‘Completely and utterly alone’: An ousted ‘Survivor’ castaway had a bigger impact the cast than it might have seemed

Sierra Wright might have been a relatively early boot on Survivor 47, but it is safe to say her legacy has lived on throughout the Emmy Award-winning series.

For those who need a refresher, Sierra began her Survivor 47 journey as a member of the Gata tribe with Sam Phalen, Rachel LaMont, Andy Rueda, Anika Dhar, and Jon Lovett. Linking up with Sam early on, the pair — who even sparked relationship rumors — had some serious control over the Gata tribe. Once their too-close-for-comfort bond was noticed by the Lavo and Tuku tribes, though, Sierra was swiftly blindsided at the merge. After all, power couples are a serious threat on the show.

Becoming the first member of the jury, Sierra’s untimely exit did not seem on the surface to be that significant; however, this could not have been further from the truth.

Ahead of the second part of the two-part finale, longtime Survivor writer and reporter Dalton Ross sat down with the final four castaways to reflect on the game thus far. One of the questions he asked was, “What was your lowest moment over the first 24 days?”

While both Teeny Chirichillo and Sue Smey had a different moment to reflect on in their exclusive interviews with Entertainment Weekly, both Sam and Rachel deemed Sierra’s untimely exit their “lowest moment over the first 24 days.”

Given the chemistry the pair had with one another — on a personal level, as well as on a game level — it is no surprise that Sierra’s elimination took a toll on Sam. “It was my first time being surprised at Tribal Council, and it left me feeling like I had no friends in the game,” he reminisced, before delving into the details:

“Survivor is like a boxing match. It doesn’t really start until you get punched in the mouth. It was the first time where it really hit me that nobody truly had my back. Everyone is out for themselves. Having that realization during such a delicate and complex stage of the game can make you feel vulnerable and alone, but it’s also liberating.”

Believe it or not, Rachel was equally as impacted by Sierra’s elimination as Sam, simultaneously sharing her take:

“When I lost Anika, I still had faith that I could somehow move forward with Sierra and even Sam, despite not fully trusting them. When Sierra went home on day 15, I felt completely and utterly alone. I realized that every single person left in the game had lied and burnt me and that I had no allies. I laid in the dirt by the fire that night thinking ‘Everything you’ve done in this game so far hasn’t worked at all and if you want to survive, you need to adapt now.'”

Fortunately for Rachel, she certainly managed to “adapt” after facing adversity, now heading into the finale as the obvious frontrunner. “It was by far my lowest moment, but it also felt like the turning point in my game where I decided that I had absolutely nothing else to lose and started playing like it,” she concluded with a smile.

With Sierra on the jury, who will get her vote, should they make it to the Final Tribal Council: Sam or Rachel? To see how the chips fall, catch the second part of the two-part finale tonight at 8pm ET/5pm PT on CBS, with next-day streaming via Paramount Plus. In case you needed an extra reason to be excited, Jeff Probst called the finale a “tremendous finish to a great season.”