'Survivor' recap: Jaime Lynn Ruiz voted out as former Tika stays strong and keeps Carolyn Wiger

Survivor featured the "Va Va Tribe" voting out Jaime Lynn Ruiz over Carolyn Wiger during the Season 44 episode that aired Wednesday night on CBS.


Jaime, a 35-year-old Yogi from Mesa, AZ, was voted out of Survivor 44 at Tribal Council on Night 23 of the game through a 4-2 vote instead of Carolyn, a 35-year-old drug counselor from North St. Paul, MN, who currently resides in Hugo, MN.

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

"Oh my gosh! I'm so grateful to make the Top 6," Jaime said in her final words.

"This is a huge accomplishment. Finding an idol, that was one of my No. 1 goals, and I'm so grateful. I am proud of myself for overcoming so many fears. I can do anything at this point, and I had so much fun playing my favorite game in the entire world."


The Survivor broadcast began on Night 21 with the "Va Va Tribe" returning to camp from the Tribal Council in which Danny Massa had been voted out.

Carolyn had played a hidden Immunity Idol for Carson Garrett, a 20-year-old NASA engineering student from Rome, GA, who currently resides in Atlanta, GA, which nobody expected.

Carson thought the gesture was "so sweet," and Carolyn said she had no regrets -- even though she didn't actually need to play it to save Carson -- because it solidified Carson, Yamil "Yam Yam" Arocho, a 36-year-old salon owner from Bayamon, Puerto Rico, who currently resides in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and herself going forward.

Carolyn revealed to the tribe how she's "the bandit" who had opened her former Tika Tribe's birdcage in the first few days of the game. Carolyn revealed she had created the red X to throw her tribemates off, and Yam Yam gushed about how Carolyn is super intelligent.

"She is one of the great Survivor players, but now she's let everybody know she's good!" Yam Yam told the cameras.


"Girl, shut up! Your target keeps getting bigger and bigger. All of your craziness is not craziness anymore, and I'm personally a little afraid of her."

Jaime also thought Carolyn was a good example of, "Don't judge a book by its cover." While Carolyn led -- and also distracted -- with emotions, Jaime thought Carolyn's behavior was very calculated.

Lauren Harpe, a 31-year-old elementary school teacher from Port Arthur, TX, who currently resides in Mont Belvieu, TX, also thought the "lovable" Carolyn had "some strategy going on," underneath her silly antics.

On Day 22 of the game, Heidi Lagares-Greenblatt, a 43-year-old engineering manager from Ponce, Puerto Rico, who currently resides in Pittsburgh, PA, woke up in the middle of the night and began searching for a hidden Immunity Idol. Carson was up and saw Heidi being shady, and so he awoke Carolyn and pitched the idea of searching for an idol themselves.

"Everyone knows if they find an idol, it could change the entire course of this game," Carson noted.


Heidi, however, already had an idol in her pocket, which she hadn't shared with anybody.

"I'm the last Soka member in this game. I think in everyone's mind, it's probably, 'Heidi is the easy vote next,'" Heidi explained in a confessional.

"So imagine if I had two idols?! I could [survive] two Tribal Councils back to back, and then I could position myself in the Final 4. But everyone is looking because it's a huge opportunity."

While Carolyn was in the jungle, Lauren pitched the idea of taking out Carolyn next and making a Final 4 with Carson, Yam Yam and Jaime.

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


Carson, however, wanted to stay with Carolyn and Yam Yam. In order to make that work, he thought he needed to pretend that he was working with Jaime and Lauren.

The women felt comfortable with Carson given they had voted the same way for the last two votes, but Carson proudly told the cameras that Lauren or Jaime was going next.

Later that day, the "Va Va Tribe" met up with Survivor host Jeff Probst for a Reward Challenge.

For the Reward Challenge, Jeff randomly divided the castaways into two teams of three players.

While one player was strapped inside a giant ball, the other two castaways -- who would be blindfolded -- must push the ball through a long, winding course to a table maze, where the person still inside the ball would guide the still-blindfolded tribe members to finish the maze.


The winning three would be taken to the Survivor sanctuary, where they'd receive a relaxing foot massage and eat lunch in the form of sandwiches, chocolate, cookies, fruit, juice and iced tea.

The two teams were Jaime, Heidi and Carolyn vs. Carson, Yam Yam and Lauren.

Jaime and Carson were in the balls, and Carson's team started working on the maze first.

In the end, Yam Yam, Lauren and Carson pulled out a win, and Jeff complimented Carson's "great leadership" during the challenge. Yam Yam was thrilled to eat because he said he had only eaten two bananas other than rice during the game.

Jaime saw this as a huge opportunity to talk to Carolyn and Heidi and hopefully convince them to break up Tika.

While getting massaged, Yam Yam pointed out how Carolyn's threat level "went up big time" with her stories. Carson agreed Carolyn was playing much harder than people noticed and so they should vote out Carolyn next.


"My goal is to make Lauren feel as comfortable as possible," Carson explained in a confessional, "because I want Lauren to think I'm working with her 100 percent, when in reality, I'm not."

Yam Yam said he loved Carolyn with his whole heart but his gut was telling him to vote her out.

Meanwhile, Jaime, Heidi and Carolyn discussed how Carson was a big threat and they needed to take him out or just hand him the $1 million. Jaime announced to the women how she wasn't okay with Carson winning and so she was definitely going to direct her vote his way.

But Carolyn told the cameras that she couldn't lose Carson yet because she needed to keep the numbers. She didn't want Lauren, Heidi and Jaime to team up against her.

"I know Carson can't go to the end with me, but we need him for at least one more vote," Carolyn explained in a confessional. "Oh I hate saying that! That's my baby!"

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


But when Lauren walked away, Heidi and Carolyn discussed how they didn't trust her. Heidi even said she'd prefer to work with Carolyn and Yam Yam going forward because she couldn't trust Jaime either.

"They voted for me. How can I trust them?" Heidi said of Lauren and Jaime.

Once the "Va Va Tribe" reunited, Carolyn asked Yam Yam to burp in her face so she could smell the Reward, which made everyone laugh.

Carson then warned Carolyn that the group was trying to split Tika up, and Carson admitted it was "scary" knowing his name had been thrown out there.

Carolyn suggested to Carson that they should vote out Lauren or Jaime next, and Carson was thrilled Tika was able to stay strong. Carson had high hopes that he could continue running the game with Yam Yam and Carolyn.

However, Yam Yam was shown telling Jaime that he didn't envision himself going to the end with Carolyn and Carson. Yam Yam told Jaime that Carolyn's "crazy" worked for her, and Jaime agreed.


Jaime didn't care who was the target as long as a Tika member went home, and she assured Yam Yam that she had never lied to him or written his name down.

Yam Yam therefore decided he must disconnect from Carson and Carolyn and break up with them. Yam Yam told the cameras that he was playing to win from this point on.

On Day 23, it became time for the season's next Individual Immunity Challenge.

Once the tribe met Jeff, the Survivor host explained each of the six castaways must use two ropes to balance a ball on a disk. At regular intervals, the players would move farther back, making it more difficult to keep the ball on its disk.

If, at any point, a ball dropped, that person would be out of the challenge.

The last person left standing would win immunity and be guaranteed a spot in the Final 5. Among the losers, one of them would be the thirteenth person voted out of the game that night and become the sixth member of the Survivor 44 jury.


Jaime was first out of the challenge, and then Carolyn dropped only seconds later. Carson was out next, and then Yam Yam lost his ball.

The challenge came down to Lauren vs. Heidi, and the winner was Lauren for the second time this season.

Once the tribe returned to camp, no one was talking or moving.

But finally, Carolyn suggested to Heidi that they should vote out Jaime, and Heidi was onboard.

Heidi thought she could save her idol, but she wasn't sure if she could trust what she had been told.

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)


Afterward, Yam Yam, Carolyn and Carson agreed to vote for Jaime. Heidi then joined the trio at the water well and announced how she'd also be happy to write Jaime's name down.

Carolyn didn't think Jaime had an idol, and if she did, Carolyn thought she was comfortable enough where she wouldn't play it.

Lauren, however, spoke to Jaime about how Carolyn probably wouldn't bring her to the end. Lauren therefore told Jaime that she'd vote out Carolyn, and Jaime -- who no longer had an idol -- liked that idea.

Yam Yam then told Lauren and Jaime that Carolyn was dangerous and so they could all throw votes her way.

"To Carolyn, this vote will feel like a betrayal. She's done it to me before. I've done it to her. But we've never done it against each other," Yam Yam told the cameras. "This is the most difficult vote for me tonight... because I may have to betray my biggest ally."

Afterward, Carson told Yam Yam that he was his No. 1 ally. He asked Yam Yam how he felt, and Yam Yam said he didn't think they could take Carolyn out at five and she'd probably win the fire-making challenge.


"She practiced fire until she was bleeding," Yam Yam told Carson.

Carson was very surprised, saying everyone in the game had underestimated Carolyn and Carolyn could ultimately win the game. But Carson told Yam Yam that his gut was telling him to vote out Jaime since Carolyn was a very loyal player.

Yam Yam reasoned ahead of Tribal Council, "The No. 1 reason to get rid of Jaime is that throughout this game, Jaime has cemented a lot of relationships. But she's a big threat. So it might be better to just get rid of Jaime tonight. But I know I have a better chance without Carolyn at the Final 3."

Yam Yam added that out of everyone left on Survivor, he thought Carolyn was playing the best game overall.

"My brain is telling me I need to take Carolyn out, but my heart doesn't want me to do it," Yam Yam said in a confessional, breaking down into tears.

"So do I have the courage to take Carolyn out? Am I going to be strong enough to do this? I don't know. I want this money and this title, but it's hard. It breaks my heart a little bit... It's a game, but it's not a game."


That night, the tribe attended Tribal Council.

Jeff reminded the castaways that "Shot in the Dark" was over, and Jaime announced how everyone's name had been thrown out at one point or another in recent days.

Carson shared how if some people were working in groups, they may break up that night. With that being said, Carolyn's eyes opened wide and she appeared nervous.

Yam Yam expressed to Jeff how his head and his heart were at odds, and Carolyn seemed surprised and nervous.

Carolyn told Jeff it was okay to be both strategic and emotional, and Jeff asked if the decision was going to be emotional that night.

"I'm scared. Is this my goodbye speech or something?" Carolyn asked out loud, before saying the castaways loved each other and so the vote was naturally going to be emotional.


Yam Yam then declared how the person leaving that night simply needed to leave -- for everybody's game.

It then became time to vote, and after votes were cast, Carolyn took a look at Yam Yam and couldn't read his face. She looked confused.

Heidi then played a hidden Immunity Idol for herself.

Jeff proceeded to read the votes aloud in the following order: Carolyn, Jaime, Carolyn, Jaime, Jaime, and Jaime.

Jaime expressed "love to all" on her way out, and Carolyn whispered to Carson, "What the f-ck?"

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


Jeff told the Final 5 castaways they'd be taken to a new beach that evening, where they must start over. Everyone, luckily, came prepared with all of their belongings.

The episode's closing credits later showed that Heidi, Yam Yam, Carson, and Carolyn voted for Jaime. Jaime and Lauren voted for Carolyn.







About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski