'Survivor: Edge of Extinction' recap: Aurora McCreary voted out, opts to continue playing on Extinction Island

Survivor: Edge of Extinction castaway Aurora McCreary was voted out of the Vata tribe but opted to continue in the competition on Extinction Island during the thirteenth episode of Season 38 on Wednesday night on CBS.


The Vata tribe voted out Aurora, a 32-year-old divorce lawyer from Pensacola, FL, who currently resides in Orlando, FL, through a 5-1 vote at Tribal Council on Day 34 of the game instead of Julie Rosenberg, a 46-year-old toy maker from Baltimore, MD, who currently resides in New York, NY.

RELATED LINK: 'SURVIVOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO'S STILL TOGETHER?! WHICH SHOWMANCES SPLIT UP? (PHOTOS) 

Aurora became the fourteenth person voted out of Survivor: Edge of Extinction and the eleventh member of this season's jury.

Aurora, however, decided to stay in the game and wait for an opportunity to possibly play again for the $1 million grand prize by traveling to the Edge of Extinction.


"It was so predictable, which I can't understand -- how anyone fell for that!" Aurora said following her vote-off, referencing how Rick Devens had claimed he'd play his hidden Immunity Idol for Julie but didn't when it became time to do so.

"My plan is to get pumped up for the competition. I'm either going to get back in the game or it's going to be my final Survivor challenge."

The Survivor broadcast began at the Vata tribe on Night 31. Gavin Whitson felt guilty for having blindsided Ron Clark, but he felt he had to separate his heart from the game.

Now that Ron was gone, all of the focus went straight to Rick, "the idol and advantage king," according to Gavin.

Rick told the group he had received the hidden Immunity Idol he had just played at Tribal Council from someone anonymous at the Edge of Extinction.


RELATED LINK: 'THE AMAZING RACE' COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER? WHO HAS SPLIT? WHERE ARE THEY NOW? (PHOTOS)

Rick wanted his tribe to think there were no idols at Vata beach so he'd be the only one looking for the newly rehidden one. Rick thought being the only person to have such knowledge could play to his advantage.

Rick thought it was a clever move and planned to manipulate the game in any way possible.

Meanwhile, Aurora felt happy because she felt she could work with Gavin, Lauren O'Connell, and Victoria Baamonde. Aurora felt connected to her alliance and noted Rick was "target No. 1," but she figured it wouldn't be easy to vote him out.

Late into the night when everyone was sleeping, Rick snuck away from camp and began searching for another hidden Immunity Idol. Rick knew he had to work extremely hard in order to make the Final 3.


"To get to the end of the game, I'm going to have to do it alone... I'm going to keep hustling until the end of this game," Rick told the cameras.

The tribe knew Rick would be looking for an idol all day, and Lauren acknowledged Rick had lied about where his previous idol had come from. Since Lauren found an idol on the former Manu beach, she knew for a fact Rick had found his former idol at Vata beach.

Lauren therefore went off looking as well, and she confronted Rick about having found his idol on their beach. Even though Lauren called Rick out, he continued to lie and said he couldn't trust anybody.

The only person Rick thought might be willing to work with him going forward was Julie since she had been blindsided by the Ron vote.

RELATED LINK: 'MARRIED AT FIRST SIGHT' COUPLES NOW: WHO'S STILL TOGETHER? WHO BROKE UP? (PHOTOS)


During Rick's search, he found another hidden Immunity Idol inside a strange tree trunk. He was so excited and whispered aloud to himself, "I'm gonna win this game."

Rick told the cameras he was working hard to bring the $1 million home to his family and was only getting stronger in the game. He noted his family would be very proud of him watching this back.

It then became time for the Vata tribe to compete individually for Reward.

Once the group met Survivor host Jeff Probst for the challenge, each person was required to race out with a ball, toss it up and into an overhead track and then catch it on the other side.

Afterward, the players needed to dig under a beam in the sand, crawl under it with two balls and then attempt to land both of those balls on an overhead perch at the finish.


The winner would be taken by helicopter for a tour of the islands and then enjoy pasta, seafood, open bar, and chocolate mousse poolside at a lovely resort.

It was a close call between Victoria, Aurora and Gavin, but in the end, Gavin won Reward.

Gavin was able to select a castaway to join him, and he based his decision on who was struggling at camp lately and hadn't been on a lot of Rewards. That person was Victoria.

Gavin then got to choose a second person, and he opted to have Lauren join him.

"Wow," Rick told Aurora. "That's pretty clear. Aurora has gone the longest without a thing, just like Vic."

RELATED LINK: '90 DAY FIANCE' COUPLES NOW: WHO'S STILL TOGETHER? WHO HAS SPLIT?! (PHOTOS)


Julie agreed she was shocked as well, but then Aurora pointed out in tears, "It's just a game. I'm just hungry."

Aurora was, however, upset. She felt on the bottom of her alliance once again, and she didn't feel good enough to be a part of Gavin's group.

Gavin was well aware his choices were going to make a couple of people unhappy, but he felt confident Rick was going to be next regardless. And on the Reward, Lauren and Victoria agreed that Rick had to go -- and Julie would be a good backup vote, just in case.

But Lauren personally didn't want to take Julie out because they had established trust and Lauren wouldn't mind sitting next to Julie in the end. Lauren thought her chances of winning against Julie would be good.

After the Reward on Day 32, Victoria -- worried Aurora was "an emotional player" -- assured Aurora nothing had changed and they were still in the Final 4 together.

Aurora recognized "the most logical chance" was to stay in her alliance and take out Rick followed by Julie. She thought it would be best for herself to just stick with the plan and not let the Reward anger her.


Meanwhile, on the Edge of Extinction, the previously-voted out players received letters they had written to themselves before the game began.

Everyone got a reminder of why they had signed on for the show to begin with, and the positive words and inspiration to go on gave the players a renewed sense of energy, hope and life in the game.

RELATED LINK: 'DANCING WITH THE STARS' PROS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANT OTHERS: WHO'S DATING OR MARRIED TO WHOM!? (PHOTOS)

Although she was voted out of the game first, Reem Daly realized she is a Survivor and was still in it, fighting to win. She was never going to give up.

On Day 33, Rick decided to have a blast just "messing with" his fellow tribemates. He pretended to go off searching for an idol -- even though he already had one -- just so everyone would tail him and be paranoid.

Rick even hid behind trees and popped out to scare people at times. He found the situation hilarious and loved driving his competition "crazy."


"It makes them emotionally and mentally exhausted, which brings me joy and is going to get me through this game," Rick said in a confessional.

The Individual Immunity Challenge then took place on Day 34.

Each castaway had to race to slide letter tiles into a target and then use two handles to transport those tiles through a series of obstacles. Finally, the players were instructed to use the letter tiles to solve a six-word phrase.

Aurora was immediately disappointed in the challenge, admitting she was terrible at word puzzles. Lauren also agreed she wasn't great at them, and the girls' admissions were music to Rick's ears. Rick thought his chances of winning would be even better as a result.

Rick began his word puzzle in first place, while Gavin started it in last.

In the end, Rick finished the puzzle in first place, and Jeff noted, "Wow, that was fast!"


RELATED LINK: 'BIG BROTHER' SHOWMANCES NOW: WHO'S STILL TOGETHER? WHICH COUPLES HAVE SPLIT UP?? (PHOTOS)

Rick declared he'd be going home had he not won the challenge, but obviously he had a secret idol to play as well.

Rick hoped to find a way to keep Julie in the game since she'd be everyone's next target but happened to be the only person willing to work with him in the game.

Following the challenge, Rick asked Julie to chat with him in private, and she obliged.

Gavin said even if he had found an idol, there was "no way in hell" he'd give it to or play it for Julie. Gavin, Victoria, Lauren and Aurora then agreed to vote for Julie.

Meanwhile, Rick and Julie determined they must vote for Aurora and hope for that small chance the others might turn on her since she's a strong player who can win Immunity Challenges.


Julie told Rick that Lauren was sweet and nice to her, and so Julie tried to convince Lauren to vote for Aurora because Aurora could win the firemaking challenge as well.

Lauren didn't think a lot of the jury liked Julie since she was so emotional, so she wanted to keep Julie around and take out Aurora instead. Lauren therefore tried to convince Gavin the best move would be taking out Aurora now.

Gavin had to decide whether it made more sense to take out the easy vote, Julie, or a bigger threat in Aurora.

Gavin didn't want to "rock the boat" prematurely, so he asked Victoria her thoughts on the subject. Victoria didn't think targeting Aurora was the best move for them to make because Lauren wanted to take Julie to the end.

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)

Victoria trusted Gavin and wanted Julie out of the game so Lauren wouldn't be able to carry her to Final 3.


Before Tribal Council, Rick told the cameras he might have a trick or two up his sleeve to hopefully save Julie because he wouldn't mind sitting next to her in the end.

Rick wanted the tribe hyped up and paranoid so they might just turn on each other and do something crazy.

That night, the Vata tribe met Jeff at Tribal Council.

Julie announced there was a four-person alliance that she and Rick were not a part of. Julie could also tell she was on the outs and no one wanted to talk to her after the challenge.

Aurora was vocal about wanting Rick out, as she said everyone else would lose to him in the end. And Victoria and Gavin openly agreed Rick needed to go.

Rick said he might've "found some interesting things" during his run around on the island, but no one took him seriously.


Rick attempted to "take some control" back in the game by insisting he was going to play a hidden Immunity Idol for Julie that night and then the pair would vote for one of the four.

Rick took out his idol and flashed it around, and Gavin told Jeff that he was nervous because Rick had been loyal to the people who were loyal to him. For example, Rick had played a previous hidden Immunity Idol for his pal David Wright.

Aurora pointed out Rick's idol might be fake because he had the same red cloth from his last idol, and then Gavin said Rick will probably need this idol for himself at the next vote because it will still be 4-1 if someone on his side goes.

"I might say with the chance of someone coming back from Extinction, it would be a three against three, and that would be a big move in this game," Rick said, as Julie smiled big.

"If they want to bet a million dollars that I'm not going to play this on Julie -- even though I already played one on David -- then that's fine. But it's a million-dollar gamble."

Rick told Jeff that he was doing everything in his power to stay in the game and he'd need allies to do just that.


After everyone cast their votes, Rick decided not to play his hidden Immunity Idol.

RELATED LINK: 'SURVIVOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO'S STILL TOGETHER?! WHICH SHOWMANCES SPLIT UP? (PHOTOS) 

Jeff then read the votes in the following order: Aurora, Julie, Aurora, Aurora, and Aurora.

"How do you fall for reverse psychology?!" Aurora said aloud on her way out.

Once Aurora's torch was extinguished, she yelled, "Get him out."

"Still?!" Rick asked.


"Still," Aurora replied.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski