Another episode of Survivor 45 is in the books, and it brought everything from a tribe swap to a plea to leave the game. The 90-minute episodes have delivered in a big way thus far, and it seems like we’re on our way to uncovering a classic Survivor season.
So, here’s what happened on episode 4, which aired Oct. 18 on CBS and Paramount Plus.
It began on Lulu’s beach as they reeled from the wild Tribal Council that night. Although Sabiyah Broderick held a Hidden Immunity Idol and had orchestrated a potential blindside to vote out Kaleb Gebrewold, the truck driver was sent packing courtesy of Kaleb and Emily Flippen.
Sean Edwards, the other remaining Lulu member, voted for Kaleb and was firmly on the outs of the dwindled tribe.
But, Sean escaped his perilous position through the first tribe swap of Survivor’s “new era” (episodes post-season 40’s Winners at War). All 15 castaways drew a concealed buff to remake three tribes of five. The three Lulu castaways were split apart while blocks of the other tribes — Belo and Reba — stayed together.
Here’s how the three newly assembled tribes shook out:
Lulu:
- Kaleb (former Lulu)
- Bruce Perreault (former Belo)
- Jake O’Kane (former Belo)
- Kellie Nalbandian (former Belo)
- Katurah Topps (former Belo)
Reba:
- Sean (former Lulu)
- Nicholas “Sifu” Alsup (former Reba)
- Julie Alley (former Reba)
- Janani “J. Maya” Krishnan-Jha (former Reba)
- Dianelys “Dee” Valladares (former Reba)
Belo:
- Emily (former Lulu)
- Kendra McQuarrie (former Belo)
- Brandon “Brando” Meyer (former Belo)
- Austin Li Coon (former Reba)
- Drew Basile (former Reba)
The strategic dynamics of each new Tribe weren’t as cut and dry as they seemed
We spent time with each new tribe during episode 4. Here’s what happened:
Lulu:
On the newly minted Lulu tribe, Kaleb was the only original player to don the yellow buff, and he was stuck on the beach with four former Belo members. The odds weren’t in his favor and Kaleb knew that, so he went to work establishing new relationships while investigating cracks in the block of four.
A storyline we’ve been following from the start is Katurah’s annoyance with Bruce — he drives her up the wall with his exuberant nature. And she stated in a confessional that he was still on the top of her hit list. However, Kaleb bonded with Jake right away, whoever semi-vouched for Bruce.
Kellie, someone who played the middle in the original Belo squad, once again fell into that role.
Belo:
Belo was the only group to feature at least one contestant from each original tribe. And that appears to have worked out in Emily’s favor. Although we didn’t see much of Austin and Kendra’s relationship as part of the first Belo, Austin and Drew were thick as thieves when they played together on Reba. They worked in unison to retrieve Austin’s Hidden Immunity Idol and appear to trust each other unconditionally.
Further, they were armed with two other advantages that Drew holds — the safety without power and vote restoration advantages.
The two former Belo and Reba duos were well aware that they needed Emily as their third alliance member to gain the upper hand on the blue beach. Austin and Drew went to work establishing that with Emily, and although she seemed all in on the bros, it’s unclear if that’ll stick.
Reba:
Like Kaleb, Sean found himself floating by himself in a sea of former tribemates. This time, four ex-Rebas threw down their red buffs just to pick one up again. But, like Kaleb found at the new Lulu, there were cracks to be discovered.
The narrative of Sifu having a Hidden Immunity Idol continued to follow him. With how things were shaking up with the old Reba tribe, if they had gone to one of the first three Tribal Councils, Sifu was on the chopping block.
Well, Dee, J. Maya, and Julie kept that energy. Although Sean was a presumed easy out, the three women were looking at a potential Sifu blindside.
The Immunity Challenge played out and a player asked to be voted out
The three new tribes then descended onto their first Immunity Challenge. It involved the players lifting a heavy structure out of the water, digging, and shooting hoops. And after the dust cleared, Lulu and Belo saved themselves from elimination that night, meaning it was the first time a red buff would be seen at Tribal Council.
Back at their camp, the plan was set in motion to take out the unexpecting Sifu, who thought they were going to remain “Reba strong” and vote out Sean, the outcast.
However, even though he knew a plan was concocted to save him, Sean threw everybody, including host Jeff Probst, a curveball at Tribal. Desperately missing his husband back in Utah, he asked his tribemates to vote him out, which they ultimately did, but not without some drama.
Dee was still adamant about voting out Sifu and she wrote the martial artist’s name down instead of Sean’s. Julie, Sifu, and J. Maya took pity on Sean, however, and his torch was snuffed by Jeff. The episode ended with a bewildered Sifu seemingly putting together that someone was targeting him.
Will Sifu use the knowledge to turn the tide? We may find out next time — episode 5 will air Oct. 25 on CBS and Paramount Plus.