Well, we made it, another Survivor finale! It’s been a really solid season, proving that even 43 seasons in, the production team still has their fastball. Heading into the finale, this was set up to easily be the strongest of the three “new era” seasons. And after this result, it remains solidly in that position.
Gaia
Jesse recaps the previous Tribal Council, with his plan working to perfection, playing Cody’s idol for Owen, getting Karla to play her idol incorrectly, and getting Cody out. Now Jesse sits at the final five with a secret idol, guaranteeing a place in the final four. As before it’s his game to lose.
The five remaining players – Jesse, Gabler, Owen, Karla, and Cassidy – head to a new beach. Survivor seems intent on keeping this “twist” and I don’t know why. Season 42 barely even acknowledged the camp change.
While out exploring their new camp, they find five envelopes in Tree Mail, for a clue to a secret advantage. They have to unscramble a word puzzle. Everyone explains why they need the advantage over the others. Jesse particularly might need it more, as he realizes nobody will probably take him to the end. This is the second mention already – the first being the huge target he now has after the Cody move – of how aware he is of how the other four likely view him. He knows his position at this point; he’s not going to get caught with his pants down.
Karla finishes first, but Owen isn’t too far behind. Owen finds the right tree, but Karla sneaks in just ahead of him, securing the advantage. The advantage is for the upcoming final five immunity. This has to go. Advantage at a Reward Challenge, sure. Some extra food, fine. But an advantage at such a critical immunity challenge? It’s just too much. And yeah, obviously it doesn’t guarantee a win, but why wouldn’t the show want the final “real” challenge (because of the fire challenge at F4) run with everyone on equal footing?
Immunity Challenge
For this challenge, they maneuver a buoy through a series of obstacles in the water. Once they get to the beach, they use two handles to transport puzzle blocks over a balance beam. They finish with a word phrase puzzle.
They’re also playing for a reward of steak, baked potatoes, veggies, wine, and cheese cake.
Karla’s advantage gives her 10 puzzle pieces – which Probst says is roughly a third of them – already at her puzzle station.
With everyone working furiously on the puzzle, it suddenly clicks for Owen, and he takes the all-important immunity win. He gets to choose one person to take with him to the Survivor Sanctuary, and decides on Cassidy.
Reward/Pre-Tribal
Owen and Cassidy discuss the next vote. They want both Karla and Jesse out, so their decision is tough as whoever stays in the game will at least have a shot to go to the final three. Owen thinks Jesse is the favorite right now, after the Cody move. But Cassidy is still stuck on Karla. Cassidy says she’s driven most of the votes (something we have not seen *any* evidence of), but it has been in tandem with Karla. Like Jesse needed Cody out Cassidy needs Karla out to more easily differentiate her game should she make it to Final Tribal.
Jesse and Karla know the vote will be between the two of them, so they know they need to carefully pick their next target. Karla pitches Cassidy to Jesse, but actually wants to get the target onto Jesse. But Cassidy and Owen are probably the biggest immunity threats, and with Owen safe, that would make Cassidy the preferred target, at least with that line of thinking.
Gabler’s confessional tells us his ideal Final 3 is himself, Cassidy, and Owen. He has an uphill battle no matter what, but that should be the only Final 3 iteration that would give him a chance to win.
Karla pitches the others on voting Jesse. It doesn’t work as well on Cassidy, so Karla throws out the loved-but-awful, “If I’m on the jury, I won’t vote for you” threat. It’s not a great idea, but if you feel that pushed into a corner, you do what you have to do. And if it reeks of desperation, so be it. You gotta play with the cards you have.
Final 5 Tribal Council
Jesse pulls out the idol early on. Normally I would say he should have saved it, and play it before the votes are read. But if he doesn’t think he’s being targeted, the end result could be much less effective. Revealing it now at least guarantees some chaos and scrambling.
And with that, we get the first live tribal of the season. They shuffle through different groupings, talking through their plans.
After they all sit back down, Cassidy says that she and Jesse have worked together on several votes, so she hopes that holds some sway for him. So? What did he literally just do? He voted out his closest ally! And yeah, it’s similar to Karla’s threat to Cassidy. You play with whatever’s laid out in front of you. But it’s still a weak argument.
Jesse plays the idol for himself, and Karla is voted out.
Final 4 Immunity
We’ve got a classic Survivor challenge here, moving bowls through a wobbly structure and stacking them on top of the structure. Need to stack 15 bowls to win. I like this challenge in general, but I would prefer the FIC to be more epic in scale.
Gabler’s stack is the first to fall, leaving Cassidy and Owen effectively tied. Cassidy gets through 14 bowls, and with Owen at 13, his stack falls. Cassidy secures her third immunity, and more importantly a spot at the Final Tribal Council.
Pre-Tribal
Cassidy knows she has to get Jesse out. It should make her decision easy. Take Owen with to the end, and send Gabler to fire against Jesse.
When they get back to camp, they find a basket of fire-making supplies for them to practice. Nu-uh. If you don’t know how to make fire by this point in the game, that’s on you.
Owen pitches Cassidy on sending him to fire against Jesse. He wants that on his Survivor résumé. He tells Cassidy he’s confident he can and will beat Jesse.
Jesse knows he’s going to fire. He also wants to do it against Cassidy. He views her as his biggest threat, and this would leave no doubt in the jury’s mind. He talks to Cassidy about this, saying her beating him would do the same for her game. But Cassidy wants no part of that. She seems intent on keeping the necklace.
She talks to Gabler, who, like Owen, also feels extremely confident in his chances against Jesse. He also wants any chance at a public showing. Gabler talks about doing something never done in Survivor before: donating the entire $1 million prize to charity.
And then, wait, what? Gabler would donate his entire winnings? Awesome. Noble move. Seems very fitting. But this is the first time we’re hearing of it! I feel like this could have been mentioned, oh I don’t know, literally any other time during the season. Seems very odd that we wouldn’t see or hear a single thing about this and then get one throwaway line in the finale. Unless…
Final 4 Tribal Council/Fire Making
Cassidy takes Owen to FTC, sending Gabler and Jesse into the fire making.
Gabler wins, setting a new fire making record in the process, winning in just over 4 minutes.
I’m crushed. Much more than I thought I would be. Jesse was my episode 1 winner pick, he’s been one of my favorite players all season, he had arguably the best story, and he played the best game (wasn’t even close). I don’t remember the last time I this much emotional investment in a player being eliminated. And that’s not counting season 38, as that was anger at the terrible Edge of Extinction. The closest was probably Tony in Winners at War, but that was him winning. Same vibes, but different.
I came into the finale thinking I wanted Jesse first, then anyone but Cassidy. Absolutely nothing against her, but we haven’t seen anything from her this season that pointed to her as a winner. Her winning would be a poorer reflection of the Survivor production and editing team, for hiding her game so much. With Gabler, Owen, and Karla, we at least knew their story, we knew their games.
But then when Jesse lost, that went out the window. I still went into FTC rooting for Owen or Gabler, but I cared a lot less than I thought I would have. Kudos to Jesse. And kudos to Survivor for still being able to elicit these feelings 43 seasons in. It’s one of the major pieces that makes this show so special.
Final Tribal Council
This was a great FTC, from a performance standpoint. All three did quite well. But it did feel like Owen felt like he was drawing dead. But even still, he gave nuanced, well thought out answers. The same can be said for Cassidy and Gabler. They all knew the game they played, and knew exactly what to say to paint their moves and strategies in the right light.
But in the end, it’s…Gabler!!! He won convincingly, 7-1! What an incredible story. The guy so many of us were laughing off the island (in a lovable, “we love this guy” kind of way) early in the season. We kept joking about it, and yet, here we are. Again, simply incredible.
Gabler announces at the after show that he’s going to donate his $1 million prize. After the Jesse vote, it’s another great, emotional moment that’s capping off what started and finished as a pretty terrific season of Survivor.
Closing the book on another season, thank you to everyone who read along with me these past several weeks. Even if it’s a small number, it means a lot knowing there are at least a few of you out there who get something out of this. And with season 43 in the books, let’s start getting excited for 44!
