With only six castaways left at the start of Wednesday’s “Survivor: Edge of Extinction,” this episode promised to set the stage for next week’s season finale. With Rick Devens once again on the chopping block as “target number one,” was he able to find an immunity idol or an advantage, or did Julie Rosenberg, Aurora McCreary, Victoria Baamonde, Gavin Whitson and Lauren O’Connell finally get their way by sending the Georgia newscaster back to Extinction Island? Below, check out our minute-by-minute “Survivor” recap of Season 38, Episode 13, titled “Idol or Bust,” to find out what happened Wednesday, May 8 at 8/7c. Then be sure to sound off in the comments section about your favorite castaways on CBS’s reality TV show 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 12th episode, Ron Clark (with a little help from Julie) tried to manipulate Rick by giving him the expired advantage menu. As it turned out, Rick did play the menu but he had a back-up ace in the hole in the form of a real hidden immunity idol. All votes cast against Rick didn’t count, so Ron was sent home as the person with the next-highest number of votes. With only six players remaining in the proper game, who will be voted out tonight? 8:01 p.m. – Following his blindside of Ron, Gavin sees a clear focus toward the end of the game, but knows that he’ll need to get through Rick first. And Rick continued to play all the cards available to him in order to avoid elimination–this time he told the group he got the idol from Extinction Island, not from their current beach, in order to throw them off. 8:02 p.m. – Once again Rick woke up early in the morning in order to go on another idol hunt. Luckily Lauren was on to his game and even called him out for lying about where he found the previous idol, but Rick denied denied denied. When Lauren finally left him to his search he came across another idol. Just. Like. That. 8:06 p.m. – For the reward challenge the players competed as individuals in an obstacle course and ball toss that they must land on a narrow perch. As the prize the winner earned a helicopter ride and dinner at a luxury resort across the island. Aurora took an early lead, catching her two balls in the first stage quicker than anyone else, but was quickly followed by Rick, Victoria and Gavin. Eventually all four of them reached the final stage at the perch simultaneously. There Gavin was the first to land a ball on the perch and then went on to land his second quicker than Victoria and Aurora, winning reward for himself. He got to bring along two other people: his first choice was Victoria because she’s been on the least rewards and his second choice was Lauren, shocking everyone else since Aurora also hasn’t been on a reward in a while. 8:15 p.m. – After not choosing Aurora, Gavin was confident that she would be “smart enough” to not jump ship and work with Rick because of it. At the reward, Gavin, Victoria and Lauren solidified their partnership and agreement to go after Rick next, but Lauren was concerned with the idea that Julie would be the target after Rick. Lauren has been working with Julie since the merge and so it was in her head that she should protect her and possibly go to the end with her instead. Following the reward, Victoria touched base with Aurora about their plan to go to final four, but Aurora was still hurt by not being chosen even if she believed the foursome was her best move going forward. 8:18 p.m. – Later at Extinction Island the castaways there got a package filled with letters they had written to themselves before starting the game. For Julia Carter and Chris Underwood the letters were a reminder about both their purpose and their goals for the game. Reem Daly reminded herself that even though she was voted out first she was still a survivor and that the true lesson of the game is to never give up. 8:25 p.m. – In order to continue to mess with the group, Rick pretended he was going on an idol search again (he already has it!) so that they’d also go out looking for something they wouldn’t find and think that he still doesn’t have one. He cockily sped around the island trying to wear them out, laughing knowing that he already has what they thought he was looking for. 8:27 p.m. – For the immunity challenge each player raced to slide letter tiles through a slide board and then had to carry them across the field between two paddles toward a word puzzle. First person to finish the puzzle would secure themselves a spot in the final five. For the most part everyone kept pace with each other throughout the obstacle portion of the challenge–Gavin carried his tiles in small batches while Lauren, Rick and Aurora both carried more at a time and were the first to begin the puzzle. After Jeff himself used the word “tonight” in what he was saying, the players picked up on the clue and started looking for phrases that said “tonight” and sure enough Rick was able to put his pieces in place quick enough to spell out “Not Living on the Edge Tonight” to earn himself immunity! 8:38 p.m. – With Rick winning immunity, the foursome turned the target on Julie, who stepped away from them in order to discuss things with Rick. Julie decided that she’d work with Rick for this vote because it’s her only chance and thought she might be able to do something with Lauren in order to flip the vote on to Aurora.<doc-sep>Yesterday’s episode of Survivor: Edge of Extinction brought back a pair of trademark challenges that we haven’t seen in nearly ten years. True Survivor fans were definitely smiling when Jeff was explaining both challenges from yesterday’s episode. The Reward and the Immunity are linked with some of the greatest seasons, as well as memorable moments, so it’s nice to see them back! Let’s get right to it. Reward Challenge This family visit Reward Challenge consisted of each castaway scooping up water from the ocean with a bucket, and then launching it to their loved one. With the water they were able to catch, the loved one will then dump their bucket into a container on a see-saw. Once there’s enough water, the container will swing down lifting a flag. The first pair to raise their flag wins the reward. Feel free to rewatch this challenge below. As always, seeing their family members got every castaway emotional. Even the more serious players in Gavin, Victoria, and Aurora could not contain themselves. It was Gavin’s story that stole the show, and I’m happy we finally got to hear how he rearranged his wedding day to make it to Fiji. That’s a sign of a true Survivor superfan! As the challenge began, Devens and his wife were a joy to watch, as Rick got more water on Becca than in the bucket. Aurora, Julie, and Victoria were all so gassed from going back and forth that they weren’t really in it. It turned out to be a three-way race between Ron, Gavin, and Lauren. Eventually, Ron and his husband pulled out the win, forcing him to make a difficult and possibly fatal strategic decision. He decided to pick Julie and Gavin to join him for fried chicken and apple pie back at camp. Reward Challenge Rankings: Creativity: 1/5 Difficulty: 2.5/5 Entertainment Value: 3/5 Immunity Challenge: From one classic challenge to another, this time with deservedly higher stakes. The castaways will stand on painfully narrow footholds while trying to keep themselves pinned between two walls without falling. The last person standing wins Individual Immunity. We haven’t seen this iconic challenge since Redemption Island. Take another look below. After jokingly attempting to convince the others to step down, Rick dropped and couldn’t take it anymore. This wasn’t a Devens type of challenge. Not too long after, Ron dropped. After 33 minutes, Victoria stepped down out of nowhere. Then in visible pain, Julie announced that she was done, and went straight to her knees. A great little scene was watching Ron going over to help Julie out, and then just carrying her to the benches. Moments later, Aurora sarcastically remarked that “it’s been fun” and then stepped down, leaving Gavin and Lauren to fight it out. The entire time I was just hoping she wouldn’t faint again! After 50 minutes of painful endurance, Lauren fell, giving Gavin his second Immunity Necklace. Aurora and Rick are still the two biggest physical threats left in my opinion, but these challenges showed how they’re not too far ahead of the competition. Gavin has had his moments and is always up there in physical challenges. Lauren continues to do well when balance and endurance plays a key role. Immunity Challenge Rankings: Creativity: 1/5 Difficulty: 5/5 Entertainment Value: 3/5<doc-sep>The Survivor: Edge of Extinction episode 12 secret scene takes another look at what it’s like to live with Reem Daly. This time, Wardog is the target of ire. Though Rick Devens’ “me against the world” mantra took the majority of focus in Survivor: Edge of Extinction episode 12, one thing that helped the hour go swimmingly is that we didn’t have a forced Edge of Extinction segment. We now have six players left in the active game and ten whole people waiting for the chance to get back in, so more focus on the active players, the better. However, it’s hard not to admit that there have been some entertaining moments on the Edge of Extinction. It was great to see the emotional turmoil of returning players as they left the game, just as it was to see the mad scrambles for advantages for those hoping to get back. One constant throughout the season is Reem’s reactions to those joining her, and the welcoming for Wardog was an all-timer. The Survivor: Edge of Extinction episode 12 secret scene pretty much shows the explosive dialogue between Reem and Wardog. Reem seems like she wants to tell Wardog off in the morning, but Wardog is impatient with the idea of being told off now and later and brings it to her attention that night. The two get into a yelling match, making it clear as the day they are like oil and water. It’s hard not to sympathize with Wardog in this situation, as he was just voted off and is reeling from the taste of defeat. Reem, however, makes it her prerogative to make it known she’s going to yell at him tomorrow while yelling at him at that moment. Even as he sits halfway off the edge of the shelter, you can still see Reem asking for him to scoot over as if he hasn’t been accommodating enough. The video ends with Reem telling Wardog this is her island in a very Troyzan-like way, suggesting that Wardog is an unwelcomed guest in her domain. You know, the domain of people who were voted out of Survivor. In that regard, I guess Reem has established herself as Queen of the losers, having spent four whole weeks out on Extinction Island.<doc-sep>It’s never been more clear than this week that the Survivor: Edge of Extinction episode 13 power rankings are about those actually still in the real game. 16 – 7. Everyone on the Edge of Extinction This past week, we spent a grand total of zero new seconds on the Edge of Extinction. Even production is aware at this point just how much Survivor fares better without dwelling on the past, as episode 12 was one of the best episodes of the season. Oddly enough, you could even argue for their inclusion just after the reward with Ron, Julie and Gavin, contrasting how hard it is. Unfortunately, by doing so, it convinced me that the winner is not on the Edge of Extinction. Without a doubt, if the winner was out there missing out on their loved ones, you would feel as though the audience would feel their struggle, emotionally toiling about as players get that last-week boost needed to conquer the final challenges. With this group now including Ron (who was the focus of this past week), even he has no shot returning and winning. His scheme in fooling Rick with the expired Advantage Menu was foiled and, more importantly, derided by the jury. Rick’s immunity idol play became a rallying cry as the jury beckoned for him to join their ranks. Even if he wins his way to the end, he has no shot at winning a jury vote.<doc-sep>
Tonight on CBS Survivor: Edge of Extinction airs with an all-new Wednesday, May 8, 2019, Season 38 Episode 14 and we have your Survivor recap below. On tonight’s Survivor season, 38 episode 13 called “Idol or Bust,” as per the CBS synopsis, “Spirits are lifted when castaways living “on the edge” read letters they wrote to themselves; the final seven castaways battle for immunity during a tough puzzle challenge.” So make sure to bookmark this spot and come back from 8 PM – 9 PM ET for our Survivor recap. While you wait for the recap make sure to check out all our Survivor news, spoilers, recaps & more, right here! Tonight’s Survivor Edge of Extinction recap begins now – Refresh Page often to get the most current updates! Vata tribe night 31, now the focus is all on getting rid of Rick. He knows he is on the bottom and probably the only one who will work with him is Julie, so he needs to be really clever. Aurora felt outcasted, but not she feels like she can work with Victoria, Lauren, and Gavin. She truly does feel connected with her alliance and feels like Rick is a threat and needs to go. Ron went home and Rick knows if he didn’t give that idol, it would have been him. The early bird gets the worm and Rick is up early already looking around. Lauren knows Rick is a big liar, he found his idol and wasn’t given it from extinction. Lauren has one goal, make sure Rick doesn’t find another idol. Rick feels like if he doesn’t find another idol. he is going to be sent home. And, he is not giving up, wouldn’t you know it, he finds himself an idol. This guy is unbelievable, he has been at the bottom so long, but he has been working so hard, he deserves to find that idol. Time for the Reward Challenge, they are going to race out with a ball, toss it out and into an overhead trap, then catch it on the other side, They will then dig under a beam, to the finish. Once they have both balls, they will attempt to land them on an overhead perch. The winner will be taken by helicopter to the beautiful islands, touch down at a luxury resort to feast and enjoy an open bar. Survivors are ready and get going, Gavin quickly gets in the lead. Victoria is a close second, but Gavin wins the reward. Jeff tells Gavin that he gets to pick one person to join him, he chooses Victoria. He gets one more choice, he chooses Lauren. Rick and Aurora are shocked, both thought that Aurora would get picked. Gaven, Laura, and Victoria head out for their reward. Aurora is upset, her alliance was a chance for her not to be on the bottom, but now she feels like she is not good enough for the group. Gavin secures his alliance with the women on the reward. They decide that if Rick finds an immunity idol, Julie will be the next to go. Secretly, Lauren doesn’t want to get Julie out because she trusts her. At Vata, the three return from their reward and Victoria tries to prove to Aurora that nothing has changed. Aurora says she is not making any decisions yet. At Edge of Extinction, there is a special delivery, a box of letters that they wrote to themselves before they started their journey on Survivor. Gavin and Rick are talking, Gavin believes he may have another idol. Rick, on the other hand, is having a blast, running around and hiding, knowing he already found what they are looking for, or suspect what he has. Gavin loves to make them paranoid, it pushes him through the game. Time for the Immunity Challenge. They are going to race to slide letter tiles into a target, they will then use two handles to transport those tiles into a series of obstacles. They will then use the letter tiles to solve a six-word phrase. The first to finish wins immunity and guaranteed to see day 35. Aurora hates word puzzles and is already doubting herself. Rick is happy that she is doubting herself and hopes many more are too. After a heated and exhausting challenge, Rick wins immunity.