Welcome to the final episode of Survivor: Vanuatu! I’m Michaelangelo, your chauffeur for the final hours of the ninth season of Survivor. Hopefully, we will all be treated to a fun final four. So let’s get started!
We begin with a recap of the first 36 days. Man, I totally forgot about most of these people. Who the hell was Dolly? Seeing Rory getting cut again sucks. I totally dug that guy. And will Sarge’s decision to cut John K. go down as one of the all-time biggest miscalculations in Survivor history? Watching the recap makes it all the more amazing that Chris made it to the final four. I think you had better chances of hitting the lottery than predicting that.
Alinta. Night 36. Chris says he got Julie back for screwing him at the merge. Eliza’s bitching that Twila said she didn’t deserve to be there. Twila says Eliza needs to get over it. Eliza reminds Twila that she’s won the most challenges, so get off her back. Twila tells Eliza the only reason she’s still there is because everyone’s used her.
Eliza’s still buzzing about Julie being gone. Chris tells her that he voted for Julie because she was a player. He says he voted for her to make a better situation for him and Eliza making the final two. Chris is enjoying the women all turning on each other.
Eliza knew she’d make the final four but is shocked at who else is still there. Eliza knows she is on the chopping block with Scout and Twila and prays that either she or Chris wins immunity.
Immunity Challenge: go through a vertical maze and collect 10 pairs of tiles. When you collect them all use them to spell two words. First one to spell the words wins. Twila jumps out to the early lead, with Chris on her heels. Twila quickly out with her third pair, with Chris and Eliza right behind. Scout way behind. This is a three-way race. Chris moves into the lead with six. Twila right behind him. Chris and Eliza keep running into each other. Twila has eight. Chris gets to nine first. Chris gets to ten first. Chris is spelling his ass off. Twila working hard to get her tiles untied. Chris finishes first and wins immunity! My man is pumped. JP reminds everyone that Tribal Council is that night.
Back at camp, Chris says it’s a beautiful day. Twila was on his tail, but he pulled it out. Chris says alliances and trust mean little right now. It’s all about the final two. Twila wants to gloat that Eliza’s going home. Chris tries egging Twila on, but Twila knows what he’s trying. Chris tells Eliza that he’s voting for Twila and whatever happens happens. Eliza asks Scout if she’s made a deal with Chris. Scout asks Eliza if she has and Eliza says of course. Eliza asks Scout if she’s considered voting against Twila and Scout says she has.
Tribal Council: JP brings out the jury. JP says he’s never seen someone as excited to win immunity as Chris. They all reminisce about Chris’s hideous balance beam work the first Immunity Challenge. Eliza says she’s glad if she didn’t win immunity Chris did. JP asks Twila if she’s gotten over her trust issues. Twila says not fully, but she is a bit more comfortable. JP notes that Scout doesn’t look like she’s too worried about leaving. Scout says she is but not too much. JP says Chris has friendships with everyone, and Chris says it is tough. JP asks Twila about swearing on her son’s name and Twila says it was a huge mistake, but if she wins her son will forgive her. But she would not do it again if she had it to do again.
JP asks Chris if he wants to give up immunity. Chris says no. Time to vote. Eliza votes Twila. She is the cockroach that won’t die. Twila votes for Eliza. She’s driven her crazy since day one. First vote Eliza. Second vote Twila. Third vote Eliza. Final vote. The fifteenth person voted out of Survivor is Eliza. Eliza gives Chris a look that would peel paint. Chris just smugly looks back at her. The tribe has spoken, Eliza. Adios.
Eliza says she was surprised Chris voted for her after he said he wouldn’t. She says she looks for the best in people, and that this experience would change how she deals with people in the future.
Wow. Gotta wonder if Chris made the right move here. He’s stabbed two people in a row in the back. Hope that doesn’t bite him in the ass.
Twila asks Chris if he saw the look that Eliza gave him. Chris doesn’t know what her problem is, he just stuck to his alliance. Twila and Scout go on about how glad they are Eliza’s gone. Chris says he’s just playing the game, and a million bucks will change his life.
JP shows up at camp. Day 38. JP brings up the story of Roy Mata. Roy’s burial island is the most sacred spot in Vanuatu, and it’s the island across from them they’ve been looking at all this time. They will paddle over to the island and reminisce on fallen comrades, then make an offering at Roy’s grave before the final immunity challenge. Twila doesn’t know what to expect.
They paddle over to the island. First torch, Brook. Didn’t get a chance to know him. Dolly was a personable young woman with pretty eyes. John P. Mia is usually good at getting along with others but her Italian temper got the best of her. Brady wishes he hadn’t climbed that pole. Bubba was awesome. Chris misses him. Lisa made one comment and got sent home. John K. is a bit bummed about getting the boot. Rory has zero regrets. He played the game. Good ol’ Sarge. His downfall was putting trust in age over character. Chad had to reach deep to be strong. LeAnn wonders why she’s not at home watching TV but it was worth it. Ami was for girl power, but got stabbed in the end. Jules is about perseverance. Eliza says it was the best experience of her life.
They visit the grave. Chris notes the blessing from the tribe the first night and leaves the spirit idol. Scout leaves her chief staff. Eliza leaves the other chief staff. Scout feels like a part of history (no age jokes).
Immunity Challenge: Hold a bow and arrow in warrior pose. A white marker is on the bow. If they relax, the marker is pierced and they are done. If they leave the circle they are gone. They do this barefoot. One, two, three, go! Scout struggling. Chris chillin’. Scout’s done. Down to Chris and Twila. Twila almost falls off the stump, but saves. 30 minutes. Chris is shaky. Twila is chilling. Chris starts talking to Twila. Chris says Twila owes him. Scout tells Twila to concentrate. Chris says he know where he stands. 55 minutes. Chris asks Scout if she’s dreaming about Twila winning. JP asks Chris if there’s so much trust why doesn’t he step off. Chris says he wants to win. More time goes and they enjoy the heat. Twila loses her balance and pierces her marker. Chris wins final immunity! JP tells Chris he has the afternoon to decide who he’s taking with him.
Chris says he’s pretty shocked about winning immunity, but knew he could do it. Twila says she and Chris had an agreement for the final two. Chris said he thinks Scout and Twila had an agreement. He asks Scout if she and Twila had an agreement for the final two. Scout says no. They had an agreement for the final four and taking out Eliza, but that is it. Chris is shocked that Twila told him the truth.
Tribal Council. Jury comes in. Eliza’s still pissed. JP asks Chris about that afternoon. Chris said when Scout cheered Twila on he thought they had an agreement. Scout says there can’t be a bad outcome. Twila says yes there can. She worked hard to get there. Chris says he respects how Scout played the game. He says Twila was aggressive in playing the game and did what she had to do. Time to vote. Scout is the sixteenth player voted out. The tribe has spoken. Well, actually, Chris has voted. The final two are Chris and Twila. They have one night left. Enjoy it. Scout said she embraced loyalty until it was time to change alliances. She’s happy with how the game went and has no regrets.
Day 39. Camp is empty. Chris and Twila eat manioc for the last time. Twila says she turned things around and it paid off. Chris says he’s feeling stress on a day he never expected to. Chris says Twila is extremely outspoken and he wants the jury to remember how cutthroat Twila was. Chris is going to sit back and let Twila put the last nail in her coffin.
Twila’s a bit apprehensive. She feels she deserves the million because she played the game the best. She outwitted and outlasted. They share some hammock time before the hammock collapses under their weight. Chris is getting worried. He is thinking about the women’s alliance and that they may vote for Twila to prove it worked. They pack up and head for final Tribal Council. Twila says she is taking a sense of pride home with her. It’s been an amazing adventure. Chris says even if he comes in second place he was the last man standing and that’s an accomplishment in itself.
Welcome to the final Tribal Council. Time for the jury to decide who deserves the million. Chris and Twila have a chance to make an opening statement. Then the jury asks questions. Then Chris and Twila get to make final statements.
Chris is first. He was loyal to the alliances he made. He overcame the odds. He was the last man standing with six women. Twila came with one goal: a million dollars. Everything she did was to win the million dollars. She earned it and worked hard for it.
Jury time. Eliza is first. She congratulates Twila for being a lying, deceptive bitch. She might envy her position but not being her. Chris shocked her. He pretended to be her friend. He stabbed her in the back with Julie and then voted her out. She wants an apology. Twila says she was never mean to her. Eliza gives a laundry list of wrongs. Twila thinks she’s a spoiled bitch and doesn’t owe her an apology. Chris apologizes in about 0.002 seconds.
Julie is next. She starts to cry. She admits she tried to get Twila out of the game, and she is either voting for Chris or against Chris. She helped Chris as a friend with nothing to gain for herself. First, she wants to know how Chris could look her in the eyes and then stab her if they were supposed to have a brother/sister relationship. Chris said his initial intention was to look out for her but he lied to her in the end. Julie wants to know when he decided to screw her. He says when it came time to write a name down. He really does look at her as a little sister and he’s sorry for lying to her.
LeAnn is next. Please explain, Twila, why she should reward her when she swore on her son’s life. Twila says when she found out that Scout was out of the final four she lost her trust for LeAnn and Ami. Chris, convince her to abandon the woman’s alliance. Chris said he knew he was gone but Twila opened the back door and he slipped through. He persevered and deserved to win.
Ami is up next. She finds it ironic that she could swear on her son and lie for a million dollars but can’t apologize. Chris stabbed two friends in the back. Ami wants to know what Chris has more than her to put him in the final two. Chris says nothing. He’s there because Ami has a soft heart and gave Chris a chance and it cost her. She asks Twila the same question. Twila says because she wears her heart on her sleeve.
Chad is up next. What has this done to change Twila? Maybe she needs to be less judgmental. Chris? Seeing the genuine qualities of the final nine people with a million dollars on the line. The jury stayed true to themselves. Chris and Twila didn’t.
Sarge is next. Sarge stays loyal to his values. Is Twila casting her son’s name to hell worth a million dollars? Twila says no. Sarge says Chris has probably lost his vote. Chris says there’s not a price on his friendship with Sarge.
Scout is last. Scout values Twila’s integrity. Chris is in bullshit up to his ears. That’s it.
Boy, things aren’t looking too good for Chris, huh?
Time for final comments. Twila is first. She didn’t come into this game wanting to intentionally deceive people. All she’s thought about since she got there was bettering her life. People have killed for less, and it’s made her into someone she doesn’t like. No one understands how she really feels. She apologizes to each and every one of them. She tried to play the game but the game played her. Maybe if they can forgive her she can forgive herself.
Chris is next. Scout, can’t bullshit a bullshitter. Julie, she’s still his little sister. Eliza, what he did to her and Jules makes him feel bad, and she and Julie deserve to be there instead of him. Ami and LeAnn, he had an opportunity to get in the back door and he took it. Chad and Sarge, no matter what happens, he still made two good friends. Vote from your heart.
Time to vote. This time, they’re voting for someone, not against someone. Sarge is first. He votes for Chris. Psyche! Scout votes for Twila. Thanks for a strong woman’s alliance. Julie is next. Eliza is next. She votes for Chris. He screwed her but she still hates Twila. LeAnn. Chad. Ami is next. She votes to Twila. She respects Twila voting from her heart.
JP tallies the votes. He would love to read them tonight, but it’ll have to wait until they reach the US. He grabs a torch and machete and makes his way through the jungle. He hops a plane, parachutes out, and motorcycles over to the CBS lot in Hollywood.
We are now LIVE in Hollywood! Let’s do it!
Wow, Twila and Chris look so clean. And it looks like Twila’s daughter up there.
First vote, Chris. Chris. Two votes Chris. Twila. 2-1 Chris. Twila. We’re tied. Chris. 3-2 Chris. The winner of Survivor is Chris! Man, I called that one down the pipe! Sarge gives Chris a HUGE bear hug. One of the most unlikely winners ever.
Clip of Chris talking about women’s vulnerabilities. Rough start for Chris. Balance beam, women’s alliance. What changed things for him? The turning point was when Julie asks him was he mad at her for going back to the women. He said no, he was disappointed. That got Julie to stick up for him. Chad and Sarge showed their anger about Rory going, while Chris kept his mouth shut. Julie voted for Chris because he played her well. She didn’t vote out of spite.
Eliza, same story. Pat on the back, stab in the back, bye. Was it a vote for Chris or against Twila? A bit of both. She was mad at Twila, although now she has no issues with her.
Did that factor into Chris taking Twila? Of course. Twila was Twila. Twila asks if she told the truth and Chris lied, but they voted for her? What about LeAnn? She respects Chris’s play, and she made a promise to never write Twila’s name down. Ami voted for Twila because Twila got her good. Chris played well, but Twila really played her. Scout was the other vote. She couldn’t give a million dollars to such a bullshitter.
Sarge voted for Chris. Was it a man/woman thing? Nope. It was all about values. It didn’t have to do about lying about her son. It was about Twila turning on him. Chad voted for Chris. It was all about Chris and how he played.
Ami, women’s alliance. 7 women at the merge, 5 women in the jury, yet a man won. Ami thinks it’s hard for women to really support each other. They were focused on who was talking about whom and not getting 4 women to the final four. LeAnn says it was working perfectly until they voted them off. Julie wonders if Chris really has any feelings. He says he does.
Not since Johnny Fairplay has someone lied about a family member. Did it affect the vote? Stay tuned to find out!
Recap of the swearing incident. JP asks Twila since she didn’t win does she have regrets? She says she had regrets from the get-go. JP says she doesn’t have to justify herself. She says she meant it at the time, but when she saw that they were taking Julie to the final four she changed her mind. JP asks why Twila’s one lie was bigger than Chris’s many lies. Ami says because she had no expectations from Chris, and she’s lost a family member.
Scout wants to know why people won’t forgive Twila. Ami says she has. JP asks Twila’s son about it. He says she was just playing the game and he had no problems about it at all. JP says that Twila came into the game needing to win the money more than any other player in history. JP asks if anyone changed their minds since watching the episodes. Julie says that Twila was so genuine while Chris was so disingenuous.
JP asks Eliza if she changed her mind. She says it did at first, but after seeing the final episode she’s back to disliking Twila. Ami says she let emotions get in the way, but she still likes Twila. LeAnn says she was hurt by Twila, but she still likes her, but she voted for Chris because she thinks he played the best. Sarge says he’s forgiven Twila. Who is he to judge someone. From day one when she came over to Lopevi they bonded and he considers her a friend.
There was an immunity challenge involving loved ones. Chris thought if he lost he was gone, and he lost. JP talks to Chris’s fiancee Lori. What did Chris tell her when he got home? He told her he got voted off. Totally in Chris’s challenge. So she watched every night expecting Chris to be gone. She expected Thanksgiving night to be on the red eye for the morning shows the next day.
Julie learned you can’t tell where people’s lines are, only their own. Ami said that Lori’s tears saved Chris. They felt so bad for Lori that they decided to keep Chris around a bit longer. She learned to forgive. When she forgave Twila a load was lifted from her shoulders.
What did Rory learn? No matter what, true colors always come out. He and Twila couldn’t hold their tongues. LeAnn’s obviously given this a lot of thought. She came out feeling empowered. JP says Sarge is one of a kind. Sarge took from the game a new outlook on civilians. For 18 years he’s taken orders and wasn’t used to people saying no.
Chad shows off his prosthetic leg. JP says that he told Chad he would have to prove to everyone it wasn’t a liability. Chad says he did that a bit too well. JP asks if Chad wanted to do the show because of that. He says that was only one of the reasons. JP says that Scout played with the wrong-sized knee. Scout says that she had surgery two months ago and got it resized and replaced.
JP says Brook was the most frustrated first vote off ever. Brook was a big fan and he wants another chance. JP notes that Bubba kept the weight he lost off. Bubba says he gained appreciation for his family. Dolly’s got 38 sheep going to market. John P’s doing ads for Home Depot and working with kids. Mia’s back in Boston bartending. She got to see the Sox win. Brady came home and went to Australia to get married. Lisa’s back home with her six kids. John K’s modeling and going back to school. Rory’s wife’s letter talked him out of burning down the whole village, depriving us of one of the potentially best Survivor moments ever.
We get a sneak preview of the new locale, Palau. Twenty new castaways will play and the rules will change in the first ten minutes. If you want some Survivor props, go to www.survivor-auction.com. The proceeds will benefit the Elizabeth Glazer Pediatric AIDS Foundation. And we’re done!
Final thoughts: I think most of the jury, if they held the vote again, would probably vote for Twila. But Chris more than deserved this. His back was against the wall and he pulled off the most incredible comeback in Survivor history. Yeah, he lied, but that’s the game. Congratulations to Chris, and to Twila also for making it that far.
I hope you all had fun tonight. I’ll see you for the next Survivor!
