Survivor Recap: Noelle Kicks Butt with One Leg on Season 43 Episode 3

The Survivor Season 43 Episode 3 recap picks up with the Vesi tribe returning to camp.

You may recall at the end of episode 2 of season 43, The Vesi tribe went to Tribal Council, and Justine Brennan was voted out. See what happens on I’ll Sign the Divorce Papers on CBS. Tonight, all eyes are on Noelle Lambert.

You can also watch this article as a video below:

Survivor Recap – Season 43 Episode 3 – I’ll Sign the Divorce Papers

Back at their camp, Cody Assenmacher says that Tribal went the exact way he planned it, and Justine Brennan got voted out. He says he got the last bead to complete his beware advantage literally minutes before Tribal, and it was terrifying.

Then, on Survivor, Cody says that Dwight Moore and Noelle Lambert don’t know about his advantage. And, he’s fine with that. At the Baka tribe, Elie Scott says that she’s seeing Mike Gabler start to deteriorate physically.

And she says that he seems like he’s really struggling. Elie says that she wants Gabler gone next. She says that the trouble is she’s still unsure if Gabler knows whether or not his idol is still good for the next Tribal Council.

Survivor S43E03 Focuses On Noelle Lambert

Much of the Survivor S43E03 episode focuses on the Paralympian Noelle Lambert. As she mentioned on episode 1, Noelle lost her leg following a moped accident. She was and still is an athlete.

Of course her competing as an amputee is interesting – But, as shown in this Survivor recap, her strategic play is what’s impressive.

Gabler Fooled by Idol Scam? Nope

On Survivor, Elie, Sami Layadi, and Jeanine Zheng come up with a plan to make Gabler think his idol lost its power. They want to convince him to turn it into parts so he will have a fake idol.

Elie says that she’s the closest to Mike Gabler, so she should be the one to talk to him. But Sami doesn’t like that Elie wants to take control. So, Sami talks to Gabler. And he confirms that he knows his idol is still good.

And Gabler is not stupid, so of course, he read the terms and conditions of his Survivor idol. Sami tells Gabler that the girls looked through his bag, and want to convince him that his idol no longer works.

In his confessional, Gabler says that he works in the operating room with super-specialized transcatheter valve surgery. He says that it’s great that Elie is underestimating him. He says if she wants me to play a dummy, I’ll play a dummy.

Then, Elie sits down with Gabler and Owen and makes her pitch. She says it would be fun to have a fake idol-making day. She wants to use the beads and stuff from his temporary idol. Elie says, since we didn’t have to go to Tribal, it’s expired.

On Survivor, Gabler says, “That’s right”. And then he says that he wants to give it to his daughter for graduation as the ultimate souvenir. Elie is relieved and thinks that Gabler won’t think to play his idol at the next tribal.

At the Coco Tribe – Survivor Recap

At the Coco tribe, everyone is eating their reward food and celebrating James’s birthday. As James Jones sleeps and the others are in the ocean, Karla Godoy goes off to search for an idol.

She finds a Beware Advantage but puts it back because it’s too much of a risk. She doesn’t want to lose her Survivor vote. Then, she reconsiders and goes back. She grabs the advantage and opens it.

It contains a non-working immunity idol bracelet. And like with Cody’s advantage, it says that she must convince every person on her tribe to give her their special bead that came with their bag.

And she can’t steal the beads per Survivor rules. They have to be willingly given to her. She tells everyone that her wife’s birthday is coming up and she wants to make her a special bracelet.

Which is a lie. Karla’s wife’s birthday is months away. So, she makes little trades using things like her earrings. Karla, gets everyone’s beads and makes a full working immunity idol.

The Immunity Challenge on Season 43 Episode 3

It’s day 7 on Survivor and there’s an immunity challenge.

Jeff Probst begins by saying:
For today’s challenge, you’re gonna leap off a tall tower into the ocean.
Then you’re gonna climb a stack of crates, and dive into the water to retrieve a key.
Then the next person goes.
Once you’ve retrieved all three keys, the two remaining tribe members will use those keys to unlock the pieces to a turtle puzzle.
First two tribes to finish win immunity.

Jeff then tells them that the first team to finish will win a large Survivor tool kit and a lot of fruit. The second-place prize is a smaller tool kit, with less fruit.

See this Survivor Recap as a video below:

It was a fairly uneventful competition. The highlight was that Noelle Lambert removed her prosthetic leg and outperformed many of the other castaways. The yellow team, Baka, finishes their puzzle first and wins immunity.

Then the blue team, Coco, comes from behind and beats Vesi. This was the second loss in a row and will send Vesi to Tribal Council. Then Jeff threw in a Survivor twist.

Jeff Probst asked the yellow Baka tribe to pick a person from Vesi to go on a journey but return before Tribal. They picked Noelle. Baka had to pick a person from Coco tribe to also go.

They picked James. Then, they had to send one of their own. Owen Knight volunteered. The three hopped into a boat and sped off.

Back at Vesi on Survivor – Talk is about Noelle Lambert

Back at the Vesi tribe, Nneka Ejere apologized for the loss and takes accountability because she didn’t finish the puzzle. She cries. With her alliances, the only choice she has is Noelle Lambert.

Nneka says she’s inspired by the Paralympian on Survivor. Then, Cody and Jesse Lopez know it’s going to come down to Nneka or Noelle going home.

They are torn because they have a better relationship with Nneka, but Noelle does better in challenges. Cody says Noelle Lambert put her money where her mouth was.

He says, “We watched Noelle perform again and again, so the doubt of her having one leg is gone.” Next, James, Noelle, and Owen, arrive at an island by boat to begin their journey on Survivor.

Next, they see a sign that says:
Enter The Jungle, Then follow the path to the lookout.
Where you will make a group decision.
Take this time to get to know each other.

As they walk a rough trail and climb a steep hill, Survivor editing focuses a lot on Noelle’s artificial leg, and she’s doing fine with the terrain. Along the way, Noelle Lambert makes a final-3 deal with them. She says she’s on the bottom at Vesi.

They agree to have each other’s back post-merge. There’s another Spanish Prisoner game. They can risk their vote for an advantage or play it safe.

The three agree to let Noelle be the only one to risk, while they pick safe. This allows Noelle Lambert to get the advantage without any risk on Survivor.

Owen says they didn’t need to risk their votes and she needs it more than them. This move may strengthen their alliance. Noelle says she will use it to take out a big threat.

Noelle Back to Her Tribe with an Advantage

Back at Vesi, the boat delivers Noelle Lambert back to her camp. She lies and says she didn’t want to risk her vote, so she picked the no-risk option. To prove she doesn’t have anything hidden, she says they can search her bag.

And then she starts to strip. Dwight immediately asked her to stop and said everyone trusts her. She knows she shouldn’t, but later confides in Dwight that she has an advantage.

She has it hidden in a section of her artificial leg. A Survivor first.

Noelle opens the small package, and it’s a Steal-A-Vote advantage. With this power, Noelle and Dwight control the Vesi tribe.

Tribal Council on Survivor

At Tribal Council, Jeff does the usual post-mortem of the immunity challenge. And Jesse and Nneka admit they blew the puzzle, but say it’s a team game.

No one wants to send anyone home, and they all say that they will have to vote for someone they care about. But, as Cody says, there’s a game to play.

There is one funny part on Survivor where Cody says that 7 days times 24 hours is 200 and something hours. Nneka chimes in to say it’s 168 hours. Clearly, she’s better at math.

The vote is taken and Nneka is voted out. Cody says I’m sorry several times. He’s crushed. And there is a group hug. Last, Jeff snubs her torch. The tribe has spoken.

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