‘Survivor’ Season 43 Episode 7 Recap: A Pairs Twist and New Advantage Send Castaways Scrambling
After Elie Scott’s shocking elimination in Survivor Season 43 Episode 6, it was anyone’s game in episode 7. Only 12 castaways remained on the island, and they are officially merged, which means they are competing for individual immunity — right? Well, host Jeff Probst had another twist up his sleeve for the next Immunity Challenge. Read on for our recap of episode 7, “Bull in a China Shop.”
[Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers from Survivor Season 43 Episode 7, “Bull in a China Shop.”]
Jeanine did damage control in ‘Survivor’ Season 43 Episode 7
The merged tribe returned to camp in Survivor Season 43 Episode 7 following the previous Tribal Council. After some wise words from Noelle Lambert, Jeanine Zheng, whose number one ally was Elie, whipped out her acting skills to convince her tribemates that she was OK with Elie leaving. In reality, she was feeling “confused and alone.”
The following morning, Owen Knight expressed annoyance toward Mike Gabler for ruining the Baka tribe’s majority going into the merge. Now, four people from each original tribe were left in the game.
The players later received tree mail, which revealed that they had to compete in pairs for the Immunity Challenge. And they had to choose their partners. However, no one wanted to step up and say who they wanted to compete with. Sami Layadi even explained during a confessional that they were unsure how the twist worked. But they determined to draw rocks to determine pairs.
A pairs twist infiltrates the Immunity Challenge
At the Immunity Challenge in Survivor Season 43 Episode 7, the castaways revealed the teams to Jeff Probst. The pairs are:
- Owen and Gabler
- Cody Assenmacher and Dwight Moore
- Ryan Medrano and James Jones
- Noelle and Sami
- Karla Cruz Godoy and Cassidy Clark
- Jesse Lopez and Jeanine
The challenge worked in three stages, and teams were eliminated at every level. During the first stage, the castaways had to run through an obstacle course that included a twisty net and digging through sand for flags and planks. Ryan, James, Karla, Cassidy, Owen, Gabler, Cody, and Dwight finished first and moved on to the next stage. Sami, Noelle, Jesse, and Jeanine were eliminated.
During the second stage, the pairs had to run up a net, use their planks to cross a rope bridge, and run to their mat. Cody, Dwight, Owen, and Gabler were the first to complete the second level. Karla, Cassidy, Ryan, and James were eliminated.
And for the final stage, each castaway had to steady a bucket that contained 25 percent of their starting body weight. Dwight was the first person to drop, followed by Owen. And after 38 minutes — a new Survivor record — Cody dropped his bucket, making Gabler the first season 43 castaway to win individual immunity.
Which castaway was voted out in ‘Survivor’ Season 43 Episode 7?
The Survivor Season 43 castaways returned to their camp in episode 7 and immediately started strategizing for the next Tribal Council.
Owen, Sami, James, and Dwight found a bottle at the water well that said an advantage was hidden in their shelter. James told them he would wait until after the vote to retrieve the advantage, but he lied and got it as soon as possible. It was Knowledge Is Power. Dwight informed Noelle about what happened at the water well, and she immediately started campaigning for James to leave.
However, Jesse and Karla didn’t like how Noelle was calling the shots. Jesse took this information to Cody, who proposed getting Dwight out to weaken Noelle. And going forward, they would work with Coco instead of sticking with the Vesi/Baka alliance.
James later told Karla, Ryan, and Cody about his advantage. But that made Cody want to get James out since he knew about his immunity idol. Word about James’s advantage spread around the camp. As a result, Cody gave Jesse his idol, Jeanine gave Dwight her idol, and Noelle gave Owen her Steal a Vote power to throw James off.
At Tribal Council, James didn’t use Knowledge Is Power, and Dwight was voted out with Jeanine’s idol in his pocket. Jeanine cannot catch a break!
Survivor Season 43 airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.
For more on the entertainment world and exclusive interviews, subscribe to Showbiz Cheat Sheet’s YouTube channel.
