Tonight on CBS their Emmy Award-winning series Survivor Kaoh Rong airs with an all new Wednesday May 18, season 32 finale called, “Not Going Down Without a Fight,” and we have your weekly recap below! Tonight, the final castaways battle for a game-changing reward to help determine their fate. Later, they face the jury and plead their case before the jury members vote for a winner.
On the last episode, one castaway struggled to overcome feeling betrayed by their strongest ally. Did you watch the last episode? If you missed it we have a full and detailed recap, right here for you.
On tonight’s episode as per the CBS synopsis, “the remaining castaways fight for a game-changing reward to help determine their fate. Then, after 39 intense days of one of the toughest seasons in Survivor history, one castaway will be crowned Sole Survivor and awarded the $1 Million prize, on the two-hour season finale, followed by the one-hour live reunion show hosted by Emmy Award winner Jeff Probst.”
Tonight’s season 32 finale looks like they are going to be great and you won’t want to miss them, so be sure to tune in for our live coverage of CBS’s Survivor: Kaoh Rong episodes at 8:00 PM EST! While you wait for our recap hit the comments and let us know how excited you are about season 32.
Tonight’s episode begins now – Refresh Page often to get the most current updates!
#SurvivorFinale starts live in LA with Jeff in the studio. They have all the Survivors from the season chatting in the green room. Jeff talks about idols not played and Mark the chicken who came so far without being eaten plus a record number of medical evaluations.
Jeff also announces that there is one twist left in the game that could make or break it for a survivor. Mark the chicken is making noise and annoying Cydney. Tai goes to get the chicken to make it be quiet. Mark sits on Tai’s neck while they watch the sun rise.
Tai says he can’t use his idol anymore so he feels vulnerable. Tai checks on Aubrey and says every time Jeff shows up on the beach they lose someone. They talk about staying together and Aubry getting close to Cydney and hope they can take out Michele.
Aubry says Michele has good social ties so they don’t want to take her to the end. Michele tells Cydney if she doesn’t win immunity, she’s in trouble. Michele tells Cydney she wants to move forward with her. Cydney knows everyone wants to take her to the end.
They talk about taking three girls to the end. Michele says it’s anyone’s game. Next is a #RewardChallenge and they race under a net, slide tiles to a target then use a machete to move tiles through obstacles to a table and then sort them into pairs. The three that don’t match reveal a combination.
That unlocks a box to raise a flag. The winner gets a meal to refuel spirit and body including a protein bar, steak, juice, and more. Tai takes an early lead. Cydney falls behind along with Michele. Aubry picks up a bunch that didn’t make it to try again.
Michele and Aubry are falling behind. Cydney gets all hers and stacks a bunch on her machete to give it a try. Cydney drops all her tiles and has to start again. Aubry is done and starts stacking and now Tai starts stacking too.
Aubry takes the lead and delivers a stack to her table. Michele starts stacking. Aubry gets a second stack. Cydney drops again. Michele has to start again and Aubry delivers another stack. Tai drops and has to restart. Michele finally delivers a stack.
Aubry is done and starts making pairs of her tiles. Cydney delivers one stack. Aubry thinks she has it but one of her pairs is off. Aubry tries the combination and is off. She runs back and still doesn’t spot her mismatched pair.
Tai delivers more tiles. Aubry tries again and gets it wrong. Tai delivers more. Aubry curses and runs back. Michele brings more tiles to her table. Tai is back with his last pile and starts making piles as is Cydney. Aubry finds her mistake and now has the right numbers.
She tries again with her combination. Cydney tries a combination and so does Tai. Tai is wrong and so is Cydney. Aubry gets it and her flag goes up. She wins reward and runs to hug Jeff. Aubry comes over and she says it’s good to win her first individual competition.
Jeff offers to double it and let her bring one person. She can also decline to bring anyone so she’s the sole one. She chooses Cydney to go along with her.
Cydney and Aubry sit down at a nice table near the camp to eat their yummy meal. Cydney is thrilled she chose her and says this makes them trust each other more. Michele thinks that Aubry should not have chosen Cydney since she chose her before.
Michele now thinks she needs a back-up plan with Tai. Michele talks to Tai who agrees to work with her because he wants to keep his options open. Now it’s time for the #ImmunityChallenge and the four show up ready to do this.
Jeff takes back the necklace from Cydney. They have to retrieve tries to get a ball and rope to drop a ladder to get another lock to get puzzle pieces to build a large three level puzzle. They draw for spots and start. This one looks long and grueling. Aubry takes the early lead again.
Aubry gets her lock and then Tai who takes over the lead from Aubry. Michele and Cydney are close behind. Aubry is back with Tai close behind. The other two are close too. Aubry is still in the lead. Tai falls behind. Aubry heads up the ladder for her last key.
Tai then drops his ladder and heads up. Aubry heads back with the last key. Cydney is up the ladder and so is Michele. Aubry is back out in the water with a good sized lead. Tai and Cydney are close followed by Michele. Aubry gets her puzzle pieces and heads back.
Cydney gets her pieces fast. Cydney is close behind Aubry followed by Tai then Michele. Aubry starts on her puzzle as does Cydney. This is a mentally challenging puzzle. Tai completes the first level and takes the lead. Michele also has hers done.
Tai completes the second level and moves on to the final level. Cydney is way far back. Tai is on the last level and getting close. Michele tries to catch up and is close. Michele is on the third level now too. Tai tries to finish his last level while Michele catches up.
Michele finishes the last level and crows then kicks hers over. Jeff says no one saw that coming. Michele gets her immunity necklace and Jeff congratulates her. That puts her in the final three and Tai, Aubry and Cydney have to cannibalize their alliance.
Back at camp, Michele is thrilled she’s in the finals when a few days ago, no one gave a crap about her. Tao and Aubry go for water and talk about taking out Cydney. Aubry needs Tai more than ever and says that will be two votes Cydney and it could go to a fire challenge.
Tai asks Aubry if she knows how to make fire and she’s worried that Tai might turn on her. Michele tells Cydney she won’t write down her name and Cydney says she’ll vote with Michele. Cydney and Michele agree that Aubry would get more jury votes.
They agree that Tai won’t speak well for himself to the jury and he’s better to take along. Michele says Tai will vote with them as long as it’s not his name that gets written down. Cydney wonders if she should practice her fire skills just in case but Michele reassures her.
Tai talks to Michele and Cydney and they tell him they’re voting out Aubry. Tai says he’s in shock. Aubry thinks Tai is being shady and worries he’ll take her out. She says she won’t go down without a fight and they head to #TribalCouncil.
The jury comes in – Neal, Nick, Debbie, Scot, Julia, Jason, and Joe. Michele says the puzzle just clicked and that’s how she finished it out. Jeff asks Tai about the vibe at camp since he only has two choices to vote. Tai says there is no alliance now. Aubry rolls her eyes.
Jeff asks Aubry how big this is tonight and she says the person who goes to jury tonight has tons of information to give. Cydney says you have to pick people to sit beside you that aren’t as big of a threat. Aubry says it’s not easy to determine what’s a threat.
Aubry says some of the things she sees people say about her that are threats she thinks of as a weakness. Cydney says it’s a me game, not a we game right now. Tai agrees and says a million is a big number. Michele says she feels nervous and wants to use the power wisely.
Jeff calls for the vote, they vote, then Jeff goes to count them. He reads the votes – Aubry, Cydney, Aubry, and Cydney. There’s a tie. Julia is thrilled. Jeff asks if they need a revote or the votes are locked in. Michele and Tai agree they are locked in. Jeff says it’s time to make fire.
They start making fire and Aubry has flames going. Cydney cannot get a flame going at all and Aubry has a huge blaze going and just needs to get it to aim at the rope. Cydney gets a tiny flame going and then it goes out. Aubry’s rope starts to burn.
Aubry messed hers up and was close to burning it through and made an adjustment that knocked her height over. Cydney is still struggling to get a flame. Aubry’s fire is close to the bottom and the flame is gone. Aubry finally gets it built back up and that sends Cydney to the jury.
Cydney cries and says she wanted to pay off her mom’s mortgage and get her some health insurance. She’s crying and Aubry looks like she feels really bad for her. Jeff tells Cydney to bring up her torch and snuffs it out.
They head back to camp and we see the votes – Tai voted Cydney and Michele voted Aubry. Jeff introduces Cydney’s mom at the live finale show. She’s crying and says she didn’t know what Cydney was going to say.
Tangelea, her mom, says that it was hard to watch her struggling earlier in the season and says she started crying in the kitchen and says that’s her baby. She says she’s so proud of her baby. Her mom has guns too and Jeff says bodybuilding must run in the family.
Back at camp, on night 37, Michele says that was crappy feeling and Aubry agrees it was brutal. Aubry says it was the last thing she thought she’d be doing but is proud of herself that she pulled it out. Tai said Cydney didn’t think the vote would go that way.
Michele agrees she didn’t think it would go that way either. Michele sees Aubry as a huge threat while she has for a long time. Michele tells Tai that he just handed Aubry a million-dollar win. Michele says she’s grateful that she gets to sit with them and duke it out.
Tai tells them that Jeff didn’t say it’s up to the jury and says that’s what he usually says. He thinks there is another challenge but Aubry says there’s not. The next day, Michele picks up tree mail and says it’s a final challenge and the winner decides who stays and goes.
Tai says he knew it. Aubry says they thought they had finished and it’s final two this year. Tai says the game is individual now. Tai says it’s anybody’s game and Aubry says it’s do or die for her. Jeff greets them at the last challenge.
There’s a brains, a brawn and a beauty left. Jeff takes back the necklace from Michele. Jeff says immunity is not up for grabs. He says that’s not what you’re playing for. He says they are the final three. Jeff says there is a but. They will vote someone out tonight.
He says it won’t be each other. The winner of today’s challenge can vote out a jury member. Jeff says if you’re concerned about someone not voting for you, you can send them out. Jeff says they have to balance on a wobbly beam on a springs while stacking balls on stands.
The first person to finish can vote out a jury member. Jeff says this is from the first challenge but no one chose it since it was optional and difficult. It’s close. Michele is on her fourth with two away but then drops and Tai takes the lead with four.
Jeff reminds them to be careful when they jump off the platform. Aubry loses all of hers and Tai’s stack goes tumbling too. Everyone restarts and Michele takes the lead again. Michele has four with two to go. Tai has fallen behind. Michele has one ball left to go.
Aubry and Michele are neck and neck. Michele has one ball left and so does Aubry. They both place the balls but then hers fall and Michele wins the reward. She’ll get to choose a jury member to eliminate. Jeff hands her the reward and says write it on the parchment.
Jeff says she gets to read the note to let the jury know how they’ll be impacted. Jeff says it’s the first Tribal where no one of the tribe gets voted off.
After the challenge, they all hug and dance around. Tai says he was terrified and Aubry says they can all stay friends now. Michele is happy and says the jury member thing is huge but she doesn’t know what she’ll do. She wants to think through all the possible outcomes.
Michele tells Tai she’s thinking of getting rid of Joe since he’ll vote for Aubry for sure. Tai says it might be smarter to take Neal out since he can persuade people. Tai is hoping to get her to tip the balance in his favor without her knowing. Now Michele thinks Joe or Neal.
Tai wants Neal out and got her to think it was her idea. Then Michele talks to Aubry and says she thinks Joe is the only one who’s 100% in one direction plus Neal. Aubry isn’t happy since she knows Joe and Neal would vote for her. She asks Aubry’s thoughts.
Aubry says Tai has more votes than he’s letting on and they talk about who will vote for him. Michele says Jason or Scot could go either way. She says Jason or Scot would not vote for her. Aubry says Joe won’t get up and maul anyone but Scot might slander her.
Aubry says Tai has a good story if he can articulate it. Aubry now hopes she’s planted a seed against Scot. All three talk and Aubry says Scot. Aubry says Jason and Scot are very persuasive and Tai knows that Aubrey is being clever since Scot might vote against him.
Michele says Scot might make a case for someone. Tai says Neal is much more dangerous. Michele says it’s scary because if she takes out the wrong person, she can look stupid right before the jury votes. They head to the final Tribal Council.
Neal, Nick, Debbie, Scot, Julia, Jason, Joe and Cydney comes in and take the jury seats. Jeff says tomorrow night they get a shot to plead their case to the jury but tonight is something else. Jeff says this was Michele’s fourth individual win.
He has Michele read it. She reads about voting out a jury member and jaws drop. That jury member won’t get to come to Tribal and can’t vote for the winner. Jeff says it’s clear. Michele says one vote could be win or lose and says she bounced ideas off them too.
Michele says you could see them protecting their relationships and trying to steer her in certain ways. Aubry says this is uncharted territory since it’s new. She says you can play a sure thing who won’t vote for you or make a move.
Jeff says it’s simple to him and asks Tai what he thinks. Tai says you can vote someone else who might influence the jury when they speak or that might ask hard questions to you at the final Tribal. Scot whispers that it sounds like Jason.
Jeff says this is like final Tribal has already started and asks if she feels confident in her choice. Michele says she has as much information as she can and has chosen someone who could be very persuasive and their vote wouldn’t go for her anyway.
Michele goes to write down her vote. She comes back and Jeff goes to get her vote. He comes back and the jury talks about what a twist this is. Jeff then reads the name of the jury member who will miss out on final Tribal – it’s Neal.
Neal calls Michele a puppy suckling at the teat and doesn’t have a chance to win. Jeff says based on that, she made the right choice and Michele laughs and says yes. Neal says that was a great swan song and Michele was right to vote him out but he thinks it won’t matter since Tai and Aubry played better games.
Back at camp after that Tribal, we see Mark the chicken in a hammock and Michele says Neal mauled her on the way out and that proved why she was right to get rid of him. Michele says this could be a roast. Aubry is upset that Neal is gone but she’s still in it.
In the morning, they have the mirror and scale to check out their appearance. Michele works on her jury argument. Tai says he looks like a refugee and Aubry says her butt is gone. Now they pick up their breakfast. They carry their food back to the camp.
Tai hopes he can convince the jury and says Scot’s blindside was his big move that changed the game. He says he betrayed him and has to win him over and hopes Scot respects game play since he’s a fan of Survivor.
Aubry says this has been a huge transformation and says she was so paralyzed by making decisions and this game shook her out of that. Tai picks up Mark the chicken to bring him to Tribal with them. Aubry is excited to plea her case but says it’s been all over the map.
They take their seats for #FinalTribal. The jury comes in – Nick, Debbie, Scot, Julia, Jason, Joe, and Cydney. Jeff says they’ve gone as far as they can. Jeff says the jury needs to get information to make a million dollar decision.
Nick is first and congratulates them. He says there will be some animosity and some might not get questions but statements and says take advantage. He tells Michele to display intelligence then tells Tai to display awareness and tells Aubry to display confidence.
He says his vote is up in the air and many are too. Debbie is next and says she’s proud of them and then says Tai had some inexplicable vote switching and wants to know if he’s got more than one personality in his skull. Tai says he didn’t flip back and forth like that.
He says he was with Scot and Aubry til the merge then Scot and Jason took over the show and were trying to vote out Aubry so he vote the alliance. He says to him it was consistent and the one time he switched was when he voted for Scot.
Debbie says she liked to watch Aubry’s transformation into geek warrior. Debbie says she helped keep her in the game and then Aubry says she wanted to keep her and it scared her when Debbie has heat stroke and says it was hard but game wise, she was too much of a threat.
Julia tells Michele she was the weakest link initially and got lucky by missing Tribal for 22 days and says she was just a number and was dragged. She says she was proud when Michele voted her out and asks if it’s enough to justify the win.
Michele says it took her time to gain her footing. She says you have to prove that you’re strong or smart coming in on beauty. Michele says she figured it out and excelled and thought out decisions every step of the way. Julia says Tai started out strong then fell apart at the merge.
She asks him why she would vote for him. Tai says he got the tools he needed, blindsided Scot and wasn’t weak but found an alliance he was comfortable in to go to the end. Tai says his accomplishments early on trumped what Michele did later.
Joe is next and he says he knows Michele’s game so is going to talk to the others. Joe says Tai is selfless and hard-working then asks what makes him think he should win over Aubry. He says he accomplished more, found idols and did the blindside.
Joe ask Aubry why she should win. Aubry says Tai came to her with information but she implemented the ideas and says if he didn’t have her, he would have messed up. She says he was on the wrong side of many votes despite the advantages that he had.
Jason says it’s truth time and says he doesn’t know who he’s voting for. He asks Michele about the Scot blindside and not knowing. Michele says she wasn’t told about the vote because that alliance of four didn’t trust Julia so she made a vote to tighten an alliance.
She says Tai wanted her out and says she made moves to get there. Jason asks Tai the real reason he left them. Tai says Jason and Scot had a strong bond and he was scared they would vote them out and says they always talk man stuff and says it’s savage and says he can’t talk like that.
Tai says he got scared of their relationship. Cydney is up next and asks Aubry if she was gunning for her at the last tribal. Aubry says the plan was Michele but then she won immunity. Aubry says Cydney was with her all along and had good ideas because she had to vote her out.
Cydney says Michele could have gone against her but let her make fire. Aubry asks Michele if she knew they were voting Cydney. Michele says no but she could have flipped and says she would have saved her if she could have since she wanted to be there with her.
Scot is next and says he’ll make it quick. Scot says he got an idol and didn’t use it and blew his advantage. He says none of the advantages did him any good. Scot says Aubry started out well then asks why he should vote for her
Aubry says Scot is a competitor and can appreciate her style was different but she played with her strengths. Scot tells Michele he would never have thought she was there. He says Tai and Aubry got weaker and she got stronger and applauds her.
Jeff says he wants to give each of them a chance to make a final statement. Aubry says she came into this game with a rough start and her game evolved. She says she managed a lot of personalities to get there and says she tried hard in every challenge then made fire at the end.
Aubry says she loves this game and loves seeing what this game brings out and says she played her heart out. Tai says this game is so hard and all the back stabbing is difficult. He says he believes goodness and kindness. He quotes a Vietnamese proverb.
He says wind and waves blow us apart. He says he couldn’t hold on to Scot. Michele says she had to keep her cool and have faith in herself and is proud of how she played and proud of herself. Jeff then throws it to the jury and says they can have a minute to think then they vote.
Jeff sends them to vote. Julia votes for Michele. Joe votes for Aubry. No other votes are shown. Jeff tells Tai to say goodbye to Mark and let him go. He goes to let him loose and says he hopes no one will eat him. The jury says goodbye to Mark too.
Now we’re live in LA and Tai, Aubry and Michele are front and center. Jeff says this is social politics in the jungle. The votes are Michele, Aubry, Aubry, Michele, Michele, Michele. Michele wins it!
THE END!