'Survivor' Season 48, Episode 5 recap: What makes Jeff Probst become emotional?

USA Today

27-03-2025

'Survivor' Season 48, Episode 5 recap: What makes Jeff Probst become emotional?
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In what may be a first in the show's long and storied history, "Survivor" host Jeff Probst became visibly emotional during a challenge in this week's episode.
The fifth episode of Season 48, titled "Master Class in Deception," saw contestants first participate in a reward challenge where the winning tribe would visit the Sanctuary and be rewarded with pastries, iced coffees and milk.
The Lagi tribe emerged victorious, heading to the Sanctuary, and the Vula tribe came in second, using the reward to further bond as teammates.
But it was the immunity challenge that saw the standout emotional moment from this week's episode. The three tribes started in the water, pulling a boat in with a rope. Once they got to the beach, they had to crawl under a wooden beam and dig through the sand until eventually each tribe member had to place a ball in a hole in a wooden maze puzzle.
After heading to tribal council last week, the Vula tribe emerged victorious, working together well and speeding through the puzzle to win the first immunity. Then, it became a race between the Lagi and Civa tribes.
On Lagi, Eva Erickson was having trouble completing the puzzle, and began to feel overwhelmed even as her teammates cheered her on. In the midst of a meltdown, Eva was able to finish the puzzle, winning the final immunity for Lagi and sending Civa to tribal council.
But even in Lagi's victory, Eva was still visibly upset and emotional, until Probst asked Joe Hunter of the Vula tribe (Eva's former tribemate) if he would like to give her a hug. Joe embraced Eva, speaking to her and helping her calm down, and Eva eventually revealed to Probst and the rest of the players that she was diagnosed with autism at a very young age and sometimes, when overwhelmed, goes into what she called a "meltdown."
Players applauded Eva for sharing her story, even bringing Probst to tears. "Wow, this has never happened," an emotional Probst said.
Although the moment was overshadowed by Eva sharing her story with her tribemates, the Civa tribe still came in last and were headed to tribal council to vote a member out. Here's what to know about this week's episode of "Survivor" Season 48.
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Who went home on 'Survivor' Season 48, Episode 4?
Once the Civa members were back on their beach before heading to tribal council, Bianca Roses realized she was in a predicament.
Roses had lost her vote in a previous episode, effectively giving her no power in the forthcoming events. At first, she kept this information to herself, working both sides of the Chrissy Sarnowsky-Mitch Guerra alliance and the tenuous Cedrek McFadden-Sai Hughley alliance.
At first, Chrissy and Mitch were game to vote out Sai, and Bianca worked to convince Cedrek to do the same. But just as they were leaving for tribal council, Bianca revealed her secret to Cedrek in the hopes it would garner trust and further influence his vote on Sai.
But things did not go according to plan for Bianca, who of course had no vote and no power at tribal council. Mitch voted for Sai, Sai voted for Chrissy, and in a surprise twist, Cedrek and Chrissy voted for Bianca, who had no vote at all, making the 33-year-old PR consultant living in Arlington, Virginia, the fifth person to be voted out of Season 48.
'Survivor' Season 48 cast: Meet the 18 castaways hoping to win $1 million in Fiji
Who went home last week on 'Survivor' Season 48?
Last episode, a tribe swap mixed up the original teams as players dropped their buffs, creating new Civa, Vula and Lagi tribes.
Morale was high leading into the episode's immunity challenge, where the first and second finishers were guaranteed safety and a much-coveted reward of fresh fruit to bring back to camp. But as players had to heave sandbags, move through an obstacle course, toss balls and complete a puzzle, the Vula tribe (with no original Vula members on it) were once again the last team to finish.
Heading to tribal council with three original Lagi members and two Civa, the Civa members pretended to not have a tight alliance with each other in hopes of not becoming the target of the majority. Kamilla Karthigesu (a Civa) even told other members she suspected Thomas Krottinger (a Lagi) of lying about not having an advantage from a "journey" he had taken a few episodes prior, further sowing distrust.
Just before tribal council, original Lagi member Shauhin Davari searched Kyle Fraser's bag (a Civa) for a hidden immunity idol. Luckily, Shauhin did not find the idol, which Kyle did in fact have.
Kyle correctly guessed he was the target of the vote and played his hidden immunity idol, nullifying the three votes from Thomas, Shauhin and Joe Hunter (a Lagi) cast against him. Kyle and Kamilla voted for Thomas, thus making the 34-year-old music executive living in Los Angeles the fourth person voted out of the game.
How to watch 'Survivor' Season 48
Season 48 of "Survivor" airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET / PT on CBS and streams on Paramount+ for subscribers of the Paramount+ with Showtime plan.
Episodes can be streamed the next day for subscribers of any Paramount+ plan.
The previous 47 seasons of the show are all available to stream with a Paramount+ subscription.
Watch every season of Survivor on Paramount+
Who is the host of 'Survivor'?
Jeff Probst has hosted all 48 seasons of the show, which has been on the air since 2000. He also serves as an executive producer.
'Survivor' 50: Jeff Probst talks casting all-stars season, whether he'd play 'Traitors'
Who won 'Survivor' Season 47?
Rachel Lamont won Season 47 of "Survivor," in a 7-1-0 vote against Sam Phalen, who got one vote, and Sue Smey.
Lamont, a 34-year-old graphic designer from Southfield, Michigan, was originally on the Gata tribe and became the fifth woman ever to win four individual Immunity Challenges in a season.
Where is 'Survivor' filmed?
While "Survivor" previously took contestants to remote locations around the world, from the Pearl Islands to the Philippines and Guatemala, the show has been filmed in the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji for the past 15 seasons.
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