Survivor 41, Ep. 13: One Thing Left To Do...Win
After 581 days, we finally arrive at our next Survivor season finale! It took A LOT to get here, so let’s take a moment of gratitude for the fact that the greatest reality television show and social experiment has persevered to have a 41st season and we all get to enjoy it.
Survivors ready?…GO!
ONE LAST TWIST
Reading the votes and announcing the winner on location hasn’t happened since 2000. Until now. The last twist is the winner will be announced at Final Tribal Council and the Reunion will happen immediately following. All the raw emotion of the game is able to flow out moments after the winner has been crowned. LOVE IT!
VIAKANA Night 23
Deshawn tries to make amends with Erika following his nearly disastrouos Hail Mary truth bomb at Tribal. Deshawn wanted to cause a rift and shake things up, and he did. Erika hates the move and Ricard is there to pick up the pieces. Ricard sees the opportunity to make Deshawn enemy number 1. To Ricard, Deshawn’s gameplay makes him the target and someone for Ricard to throw under the bus as much as possible.
DAY 24
Deshawn has a plan of attack against Ricard of his own. Mock interviewing Ricard and building up
Heather ices Erika. Heather doesn’t want to speak to Erika and that screws up Erika’s plans for how to play the final 5. Instead, she is doing damage control with Heather, venting to Ricard, and trying to figure out how to move forward despite hating Deshawn
TREE-MAIL FINAL ADVANTAGE CLUE
The Game Within the Game strikes! The final phrase from GWtG becomes the hunt for a $1,000,000 advantage. Can you imagine the intensity of this moment? Think about the stakes. Think about the every person for themselves battle royal to win an advantage at the final 5.
And the finder is…
ERIKA!
What she wins
an advantage at the Immunity Challenge
best chance at final 4
Deshawn doesn’t have it (she hates him)
peace of mind…maybe
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE
collect rope rungs to create a ladder, maneuver a ring and piece of a puzzle up a ladder, and complete puzzle
REWARD - Steak, veggies, bread, and wine
ERIKA’S ADVANTAGE - starts with 4 rungs on each ladder (7 total)
HUGE Advantage
And it all comes down to the puzzle. The puzzle is a familiar picture of the Survivor 41 logo. There are 70+ pieces and the puzzle pieces have the image on both sides. Ricard and Erika are side by side in the puzzle, but the winner of immunity and a spot in the final 4 is Erika. The advantage proved to be the difference. Without it, Ricard completes that puzzle first. Unbelievable job by Erika to find the advantage and make good on it.
After the challenge Xander reminds us of the plan. Now that Ricard didn’t win immunity and is vulnerable, it’s time to target him. Oh by the way, Xander still has his dead relative butterflies idol in his pocket that he will surely play at the first Tribal Council, guaranteeing himself a spot with Erika in the final 4.
If this marks the end of Ricard, and he doesn’t find an idol between the time I am writing this and Tribal, I will be sad to see him get voted off. I picked him to be the winner before 41 ever began based on the skills I believe a flight attendant would have that would apply to Survivor and his determination and statemnt of his intent/goals of playing Survivor. He didn’t just want to play, he wanted to win. I loved that about Ricard then and love it about Ricard now. It makes me feel so sad that he will be voted out because Ricard deserves to win.
ERIKA AND HEATHER RECONNECT
Erika wins reward and brings Heather along and are able to bury the hatchet for Deshawn’s truth bom and the hurt it caused.
PRE-TRIBAL SCRAMBLE
The decision comes down to Ricard and Deshawn. Erika knows tht Ricard is the biggest threat despite wanting to go to the end with him, but Erika hates Deshawn. Erika knows Ricard played the greater game but she also trust him, plus Deshawn did her dirty and has done nothing to garner an inch of trust. Deshawn doesn’t deserve a chance at winning the million in Erika’s
RICARD HAS ANOTHER BABY ON THE WAY.
“I gave up a life moment to be here.” - Ricard
The moment cut threw Xander’s heart. Instant tears. He loves Ricard. He’s trusted Ricard. He’s got the idol. He can play it on Ricard. Let me say that again, HE CAN PLAY HIS IDOL ON RICARD…AKA take a $1,000,000 GAMBLE THAT THIS MOVE WILL BE RESPECTED ENOUGH BY THE JURY AND TRULY TAKE THE GAME BY THE BALLS.
OR
Make one of the biggest mistakes in the history of Survivor and forfeit the opportunity to vote Ricard, the strongest player with the strongest resume for a win, out of the game.
Excuse me while I pick my jaw off the ground.
Xander. XANDER. XANNNNDDDDDERRR!!!!!! EARTH TO XANDER!
I understand the emotion that lives within Xander. He and I are wired similarly. We both care about relationships. We care about people. We have emotions and show them. We care about making connections on a real level. Again, I understand that this decision (though he could totally go against it easily in a few moments) ould be a challenge and NO VOTE IS EVER AN EASY VOTE IN SURVIVOR, but despite that challenge, despite the emotion, despite the Secratariat oversized heart, beating warmly in Xander’s chest, you cannot allow Ricard to progress further in the game. You have to vote him out and do it now. If not, you may live with that $1,000,000 regret for the rest of your life.
TRIBAL COUNCIL
Jeff immediately brings up Deshawn’s idea to take out Ricard once he’s vulnerable. Xander describes it being a wild west draw between deciding between Deshawn and Ricard. Heather is open to hearing everything, and Erika is considering real life qualities in the game factoring into the decision.
The conversation swings to Ricard who backs up to what he’s been struggling with, and he’s been struggling with the life moment of his baby being born despite him taking the chance of going on Survivor, COVID, postponements etc. Ricard pours his heart out about the game he’s played, the dream this has been, and then throws the target back at Deshawn saying he’ll get the most votes from a jury. This seems like a last desperate chance.
Ricard’s vulnerability
Ricard is proud of himself and his game, adn Jeff makes it
VOTES
Xander plays his idol for himself
Ricard 4
Deshawn 1
Ricard is voted out. The season lost its best player, but like Jeff said, many times the best players will never win. Add Ricard to that list.
FINAL FOUR THOUGHTS
Ricard had to be voted out. Absolutely had to vote him out. Ricard needed to win that challenge to at least have a chance at going to fire to have a chance to win the game, but instead Erika found the Immunity Challenge advantage and was able to have enough of an advantage to beat him. Without Ricard, I think Xander is in the driver seat to win.
Usually the decision of the jury comes down to one question
Do I vote for the person who I like the most? or Do I vote for the person who played the best game?
I honestly feel that everyone left is liked by the jury. If I had to rank it, I’d say there is a 3-way tie for first between Erika, Heather, and Xander. Deshawn is the most disliked. Now, if the decision comes down to the person who played the best game deserves the winning vote, then my rankings would be…
1st - Xander
2nd - Erika
3rd - Deshawn
4th - Heather
Based on this idea, I would guess that Xander, Erika, and Deshawn would all receive votes from the jury. Heather would not. If the final 3 involved Xander, Erika, and Deshawn, I believe that all 3 would receive votes to win, but Xander would get the most and would win the game.
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE - DAY 25
After gettin absolutely poured down on by rain, it’s time for the final Immunity Challenge.
“For the last, immunity is back up for grabs.” - Jeff
To win, you have to balance on a curved plank that looks like a boat while stacking blocks to spell out “FINAL3” on top of each other. The winner is guaranteed a spot at Final Tribal with a chance to make their case for the million bucks, and select one person to sit with them, avoiding the fire making challenge.
This challenge is brutal. Every move you make requires precision. The slightest movement could end your chance and send you back to the beginning.
Each player dropped initially. Like the Rebus puzzle earlier this season, a learning curve exists. As time goes by, Erika and Xander separate themselves getting a 3rd block stacked. Then, Erika drops, leaving Xander alone to get to a chance at walking back with all 6 blocks stacked and a shot at Final Tribal a few steps away.
Inch by inch. By inch. By half inch. He did it. Xander wins immunity and guarantees himself a chance at the million. Jeff puts the necklace around Xander and they have the moment. The moment when someone who’s just played the most challenging game they ever will for 26 days and only now are they able to actually “breathe” and begin to process the magnitude of their accomplishment.
“I can feel how big this is for you.” - Jeff
So can we. My wife is crying as we watch and the emotion rushes through my body as well and out my tear ducts. It’s unbelievable. I’m only able to watch Xander have this moment, put myself in his buff, and try to imagine the sheer insanity it would be to know that Jeff was telling me I secured a chance to win $1,000,000 at Final Tribal Council on Survivor. My brain goes to a place where the only thing I would be able to do in that moment is completely break down and release the greatest emotion of a lifetime.
“There’s only one thing left to do…win.” - Jeff
Happy for Xander. He deserves this. I think he will win.
Coming back we get Xander’s back story about being a chubby kid growing up and how he turned it around, became a cross country force, and led his life in a new direction.
WHO’S GOING TO FIRE?
Now, Xander has to make one more decision. As a result of winning final 4 immunity, Xander is given the chance to choose one person to sit next to him in the final 3 leaving 1 spot up for grabs via a fire making challenge.
Xander is approached by Deshawn who wants him to consider getting Erika out. Heather approaches Xander and she plants one seed, “Erika can beat you”. Xander immediately responds that he doesn’t think so. So do I. I don’t think anyone can beat Xander. Then, Xander is approached by Erika. She makes her plea that she feels good about making fire but also wants him to take her. Two seconds later, Xander chooses Erika to go to the end with him. I love how the Xander I’ve gotten to know seems calculated yet shooting from the hip. This decision is very on brand.
So, at first thought, I’m thinking “why Xander why?” Why take Erika, the person who has played the 2nd best game and has several cards to play like her gender which when combined together could be enough to get the million. This is Xander. He cares about merit and considered, even for a moment, to have Ricard with him at the end. He isn’t Woo level crazy and voted Ricard out, but here is another opportunity for him to send a major threat into one last challenge to get to final 3.
Then…Xander realizes Erika SUCKS at making fire! He thought she was good because of her stay on exile way back when. Has he made a mistake? Will he change his mind?
or
WILL HE PUT HIMSELF IN THE FIRE MAKING CHALLENGE TO GIVE HIMSELF ONE MORE BOOST TO THE RESUME BY WINNING IT AND EARNING FINAL 3 TWICE!!???!?!?!?!
TRIBAL COUNCIL
Xander starts by putting his foot in his mouth with his words and analysis of how the jury perceives Heather. He says that the jury sees Heather as weak, a goat, and not a threat because she played a lack luster game that was very similar to Erika’s.
If there were a strategy test in GWtG that asked “When you win the final 4 challenge and have to decide who makes fire, do you say out loud that the jury thinks another player is a goat? or Do you keep your mouth shut?” The answer would be to keep your mouth shut. Everyone at home, in the game, and on the jury may love Heather and may know that she has not played a “winning game”, but putting words in the jury’s mouth and giving them ammo to use against you is never smart. Also, if one of the people you just backhanded complimented is possibly going to end up on the jury, isn’t a great idea either.
FIRE MAKING CHALLENGE
Heather vs. Deshawn
I’m rooting for Heather in this big time. It would be fantastic to see her win this one. It would be incredible. She has been a goat for 25 days and to start the fire challenge, it looks like Deshawn is going to run away with it. He gets an early flame and Heather has nothing.
Then, Deshawn smothers his flame and opens the door for Heather. Just then, the 52 year old, mother of 3, has got an inferno going and her fire is touching the rope. But, it goes down!!! Drama!!!
Deshawn has an opportunity. He gets his fire back.
Heather brings her flame back up and looks like she’s going to win.
Few more flames.
Then….
DESHAWN WINS! OUT OF NOWHERE!
UNBELIEVABLE! Far and away the best challenge of the season. Best fire making challenge in 41 seasons.
With that, Heather is eliminated, becoming the 8th and final member of the jury.
VIAKANA - DAY 26
The final 3 is here. Xander, Erika, and Deshawn made it to day 26 and now get to enjoy the final 3 breakfast. Each of the final 3 have battled to get here.
Xander won early advantages, had his vote taken away early, found the most ridiculous Immunity Idol,
Erika has played a very different game. She won 2 challenges and flipped the game by breaking the hour glass. She was behind the scenes of the alliance that determined who went home in the 2nd half of the game. Plus, she has the “Little Filipino immigrant from Canada story”.
Deshawn feels he hasn’t just survived but thrived to get here. He has relied on his social game to get him to the end. He won the DO or DIE and final 4 fire making challenge. He had no advantages and won zero immunities.
FINAL TRIBAL COUNCIL
Now the power shifts to the jury. It’s time for Xander, Erika, and Deshawn to own their game and bring hojme the million dollars. Don’t hold back. Don’t apologize. It’s go time.
Evvie kicks it off by congratulating the final 3 on making it here and the reflection it has on the diversity of the cast.
Danny breaks it down as a pro football player would, into quarters. Pre merge, post merge, final 8. He wants to hear the game plans. Xander wanted to play his game. In quarter 1 Xander was all about team dynamics sharing his info, advantages and having the idol. Next quarter was a lone wolf saying he was a number to be used for a vote. In the end he says he trusted Ricard and worked with him until he had to go against him. Naseer follow up
Deshawn was about building relationships with Heather, Erika, and Naseer. Building relationships was his key. They played a role in him making it through having himself on “the block”. In the end of the game Deshawn relied on his social game to get to where he is now. Enter Ricard challenging Deshawn. Deshawn ends up apologizing for it. Eeeek.
Erika talks about her lamb to lion transformation. Luvu never needed to make a move or go to Tribal. After merge she goes to exile and changes the game. Final 8 she sewed her seeds with relationships and then found herself in majority alliance in the late stage of the game. She set herself up with enough of a chance to make the final 3.
Ricard gives Erika a chance to explain herself as to why she doesn’t have relationships with everyone on the jury. She owns her social game being more 1 on 1 and running a duo with Heather. The two of them were able to navigate the late stage of the game and make it to final 4.
Tiffany and Liana push Xander on his social awareness in the game. He stammers on the question. Evvie follows up asking about how he was able to hold onto the idol. Xander cites playing with paranoia and trusting his relationship with Ricard to secure his idol.
Ricard asks about the validity of his relationship with Xander and why take Erika, “the 2nd biggest threat” in the game to the end. Heather also wants to know how taking Erika was a benefit to his game. Xander cites taking away her opportunity to win at fire and get a last one up on him. The jury CLEARLY didn’t consider that angle and they all nod in unison with his decision.
Shan steps up to talk to Deshawn about her commitment to the all black alliance and the social movement back home and what his plan was. Deshawn emphatically denies that he would never sell out his people to win the game. Shan is vulnerable and must have been wondering since Deshawn turned on her as to why he would turn on her. Deshawn would never use being black to doop Shan.
Danny champions behind Erika for her abilities in the game and on challenges, but most of all her allowing people to underestimate her. She loves it and it’s a big moment for Erika.
Lot of love to end and even another question for Xander from Liana, “Do you have an idol?”. A perfect ending to a very serious game, a game that was larger than Survivor at times, yet is a unique season that has a lot of love, respect, and connection shared amongst the most diverse cast in 41 seasons.
After hearing the final Tribal Council, my choice of who I think will win is Erika. Danny’s words about envying her being the underdog and playing the game with everyone underestimating her did it for me. Congrats to all 3.
VOTES
Erika 7
Deshawn 1
Xander 0
The winner of Survivor 41 is Erika!
AFTER SHOW STARTS
The theme of people underestimating her is a major theme in all aspects of her life and it translated to skills necessary to do well in Survivor. Exile was the turning point in the game. She had a breakdown. How is she going to win without ever going to Tribal with Luvu, but she had the unique experience of having the adversity at exile.
Xander’s decision to not send Erika to fire comes back to bite him in the ass. The jury felt he had a lack of social awareness and taking Erika to the end was the biggest example of it. He didn’t realize how much the jury respected her and her game. He too underestimated her. He too underestimated her game to that point. He had legitimate reasoning behind his decisions, yet being 20 years old and having this lack of social awareness caught up with him.
For Deshawn, his turning point, to Jeff, was the fire making challenge. He brought his little fire back to life, never gave up, and faced that adversity. Deshawn’s personality and likability resignated with Jeff, but the fire making challenge showed growth. That growth is what the show is about and Deshawn’s reactive personality, emotional shut downs at Tribals when things didn’t go his way, and throwing destructive “truth bombs” sealed Deshawn’s fate in the game to be a second place finish receiving 1 vote for the win.
26 Days
Nobody feels they didn’t get a full season. The show tried to approximate what 39 days was with no food and new/more advantages. The Beware Advantages were a major part of the 26 day structure. Creating new advantages that weighed a risk vs. reward element with even opening it up helped accelerate the game too. Xander was full steam ahead, Shan had help from Genie, and Naseer whose first language is not English, had to rehearse saying that he was “as confused as a goat on astroturf” 60 times so he could even activate the idol.
The “Knowledge is Power Advantage” comes up and Evvie tells the story of how the Yase relationship was able to maneuver that situation and fool Liana with the fake idol at Tribal when she asks Xander the question. What stands out to me about this moment of the cast talking about this advantage and how it went down, I’m reminded that this moment and MAJOR game move did absolutely nothing to help Xander. He still received zero votes from the jury. I feel that everyone on the jury, especially Evvie and Tiffany loved the move and feel they were apart of a huge moment in Tribal history, yet it bared no fruit for Xander in the end.
AGain, Liana shows how Survivor has taught her to overcome challenges in her life. She was the one that Tiff, Evvie, and Xander tricked and made a fool of, yet in that moment she was able to weather the storm, meet it with a high level of poise and maturity, and wake up the next day taking a step forward in the game but even more so as a person. I applaud Liana for this. I know that I likely wouldn’t have handled the moment the way she did. I would have been enraged and likely responded much more poorly than her.
Hearing from Naseer about how he savored every moment of the experience and how it connected him to his youth growing up in Sri Lanka. Naseer is a beautiful inspiration. His smile from ear to ear is one of pure joy and pride in having this experience and reminding him to continue to push himself to achieve his dreams.
Jeff asks about Ricard’s rawest moment. Ricard thought he was going to win and he is clearly struggling in the moment. He is incredibly proud of himself and never thought he would play this well.
Danny found on Survivor the ability to release the demon of his 25 year battle with the passing of his father in a car accident. “This had been holding me back and not propelling me forward” and now he added his dad to the “I want to make you proud list”. Powerful moment. Moment of gratitude.
THE PIZZA AND CHAMPAGNE
One positive impact from COVID on this season was the impromptu after show/reunion. When Survivor gives you lemons you make lemonade right? COVID probably created more challenges this season than anyone would care to go back in time to the beginning of and during production to discover. Mandatory testing and quarantining periods. No loved ones visit (sad because it’s always a great moment of every season, yet it didn’t take away from the season because there wasn’t a loved ones visit). The list goes on. But, until Jeff said at the top of the episode that for the first time since 2000 they are going to read the votes on location and reveal the winner, it never dawned on me that they did that because of COVID. Of course they would do it this way.
The world was chaotic and filled with uncertainty at the time of shooting the season and the finale. So, it made all the sense to film it right then and there in the moment, when it was raw, and everyone was properly vetted through all COVID related red tape bullshit. If they didn’t announce the winner and film the reunion/after show then they likely would have run into issues back home in the US with testing, positive cases, and not being able to do it infront of a live audience anyway. Thus, all the fanfare and flare we’ve come accustom to seeing at the finale was stripped away and all the show could do was adapt and make the best decision for the show, and they nailed it.
Seeing the shock on everyone’s faces to learn that everything was happening right then and there was the perfect ending to the most unique season in the show’s history. It was completely on brand for the new era of Survivor that 41 created. I loved the live reveal of the votes and experiencing that moment in real time for the authenticity of it all. No make up. No press tours. No snazzy outfits. Just the game’s natural conclusion at the time it was ready to be concluded.
The conclusion to the conclusion, aka the after show struck the right chord with me as well. Like I said before, it was the best decision the producers could make given the underlying COVID issues existing in the real world outside the game, but also because of the rawness to it. In live theatre it’s ok for the production to show the audience that the props are double sided and for an actor in a scene to turn a prop around to create a new setting on stage. The same was true here. It was wonderful to see the production crew bring in the giant 41 sign we saw next to Jeff at every challenge to be the after show backdrop. It was cool to have Jeff narrate through the prop people brining in new torches to dress the set of Tribal to be revamped into the stage for the after show. Lastly, it felt genuine to bring in pizza to feed the final 3 who had been deprived food and to share it with the jury of people they starved with for 26 days on this experience, and to pop champagne in celebration of the game being over but also to shine a light on the accomplishment that everyone involved with the show was part of despite great odds and overwhelming challenges.
At the end of the after show, Jeff leaves with a heartfelt thank you to the players. Drop the 4 and Keep the 1, Jeff didn’t think of it but believes it’s true that this cast has begun a new era of Survivor because of the players, their vulnerability, and their willingness to share their unique and diverse stories. I agree Jeff.
MY FINAL THOUGHTS
I just want to say that people in life often want to avoid adversity and shelter themselves from the challenges of life that make them uncomfortable. When I think about my “everyday life” it’s too often surrounded by exactly that, an “everydayness”. The daily routines and procedures of an average day doesn’t often encompass moments of extreme vulnerability, stepping outside your comfort zone, and facing adversity head on, yet that is the lesson that I learn every Wednesday night when I step outside my “everyday” routine life of work, eat, shower, and bed and put on Survivor and blog about it. Survivor gives me an outlet to people I don’t know, that don’t look like me, that don’t sound like me, who are not where I’m from, who face challenges I don’t face or quite understand, who are willing to speak their truth, share their stories, and make themselves vulnerable for a national audience. For that, I grow, I diversify, I adapt, I expand, and I break the everydayness of everyday life. I face challenges I would otherwise never face. i overcome adversity I would otherwise never overcome. I ask questions I would otherwise never ask of myself of others of my world, and of the world. I share this experience with my wife each Wednesday night, with my co-worker each 3rd period on our off period, and with all the Survivor superfans that follow me here on Tribal Council Blog. Lastly, the COVID-19 pandemic challenged everyone in many ways, myself included. We were forced to shut down, quarantine, and adapt to the monster that was COVID in 2020. Thanks to Survivor I was able to start up this blog, despite the widespread shut down. Connect with a community of people despite quarantining at home morning, noon, and night. Adapt to the challenges COVID presented by finding a healthy outlet that allowed me to explore my creativity, build my communication skills, birth a social media persona, learn how to build a website, develop a voice in my writing, and face any challenge head on by being me and handling the situation the best way I could. For that and much more, I love Survivor and have loved Survivor 41.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you for reading and being part of this journey that was blogging Survivor 41. Be sure to outlike, outcomment, and outshare the rest. We will see you in the spring for Survivor 42!
Until then.
The blog has spoken!
