Survivor 49 Episode 9 Recap: Everyone Saw It Coming—Except the Players

I wanted to be wrong about this, but Survivor 49 still feels like The Season Before Survivor 50. We are nine episodes in, four to go, and while Savannah, Rizo, and nerdy Steven are doing everything they can to juice the drama, the season keeps stepping on its own feet.

Back at camp: the fallout everyone tried and failed to hide

The five immune players are waiting at camp, spitballing who just got bounced. The groupthink is that it was either Sophie or Rizo, and ideally Rizo burned his idol to do it. Then the tribe sees MC walk in as the boot. Bigger surprise: Rizo never played his idol.

"The worst case scenario," Kristina says.

To make things messier, the immune five do a terrible job pretending they expected anything other than a Sophie vote, and they do an even worse job hiding their disappointment that she is still there. At least Sophie has absolute clarity about where she stands now.

Alliances reshuffle - or at least try to

Savannah immediately tells Sophi about her extra vote. That locks up a not-so-secret three with Savannah and Rizo, who has the very public idol, plus Sophi and her still-secret Knowledge Is Power advantage. They are quietly locking in a final three plan.

With MC gone, Steven needs a new number and goes to Sage. He spills that Kristina has an idol, and he swears her to secrecy. Sage, tight with Jawan, still wants to keep this new bridge with Steven intact.

Sophie floats teaming up with Sophi and Savannah. Alex, who has been vibing in the middle all game, wants firmer footing. Rizo clocks that instantly and puts Alex on his board as a problem to solve.

Reward: chicken, fries, and a little chaos

Two teams of four roll a heavy metal cube through an obstacle course, climb it to grab a sandbag, crawl under a net, use the bag to knock three rings off a tall pole, then toss those rings back onto the pole. The prize: fried chicken, french fries, and dessert.

Blue is Kristina, Sophie, Alex, and Savannah. Yellow is Rizo, Sage, Steven, and Jawan. Quick note because the episode was confusing about it: Sophi with an i was not picked and backed Yellow from the sidelines; Sophie with an e played for Blue. Also, despite an on-screen hiccup that briefly made it look like Alex was on both teams, he was only on Blue.

Yellow jumps out first, freeing all their rings while Blue is still stuck on their first. But Rizo and Jawan cannot close, and Alex reels it in for Blue.

Kristina tries to give her spot to Jawan since he basically has not eaten all game. He initially declines, saying he wants to earn it, but after a little push he accepts. Normally I hate the optics of this move - you are literally paying a target tax for goodwill - but in the very gentle modern era of the show, maybe it does not hurt her. Still, this is a million-dollar game. Nice does not always mean right.

Post-reward gripes, plotting, and a confession

Sophie is still steamed about everyone acting like she should have been the boot, so the reward talk turns bland in a hurry - lots of people saying they are open to anything, no one saying anything specific. Jawan does not want the mushy middle; he wants him and Sage steering this ship.

Back at camp, Sage and Kristina talk about taking out Savannah and ideally flushing Rizo's idol on the way. Kristina tries to recruit Sophi, thinking she will be an easy number once Rizo and Savannah are gone.

Savannah tells Sophi she lied about being in marketing and actually used to be a reporter. Not exactly the reveal of the century, but it tightens their bond. Then Sophi tells Savannah and Rizo about a split-vote plan brewing that would ideally boot Savannah while flushing Rizo's idol. It does not surprise them, but it lights a fire.

Rizo pivots to creating a common enemy: Alex. He goes full-court press, telling anyone who will listen whatever they need to hear to paint Alex as the move.

Immunity: great idea, weird twist

The challenge is elegantly simple: sit down and press your feet against a disc. Lose contact, you are out. Love it. But because this is modern Survivor, there is an unnecessary wrench - two winners, one man and one woman. Two people safe at final nine? Why.

Steven outlasts Jawan for the men's necklace. On the women's side, it comes down (again) to Savannah vs. Sophie, and Savannah repeats last week by winning back-to-back.

Pre-tribal scrambling

With Savannah safe, the obvious target is Rizo - ideally he does not play his idol. The backup becomes Sophi. Sophie nods along with that plan but suddenly finds herself as the information hub; everyone is bringing her intel.

Rizo knows he is exposed and just wants to get through one more vote with the idol in pocket. If he, Savannah, and Sophi make it to eight with his idol and Savannah's extra vote, they can basically steer the rest of the game. The whole thing hinges on Jawan and Sage flipping.

Alex knows Rizo is gunning for him and instantly starts working Jawan and Sage. From a cold-blooded standpoint, Sophi should be the vote here. Split between Rizo and Sophi, and if you miss, at least the idol is out. Worst case, he survives without it, and you take another swing at Rizo or Savannah next round, depending on who wins immunity.

• Power check: Savannah has an extra vote and immunity this round; Rizo has a very public idol; Sophi has Knowledge Is Power that no one knows about; the swing votes are Jawan and Sage; Alex is the target Rizo is selling to everyone; the backup boot is Sophi if the idol does not come out.

Tribal: trust fall

Rizo keeps his idol in his pocket and trusts Jawan and Sage to come with him. They do. Alex becomes the third member of the jury.

I do not get this from Jawan and Sage. These last two votes feel like they torched their win equity. Credit to Savannah and Rizo for pulling it off, but passing on two clean chances to flush an idol or take out a big threat is baffling.

Programming note

New episodes of Survivor 49 air Wednesdays at 8pm ET/7pm CT on CBS. Episodes hit Paramount+ on Thursdays.