Survivor 41 Finale

While doing research on all of the onetime challenges for this blog, I’ve been using a lot from Survivor fandom and am now worrying a bit about plagiarism. I am crediting the site at times, but am just not sure how to mention a challenge differently than they did. I hope that this is okay. I am trying as best as I can to not just do a copy and paste, but that could make this worse. At least you know and I am telling you that Survivor fandom is my source on all things relating to Survivor challenges. That way, I am giving them the credit that they deserve.

As I get to the one time challenges from the thirteenth season, know that this will be the last batch of the challenges from past seasons that I will be sharing in this season regardless of if this is the last post on this season. I’m hoping that I can do a post on Ponderosa, but that would depend on if I’m able to see that online legally for free. I will start talking about the one time challenges from the fourteenth season in the first post of Survivor 42: Life, the Universe, and Everything.

Never Tear us Apart (reward challenge from Don’t Cry Over Spilled Octopus): This challenge is very similar to Shoulder the Load. In it, there are three pairs on a platform and they are holding weights on a hook. People from the other tribe would add weights every two minutes until all of them are out of the challenge after dropping the hooks. This could probably not be done while social distancing.

Depth Charge (immunity challenge from Mutiny): In this challenge, contestants have to drop a cannon (does fandom mean cannonball?) into three underwater targets to release buoys that are arranged to solve a puzzle of some sort. I think that this could be done while social distancing depending on just how well water can factor into social distancing challenges.

South Pacific (immunity challenge from People That You Like Want to See You Suffer): In this challenge, contestants had to get placards from a floating crate. Each crate is closer. The players then have to name ten island clusters based on what they had from treemail using the placards. This could be done while social distancing.

Recollection (immunity challenge from You’re a Rat): In this challenge, there are two parts. The first part has people answering questions about the season at hand with numbers as the answer. They must use that to solve a math problem to untie the right box. One in the right box, they would have to use a key to open a lock to raise their flag. The second part has them solving more questions, unlocking a crawl to go through, and cross pontoons to raise another flag. This could be done while social distancing.

There were three things that I was going to get to in the last post but delayed until this post in order to get it done at all. I decided back in David versus Goliath that I would talk about some missionaries from time to time, although I didn’t post much about it outside of that season outside of two of them that appeared in two other seasons. One was in China’s post and a second in Gabon’s.

Anyways, you might have heard some about the troubles that Haiti has been going through recently this year, but not too much as we are too focused on ourselves in this country. There are Haitian kidnapped missionaries and this remains unresolved as of now with them still kidnapped. I bookmarked the page on this on Wikipedia so I’ll hopefully be able to see a resolution to this at some point. I can only pray that this is resolved in a good way. 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-58948107

Now for the most important thing from two episodes ago: The problem from Let’s Make a Deal called The Monty Hall problem. It has one correct option and two bad options. After you make your choice, you are shown one of the bad options and then given the chance to switch. You might think that there is no difference statistically if you switch or not. But there is. The odds are better if you switch. It does not seem like that should be the case, but it is. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Hall_problem

Still, there are four different outcomes to this problem. Indeed, if Deshawn had switched, he would have been eliminated. That’s one of the regrets: having the right choice and changing. The other regret would be if you were wrong but didn’t change when offered the choice. The right choice could be sticking with your regular choice. It is against the odds, but it does work out sometimes like it did for Deshawn. And then he wouldn’t be kicking himself if he was right and changed it. Of course, the best bet is to go with the odds and hopefully, the switching works out for you.

Now when I mentioned certain challenges, I mentioned the fact that one of them had the name of Slave to the Grind which is also a song by Skid Row. There’s not too much else to mention about it. I do like the song which is why I’m sharing it now. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3nycoZ-zzw

I’m unsure if I’ll be able to see any of Ponderosa depending on how it is available. I’m not shelling out money for Paramount+ and I don’t even remember the last time that I watched it with a recent season. I just want to know if Shan knew that Ricard betrayed her like some people think. Also, I might split this into multiple parts so that the section on the after show which is taking place instead of the reunion show is its own post. I want this done on Thursday and if I have to stop to finish it later, then I will. It is a bit weird that they are doing an after show instead of reunion show which is probably since they did not know what might be happening with the pandemic. I’m not sure if I like that the winner is going to be revealed on location either, but I guess that’s fine. But enough of my ramblings.

In the first segment of the show, Jeff starts by talking to the audience yet again. The contestants are starting over again. The after show that he is talking about is a raw event done right after final tribal council. So it isn’t a reunion show officially now. Will the whole cast be there for this? What has the premerge boots been doing this whole time? They probably couldn’t go on a trip like usual, could they? I guess I’d have to find out what sometime or somewhere.

Everyone gets an obligatory confessional as they arrive to the island. Erika talks about how she was a target and how she now knows that she can’t trust Deshawn. Ricard thinks that Deshawn is too much of the focus, which works well for him. Deshawn does a fake talk show with a stick pretending to interview Ricard. Erika does talk to Deshawn. She doesn’t like him now. They got bad blood. They got problems and she doesn’t think they can solve them.

Treemail comes to all of them and they all have to unscramble the words in order to figure out a phrase. Despite being the last one to figure out the phrase, it is Erika who finds the advantage at this point, a literal advantage in this immunity challenge. She tells Ricard and Heather while letting Deshawn still look for it in the meantime. She reveals this at the challenge, much to Deshawn’s surprise. The winner of this challenge also gets a steak reward for vampires, right? No, wait. That’s stake. Anyways, Erika wins the challenge and shares the reward with Heather. Xander still has an idol and is convinced that he can now get rid of Deshawn.

In the second segment of the show, we get to the reward with both of them wanting to reach the end. Erika and Heather think that the two of them can control the final five vote. I think that they are bad at math. The choice is between Ricard and Deshawn. She even says that she isn’t sure of the vote to Ricard. This type of cockiness would not be tolerated by someone who doesn’t have immunity, although it is still dumb for someone with immunity to do.

Erika hates Deshawn, but thinks that Ricard is the bigger threat to win. Ricard wants to work with Xander in the meantime. Ricard says that he has a baby due in one week and gets emotional about it. This seems genuine and not like a Johnny Fairplay lie. Xander wants to control the vote and play the idol on Ricard. Xander wants to gamble whether or not he could beat Ricard at the jury. But this could be a big move ™ that could help him with the jury.

In the third segment of the show, we get to tribal council. Deshawn brings up the idea that Ricard must be voted out. The seed was already planted in Deshawn’s mind. Xander thinks that he’s in the middle. He’s losing his mind, just a little. Both Heather and Erika think that it could be a hard vote. Ricard has been struggling a lot. Jeff pries for more information. Ricard points out that his baby is due soon or could already be born. Deshawn is open about his feelings at times too.

Jeff brings up that idols could be in play as a form of immunity. Xander is upset that Ricard is in trouble. Ricard thinks that Deshawn could be a threat to win. Jeff points out that you can be a great Survivor player and not win. Not much about what could happen with the votes is revealed. Once the votes are cast, Xander decides to play his idol on himself instead of Ricard. That seems like kind of a dick move. But Ricard is voted out with Xander not wanting to risk sitting against him at the final three.

In the fourth segment of the show, the people talk about being in the final four and how the top three is now within their grasp. Erika thinks that she can pull it off. There is a terrible storm that is happening now. Xander feels like a rock star despite the rain. He is the only one enjoying this. He kind of likes the fact that the others are suffering. Some were unsure if they would sleep. Deshawn thinks that he is near the end of the race and could make it to the finish line. He practices making fire. He doesn’t want to fail at it potentially in the future.

In the fifth segment of the show, they talk about the rain that happened as they gather for the final challenge of the game. The final three, that’s where I want to be. Gimme gimme. Gimme gimme. There in the final three. Xander takes a lead in the challenge and never falters, winning final immunity. He does seem kind of like Fabio in a way. But can he win? That remains to be seen. Erika is upset that she can’t control her own fate now.

In the sixth segment of the show, Xander talks about his time in the game. Why did they point out that he missed a piece of the puzzle at the final five? That was him, right? He thinks that he can now be the man that he wants to be. Deshawn makes his pitch as to why Erika should face fire. Heather makes the pitch too. He is convinced that Erika can’t beat him. But she is the only one who I could see winning now if it isn’t him. Does Deshawn have a case? I know Heather doesn’t.

Xander doesn’t want to give Erika a good moment in front of the jury so she will be safe and not facing the fire. Xander wants Heather to be in the end since she seems similar to Erika and could make Erika look weak. Deshawn thinks that the win is rightfully his and wants to make fire. Xander sees that Erika can’t actually make fire. He wants to make a big move. Or she is tricking him. Will she make the right choice? Will Xander make fire himself? But he was not seen making fire. Only Heather was. This is all a million dollar decision in the end. Will he try to do a Chris but end up more like an Erik? This could be how Xander loses, although I think that he is most likely to win at this point. This could be one of those moments where the finale isn’t about the winner. There’s been too much misdirection this season.

In the seventh segment of the show, tribal council starts and Ricard’s face is awesome. He does not like this at all. Deshawn wanted to be in a final three with him, Xander, and Heather. Heather wanted to do fire to prove that she belongs in the game. Jeff says that this is a game of perceptions. Xander stated that Erika might not be a good player. Some of the jury thinks that he has a poor read on them. So I think that he might not win. I’m unsure. The jury can give all sorts of signals. Xander thinks that Heather is doing a better job than others are. Xander makes his choice and sticks to his guns to keep Erika safe and have Heather and Deshawn face off in the end.

In the eighth segment of the show, we get to the fire making challenge. Deshawn starts out well with his flame. Light a fire in my soul. Make a flame. Make it whole. Are those the lyrics? I’m not even sure what song I’m quoting. Anyways, Heather starts to do well when Deshawn starts to falter with his flame. And it turns out that Heather is almost close to it much to Xander’s delight. This gives Deshawn an edge and makes this challenge close. In the end, it is Deshawn that manages to win with Heather getting a close second too late. I guess in this case, if you aren’t first, you’re last. Well, fourth. Why does he say that the tribe has spoken for this elimination? It’s never a vote here anymore.

In the ninth segment of the show, Xander talks about how this is the hardest season of Survivor ever. I wouldn’t know about that. Kaoh Rong was pretty brutal. Marquesas had a lot of toughness. Xander would be the youngest winner of all time if he wins. He wants to secure the win.

Erika thinks that she has play a heck of a game and thinks that she can do whatever she can to win. She has what it takes to win in her mind. Deshawn then talks about how he has thrived this season. He worked his ass off in order to get to where he was. He thinks that there are no goats in the final three. But will any of them be considered the Greatest Of All Time? There are three meanings to goat and two of them are opposites in the end.

We arrive at the final tribal council next. They are going to be interrogated and talk about why they end up deserving to win the game. I wonder if this break Jeff talks about really is to prepare or just a reason to go to commercial break.

Total confessional count: Deshawn- 34, Heather- 8, Erika- 26, Ricard- 24, Xander- 34. New confessionals this episode: Xander- 8, Deshawn- 8, Heather- 3, Erika- 9, Ricard- 3.

In the tenth segment of the show, Evvie starts with the first statement. After a tough season and the wonderful diversity, all of them could get votes. Danny reveals to everyone now that he is a professional athlete. He asks Xander what his game play is. Xander didn’t want to mimic the games of other players and play his own game. He wanted his team to have good dynamics. People knew about his advantages in the game. He decided to go with Ricard as a shield, a gamble that paid off.

Naseer pointed out that Xander stepped down for rice and swapped rewards with Erika. It seems that Naseer likes what Xander has done thus far. Deshawn talks about building relationships for the first part of the game. He thought that he was a big threat, but was able to avoid this. Ricard interjects during this time. He mentions that everyone was thrown under the bus at the merge. Deshawn denies saying these things and now I’ll have to check old blog posts to make sure that was in the episode. Erika then talks about her time in the game and how she didn’t have to go to tribal council for a while. She thinks that she made it far because she had the right alliance.

Ricard said that she lacked a social game with the rest of the jury. He wants to know more from her about this. She says that she knows where she stood this time. She wants to be hit up on facetime. Is that a thing? She worked hard to stick with Heather in the game. Ricard hopes that she can prove her game to the rest of the jury. Tiffany wants to know from Xander what more he did in the game and how he wanted to protect others. Liana wants to know when he had a good read, but takes a while to think of his social move. He was reading the room at the Tiffany vote.

Evvie asks how he knew not to play the idol. Xander talks about being paranoid a bit. I honestly think that a bit of healthy paranoia can be good, but don’t overdo it. Ricard mentions that while he was taken out, Erika wasn’t. But Ricard wants to know both if his relationship is real and if Erika wasn’t a threat in the end. Heather thinks that Erika could have taken his game away from her. While Xander admits that she has had a good game, he didn’t want to risk her beating someone in fire.

Shan talks next and wants to know more from Deshawn with what happened with her relationship to him. She feels that he went through temper tampers and sulked. Deshawn felt that she was like a sister to him. Well, that isn’t always a good relationship like it should be. Danny thinks that Erika did amazing in the game. Not everyone might have seen what she was capable of. She was always running the meeting and on the right side of the vote. If she made it there, she’d be coming at you like a dark horse. Liana asks if Xander has an idol as her joke ends this event.

I think that we went over the two hours that we are supposed to have as usual. I think that San Juan del Sur was the first season to do this. What was the last season to have a normal, hour long reunion show? I would like to know.

In the eleventh segment of the show, the jury goes out to vote for the winner. We do not see who any of the people voted for. It can’t be unanimous, can it? Jeff announces that they are going to reveal the vote live and the winner will be announced right away. In the end, it is Erika that wins that nobody voted for Xander. That is weird. Jeff says that they are going to keep shooting and do the Survivor after show as they bring in the cameras and other people. I really hope that the whole cast is there for this.

While it is possible for me to finish this post and finish off the finale as I normally do, I’m not going to do that this time around. It is best for me to write the last part of this on Wednesday and hopefully do the last post on this season on the last Wednesday of this season. But it is already possible that the next post will be the last one on this season. We’ll see what happens. To be continued…