both Wendy and Kelley as the more strategic threat options. Kelley knows that Keith failed in the challenge, but she was dead set on focusing the attention on Wendy who was working harder against Kelley and the other side of the game. That put Wardog DaSilva potentially in the middle because he wanted Keith out, but his ally Kelley wanted Wendy and the other side of the tribe, David and Rick, wanted Kelley out.
8:39 p.m. – Knowing that his neck was on the line, Keith went to Chris and promised his loyalty to him through to the end of the game no matter what. Chris, having Keith newly in his pocket, went to Rick with the option of saving Keith by voting Kelley out instead. That music to his ears and David’s, knowing they could pull in Wendy and then thinking they could also pull in Keith to get the five votes needed for the majority.
8:41 p.m. – Later Chris went to Wardog with the Kelley option, but Wardog made the case that Kelley would be a good shield for them in the future. At that point the two guys worked each other for a deal of in what order they’d vote Kelley and Keith out. The best part is that even Kelley admits that if she wasn’t herself that she’d want to vote her out. She knew her name was on the chopping block and did the best she could to make Chris see that they should keep her instead of Keith.
8:49 p.m. – Jeff opened up Tribal Council by asking Wendy and Kelley how vulnerable they felt considering they received votes last time. Rick made it clear that Kelley was still a possibility for this vote because of how strategic they know her to be, to which Kelley agreed, but argued that those aspects of her game are also a huge asset to them while they’re in the tribe mode of the game. As talk turned to “keeping the tribe strong,” Keith had to defend his poor performance at the challenge and argue that loyalty can be just as strong of an asset as being strong in challenges.
8:54 p.m. – Lauren did not use her newly found idol to save her ally Kelley, and so Jeff read the votes: Kelley, Keith, Wendy, Keith, Keith, Keith. Those four votes made it enough and sure enough Keith was “blindsided” and left the Council frustrated and full of “wows.” Luckily for him he quickly learned of his second chance, but oddly struggled with his decision to stay or leave….. which we didn’t get to actually see yet. What? How do you not choose to fight to stay?!
Here are the answers to Gold Derby’s contest questions for “Survivor” Season 38, Episode 2:
Who will be voted out at tribal council? Keith Sowell
Who will win Reward? Kama
Who will win Immunity? Kama
Will a hidden idol be played? No
What will the voted-out castaway decide? Decision Not Shown
SEE exclusive predictions: Who will win ‘Survivor’?
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