Survivor featured a tribal swap and the new Hina tribe voting out Matt Williams during the Season 49 episode that aired Wednesday night on CBS.

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Matt, a 52-year-old airport ramp agent from Farmington, UT, who currently resides in St. George, UT, was voted out of Survivor through a 4-2-1 vote on Night 8 at Tribal Council instead of Jason Treul, a 32-year-old law clerk from Anaheim, CA, who currently resides in Santa Ana, CA, and Nate Moore, a 47-year-old film producer from Clovis, CA, who currently resides in Hermosa Beach, CA.

Two castaways voted for Jason, while Matt voted for Nate.

The Survivor broadcast began on Night 6 at the Kele tribe's camp post-Tribal Council.

Following Jake Latimer's medical evacuation and Jeremiah Ing's vote off, the Kele tribe only had two castaways left: Alex Moore, a 27-year-old political communications director from Evanston, IL, who currently resides in Washington, D.C., and Sophi Balerdi, a 27-year-old entrepreneur from Miami, FL.

"So far this experience has been pure torture," Sophi quipped in a confessional. "But hopefully this is the start of an underdog story because the only way is up from where we are now."

On Day 7, Survivor host Jeff Probst announced there was going to be a tribal swap.

All the castaways dropped their buffs as a result, and Sophi -- whose sneakers had gone out with the tide -- and Alex celebrated the good news and buried their Kele buffs.

Sophi and Alex were separated by the switch, and there ended up being a real mixture of tribes.

Wearing blue, the new Kele tribe was made up of four former Hina, two former Uli members, and Alex.

The former Hina tribe members were Kristina Mills, a 36-year-old MBA career coach from Houston, TX, who currently resides in Edmond, OK; Michelle "MC" Chukwujekwu, a 29-year-old fitness trainer from Sachse, TX, who currently resides in San Diego, CA; Steven Ramm, a 35-year-old rocket scientist from Littleton, CO, who currently resides in Denver, CO; and Sophie Segreti, a 31-year-old strategy associate from Darnestown, MD, who currently resides in New York City, NY.

The former Uli members on the new Kele tribe were Shannon Fairweather, a 28-year-old wellness specialist from Wakefield, MA, who currently resides in Boston, MA, and Sage Ahrens-Nichols, a 30-year-old clinical social worker from Roxboro, NC, who currently resides in Olympia, WA.

Wearing yellow, the new Hina tribe was comprised of four former Uli castaways, two former Hina members, and Sophi.

The former Uli were Nate; Jawan Pitts, a 28-year-old video editor from Salem, NJ, who currently resides in Los Angeles, CA; Rizo Velovic, a 25-year-old in tech sales from Yonkers, NY; and Savannah Louie, a 31-year-old former reporter from Walnut Creek, CA, who currently resides in Atlanta, GA.

The tribe also had former Hina castaways Matt and Jason.

Alex was horrified to bring his new Kele tribe back to the old Kele's beach, which had barely any shelter and food. There was also underwear hanging from the trees.

Sophi, on the other hand, was thrilled by her new environment, and her new tribemates immediately fed her a coconut.

Sophi decided to align with the former Uli members since they had the majority on her new Hina tribe. Sophie let former Uli know that she could be an extra vote for them and they should adopt the sad puppy.

Sophi and Savannah instantly became friends and established a trust between them, and Sophi also bonded with Nate over how they missed their families.

On Day 8, Alex, just like Sophi, was hoping someone would scoop him up and use him as a number.

Steven told the cameras that his former tribe had the majority and so it would make sense to target either Shannon or sage. Steven seemed to had it out for Shannon, whom he deemed smart and savvy as the tribe's spiritual leader.

Shannon, knowing, she was on the outs with Sage, tried to establish deep connections with her new tribemates, including Kristina, who really wanted to keep Shannon around.

But Sage thought Shannon was coming across "performative," speaking about Jesus and her faith to the rest of the trip.

Over at the new Hina tribe, Savannah noticed that Jason was obsessed with his old Hina tribe and that Matt was very intelligent. Matt's former job in the finance world apparently raised a red flag for Savannah, who worried he was going to be cutthroat.

"He's smarter than he's coming off, which feels dangerous from my perspective," Savannah told the cameras.

Savannah therefore warned Jawan that they should keep an eye on Matt because he made her nervous.

On Day 8, the new Kele and Hina tribes met Jeff for the next Immunity Challenge of the season.

Jeff instructed five members of each tribe to leap into the ocean, pull a boat containing their two remaining tribe members to a series of floating platforms, and collect large wooden cubes.

Once a tribe got all of its cubes to shore, one tribe member must transport 10 smaller cubes across a single balance beam. The remaining tribe members would then use a wooden plank to transport the larger wooden cubes across two balance beams.

Once a tribe got all of its cubes to the finish, the castaways would work to stack them 20 high.

The first tribe to finish would win immunity and be safe from the vote as well as Reward in the form of fruit. There was a big pile of bananas, papaya, dragonfruit, pineapple and more.

Sophie complained about the fruit to Jeff, saying it was more of a snack than a hearty meal, but Kristina gushed about how she'd be thrilled to win any food at all.

The losing tribe would have to vote out the fifth castaway of Survivor 49.

It was a tight race to the finish, but in the end, the new Kele tribe won immunity. For the first time, Alex was going to be able to rest easy that night and not attend Tribal Council.

Sophi, on the other hand, was going back to Tribal Council once again.

"The only positive of losing today is that the old Uli wants an old Hina out," Sophi told the cameras, "which means Matt or Jason, and no one's really going to be looking in my direction, so either way, I'm just happy it's not me!"

After the challenge, Rizo pointed out how he didn't have a vote because he had found the Beware Advantage back at Uli. Rizo told Sophi about it, and several former Uli members planned to help him find the hidden Immunity Idol around the well.

"We are in this as a group, as a team!" Savannah confirmed in a Survivor confessional.

Savannah dug up a map and a key that could be used to retrieve the idol. While they didn't need to play an idol just yet, Savannah said her alliance needed to make sure Rizo had his vote back.

Rizo was led to a chest underwater, and he unlocked a hidden Immunity Idol, restoring his vote.

Rizo, Savannah and Sophi then discussed whether they should be voting out Matt or Jason.

Matt acknowledged he was on "the wrong side of the numbers" and he could be going home that night.

"But if you can make vodka out of a potato, I can make something out of this!" Matt quipped in a confessional.

Matt pitched Sophi as the "obvious target" to Savannah, but then he suggested to Jawan that they should work with Sophi and Savannah to take Nate out.

"It's a massive move, and it puts you from the bottom of your tribe into a power position," Matt explained to Jawan. "You would be the guy who saved me and who saved Jason and the guy who saved Sophi."

Jawan said he was "absolutely" down for that plan, and so Matt thought he could trust him.

However, Jawan confirmed in a confessional that he had no desire to turn on Nate, and then Jawan warned Nate about what Matt was trying to pull behind his back.

Jason, meanwhile, was trying to be a "rattlesnake" in the game, and he warned Rizo, Sophi and Savannah that he was going to play his "Shot in the Dark" that night.

Savannah didn't think Jason wanted to work with the old Uli, which she found disappointing. And so Savannah wanted to vote out Jason since he didn't seem interested in teaming up with her.

When speaking to Savannah, Rizo agreed that Jason was "cagey" and might be a better target to strike first. Rizo said he was "ready to go to war" and address this rivalry the former Hina and former Uli tribe had.

At Tribal Council on Night 8, Jeff learned that the former Uli four tribemates had taken Sophi in.

Matt said it was news to him that Sophi had been taken in by the majority, and so Sophi appeared to be a little embarrassed. Nate then revealed that he knew his name had been thrown out.

Matt insisted that he wanted to make new connections, alliances and friends, but then Jason called him out for having thrown Sophi and Jason under the bus.

Matt clarified how he had just said, "Anybody but me," without intending to point out his targets.

"Matt and I are under a bus, and we're just trying to crawl out as fast as we can," Jason shared with Jeff.

It then became time to vote, and Matt was shown writing Nate's name down.

Sophi was shown writing Jason's name down, and Nate was shown writing Matt's name down.

After no one played an idol or advantage, Jeff proceeded to read the votes aloud in the following order: Nate, Matt, Jason, Jason, Matt, Matt, and Matt.

The episode's closing credits later showed that Matt voted for Nate; Sophi and Savannah voted for Jason; and Jason, Nate, Jawan, and Rizo voted for Matt.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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