Recap of Survivor S32E14 + Finale

SPOILERS

• Oooh finale time!
• Everyone looks so nice and dressed up!
• Wow – Mark the chicken didn’t get cooked!
• Note, this season had three idols and none of them were used.
• Ooh and a new twist for the finale … I wonder what that will be …
• Three hours! Wowzers!
• “Toss me off like another rodeo” – Aubrey is afraid of being sent home.
• Cydney has yet to cross Michele.
• “At some point, my brain gotta kick in” – Tai, on being in the final 4.

Dara

• “Shut up, damn” – Cydney, about Mark the chicken waking her up early.
• “I can’t afford to have anyone upset at chicken” – Tai, doesn’t want Mark to get eaten
• So it’s two against two in terms of alliances
• “Every time Jeff arrives on the beach, my biggest ally goes home. Like déjà vu all over again” – Aubry
• Tai tells Aubry she has to get close to Cydney so they can be the final three.
• “Shes the biggest social vote in this game” – Aubry, on Michele.
• Cydney feels like she’s in a triangle. She wants to stay with Aubry, but also with Michele.
• “Everyone wants to take me to the end” – Cydney, feels like she’s in a good spot.
• “Alliances being re shifting” – Michele, on what happened when Joe went home last week.
• “It’s anyone’s game if you play your cards right” – Michele.

Reward

• They must race under a net crawl, slide tiles into a target, transport tiles on a machete, then sort the tiles into pairs to unlock a combination to open a box.
• Winner will get a meal to refuel the mind and body.
• Right now – I think it’s anyone’s reward to win.
• Let’s go.
• Tai’s in an early lead.
• “Go, Tai, go” – Jeff
• Aubry is next, then Cydney, followed by Michele.
• Aubry sure does suck at shooting the tiles into the target!
• Cydney is soooooooooo good at it!
• Cydney is done sliding her tiles.
• “Aubry even worse” – Jeff, even he thinks she sucks.
• Cydney drops her tiles.
• Aubry and Tai finish sliding their tiles.
• “It’s now Aubry in the lead” – Jeff
• “Cydney drops again” – Jeff
• “It’s now Aubry running away with it” – Jeff, points out how Aubry is still in the lead.
• “Michele is back with her titles” – Jeff
• Cydney really sucks at trying to transport her tiles.
• Cydney is now across with her first lot of tiles. She has a lot of work to go!
• “Cydney with a huge fall!” – Jeff
• Aubry is going to give her combination a go.
• Ooh look her combination is wrong! It’s not going to work!
• “There’s 6 possible combinations if your numbers are right” – Jeff
• “Nothing is working” – Jeff, talking about Aubry’s number combinations not working.
• So now Aubry, Tai and Cydney are trying to solve the combination.
• “Aubry finally figuring out her problem” – Jeff, on Aubry realising her combination tiles are wrong.
• “Cydney right on her tail” – Jeff
• Cydney and Tai are going to try … but no, Aubry wins!
• “Wow, what an effort” – Jeff, is impressed with Aubry’s win.
• “First individual win” – Jeff, to Aubry.
• Jeff tells Aubry she can choose someone to have a meal with her. But warns her that by choosing she is helping fuel another person and will be alienating two others.
• Aubry chooses Cydney (thanks Tai)
• “I need to make sure I’m on the right side of the vote” – Aubry, on why she chose Cydney.

Dara

• Wow that dessert looks good! Yum!
• “No one was gonna beat me” – Aubry, on her win.
• “We don’t want Michele to win” – Aubry
• “Every reward I’ve been on, Aubry’s been on” – Cydney
• Cydney feels like she’s in the middle – she can go with Aubry or Michele.
• “I think Aubry chose a really poor choice of reward” – Michele, doesn’t think Aubry should have taken Cydney on the reward as it leaves her and Tai in the perfect opportunity to bond.
• “If I lose they’re gonna convince me to vote you.If you loose, they’re gonna convince you to vote for me” – Michele, to Tai.
• Michele wants to get together with Tai and send one of the others home.
• “It took Aubry winning to kick me in the ass” – Michele, sees the bigger picture.
• Tai says he might go with Michele.
• “Ultimately, I want one million dollars at any cost” – Tai

Immunity

• Basically, they must collect keys and then make a puzzle. It’s more involved, but that’s the shorter version – it includes stairs, ladders, climbing and other stuff.
• Cydney in the lead off the get go.
  ^ Did Aubry make the wrong decision?
• “This is gonna take everything you have” – Jeff
• “Cydney taking a long time on those knots” – Jeff
• “Everyone’s in this!” – Jeff
• “Aubry and Tai, right on her tail” – Jeff, about Cydney.
• In order – Aubry, Tai, Cydney then Michele.
• “Did that food make a difference?” – Jeff, about Aubry.
• “Aubry’s back first” – Jeff, on Aubry being in the lead.
• “Here comes Tai. He’s lost a lot of time” – Jeff
• “Aubry with a massive lead right now. Can anyone catch her?” – Jeff
• “Tai and Cydney catching up” – Jeff
• “Cydney right on her tail” – Jeff, about Aubry.
• “Cydney grasping for air” – Jeff, on Cydney struggling a little.
• That looks like one hard puzzle!
• “Aubry has had a big lead” – Jeff, mentions how the puzzle is sometimes an equalizer.
• With Aubry and Cydney getting some food in them though – and being the first two in the lead, it’s a pretty good sign that the food probably helped their physical game a bit.
• “Aubry absolutely stumped” – Jeff, mentions how Aubry can’t get the puzzle.
• Tai is in the lead.
• “Michele is making a comeback” – Jeff
• Tai is on the third level of the puzzle.
• “Cydney and Aubry still on their first level” – Jeff
• “Can Michele catch Tai?” – Jeff
• “Michele making quick work” – Jeff
• “This would be a huge comeback for Michele!” – Jeff
• Michele wins!
• “Wow. Nobody saw that coming!” – Jeff, on Michele’s win – considering she spent most of the challenge at the back.
• “You will live to see final 3” – Jeff, on Michele.
• “Michele would have definitely been the easy vote if she hadn’t have won” – Cydney, on Michele’s win.

Dara

• “I feel like I’m kind of in a power position” – Michele
• “It’s gonna be sad to see one of them go” – Michele
• “Best thing we can do is a tie and make fire” – Aubry, on the vote.
• “I’m getting kind of a funky vibe” – Aubry, is worried that Tai is going to vote for her.
• “If he does – I’m screwed” – Aubry, on if Tai flips on her.
• “I would like to keep Aubry, but I feel like she’ll get the votes” – Michele, to Cydney.
• “Tai can’t speak in front of people” – Michele, isn’t worried about Tai making it to the end.
• ^ That’s what I always say. The person who wins this will be the best speaker. That is Aubry, if she says the right words, of course. So much of the win is determined on what’s asked and answered.
• “My loyalty is to my Mother” – Cydney, is playing for her Mum.
• “I know he’ll go with us as long as his name’s not on the chopping block” – Michele, is sure that Tai will vote with them if they tell him to vote for Aubry.
• Cydney thinks she should practice her fire making skills just in case.
• Michele is sure that Cydney won’t need to make fire.
• “I have no idol to protect me” – Tai, feels vulnerable.
• “I feel like she could really beat us” – Michele, to Tai about Aubry
• “Feel like we’re all on an even playing field” – Michele, on her game play with Cydney and Tai.
• “Tai’s being super shady” – Aubry, is worried.
• Tai seems happy to vote for Aubry.
• “Some point alliances have to break” – Tai

Tribal

• “Alliance out the door now” – Tai, to Jeff
• “Who’s your best chance at going against” – Cydney, describes tonight’s vote.
• Aubry points out that what some see as a threat, others could see as a weakness.
• “What is best for myself?” – Cydney
• Aubry, though, looks really worried.
• Cydney is looking shady. Does anyone think that?
• Michele hardly blinks when she’s speaking. Does anyone see that?
• And the votes are in …
• It’s two for Aubry (Cydney and Michele) and two for Cydney (Aubry and Tai).
• “We have a tie” – Jeff
• “Are you locked in?” – Jeff, asks Michele and Tai if they want to change their vote.
• Nope.
• It’s going to come down to fire making.
• I have no idea who has this!
• “Cydney going for broke straight away” – Jeff
• Cydney is having no luck building a fire.
• Aubry is building a structure for her small flame.
• “Aubry fire growing in intensity” – Jeff
• “Aubry very close” – Jeff
• “Cydney very close to becoming the 8th member of the jury” – Jeff
• Oh wait.
• “Flame is dropping” – Jeff, on Aubry’s fire
• “Aubry was in seconds of winning” – Jeff
• “Now Aubry’s flame is gone” – Jeff
• “Had an inferno” – Jeff, on Aubry’s previous fire.
• “Aubry’s fire starting to burn again” – Jeff
• Neal and Joe are cheering on Aubry from the sidelines.
• And with that – Aubry wins.
• “You know it’s all love” – Cydney, to Aubry on her win.
• “Get basic human necessities” – Cydney breaks down because she really wanted to win the money for her Mum.
• “This ride’s not over. Two days left” – Jeff
• Two days? Why is there two and not one? Don’t they normally feast and then fight for the win? I’m confused. Will there be a final two??
• “I guess I wasn’t as slick as I thought I was” – Cydney, during her interview.

Dara

• “That was by far the crappiest feeling ever” – Michele, on the vote.
• “That was brutal” – Aubry
• Michele knew that Cydney would go home if it came to fire, because she’s made a fire before.
• “I’m so proud of myself” – Aubry, on her making fire.
• Tai mentions how Cydney had no idea that it would come to fire making.
• “I’ve been gunning for Aubry, but no one wanted to jump on the bandwagon” – Michele, isn’t happy that Aubry made it to the final 3.
• “I think Tai just gave her one million” – Michele, on Aubry making the finale.
• Michele mentions how the jury has now seen Aubry prove herself in making fire, just before the final vote – which is a good thing for Aubry’s game. It’s true.
• Tai thinks there will be another challenge, and a final two as there’s two days to go.
• Aubry and Michele say no.
• And then Michele comes in with a note about another challenge.
• “Another challenge to go” – Michele
• “Once again, gotta fight for my life” – Michele, is worried.
• “This is now an individual game” – Aubry, knows she’s not safe.
• “Today, do or die for me” – Aubry.

Immunity

• “Today, immunity is not up for grabs” – Jeff, throws a curve ball.
• “You are the final three” – Jeff “Congratulations”
• “Winner of today, gets to vote out a jury member” – Jeff, throws another curve ball.
• “One less vote for your competition” – Jeff
• “This is from your very first challenge. No one chose it” – Jeff
• ^ I think I missed the episode so I didn’t see it? Maybe …
• Basically, they have to balance on a wobbly beam and stack balls.
• And it’s on.
• “There will definitely be a learning curve to this” – Jeff
• I think it’s a pretty even playing field. Anyone could win this. I guess it depends who has good balance and who’s light on their feet.
• “This challenge starts easy and gets more difficult”  – Jeff
• It’s Michele and Tai, followed by Aubry.
• “Very close right now” – Jeff
• Michele drops. Aubry drops.
• “Tai is not looking good” – Jeff
• Tai drops.
• It’s Michele vs Aubry for who can stack their last ball.
• “Aubry loses everything” – Jeff.
• And with that, Michele wins!
• Michele gets a piece of parchment for the vote. And she gets to read the note telling the jury that she gets to send one of them packing.

Dara

• “How she decides to play it could mess up my whole game” – Aubry
• “We can all stay friends now” – Aubry, on there being a final 3.
• “I actually don’t know what I’m gonna do” – Michele
• “It could be a million dollar decision I’m making tonight” – Michele
• Michele thinks she should vote out Joe.
• Tai tells Michele that she should vote out Neal, as he might sway the jury to vote for Aubry instead.
• “Those are the two people I would go” – Michele, on voting Joe or Neal.
• Tai thinks that there is no way that Neal would vote for him.
• “I have two people on the jury that I think would vote for me” – Aubry, on having Joe and Neal’s votes.
• Michele asks Aubry for advice on who she should vote for.
• “Bitter on Tai” and “Slander her character” – Aubry, says Scot, for reasons that don’t really make any sense except to stop her votes going home.
• “Loaded gun – just hope she doesn’t have good aim” – Aubry, on Michele.
• “Aubry’s very clever” – Tai
• “If I take out the wrong decision, I’m gonna look really stupid and that’s the last thing the tribal will see before the vote” – Michele.

Tribal

• The jury mentions how no one is wearing a necklace.
• Michele tells the jury why they’re there. They all seem shocked.
• “I think it’s gonna be Joe” – Julia, whispered to Scot.
• “You could see them protecting relationships that they already have” – Michele, to Jeff, on asking advice from Aubry and Tai.
• Michele explains how the vote will come down to who won’t vote for her but also who is the better speaker to talk up someone elses game.
• “Sounds like me” – Jason, thinks the vote is going his way.
• My money is on Neal, as he is the better talker. It would be stupid of Michele to not take out someone who will vote for Aubry. Tai isn’t really a threat at this point. I still think Aubry has it in the bag.
• “What a twist” – Nick, is shocked.
• And the result is … Neal!
• “It’s an honour to have my name finally written down” – Neal
• Neal gets up to leave.
• “You came into this game thinking you were a bad ass bitch, but you’re more like a cute puppy still suckling at the teat. I don’t think you stand a chance” – Neal, to Michele.
• Wow. What a way to go out!
• “I didn’t hear all of that, but it sounds like you made the right choice” – Jeff, to Michele.

Dara

• Neal was the right choice.
• Naw. Mark asleep on the hammock. How adorable!
• “He wasn’t too kind on the way out” – Aubry, on Neal.
• “He mauled me on the way out” – Michele, on Neal.
• “It’s gonna be a long tribal” – Michele.
• “It was a good choice on my part” – Michele, on voting off Neal.
• “I think it’s gonna be a roast” – Aubry, on the final jury.
• “Worst nightmare” – Michele, thinks it’ll be brutal as well.
• In the morning, the three are given a treat. They get a mirror and a set of scales to see how they’ve changed.
• “I look like a refugee” – Tai
• “Where’s my butt?” – Aubry
• “No junk in the trunk!” – Michele, to Aubry.
• And now they get to have their final feast.
• “Have two win Scot over” – Tai, on the jury vote.
• “Sock me out of my anxious ball of craziness” – Aubry, is proud of the game she’s played.
• “My game has been all over the map” – Aubry.
• “I was the women behind the curtain making things happen” – Aubry.

The Last Tribal

• “Mark’s here” – Jason
• “I love it” – Debbie, on Mark being at tribal.
• And the Q&A begins for the final 3.
• Nick points out that Michele has to prove “intelligence”, Aubry “confidence” and Tai “awareness”
• “Four votes are up in the air for the most part” – Nick
• ^ I wonder who those are? Maybe Nick, Cydney, Jason and Scot? Joe and Debbie would be team Aubry. I’d guess Julia would vote for Michele.
• Tai thinks he’s playing a consistent game and hasn’t flipped and flopped.
• Debbie says that it was an honour to watch Aubry’s metamorphosis and watch her go from a “neurotic nerd to a geek warrior”
• “We let our geek flags fly, girlfriend” – Debbie, to Aubry.
• Julia says how Michele was “the weakest link on the beauty tribe” but says she was proud that she took her out.
• “Took time to find my footing in the game” – Michele, sums up her game.
• Julia mentions how Tai started the game strong, but had a deteriorating finish.
• Julia, by far, has been the best talker so far. Definitely doing a good job talking up Michele – and talking down Tai.
• Michele looks disappointed that Joe doesn’t have any questions for her. I think more so that she’s not even given a chance to speak.
• Tai keeps mentioning how he blindsided Scot. That’s not a good plan, Tai. It’s not going to be good on his ego. Best apologize and then maybe you’ll win his vote. He just keeps pouring salt on the wound at this stage. But honestly, he wasn’t the mastermind behind voting out Scot. Yes, he had a part but he ran over to another alliance, so that’s not really a big move. It is a move, but it won’t help him now in this vote. I predict no votes go to Tai tonight.
• Aubry mentions how she had to “rally together” people, as part of her game, otherwise “whisper in the wind” for the vote.
• “You got an idol – you didn’t use it. You got an advantage – and you used it in a really dumb way” – Scot, to Tai, on his game play, or lack of.
• Scot dancing is the funniest thing I’ve seen in a while!
• “Tai got weaker, Aubry got weaker, and you got stronger!” – Scot, to Michele.
• That’s it?
• No one really asked any probing questions or had really anything too insightful to say. That was really really lame. Scot and Julia spoke best – but they really did best for Michele.
• Jeff wants to give the three a chance to plead their cases. Yes. Thank you. They need it!
• Aubry, meh, her speak was okay.
• Tai is babbling.
• And the award for best speech goes to Michele.
• Michele has won this. Hands down. I always believe the game is won by the person who is best able to speak at the final jury – she just did this. Much like last season, when that guy spoke about his family and won. She just won. I’m 100% sure of it. She can thank Jeff for giving her the win. If not for Jeff letting them speak, I’m unsure how the vote would go otherwise. But let’s see …
• Tai does mention a nice story about how you float along the same path as people but then you never see them again but have great memories. He said it better – amazingly – but it spoke to me.
• “I’m just so proud of myself” – Michele, on her game.
• “I have no plan to bring Mark to America. It’s up to fate now. Hopefully he won’t be someone’s dinner anytime soon” – Tai, leaves Mark to fend for himself in the jungle.
• And to the vote –
• “Way to go for the brains” – Joe, voting for Aubry.
• Jason is taking a while to write his vote down.
• And now to the live vote …
• Cydney looks nice.
• What is up with Jason’s floral jacket?
• Michele’s dress is oh so pretty. She looks lovely!
• And the results are in …
• Two votes for Aubry.
• No votes for Tai.
• Michele wins!
• “The dark side still haunts him” – Jeff, on Tai’s game.

I did watch the Reunion, but I have nothing much to say about it. Once again, they don’t really answer much – and instead focus too much on celebrities and stuff no one really cares about seeing. I love Drew Carey as much as the next person, but does he really need to take up so much airtime? Especially, considering the show is broadcast live so most of us won’t be even able to see The Price is Right Survivor special anyway.

But I just feel like there were better questions to be asked. I would have loved to hear from Alecia, and if Jason and Scot felt bad or got any backlash for how they treated her. Also, Nick mentioned that four votes are undecided – I would have loved to know who they were and why they decided to vote how they did. Actually, it would be nice to know who voted for whom anyway. Although, I think it was Joe and Debbie for Aubry.

I also think it’s just nice to speak to all of the contestants – at least for a second to acknowledge them being there.

But to the vote – was Michele worthy of the win? I think yes. I don’t think Michele played the best Survivor game. In terms of who played best, I would definitely say that Aubry played the best overall game. But I do believe Michele won with her closing speech. It won it for her. It had heart, but it also mentioned the game she had played. It was smart, but it also tug at the heart strings. It was perfection. And for that, she deserved to win.