Episode 13 - Part 3 - The Finale

“Only two remain.  Stay tuned to find out who will be the sole survivor” - Probst

Day 39

At last, Day 39 is upon Rattana.  Only one Tribal Council vote stands between Rich and Kelly and one million dollars.  Playing the game at camp is over because there is nobody left to vote out.  The only thing left to do for Kelly and Rich is to reflect on the past 39 days and prepare for the final Tribal Council.  

“I’ve had a lot of moral issues.  I regret being part of the alliance.  That didn’t make me feel so good. I regret… trusting Sue, being vulnerable to her.  That hurt me in a lot of ways.” - Kelly

Kelly has had quite a story unfold for her over 39 days and 13 episodes.  She has questioned herself and her morals.  She has become hardened by the game.  She has forged bonds and trust with people from Tagi to help strengthen her position in the game but only to see her go rogue in order to stay true to herself.  She has tried to befriend Pagong tribe members and not let alliance loyalty drive her.  She has also proved herself by winning 5 challenges and NEEDING to win 5 challenges to get to the final two where she held the power in her hands to eliminate the alliance she regrets once joining to leave herself up against Rich for the title of sole survivor.

“It’s kind of nice to be one of the last two, and it’s nice to have Kelly as the other member.  I think I’m, uh, reflecting a little bit on what’s happened for the 39 days.  I think I’m also thinking a little bit about questions that will be asked by the jury tonight, and how to approach some potential questions.” - Rich

Rich has had a different story arch over the 39 days and 13 episodes.  For Rich, it has been about the game since before the 16 castaways marooned on the island over a month prior.  Rich has been playing “the game” and has been the frontrunner in that department since making his “guarantee” of victory when he told us he was the winner and the million dollar check has his name on it back in the opening minutes of episode 1.  His “game” has caused him to make waves and cause some rifts but it is hard to argue who has played a better game than he has.  Even now on day 39, the only piece of the game remaining is facing the jury and what is Rich doing?, he is rehearsing for the “interview” of a lifetime.  

PRE TRIBAL COUNCIL

As Rich and Kelly have a cathartic moment in burning down the camp they called home for 39 days.  In this moment they leave the drama, the ups, the downs, the tortured emotions, and everything in between at the beach and move forward.  

In the final moment at Tagi beach we hear Rich say “If I get second place I will not be sad.  I will be happy that I’ve earned a hundred grand, and had a great time here, and played a game that I’m proud of, the way I played it, but I want the million. (cackles)  I really want the million.  Oh, my God, it would change my life.” - Rich

I’m not sure if I remember them ever saying that the runner up wins $100,000 or not.  I don’t think so.  Or maybe the million has been the focus the whole time and the second prize has just been a fart in the wind.  Either way, I have to think that if in that position, $100,000 would be amazing, but would also be pathetic in comparison to winning the million dollars and the forever title of sole survivor!  Money will come and go, but that “championship” will always have your name on it.

JURY VOICES THEIR TAKE HEADED INTO TRIBAL COUNCIL

With Rich and Kelly walking to the final Tribal Council the show shares the thoughts of each jury member.  I think it is important to remember the question in the jury’s mind has to be “do I vote for who played the best “game” or for the person I “liked” the most?  Based on this, how each of their stories in the game ended, and who they are, I think it would be fun to predict their votes and why they would vote that way. Let’s look at what they had to say and make some predictions.

1 - SEAN - “The question:  “Does the end justify the means?”

Sean acknowledges how each of them got to the end which tells me that he is leaning to vote for who played the better game.  He votes for Rich and I think Rich was next alphabetically anyways. Rich 1 Kelly 0

2 - GERVASE - “Kelly’s an all around nice person…”

Well that about sums up his vote.  Kelly 1 Rich 1

3 - RUDY - “I liked Rich all the way through this thing.”

As if there were any doubt of whether Rudy would stay loyal to Rich or not.  That’s another vote for Rich.  Rich 2 Kelly 1

4 - GREG - “I felt like Kelly went through like, uh, identity crisises on TV, but not really crisises, but like various identities on TV.”

Leave it to Greg to have a different and more ambiguous take on where his head is at going into Tribal Council.  I think he respects Rich’s game but I think he will side with Kelly.  Rich 2 Kelly 2

5 - COLLEEN “But I think we just want to end it, you know?  Let’s go home.”

Colleen goes unfiltered and shares how she isn’t impressed with Kelly or Rich.  She doesn’t think much of either of them.  Colleen was the last of Pagong and saw the unfolding of the Tagi alliance on the horizon.  She warned them to play nice.  My guess is she’ll think Kelly played “nicer” than Rich.  Kelly 3 Rich 2

6 - JENNA - “I’m actually happy I got out when I did, thank God, because I couldn’t have been ruthless…I can live with myself, and that’s the important thing.” 

Hmm.  Tough one, but I feel like Kelly will appeal to this notion that Jenna is sharing.  Kelly battled with being able to “live with herself” throughout the game.  Kelly gets Jenna’s vote.  Kelly 4 Rich 2

7 - SUE - “I got both guns loaded all the way and I’m going to fire ‘em full blast”

Sue is coming to Tribal for herself.  I don’t think that will be good for Kelly.  Plus, Rich had the alliance with Sue from the beginning.  Sue’s vote will be for Rich.

FINAL PREDICTION - Kelly wins 4 votes to 3.

How confident am I?  Not very.  In the end I think it will be hard for Rich to win any of the 4 Pagong votes because he was instrumental in voting them out and also because Kelly did take time to get to know them more than Rich.  

The question remains, will the jury vote thinking “Who played the “game” best?” or “Who do I like the most?”  If it’s about the game, than Rich should win, but if the vote is about who was liked most, I think it’s Kelly.  In both cases the votes would be close.

TRIBAL COUNCIL

As the final Tribal Council begins, Probst does an unbelievable job of putting this social experiment over 39 days into perspective.  He congratulates the final 9 castaways on enduring the challenges of the game, living amongst the unpredictability on the island, and recognizes the game’s complexities and parallels to their real lives.  

OPENING REMARKS

Kelly

“I’m hoping what we’re going to be judged on, or I, personally, will be judged on is the person that I am and the conversations that we had, the time we spent together, the things we talked about…hopefully the better person will win.”

Kelly’s game was different than Rich’s game.  Kelly did take time to talk with people, get to know them, and share pieces of her life with them.  Kelly won the “quiz” challenge because she knew Sonya’s last name, Jenna’s daughters’ names, and in the final Immunity Challenge she even answered Jeff’s impromptu question about Rudy’s wife’s name correctly.  Rich’s response was he didn’t know his biggest ally’s wife’s name.  Kelly was real.  Kelly was listening.  Kelly did care about the other people.  It wasn’t just a “game”.  Kelly closes her opening statement by appealing to the jury to vote for who the better person is and for anyone leaning to vote for who they liked more, Kelly will be the choice.

Richard

“I take a little bit of a different approach to it.  For me it’s not about you deciding who  the best person is.  I-I don’t think you really know who I am and probably don’t know who Kelly is… For me instead of who’s the better person, it is about who played the game better, and I’m hoping you just respect my having approached the game from that perspective.”

Rich goes second and makes his case for playing the better “game”.  He was very clear from the beginning that he was there to play the game above all.  His counter to Kelly continues when he questions how well you can get to know anyone in 39 days and that the jury doesn’t really know who he is or who Kelly is.  

Ultimately, the question that Chuck Klosterman posed and was talked about a few blogs ago was born here in Borneo.  Kelly is the better person but Rich played the better game.  What do you do if you’re the jury?  If it were up to me and I was on the jury, I would be more likely to vote who played the best game.  It might hurt because they outplayed me but I think I would vote for the best player over the best person.  Rich would get my vote.  

JURY QUESTIONS/COMMENTS

1 - GERVASE - “Is there any one, two, or three things you would change from your 39 days on this island? or nothing at all?

Kelly regrets joining the alliance.  Rich’s reaction says it all.  Kelly is playing the sympathy and “playing the game” card to those that were victims of the alliance.  I get it.  She had to do it.  In the end she needs 4 votes to win and asking for forgiveness from the alliance might be enough.  

2 - JENNA - “If you could take and put two people in your place in lieu of yourself, who would it be and why?”

Rich quickly chooses Rudy and thanks him for his loyalty and integrity for how he played the game.  Then, Rich takes a minute to decide who the other person would be.  I think he is calculating who the best person is to try and sway to vote for him. 

After a heavy pause and deep breath, Rich chooses Greg.  Bingo!  That is who Rich should be targeting.  Rich says “I thought he was certainly, uh, my biggest competition,”.  Brilliant job of solidifying that the best game players deserved to be there and telling a swing vote on the jury that he was your biggest competition.  Well played. 

Kelly on the other hand, doubles down on the best person argument and picks Sonja and Gretchen.  Really?  She appeals to the woman vote and points out their character, but a missed opportunity.  Gretchen, ok, I can see why you’d pick her, but Sonja has been gone for 36 days and only you remembered her name Kelly.  

3 - SEAN

No question from Sean.  Fitting.  Sean doesn’t care to interrogate anyone.  It isn’t who he is.  So, after spending 36 days with Kelly and Rich, Sean takes the moment to reflect and he thanks Kelly and Rich for helping him learn about himself.  Sean brings a smile to everyone’s face as only Sean could.

4 - COLLEEN “For myself and for future players of the game, what three character traits do you think got you where you are you think are essential to be where you are?”

Kelly - faith, strong will, likability

Rich - self-awareness, observation, ethics

This question went much deeper for Rich. For anyone watching this in 2000 or today and saying “I want to be on the show” or “I could win” they need to watch, listen, and learn from Rich.  This question let Rich express himself and to the jury the game he was playing.  The game she neglected to play or wasn’t capable of seeing. Observation to Colleen is getting to know people.  She proves how green she is when she cuts Rich off to press him on not knowing anything about people but has absolutely no clue what he means by observation.  How could she?  Her game was aimless until it was too late.  Rich was observing people, observing relationships and planning his next move. That’s what he meant by observation, not knowing Sonja’s last name. She asks the best question so far and hopefully she learned a thing or two.  

5 - RUDY

He never fails to nail it.  Every time he spoke, he didn’t say much, but he proved time and again that he has a way with words. hahahahaha.

6 - GREG

As Jeff says “Character is Character”.  Greg certainly was a character.  His antics of answering fake phone calls or bursting out into show tunes primed the viewers for his interrogation strategy of choosing a number between 1 and 10.  If he uses this as his method for picking a winner, I mean, even for Greg, that is crazy!!!

7 - SUE

The stage is yours.  Enjoy everyone.

Mic drop.

If there is a more jaw dropping moment along the 40 season journey I am on with this blog, I will be stunned.  

CLOSING REMARKS

Kelly

Reminds the jury to vote their conscious and not based on the absolute nuclear bomb that Sue just dropped on the entire Tribal Council.

Rich

Thanks the jury for them being the ones making the difficult decision.  He doesn’t regret how he played and wouldn’t change anything.

The closing remarks are quick.  Sue’s speech sends a shockwave through Tribal Council and into your living room like an earthquake that registers an 8.9 on the Richter scale.  I give Kelly a ton of credit for how she handled her closing remarks following Sue’s gut punch. Kelly remained composed and directed her message soundly to the jurors.  Impressive. I don’t think many 22 year olds in her position would have handled that as well as she did.  I bet that when Kelly reflects on this today, she will still be proud of how she handled it.  Good for you Kelly.

VOTING

GERVASE - Kelly go girl

• “So, Kelly, I hope you win it, and after you win it, you can stuff it in Sue’s face.

• Gervase votes for Kelly and goes off about Sue the “belly-aching sore loser”.  

JENNA - Kelly

• “She befriended me…She endured not only the physical but the emotional, especially after the last speech.”

• Jenna picks the “better person” and the person she believes is a survivor.

SEAN - Rich

• “this contest has degenerated from a contest of who’s the most deserving into a contest of who’s least objectionable.”

• Sean chooses Rich because Kelly was “more deceptive, more manipulative, more double faced”

• Sean saw the game differently from Gervase or Jenna and it makes sense.  Sean spent 36 days on the same tribe as Kelly and Rich.  He saw both of them from the beginning and how they played the game.  In both cases, Sean disliked their games but in the end Sean’s vote was based on who he liked more, and despite what I thought everyone would say, he liked Rich more than Kelly.  Maybe the breadcrumbs for this were laid from the breakfast decision switch but I thought it was unanimous that everyone who would vote based on who they “liked” more would choose Kelly.  Wrong.

COLLEEN - kelly

• Colleen says “What got me tonight — I’m changing my vote.  What got me tonight was that you said “will” is required.

• Colleen came into Tribal Council voting for Rich.  Didn’t think that would happen despite Colleen’s flash of strategy before being voted out of the game.  After her question about the 3 character traits though, Rich’s answer kind of made Colleen look like a minor leaguer and Kelly’s didn’t.  

I’m 4 for 4 on my guesses from earlier.

SUE - Rich

• “You started a long time ago to get here and you’re honest about why you’re here.”

• Sue appreciates a person’s work ethic and honesty.  In her eyes Rich was a worker and honest and Kelly was not.  

RUDY - Rich

• “We had an alliance to the end and I’m fulfilling my obligation.”

• Spoken like a true military man.  Rudy is loyal and his word really means something.  He played the game with integrity and loyalty to the very end.

6 for 6

GREG - ???

No words, no comments, no rationale, just a marker sniff.  Can you say curve ball?

After 39 days it all comes down to this.  The votes are split 3 to 3 and Greg’s vote will decide the winner.  The guy who goes up to cast a million dollar vote and smells the marker and justifies his decision based on choosing a number between 1 and 10 is the one who will decide the winner.  Greg single handedly tosses out the jury voting question of choosing between “who played the game better versus who I liked better” and adds a third option of seemingly pure chance.  

As Jeff reveals the votes one by one, it gets to the 3-3 tie.  One vote left.  Rich and Kelly, the jury, and America are on the edge of their seat.  The producers couldn’t have scripted the drama any better.  Who did Greg vote for?

WINNER - RICH.

Just like that, Survivor crowns its first winner. The prophecy is complete.  The guarantee came to fruition.  The winner of the $1,000,000 prize and the title of Sole Survivor is Richard Hatch. His name really was on the million dollar check and he deserved it.

Thanks for reading. I hope you have enjoyed the journey of season 1 as much as I have.

The blog has spoken!