'Survivor: Game Changers' recap: Zeke Smith voted out of Maku Maku tribe

Survivor: Game Changers' merged Maku Maku tribe voted out Zeke Smith during Wednesday night's episode of Season 34 on CBS.


Maku Maku tribe sent Zeke, a 28-year-old from Brooklyn, NY, packing at Tribal Council on Night 29 with five out of 10 votes because his former close ally, Andrea Boehlke -- whom Zeke had previously betrayed -- wanted him gone, and Cirie Fields thought he was the smartest person left in the game.

"It was smart of Andrea to come after me because I was just about to come after Andrea," Zeke said in his final words.

"It was a great move worthy of the title Game Changers. In playing this game, I have confronted so many fears and moved beyond boundaries I've long kept in my life. It was a truly significant experience. I will forever be a better person because I played Survivor."

Zeke -- who was unfairly outed as transgender by Jeff Varner this season -- received votes from Andrea, Cirie, Aubry Bracco, and his close friends Sarah Lacina and Michaela Bradshaw.


Sierra Dawn Thomas received votes from Zeke and Tai Trang, while Tai earned a couple of votes from Sierra, Brad Culpepper, and Troy "Troyzan" Robertson at Tribal Council.

Despite sensing an "eerie calm" at camp prior to Tribal Council, Zeke was blindsided because Sierra seemed like the obvious vote target for his alliance of Andrea, Cirie, Aubry, Sarah and Michaela.

Sierra and Brad had been declared the head of the snake when it came to their opposing alliance, but on the other side of the same coin, Sierra would've been an easy vote in what should be a Game Changers season filled with big moves.

Andrea -- who won Individual Immunity in last night's broadcast by becoming the first person to successfully stack wooden blocks like Dominoes on a wobbly table -- orchestrated Zeke's vote-off because she no longer trusted him and found him sneaky after he attempted to gather Debbie Wanner and troops to take her out.

Andrea and Aubry were also concerned about Zeke because he appeared to bond with Brad during the Reward Challenge on Day 27 in which the two guys, Andrea, Aubry, and Sarah got to sleep in beds at a fancy resort, where they also enjoyed beef, chicken wraps and cheesecake.


Sarah and Michaela didn't want to get rid of Zeke for their own personal gain since they were close friends with him and could use him going forward. Sarah also believed she could trust Zeke and not the girls. 

However, Sarah and Michaela apparently thought it would be better for their game to remain loyal to the new majority alliance and not flip sides, which would have ultimately created chaos and potentially made them the next vote targets.

(After all, Sarah was already in hot water because she had just flipped on Sierra's alliance at the previous Tribal Council session to take out Debbie on Night 26 of the game).

Going into Tribal Council on Night 29, Sarah and Michaela therefore served as the swing votes. Brad, Sierra and Tai couldn't believe how quickly they fell from a power position to being on the bottom of the tribe.

Andrea figured that getting rid of her alliance member, Zeke, would still give her group the numbers going forward -- five people against four castaways.


Once Zeke learned his fate, Michaela started bawling her eyes out in sadness and guilt.

On his way out of Tribal Council, Zeke addressed the group and said, "Keep playing hard guys."

Zeke previously played on Season 33, Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X, and finished in ninth place.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski