Each week, Christine Pallon and Gia Worthy will round up the previous week of Survivor 47 as they list their top moments in various important categories. This includes the most essential information, the stand-out castaways, and the key moments from the week.
Here, Christine and Gia break down all the action from the latest episode.
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Top 3 Moments
Rachel Makes History
Gia: Before she was officially crowned the winner of Survivor 47, Rachel made history in her own right. She was well aware that she had to win the final four immunity challenge to avoid firemaking and win she did. With that, Rachel secured her fourth individual immunity win, making her only the fifth woman in the show’s history to do so. Following Kelly Wigglesworth, Jenna Morasca, Kim Spradlin, and Chrissy Hofbeck, Rachel cemented herself in Survivor history and as the clear front-runner for the win. Her competitors gave everything they had to stop her, but it turned out nothing could stop the momentum she gained over the last few episodes.
Sam vs. Teeny
Gia: After her immunity win, Rachel made it no secret that she would be picking her loyal ally, Sue, to sit in the final three with her. That meant Sam and Teeny would have to compete in final four firemaking to take the final spot. With Teeny receiving extra coaching from Rachel, they felt pretty good about their chances going into their final challenge. Sam, on the other hand, admitted to having never made fire while in the game, and it showed in his practice session. Despite the odds appearing to fall in Teeny’s favor, some poorly timed wind quite literally blew their chances away. Sam’s rope was cut first, proving everyone wrong about his capabilities, and Teeny became the final member of the jury.
Final Tribal Council
Christine: Once Rachel won that final immunity, the season’s outcome seemed set in stone, and while a Rachel victory is indeed what we got, Sam gave her a run for her money at Final Tribal Council. With Sue shut out of the race and only getting a few throwaway questions here and there, it was Sam vs. Rachel. Sam made all the arguments he needed to, selling himself as an underdog and questioning whether Rachel’s game was all that impressive after all. But unfortunately for Sam, the Rachel threat narrative was too powerful to negate in the eleventh hour.
From the edited and televised version we saw, Sam “won” the battle of Final Tribal, but he didn’t win the war. No matter how strong of a case he argued here, the in-game narrative Sam helped push against Rachel would be nearly impossible to refute. Jurors want to feel good about who they vote for, and they want the winner of the season to reflect their perception of the game and validate their game perspective. Unfortunately for Sam, voting for him over Rachel would have run contrary to the in-game reality they experienced.
Finalist Round-Up
Rachel
Gia: The new era has certainly given its viewers a wide array of different winners and playing styles throughout its seven seasons. However, Rachel’s win is a particularly rare find that was incredible to watch. Not only was she a clear strategic threat from the beginning, but her adaptability when things went south for her was her true shining moment. Operation: Italy may be the stand-out moment of the season, but it was her idol play at final six that will define her legacy and win. She knew when to keep her cards close to her chest and when it would benefit her to share information with potential allies. She, like many players, had a little bit of luck on her side, but it’s what she did with that luck that mattered most. Congratulations, Rachel, you played an incredible game, and it was an honor to root for you!
Sam
Christine: Sam had a strong start in the pre-merge, finding an idol and positioning himself well on his starting tribe. Signs of trouble emerged for him early, though, when he and Sierra were pegged as such an obvious duo. Things got worse when Sierra was blindsided and he landed on the outs as a “big threat” despite no longer having any real power in the game. He and Genevieve, along with Andy, launched an impressive comeback with Operation Italy that ultimately landed him a spot to plead his case at Final Tribal Council. He made a strong case for himself, but Rachel’s high-visibility late-game run to the end was just too compelling for jurors to ignore. Sam’s loss was less due to flaws in his game and was more due to not being able to take out the bigger threat before the end, and he has a lot to be proud of for being able to even make it to Final Tribal after the setbacks he faced in the early merge.
Sue
Gia: Despite her being the zero-vote finalist of the season, Sue deserves a lot of credit for the game she played. She was in a strong position on Tuku, was on the right side of the vote more times than not, and was a dependable ally to those closest to her. It’s incredibly hard to make it to the end by being honest, but Sue made it look easy. Even as her allies were being picked off, she was able to navigate to new alliances to ensure her safety. Not to mention, she had an idol through it all! She may not have won the game, but she made history by being both the oldest woman to win individual immunity and the oldest finalist at the time of filming.
Teeny
Christine: Oh, what a journey Teeny had this season! They had an incredibly strong social start in the pre-merge, but things began to unravel for them once Kishan went. Their complex relationship with Genevieve was one of my favorite storylines this season as Genevieve snaked them, Teeny tried to guilt her into not snaking them again, only for Genevieve to do it again. Teeny’s greatest strength and weakness this season were their emotions; it’s what allowed them to form such tight and sincere bonds with their allies, but it’s also what clouded their judgment at their lowest moments. Their tragic loss at firemaking was a fitting end to their journey, with Teeny opening up about how their insecurities fed into their one-sided feud with Sam. With a few years of more growth and reflection, Teeny would be a wonderful Second Chance candidate. They were undoubtedly a huge character in this season’s story, and they could be a deadly player if they worked out the flaws in their game.
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