'Survivor' recap: Noelle Lambert blindsided and voted out after heroic Reward Challenge victory

Survivor featured the Gaia Tribe blindsiding and voting out Noelle Lambert in a split vote at Tribal Council during the Season 43 episode that aired Wednesday night on CBS.


Noelle Lambert, a 25-year-old U.S. Paralympian from Londonderry, NH, who currently resides in Manchester, NH, was voted out of Survivor 43 on Night 19 at Tribal Council in a split 5-2-1 vote instead of Karla Cruz Godoy, a 28-year-old educational project manager from San Diego, CA, who currently resides in Newark, DE, and Sami Layadi, a 19-year-old pet cremator from Las Vegas, NV, who currently resides in Las Vegas, NV, respectively.

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"I came into this game wanting to play the hardest, and that's what got me voted off. But they did a good job. They smelled it coming," Noelle said in her final words.

"I'm absolutely satisfied with what I've been able to do and accomplish, especially physically. To be the first amputee to ever play this game of Survivor, hopefully I can pave the way for a new generation of people to start applying."


The Survivor broadcast began on Night 17 at the Gaia Tribe following James Jones and Ryan Medrano's eliminations.

Karla explained how she was supposed to be out of the loop for the James vote but Sami had told her what was going to happen at the very last minute.

Karla admitted she was frustrated because it was the first time people had planned to leave her out of a vote.

And Cassidy Clark, a 26-year-old designer from Plano, TX, who currently resides in Austin, TX, said it felt good to get rid of Ryan because he had been trying to blindside her again.

Jesse Lopez, a 30-year-old with a Political Science PhD from Venice, CA, who currently resides in Durham, NC, said he knew an idol was sitting in Karla's bag.


Jesse thought there was a lot of distrust between people after the two Tribal Council sessions, and he thought Mike "Gabler" Gabler, a 52-year-old heart-valve specialist from Houston, TX, who currently resides in Meridian, ID; Cody Assenmacher, a 35-year-old in elevator sales from Preston, IA, who currently resides in Honolulu, HI; and himself were right in the middle.

Luckily, Jesse also thought he had a really good relationship with Noelle; Owen Knight, a 30-year-old college admissions director from Bethesda, MD, who currently resides in New Orleans, LA; and the other side with Karla and Cassidy.

Jesse therefore felt "great" about the position he was in.

On Day 18 of the game, the Gaia Tribe met Survivor host Jeff Probst for a Reward Challenge.

The castaways were required to spin inside a metal frame, slowly winding a buoy towards them. Once the buoy crossed the line, they had to race through a series of obstacles to collect a sandbag. The players must then race and toss the sandbag, trying to land it on top of a tall tower.


The first person to win would head to a sanctuary, where he or she would enjoy pizza, cheesecake, brownies, beer and wine. The player would also spend the night in the sanctuary to get a proper night sleep with pillows and blankets.

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Noelle, whose leg was sweating off as she tried to run, won Reward with one toss of her sandbag "in one of the biggest comebacks in the history of Survivor," according to Jeff.

Noelle said she was crying the entire time but would never quit, and her fellow castaways celebrated her victory and congratulated her on being "a warrior."

Jeff told Noelle that in addition to the rewards he had mentioned, she'd also receive a letter from home. Noelle got to choose one person to join her at the sanctuary, and she picked Sami.


Noelle got to choose one other castaway to join her, and she selected Jesse, who had talked so much about his family. Noelle also picked Owen to enjoy the night with her because he hadn't eaten in a while.

Gabler, Cody, Karla, and Cassidy then headed back to camp tired and hungry.

The letters from home hit the players at the sanctuary hard, and then Sami announced how he wanted to take Cassidy out next and he wasn't "flopping back."

But Noelle called Sami "a flipper," who had been playing the middle man and going back and forth. She wanted to keep Sami comfortable so he'd stop scrambling.

Owen then suggested they could pitch a 3-3 vote split on Cassidy and Karla, just in case Karla had an idol. Noelle wanted to start taking the big strategic threats out of the game, so she was hoping they could get one of those two people out of the game.


Jesse suggested the three of them should work with Cody and Gabler going forward, and Noelle agreed that was "a good five" and she liked the sound of it.

Back at Gaia camp, Karla shared how she was still skeptical of Sami because he was "all over the place," and Cassidy admitted she hadn't built any trust with Noelle or Owen.

Noelle took this opportunity to find out where Cody's head was at, and she called Noelle a big threat. Cody agreed he wouldn't want to sit next to Noelle in the end, and Cassidy pitched how they shouldn't even give her a chance to make another big move.

Cassidy also didn't know where Gabler stood. Gabler said he considered Noelle to be "a hero" in the game, and Cassidy pointed out how Noelle was a big threat.

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Gabler told Cassidy that he'd vote with her, but the other side was anticipating having his vote as well.


"I've got options, and options are really big in this game," Gabler boasted.

On Day 19, the Gaia Tribe met Jeff again for the season's next Individual Immunity Challenge.

Each castaway was required to steady a balance table by pulling on a lever with one hand while simultaneously building a house of cards with the other hand. The first player to build a house of cards high enough to reach a red arrow would win immunity and be guaranteed a spot in the Final 7.

The losers would face the possibility of becoming the eleventh person voted out of the game and the fourth member of the jury at Tribal Council that evening.

Players' card towers crumbled one after the next, and when Karla was only one tile away, her structure tipped over. Karla's misfortune allowed Noelle, Sami and Cassidy to have a shot at winning.

In the end, Cassidy won Individual Immunity, and she burst into tears. Cassidy said she could finally see herself going all the way to the end and potentially winning the $1 million.


Following the challenge, Noelle said she needed a new backup plan if Karla played an idol. Gabler warned Noelle that several castaways were gunning for her and hoping to flip Cody in the process.

Noelle, however was still 95 percent confident she could vote out Karla with the help of Cody, Gabler, and Jesse.

Jesse told Cody that Noelle had Sami and Owen with her, and that Cassidy wasn't going to trust them again. Jesse said it was hard to think about voting Noelle out since she had given him the gift of a letter from home.

But Jesse determined he must make the best decisions for himself and his family back home.

"Every time we box her in..." Jesse began.

"She finds her way out," Cody interjected.


Jesse said Noelle had the power to be on the outs and then come back stronger than ever. He knew she had it in her to fight, and so the guys were afraid of her turning on them.

"I wouldn't be surprised if she takes out Karla and then she takes out one of us," Jesse warned Cody, who agreed Noelle had to go that night in a blindside.

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Jesse attempted to execute this plan by sharing his "cover story" with Noelle that he was going to vote for Sami and then try to get Sami on his side. Jesse then threw Sami under the bus by telling Noelle that Sami was still considering her.

Jesse told Noelle and Owen that they should split the votes between Sami and Karla.

But Jesse assured Karla right afterwards that they had Cody and Cassidy on their side, resulting in a 4-3 vote that would send Noelle home. Karla, however, was afraid Noelle was going to flip her vote and make a 4-4 tie.


Jesse tried to get Gabler onboard as a result, and Gabler said he was okay with it. Jesse wanted Gabler to envision himself in the power position after this vote, and Gabler agreed that he didn't want Noelle in the game any longer.

Gabler, however, told the cameras that he didn't like to be surprised before Tribal Council, and so he warned Noelle that Jesse and Cody had been strategizing her vote off.

At Tribal Council that night, Gabler said there were "precision targets" that night, suggesting some of the players were going to be assassins.

Noelle also said there was a great chance someone among them had an idol, and Jesse said this next move was going to set him up "to get that money, baby."

It then became time to vote. Owen was shown writing Karla's name down, and Jesse was shown writing Noelle's name down.

Before Jeff read the votes aloud, no one played an idol or advantage, which made Noelle smile big.


Jeff then read the votes in the following order: Karla, Noelle, Sami, Karla, Noelle, Noelle, and Noelle.

The castaways hugged Noelle goodbye and called her a "hero" and "amazing player," and Jesse appeared upset and guilty about the decision.

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The episode's closing credits later showed that Owen and Sami voted for Karla, and Noelle voted for Sami. Everyone else voted for Noelle.







About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski