Eagan native Eva Erickson went for muscle when she joined an alliance of the physically strongest players in the sixth episode of “Survivor 48.”

The episode opened with the 13 players from three tribes merging into one. It’s a key turning point each season, as gameplay moves from a team game to an individual one, which ups the danger for everyone when it comes time to vote someone out. That said, alliances are still important and in many ways vital to making it to the end of the game.

But before there was time for game talk, the newly merged players got to know each other. Erickson’s day one ally, fire captain Joe Hunter, and later confidante, stuntman David Kinne, bonded over their shared love of whole milk and the fact that they each drink a gallon of it a day, which stunned Erickson and others, who wondered about the logistics of buying and storing that much milk.

(It’s also worth noting Erickson’s two closest pals in the game are both built like big screen superheroes, with Hunter looking more than a bit like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.)

All 13 castaways sat down for proper introductions, with Erickson speaking up first.

“Obviously yesterday, you guys got a big window into my life,” Erickson said in reference to her breakdown after last episode’s immunity challenge. She’s the show’s first openly autistic player, but prior to that challenge, she had only shared the news with Hunter, who pledged to help her when she got overwhelmed, as she did last episode. After calming down, Erickson told everyone about her diagnosis and her life.

“I really appreciate you guys all being so supportive,” Erickson said on this week’s show. “I’m super open about that in my life so if anyone has anything they want to talk about related to autism, I’m all ears.”

Joe Hunter, left, rushes to calm Eagan native Eva Erickson after she breaks down at the immunity challenge on “Survivor 48,” airing Wednesday, March 26, 2025 on CBS. (Robert Voets / CBS)

Hunter then spoke to the camera about reconnecting with Erickson after they had been shuttled off to different tribes a few episodes back: “I was so blessed with that opportunity to help Eva in that moment. I will never forget that. There might be a lot of people that won a million dollars from here, but I don’t know how many that came out here and helped a human that was genuinely in need and got them out of it. To me, everything else is just gonna be icing on the cake.”

New alliance

Fairly quickly, Erickson, Hunter and Kinne formed an alliance with debate professor Shauhin Davari and lawyer Kyle Fraser. Those five are arguably the physically strongest players in the game at that point. After the merge, it’s those very people who often get targeted at tribal council as strong players tend to dominate individual challenges. The thinking is often that if we don’t get them out now, they’re going to win their way to the end.

These five realize that and pledge to each other they’ll stick together and bond over a mutual trust with each other. (Later, Fraser is shown telling the camera that, yeah, that’s a nice idea, but he’s already lied plenty in this game so far.)

Hunter said the five are “all physical threats, but also honest and loyal players, because this game doesn’t have to be this new generation of stabbing people in the back and doing crazy moves just for the pizzazz.”

Of course, many viewers — and most certainly the show’s producers — are rooting for back stabbing, crazy moves and pizzazz.

Erickson in danger?

There was some early chatter, mostly from flight attendant Charity Nelms, about voting out Erickson, due to her hidden immunity idol (which was gifted to her last episode by her enemy-turned-bestie, sales expert Star Toomey) and close relationship with Hunter.

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But that talk fizzled out quickly as the general consensus came down to targeting either Nelms as a safe vote that wouldn’t ruffle many feathers or marketing professional Sai Hughley, who is seen as a chaotic and even dangerous player.

This was the first tribal council for Erickson, who shared her fear and puzzlement about the process: “Maybe I’m doing it wrong. This is my first one. I’ve never been here before. I’m scared. This place is crazy.”

Interestingly enough, Erickson’s alliance split their votes between the two, with the overall tribe taking the easy route and voting out Nelms.

“Survivor 48” airs at 7 p.m. Wednesdays on CBS and streams the next day on Paramount+.