Each week, Christine Pallon and Gia Worthy will round up the previous week of Survivor 49 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 last episode.
Top 3 Moments
Sophi Finds an Advantage
Christine: It’s that time of year again! As is tradition on New Era Survivor, our final five were sent on a wild goose chase through the jungles of Fiji to find a challenge advantage that may or may not (usually not) make a difference in the outcome of a crucial immunity challenge. Sophi was the lucky winner of this advantage, but she was no match for Savannah. Sophi would go on to prevent Savannah from setting a new immunity record for women at the next immunity challenge, though, even if her final five advantage couldn’t help her snatch the W.
Four Timer Club
Gia: Last week, I predicted that Savannah would likely join an elite group of women who have won four individual immunity challenges. This week, that prediction proved to be correct when she won the final five challenge. An impressive achievement in its own right, she joins Kelly Wigglesworth, Jenna Morasca, Kim Spradlin, Chrissy Hofbeck, and Rachel LaMont, making her the sixth woman and fourth female winner to achieve this. Of course, this was just the beginning of good news for Savannah in this episode.
Kristina’s Jury Question
Gia: The Savannah vs. Kristina feud had been going on for some time, and even though Savannah did succeed in convincing everyone to vote out Kristina, she proved she was not about to go out quietly. During the final tribal council, Kristina had one request for Savannah (and Savannah only), to name one family member of each jury member. Savannah tried to get out of it, but Kristina insisted that she try. Savannah failed spectacularly, exposing a big crack in her game. It might not have garnered her any favors with the jury, but it didn’t prevent her from inevitably securing the win.
Advantage Watch
Idols
Gia: At long last, after nine weeks of flirting with the idea, Rizo finally played his idol at the last possible moment in the final five. He didn’t need to play it, as there were no votes against him, but better safe than sorry. Even though he didn’t leave the game with the million, he did leave with a record to his name–going the longest timespan without playing a hidden immunity idol after finding it.
Finalists Round-Up
Savannah
Christine: And we have our winner! Despite having a weaker social game compared to Sophi, Savannah clinched the win through her impressive immunity wins and underdog gameplay. She relied on her physical game to win key immunity wins, but she was vulnerable enough times to prove she could survive without the necklace. I really appreciated Savannah’s honest and direct Final Tribal performance. She didn’t sugarcoat her motivations to win–she just wants that damn money. She didn’t shy away from her inability to answer Kristina’s question fully (she did her best, but was direct and about her social weaknesses).
She did all of this without being overly apologetic, presenting herself and her game honestly, warts and all, and trusting the jury would respect what she had to offer. We’ve never had a woman quite like Savannah win, and now that we have the full picture of her season, I understand why she was picked for an immediate return on 50.
Sophi
Christine: Sophi had a very strong Final Tribal performance. I want to give a special shoutout to her mouthing the correct answers to Kristina’s question as Savannah floundered. But her biggest obstacle to winning was always going to be Savannah sitting there next to her. Sophi’s clutch final immunity win was huge for her game, and she made the right call putting Savannah and Rizo in fire to ensure at least one of them left. But once she let both of them get to the final five to begin with, Sophi’s win equity plummeted.
She likely wins handily if she goes to the end with Kristina and Sage, but having Rizo or Savannah at the end was always going to hurt her chances. Sophi did the best with the final three she ended up in, and I’m glad she got two jury votes to back up an overall solid game, but the decisions she made in the mid-late merge sadly put her in a losing position at the end.
Sage
Christine: Sage played a strong middle game throughout the merge, even if some of her decisions, namely, voting out Steven over Sophi or Rizo, didn’t always make the most sense from a viewer’s perspective. Based on Final Tribal and exit interviews, it’s clear that Sage rubbed a lot of people on the jury the wrong way. Beyond that, though, Sage’s biggest problem is that she came into the merge on top as part of a majority alliance, and Sophi and Savannah played from the bottom as underdogs. Sage inevitably had to burn more jurors than those two because she was actively betraying her allies. At the same time, Sophi and Savannah angered far fewer people, since they were actively in danger from a numbers perspective.
In a lot of ways, playing from the top is much harder than playing from the bottom on Survivor. You have so much more to lose, and people tend to have less grace for when you act in your own best interests vs. someone who’s on the bottom and trying to survive just another day. Sage had a strong advocate on the jury in her ride-or-die Jawan, but it sounds like there were a fair number of jurors who weren’t happy with him, either, so any advocating he did on her behalf likely went unheard.
Rizo
Gia: Rizo played a loud, dynamic game from beginning to end. His bold moves left players at his mercy round after round, so it makes sense that it would be final four fire making to finally take him out. It would’ve been interesting to see him make his case to the jury, but that’s the heartbreaking part of this game.
Fortunately for Rizo fans, this will not be the last of Rizgod, because he and Savannah are confirmed to return for Survivor 50. I look forward to seeing how he adapts his game, if at all, for a season full of returnee players. If his first time was any indication, fans and players alike are in for a wild ride.
Kristina
Gia: Kristina may have had a minimal exit, but it’s clear she put all of her heart into this game. She represented a different kind of player than what we are used to seeing, one that values the bonds she’s made and the people she’s met. Perhaps more of an old-school approach than anything else?
Either way, it was refreshing to watch, and her jury question remains one of the most talked-about moments of the season. I hope she stands by her choices and her jury question, because I thought they were both so refreshing.
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