Survivor Season 49 Week 8 recap: Double-threat immunity challenge sets off a scramble

Survivor Season 49 entered a volatile new phase in Week 8 as a split-team immunity twist forced castaways into immediate crisis mode. 

With the merge complete and ten players remaining, host Jeff Probst revealed that immunity would be granted to an entire team of five, leaving the losing five fully exposed at Tribal Council.

The double-threat format — team immunity plus an individual advantage for the overall winner — triggered a day of shifting loyalties, hidden idols, and last-minute pitches as the castaways fought to stay alive in the game.

Survivor Season 49: A divided tribe battles for safety in week 8 

The episode opened with the fallout from last week’s blindside. Jawan told the merged tribe they had pulled off the “biggest move of Survivor 49 yet.”

Steven added that the vote “solidified who was working together,” while noting that Savannah, Soph, Rizo, and Nate “thought they were running the show.”

With her alliance fractured, Soph began distancing herself from Savannah and Rizo in an attempt at damage control.

MC’s decision to play her Hidden Immunity Idol at the last Tribal Council raised red flags within her alliance.

Jawan and Sage openly questioned whether they could trust her after assuring her she was safe.

With MC’s idol now void, a fresh idol was hidden back in the game. Kristina ultimately found it and told Steven and Alex she was willing to share it “if they needed it.”

The tensions around Savannah continued to escalate. During a conversation at the water well with Sage and Soph, Savannah broke down, saying she felt like “the loser of the group and the pariah,” adding that the situation mirrored something she had already experienced at work.

Meanwhile, Steven and Jawan openly discussed wanting Savannah out next, while Sage and Soph also weighed options for eliminating her.

Day 15 marked the start of the divisive immunity challenge. The ten castaways were split into two teams:

• Blue Team: Sage, Rizo, MC, Jawan, Sophie


• Yellow Team: Steven, Kristina, Soph, Alex, Savannah

The challenge required the players to brace themselves between two walls while balancing their feet on a progressively shrinking platform. Those who lasted longest advanced to the final stage.

Kristina was the first to drop for Yellow, followed by Alex. Blue then lost Rizo and MC, leveling the field.

Steven and Jawan fell shortly after, leaving both teams with two players on the final platform: Savannah and Soph for Yellow, Sage and Sophie for Blue.

After a tense standoff, Sophie fell, then Sage, leaving Savannah as the last castaway standing. She won immunity for Yellow and earned an additional advantage.

Yellow’s win also came with a deli-sandwich reward.

With Blue heading to Tribal Council as the losing team, the scramble began immediately at the old Uli camp.

Sophie, Jawan, and Sage initially agreed on voting out Rizo. Because he held an idol, they agreed to tell him the vote would be for Sophie.

Jawan and Sage approached Rizo with the decoy plan, and Rizo — believing he was secure — decided he would not play his idol.

But Sophie was also planning contingencies. She told MC that if Rizo played his idol, she would throw a vote on Jawan to force a tie.

MC relayed this to Jawan, who felt betrayed and shifted his target toward Sophie.

At the same time, Savannah was preparing to use her newly earned advantage.

She collected an immunity necklace that granted her the option to participate in the Tribal Council vote or save the extra vote for later.

Arriving at the old camp just as tensions peaked, she told the group she had the power to vote — then told Rizo privately that she could also choose not to.

Rizo, reassured, pushed for a new plan: to flip the vote onto MC. Believing she was an easier alternative to Sophie, he tried to sway the group in the final hours before Tribal Council.

The uncertainty carried into the Tribal Council itself.

MC approached Jawan with a last-minute plea, prompting a flurry of side conversations and whispers. Savannah ultimately chose not to vote, saving her advantage for a future round.

When Jeff Probst read the votes, no idols or advantages were played.

The results came down to four: Sophie received one vote, and MC received three.

MC became the ninth person eliminated and the second member of the jury on Survivor 49, while Rizo — the original target — left the night safe with his idol still in his pocket.

With a re-hidden idol in the game, Savannah holding an unused extra vote, and alliances splintering at every turn, Survivor Season 49 is firmly in its unpredictable post-merge era.

Week 8 underscored how quickly the balance of power can shift — and how no one is guaranteed safety.

Stay tuned for more updates.