‘Australian Survivor: Brains V Brawn’ Finale Recap

This is it, folks. The Australian Survivor grande finale! Through all the twists, shifting alliances, great strategy and bone-headed moves, we’re finally at the end. This season has been mostly lots of fun. The twists have by and large not worked…at all. But the characters and flashes of brilliant strategy make up for that.

Immunity Challenge

This challenge looks like absolute torture. Standing on narrow pegs while holding onto spikes above. The spikes lower at regular intervals, twisting the players into increasingly uncomfortable positions. Just look at these pictures. Ridiculous. I love it. This is what a final challenge is all about.

They also pull out the standard last challenge loved ones. Each of the three have two family or friends come out for support. I’m not usually a big fan of the traditional loved ones visits, but I really like this one. It gives them a bit of extra encouragement, while also providing a potential distraction. You let your emotions get to you, and you lose concentration for one second, that could be it for you.

But the main reason I like it is because of how understated it is. It doesn’t take up much time, and barely pulls the focus from the players and the game itself.

George steps off first at just over 4.5 hours. With George out, whoever wins between Hayley and Flick wins the season. Both would take George, and both would likely beat him pretty handily. And they both probably know it. It’s just a matter of time now.

Hayley wins the all-important final immunity, as Flick steps off after 5 hours and 17 minutes.

Tribal Council

There’s no time for George and Flick to scramble, as they head straight to Tribal Council. Flick’s final pitch is how dominant George’s game has been, how Survivor has maybe never seen someone play a game quite like his. I get the idea, but it’s not quite correct. George’s take, however, is completely spot on. He believes Flick has more locked in votes than either he or Hayley.

And Hayley does send Flick to the jury. I’m very curious to hear what Hayley has to say about this decision in post-game interviews, but I have to imagine her thinking was pretty in line with George’s here. And I’d say the few reaction shots we saw from the jury cemented this as the right decision. Gerald even seemed close to tears. There really should have been no uncertainty on Hayley’s part in making this decision.

Final Tribal

In his opening statement, George focuses on his strategic game, that he had a plan and stuck to it and executed. From Day 1, he had to shift the focus of his tribe away from the physical prowess, or he would have gone home early on. Hayley discusses her plan to play the middle. As someone who held all the information, she ultimately held more power in the votes.

Let’s go over just a few of the juror questions.

Cara asked Hayley if she came into the game intending to lie, manipulate, and deceive. Her tone makes it sound like she was framing it as a negative. But Hayley is able to spin it and own it. She’s a fan of the game (she had a Survivor-themed 21st birthday party, we learn from her friend later on), so she knows those are critical aspects of the game. They’re “not dirty words in this game,” she says. A great answer.

Andrew asks them if they have any regrets in the game. George says he doesn’t, because every move and decision he made got him to the end. I see the reasoning, but it’s a little too results based thinking for my liking. It also neglects the effects his moves and actions had on his relationships with the other players. George’s game was very strong strategically, but it ultimately came at the expense of his social game.

Emmett asks George if, given the chance to redo the season, would he do anything differently, or would he play the same way, spinning lies and destroying relationships. The specific wording of that last part – “destroying relationships” – is key. George’s answer here is similar to that of Andrew’s question. He says no, he needed to do what he had to do in order to get the end of the game. And once again, his answer completely neglects the social consequences.

To Hayley, Emmett asks how she saw her and George’s game differently. Her answer here is maybe the best answer of all Final Tribal, and was pretty much a perfect summation of Hayley vs. George. She acknowledges that George played a great strategic game. She too was very strong strategically, but was also strong physically and effective socially. She views her game as the perfect blend of the Brain and Brawn aspects of Survivor. If any juror was on the fence, this should have been the turning point.

And on the votes, Hayley wins by a 7-2 count. In addition to Cara, George also received Laura’s vote. I don’t know how much Final Tribal swayed anyone (if it did at all), but I think Hayley’s performance was much stronger than George’s. If anyone was uncertain, Final Tribal should have proven Hayley as the superior player. George came off too much like a politician. Emmett kind of called him out on it, but George danced around the questions just a bit too much, rather than truly owning his game. Hayley owned everything she did.

George should be extremely proud of the game he played. I think there were only two players he couldn’t have beaten at the end. Those two just happened to be the two players he found himself with in the final three. It’s not the first time someone plays a great game only to find themselves in an unwinnable situation at the end.

I think my only real ding against Hayley’s game is the fact that she got voted out during the game. The Outcasts, Redemption Island, Edge of Extinction, all bad. If you’re voted out, you should be out. However, Australian Survivor gets a pass that the U.S. and South Africa series don’t. The non-eliminations are a given in the Australian game. You know they’re coming, it’s just a matter of when and how they play out. Even though production could do so much to better fit these into the game, they’re still a known, given quantity.

Maybe the most impressive part of Hayley’s game (and there’s plenty to choose from) is how calm she remained in the face of adversity. There were so many moments where she was up against the wall, but she didn’t panic. She thought through each and every option, taking a calculated approach to work her way out of it. She played a quiet game for the first couple weeks, but once she started making moves, she was the best player from then until the end. We don’t always get to see the best player win, so it’s always that much sweeter when it does happen.

Final Thoughts

Whew. What a bananas season. Extremely great high points, and laughably bad low points. On any version of Survivor, twists can make or break a season. More than likely, at least for me, they’re either going to break it or be more of a net neutral. And this season was an all-time bad collection of twists. It’s almost impressive how terrible they were. BUT.

With George and Hayley’s strategy, the fun challenges, the big personalities, the good definitely outweighed the poor creative decisions. And getting the strongest final three in Survivor AU history and arguably the two best players in the game at the end put the icing on the cake of a very good season. I don’t want this to become the norm, but I fear that’s where the Aussie edition is headed. But a good cast is always the biggest thing for me. So as long casting keeps killing it, we’ll be fine.

And with that, we close the book on Australian Survivor: Brains V Brawn…and open the book on the next season. Network 10 released a brief promo for the 7th season, coming in February.

All signs point to it being a Blood vs Water theme. Inside Survivor confirms this, though nothing has been formally announced. But if Inside Survivor is reporting it, I’m taking it as truth. In that same article, they point to some earlier quotes from host Jonathan LaPaglia:

“…it is a theme that has been done in the past in the US, I can tell you that much. But I can’t say what it is yet.”

All that, along with the red and blue coloring in the promo clip, certainly would make Blood vs Water the only logical theme. Early reports are also that the cast will include both new and returning players. Even only through six seasons, the list of returning players I’d want to see come back is a long one. They’ve already had one returning season, with last season’s All-Stars. And while I loved that cast, I hope they only bring back players who have played just one time.

The Survivor finale week is just getting started, though, as South Africa’s finale is this Thursday. And then Survivor 41 starts on September 22nd. After going so long with no Survivor

Matt Hambidge