Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Dustin Rowles | TV | March 20, 2025
Spoilers
This season of Survivor — the 48th in the reality series’ run — has been noteworthy for casting genuinely good people. There’s Joe, a firefighter who has taken Eva, a woman with autism, under his wing. There’s Mary, a substance abuse counselor whose résumé includes stints in AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps. There’s Mitch, a school P.E. coach with a stutter and a huge heart; Cedric, a surgeon so empathetic that, according to subreddit gossip, he spent a full two hours at Tribal agonizing over which of his two closest friends to vote out; and even David, a stunt performer who, at first glance, seems like a musclebound meathead but turns out to be a sweet, fatherly type. He lives in a trailer in his parents’ yard and wants nothing more than to marry the woman he loves and raise a family.
Survivor’s greatest strength — and the reason it remains compelling after all these years — is its ability to find captivating personalities and bring out their most interesting traits on-screen. After a lackluster 47th season filled with cutthroat, unlikable players who prioritized the game over everything else, this season has been a breath of fresh air.
That is, with one exception: Thomas. Social media has dubbed him “our evil gay king,” and he had all the makings of a classic Survivor villain. He was chaotic, polarizing, and utterly fascinating — a player you either loved, hated, or loved to hate. Over the course of four episodes, I experienced all three emotions.
Alas, Thomas won’t be around for a fifth, thanks to one of the most successful blindsides in Survivor history.
Let’s cut to the immunity challenge, where — after a tribal swap — the newly formed Vulu tribe consisted of Joe, Thomas, debate professor Shauhin, Kyle, and Kamilla.
Joe, Thomas, and Shauhin had already formed an alliance in their original tribe, the self-proclaimed “California Girls (despite being all men),” while Kyle and Kamilla were newcomers from the Civa tribe. On paper, Vulu was a powerhouse and expected to dominate the challenge. They certainly thought so, and they made sure to say as much.
Which is exactly why I knew they were doomed. Survivor loves humbling confident players, and anytime a tribe gets a cocky pre-challenge edit, you can bet the Survivor gods are preparing to smite them.
Sure enough, Vulu surged to an early lead in the physical portion of the challenge only to completely collapse on the puzzle, squandering their advantage and finishing dead last.
Even so, the California Girls weren’t worried. They had the numbers, 3-2, and neither Kamilla nor Kyle seemed like much of a threat. To Joe, Thomas, and Shauhin, the two newcomers didn’t even seem particularly close, despite spending the first eight days on a tribe together.
Which is exactly what Kyle and Kamilla wanted them to believe.
In reality, Kyle and Kamilla had formed a secret alliance back on Civa and maintained it through the swap. They also had two massive advantages: Kyle had a hidden immunity idol that no one knew about, and Kamilla had an extra vote. Not that she even needed it.
What followed was an Oscar-worthy performance. Kyle and Kamilla played the part of helpless outcasts to perfection, pretending to be resigned to their fate. They just needed to sniff out which of the three the California Girls were voting for, play the idol on that person, and flip their two votes onto Thomas. If the California Girls attempted a vote split, Kamilla’s extra vote would ensure they still had the numbers.
And then, as if the Survivor gods weren’t already smiling on them, Thomas did something spectacularly stupid. While Kyle was away from camp, Thomas rifled through his bag, looking for an idol in front of Kamilla. Kyle actually had an idol, hidden in his shoe, but Thomas failed to find it. That alone was reason enough for him to go home: If you’re going to break the sacred code of Survivor by bag-searching, at least do it properly.
At Tribal, Kyle and Kamilla kept up the act. “We’ve become friends,” they said. “It’s a bummer that one of us has to go, but it’s a game. We understand.”
Thomas, Joe, and Shauhin—so confident in their numbers and so certain no idols were in play, dropped all three votes on Kyle.
Kyle played his idol.
Kamilla and Kyle dropped their votes on Thomas.
And just like that, in one of the most stunning blindsides in early-season Survivor history, Thomas was gone. What an episode, and the reason so many of us keep coming back to this show year after year.
