'Survivor' recap: Gabe Ortis voted out at Tribal Council after shocking rice deal

Survivor featured Gabe Ortis getting voted out of the game after the Beka Tribe made a shocking sacrifice in exchange for rice during the Season 47 episode that aired Wednesday night on CBS.


Gabe, a 26-year-old radio show host from Baltimore, MD, was voted out of the merged Beka Tribe through a 7-2 vote at Tribal Council on Night 18 of the game instead of Genevieve Mushaluk, a 33-year-old corporate lawyer from Winnipeg, Manitoba.

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"I felt really good about my chances to make it to the end," Gabe said in his final words.

"It was just a matter of was I going to get through nine? And I didn't get through nine. But I forged the exact relationships that I wanted to forge, and I never woke up saying, 'What am I doing?' I never went to sleep saying, 'Oh god, I really messed up today!'"


Gabe added, "So I did everything and played as hard as I wanted to play, and I got a good feeling I'm coming back."

The Survivor broadcast began with Teeny Chirichillo, a 24-year-old freelance writer from Manahawkin, NJ, upset about the fact Sol went home. Not only was she left out of the vote, but she knew Genevieve, one of her closest allies, had masterminded the whole plan.

"Genevieve completely blindsided me... I've never been more confused or completely in the dark about what's going on, and that's the worst feeling you can have in this game," Teeny vented in a Survivor confessional.

Teeny explained to Genevieve how she was hurt and felt humiliated, but Genevieve explained how keeping Sol around wasn't good for her game at all.

Genevieve cried because she felt guilty for making Teeny feel that way. Genevieve told Teeny that she'd probably have to lie soon for her own game as well. There was an end coming for them, and it was not going to be sharing Survivor's $1 million prize.


On Day 17, there were four "relatively strong" Tuku left, according to Genevieve, and so she was thinking about targeting Gabe or Kyle Ostwald, a 31-year-old construction worker from Cheboygan, MI.

The four Tukus left in the game were Gabe; Kyle; Caroline Vidmar, a 27-year-old strategy consultant from Palos Verdes, CA, who currently resides in Chicago, IL; and Sue Smey, a 59-year-old flight school owner from Kirkwood, NY, who currently resides in Putnam Valley, NY.

Andy Rueda, a 31-year-old AI research assistant from Buffalo, NY, who currently resides in Brooklyn, NY, seemed onboard with the Kyle or Gabe plan, but then Sam Phalen, a 24-year-old sports reporter from Schaumburg, IL, pitched the idea of going after the "scary" Genevieve.

Andy was proud that Sam no longer had power over him and that he was in the middle. Kyle also thought he was working with Andy.

"Once I'm loyal, it goes all the way down the soil," Andy told Kyle, adding how he had built a Survivor web of connections and could move any way.


Andy was trying to play people off each other. For instance, he told Rachel LaMont, a 34-year-old graphic designer from Dexter, MI, who currently resides in Southfield, MI, that Genevieve was "a silent assassin."

On Day 17, the Beka Tribe met Survivor host Jeff Probst for a Reward Challenge.

The castaways were randomly divided into three teams of three, and each player would have their feet tied together and their arms tied to their side. They had to slither through the sand, moving a ball forward with their head.

Once all three players reached the finish, each player would be responsible for rolling one ball onto their target.

The first three to finish would win Reward in the form of a trip to the Survivor sanctuary where they'd eat chicken and vegetable wraps, salad, fruit, juice, iced tea and cookies and cream cake.


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One team was comprised of Genevieve, Sue and Teeny. One team was made up of Andy, Caroline and Gabe. And the third team was Kyle, Rachel and Sam.

In the end, Sam, Kyle and Rachel won the Survivor Reward Challenge.

Sam had been on a losing streak, so he said this win was a nice confident booster for him.

Sam told Rachel and Kyle while eating their meal that he was flexible, and Sam acknowledged how people were "sketched out" by Tuku at the moment.


Kyle there considered jumping ship, and that would provide Sam some revenge for Sierra's elimination. The trio talked about making Genevieve the backup option.

"But I don't think Gabe is somebody we can get later. If we don't get Gabe, he's going to get us," Sam told Kyle and Rachel.

Rachel, however, wanted to vote out Genevieve because the women were on to each other. Rachel therefore had to think about if voting our Gabe was truly her next best move. Rachel also admitted to Sam that she was having a hard time trusting him.

Sam told Rachel if they went after Gabe and then Genevieve, there would be a lot of room for them to work together. But Rachel worried Sam would screw her over at the first opportunity.

Meanwhile, Andy made a Final 2 alliance with Sue. Sue didn't like Kyle and called him "a liar," and so she wanted Kyle out as soon as possible. Gabe also admitted to Teeny and Caroline that he was worried about Kyle.

"If there was someone in a position to pull the wool over my eyes, it would be Kyle," Gabe announced.


Genevieve said she'd definitely vote Kyle off. Gabe didn't like the idea of voting out his buddy, but he thought Kyle would be "the easiest sell" to decrease Tuku's numbers.

Once Sam returned to Beka's camp, he attempted to "assemble an army" against Gabe. He hoped Teeny and Andy would work with him, and Teeny said she was interested in going along with that plan.

On Day 18, the tribe met Jeff again for the next Individual Immunity Challenge of Survivor's 47th season.

Each Survivor castaway was required to balance a ball on a wooden disk. At regular intervals, more balls would be added, making it more difficult to keep them on the disk.

As they balanced the balls, they would also be standing — and balancing — on a tiny piece of wood underneath their feet.

The next person voted out of the game would be the tenth person out and the third member of Survivor's jury this season.


Jeff also brought out a big bag of rice and announced how it was time for a "rice negotiation."

Jeff demanded that four Survivor castaways needed to sit out of the Immunity Challenge in order for the entire tribe to return to camp with the bag of rice.

No one wanted to give up their shot at immunity, and so the tribe asked if they could exchange all of their "Shots in the Dark" for the rice, and this offer piqued Jeff's interest.

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That meant everyone would be giving up their "Hail Mary" and last ditch effort to stay in the game.

The entire Survivor tribe agreed except for Sam, who acknowledged how he was on the bottom.


Gabe told Sam that eating rice and staying strong would give him a better chance of winning immunity than a one-in-six shot at being safe.

Sam ultimately decided that he wasn't going to deprive the group of food, and so everyone agreed to give up their "Shot in the Dark."

The Survivor challenge came down to a Kyle vs. Sue showdown, and then it got very windy.

After great effort and focus on both ends, Sue dropped and Kyle won his fourth Individual Immunity. Kyle was therefore guaranteed a spot in the Final 8.

Kyle was now no longer an option for Sue, and so she pointed out how she'd have to choose a different target.

After the Survivor challenge wrapped, Teeny said she liked the idea of Genevieve going home but Gabe needed to be first.


The tribe agreed Genevieve was smart and dangerous after the Sol move, and Gabe wanted to work with the other Tukus to take Genevieve out.

While Genevieve was a big threat, Caroline thought voting out Gabe would allow her to start her own game and not play under Gabe's shadow. Caroline discussed her idea with Sue, Teeny and Andy.

Rachel tried to talk Caroline into taking out Genevieve sooner because Gabe would then serve as a shield for her. Rachel also attempted to talk Kyle into writing Genevieve's name down. Kyle also wanted to keep Gabe around as a Survivor shield for him.

Genevieve went into Tribal Council concerned about her place in the game. She had "the least amount or confidence" she ever had in the Survivor game before, and so she just hoped people viewed Gabe as the bigger target.

Gabe knew that Genevieve wanted him out, and so he was paranoid going into Tribal Council as well.

At Tribal Council on Night 18, Jeff asked Gabe to share the criteria for the vote that night, and Gabe explained how people were starting to think about whom they wanted to sit next to in the end.


Sam said he was finally feeling like he was a part of the community again, but Rachel admitted she was paranoid and wished she hadn't given up her "Shot in the Dark."

Rachel acknowledged that you don't realize how great something is until it's gone in Survivor.

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The Survivor episode's closing credits later showed that Sue and Gabe had voted for Genevieve while everyone else voted for Gabe.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski