Survivor 45’s dynamic duo is no more as Drew Basile was sent to the land of regret and nourishment, also known as Ponderosa, after he was blindsided during episode 12. And to make it worse, his ride-or-die ally, Austin Li Coon, had the power to save Drew from his demise.
Heading into “The Ex-Girlfriend at the Wedding,” Austin’s Amulet advantage was ever-present. Knowing it’d expire after that round of play, it was a sure-fire thing that the 26-year-old would use it at the upcoming Tribal Council.
Because the two other Amulet holders, Kellie Nalbandian and J. Maya, were already voted out, Austin’s advantage had the power of a Hidden Immunity Idol.
Before the voting ceremony, Austin and Drew — the contestants who linked up at the beginning of the game — continued to roll with their plan of eliminating Julie Alley. But, little did they know, the other four remaining castaways hatched a plan to oust Drew instead.
Austin’s showmance and key ally Dee Valladares chose to keep him in the dark, and after the votes were cast, Austin played his Amulet on himself, leaving Drew vulnerable. As history showed, Drew caught four votes and left the game while Austin watched in utter shock.
During his exit interview with Parade, Drew was asked how hard he pushed Austin to play the Amulet on him. Drew, who came across as extremely overconfident during his final Tribal Council, admitted that he became weary of the vote shortly before the players took turns writing a name down.
But, he wasn’t sure if it was just paranoia getting the best of him or if his gut was onto something. Plus, with the possibility of the Amulet play backfiring, Drew remained silent on his stool before host Jeff Probst read the votes.
“So it’s tough because the thing about advantages is that to ask for one is a huge commitment, and if you’re wrong, and really jeopardizes your relationship. I didn’t want to be a burden if it was unnecessary. I didn’t want to freak out and be paranoid and be like, ‘Give me the thing!’
The other component is that, if they’re coming after me, and my ally has an idol who could play it on me, it would make a lot of sense to split the votes on Austin. So that’s an aspect to that you’ve got to consider. Am I really okay with that for what could essentially be 11th-hour jitters? I’m at Tribal Council. I’m getting nervous. But I’m feeling, ‘Okay, stick to the facts.’ But no, in fact, it was necessary. And obviously, I wish I pulled a Malcolm, like, [Raises hand.] ‘Bro.’ But at the same time, Malcolm [Freberg] was wrong. So you gotta be careful.”
Drew made a salient point about Austin leaving himself without protection. If there was a plan concocted to split up the duo, then the four other contestants could’ve split their votes knowing Austin and Drew only had two pieces of parchment between them. That would’ve played out as a 2-2-2 tie between Drew, Austin, and Julie.
If Austin had saved Drew with his Amulet, then the cast would’ve been forced to revote as Austin and Julie were tied two apiece. As per Survivor’s rules, the players could only vote for Austin and Julie in that situation.
At that point, there’s a very good chance Austin would’ve been given his walking papers, not Julie, as Julie, Dee, Katurah Topps, and Jake O’Kane were on the same page that night.
You never know on Survivor, and it wouldn’t be the first time someone had their torch snuffed when they could’ve protected themselves with their own advantage — enter this season’s Bruce Perreault and Sabiyah Broderick.
And for the newer Survivor fans, Drew’s name drop of Malcolm was a reference to when the fan-favorite asked his ally, Reynold Toepfer, to play his Idol on him after a vote during season 26’s Caramoan. Reynold did but Malcolm ultimately didn’t need it. Although he was hit with two votes, Phillip Sheppard received enough to go home instead. Malcolm received a ton of style points for the move, but it was unnecessary and his alliance was down an Idol, which was firepower that they needed, and Malcolm was eliminated at the next Tribal Council.
From my estimation, the most important domino in Drew’s downfall was Austin’s relationship with Dee. If Austin hadn’t told her in episode 11 that they were blindsiding Julie, then “Mama J” would’ve likely been gone by day 22. Further, Austin seemingly believed that Dee would’ve extended the same courtesy to him if his best friend was in danger. Without receiving that crucial information, the guys thought they were sitting pretty and sailing into the final five.
Regardless, Drew will take part in Survivor 45’s finale as a Jury member while Austin’s dream of snagging the $1 million grand prize is still intact.