Survivor 45

## Cast

***Survivor 45*** is the forty-fifth season of the CBS competitive reality television series *Survivor*.

Running 90-minute episodes for the entire season, *Survivor 45* documented an eclectic cast, including Emily Flippen, who pivoted from tribe outcast to social nexus, and returning player Bruce Perreault, whose abrasive personality made him the center of many tribal conflicts, notably against Katurah Topps. The season also saw the return of classic *Survivor* elements like the tribe switch and auction. Strategically, the season came to be dominated by the Reba Four alliance, which marched unimpeded to the end as its rivals proved futile in aligning against them. Spearheading the alliance was Dee Valladares, who was ultimately crowned the season's Sole Survivor over Austin Li Coon and Jake O'Kane.

## Production

The 45th season was filmed in the same production cycle as *Survivor 46* and, despite the lifting of COVID-19 safety protocols, retained the 26-day format established in *Survivor 41*.

On May 10, 2023, CBS announced *Survivor 45* as part of its fall programming schedule; in a first for both series, it was confirmed that *Survivor 45* and *The Amazing Race 35* will air 90-minute episodes instead of the standard 60-minute episodes, making for a 180-minute primetime block. The prolonged runtime was heavily attributed by the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike where the production of several scripted shows were halted and the timeslots they left had to be filled.

Bruce Perreault, who was evacuated on the first day of *Survivor 44* due to a serious head injury, was formally invited by Jeff Probst to return to *Survivor 45* on the first episode of *On Fire with Jeff Probst*, which he accepted.

In response to the trend of players replicating and practicing *Survivor* puzzles before competing, the challenge department committed to retiring many recurring puzzles used in past challenges.

## Twists/Changes

* **Shortened Game**
* **Returning Player:** Bruce Perreault was invited to compete on the season following his Day 1 evacuation in *Survivor 44*.
* **Tribe Division:** The 18 castaways were divided into 3 tribes of 6. No unifying theme was used in dividing the tribes.
* **Amended Sit-Out Rules:** Starting from this season, tribe members will no longer be allowed to sit out in back-to-back challenges, including after an elimination.
* **Penalties for Losing Immunity Challenges**
	+ **Pre-Merge:** The tribe that lost an Immunity Challenge was forced to surrender their flint to Jeff and could only win it back if they won the next Immunity Challenge.
	+ **Post-Merge:** The members of the team that placed last in the Immunity Challenge at the final nine lost their right to vote at the upcoming Tribal Council.
* **Shot in the Dark**
* **Beware Advantage/Hidden Immunity Idol:** Each tribe had one Beware Advantage which directed its owner to a series of clues to the idol's hiding place. The idols were concealed in a container which the player must break. The idol was originally usable for one Tribal Council, but its lifespan may be extended if its owner sacrificed their vote at their next two Tribal Councils.
* **Observing:** The tribe that finished first in the first Immunity Challenge nominated one member to go to the losing tribe's camp, where they had the opportunity to talk to the losing tribe members ahead of Tribal Council. The observer was also given the ability to secretly cast a vote against one of those tribe members via Tree Mail.
* **Journeys**
	+ **Safety Without Power:** Castaways from different tribes were taken to another island. Separately and in private, each castaway could decide whether to wager their vote and undertake an individual challenge for the advantage. If they completed the challenge in time, they would receive the advantage; otherwise, they would be unable to vote at their next Tribal Council.
	+ **Advantage Amulet:** Castaways were given the option of taking a sandwich or the Advantage Amulets.
	+ **Regain Vote:** At the final nine, the losers of the Immunity Challenge were given the chance to regain their lost votes by completing an individual challenge.
	+ **Individual Immunity:** At the final seven, the castaway who went on the journey was given the option to compete in an individual Immunity Challenge; success would grant them immunity at the next Tribal Council, while failure would cost them their vote.
* **Goodwill Advantage:** The person that participated in the raid on Day 6 could give this advantage to one member of the raided tribe. This advantage allowed its holder to restore one vote at any Tribal Council where they would have otherwise been unable to vote.
* **Tribe Switch:** A tribe switch occurred on Day 8, shuffling the remaining fifteen castaways into three tribes of five.
* **Earn the Merge:** The final 13 players were divided into 2 teams of 6 by random draw. The teams competed in an Immunity Challenge where the members of the winning team won individual immunity, a spot on the merge tribe, and the merge feast. Before the challenge, the odd player out predicted which team would win the challenge; if they were correct, they would also receive immunity and the merge feast.
* **Double Elimination:** On Day 14, the Dakuwaqa tribe was subjected to a Double Elimination, where the tribe was divided into two groups of six and two castaways were eliminated through two separate Tribal Councils, the first of whom would not join the jury. Following the Immunity Challenge, one group remained at the Dakuwaqa camp, while the other was sequestered at the old Lulu camp for the afternoon.
* **Simplified Final Four Tribal Council**
* **Expanded Jury and Final Three:** The Final Tribal Council was held with a Final Three facing an eight-person jury.
* **Reformatted Final Tribal Council:** Instead of having each jury member speak individually, an open forum was held to ensure a more insightful rapport between the jury and finalists. The discussion was divided into three portions—"social", "physical", and "strategic".

## Season History

### **Episode One**

The 18 new castaways began their adventure, and were divided into 3 tribes of 6:
Reba - Dee, Drew, Jake, Julie, Katurah, Sifu
Lulu - Austin, Brando, Kaleb, Kellie, Kendra, Sabiyah
Belo - Brandon, Bruce, Emily, Hannah, J. Maya, Sean

* **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.

Belo won the challenge, while Kaleb & Kendra for Lulu and Jake & Sifu for Reba 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. Jake & Sifu failed to complete the Sweat challenge, but succeeded at the Savvy challenge, while Kaleb & Kendra were the opposite, as well as Kendra injuring her shoulder during the Sweat challenge. At Lulu, Kellie attempted to form an alliance with Austin, Brando & Sabiyah whilst their other tribemates were completing the Sweat & Savvy challenge, much to the chagrin of her tribemates. At Belo, J. Maya and Sean formed a tight bond and Bruce, Emily and Hannah expressed thanks to J. Maya for being the main reason for their success in the reward challenge, causing Brandon to view her as a threat. At Reba, Drew, Jake & Sifu formed an all-men alliance and failed to conceal it from their other 3 tribemates, thus encouraging them to create an all-female alliance in return.

* **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 won immunity in a close race. At Lulu, Austin and Kaleb pushed a Kellie vote strongly due to her hastiness in creating an alliance to exclude the 2 Lulu members completing the Sweat and Savvy challenge for seemingly no reason. Brando protested in quiet to Kendra and Sabiyah, and campaigned to them to vote Kaleb out. Kaleb and Sabiyah teetered between voting Kaleb or Kellie, but ultimately Kendra's close bond with Kaleb led the tribe to voting Kellie out by a vote of 4-2.

### **Episode Two**

Upon returning to the Lulu camp after Kellie's elimination, Brando began scrambling due to his position on the outs of the tribe, but met no success. Austin discovered a Beware Advantage and quickly solved it, earning himself an Immunity Idol with the downside of having to lose his vote at his next Tribal Council to activate it. At Reba, the men vs. women feud heated up as Julie and Sifu got into an argument. This was dissolved by Jake & Katurah, as the two searched for an advantage and came across a Vote Blocker, with Katurah getting hold of it first. She shared this information with Dee, Jake & Julie to form a bond with the four of them. On Belo, Brandon was exposed by Bruce as trying to target J. Maya for being a threat. Sean discovered a clue for a Hidden Immunity Idol, but failed to decipher it.
The tribes were tasked with sending one player each on a journey. Sean for Belo, Brando for Lulu, and Julie for Reba went; Brando desperately tried to make a deal with the other two and they eagerly agreed. The three were then given a challenge that would give them an advantage if they won, but took their vote if they lost. Julie & Sean elected to protect their vote and not play, while Brando won a Safety Without Power advantage (good until the Final 10 Tribal Council) that he immediately told Austin & Sabiyah about, proposing it to be used to benefit all of them. This led Austin and Brando to make a deal to work with each other.

* **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.

Belo and Lulu placed first and second respectively in a close finish after Kaleb nearly flubbed the challenge, while Dee did flub it for Reba. Back at Reba, Sifu started spreading a rumour that Julie was lying about protecting her vote and had actually gotten an advantage at the summit, causing the two to target each other. Julie's closest ally Dee and Sifu's closest ally Drew both targeted the other, while Dee found a Vote Blocker inside Katurah's bag and tried to use it to blackmail her. Jake told Katurah about this, causing them to target her, and pull in Drew & Sifu to take out Julie's closest ally, Dee. At Tribal Council, Dee was sent home unanimously as Julie played her Shot In The Dark.

### **Episode Three**

Upon returning to Reba, Julie asked her tribemates to forgive her for her outburst, and took a moment to herself, causing Sifu to tell Jake that she was actually looking for an idol. At Belo, Brandon expresses frustration at being on the outs of his considerably strong tribe, and prays for a swap. At Lulu, Kaleb and Kendra solidify their allegiance to each other by pulling in Sabiyah to create a tight trio.

* **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.

Reba and Lulu won the challenge. Lulu chose to have Brando raid Belo, where he took some of their fish and spears, and while he tried to obtain information on Belo's dynamics, he didn't succeed. Brando was to give a Goodwill advantage to a member of Belo that would restore one lost vote; he chose Sean, who disclosed this information to Bruce and J. Maya. At Reba, Julie and Sifu tried to repair their relationship before Julie found out that Sifu had once again thrown her under the bus to everyone, and held a tribe meeting to expose him. At Lulu, Austin and Brando solidified their relationship after Austin told him about his Beware Advantage.

* **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 to both Belo and Reba in a reasonably close race. Brando told Kaleb and Sabiyah that Austin could not vote at this Tribal Council, encouraging them to take a shot at him before his idol was activated. He also told them about his Safety Without Power advantage in the sake of transparency. Kaleb, Kendra and Sabiyah came to the conclusion that they didn't feel particularly close with either Austin or Brando, and thus decided to take out Austin due to his idol being potentially threatening for them. At Tribal Council, Austin was voted out unanimously.

### **Episode Four**

Upon returning to Lulu, Brando discovered that Austin had surprisingly passed his Beware Advantage to him, meaning he couldn't vote at the next Tribal Council he attended. At Belo, Emily and Hannah bonded over musicals and formed a secret duo. Brandon went hunting for an idol and got caught, but not before actually finding a Hidden Immunity Idol. At Reba, Drew and Katurah developed a bond and Jake told Sifu that he had an Extra Vote advantage, even though he didn't.

Before the immunity challenge, the remaining 15 castaways were divided into 3 new tribes of 5:
Reba - Brandon, Drew, Jake, J. Maya, Sean
Lulu - Brando, Emily, Hannah, Sabiyah, Sifu
Belo - Bruce, Julie, Kaleb, Katurah, Kendra

At Reba, J. Maya and Sean filled Drew and Jake in on how Brandon was targeting J. Maya and couldn't be trusted, and the four created an alliance together. At Lulu, Hannah created a strong bond with Brando, who confessed about his lack of vote at the next tribal. Sifu found the Lulu 2.0 idol in minutes, and used it to leverage his position with Hannah and Emily. At Belo, Kaleb and Kendra celebrated being swapped together, and hatched an trio each with Bruce and Julie. Bruce and Julie bonded over being the oldest, and Kendra got annoyed with Julie's loud personality.

* **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.

Reba and Belo easily won the challenge. Brando pushed for a Sifu vote and seemed confident that it would happen, until Sifu revealed that he had an idol to the entire tribe. Everyone panicked and scrambled, and Emily and Hannah agreed to vote Sabiyah, whilst Sabiyah pushed Brando to vote Emily with her. After suspecting that Brando was fake agreeing to this, she went to Emily and Hannah attempting to expose and flip the vote onto him. At tribal, Brando voted for Sifu as he expected, thus tying the vote 2-2 between Brando and Sabiyah. Sabiyah was voted out on the revote by 2-1, as Emily and Hannah stuck strong and had the majority.

### **Episode Five**

Sifu asked Hannah and Emily why they didn't vote out Brando with him and Sabiyah, and they stated that they though Sabiyah had a secret advantage because she was sneaking around camp. On Belo, Kendra and Katurah talked out their differing opinions of Julie. Bruce found a Beware Advantage, making him ineligible to vote at his next tribal, and told everyone but Katurah. On Reba, tensions between Brandon and J. Maya rose, as Sean worried about OG Reba self-combusting.

* **Reward/Immunity Challenge:** One at a time, three members from each tribe raced through an obstacle course to find three keys. Another tribe member used one of the keys to unlock a long hook with which they released sandbags. Finally, each tribe had to use their sandbags and a slingshot to knock down three targets. The first two tribes to finish won immunity and spreads of fresh fish, while the losing tribe had to forfeit their flint. The first winning tribe also got to select three people, one from each tribe, to go on a journey.

Reba and Lulu won the challenge by a large margin. Brandon, Hannah, and Julie 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. All three of them eagerly chose to take the amulet, giving them each an extra vote. Back at Belo, Julie told everyone about what she had gotten at the island, building trust. Kaleb and Kendra wanted to vote Katurah at tribal, and despite Julie's protests, she reluctantly agreed knowing that Katurah would give her her Extra Vote advantage if voted out. At tribal, Katurah was voted out unanimously and Julie was proven correct as she did indeed receive her Extra Vote on the way out.

### **Episode Six**

Back at Belo, Bruce confides in Kendra that he didn't actually want to vote out Katurah and also lost his vote because of his Beware Advantage, thus making her lose all trust in him. At Reba, the three non-Belo men made an alliance and vowed to stay strong throughout the merge. At Lulu, Sifu attempted to build up a relationship with Brando, but failed as Brando no longer trusted him.

* **Reward/Immunity Challenge:** Divided into two teams of six by random draw (with one castaway drawing the odd rock and not participating), the teams were Brando, Bruce, Emily, Jake, Kendra, Sean | Drew, Hannah, J. Maya, Julie, Kaleb, Sifu. One player at a time crawled through the mud under a heavy net and moved to a heavy cart. When all team members made it to the cart, they pushed it across the field and over obstacles to a tower, collecting sandbags as they went. Using the sandbags, they built a pile on the cart in order to get up the tower to retrieve a key. They then slid down a net and ran to a large rock. Using teamwork, they climbed the rock to reach a platform. Using the key, one player unlocked puzzle pieces. Two players then solved the puzzle, revealing clues to a word puzzle. Two other players then used the clues to solve the word puzzle. The winners received their merge tribe buffs, immunity, and a food reward at the Survivor Sanctuary.

Brandon chose to back the blue team of Brando, Bruce, Emily, Jake, Kendra, Sean; they lost the challenge, meaning Brandon too was up for elimination with the red team. Brandon found the Dakuwaqa idol upon entering the beach. Emily quickly became the main target after Sifu told everyone that Brando-Emily-Hannah were a tight trio and most people wanted to get rid of an OG Belo member. However, Julie wanted rid of Brando in order to upgrade her amulet, and told Hannah this in order to build trust. J. Maya and Sean hatched a plan to save their OG Belo member and get rid of either Drew/Jake as there was clearly a duo forming there, and told Brando that Emily was the vote and to play his idol on her. At tribal, Brando played his idol on Emily but it didn't matter, as J. Maya and Sean had successfully flipped the majority onto Jake, sending him home by a 5-4-~~4~~-1-0 vote.

### **Episode Seven**

Back at camp, Julie confronted those who flipped on her and was met with explosive backlash from Sean and Emily. A new group consisting of Brando, Emily, Hannah, J. Maya and Sean was formed in order to protect themselves. They also tried to pull in Sifu as they knew he was an enemy of Julie. Drew and Julie scrambled knowing they were now definitely on the bottom of the tribe, and attempted to pull in the trio of Bruce, Kaleb and Kendra.

* **Reward/Immunity Challenge:** In their first individual immunity challenge, survivors were divided into two groups by random draw. Survivors had to hang on to a tall pole for as long as possible, with whoever lasting the longest from each group winning immunity. The last person remaining of everyone also won a visit to the Survivor Sanctuary for a food reward for their group. Additionally, that winning group would go to Tribal Council second, with each group voting someone out separately; the winning group's voted out member would join the jury, while the losing group's voted out member would not.

The first group was made up of Brandon, Bruce, Drew, Emily, Julie and Kendra, with the second group consisting of Brando, Hannah, J. Maya, Kaleb, Sean, and Sifu. J. Maya won immunity as well as the reward for her group, while Kendra won immunity for her group. The first group went back and forth with voting either Kaleb or Sifu as they held the majority and could decide, and eventually settled on Kaleb as they had a better chance of pulling in Sifu to vote with them. Brando debated flipping but chose not to. However, Bruce had given his Immunity Idol to Kaleb before being divided into teams to show trust, and knowing that they were both on the bottom, Kaleb told Sifu and they both planned on idoling out Hannah to split up her duo with Emily. At tribal, everyone but Kaleb and Sifu voted Kaleb, Kaleb used his idol, and Hannah became the first member of the jury with 2 votes against her. In group 2, Drew and Julie fretted about being targets and tried to flip Kendra and Bruce onto their side. However, Bruce and Kendra were suspicous of Brandon and speculated that he held multiple advantages and considered getting rid of him and the advantages. Knowing Drew and Julie would be desperate to survive, they came together and voted out Brandon. With Brandon and Hannah getting eliminated, this also upgraded Julie's amulet to a full Immunity Idol. Brandon gave his Immunity Idol to J. Maya.

### **Episode Eight**

Upon returning back to camp, Emily was shocked to see that Hannah had been voted out and dug out some information that Kaleb and Sifu had been the ones to do it, thus making her new target Kaleb. It became apparent to all of the castaways that two distinct sides had been carved - one side containing Bruce, Drew, Julie, Kaleb, Kendra and Sifu, and the other side containing Brando, Emily, J. Maya and Sean.

* **Survivor Auction:** Jeff pulled a random number between 6 and 15 out of a bag to determine how many items would be up for bid; this number would be undisclosed to the castaways. The person with the highest amount of money left at the end of the auction would lose their vote at the next Tribal Council. Despite having the lowest amount of money going into the auction, Kendra had the highest amount remaining and lost her vote.

Bruce attempted to rope in Brando and Sifu into an alliance, thinking they were all somewhat in the middle.

* **Immunity Challenge:** Castaways held onto a rope tethered to one third of their pre-game body weight. At regular intervals, they would move one knot down, making it heavier. If they let go of the rope, they were eliminated. The last person left standing won immunity.

Emily won immunity, and celebrated with her allies. J. Maya's side agreed on voting Kaleb, while Kaleb's side agreed on voting J. Maya. However, Drew decided to use his Vote Steal on Sean as he was J. Maya's closest ally, and because Kendra had lost her vote. Brando, attempting to play the middle, leaked this to Sean, who decided he would then use his Goodwill Advantage to gain it back. Brando stressed about which side to align with as he liked both Kaleb and J. Maya. He eventually decided to give Kaleb his Safety Without Power advantage to save him, as this was the last opportunity for it to be used, and because he knew it would make Kaleb's side lose a number. The group quickly regrouped and the vote then became between J. Maya and Julie, instead of Kaleb. This created havoc, as both J. Maya and Julie held immunity idols, and Sean decided to throw a vote on Bruce instead in case of an idol play. The other side did the same, and Bruce threw a vote on Sean. At tribal, all votes for J. Maya and Julie were negated and there was a 1-1 tiebreaker revote between Bruce and Sean. Brando teetered between voting Bruce or Sean, and was swayed to vote Bruce upon discovering that Bruce had thrown a vote on Sean and not told him. Sifu was originally going to flip and vote Bruce, but Kendra reeled him back in. The vote tied 3-3 again, and thus a rock draw was necessary. Kaleb was immune as he had used his Safety Without Power and was no longer at tribal, Emily had won immunity, Bruce and Sean were immune from surviving the revote, and J. Maya and Julie were immune as they had both had idols used on them. This left Brando, Drew, Kendra and Sean in the rock draw, in which Drew drew a Black Rock, thus eliminating him from the game.

### **Episode Nine**

Arguments ensued back at camp, particularly between Julie and Brando, and Bruce and Sean. Sean expressed worry to J. Maya about being aligned with Brando because of his chaotic and impulsive gameplay, and the two considered flipping to the other side to protect themselves and leave Brando and Emily at the bottom.

Before the challenge, the tribe was divided up into three teams - Emily, Kaleb and Sean, Brando, Julie and Kendra, and Bruce, J. Maya and Sifu.

* **Reward/Immunity Challenge:** The teams ran this challenge in stages. In the first stage, castaways traversed two balance beams holding a ball on a disc before retrieving three ropes from a sand pit. The last place team would be eliminated from the challenge and all three lost their vote, having to go on a journey to try and earn it back. In the second stage, castaways traversed an obstacle by hooking ropes in front of them, then tossed three balls on a target. The first team to land all three balls won a trip to the sanctuary with rotisserie chicken and the right to compete for individual immunity. In the final stage, castaways had their arms outstretched with their fingertips bracing two discs. If a disc dropped, that castaway was out. The last one left standing won immunity.

Emily, Kaleb, and Sean were the first team eliminated, while Brando, Julie, and Kendra won reward. Brando won his first immunity challenge. At the journey, Emily and Kaleb earned their votes back by solving a math problem while Sean was unable to do so. Back at camp, Emily and Kaleb formed an allegiance to each other, and Emily lied to her side that she didn't earn her vote back, planning on flipping to the other side to vote out Sean. She told Kaleb, Kendra and Sifu that Sean no longer had a vote and the four of them plus Bruce and Julie planned to vote him. Meanwhile, Brando, J. Maya and Sean put their votes on Kaleb in an attempt to take out a power player on the other side. Brando told J. Maya and Sean that they no longer had the votes to save Sean, and J. Maya quickly flipped and pretended that she never wanted to vote Kaleb in order to save face, sending Sean to ponderosa by a unanimous vote.

### **Episode Ten**

Upon returning to camp, J. Maya expressed upset about having to vote out her closest ally in order to survive, but Kendra cheered her up and gave her determination to keep fighting. J. Maya and Sifu developed a friendship, and Emily reinforced her new alliance with Kaleb and Kendra. Brando plotted to get rid of Bruce for playing the middle.

* **Reward Challenge:** Castaways grabbed a ball on their way through several obstacles, then maneuvered that ball through a table maze. The first person to land their ball in the center won an overnight trip to the sanctuary with a turkey dinner and letters from home.

Emily won the challenge and selected Kaleb, Kendra, and Sifu to join her. Meanwhile, Julie grew frustrated at feeling betrayed by Emily for not choosing her despite previously targeting her, and this led to conflict between her and Brando as he tried to defend Emily.

* **Immunity Challenge:** Castaways held themselves on a slanted board over water, bracing themselves with narrow handholds. If they fell, they were out. The last one left standing won immunity.

J. Maya outlasted Kendra for immunity, winning her second individual immunity of the challenge and celebrated intensely as she likely would have been next to go. Tensions between Brando, Emily and Julie were at an all time high, and Brando pivoted his target from Bruce to Julie. Himself, J. Maya and Sifu devised a plan to get rid of Julie for causing trouble. Sifu shared with the two of them that he had discovered an idol on the reward challenge, and offered to use it to eliminate Julie, which was encouraged heavily by the other two. Meanwhile, the new trio of Emily, Kaleb and Kendra planned to vote out Brando for playing the middle, pulling in Bruce and Sifu in an attempt to alienate Julie. Julie, feeling frustrated, set her sights on eliminating Sifu. At tribal, Brando and Sifu tried to convince Bruce to flip to their side by revealing the idol to him. However, Bruce leaked this to Kaleb, who got Emily and Kendra to quickly switch their vote from Brando to Sifu.

### **Episode Eleven**

Brando and J. Maya mourned Sifu and subsequently went to go throw each other under the bus. J. Maya and Julie talked it out, while Bruce told Kendra about possibly targeting Kaleb soon, which she quickly shot down, making him suspicious. Bruce and Julie argued about whether or not Bruce is trustworthy.

* **Reward/Immunity Challenge:** Castaways untangled rope from a starting point then took it over and under beams once they felt they had enough to make it to a sandbag throwing station. They used three sandbags to knock over lettered blocks, which they used to spell "resourcefulness" on both sides forming an arch. The first castaway to successfully spell the word won immunity and a barbeque reward at camp.

Kendra won her second individual immunity challenge of the season and chose to share the reward with Brando and J. Maya, so as not to cause suspicion with Kaleb. On the reward, Brando and J. Maya pitched a plea to Kendra to keep them in the game as they weren't threats, and Kendra fakely agreed. Back at camp, Kaleb was growing sick of Julie's explosive personality and confronted Bruce about targeting, which Bruce immediately backed down from. Bruce, Emily, Kaleb and Kendra agreed to split the votes between Julie and J. Maya, with the primary target being J. Maya as they didn't deem Brando to be threatening. In an attempt to build a bridge, Bruce told J. Maya that the group was planning to split the vote. Brando tried to spread the idea that Kendra was a big threat, before backtracking and voting his own ally J. Maya. At tribal, despite Emily and Julie both recieving votes, J. Maya was eliminated and sent to ponderosa with 4 votes against her.

### **Episode Twelve**

Brando celebrated surviving, while Kendra threw Bruce under the bus to Julie, saying that he wanted her out and was one of the votes for her last tribal so as to not arouse suspicion of them pulling off a split vote without her. Julie bought it. Kaleb and Bruce searched for a new idol, neither were successfull.

* **Reward Challenge:** Tribe members started on platforms in the water. They then had to swim and walk to shore through the water to a barrel. Tipping the barrel on its side, they had to climb on and using hanging ropes to steady themselves, using their feet, they rolled the barrels down a track collecting three keys along the way. At the end of the track, they used the keys to unlock a slide puzzle. The winner would chose two other members to join them on a helicopter ride out to a sand spit for a picnic.

Emily won reward and chose to share it with Kaleb and Bruce in hopes that Brando and Kendra would keep Julie from strategizing against him. Instead, Kaleb found the idol and vowed to make a big move with it.

* **Immunity Challenge:** Castaways balanced on one foot on a platform with the other foot on one end of a hinged beam with a ball on the other end. The last tribe member with a ball still on the beam won immunity.

Brando won his second immunity of the season. Brando tried to convince Bruce, Emily and Julie to vote out Kendra and succeeded with Julie, but due to Bruce's unwavering loyalty to Kaleb and Kendra, he told them that Kendra was being targeted by the other three. This encouraged Kaleb to play his idol on Kendra, and the three targeted Emily for trying to snake them. At tribal, Kaleb played the idol on Kendra, negating all three votes against her, sending Emily to the jury with 3 votes against her.

### **Episode Thirteen**

At their new camp the morning after, the final five found a combination box on the beach with instructions for an advantage reward. They competed for the advantage by racing out to stations and counting the number of objects at each station and used those numbers to solve the combination on the box. Brando was the first tribe member to enter the correct sequence of numbers thus winning the advantage.

* **Reward/Immunity Challenge:** Castaways had to low crawl under an obstacle and then dig up a machete. Using the machete they cut a rope dropping a pile of sandbags which they tossed into three baskets releasing a set of numbers. They then used that set of numbers to release a set of keys which were then used to unlock a set of puzzle pieces. The first one to solve the puzzle won immunity and a reward.

Brando's advantage was that he only had to land one sandbag rather than three, and it nearly won him the challenge, but he dropped a couple puzzle pieces, slowing him down. Kaleb won the challenge and chose Kendra to join him for the reward of a steak dinner at the Survivor Sanctuary.

After Kaleb exposed his allegiance to Kendra by choosing her instead of Bruce for the reward challenge, Bruce tried to sway Brando and Julie into voting out Kendra by exposing everything Kendra had done to lie and deceive the two. Julie needed more convincing than Brando, but eventually saw Bruce's point, and despite Kaleb and Kendra's thorough planning at the reward challenge, Kendra was sent home by a vote of 3-2.

* **Immunity Challenge:** Castaways had to maneuver through a grid of ropes while using a long pole to place ceramic bowls on a perch. The perch was attached to the rope grid so any disturbance would topple the bowls off the perch. The first one to stack all their bowls on the perch won immunity.

Bruce and Kaleb were neck-and-neck until Bruce dropped everything late in the challenge. In his frustration and rush to get back, he accidentally broke the challenge, resulting in a disqualification. Kaleb held strong to win his second individual immunity in a row. Back at camp, Brando, Bruce and Julie each had a chance to plead their case with Kaleb. Kaleb was quite intent on saving Bruce, forcing Julie to defeat Brando in the firemaking challenge, which he was confident she would. So Kaleb saved Bruce, and Brando shocked everyone by winning the firemaking challenge and sending Julie to ponderosa, making here the final member of the jury.

At the Final Tribal Council, Dee and Austin each pled their cases with the moves they made, while Jake's game wasn't as highlighted due to his lack of control. Dee revealed that she did not tell Austin about her telling Julie to play her idol, which swung the jury in her favor. They awarded Dee the million dollars and the title of Sole Survivor in a 5–3–0 vote over Austin and Jake.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.truedorktimes.com/s45/calendar.htm
2. ↑ https://parade.com/tv/survivor-season-45
3. ↑ https://ew.com/tv/survivor-amazing-race-90-minutes-cbs-fall-2023/
4. ↑ https://parade.com/tv/survivor-season-45
5. ↑ https://ew.com/tv/survivor-44-premiere-medically-evacuated-bruce-perreault-invited-back/
6. ↑ https://ew.com/tv/survivor-45-retired-puzzles-3d-printers/
7. ↑ https://ew.com/tv/survivor-44-bruce-perreault-interview/
8. ↑ https://ew.com/tv/survivor-45-bruce-perreault-teaser-first-look-logo/