Survivor featured the Vula Tribe blindsiding and voting out Kevin Leung after Saiounia "Sai" Hughley incorrectly played her hidden Immunity Idol during the Season 48 episode that aired Wednesday night on CBS.

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Kevin, a 34-year-old finance manager from Fremont, CA, who currently resides in Livermore, CA, was voted out of Survivor 48 in a 3-1 vote on Night 5 at Tribal Council instead of Sai, a 30-year-old marketing professional from Philadelphia, who currently resides in Simi Valley, CA.

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"I think you can call that a blindside. I thought I was in control of the entire game," Kevin said in his final words.

"[But] I'm proud of the game I played. I played as hard as I could even though I hurt my shoulder on Day 1 in the first hour. I kept persevering and I kept trying. Obviously this wasn't the outcome that I wanted, but I tried my best."

Kevin added, "It was fun, but I just want some peace and quiet now."

The Survivor broadcast began on Night 3 after the Tribal Council in which Stephanie Berger had been voted out of Vula.

The Vula Tribe featured Sai; Kevin; Cedrek McFadden, a 46-year-old surgeon from Columbia, SC, who currently resides in Greenville, SC; Justin Pioppi, a 29-year-old pizzeria manager from Winthrop, MA; and Mary Zheng, a 31-year-old substance abuse counselor from Montgomery Village, MD, who currently resides in Philadelphia, PA.

Sai scolded Mary for lying to her face but said it's a game and she wouldn't hold a grudge. Mary, however, wasn't buying it and assumed Sai would be gunning for her in the future.

Sai thought her "core four" would keep her safe in the Survivor game, and she said if her tribe returned to Tribal Council, it would be Mary's head on the chopping block.

At Civa's camp on Day 4, the castaways bonded and laughed over "humble traits," meaning their flaws and weird body parts, which included deep belly buttons and crooked toes.

The Civa Tribe was comprised of Charity Nelms, a 34-year-old flight attendant from Monroe, MI, who currently resides in St. Petersburg, FL; Chrissy Sarnowsky, a 55-year-old fire lieutenant from Chicago, IL; David Kinne, a 39-year-old stunt performer from Long Beach, CA, who currently resides in Buena Park, CA; Kamilla Karthigesu, a 31-year-old software engineer from Toronto, Canada, who currently resides in Foster City, CA; Kyle Fraser, a 31-year-old attorney from Roanoke, VA, who currently resides in Brooklyn, NY; and Mitch Guerra, a 34-year-old P.E. coach from Waco, TX.

Over at Lagi, the tribe boasted about how they were working together and "killing it" on Survivor. They also had a respect and loyalty for each other.

The Lagi Tribe was made up of Bianca Roses, a 33-year-old PR consultant from West Orange, NJ, who currently resides in Arlington, VA; Eva Erickson, a 24-year-old PhD candidate from Eagan, MN, who currently resides in Providence, RI; Joe Hunter, a 45-year-old fire captain from Vacaville, CA, who currently resides in West Sacramento, CA; Shauhin Davari, a 38-year-old debate professor from East Bay, CA, who currently resides in Costa Mesa, CA; Star Toomey, a 28-year-old sales expert from Monrovia, Liberia, who currently resides in Augusta, GA; and Thomas Krottinger, a 34-year-old music executive from The Woodlands, TX, who currently resides in Los Angeles, CA.

But when talking about the next Survivor challenge and who should compete, Eva suggested Star could sit out. Star was upset by that comment.

"Let me tell you what I can and can't do, and we'll go from there," Star complained in a confessional.

In order to find some protection and make her role in the game more significant, Star went off looking for an idol or advantage. She didn't think she brought muscle or brains to the table.

Star eventually found a "Beware Advantage" with a puzzle guide and a lock inside, and she was thrilled.

Star had seen pictures of animals on the trees, and so she immediately connected the dots and realized she must use those images to solve her puzzle in order to receive a hidden Immunity Idol. Until Star found the idol, she'd lose her vote at Tribal Council.

Star shared the news of her Survivor advantage with Joe so that he could help her decipher it, but then Joe suggested they should tell one more person. Joe wanted to include someone in his alliance so he wouldn't be viewed as sneaky or "deceitful."

Joe therefore brought Shauhin into the secret club, and Shauhin questioned if he should help Star find the idol or totally sabotage her.

Star then tried to gain more Survivor allies by sharing the news of her advantage with the other castaways in her Lagi tribe, including Bianca and Thomas. Bianca couldn't believe that Star had told her everything.

"Now I need to make sure that I stay on her good side," Bianca told the cameras.

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Since Star was going to lose her vote, Thomas noted how they could easily chop her head off at Tribal Council.

Joe and Thomas then talked about how they should handle the situation, and Thomas suggested he should lose the advantage so Star would be a sitting duck. Joe thought that was pretty ruthless, and so it made him question if he wanted to work with Thomas going forward.

Meanwhile, Star was setting her sights on taking Eva out next, not Eva and Joe were very close.

Joe realized he was aligned with everyone in his Survivor tribe and so he'd have to stab someone in the back to win. However, he didn't want to betray Eva, and so he let her know that Star was trying to gather troops to take her out.

Eva said Star was the only person with whom she didn't have a good connection on the beach, but she was confident Joe would have her back and keep her safe.

Over at Vula's camp, the Survivor castaways were being attacked by flies.

The three guys talked about targeting Mary or Sai next. Kevin said Mary would be an easy vote out but Sai had been playing the game since Day 1 and she was strategizing and very influential. But Justin wondered which woman they could trust more.

Kevin determined that they should vote for Sai and if she played her idol, then Mary would go home.

A boat then pulled up to each Survivor camp, and one person had to get on each boat for a journey. The castaways were instructed to play a quick game to determine who would embark on the journey.

The players who went on the journey were Mary -- which made Sai furious with her tribemates since Mary was on the bottom -- as well as Thomas and Mitch.

The three castaways had a chance to earn a Survivor advantage in the game. A puzzle awaited them on either side of the beach and in the jungle. They had to pick a direction and were wished luck.

The three players therefore took off in different directions but had the same puzzle to complete. There were three rows of numbered tiles that they had to place in order from 1 to 15. But the tiles had to be moved one at a time in a specific direction, which made it complicated.

If they put the tiles in the correct order in a certain amount of time, they'd receive an advantage. But if they failed, they'd lose their vote at the next Tribal Council.

Mary did not accomplish the Survivor puzzle.

Thomas and Mitch, on the other hand, completed the puzzle, and so Thomas received a "Steal a Vote" advantage and Mitch earned himself a secret "Block the Vote" advantage.

Thomas could steal a vote from a tribemate at Tribal Council, and Mitch learned that when he chose to block someone's vote, no one would know it came from him.

After the Survivor journey, Mary told her tribe that she failed to complete the puzzle in time.

Thomas told his tribemates that he chose not to play the game because he didn't want to risk losing his vote.

Mitch came back to his Survivor tribe and was honest about his "Block a Vote" advantage. Everyone was so happy for and proud of him, but David was worried.

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David explained to the cameras that he didn't trust Mitch because he was too close to Charity, whom David and his allies definitely didn't trust. David therefore warned his tribe that Mitch and Charity were a dangerous pair and they needed to find an advantage or idol on the island.

Suddenly, Kyle found the "Beware Advantage" and let David in on it. Kyle had to solve a riddle in order to open the puzzle lock.

Kyle asked Kamilla to help him with the riddle, and she was able to come up with the word "ENLIST" and solve it. Kyle was grateful to Kamilla because he won his vote back, and he noted how he wanted to continue working with her in the game.

On Day 5, the three tribes met Survivor host Jeff Probst for the next Immunity Challenge of the season.

For the challenge, Jeff instructed one person from each tribe to race to the top of a tall tower and leap off into the ocean.

After swimming to a platform, they'd have to pull themselves underwater by a rope, releasing two buoys along the way. Once at the end, a tribe had to work together to transport the buoys over balance beams. Once a tribe reunited, they'd have to shoot five buoys into a tall basket.

The first two tribes to finish would immunity and be safe from the vote at the next Tribal Council. They were also playing for Reward in the form of a massive fishing kit for the winner. The second-place tribe would receive a smaller fishing kit.

The losing tribe would have to vote out one of their own that night and also lose their flint.

Star and Kamilla sat out of the Survivor challenge.

Eva was on fire when shooting baskets at first, but then Mitch pulled ahead by landing one after the next. Mitch ultimately won the challenge for Civa.

When Eva got frustrated with the baskets, Joe took over and landed the rest, pushing Lagi into second place.

Vula was in a distant third place because Kevin and Cedrek had struggled on the balance beam. Jeff said it was "an absolute abysmal failure" for Cedrek and Kevin.

After the Survivor challenge, Sai said she liked Cedrek and didn't want to see him go, even though he had a poor performance in the challenge. She was still gunning for Mary.

Cedrek took most of the responsibility for his tribe's loss when they returned to camp, and he was very emotional.

Kevin then decided this would be the best time to take out Sai since she had an idol. Kevin thought Sai was the best player in the game besides himself, and so he got Justin and Cedrek onboard with the plan.

"And Mary is going to thank me and be on my side because I single-handedly saved her," Kevin boasted in a Survivor confessional.

Mary had no vote or "Shot in the Dark" to play, so she acknowledged her fate was in Kevin's hands.

Cedrek, however, felt loyal to Sai because she reminded him of one of his kids. Cedrek said he'd have a hard time breaking that loyalty and he didn't trust Mary as much.

Cedrek therefore attempted to find a way to save Mary will keeping his alliance with the other guys intact.

Cedrek asked Sai if she could conceal her emotions.

"You need to play your idol tonight," Cedrek warned Sai. "Justin and Kevin have talked to me and they're voting for you... Kevin [told me]."

Cedrek told Sai that they should both vote for Mary and then, if Sai played her idol, Mary would go home.

Sai asked Cedrek why they weren't trying to get Kevin out, and Cedrek said he wanted Mary gone first.

"I want to have my cake and eat it too. I want to have you here and them," Cedrek admitted to Sai.

"I'm cool with this. I can do that and deal with Kevin later," Sai said in reply.

Sai wished she could vote for Kevin so that he'd know she was onto him. Since it wasn't time to do that, she planted seeds about how "deceptive" he was in the game to Cedrek and Justin.

Since Sai was voting for Mary and Kevin was voting for Sai, Justin told Cedrek that they could flip the game upside down and vote out Kevin together because Kevin was proving himself to be a threat. Justin said he was thinking about Day 26 of Survivor rather than Day 5.

Justin told Cedrek that while it would be unfortunate to lose Kevin for the challenges, he wanted to get Kevin out before Kevin came for them. With two votes, they would be able to make the decision.

Cedrek acted excited about Justin's idea, and Sai, meanwhile, was still considering putting her vote on Kevin to shake things up.

At Tribal Council that night, Sai made it clear that her "core four" included everyone but Mary, who admitted she felt like she was in trouble.

Sai boasted about how she's just an honest and transparent Survivor player, and Kevin said this discussion was a reflection of their tribe disunity and dysfunction, which was apparent during challenges as well.

Mary predicted the tribe was going to prioritize trust, and Sai agreed, seemingly taking a shot at Mary.

Sai clarified that while it seemed like they didn't get along, she and Mary just didn't have enough time to get to know one each other.

Before the vote, Justin announced how he was pretty confident in the way things were going to play out.

In the Survivor voting booth, Kevin was shown writing Sai's name down because she was "a dangerous player," and Mary had no vote to cast.

Jeff then tallied the votes, but before reading them aloud, Sai played her hidden Immunity Idol for herself.

"Jeff, you know how you asked everybody if they felt confident in the vote? I don't feel confident enough. And I'd also like to say this is for my grandma," Sai announced.

Jeff proceeded to read the Survivor votes in the following order: Sai, Kevin, and Kevin.

Mary whispered to Kevin that she couldn't vote, and she appeared shocked by the outcome.

"Good job you guys," Kevin noted on his way out.

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After Jeff snuffed his torch, Kevin said goodbye to his Survivor tribe with a smile on his face.

The Survivor episode's closing credits later showed that Cedrek, Sai and Justin voted for Kevin.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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