Survivor 45

The 18 new castaways began their adventure.

• Reward Challenge: Two tribe members moved sandbags and rope out of a crate then retrieved a key. The next pair rowed out to another key. The final pair used those keys to unlock two poles, which were used to retrieve a flint. The first tribe to free their flint won it, plus a pot and machete.

Reba won the challenge, with Brandon being tended to by medical afterwards. Brando & Jake for Belo and Kaleb & Sabiyah for Lulu volunteered for Savvy and Sweat challenge, where both pairs were tasked to do two challenges within a time limit: transport logs down the beach, and then free a flint from a puzzle structure. The first pair to do both tasks won their supplies for the tribe while the losing pair got nothing. While both pairs were able to complete the Sweat portion of the challenge, both failed to complete the Savvy puzzle. At Lulu, Emily believed Kaleb and Sabiyah were hiding an advantage after the pair told their tribemates that they didn't win the camp supplies. When Brandon rejoined his tribe, Hannah told him that she wanted to quit. At Belo, Katurah, Kellie, and Kendra aligned together while Bruce struggled to rein in his leadership tendencies, despite saying that he didn't want to be seen as a leader. At Reba, Sifu was caught looking for an advantage and eavesdropping on his tribemates' conversations. Austin found a Beware Advantage and was tasked with deciphering a secret phrase on his tribe's flag in the middle of camp; until he completes all of the tasks, he would be unable to vote at Tribal Council.

• Immunity Challenge: Tribe members completed an obstacle course which involved a mud pit and dropping a crate by throwing coconuts in a net before completing a Survivor logo jigsaw puzzle. The first two tribes to finish won immunity while the losing tribe had to forfeit their flint.

Belo and Reba easily won immunity. At Lulu, Emily campaigned against Kaleb due to his tight alliance with Sabiyah, but the rest of the tribe wanted Emily out first due to her abrasiveness. However, at Tribal Council, Hannah decided to quit regardless of the outcome; with her tribemates' blessings and a verbal vote from the rest of the tribe, she became the first person to leave the game.

Emily was on the outs and began searching for an idol the morning after Hannah's quit; the others stayed close by while searching themselves. Brandon found Lulu's Beware Advantage but gave it to Sabiyah, not wanting to lose his vote. Emily tried to make amends and bond with her tribemates, succeeding with Kaleb, while Sabiyah and Brandon deciphered their clue to a tree but could not retrieve the idol. At Belo, Bruce's "fun uncle" persona endeared himself to Jake but earned Katurah's ire, while Brando and Kellie found themselves in the middle after they saw the value to both remaining pairs. At Reba, a majority alliance formed between Drew, Julie, Austin, and Dee. Austin deciphered the phrase on his Beware Advantage but did not yet find the idol.

The tribes were tasked with sending one player each on a journey. Bruce for Belo, Brandon for Lulu, and Drew for Reba went; Brandon divulged Lulu's tribe dynamics while Bruce remained silent. The three were then given a challenge that would give them an advantage if they won, but took their vote if they lost. Bruce elected to protect his vote and not play; Brandon lost, while Drew won a Safety Without Power advantage that he immediately told his tribemates about, proposing it to be used to benefit all of Reba. This led Austin to disclose his advantage to Drew, solidifying their alliance.

• Reward/Immunity Challenge: One at a time, three tribe members smashed a target to release a key, then crossed a balance beam. Once all three keys were retrieved, the remaining two tribe members would use the keys to open puzzle pieces to solve a coral-shaped jigsaw puzzle. The first two tribes to finish won immunity plus a large fishing kit for the winning tribe and a smaller fishing kit for second place. The losing tribe would have to forfeit their flint.

Reba and Belo placed first and second respectively in a close finish after Brandon faltered in the puzzle. The majority alliance of Sabiyah, Kaleb, and Sean got the idol out of the tree, but had to burn wax surrounding it; without flint to start a fire, Sabiyah was without a vote that night, as was Brandon due to losing the journey challenge. Sabiyah hoped for Emily to go, but Kaleb and Sean lobbied for tribe strength by ousting Brandon. Emily gave Sabiyah her Shot in the Dark to build trust. At Tribal Council, Brandon was sent home unanimously.

Emily deduced that Sabiyah did not vote, leading to more distrust between the two. At Belo, Jake had a brief medical episode but felt fine afterward. Kendra then tried to align with Jake. At Reba, Austin and Drew's search for the idol raised red flags with Dee.

• Reward Challenge: Tribe members ran ashore and, one-at-a-time, tossed a ball onto an overhead track, maneuvering across ropes to catch the ball before it fell off the end. Once they all accomplished this, they tossed the balls to try and land one in a target, dropping three hooks that they would toss rings onto. The first tribe to land all three rings won a large fruit platter and the right to raid one of the other two camps, while the second tribe to finish won a smaller fruit platter.

Lulu and Reba won the challenge. Lulu chose to have Kaleb raid Reba, where he took some of their fishing gear and obtained information on Reba's dynamics. Kaleb was to give an advantage to a member of Reba that would restore one lost vote; he chose Drew, who gave it to Austin and disclosed it to Dee and Julie. Meanwhile at Lulu, Sabiyah tried to convince Sean and Emily to blindside Kaleb due to his social prowess. At Belo, Brando and Kellie grew wary of Katurah's vendetta against Bruce. At Reba, Dee and Julie found the idol which they gave to Austin since he had the note. Austin discovered it was only good for one Tribal Council, though he could sacrifice a vote to extend it to the individual stage of the game, or sacrifice two votes to extend the idol to the Final Five.

• Immunity Challenge: Tribes raced out with a cart, and one member retrieved keys from high up using a pole. The keys unlocked heavy puzzle pieces that went on the cart. They disassembled the cart to get the pieces through a barricade then reassembled the cart. They then used the pieces to assemble a large cube puzzle with the help of an appointed caller. The first two tribes to finish won immunity while the losing tribe had to forfeit its flint.

Lulu lost yet another challenge. Sabiyah came clean to Emily about her lack of a vote, causing Emily to tell Kaleb to vote Sabiyah to save himself. At Tribal Council, Sabiyah burned the wax surrounding her idol in the arena's fire, but when she went up to the voting booth, she discovered that her idol had the same restrictions and powers as Austin's. She chose to sacrifice her vote to extend the life of the idol, but she did not play the idol. This backfired against Sabiyah as Emily and Kaleb joined forces to blindside her out of the game.

Sean tried to do damage control after being in the minority of the last vote, but Emily did not buy it. The next morning, the first tribe swap of the new era took place: Belo consisted of Austin, Brando, Drew, Emily, and Kendra; Lulu consisted of Bruce, Jake, Kaleb, Katurah, and Kellie; Reba consisted of Dee, J. Maya, Julie, Sean, and Sifu.

At Lulu, Bruce recognized the campsite as being Tika's from last season, making him emotional. Jake and Kaleb discussed aligning, while Katurah tried to sway Kaleb into voting out Bruce. At Belo, Austin and Drew tried to bring Emily into their alliance. At Reba, the four in the majority searched Sean's bag for an advantage and discovered he didn't have one. J. Maya bonded with Sean and targeted Sifu.

• Immunity Challenge: Tribes carried a heavy cage from the ocean to the beach. Once the cage was placed at a designated spot, one tribe member dug themselves under the cage to be the rebounder while the rest of the tribe shot balls to score into three baskets. The first two tribes to score all three balls won immunity while the losing tribe had to forfeit their flint.

Lulu and Belo won the challenge. J. Maya tried to convince Dee and Julie to blindside Sifu, who hoped to stay Reba strong and vote out Sean. Dee and Julie were torn on who to vote out. At Tribal Council, Sean changed course and stated he wanted to quit; despite Dee making a last-ditch effort to turn against Sifu, Sean was sent home after his throwaway vote on Dee, though Sifu wondered who had voted for him.

Sifu asked where the vote for him came from, and Dee stated she didn't vote for him (even though she did). Eventually, J. Maya confessed to it just to put it behind the tribe. Dee and Julie debated siding with Sifu or J. Maya for the future. At Lulu, Bruce's bossiness wore on tribemates' nerves. At Belo, Drew was unreceptive to an attempt to align by Brando.

• Reward/Immunity Challenge: TBA

Reba and Lulu won the challenge. J. Maya, Kellie, and Austin were selected for the journey, where they had to come to a majority decision on sandwiches or an amulet advantage that would increase in power the fewer of them holding it remained in the game. Austin unsuccessfully tried to sway the women into the sandwiches, and the advantage gave the group one extra vote. Brando offered his Shot in the Dark to Drew so that they could vote out Kendra, but Drew refused. The resulting he said-he said made Emily unsure of which side to trust. At Tribal Council, Austin used the Goodwill advantage to sacrifice one vote to extend his idol's power then gain his vote back; Emily ultimately stuck with Austin and Drew to send Brando home, much to Kendra's surprise.

• Reward Challenge: TBA

• Immunity Challenge: TBA

• Reward Challenge: TBA

• Immunity Challenge: TBA