Longtime readers of mine will know that one of my favorite things to do with a finale blog is to point out how the finale weirdly parallels the season as a whole. It’s frankly strange how often this one (admittedly extra-long) episode is a microcosm for the season as a whole. This season, however, I can’t do that. Indeed, with rare exception, this episode has exactly the opposite of the strengths and weaknesses of the season as a whole.

Case in point, despite not emphasizing the season-naming twist too much, we start off with Rob and Sandra looking into the sun, discussing their history with the game. Not that this scene isn’t nice, but again, this is the finale of a journey we’ve spent 13 episodes (14 if you count double-length episodes as two episodes, which I don’t) on, getting to know the NEW people along the way. This finale should be all about them. Putting the emphasis on Rob and Sandra is, in my book, a poor move.

I shouldn’t give the show too much hate for this, though, since this is about the most we’ll see of the pair this entire time. What I WILL complain about is the lack of a recap. True, that’s been the case pretty much the entire season, and while I think it was a step in the wrong direction particularly in some episodes, I’ve been overall fine with it. The finale is the exception to this. Even in this day and age, the finale is usually the most-watched episode of any season. In addition to the loyal fans who follow the season religiously, you also get in some casuals who get curious about how this thing will end. I’m all for putting the fans first (especially since they’re what’s allowed the show to go on so long), but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t cater to casual viewers at all.

In any case, the Lumuwaku tribe gets a note for everyone to pack their things and get on a boat. Have the producers thrown up their hands after Dan’s behavior, and just decided to scrap the whole thing? No, of course not! Everyone just goes to Island of the Idols where they’ll live in Rob’s super-shelter for the remainder of the game. Goodie. Because why emphasize the society that our new players have built, when you could emphasize the society Rob and Sandra have built? We also find out here that the whole “Lying about Island of the Idols” thing was dropped at some point as Tommy, the only player left who hadn’t been, expressed no surprise at what he saw. He did insist on the first hug, which was fair. Our players get new “special edition” buffs for the occasion, which appear to be black, because why have different and interesting tribe colors when all merge buffs could just be black? Rob and Sandra have some nice words of parting, and mercifully leave so that the focus can be on what we’ve all been watching this season for…

IDOL HUNTING! What, you thought this game was about the players? No, you fool, it’s all about idols and advantages! After Noura has a fun scene where she gushes about how nice the shelter is, Tommy points out that this is all too easy, and there must be some twist to this new camp. He correctly zeroes in on the new buffs they were given, and sure enough notes that one of the idols on the logo has been replaced with a machete. It’s subtle, but it’s there, so Tommy goes around examining the machetes. He eventually finds one embedded in a random coconut, which has been painted red on the inside. The only problem with this is that Tommy is colorblind, and has trouble telling what “red” is, thus not doing much to limit his search. What he does to combat this problem I’m sure a lot of people give him flak for, but honestly, I can understand Tommy’s logic here. Needing help, he goes to Dean, who’s really the only logical choice. Tommy’s made it clear that despite alliances with Janet and Lauren, he really doesn’t want to go to the end with them, so they’re out. Noura? Do you really think Noura would be a good idol-hunting partner? No, Dean is more reliable, and has helped out Tommy in the past, making him the best option for Tommy at this point.

Unfortunately, Dean has other ideas. He wants the idol for himself, and so makes no pretense about looking. Tommy notices, and so doggedly keeps searching on his own. Eventually he finds the correct clue: A red board along a path. Color-blindness be damned. Tommy peels it up to reveal, not an idol, but another clue. In this case, a letter “H” carved into some bamboo. Still befuddled, Tommy calls in Dean for help, and while Dean still doesn’t look like he’s helping, he actually is looking, just for himself. While Tommy is looking for a path intersection or a set of sticks laid out the same way, Dean thinks it looks like the rope swing that was set up, and so goes for a swing. He oddly does not look under the swing, which was the first place I’d look if I suspected the swing was hiding something, but Dean turns out to be right in this case. He notices a similar “H” carved into one of the shelter supports, and after waiting for everyone to be off somewhere else, pulls out an idol, and a nice note from Rob and Sandra. I’m of two minds about this. On the one hand, as a Tommy supporter, I’m sad that he didn’t get the advantage. However, one of the things I love about Tommy is that he’s done so well without the need for an idol or advantage. It’s a nice thumbing of the nose at a season that so seems to emphasize idols and advantages, and also speaks well to Tommy’s skill in the game. In that sense, I’m glad that his record of good gameplay wouldn’t be sullied with such a crutch. Dean, for his part, is happy at his find, but a little too optimistic about how much power this gives him. He notes his legacy advantage (fake), his idol nullifier (won in a lame coin flip), and his hidden immunity idol (actually an accomplishment). Of these, one just makes him look bad, and two need to be played correctly to be of use. Dean thinks this makes him a major threat in the game, and I’m not saying he’s completely out of the running, but the dude overemphasizes how important these things are. I think it’s his talk throughout the episode of how “historic” this is, and how a real fan of the show appreciates what Dean’s doing that gets to me. It’s ok to like these things, but for me, they’re not what the show is or should be about, and I don’t like that Dean is perpetrating the stereotype that they’re all this show focusses on these days.

Our immunity challenge for the day is another obstacle course, though with a lot of emphasis on ladders this time. Tribe members use sticks to get down rope ladder rungs to build, well, a ladder, and then have to maneuver a bag of balls up another ladder by moving its rungs. This all ends in a table maze, which is probably the weakest element of the challenge, but it’s otherwise ok. Obstacle courses are just so commonplace at this point in the game that they just all blend together anyway. Dean ends up winning, but since he wasn’t really a target at this point, it doesn’t really matter. Dean also gets to take someone to steak dinner, and so takes Noura. Not sure what it is about Noura this episode, but she REALLY leans into the whole “dating” thing, comparing Dean to a sleazy ex-boyfriend while also admiring him in confessionals. The pair make a pat agreement to take each other to the end that neither of them really believes, so the scene is more comedy than anything. Never change, Noura.

Dean does, however, plan to use his idol nullifier tonight, since Janet needs to play her idol that night anyway, and Dean and Tommy both want her gone. Surprisingly, Janet is on board with this plan. Not so much the “idol nullifier” part, but she is suggesting the votes be piled on her so she can idol out Lauren. Not a bad plan, but definitely risky, as we see in a minute. Of course, we need misdirection, and so Dean talks about potentially wanting Lauren out instead, since she’s a bigger social threat. Tommy, however, emphasizes the threat that Janet poses as well, particularly as she’s good at fire-making, as we saw at the beginning of the season. Weirdly, they’re both right. Dean is right when he says that Lauren is more of a social threat than anyone left, and Tommy is right when he says that Janet will beat anyone in fire making. Hence, why Janet needs to go. I’m normally all for voting out the biggest threat, but due to fire making, this is the last time you can realistically get Janet out, whereas Lauren can go pretty much at any time.

The show does its level best to convince us that there’s a chance that Dean will let Lauren be voted out, but I’m personally not buying it. The misdirection this season has been pretty good overall, but after 13 episodes, we’ve learned its tricks. We know that even if it looks like people are going to make the dumb decision, they continue to do the smart thing. Hence, Janet will go home via idol nullifier, exactly as everyone predicted. After a pretty tame Tribal Council (though mercifully without the commentary of Rob and Sandra), we get just that. Even if predictable, though, we do get the impact of the idol nullifier being played. Sure, we know it’s coming, but the impact on the players, Janet in particular, still makes for an effective moment. Janet goes home and I, like the rest of the fanbase, am heartbroken. Janet was a decent player in the game, but more than that, and excellent human being. Even if she was the smart choice to vote out at this juncture, she was a bright spot in an otherwise bleak season, and a different character type that we usually see make it this late in the show. I look forward to her return, and think her interview at commercial was completely justified. Glad to hear she’s inspiring others.

That said, we the audience are not the only ones to react to that idol nullifier. The jury is quite vocal about it as well, with Missy in particular giving a good “shocked” expression at the whole thing. Here’s where my heart starts to sink, as it looks like Dean may have a point. True, he’s been playing well for the last couple of episodes, and that’s not nothing, but is a lackluster first 3/4ths of a game no longer relevant? Is a flashy end really all that’s needed at this point? Are idols and advantages really the things we want in our winner exclusively? It’s a depressing thought, if true.

On our next day, Tommy continues his social game, by spinning complete BS to Noura. He has correctly realized that, while fire-making can be a way to win jury points, it’s also a huge risk. Tommy, being risk-averse, has made sure no one has ever seen him make fire, and so sells Noura on the idea that he’s never made fire before, and isn’t good at it, the idea being that this way Noura won’t want to put him in in the hopes of beating someone else. Noura admits that he’s playing her, but also says she likes the attention. I’ll also give Tommy credit not only for hiding his skills, but also for having the smarts to do his schmoozing BEFORE the challenge, thus making the lie less transparent. It does make the winner of our challenge more transparent, though. Since both Tommy and Dean have made deals to the end with Noura, Noura is going to win the challenge, a fact emphasized when we see that it’s a repeat of the challenge from “Survivor Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers”, where tribe members balance blocks that spell a phrase (in this case, “Island of the Idols”) on a wobbly pole. Not the worst challenge, but it doesn’t have the epic feel a final challenge should. It also favors women, who tend to have better balance, and so Noura ends up the winner. Good for her, but a predictable outcome nonetheless.

Much as Noura can be fun, here she’s a bit much for everyone. It’s an accepted phenomenon that when you win immunity, you’re a bit happier than the rest of your tribe. In this case, however, the rest of the tribe REALLY wants to know what Noura’s planning, since it kind of affects them. Instead, Noura cheerfully says she’s going for a swim and suggests they share a pineapple afterward. They do not take this well, especially since when Noura DOES come and tell them her plan, she does it in her roundabout way that makes her a fun character, but hard to live with. She eventually informs Lauren that she’ll be going to fire-making due to being a threat, which Lauren does not take well, mostly because Noura still insists on describing her as her “number one”, which she objectively is not at this point. Lauren keeps asking who she’ll go against, while Noura keeps insisting on explaining her logic. She eventually reveals that, wanting Lauren beaten, she’s sending Dean to fire, evidently having bought Tommy’s lie about being bad at fire. Naturally, Tommy and Dean are both happy about this. Lauren goes off to cry for a minute, though she quickly sets to making fire. She and Dean both have some trouble, though Tommy offers both advice, so that whoever loses will still be happy he helped. How he’s never called on this, I can’t say. About the only disadvantage is that Noura comes over to try and make peace with Lauren, but as it’s Noura, she doesn’t do a very good job of it. She keeps insisting on that “number one” thing, which really pisses Lauren off. Noura also doesn’t take the hint that Lauren wants to be left alone right now. I know this show thrives on conflict, but this really just felt uncomfortable. Too personal and too pointless at this juncture to be worth showing. As to whether this was a good idea for Noura, I personally would have kept Dean around for the end, and let Tommy and Lauren go to fire. You can’t trust anything anyone says, especially relating to fire-making, and if your problem with Dean is that he’s rallying at the end, putting him in a position to win fire-making only helps that. Take that away, and you undercut his argument, and let the two big social threats duke it out.

Contrary to how Noura is, Tribal Council is short and sweet. Since Noura already knows who she’s taking, we guarantee that Tommy is safe, and Lauren and Dean go to fire-making. It’s a decently close match between them, but Dean’s extra practice and not being annoyed by Noura pays off, as he wins, thus making his case better for the end. As one might expect, I am sorry to see Lauren go home. Her game was underemphasized, especially early on, but the woman had a lot of good plays, and can be proud of herself. She played well, and it would have been interesting to see how she would have done against the jury. She definitely deserves the Probst interview she got after her exit. I also look forward to her inevitable return.

After ending the fire making challenge, Dean, in an attempt to look better, points out that he’d only made fire that day. Not bad, but he says too much. He goes on to say “Tommy played you.” This makes him look weak socially compared to Tommy. As Jack puts it: “Tommy played YOU”. Fun fact: This is the first time all season that the number of men left is greater than the number of women. No small feat.

Since we’re now at Day 39, this of course means that we get everyone’s arguments for why they should win, before we head off to Tribal Council. Surprisingly, everyone’s got at least a decent argument. Tommy of course has his social game, and Dean has his “fourth-quarter rally” as he calls it. But Noura even brings up a good point: she could easily have been the first one out, yet rallied to become a major player in the game. True, Noura’s personality and long-windedness tend to counteract any chance she has with the jury, but on its own, the argument’s not half-bad.

Not content to just let things sit, Tommy and Noura discuss their opening statements. Tommy suggests that they need to go after Dean, emphasizing how he was pulled along as a goat the entire way, and never in power. He suggests Noura talk about this in her opening statement. Translation: “Noura, make my biggest target look like an ass for me so he’s easier to beat, while keeping my hands clean of any mudslinging.” Noura seems drawn in by it, even if she realizes what Tommy’s doing, and I’m happy because it reminds me of Chris Daugherty (“Survivor Vanuatu”) convincing Twila to not hold back in their Final Tribal Council. It’s actually a brilliant move that I can’t wait to see play out.

What’s that? We’re not getting opening statements this time. Yay. Guess that made that completely pointless.

Say what you will about this season, but if nothing else, the jury has managed to do something not seen since the switch to the new Final Tribal Council Format: BE INTERESTING! Seriously, apart from Wardog’s “The theme is not on trial here; you are.” comment on “Survivor Edge of Extinction” there hasn’t been one standout moment since we moved away from questions. This jury, however, delivers. Oh, it’s not always coherent what they deliver. Indeed, a lot of their debates over social game versus idol game become a jumbled mess, but at least there’s actual DEBATE and EMOTION going into it. Things never go out of control, thanks in large part to moderator Jamal, but they do get fun. Elaine calling out Noura for giving non-answers. Aaron calling out Tommy for dismissing the idol hunting part of the game. Karishma calling out Dean for not forming the needed relationships. And of course, Kellee calling out everybody. The lack of question-and-answer makes a blow by blow impracticable, but Noura gets dismissed early on due to using yet another “dating” metaphor. Thus, it comes down to Tommy, the social player, versus Dean, the advantage player. For once, there’s no obvious winner based on arguments. Tommy wins in the early portion, since it’s most about social game, and Dean admits that he didn’t make those bonds. Dean tries to spin it as a positive, saying that he didn’t break any bonds as a result, but with how many admit that Tommy was up in their alliance, coupled with Tommy doing a good job articulating his strategy, and owning up to his playing of Noura to guarantee himself safety. The second portion focusses on idols, advantages, and immunity wins, an area where Tommy is pretty much completely lacking. Tommy takes the appropriate tactic of downplaying the importance of these things, though this does incite debate amongst the jury whether that’s true (Aaron and Missy seem to feel it is, others not so much). None of this is helped by Dean’s revelation that he found the idol under Tommy’s proverbial nose. Even the revelation of the fake legacy advantage doesn’t hurt, as Jamal points out he was able to use it as a threat in spite of being a fake. Tommy doesn’t come out looking too good, but Dean also shoots himself in the foot. Having initially said he made no deals he couldn’t keep, he mentions having made final two deals with people sitting on the jury, and is rightly called out for it. There’s closing statements, but that’s basically the note we go out on.

So, it’s social game versus flashy game. As always, and as it should, social game wins out. Tommy wins, the first person to do so without an idol or advantage since Denise Stapely on “Survivor Philippines” (if you count winning immunity as well, the last person to match Tommy was Natalie White on “Survivor Samoa”). That is a good note for the season. One thing this episode did that the season as a whole avoided was to REALLY emphasize the importance of idols and advantages in the game. They were talked about, sure, but never really seen as a “necessity” before that episode. Unlike the rest of the season, the twist of the season overall was emphasized as the main focus of the season in this episode. That’s why someone like Dean, who only really started doing anything worthy of a vote last episode, is still talked about as a contender. So, for all that emphasis, it is satisfying to see the one guy who had NONE of that, and just played his social game, give a figurative thumbed nose to production. Tommy may not be the most interesting winner, but he did play an excellent game worthy of his victory. And I’m not just saying that because he was my personal favorite.

And so we come to our “live” reunion show. As has been highly publicized by now, it was pre-recorded, and we the viewers got an edited version. I’m of two minds about this. On the one hand, unlike an edited tv show, a truly live reunion can’t be edited super fast, and there are kids who watch “Survivor”. Wouldn’t want them picking up anything negative like that. Plus, with lawsuits doubtless pending, you want to make sure you don’t say anything that can be used against you. And, above all, this can hopefully avoid a “Jerri Manthey” incident like we had on “Survivor All-Stars”. That said, it’s not down to the show to police what they show, but down to families, and editing the reunion also gives the show control of the narrative, which they could do who knows what with. All that is suspicious, and on the whole, I think they should have kept it live, though I can understand why they did it the way they did, and won’t vilify them for it.

As to the show itself, it’s ok. Not great. We hear at least a bit from most people on the jury and up, but almost nothing from the pre-mergers, including our first Canadian! Also, why wasn’t Jack able to come? Dan I get, but why not Jack? Still, the big story is the Probst/Kellee conversation, and in one final twist on how the show has been, they handle it WAY better than they have so far. They admit fault. They explain that they’re going to do better. But most important, they give Kellee a platform to speak on her experience, and largely let her do it. Probst interrupts a little bit at one point, but for the most part, they handle things well here. It gives me hope for the future, and Kellee says she hopes that the incident won’t color the overall perception of the season.

I feel for Kellee, but unfortunately I think the damage was done. Even this overall lackluster, predictable finale, despite a nice outcome, doesn’t change anything. For good or for ill, despite everything good about this season, including a great and overall likable cast (again, Dan notwithstanding) with a good reaffirmation of the importance of the social game, when we look back on the season, what we’ll think of is the controversy, and it just drags the season down too much. I hope most of the cast gets a second chance, because they deserve a season unmarred by this controversy.

But that’s not what you want to hear about. You want me to talk about the reveal for next season. And I’m sorry, but I have to complain. Don’t get me wrong, I WANT to like this season. I WANT to be excited about this season. I mean, all-winners is an idea that ANY true fan has at least thought about. Come on, look at some of the people we’re finally getting to see again. “Survivor Guatemala” finally gets the representation it so richly deserves with the return of Danni. Yul comes back to finally prove he can play well without an original-rules idol. ETHAN FREAKING ZOHN will grace our tv screens again after 16 years of absence! So yeah, I want to be excited, but I can’t. That’s because, in that preview, they also mentioned something awful. Something dreadful. Something so horrendous, it may ruin the season before it even starts…

“Winners at War”? Really? THAT’S the best title you could come up with? Look, I know “Survivor Legends” is a bit generic, but it at least has more gravitas than this. And if you did need the alliteration, you could have kept it! Drop the “At”, call it “Winners War”. That sounds cool. “Winners at War” sounds like the news tagline for a minor feud between a couple that won the lottery. Everything about this season should be big and epic. That name is not.

Oh, and I suppose they also mentioned that “Edge of Extinction” is coming back. That’s also a big mark against the season, though my hope is that, like Redemption Island being on “Survivor Blood vs. Water” it’ll be merely pointless rather than actively awful.

Well, that was a lot. Only thing left to do is go through the cast, and note how wrong I was during my cast assessment.

KELLEE-The “Wentworth Loophole” continues. Kellee was certainly memorable. Didn’t make it quite as far as I’d thought, but she still did well.

RONNIE-Again, I wasn’t super far off, but I underestimated how annoying he would be, and as a consequence overestimated his time in the game.

CHELSEA-Wrong. Much more interesting, but much shorter-lived than I predicted.

DEAN-Dean is a weird one. I’d definitely say I was right in that he never really connected with the other members of the cast, but not quite for the reasons I thought. It also never really mattered to his time in the game. On the whole, wrong.

NOURA-She was definitely as out there as I thought, and I was initially right that she would rub people the wrong way. Yet, she lasted longer than I thought. Good for her.

VINCE-Had he actually kept his head down, he might have exactly matched my predictions. As it stands, I was wrong. He was much shorter-lived than I thought.

LAUREN-Wrong, flat out. Maybe her charm just didn’t come across to me, maybe she’s just not my cup of tea, but she was WAY better than I thought at the game.

TOMMY-CALLED IT! CALLED IT! NEENER, NEENER, NEENER!

KARISHMA-Kind of right, kind of wrong. She definitely struggled out there, but then the women’s alliance kept her alive. Ended up being wrong as a result.

AARON-For once this blog, pretty much straight-up right. Muscle kept around until the merge, but not much past that.

MOLLY-Right on time in the game, wrong on personality. She was not as big a character as I thought. Probably the forgotten member of the season, if I’m being honest.

TOM-Not as big a liability as I predicted, but still wrong overall. He lasted about as long as I predicted, though.

MISSY-I may have undersold her game skills a bit, but she lasted about as long as I thought, and left for being a threat, so I was pretty much right.

JACK-He had a bit more game than I gave him credit for, but I was otherwise right. Out after the swap.

ELAINE-For once, one of the biggest characters I predicted pulled through! Elaine did end up a better Lauren Rimmer (“Survivor Heroes vs Healers vs Hustlers”), and I am thrilled to be right about her!

JASON-Wrong. Overestimated his smarts and his time in the game.

ELIZABETH-Wrong. I overestimated her game savvy, and as a result, she didn’t match my expectations. She came decently close, though.

JAMAL-Pretty charming, and out at the early merge. Another “win” for me.

JANET-Wrong, and happy to be so. She was much better at the game than I gave her credit for, and I’m happy she made it deep.

DAN-Wrong, though who could have predicted that whole debacle.

Well, that about wraps up this season. Thanks for being patient for this to come out. Now, you’d expect to see my cast assessment for “Survivor Winners at War” up soon, since the cast is revealed, but I’m waiting for confirmation that name color is indicative of tribe, due to so many previous relationships staying together. With 2/5 of the “Villains” tribe on this season, some overlap was inevitable, but some of this just seems nuts. Really? You put Jeremy and Natalie on the same tribe? What on earth made you think that was a good idea? But there’s another reason for the delay. Lame name aside, this is the 20th anniversary of “Survivor”, and that deserves celebration. I think it’s time we go back and look at those season rankings…

-Matt

Title Credit to Jean Storrs.