Retrospective of the preceding events that have led us to our final four players. We’re down to Tom, Ian, Katie, and Jenn.
Koror – Day 37
Katie says that true colors came out at TC. She says that Caryn did her a huge favor airing dirty laundry.
Ian recognizes that his stock has gone down with the jury, but he thinks that may help him as it makes him less of a threat.
Ian and Tom hear the women screaming for help. They rush down the beach, but it’s only a basket filled with breakfast items, and the girls were screaming in excitement.
They all share a champagne toast. Tom says it hasn’t been easy making it this far.
Katie says it was nice to enjoy each other one last time before throats begin getting slit.
Jenn and Katie tell Ian if Tom loses immunity they’re voting Tom out. Ian agrees with the plan.
IMMUNITY COUNCIL
There’s a new car and a blank check. Winner of Survivor gets both.
Today’s challenge: players are tied to a rope. They have to make their way through a tire maze, collecting keys. Collect 3 sets of keys and unlock the door to a second level. Untie three sets of knots to get to the third level. Use a grappling hook to get rungs for a ladder. Put the ladder together and climb to the final level. The first two people to get to the top level and raise their flags will go to the finals. In the finals, they will head down a zip line into the water and grab a bag. Head back to shore and a locked locker. Open the bag, which contains three numbers. Find the right combination from the numbers and open the lock and grab the flag. First person to get their flag and raise it wins immunity.
Let’s begin. Jenn gets keys first. Ian and Tom right behind. Second set of keys. Ian in the lead, Jenn and Tom right behind. Ian and Jenn get tangled and Tom takes the lead. Tom, Ian, and Jenn are close, but Tom makes it to the second level first. Tom is in the lead untying his knots. Ian and Jenn are right behind. Tom makes it to the third level first and begins using the grappling hook to get his ladder pegs. Ian and Jenn are right behind. Tom gets his last ladder rung and begins putting his ladder together. Tom gets to the top level first and raises his flag. Ian gets his last rung, gets to the top level, and raises his flag. Ian and Tom in the finals.
Ian and Tom hit the zip line. Tom and Ian grab their bags and head to shore, Tom in the lead. They begin trying to open the locks. Ian has his bag open first and works on his combinations. Tom is right behind him. Tom gets his lock open first and grabs his flag. He raises his flag first and wins immunity!
Commercial.
Back at camp, everyone notes how massive that competition was.
Ian says he was spared the decision of whether or not to vote for Tom.
Jenn asks Tom to vote for Ian, but Tom says he made a deal to Ian to take him to the final 2. Jenn knows she is going home tonight and she says goodbye to everyone.
Tom, Ian, and Katie are talking. Ian tells Tom it would have been a tough decision for him, which surprises Tom.
Tom talks to Jenn. Jenn tells Tom that Ian had agreed to vote Tom out had he won immunity. Tom confronts Ian, who admits that he told Katie and Jenn he said he would have voted Tom out. Tom says that’s all he needed to know.
TRIBAL COUNCIL
JP notes that they arrived very late for TC. Tom says he discovered that Ian was going back on his word. Tom relates the whole story to everyone.
Ian says that he and Tom had a gentleman’s agreement that they would take each other to the final three. He says he told Tom about what was going on. Tom says that was strike number three.
Jenn is pleased she stirred all this up. Katie is worried now because Tom may vote for Ian, which means a tie, which means she would be going home.
Time to vote. Decision final, you know the spiel. First vote: Ian. Jenn. Ian. Jenn. We’re tied. Katie and Tom revote. First vote Jenn. Second vote Ian. Tiebreaker will be fire. First person to build a fire and light a rope and raise their flag wins. Ian and Jenn begin building their fires. Ian’s fire hits the rope. It burns through and the flag goes up. Ian wins, and the next member of our jury is Jenn. Tribe has spoken, adios.
JP notes that it should be an interesting night and sends them home.
Jenn says she’s disappointed in Katie for not keeping her around and may have lost her vote.
Commercial
Koror – Night 37
Tom is shocked that he voted twice against Ian and he’s still here.
Tom and Katie gang up on Ian. Ian says it doesn’t matter what he says, Tom is going to crucify him. Katie says Ian should just admit he was double-dealing and be done with it.
Day 38
Ian says he’s upset that he was treated like he was the only person who ever tried to play the game.
Ian has stayed out all night watching the fire. Katie comes by and asks him what he’s going to do. Ian says he’s going to fight to the end.
They paddle out to their final challenge, burying the other players at sea on the way.
Commercial.
IMMUNITY CHALLENGE
Last immunity challenge: three buoys in the water, with a pole to hold onto and a disc to stand on. Last person standing wins immunity.
JP notes no one’s going to step down early. No one trusts anyone.
One hour passed. Ian admits it was a rough night.
2 hours. The wind is blowing hard. Ian’s at a 45-degree angle. It begins raining.
3 hours 18 minutes. Katie stretches her legs. Ian drinks in the rain. Tom says the rain’s better than the sun.
4 hours. Rain’s stopped and sun’s out. Katie says she’s pretty confident. Ian says you never know what will happen, but he thinks he can beat Tom. Katie notes her back is hurting.
5 hours. Nighttime. Katie steps down. Tom says his legs hurt. Ian
7 hours.
8 hours. JP is surprised. Tom tells Ian if he steps down, he’ll take Ian. If he stays on and loses, Tom’s taking Katie. Ian says no thanks. Ian throws the offer back to Tom, who declines.
Commercial.
11 hours 45 minutes. Ian says he has a solution. He will step down if Tom takes Katie, to show he is still Tom’s friend. JP says it sounds like Ian’s integrity is more important than the million dollars. Ian says he doesn’t like the way people are thinking of him right now. Tom says he will always be Ian’s friend, but if he does this, he will have earned Tom’s respect. Ian jumps into the water. Tom wins immunity! JP says they should go to immunity. Tom asks Ian if he’s sure, and if Ian wants Tom will hold to his original offer. Ian says that’s OK. JP asks Tom whom he’s voting out and Tom says Ian. We have our finalists, Tom and Katie!
Commercial.
Koror – Day 39
Tom tells Katie he’ll tell her his dream if she tells him hers.
Katie is surprised she is still here on Day 39.
Tom says Katie is so likable that she may sway the jury. He says he’s having trouble accepting that this is their final day. He says it’s been tough but it’s been an experience he’ll keep for life.
Tom and Katie start burning their camp, starting with the picnic table.
Katie says she played the game different than Tom but just as hard. She says there’s a scary streak to Tom that she’ll be sure to inform the jury about.
Tom and Katie paddle off to their final Tribal Council.
Katie hopes she gets some credit for how she played the game.
Tom says he got to the final two without any trickery and now it’s in the jury’s hands.
TRIBAL COUNCIL
JP brings in the jury. JP says the power of the game has now shifted to the jury. Tom and Katie will get to make an opening statement. Then the jury will get to ask a question each, followed by closing comments.
Tom goes first. He says it’s an honor to be sitting in front of them. He asks them to judge him on who he was, and to remember he provided for the tribe.
Katie says there are two different people sitting here. The game is all about self-preservation, and she knows some of them think she skated through but that was her plan, to outwit her way to the final two.
Commercial.
Time for jury questions. Coby is first. Coby says he has issues. He says if Katie gets his vote, it isn’t because of how she played the game. He says the only value she brought to the game was riding coattails. Coby says Tom played the game just as dirty as everyone else, but he won’t admit it. So Coby is going to sit down and listen to Tom’s words.
Gregg is next. When they were seven, Tom was nervous, and said anyone who breaks the tribe of five would be a target. Tom says he was played by Ian and has total regrets. Gregg says Katie was an embarrassment at camp, and she needs to explain how being so pathetic was her plan to win a million dollars. Katie says she’s sorry that Gregg thinks she was pathetic, but she played with the cards she was dealt.
Steph is next. She says Tom told her when she got to Koror that she wasn’t a dead man walking and that he would fight for her, but she doesn’t think he did because she’s not sitting there, so she wants to know what he did to fight for her. Tom says when it came down to her and his alliance of five, he went for the alliance. Steph asks Katie why she should vote for her. Katie says that Tom said whoever came over from Ulong needed to be the first to go. Tom asks why he would have ever say that about Steph when he had an alliance with Steph from day 2, and Katie swears that Tom did say that.
Janu is next. She asks Tom how hard was it for him to damage his integrity while playing the game. Tom says his honor is intact, and he tried not to hurt anyone. Janu asks Katie to give her three positive and negative adjectives to describe her. Katie says she doesn’t expect Janu’s vote so she won’t answer.
Caryn is next. She asks Tom what she was to him. Tom says he never lied to Caryn, he never promised her she was in an alliance. Caryn asks Tom if there was a true friendship, and Tom says she needs to find that out for herself. Caryn asks Katie why she should vote for her, and Katie says that she played the game to the best of her ability. Caryn says all she saw from Katie was laziness and nastiness, and Katie says she proved she deserves Caryn’s vote because she’s in the final two and Caryn’s in the jury.
Jenn is next. She thinks Tom is a bit chauvinistic and he didn’t respect her game, and why should she respect his game enough to give him her vote. Tom says Jenn played such a low-key game that he never took note of it until right before her last TC, when she clued Tom in on Ian’s treachery. Jenn tells Katie one thing she can’t stand is a weak woman. Katie says she believes she is a strong woman, and she proved it by making the final two.
Ian is next. What’s the biggest reason the jury shouldn’t give them a million dollars. Katie says her personality might have rubbed people the wrong way. Tom says he shouldn’t get it because he already had his payday by having this experience.
Time for closing statements.
Commercials.
JP lets Tom have the first final statement. Tom says the game is a truth serum, and good or bad, they’ve met the real him. He says he stuck with his original alliance, sometimes to his folly, and if he hurt people he apologizes.
Katie apologizes for hurting anyone. She knew Tom was her biggest threat, and that’s why she made an alliance with him and Ian. She says she’s leaving with her self-respect intact, even if she’s not leaving with anyone else’s.
Time to vote. This time, they’re voting for a winner, not an elimination. Steph is first. Janu votes for Tom. Gregg. Jenn. Caryn. Coby votes for Katie. Ian votes last.
JP grabs the votes. He says he’s taking the votes with him back to the USA. JP heads out and we cut LIVE TO NEW YORK CITY!!! JP is here with the votes! What, no interesting travelogue to get here?
Time to read the votes!!! First vote, Tom. Katie. Tom. Tom. Winner of Survivor: Palau is Tom! Tom hugs Katie, then heads into the audience to hug his family. We cut to Tom’s firehouse in Brooklyn and to his hometown of Sayville, NY to see people celebrating. The rest of the players come out.
Refresh for updates.
