What To Know
- Country star Zac Brown made a special appearance in Survivor 50 Episode 4, performing for contestants as part of a reward challenge he pitched himself.
- The episode centered on intense alliance negotiations with contestants who have played together before.
- One player was eliminated in the biggest blindside of the season so far.
Country music star Zac Brown made an extended cameo in Survivor 50 Episode 4, an episode that ended with a shocking elimination. Brown’s cameo was pitched by the singer himself, Jeff Probst revealed in the episode, and it came as part of the reward challenge. The reward was spending time with him at the Sanctuary, where the players were fed fish caught by the singer and watched him perform two songs, including a new one called “I Ain’t Worried About It.” When the camera’s attention finally returned to the game, the real action happened, and one alliance pulled off the biggest blindside of the season so far. [Warning: Spoilers for Survivor 50 Episode 4 ahead!]
Mike White orchestrated Q Burdette’s elimination in Episode 3. In Episode 4, Vatu returned to the tribal council, and the David vs. Goliath trio was at the center of negotiations. Ozzy Lusth was determined to vote out Angelina Keeley so he could make Mike reliant upon him. Emily Flippen and Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick were willing to vote for Angelina, too, and they wanted Mike to join.
Mike didn’t want his close friend eliminated, so he started saying that she’s not a good player and that she could be just a number for their alliance moving forward (given their close friendship, this probably isn’t his true opinion about Angelina, but rather Mike knowing that this could be a winning argument to protect her from others). Mike offered Emily as a voting option instead, arguing that she’s a big strategic threat. Stephenie was down to join his side because she was left without allies after she was blindsided by the elimination of her No. 1 ally, Q.
Zac Brown and Jeff Probst in ‘Survivor 50’ Episode 4 (Robert Voets / CBS)
Mike told Angelina and Christian Hubicki everything, putting his trust in his fellow Season 37 alums. Voting out Emily was a hard sell for Christian, who has been working with her all season. Mike feared that Christian was falling into an alliance with another player who would eventually stab him in the back, as Gabby Pascuzzi did in their previous season. (Gabby and Christian made all of their moves together. Gabby tried to vote him out because of that, eventually, but the votes didn’t count. The betrayal still stung.) The White Lotus creator called himself a “Machiavellian puppet master,” pulling Christian’s strings in the game, but that narrative was flipped on its head.
Christian clocked Mike’s powers of manipulation and declared that he was “the most dangerous person on this or any island.” He hatched a plan to vote Mike out. He planned a 3-2-1 vote, with him, Stephenie, and Emily voting for Mike, Mike and Angelina voting for Emily, and Ozzy voting for Angelina. As Mike suggested, Christian decided it was better to keep Ozzy out of the loop and try to fix the relationship later. Christian’s perceptiveness is making him one of the strongest players this season — he said that Ozzy won’t vote for Mike because he’s angling for a cameo on The White Lotus — but he’ll be in trouble once other players catch on to that skill.
Christian’s plan was solid, and Emily was down for it once she learned of Mike’s plot against her, but she didn’t feel comfortable leaving Ozzy out of the loop. She told Ozzy that Mike was flipping the vote on her right in front of Christian and Stephenie, but she stayed quiet about the plan to vote for Mike instead of Angelina. Christian was shocked and thought she was just blurting out information without thinking, but he might not have realized that this was likely Emily’s way of maintaining some control, just like when she told his secret to Angelina in Episode 3.
Christian said he’s “never felt more conflicted on a vote,” but his blindside against Mike did work. The vote went exactly as he planned it, making Mike the fourth person voted out of Survivor 50 and the fifth person sent home overall. Ozzy was vocally pissed off. It’s sad to see Mike go home so early when he’s a good strategist and great character to boot, but the Emmy-winning writer left us with some good writing in his reaction to his blindside.
“You skunks!” he said in shock when his fate was revealed. “Amazing. Good job, you guys.”
Stephenie said something inaudible to Ozzy, to which he replied, “F**k that.” Christian told Ozzy, “I’ll catch you up,” as they walked out, and the captions onscreen said that Ozzy replied, “Too late.”
The preview for Episode 5 showed Ozzy’s angry post-tribal reaction and revealed that there will be a double elimination.
Survivor 50, Wednesdays, 8/7c, CBS