With just five castaways left, “Survivor 48” is quickly approaching its finale, set to air this Wednesday, May 21, on CBS. The three-hour finale will see the remaining castaways – Joe Hunter, Eva Erickson, Kyle Fraser, Kamilla Karthigesu, and Mitch Guerra – battle it out in two individual immunity challenges, two eliminations, and a nail-biting Final Tribal Council that host Jeff Probst describes as “remarkable” and “tremendous.”
More on the Final Five Castaways of ‘Survivor 48’
Moving into the finale, allies Joe and Eva seem to be leading the pack when it comes to their chances at claiming the $1,000,000 grand prize and title of “Sole Survivor.” After originally joining the Lagi Tribe at the start of the game, the 45-year-old fire captain and the 24-year-old PhD candidate became fast friends who bonded even further when Eva revealed her autism diagnosis to Joe.
Eva made history as the first-ever openly autistic “Survivor” castaway. In Episode 4 of Season 48, despite being separated onto different tribes, Joe was able to help Eva work through a breakdown triggered by her autism in a touching moment that brought even Probst to tears – a historic first for the series.
The duo’s dominance in the game has been noted by other players, including Mary Zheng, who warned her fellow finalist Kyle that he had no chance of winning “Survivor” unless Joe and Eva were separated ahead of Final Tribal Council.
Since the tribes merged on Episode 6, Joe and Eva have worked closely with original Civa Tribe allies Kyle and Kamilla. The 31-year-old attorney and the 31-year-old software engineer have been slowly building their resumes ahead of the finale, orchestrating the eliminations of both David Kinne and Shauhin Davari.
Then there’s lone wolf Mitch. Despite also starting the game on the Civa Tribe, Mitch has spent much of his time post-merge on the outs or on the chopping block. Despite that, Mitch has managed to work his way into the finale, but will his scrappy energy be enough to win over the jury?
“It’s very rare to have a final five where you can make a legitimate case for any of them to win,” Probst told Entertainment Weekly ahead of the finale. “That’s what we have with this group. Anyone can win. It will all come down to who sits next to who in the final three. Those final two immunity challenges and control over who makes fire will be key.”
CBSJeff Probst Promises ‘Remarkable’ End to ‘Survivor 48’
Speaking further on the upcoming finale, and looking back at the entirety of the season, Probst similarly revealed that, “‘Survivor 48’ is one of my all-time favorite seasons. I felt it the minute the players got off the boat in Fiji. There was an electricity from the group that was palpable. Those first moments are always telling because despite spending all year getting to know these players as individuals, we can’t predict anything about the group dynamic that will take place once they are all together.”
The long-time host continued: “So the morning of day one is always a big indicator. That same enthusiastic energy is there all the way to the end. It was remarkable! It’s a tremendous finale and a fitting end to a great season of ‘Survivor’.”
Looking forward to Final Tribal Council, Probst added that “the final three should expect to really have to explain and defend their game” to the jury that will, at that point, be made up of the eight players eliminated post-merge. So far, the jury is composed of Cedrek McFadden, Chrissy Sarnowsky, David Kinne, Star Toomey, Mary Zheng and Shauhin Davari. An additional two castaways will join the jury before the season’s “sole survivor” is determined.
The finale of “Survivor 48” is set to air tomorrow, Wednesday, May 21, at 8:00pm ET on CBS. Check out a preview for the season finale below.
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Jeff Probst Teases ‘Tremendous’ Finale for ‘Survivor 48’