Rick Devens was voted out of Survivor 50 in Episode 12 on May 13, ending a run that had already included a fake idol hidden at tribal council, a coin-flip challenge with MrBeast for a chance to win $2 million and one last desperate gamble with his Shot in the Dark.
Devens said the elimination landed hard because, by the time the game reached Episode 12, his allies were gone and he had become a much bigger target. That left him exposed in a season that had already taken him through a frantic stretch of survival, strategy and spectacle.
Before his exit, Devens had built a strong alliance with Christian Hubicki and Emily Flippen, relationships he said helped carry him through the earlier and middle parts of the season. Once that support vanished, the game changed fast. He played his Shot in the Dark for one final chance to stay alive, but it did not work, and he was out.
In his exit interview after the episode, Devens focused less on bitterness than on the people he played with, especially Ozzy and Joe. He said Ozzy opened up to him emotionally about a parent, a moment he clearly remembered. On Joe, he was even more direct. “Love Joe,” Devens said. “He’s a great dude.”
Devens added that Joe’s appeal went well beyond the game. “If any fan ever meets him, they’re going to see what I just talked about: his magnetism, his charisma, and genuine kindness to be with you,” he said. “The game is the game, and he’s a football player.” He said he loves Joe and called him an amazing guy, underscoring how personal some of those bonds had become even in a cutthroat season.
He also said he was glad the broadcast showed that side of the cast. “Oh man, I was so glad that they showed that,” Devens said, adding that the moment “really ambushed me on that.” He said several men in the game could be tender and vulnerable, a reminder that the season’s toughest players were not all armored all the time.
The elimination fits the broader shape of Devens’s Survivor story. An Edge of Extinction alum, he has long been one of the franchise’s most recognizable scramblers, and this season again put him at the center of a big twist and a big swing. The prize money itself had been raised to $2 million with help from Devens and Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson, giving the challenge that much more weight.
What changed on May 13 was not just one failed move but the loss of the cover around him. Once his allies were gone, Devens said, the game made him a big target. By the time he tried the fake idol, the coin flip and the Shot in the Dark, the runway had already shortened. He was entertaining, dangerous and exposed all at once, and in Survivor that is usually the point where the tribe finally cuts you loose.
