Survivor 47 | Ep. 14 Finale Part 2
JEFF’S FINAL INTRODUCTION
Beating a dead horse here, but call off the search, we are ready to vote, and the winner of the Emmy for Best Reality TV Host is…Jeff Probst!
BEKA - Night 24
The final four is set after eliminating Genevieve and returning to camp. This reflective moment sets the stage for the finale. This is Teeny’s proudest moment of her life, Sue is incredibly proud of herself as she thinks about her kids watching, Sam is fulfilled and ready to fight to win, and Rachel is soaking in the calm before the final storm.
I think we are ready for a finale, LET’S GOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE - Day 25
“Take it all in…this is what stands between you and a million dollars” - Jeff
The final Immunity Challenge is always a special moment and this one will surely live up to expectation. This mammoth challenge concludes with a hanging bat puzzle (connecting to the 47 buff and logo) with the stakes of guaranteeing a spot in the final 3, the choice of who will make fire, and a chance to plead your case for the one million dollars.
IT’S WHAT YOU NEED TO DO is stuck on the back of the scroll. Sam is first to UNLOCK the scroll puzzle. HUGE.
The challenge comes down to the final bat puzzle and over 46 seasons, over 350 women who have played Survivor, Rachel joins the elite group of 5 to have won 4 Immunity Challenges. Rachel wins immunity, a guaranteed spot at Final Tribal Council, who will join her in the final three, and which two players will make fire to earn the final spot.
RACHEL’S CHOICE
TAKE SUE - Sue has played a loyal game but it has always been a secondary, subservient role. Sue only won one challenge, she found the red paint idol, and played it at final 5 for herself. My feeling is Sue may win a TUKU vote from Caroline or Gabe, but even that seems like a stretch.
TAKE TEENY - Teeny has admittedly been manipulated and deceived for the entire game by most of the jury. Teeny was rarely on the right side of votes and usually feeling blindsided back at BEKA after Tribal. Teeny’s emotional game was unique and one way to outlast the rest of the jury, but I don’t see many jury votes coming to Teeny. Feels like a zero vote 3rd place written all over Teeny.
TAKE SAM - Feels like the most unlikely scenario with the only reasoning I can think of being Rachel wanting to “compete against the best” at Final Tribal or feeling that she wants to take the “most deserving competitor”. All the above feel unlikely. Sam has played a hell of a game that often clashed with Rachel’s. I think Sam is going to make fire. That’s his only path to the final 3.
SEND HERSELF - Almost forgot door number 4. Rachel could risk her guaranteed spot at Final Tribal to compete in firemaking. I don’t see it. She doesn’t need it, her resume looks great, and she has to know she’s in position to win.
PREDICTION: Rachel takes Teeny. Sue will face Sam in the firemaking.
BEKA - Day 25
Welp, there’s my first prediction of the finale that was wrong. Rachel is taking Sue, aka her girl, and her one true ally in the game. That means that Teeny and Sue are going to be making fire.
Then, the fire combatants begin their practice sessions. Rachel is deliberately helping Teeny and rooting against Sam. Teeny having a coach and her confidence boosted feels very season 44 Yam Yam helping Carson. It’s another feather in Rachel’s cap toward the endgame.
Sam on the other hand is struggling. He has made it 25 days on Survivor and he hasn’t made a whole lot of fires. All the gameplay, all the scheming, all the blood, sweat and tears along the journey has come down to the most basic survival necessity and Sam feels inadequate. The odds are stacked against him and they all want to see him fail. Teeny wants her day to shine brighter than the charismatic QB1 she has begrudgingly dealt with her entire life to crumble while she reigns superior.
As Jeff has told us many times before, “you got to dig deep” and so Sam does, into his bag, and rereads the letter from home from his dad. From this, he gets the boost, the pep talk, and the strength he needs like Popeye eating his spinach, to make the final push and finally get a fire going not just using the flint, but inside of him.
Teeny’s ready. Sam’s ready. I am ready. Let’s do this.
TRIBAL COUNCIL - Night 25
Jeff crowns Rachel’s achievement of winning a fourth individual immunity and joining the elite group of 5 women to do that. Sam pushes back on the idea reminding Jeff and the jury that winning Immunity Challenges doesn’t win you the $1,000,000.
Next, Rachel makes her decision to reward Sue for her loyalty and take her to the final 3. Sue thanks her and this moment is as anti-climactic as the moment could be.
Teeny then acknowledges her one sided frustration and projection about Sam. I appreciate Teeny saying it and owning that it has nothing to do with Sam, but rather it’s all about Teeny’s struggle with identity and envy for what Sam represents and what the experience of a “Sam” is like in comparison to Teeny’s. In Teeny’s view, everything has seemingly come easy to the good looking, athletic, charismatic, and easy to aquire attention guy like Sam. This is in direct contrast to Teeny’s experience, yet everything that Teeny has wanted all along in life. This feels like an appropriate closure to Teeny’s story and a sign of despite Teeny’s struggles, their is a hell of a lot of maturity there (only 23 I must add!) and that is something to respect.
FIRE MAKING SHOWDOWN
THAT WAS F***ING INCREDIBLE!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Teeny was oh so close to burning the rope, lifting the flag, and defeating Sam, and Sam looked like he was going to lose without making a flame.
And then…
Does reality television get any better folks? I mean come on. How can you watch that fire making showdown and not be on the edge of your seat and ready to run through a brick wall at the end of it?
Sam wins because he didn’t give up, he kept fighting, the wind hooked him up by blowing Teeny’s flame side to side and round and round enough to allow him to ignite a flame, build a tower, get back into the fight, and close the deal.
This was INCREDIBLE moment! I think it helps Sam’s winning resume while hurting Sue and Rachel’s chances. I know Rachel didn’t “need” to do the fire making, but after that outcome, I bet she wishes she did. Lastly, for whatever it is worth, I think Sam’s win impressed the jury and stuck a feather in his cap that he needed.
TEENY BECOMES FINAL JURY MEMBER - Night 25
As we say goodbye to Teeny, the main takeaway feels like Teeny’s game was an emotional game. Teeny played the game emotionally from the start at LAVO with Rome’s antics, Kishan’s blindside, through the merge, to Sol’s blindside, and the many insecurities and moments of not knowing which way was up in the game.
Teeny was outwitted by Genevieve and really everyone, outplayed by Rachel and Sam and everyone (never winning a challenge), and outlasted by Sue and finishes in fourth place.
We send Teeny to the jury knowing that this experience was a dream come true and with a reminder like Jeff often says, “that the game is the lure and the journey is the reward”, and I believe Teeny will look back on the journey knowing that it helped foster growth with who Teeny is and the struggles and projections we learned about.
Now, onto the Day 26.
BEKA - Day 26
The Survivor tradition of the Day 26 breakfast was back and better than ever. While the final three popped champagne, cooked the eggs and bacon, and savored every deliciously deserved bite into their mouths, we got to simultaneously hear them set the stage for Final Tribal Council while also remembering the fallen players of Survivor 47.
This Survivor throwback was delivered with a new twist of having Rachel, Sue, and Sam go one by one reliving their memories and impressions of their fellow cast aways. It was a powerful scene that reintroduced the jury to the viewers while the jury took turns making the case for each player and what they wanted from the players at Final Tribal.
Cheers to the editing team for this breakfast scene. It had all the fixins!
FINAL TRIBAL COUNCIL - NIGHT 26
SUE - Needs to own her loyalty game and sell that her strategy was to offer loyalty as a way to move forward in the game. She’s been underestimated and needs to lean into that too. Her 59th birthday could help.
SAM - “Find a way to find a way” is something we’ve heard him say throughout the episode and battles he’s faced this season and I anticipate him saying it again. He needs to sell his game as the underdog who was counted out several times, but always found a way to come back.
RACHEL - She was gifted Safety Without Power from Sol to save her ass, she is one of 5 women in the history of Survivor to win 4 individual immunities, she used her BLOCK A VOTE advantage that she won on the barge and her Hidden Immunity Idol to outwit Andy and Genevieve when the target was placed solely on her. Feels like her game to lose.
PREDICTION: Rachel wins 5-3 or 4-4 with Sue casting the winning vote for Rachel. But, Sam will fight HARD to win and I could also see a 5-3 victory for him as well, but tonight I’ll predict it to be Rachel’s night.
GABE - How do you think, no hope, your game will be remembered? Is that important to you?
RACHEL - fell on her face, underdog, who worked her way out of it but doesn’t really care to be remembered.
SAM - “scrappy”, wants to leave feeling proud and admired by others
SUE - Drops the bomb of it being her 59th birthday, she would be the oldest female winner ever, and the legacy of her grandson see his grandmother be truthful and honest to be a way to finish first.
CAROLINE - What’s the biggest mistake and how did you recover?
RACHEL - miscalculated what was going on and revealed her sneaking up on the conversation at the beach between Andy, Sam, Teeny, and Genevieve.
SAM - not tying up loose ends and recovering by weaponizing information and spreading info.
SUE - Calls out Andy for lying to her and blindsiding and believing Andy 3 times
SOL - Give me one thing I don’t know about your game that will blow my mind.
RACHEL - Playing the idol to perfection.
SAM - Navigating the game without an Immunity Idol and elevating other threats.
ANDY - Challenges Rachel’s voting record.
She had to adapt. She was never on the right side of the vote because she didn’t have strategic agency, so she had to win immunity and find idols.
Sam fires back with his ammo of the number of times he was voted for, the target of votes, and he was on the right side of votes. BOOM!
SIERRA - When you hit a low, how did you overcome that low?
SAM - Channeled the joy on the other end of watching the show back with family and his fiancé. Thought of the 6 year old him and how he wouldn’t let him down. BOOM!
RACHEL - Night Sierra went home and Rachel channeled her husband’s message of “trusting her instincts”. She never owns her accomplishments in the rest of her life but she is determined to bring that back with her.
SUE - Gabe tees it up to her and she references the strength she gained through the rest of the tribe.
FINAL WORDS TO JURY
SUE - 59, loyal, voted out who she wanted to, and “beat all your asses”.
SAM - Most well rounded, dynamic, creative game. Took control without raising threat level and didn’t rely on advantages.
RACHEL - Believes she had the most dominant game. She had all the advantages and obtained them in a variety of ways. 4 immunity wins. Underdog to big dog.
FINAL THOUGHTS
SUE - She had limited opportunities to share answers (from what we saw) and she didn’t squander them, but she didn’t knock them out of the park. I think she is a zero vote 3rd place.
SAM - He fought his ass off. He went after Rachel when he needed to and conveyed his standalone game too. He has a real chance to win. He will get jury votes. I think he had the strongest Final Tribal.
RACHEL - I think she had a shaky start but she fought her ass off too. She went at Sam when she needed to and landed her selling points to the jury as well. I think she will win, but it will be close.
VOTES
RACHEL - 7
SAM - 1
SUE - 0
Congratulations to Rachel, the winner of Survivor 47!!!!
There is much to say about Rachel. First, she is a well deserved winner. She won four individual Immunity Challenge when she needed them and played a Hidden Immunity Idol to perfection to knock out Andy at final 6. She never had a true ride or die alliance nor was she part of a “TIKA 3” or a “REBA 4” that ran the game. She played a solo game that required her to join forces when she needed to, get lucky in her french fries, and have Sol be her guardian angel to provide safety without power. Her game truly encompassed each element of outwit, outplay, and outlast.
This was an incredible season. I would rank it number one from the new era, no question about it, and Rachel had a lot to do with that. I am anxious for Survivor 48 this fall and its attempt to outdo 47. Good luck!
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