Sage delivers a message... TWICE! Survivor 49 recap: Turning Tribal Council into a No Hugs zone

Sage delivers a message... TWICE!

Survivor 49 recap: Turning Tribal Council into a No Hugs zone

Sage delivers a message... TWICE!

By Dalton Ross

Dalton Ross is a writer and editor with over 25 years experience covering TV and the entertainment industry. *Survivor* is kind of his thing.

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October 29, 2025 9:30 p.m. ET

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Alex Moore and Jeff Probst on 'Survivor 49'. Credit:

Robert Voets/CBS

*"I'm gonna give you a handshake, because I want the hug to be genuine and I don't think I can give that to you right now. But I look forward to hugging you in the future, okay? Take care."*

Now, see, if you had not watched episode 6 of *Survivor 49* and were told that quote was said after the latest Tribal Council vote, you would assume it was uttered by the person who had just been blindsided into oblivion and was bitter at an alleged ally for brutally cutting short their reality television hopes and dreams. BUT NO! You'd be wrong! So wrong.

Instead, in a complete flip the script moment, that quote was uttered by the *blindsider* in question, Sage, who refused to hug the disposed of Shannon. The interaction was made even more awkward by the fact that Shannon was already standing right there with arms wide open in anticipation of a warm, cleansing embrace. But Sage essentially struck a Heisman Trophy pose, stiff-arming Shannon from any sort of reconciliation.

After a series of ho-hum eliminations — and, honestly, a pretty ho hum Tribal Council this week leading into the vote — we finally had a smidgeon of spice back in our *Survivor* meal. Even if I don't believe Sage was even trying to be spicy. All season long, the thing Sage has prized most is authenticity. We've seen it in the way she freely lets her freak flag fly talking about pee, poo, and her horror movie jar of blackheads. We've also seen how negatively she reacts when she watches someone she believes is being inauthentic. And that someone has been Shannon.

Sage Ahrens-Nichols on 'Survivor 49'.

Robert Voets/CBS

The eye rolls while giving Shannon hugs (before hugs were banned). The barf motions after Shannon would turn her back. The funky facial expressions as Shannon would go on and on about something wavy gravy and hippy drippy. They were all total *Survivor* money shots and immediate GIF gifts for the viewing audience — every one of them. *Survivor* editors had to be high-fiving themselves every time one of them showed up on their monitors.

Sage could have stopped there and given Shannon her consolation hug after winning the day by turning the tribe vote against her. It would have been so easy. No muss, no fuss. But that's not Sage. Sure, in the game, you have to hug people you don't want to hug or else you'll be the first person voted out, but once they *are* voted out, hugs become optional, and Sage opted out.

Why? Because Sage wasn't feeling it. And for her, that was enough of a reason. As much as I really, really, really want to believe that Sage meant this as a huge f--- you gesture and was about to morph into *Survivor* supervillain mode and burn everything down, I think it just comes down to exactly what she said — wanting there to be actual authenticity in the act.

You could tell how much of not only Shannon's perceived fakeness was grinding her gears, but how much of Sage's *own* fakeness in having to act sweet and nice and sisterly with the woman who floated her name was wearing on her. So the second she could put an end to said fakeness, she did. Which also explains her comment of "I can breathe" after Shannon walked out of Tribal Council.

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But here's the thing. While Shannon was certainly being fake in doing what every other *Survivor* player in history has done by acting nice to someone she was planning to vote out at one point, I actually don't think she was being super inauthentic in general. The Shannon I saw talking about God and spirituality and meditation at Kele 2.0 was the same Shannon I experienced in my pre-game interview with her the day before the game began. Was she playing it up a bit to help make social connections in the game? I SHOULD HOPE SO! That's what *Survivor* is!

I guess what I'm saying is that knowing Sage and what she values most in human interactions, I can see why she was annoyed. Here was a person acting like they were kissy-kissy soul sisters while simultaneously floating her name. But I also don't think Shannon was doing anything completely un-Shannon like, and any modulating she *did* do is what any strong *Survivor* player *should* do. Now, whether you enjoy that Shannon-like behavior or it annoys you is another question entirely, but it all felt very undeniably Shannon to me.

Speaking of which, when it comes to game, I was *waaaaaay* off on Shannon in one respect. After speaking with her pre-season, I thought she would be a kooky character completely oblivious to the underhanded machinations of the game as she led meditation sessions on the beach. I mean, I was right about the meditation sessions, but wrong about pretty much everything else as she was playing the game and playing it hard. (Too hard, some might say.)

Even though she played it off as well as one could, I'm guessing Shannon was super confused about why Sage wouldn't hug her, and I look forward to asking her all about when we chat on Thursday morning. But for now, let's hug it out and recap everything else that went down on episode 6 of *Survivor 49.*

Shannon Fairweather on 'Survivor 49'.

Robert Voets/CBS

A second switcheroo

If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again. Seeing as how the first tribe swap failed to shake anything up and gave us two more obvious telegraphed votes, the producers decided to blow it all up again and expand back to three tribes. And here's where we ended up.

**KELE 3.0****Steven**Shannon**Sage**Jawan****KEY TAKEAWAY:** Thank you, *Survivor* gods for keeping Sage and Shannon on the same beach. This entire swap would have been a disaster of massive proportions had those two not remained chained together. And it's why having three original Hina and only one Uli was not an obvious death sentence for Steven.

**ULI 3.0 **(although I guess technically 2.0 since there was no Uli 2.0)**Sophie**Kristina**Alex**Nate****KEY TAKEAWAY:** And thank you, *Survivor* gods for not having Uli lose the immunity challenge, which would have led to yet another super obvious vote, this time of my preseason pick to win it all, Nate. (Unless Sophie was actually serious about taking out one of her own in Kristina. I'm not convinced she was.)

**HINA 3.0****MC**Sophi**Rizo**Savannah****KEY TAKEAWAY:** Our ultimate result would have been for Hina to lose and then see what would have happened with MC looking for her immunity idol, and then following what the power trio of Rizo, Savannah, and Sophi would have done had she found it. Would Rizo have played his idol? Would they have tried to convince MC not to use hers? Would Savannah and Rizo loaded up votes on Sophi as insurance? At least for how it would have played out this week, we'll never truly know.

Jeff Probst on 'Survivor 49'.

Robert Voets/CBS

Down goes Mills! Down goes Mills!

This week's reward challenge was a solid one in that it introduced some new tweaks and variations to stages we have seen before, with players having to knock discs off poles (be careful saying that 10 times fast) and then use those discs to knock over four bamboo statues.

Rizo won his tribe grilled cheese sandwiches and iced tea with his disc-throwing prowess, but what was of even bigger note — sorry to gloss over your athletic success, R-I-Z-G-O-D — was what happened before and after the competition.

I don't know if Kristina was feeling faint or having a panic attack or what. And lord knows I am no Dr. Barry, so I will not attempt to diagnose through my TV screen while halfway through a Milwaukee's Best light courtesy of Nick Caruso. But it was another insightful reminder as to the absolute anxiety that *Survivor* can inspire at pretty much any moment. "It's just been a lot today, Uncle Jeff," Kristina explained of needing medical attention after breathing heavy and sitting down on her tribe mat. "I really miss my kids, I miss my husband, and then it's like everything hits at once."

And the next person it hit was none other than… JEFF PROBST! The Hostmaster General was doubled over in exhaustion at the end of the challenge, leading Rizo to the line of the week, telling Probst, "Welcome to *Survivor*." That almost makes up for the confessional interview done with a snorkel in his mouth. *Almost.*

This just in: Sophi eats food

A few notable events were happening at the new Hina beach. For one thing, for the first time all season, Sophi got to eat actual food! On day 11! Don't worry, I'm not going to go on and on about how hard the new era is because I honestly don't really care *at all* if the new era is easier or harder than the old era. I really don't! Like, on the scale of things I care about, it is somewhere in between what color baseball cap Jeff Probst wears to a challenge (which I care more about) and the general existence of the Shoe Bandit alter ego (which I could not have cared less about). But still, 10 days with no real food suuuuuuuuuuuucks.

Of course, this was an excellent episode for Sophi beyond mere grilled cheese consumption. She also found a Knowledge is Power advantage. Not only did she find it, but she did what every single *Survivor* viewer yells at players to do when they find idols or advantages. Stick it in your underwear? No, although that is often the only option. Rather, Sophi refrained from immediately blabbing about her advantage to Savannah and Rizo, keeping the discovery all to herself. If only more players would follow her lead.

But Sophi was not the only member of Hina 3.0 to do something smart, so let's make like FTD and keep passing out flowers. As the clear outsider on Hina 3.0, MC made a strong play in telling Rizo that she knew about his immunity idol. For one thing, she possibly banks some honesty points with him for later on. But even if she does not do that, MC at least carves out some potential cracks in original Uli between Rizo and Sage, whom she outed as telling them all about his idol. And I think we all know what that means: NO HUG FOR YOU LATER, MC!!!

Michelle 'MC' Chukwujekwu on 'Survivor 49'.

An actual Sophie with an E sighting!

Kinda weird that arguably the best episode of the season featured not one, but *two* extended scenes of players fishing, but whatevs. Personally, I was more intrigued by the excellent editing choice to show Nate being so proud of himself for deceiving his new original Uli tribe members by claiming he was trying to work with Jason… and then immediately following it with shots of everybody else later saying how that didn't buy any of it. Classic.

But that didn't mean that all the original Ulis were fully aligned. Sophie (who is a person that I swear is on this season, contrary to all the evidence otherwise) had some key scenes — FINALLY! — that gave some perspective as to how she has viewed her position in the tribe. She was "livid" that Kristina threw her name out as the decoy vote to make Nate feel comfortable, telling us, "I'm tired of being on the bottom of all these alliances."

Sophie was hoping to continue making a connection with Alex, but knew there was some work to be done to become his true number one. "His closest person out here is the other Sophi," she told us. "I can be his new Sophie! Screw other Sophi! I am the new Sophie!"

See, *that's* the Sophie with an E that I know from not one but two pre-game interviews. We chatted when she was the female alternate for season 48, and then again before 49, and I remember both times thinking how great she would be giving confessionals on the show because she was not afraid to give bold opinions (like when we saw her diss and dismiss fruit as a reward feast item) and be a little spicy with her comments. She also opened up to me a lot about her feelings right after the *Survivor 48* cast photo happened, essentially signaling she had not made the cast.

I thought she would be a breakout star and so have been super surprised that she has been so under-edited. I mean, that happens when your tribe literally wins every single immunity challenge, but still, Sophie's got the goods, and she proved it a bit here this week.

Sophie Segreti on 'Survivor 49'.

Shannon's last stand

Am I the only one who knew the second that Probst said "It seems an impossible comeback" about Uli 3.0's slim chances to make up time on the immunity challenge table maze that Nate and Sophie would pull it out and avoid Tribal Council? I mean, challenges like this are practically designed for huge comebacks, but they're still always fun to watch. Especially after Kristina struggled so mightily to build her wooden pole and retrieve the key.

Couple that with Jawan and Sage's struggles on the table maze, and the comeback was complete (after Hina 3.0 had already dominated, of course), meaning Kele 3.0 was heading to Tribal Council.

First off, can I ask a question? Does Jawan smell? I mean, they *all* smell out there, but does Jawan spell particularly bad? Because why else would everyone want to get rid of the dude? He seems totally genial and harmless and fun, just nerding out and making lots of horror movie analogies. What's the problem?

Savannah wanted him out for taking her bag and water bottle. Okay, fair. But Shannon? She just watched her Uli allies take out two Hinas, and now instead of following suit, she wanted to eat one of her own in Jawan? Seems odd. Not as odd as Jawan initially wanting to keep Shannon after hearing she was gunning for him because he was worried about upsetting Rizo, Savannah, and Nate (Who cares? She said your name first!), but odd nonetheless.

Shannon's big miscalculation was not realizing that Steven was super duper wary of her and wanted nothing to do with "Shark Shannon." He saw what I failed to see in our pre-game interview: that Shannon was a gamer who would do whatever it took to get to the end. Combine that with two Uli members whose names Shannon had thrown out, and it was curtains for the wellness specialist from Boston.

Shannon Fairweather on 'Survivor 49'.

Robert Voets/CBS

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She took her blindside about as well as anyone could in her situation, repeatedly telling the tribe mates that ditched her "nothing but love," and telling the host who snuffed her torch "nothing but grateful." But it also had to hurt. There's a split second where you can see it, right as the second vote for Shannon is read. The otherwise sunny disposition on her face takes a serious hit in that moment, but by the time the deciding vote is read immediately after, she's already recovered.

Which is honestly too bad, because you all know I always prefer a BURN IT ALL DOWN response to being blindsided. It's just way more entertaining. You also want to see from your contestants how much it *matters* to them, and to witness such expressions of pain and anger and hurt in the moment where it all comes crumbling down validates that players are taking this as seriously as we want them to. Shannon didn't give us that, but if she is truly at peace with how everything went down, then more power to her. Me? I would have been a mess. (Just another reason why I also would never go on this show.)

Okay, that's about it, but you know we've got parting gifts for you. If you missed the entire *Survivor 49* cast revealing their secret *Survivor* crushes, then do yourself a favor and go check them out IMMEDIATELY! We'll also hear from Hostmaster General Jeff Probst on the latest episode and hit you up an exclusive deleted scene. Finally, we'll hug it out with Shannon in the form of an exit interview, so prepare yourself for that as well. In the meantime, hold on to your snorkeling gear, and I'll be back next week with another scoop of the crispy!

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