Survivor Season 48 Episode 5 Recap: An emotional immunity challenge leads to the departure of one contestant

Survivor Season 48 has challenged each contestant's physical and mental ability to continue competing in the game. So far, a total of five episodes have been released with the newest episode, giving a glimpse into the game strategy, and planning after the immunity challenge.

Initially, Civa consisted of Mitch Guerra, Chrissy Sarnowsky, Saiounia "Sai" Hughley, Cedrek McFadden, and Bianca Roses. Lagi included Eva Erickson, Star Toomey, Mary Zheng, David Kinne, and Charity Nelms. Meanwhile, the Vula team members were Shauhin Davari, Joe Hunter, Kyle Fraser, and Kamilla Karthigesu.

Survivor Season 48, Episode 5, titled, 'Master Class in Deception,' was released exclusively on CBS on March 26, 2025. The episode synopsis reads as:

"Loose lips sink ships when one castaway's frustrations put a wedge between them and their tribe; a shared meal breeds connection between tribemates as they discuss race and heritage."

In this episode, Bianca attempts to save herself from elimination by revealing the truth about herself to gain trust. Meanwhile, a heartfelt moment between Eva and Joe caught everyone's attention as she secured her team's position in the game.

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What happened on Survivor Season 48, Episode 5?

On Survivor Season 48, Episode 5, during the immunity challenge, the contestants had to compete within the time limit to finish the task. The main task was to swim and then go through a maze, showcasing physical strength. The maze stage was when most teams struggled. Soon, Sai and Eva were the last remaining contestants, and with the support of her team, Eva secured the safety of her teammates.

Joe hurried to calm down Eva, who was feeling overwhelmed by the task and gave her a tight hug. The Lagi tribe expressed their pride in her and that she was an inspiration to people who have autism who were watching her compete in the game. Later, in the Survivor episode, Eva revealed that she had the Beaware advantage and was able to decipher the clues, this meant she received the idol.

After that, the Survivor viewers got a clearer view of Bianca's game strategy. She didn't want herself to be voted out or be one of the options on the table. Bianca, Chrissy, and Sai's names should have been potentially brought up before the contestants cast their respective votes. Meanwhile, Chrissy, and Mitch were trying to convince Cedrek not to trust Sai and to focus on himself instead.

A change of thought led Bianca to root for Sai's potential elimination when she realized it would work in her favor. Before the teams gathered at the tribal council, Bianca told Cedrek that she didn't have a vote. At the Tribal council, the majority agreed that it would be better if they voted out Bianca however, Mitch implied that Sai or Cedrek might cause a problem for them in the future if they stayed in the game.

In the end, there were two votes against Bianca, one against Sai, and one against Chrissy. Hence, Bianca's journey on Survivor ended.

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New episodes of Survivor air every week at 8 p.m. on Wednesdays.