The new season is still trying to find its dramatic footing. Survivor 49 recap: A tribe swap does not do wonders

The new season is still trying to find its dramatic footing.

Survivor 49 recap: A tribe swap does not do wonders

The new season is still trying to find its dramatic footing.

By Dalton Ross

Dalton Ross is a writer and editor with over 25 years experience covering TV and the entertainment industry. *Survivor* is kind of his thing.

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October 15, 2025 9:30 p.m. ET

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Jeff Probst and the cast of 'Survivor 49'. Credit:

Robert Voets/CBS

Before we dig deep into episode 4 of *Survivor 49,* let's take a spin in my time-traveling DeLorean and punch in the date of September 25, 2019.

Much like the anticipation everyone is currently feeling about *Survivor 50* hovering in the Fijian horizon, there was a lot of excitement about the impending all-winners battle royale set to take place on the franchise's landmark season 40. (While the all-winners theme had not been publicly announced in advance at that point like the *Survivor 50* cast, there had certainly been leaked cast lists, and even those *not* in the know were assuming something big was coming.)

This was kind of a bummer for the season 39 *Island of the Idols* cast, who felt like they were being overlooked as everyone set their eyes towards 40. They even created their own social media hashtag, #Don'tSleepOn39, to drum up interest. All things considered, that didn't turn out so well and perhaps the best option *was* to sleep through all of that, but the less said at this point the better, I suppose.

However, I always felt bad for those 39ers who lived out their dream of making it onto their favorite show and were ready to become instant celebrities, only to come back to a chorus of "Yeah, cool, but when does 40 start?" I have lately had the same feelings of empathy for the 49ers who have been hearing nothing but drumbeats for the anniversary season. I mean, that has to be a bummer for even the two 49 cast members selected to also play on 50 — cast members who I think we can all agree are *definitely* Nicole and Annie.

The 49 hype train did not exactly kick into gear when the main line Jeff Probst used to promote the season was that it was very, very, very hot — unintentionally lowering the temperature even further. Sometimes low expectations can actually be a blessing in disguise. If you go into season expecting greatness and get mere goodness instead, you're disappointed. If you come in with low expectations, however, and get a solid if unspectacular season, you find yourself pleasantly surprised.

Savannah Louie on 'Survivor 49'.

Robert Voets/CBS

All that said, it's been a *slooooooooooow* start to *Survivor 49*. I ran a poll on Twitter (or X or Grok or whatever the hell that cesspool is called these days) after episode 2 asking what grade fans would give the season so far. 1,879 people replied, so a pretty decent sampling. Here were the results:** A grade: 4%** B grade: 32.7%** C grade: 42.8%** D or F grade: 20.4%

To quote *Mad Men*: Not great, Bob. So what's been the issue? Some of this is a product of *Survivor 49* being the ninth season in a row with the same basic theme (or lack thereof), and three-tribe format stacked with Beware Advantages and Journeys and fights for supplies and the haves vs. have nots structure of taking flint after loses. It's starting to feel like déjà vu all over again. I do think the franchise needs a big shake-up for season 51 in that regard. (I also maintain the position I have held ever since *Survivor 41* was announced that the show should ditch the numbers in the title and go back to themes to help differentiate each installment.)

But that's not all that has plagued *Survivor 49*. People like to jump all over a cast when a string of episodes fails to ignite, but I do think this is a dynamic enough group. The problem for me (and I am guessing for a lot of viewers) is sheer predictability. The first three episodes covered the inevitable destruction of Kele, who assumed the all-too-often new-era role of disaster tribe.

It wasn't just that Kele kept losing (because I do think that can be weirdly entertaining at times in a perverse Bhanu-esque million hearts kind of way), but there was also no real drama around the Tribal Council votes. And I don't think there's really anyone to blame for that aspect of it. That just sometimes happens on *Survivor* — unless you want the producers to start placing 39 idols on the beach to artificially shake things up, which I don't think we do.

'Survivor 49' cast deliver scorching hot takes on the franchise (exclusive)

'Survivor 49' snake bite victim Jake Latimer reveals harrowing details: 'You're thinking you're going to die'

***Want to be kept up with all things Survivor? Dig deep and sign up for 's free Survivor Weekly newsletter to have all the latest news, interviews, and commentary sent right to your inbox. ***

So what's the best way to combat snoozy predictability? Sure, a venomous snake, but what's the *next* best way? A tribe swap, of course! Only this week's tribe swap gave us perhaps the worst possible outcome — two tribes with seemingly unbreakable majorities ready to pick off those on the bottom.

The new Hina featured four Ulis (Rizo, Jawan, Nate, Savannah) two Hinas (Matt, Jason) and a Kele (Sophi), while the new Kele was the opposite of that with four Hinas (Steven, Kristina, Sophie, MC) two Ulis (Shannon, Sage) and one Kele (Alex). So essentially, you have a clear Uli advantage on new Hina, and a clear Hina advantage on new Kele, with the former Keles of Sophi and Alex doing the obvious thing and attaching themselves to the majority.

And sure enough, that is exactly how our first post-shuffle tribe vote played out. Yeah, there was the question as to whether it would be Jason or Matt going home. There's *always* that on *Survivor*. But there was no real overarching drama — no threat of someone from the majority alliance secretly taking a shot at another, no diabolical deception pitting two allies against each other all based on a lie, no WTF moment to light up social media with "Can you believe what we just saw?" wonder.

That's the bad news. The good news is… there's still plenty of time for that to happen. Probst told me that the back half of the season is "bananas." Personally, I'd always much rather have a sleepy pre-merge game and then watch things ramp up later as opposed to the other way around. So we'll keep our fingers crossed on that. In the meantime, what say we ramp up our episode 4 coverage and recap what else went down this week?

Jeff Probst on 'Survivor 49'.

Robert Voets/CBS

Silver lining alert!

Wait, was Jake not actually the shoe bandit after all? Was it the ocean the entire time? Because the ocean apparently swept Sophi's shoe out to sea along with the Kele tribe boat. These people seriously cannot catch a break to save their lives.

Well, that's not entirely true. Because there are advantages to being on an absolutely terrible tribe. For one thing… SCREEN TIME! I swear, Sophi has had more confessionals then the entire Hina tribe. There was so much Sophi this week I half expected her nail technician to show up and get a confessional as well. Speaking of which, I'm currently mad at Sophi for not choosing hilarity last week and telling Alex "I've been dating my boyfriend for four-and-a-half years and have only cheated on him *once!*" just to watch said boyfriend freak out when they watched the episode air together. Missed opportunity!

The other advantage to being on an inept tribe is that when the inevitable swap or merge comes, you're likely to be able to set your game on cruise control for a few votes while the two dominant tribes vie for your allegiance and take each other out instead. Which appears to be what happened to Sophi and Alex here. But only after they proceeded to spit, kick, stomp on, and bury their old Kele buffs. Anyway, nice for them to catch a break, and one which could help them both sail right into the merge.

Sophi Balerdi and Alex Moore on 'Survivor 49'.

It's kinda cute the way Alex was all embarrassed to show his fellow new Kele tribemates the camp they we moving to — with its janky shelter and underwear hanging from trees. But, to their credit, the new arrivals appeared slightly less horrified than when my now-wife first saw my NYC studio apartment that consisted of a futon mattress on the floor semi-covered in flakes of tracked over cat litter.

Or perhaps the newcomers were simply more horrified by Sage's propensity for saving her blackhead pimples in a jar for further observation. To which I say… SHAME ON YOU! I love that Sage lets her freak flag fly. And I'll be honest: I don't even find anything she says that freaky. Perhaps that says more about me than anything else, but I am unabashedly Team Sage on all counts.

But Sage apparently is not Team Shannon when it comes to the game. From pretty much all angles, Shannon was undeniably the focal point of the new Kele. She made super strong bonds with Kristina, as the latter confided with the former about her mother's death three years ago. However, Sage opined to us that her former Uli tribe mate was laying it on extra thick with the religion and spiritualty chatter to build connections with her new tribe mates (which, if true, would be very smart, by the way).

Sage called it "very performative" and that Shannon had "found a direct pathway to everybody's heart and souls." She may be right, and again, that would be smart of Shannon and would back up Steven's astute take that "Shannon is a shark in a spiritual guru's body." But having talked with Shannon — well, she talked and I listened — before the season began, I can personally attest that she definitely talks early and often about spirituality both in and out of game, even with a complete stranger.

Sage Ahrens-Nichols on 'Survivor 49'.

Tale of the tape

With Sophi perfecting the art of the puppy dog and securing her place with the Ulis after becoming new BFFs with Savannah due to being height-challenged brunettes, it really came down to whether Jason or Matt would be the one to go, and the two competed to see who could give the Ulis more of a reason to vote them off. Here's what they ultimately came up with on their résumés:

MATT**• Used to work in finance (which apparently makes him a "sociopath").**• Pitched getting rid of the guy with the Rad Dad socks.**• Came up with "The Section" alliance name.**• Allergic to balance beams.**• Publicly dissed Sandra Diaz-Twine *at least* two times.

JASON**• Would stay Hina strong no matter what.**• Refused to vote with the Ulis, insisting he would use Shot in the Dark instead.****As you can see, Matt's list was longer, so he had to go, but before we get to that, some quick thoughts on the challenge.

Matt Williams on 'Survivor 49'.

Robert Voets/CBS

(Not) worth playing for

Sophie with an E undeniably had the moment of the episode. Better than blackheads! Stronger that a current taking the other Sophi's shoe out to sea! More godlike than the R-I-Z-G-O-D starting to walk away with the wrong tribe flag! I'm referring, of course, to Probst revealing this week's food reward and Sophie with an E essentially responding with a big, fat meh.

Instead of salivating over the fruit platter, Sophie expressed her frustration that it was "diet food" devoid of protein and carbs. "This is what I eat when I am trying to lose weight," she complained. YES! I love Sophie keeping it absolutely real, just as she kept it absolutely real in delivering her scorching hot take with me before the game.

What is even more remarkable than a player essentially telling the Hostmaster General that something was *not* worth playing for is the fact that editors actually kept the interaction in the final edit. Yes, they showed other players all contradicting Sophie with an E by saying how mouth-watering the fruit looked and how enthused they were for it, but it still would have been so easy to cut that all out to eliminate any question in the viewers' mind as to the importance of the sustenance. But they didn't. Love it.

The other thing I want to point out is how often the simplest task can sometimes end up being the most dramatic. This week's challenge ended with players just having to stack small boxes on top of each other, which sounds about as riveting as that time I decided to write an entire recap in the voice of *Survivor: Nicaragua*'s Jimmy T. But John Kirhoffer and his challenge team figured out just the right height to make the competition incredibly difficult but not impossible. And the results were pretty fantastic. Most dramatic moment of the episode, actually. Which I suppose is both a good and a bad thing.

Anyway, new Hina lost (and the tribe with the most original Hinas again won). But you knew that already. Before we move on, a special *Survivor* recap shout-out to Kristina for pulling a Michele Fitzgerald and kicking down the tower, with bonus points for wiping out while doing so.

Jeff Probst on 'Survivor 49'.

Robert Voets/CBS

Back to the airport

I'm not going to spend any time on Rizo finding his immunity idol except to say that I'm glad it was not the same ball and chain set-up that we already saw at the Kele camp. On a degree of difficulty scale, however, this was a pencil dive compared to Kele's Triple Lindy (bonus points for you, if you get the reference). All the Riz God had to do was saunter out to the water and claim his prize, which also restored his vote at Tribal Council.

Speaking of which, before you make fun of Jawan for his slack-jawed expression while walking into Tribal Council, let me say that it is one of the most spectacular TC sets I have ever seen (and I've seen 21 of them up close dating all the way back to season 8). Zac Jensen and his team outdid themselves on this one. Absolutely incredible.

The editors did their best to keep the result up in the air, but it always felt (to me, at least) that Matt was a goner — especially after he started throwing Nate's name out there. Which also explains Nate telling him to "Go kick rocks, bro" during voting, although my voting MVP this week goes to puppy dog Sophi for mockingly chanting "Hina! Hina! Hina!" while writing Matt's name down.

I'm not sure why Matt left his bag at Tribal Council. I guess he was just dazed and confused. I also think back to that idol hunt I caught Matt on back on day 2. Imagine if he had found the Beware Advantage instead of MC. Not because it could have saved him. But think about what would have happened if both he *and* Rizo went to water well to retrieve their idol instructions since both of them had finally lost an immunity challenge.

Matt Williams on 'Survivor 49'.

Dalton Ross/CBS

How would that have worked, exactly? Is this a first come, first served situation? Are we operating under international you snooze, you lose rules here? The producers had to have a contingency in place for such an event, knowing there was a strong chance it could happen. So what was it?

I filed an official inquiry with *Survivor* HQ, but my query was processed and reviewed, and I was then referred over to the *On Fire *podcast, where Jeff explained that had MC and Rizo both been on that tribe that it "would've been really fun for our reality teams to track." That doesn't exactly explain how it would worked though… which is probably the point.

Anyway, Matt's gone! If he had copped a chill and not targeted Nate, would he still be around? Probably, but Matt is not a cop a chill kind of guy. We saw him playing hard on Hina (I saw it up close on his idol hunt), and that's the way he kept playing after the tribe swap as well. That's ultimately what we want as viewers, so props to Matt for at least attempting to stir things up for us.

And props to you for making it this far in a world where many seem allergic to reading. Your reward comes in the form of more *Survivor* goodies. Make sure to check out the aforementioned collection of photos with the cast revealing their hot takes on the franchise. Probst is sharing his thoughts on the latest episode so take a gander there as well and if you're in the mood to watch even more *Survivor*, then enjoy the exclusive deleted scene we'll be dropping on Thursday morning, along with our Matt exit interview.

Oh, and if you want all this stuff sent right to your inbox, then sign up for our free *Survivor Weekly* newsletter. While you do that, I'll go start making preparations for next week's scoop of the crispy.

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