‘Survivor’: Jeff Probst Explains Shocking New ‘Revenge’ Twist — Who Was Voted Out?

[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for Survivor Season 49 Episode 8, “Hot Grim Reaper.”]

Survivor 49 Episode 8 introduced a new advantage that gave one player a lot of power in Tribal Council. After a low start to the episode for that castaway, this was a boost they needed. Jeff Probst explained the advantage and the reason for its creation in the On Fire podcast, the official Survivor aftershow (listen to the episode in full below).

Savannah Louie started Episode 8 feeling low after her first big loss of the season in Episode 7. Her ally, Nate Moore, was voted out in a blindside that put her Uli-strong alliance at the bottom for the very first time of the season. The tide turned when Probst revealed that the 10 remaining players would be split into two groups of five for the immunity challenge, and the losing group would end up at Tribal Council.

The winner was determined by one player, so they would receive an advantage for themselves on top of their team winning immunity and a food reward. Savannah held out the longest in a balance challenge, beating out Sophie, the last remaining player from the competing group. Savannah wouldn’t get the immunity necklace until later, when she picked up her advantage at Tree Mail.

Sophie, Jawan, Rizo, MC, and Sage were up for elimination, but the advantage revealed that Savannah would join them in Tribal Council.

Robert Voets / CBS

“Your advantage gives you the power at tonight’s Tribal Council in the form of a vote,” the advantage read. “You will now join the losing tribe at their camp, where you may participate in as many conversations as you want. Then, when it’s time to vote, you will enter the voting confessional with an important decision. Use this vote tonight to ensure the result you want, or secretly save this vote for use at a future Tribal Council. The boat is waiting. Get on it now.”

“This is my revenge,” Savannah told the cameras after learning her fate. She got on the boat, and it was driven right in front of where Alex, Sophi, Kristina, and Steven were sitting on the beach. They had no idea what was going on as Savannah waved victoriously on her way out. She was headed for the beach where the people who staged Nate’s blindside — as well as her strongest remaining ally — were waiting.

“We’ve had this idea of a player just leaving without anybody knowing what’s going on,” Probst explained on On Fire. “But as I’ve shared before, we’re really cognizant of measuring what we put into the game and when.” Survivor 49 was the right time to bring in the boat gloat and the new advantage because it created “tiny new wrinkles that offer a player or players an opportunity in the game,” Probst said. “What you’re looking for is the dilemma. What is it that they’re going to do?”

Probst continued to explain the dramatic appeal of this advantage.

“The decision Savannah makes with this advantage will be based on many factors. All of them will reveal character about Savannah,” he told cohosts Jeremy Collins and Jay Wolff. “Does the extra vote offer her a chance to take out a rival? And the risk that comes with that is that while solidifying her own alliance, she’s risking creating a new enemy. Is that worth it? Might be. Or does she feel her position in the game is good for the moment? ‘I’ll keep this extra vote, save it for a later use.’ And that reveals character about her as well. As producers, we don’t care. We don’t have any stake at all in what she does with it. All we know is that the game will change as a result.”

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It also throws a wrench into the plans forming on the team facing elimination. Strategy talks had been happening for hours by the time Savannah arrived and changed everything. Before her arrival, Rizo seemed to be in danger. Sophie was scheming to get Rizo and his immunity idol out, but then MC told Jawan of the plan that involved targeting him as a backup vote. MC “blew up” the plan, angering Sophie and putting a target on her back. Sophie went to Jawan and came clean about it all to make up for her “biggest mistake.” That’s when Savannah arrived.

“I’m coming over here like the grim reaper,” she told the cameras.

Robert Voets / CBS

Savannah only told Rizo that she had the option to save her vote. Since the other players wanted to get Sophie out, they wanted to ensure they didn’t get what they wanted. Rizo started campaigning for MC’s elimination, knowing that it was a “risk” since he knew these players wanted to vote him out because of his idol. But with Savannah on his side, he basically had an extra vote and didn’t have to use his idol if he didn’t want to. Whether they used Savannah’s vote or saved it, Savannah and Rizo were in the money.

Rizo was skilled enough to convince the players gunning for him to turn their targets onto Sophie and MC instead, leading to the first live Tribal of the season. MC pulled Jawan aside and said she had “one more big ask,” and then everyone got to whispering. But none of it mattered in the end. Savannah banked her vote (“Sike!” she said in the voting booth), Rizo saved his idol, and the votes went to Sophie and MC. MC was voted out with a three-vote majority. Sophie, Sage, Jawan, and Rizo all voted for MC, so her live Tribal attempt didn’t work.

“I can’t believe I did that,” Rizo whispered as MC walked out.

What made Jawan turn on MC in the live Tribal? Find out next week. Tomorrow, stay tuned for our exit interview with MC.

Survivor, Wednesdays, 8/7c, CBS

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