With a 2+ hour finale – and a reunion show (Which I can tell you now I will not be addressing again after this mention. It was fine, nothing noteworthy except the absence of Alec (duh) and Jeremy (?)) to get through, there’s no point in having a lead in (except for this small one that you’re reading right now), so let’s get right to it!
Back at camp
After the idols were played at the previous Tribal Council, everyone had idol fever. Predictably, all six remaining players went idol hunting. Angelina eventually found a clue to an idol, telling her the idol was hidden at the top of a rock by the tribe’s water well. She had to dig up a ladder in the sand to use to climb the rock. Angelina walked back to camp to scout the idol location, only to realize she lost her clue on her way back. She decided to make her move immediately in case someone else finds the clue. But then she forgot where the idol was hidden. Then she climbed far too high (100 feet, she would claim at the reunion, though Jeff was kind enough to point out that the ladder was only 8 feet tall). God Bless Angelina.
Immunity/Reward Challenge
Ah, here we go! After weeks of standing on stuff and balancing other stuff, we finally had a nice, big, physical challenge. Nothing that Survivor hasn’t done before, but it still feels good to see them switch it up after a lot of similar challenges. Here, each castaway raced through obstacles, used a ball to hook a release which unlocked steps to build a staircase. Waiting at the top of the staircase was a massive 63 piece puzzle. This was also a reward challenge, playing for a spaghetti meal back at camp.
After falling way behind from the beginning, Nick makes a big comeback, solving the puzzle first, securing immunity.
Nick picks Angelina and Mike to join him at the spaghetti feast.
There was a great moment in the challenge where Jeff seemingly called out Ghost Island winner Wendell, “When you think you’ve got it, step back and yell!. You gotta let me know!” You probably remember the infamous immunity challenge last year, where Wendell finished the puzzle first and stepped back, but didn’t call out to Jeff, leaving the door open for Laurel to sneak in and take the immunity win away. I can’t imagine Jeff wasn’t inspired by Wendell here, and I absolutely love it.
Reward/Beach
Angelina tried to make a Final 3 deal with Nick and Mike. As she said, “We’re going into war together.” Mike’s response? “Can we have cake first?” Mike White is a treasure. (Side note: “Can we have cake first?” would have made a fantastic episode title. Much better than a Spider-Man reference.)
Angelina told Mike and Nick about her clue. And with their help, Angelina finally gets her hands on an idol. This was actually great. Angelina having the idol kept the threats vulnerable. She was the person who least needed an idol to advance in the game. At this point in the game, this is exactly what I would want for the new idol; it forces the threats really work for their safety.
Mike and Kara were angling for Davie. Angelina and Nick wanted to vote Alison. In speaking with Alison, Angelina told Alison she could sway the vote either way, because after all, Angelina had been driving the last three votes. Um, no? Here’s the thing, I still don’t get why Alison was perceived as such a big threat. Everyone kept positioning her that way, but nothing we saw on the show supported that. I am sorely hoping some of the upcoming post-game interviews can shed some light on this.
Tribal Council
Davie was sent home (or, rather, to Ponderosa) with 4-2. He continued the trend of taking his boot on the chin, staying positive about the whole thing. And this is a trend I can get behind. There have always been those who have kept it together after being voted out, being able to laugh it off. But it seems to be happening with more regularity these days. And I love it. Survivor, after all, is a game. What’s the point of a game if you can’t have fun? And this harkens back to the man who might have started this, Jay Starrett. This still is probably my all-time favorite vote-out moment.
Skip to 2:29 if it doesn’t start there on its own
Post Tribal
Upon return to camp, Nick came back heated at Angelina and Mike for not telling him about the Davie vote. Angelina tried to reassure him that Alison would be next. But Nick’s whining made Mike think he might have to go after Nick next instead.
Immunity Challenge
Each contestant stood perched on a stand (or in Alison’s case, stood wobbling on a stand), from where they dropped a bucket into the ocean to fill a bamboo chute with water to raise a key, which unlocked puzzle pieces for a block puzzle. Nick wins again.
Pre-Tribal
We couldn’t have the David Vs. Goliath finale without some more epic Angelina moments. And what happened here blew the ladder fiasco out of the water. So they’re at the final five, otherwise known as the last chance players have to play an immunity idol. Angelina was going to play her idol no matter what. But she wanted to do it in such a way that would make it seem like some grand strategic triumph rather than simply playing the idol because it was her last chance and there would be no reason not to.
Angelina devised a plan to make a big splash at Tribal Council. She wanted to draw votes to her, so she could play her idol on herself, strictly as a move for the jury. And that makes sense. The jury sees very little of the actual game; only what happens at Tribal Council. So if someone has a chance to influence those moments in their favor, they should absolutely go for it. But because it’s Angelina, she went about it in possibly the most absurd way possible. Again, God bless Angelina.
She wanted Mike and Nick’s help in drawing the votes to her. She literally petitioned them to help make this move for her own jury management. These were the two guys she had made a Final 3 plan with. And yet she wants them to assist her in this move that she could then point to at the Final Tribal Council as a reason why should win the title of Sole Survivor – over both of them!
But Angelina wasn’t going to stop there. She also decided to make a fake idol for Alison to find and hopefully use. I don’t know if I’ve said this yet, but God bless Angelina. Mike wasn’t exactly on board, though. He didn’t think there was a need all those extra fireworks. And, as he would point out, it was simply mean-spirited, adding insult to injury. He even went so far as to call Angelina a “cruel psychopath.”
Tribal Council
Alison had indeed found Angelina’s fake idol and it, though she did note that she was “almost 100% certain” that it was fake. Then Angelina played her idol, but it had far from the desired effect. Alison was undramatically voted out 4-1.
Immunity Challenge
For the final immunity challenge, Survivor went back to the well for a classic. Each of the four had one hand tied behind their back. They dropped a ball down chute, catch it and drop it back in, dropping more balls at regular intervals. This challenge is always great. Part of it is probably the heightened stakes, part is just how the challenge is set up, But you can always seem to feel the tension in this one, to more of a degree than with many other challenges.
Anywhoo, it was no surprise that it came down to Kara vs. Nick here, with Nick winning his third straight immunity after Kara let her ball drop after a momentary lapse, thinking about where to drop her fourth ball.
Pre-Tribal
Nick made his decision and told the group he would bring bring Angelina to the Final 3. Angelina (because, of course) finds this as proof of her elite skills of persuasion, somehow finding a way to take credit for this as well. Just in case you missed it the first 17 times, God Bless Angelina.
Anyway, Kara and Mike began practicing for the fire challenge. Kara seemed to have it down, while Mike…struggled.
Tribal Council
Nick stuck to his word and chose Angelina to come with to the Final 3. In an upset Mike routinely defeated Kara in the fire making challenge, cementing his place in the Final 3. In the first two seasons that had this Final 4 Fire Challenge, the player who won said challenge has gone on to win the game (Ben and Wendell) while the person taken to the end has come in third (Ryan and Laurel). Would that happen for the third time in a row? Well, since you’re reading this, you (hopefully) know the answer. And if you don’t, what are you doing? How did you get lost and end up here? Go, go away, do something else. Better yet, go watch this season of Survivor, and then come back and read this.
Okay, enough rambling. No, it would not happen again. Angelina would continue the trend of finishing in third as the person taken to the end. But Nick became the first ever player in the Final 4 Fire Challenge Era to win the final immunity challenge and go on to the win the game. Sure, this is only the third season of this “era,” but still, first is first.
Final Tribal Council
I usually don’t have a lot to say about the specific of the Final Tribal Council, or regular Tribal Councils in general. So let’s hit a few quick highlights.
The “Outwit” portion of FTC produced what might be my favorite moment of the season. And if not favorite, top five for sure. The Shaman of Sexy asks to direct the conversation back to Mike, but of course Angelina pops in to give her two cents first.
“Can we hear from Mike next?”
Angelina: #survivorfinale #survivor pic.twitter.com/5YsFNERYle— News From The Couch (@NFTCouch) December 20, 2018
There was shockingly only one mention of Ricegate. But it did prompt this epic response from Davie: “I do have to point out that the whole point of a selfless act is to be selfless and not bring it up.” My man.
Christian had the surprise f-bomb of the evening. Jeff tried to move the jury onto the “Outplay” portion, to which Christian replies “F**k no.” Big time surprise, he never struck me as an f-word using type of guy. But that likely only served to make it all the better.
If you were paying attention to the camera shots of the jury, it seemed fairly obvious that Nick was going to win. It felt like every time the cameras cut to the jury as he was speaking, someone was smiling or nodding in agreement. Not that they were scowling or laughing at Mike and Angelina’s responses. But those shots felt like they were showing a jury that was going to vote for Nick.
And that, as you know, is exactly what happened, as Nick, by virtue of a 7-3-0 vote, is your Sole Survivor for David Vs. Goliath.
And for those keeping track at home (which is probably…nobody?) I nearly perfectly nailed the finale results in my finale preview. The only thing I missed was the fire challenge; I had Kara beating Mike. But I nailed the Davie and Alison votes, Nick winning final immunity and bringing Angelina, and even the final vote of 7-3-0. A small consolation prize after having my correct winner pick streak end at an illustrious one.
Season 38
As always, Probst gave us a quick peak at season 38, Survivor: Edge of Extinction. As one would predict, it didn’t go too deep into what, or who, is about to become extinct. Maybe it’s one or more of the four returning players? That’s right, season 38 will see four familiar faces back on the island.
Returning are Joe Anglim (Worlds Apart, Cambodia/Second Chance), Aubry Bracco (Kaoh Rong, Game Changers), Kelley Wentworth (San Juan del Sur, Cambodia/Second Chance), and David Wright (Millennials vs. Gen X). I’ll get more into this as the season approaches and we have more information on what the theme or twist of Extinction will be (there looked to maybe be some sort of Extinction Island?). I’m not the biggest fan of bringing back so few players. If you’re going to do a season with some new and some returning players, go full split and do a Fans vs. Favorites season.
With only four returning players, and 18 total, the assumption would two tribes of nine with two returnees on each. That could at least give them a better chance, as the two could decide to form an alliance right off the bat. But whatever happens, these four will have a massive target on their backs from the second they step on the beach. Now, there might be some kind of twist that makes it harder to vote them out right away. And there are rumors that there is an Island of Extinction that would be similar to Redemption Island. I won’t go into any further details in case those rumors are true and you don’t want to be spoiled. But if you are spoiler inclined, they are certainly not hard to find.
David Vs. Goliath – Some Final Thoughts
It should come as no surprise that I side with the majority in proclaiming this season as nothing short of awesome. While I don’t have a full rankings list of all 37 seasons (hm, future post for the Survivor off-season maybe?), I feel confident in saying DvG is at worst a top 10 season. Heroes vs. Villains is for sure my number one. Cagayan, Micronesia, and Cambodia/Second Chance are all likely in the top five. Maybe DvG slides in there as well? In any event, there aren’t six other better seasons than what we just saw.
This season was a perfect example of how a great cast can make any season better. This season has often been compared to Cagayan, as they are both beloved all-new player seasons. At first glance I would say Cagayan had better game play, but DvG had a better cast (not that Cagayan’s cast wasn’t loaded) and they are both two of the best (the two best?) seasons, both all-new and overall. Let’s hope the great casting continues into season 38.
Well that officially (finally) does it for Survivor: David Vs. Goliath. And lastly, one more time for the people in the back. God bless Angelina.
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