Who got voted off of ‘Survivor 45’ episode 2?

With two episodes in the books, Survivor 45 is in full gear, and two contestants have had their $1-million dream snuffed.

Last week’s premiere ended with Lulu tribe’s Hannah Rose calling it quits. And after suffering another defeat to Reba and Belo at the Immunity Challenge on Oct. 4, the yellow group met host Jeff Probst at Tribal Council again, which spelled the end to superfan Brandon Donlon’s game.

Here’s what happened to Brandon in episode 2.

First, let’s rewind and remember how this premiere went for the 26-year-old content producer from Sicklerville, New Jersey. Although extremely enthusiastic to finally compete in a Survivor challenge, something he envisioned since he was a kid, Brandon was a major reason Lulu lost the first competition to win camp supplies.

He had a terrible experience trying to pull himself from the water and up a ladder, and after burning way too much time on something that should’ve been finished in seconds, the tribe came in last. He was also more of a liability than a help during the opening Immunity Challenge.

Feeling the pressure of his less-than-impressive performances, Brandon said in episode 1 that he was planning on using his “Shot in the Dark” to potentially preserve his game. As history has it, he didn’t need to draw on the mechanism as Hannah’s hunger and lack of sleep took priority over Lulu strengthening itself.

Transitioning into the second round of play, Brandon was more determined than ever to correct course and prove himself an asset to his tribemates: Sabiyah Broderick, Sean Edwards, Kaleb Gebrewold, and Emily Flippen.

So, when a boat pulled in front of Lulu’s beach early in episode 2, and the yellow squad had to pick a player to head off to an unidentified location for an undisclosed reason, Brandon jumped at the opportunity. He was whisked off to another part of the Fijian archipelago, where he joined Reba’s Drew Basile and Belo’s Bruce Perrault — two other castaways chosen by their respective tribes.

After meeting and greeting, the three men went off by themselves and were faced with a puzzle and decision.

They could choose between playing or not playing. If they didn’t, they’d simply leave the beach and reunite with their tribe. If they opted in, they had the opportunity to win a safety without power advantage while risking their vote at the next Tribal Council.

Bruce chose the first option while Brandon and Drew elected to play.

They had a finite amount of time to figure out a code by matching certain puzzle pieces with each other. Drew got it done, and won the ability to avoid elimination by leaving a Tribal Council before the vote.

But, sadly for Brandon, he continued his losing streak. Unable to correctly identify the code, Brandon lost out on the safety advantage while also having his vote stripped from him, which would become relevant later in the episode.

Fast forward to Survivor 45’s second Immunity Challenge, the three tribes were faced with a classic-style water obstacle course that ended with a puzzle. Brandon stepped up in the puzzle-solver position (the most important role in the challenge) alongside Sabiyah.

And even though Lulu kept up with Reba and Belo during the physical portion of the challenge, their hopes of securing immunity were shattered during the tree puzzle. Brandon and Sabiyah couldn’t figure out how to slot in the branches, and with barely any progress on Lulu’s end, Reba finished their puzzle first while Belo completed it seconds after.

Reba and Belo walked away with safety from the vote. Coupled with immunity, Reba also received a large fishing kit as a reward for placing first and Belo earned a smaller set of supplies for their runner-up effort. All Lulu got was a second date with Jeff at Tribal Council.

Emily’s challenge capabilities won out over Brandon’s trustworthiness

Back at their camp, the players donning yellow buffs spoke about their tribe dynamics. Keeping everything out in the open, Brandon told the four other castaways that he knew he and Emily were at the bottom of the pecking order, and the three others would determine whose game would end on day 6.

They all agreed with the sentiment, including Emily, who was on a damage control campaign from the chaos she caused during episode 1.

After the three worked together to find another clue for a hidden immunity idol, Sabiyah, Sean, and Kaleb continued to discuss their feelings regarding whom to oust. It came down to two factors: Brandon’s trust, and Emily’s competition performance. Brandon demonstrated he was a team player and someone who likely wouldn’t turn on the group during a tribe swap or merge situation, whereas Emily showed much more challenge competence.

Entering Tribal, Brandon couldn’t use his Shot in the Dark because he lost his vote earlier in the episode, and Emily gave Sabiyah her Shot in the Dark to build trust. Sabiyah couldn’t vote either because she had opted into a hidden immunity idol hunt, meaning only Kaleb, Sean, and Emily could put pen to parchment.

After hearing Brandon and Emily’s cases, Jeff began the voting process.

All three voters wrote Brandon’s name down, and the Survivor superfan’s marooning was over. He embraced his tribemates and while carrying his torch to Jeff, Brandon said: “Before I get out of here, I just want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to meet amazing people, play this game, and live my dream.”

“Brandon, the tribe has spoken,” Jeff uttered his iconic line and snuffed Brandon’s fire. Brandon then looked back at the players, and while pointing at the torch and chuckling, he said: “This is cool. It’s really cool.”

Viewers heard from Brandon one more time as he closed out episode 2 with positivity and optimism during the final words segment.

“I might’ve lost Survivor, but I didn’t,” Brandon said. “I didn’t give up. I made it all the way here, and I would’ve liked to have stayed longer. I would’ve liked to have won something — something would’ve been ideal. But otherwise, I got to authentically live my childhood dream, and I don’t know a lot of people that can say that.”

With that, only 16 castaways remain on Survivor 45. And after losing back-to-back Immunity Challenges, Lulu’s sitting at a large deficit relative to the other tribes heading into episode 3.

Season 45 airs Wednesdays on CBS and Paramount Plus at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Who got voted off of ‘Survivor 45’ episode 2?
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