The final four
Wow, what a season! You know it’s been a wild ride when by the Survivor finale you’ve completely forgotten what happened in the first half of the season. Sunday night’s episode stayed true to the season and was unpredictable. I honestly didn’t know who was going to win, and my prediction after the final Tribal Council was wrong. So, let’s get talkin’.
My poor mom. She made it to the finals once again, and could not pull off the office pool win. This is an ongoing thing. Her chances with Skupin were low, though Skupin himself wasn’t aware of that. At 
the beginning of the episode he said he thought he had a better story than Malcolm, and could maybe beat Malcolm in the finals. I think we all knew that wasn’t true, but it ended up that Malcolm wasn’t the one he needed to worry about.
I don’t want to skip ahead, but I will say that I think Denise’s win was well earned. She fought hard, she was physically admirable, she played an excellent social game and made the right strategic moves. She’s a very deserving winner, and I think it’s pretty cool that she’s the only person who’s ever gone to every single Tribal Council.
Stop Dragon Your Feet
The Reward Challenge in this episode was particularly interesting because the reward was so much more valuable than a pizza party or a car. It was an advantage in the final Immunity Challenge, which raised the stakes exponentially. The four remaining players had to race through an obstacle course and then assemble a cool dragon puzzle.
Sidenote: Why was poor Lisa competing in jeans? Denim is not the best for super physical challenges in hot climates.
I think we can all agree that Michael Skupin was pretty darn impressive in this game. The guy is fifty years old and kept up with guys half his age. He’s incredibly swift, at least physically, and he actually beat Malcolm through the obstacle course. But the guy couldn’t solve a puzzle if the pieces were already laid out in order. He quickly fell behind in the challenge, while Denise and Malcolm vied for the win. Malcolm came out on top, and it really looked like he would need the challenge advantage to stay in the game.
Three Amigos
Malcolm winning the advantage meant that Lisa’s plan might not work out – despite the alliance she’d made with him and Skupin, Lisa had no intention of letting Malcolm get into the finals if she could help it. Lisa’s game play came a long way in the final weeks of this season, and she knew that Malcolm would likely beat her in the finals.
Malcolm’s mistake came before the Immunity Challenge, when Denise asked him if he would commit to her for the best vote. He made the patented Penner screw-up of not committing. Malcolm couldn’t be completely honest with Denise and say no, but he didn’t want to lie and give her a verbal commitment either. Malcolm was too secure in his alliance with Lisa and Skupin. Had he agreed to force a tie to try and save Denise while under the assumption that he’d have Immunity, perhaps Denise would have done him that same favor post-Challenge.
Of course, Lisa and Skupin were in the best position. They had final three deals with both Malcolm and Denise, which meant they were both practically guaranteed to be in the finals without any need to win individual immunity.
Fallen (Comrades) Asleep
Ugh, I hate when they do the fallen comrades. It’s just filler! Cut that and give me more drama at camp! The most hilarious comment was from Zane, the first person voted out, who said “My whole tribe folded after I left.” Oh, buddy. They did…but I doubt the two things were connected. The second most hilarious comment was from Angie, whose comment of “I’m kind of well-rounded” was accompanied by an image of her rather buxom bikini bod.
Balls!
Later, at the live reunion show, Malcolm said he knew he was toast when they arrived at the Immunity Challenge. As a Survivor fan, he’s familiar with the different types of challenges and he knew balancing ones weren’t his jam. Even with a major advantage – a second chance in the challenge – he knew he wasn’t going to win it.
The final immunity challenge
The players had to balance a ball in a groove on a cylinder, as more and more pieces were added. You had to keep the tension on the cylinders and keep the ball from falling off. Skupin won an earlier balancing challenge, so I knew he had a good shot here. Personally, I was disappointed that it wasn’t a more basic endurance test. I like when people have to stand on small pegs for seven hours.
Malcolm blew his advantage pretty quickly – WTF was that move, anyway? He moved his arms and the thing fell. Then he dropped it again, and was the first person out despite the advantage. Denise fell out next, which meant that Lisa and Skupin were shockingly the remaining two for the final individual immunity. Despite my mom having Skup in the office pool, I was kind of rooting for Lisa to finally win one. Skupin won, and the tradition of at least one returning player always making the finals continued. (Stephanie LaGrossa in Guatemala, Amanda and Parvati in Fans vs. Favorites Micronesia, Boston Rob in Redemption Island, Coach in South Pacific.)
Honorable Mention
Since Skupin had Immunity around his neck, it meant he and Lisa had to actually make a decision about who should sit next to them in the finals. It was interesting to watch them deliberate over that with two different levels of perception. Skupin was under the impression that he could beat anyone, and wondered if there was more honor in going up against Malcolm, the perceived larger threat. Lisa seemed to know that it would be a tough battle either way, but that if Malcolm was the perceived bigger threat then he should be the one eliminated.
Denise, for her part, was mad. She would have rather stuck with Malcolm and forced a tie – Lisa, and whoever Lisa and Skupin decided to vote for, would have to make a fire. That would have been exciting, but Malcolm didn’t commit to the plan when he thought he was on top and once he was in trouble it was too late. It would be either Malcolm or Denise.
The really interesting thing was that Lisa knew her vote wasn’t absolutely tied to Skupin’s. If Skupin decided he wanted to take Malcolm to the finals, Lisa could still vote for him and force a tie. Then Malcolm and Denise would have had to make fire to stay in the game, and that could have been really interesting. But Skupin did vote out Malcolm.
Poor Malcolm. He came so close, but by the time he got to the end he’d become such a threat that his only way into the finals was through winning individual immunity. He left, angry, and said “Congratulations, Denise.” I thought he’d vote for her, but the final Tribal Council always brings surprises.
Final Tribal Council
Oh hai, Malcolm. He shaved overnight, and looked quite good-looking.
As far as opening statements went, I thought Denise said the best things but came off a tad too rehearsed. Lisa seemed genuine, but focusing on how much you’ve learned rather than how well you played all along is usually a risk. Skupin’s statement was the least memorable, and I felt he could have said more about being an underdog within his own tribe.
Only two votes felt really obvious to me – RC, who’d had Lisa pegged as a threat from day one, and Carter, who loves Skupin like a father. The others were all pretty big mysteries. Artis, no surprise here, just seemed angry. Pete asked Denise why she deserves to win, which is the most generic question one can ask at a final tribal council. Malcolm was so hard on Denise, telling her “don’t nod” and criticizing her habit of always appeasing people, that I was sure he planned to vote for Lisa instead. Jeff’s questions pretty much confirmed that he isn’t very smart, since I don’t at all think Lisa played the middle in the game. She was always quite clearly on this side or that – she was never playing both sides. And Abi, well, considering she hated all three finalists I really had no idea how she’d vote.
And then there was Penner. I liked Penner’s questions, but I was surprised by how angry he still was. I thought he’d more easily admit that he’d been outplayed. Why did he call Denise a bitch? I didn’t understand that. I think he was well within his rights to out Lisa as a child star, since he’d kept the secret all along. I don’t have a problem with him doing that. What surprises me is that Skupin never revealed it. I would have let that gem slip out in the previous tribal council. Despite Penner’s eloquent analogy about one person riding the chariot and the other two being the oxen, I had no idea who he was voting for. Was Denise in the chariot, or Lisa? I knew it wasn’t Skupin.
When all was said and done, I was unsure about how the votes would go but thought the majority would go to Lisa. I couldn’t have been more wrong – the two votes we saw, RC voting for Lisa and Carter voting for “Skoopin” – were the only two votes those players received. Everyone else voted Denise. I’d correctly guessed with Artis and Pete, but I had thought Jeff and Abi would vote Lisa – and I really just had no idea what the hell Malcolm and Penner would do.
I may have been wrong, but I’m not unhappy. I was rooting for Malcolm and Denise from the first episode, and I’m totally satisfied with Denise as a winner. I also would have been happy with Lisa winning, because of how vastly her game improved and because she tried to make several big moves – some working, others not. What did you guys think of the episode? Was it a good way to end the season? Are you glad Denise won? Tell me in the comments.
Stay tuned for a short post on the live reunion show, and another post on where I think this season fits into the all-time rankings.
As much as I wanted Lisa to win (and I still think she would be the most deserving winner), I’m happy with a Denise victory. Like I said after the last episode, she hadn’t shown, at least to me, her ability at a strategic player, and she’d have to impress me in the finale to make me happy with her as a winner. After watching the finale I do think Denise deserved the win, so it’s at least a satisfying finish to a really fantastic season.
I thought that Lisa had won after the final tribal, so I was surprised when the votes were read, but I really shouldn’t have been – I’ve been shocked so many times this season. It was also fun to see how deluded Skupin was, he had no chance of winning apart from with a Carter-Abi-Skupin final three. I’m really disappointed it wasn’t a final two, and also that they reused the final challenge from Micronesia. If they want to reuse a challenge make it one in which the person who wants it the most wins. Like you said, whack them on a pole/buoy/anything and see who stays on the longest like they did in Palau/Cook Islands/I’m sure there’s more I can’t remember. I’m still really pleased with the season, it’s been the strongest since HvV. Thank you for all of your amazing recaps too!!
I can’t believe Skupin’s post-show interviews. He actually thought he’d get all eight votes, and he still thinks the reason he didn’t is just Artis turning everyone against him! I don’t know what he’s on, but his game just wasn’t that amazing.
The mark of a great season isn’t just entertaining episodes, but also a deserving winner. I feel spoiled in the sense that we got it all this year. Memorable characters, several good players, blindsides, turn-arounds, and a more than deserving winner. I didn’t know who was going to win at all, but I honestly could have seen it going either way, even Skupin’s. He did much better than I thought at the final tribal. What I really found interesting is that we had a final 3 with 8 jury members. Have we ever had an even numbered jury?
The reunion was great too. I loved Lisa’s comments about how God doesn’t care who wins Survivor. I hope Coach was listening to that!
And we get Fans vs Favorites 2! How freaking great is that?! There are several people I’d like to see from this season in that one. Katie, RC, Lisa, Malcom, and Penner. Of course, I’d like to see Penner in just about every season.
I’m really interested to see where you put this on your all time list. I can’t imagine it placing outside the top ten!
I agree, I think that combination will place it quite high when I rank the seasons. I’m not sure that there’s ever been an even-numbered jury, but with a final three it doesn’t matter – there can always be a tie. I also very much prefer a final two.
SO excited for next season. Word on the Interwebs is that we will see Malcolm.
There were 10 jurors in Micronesia I believe, which is why the final three were caught so off guard when they found out it was a final two.
Oh god I really hope I don’t have to watch Malcolm again. I was hoping Probst’s reunion show question about whether or not he would play again meant he wasn’t in season 26
I don’t watch this, but I’m devastated Blair Warner didn’t win.
Facts of Life fans far and wide are distraught over it.
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I can’t believe Denise won!! I’m so excited!
:D This is the first time someone who I’ve rooted from since the first episode actually went on to win the whole thing! And on top of that, by playing an awesome, AWESOME game with other people who played awesome games. Her convincing Skupin to keep her over Malcolm? That was awesome. Her comments in the final TC? Same thing. I couldn’t be happier. ^_^
When I saw that last IC though, I couldn’t help but think back to Micronesia and how Cirie was voted out there and as soon as Denise lost I thought history was going to repeat itself. So glad that wasn’t the case.
I am sorry for Malcolm, though, and I was so surprised a how bitter the Jury was. I mean… really? They didn’t even had legit reasons.
This season has been awesome. Definitely in the Top 10 for me.
I was surprised how bitter everyone was too. Malcolm later said that he was always going to vote Denise and isn’t bitter at all. He was just hard on her during final tribal council because she was giving such great answers that he wanted to be a bit tougher on her.
Hi Jill! I found your column because I’ve been wondering whether I was the only person that a) was disappointed with the ‘break up’ of Malcolm and Denise and b) thought that an amazing double blunder occured in the round of five. This was, to my disappointment, barely discussed on the reunion show. I’ve enjoyed reading your reflections, as you agree with me pretty closely on these matters; now I know I’m not alone.
I was shocked that Malcolm turned against Denise, not only because it ruined what appeared to be a beautiful tale of friendship overcoming adversity, but because the move appeared to be a bad mistake. I too fully expected him to give his hidden immunity idol to Denise, ensuring that he would at least have a fire challenge to make the final three. In fact, I thought he should have done so in dramatic fashion, to really cement their bonds of loyalty. Who else but Denise would take him to the final three, especially with Abi as the alternative? In his favor, you could at least say that by trying to remove Denise, he was improving his chances to win a jury vote.
Now, the problem for Lisa and Skupin was that their only real chance of winning was to remove both Malcolm AND Denise, which seemed like a long shot up till then. But with Malcom’s betrayal of Denise, they were handed a golden opportunity! All they had to do was vote off Denise, and then there’d be a good chance that Malcom wouldn’t win the last immunity challenge – in which case they could embrace Abi and count their money.
But there followed an error so astounding that I have a hard time wrapping my brain around it. Lisa (right before tribal) explained that they needed to keep Denise because Abi was poor at challenges and they needed to minimize Malcolm’s chances for immunity. They were willing to accept Denise in the final three, so that Malcolm would have a few percentage points less chance of being there instead – throwing away a likely opportunity to remove BOTH of them!! Of course, Denise was nearly as big a favorite to receive votes as Malcolm; at least this seemed clear to me.
So, Malcolm’s blunder killed Denise, and then Lisa’s blunder resurrected her from the dead, lol. I’m always open though to the possibility that I’m missing something, with Survivor being such a complicated game.
How sadistic of you to want them to stand on little pegs for seven hours, lol!
In any case, it was a good season and I would have been happy with any of the three finalists winning. Lisa nearly won me over in the end, but after Malcolm’s “betrayal” (as I put it), Denise was my fave.
Looking forward to next season!
Hmm. Regarding Lisa and Skup not voting off Denise in the round of five, I suppose they might have feared that Malcolm could give her the idol and blindside them, despite all his talk to the contrary. I think they still should have done it, but always another angle to consider in this game…
I think Abi mentioned in a post game interview somewhere that Lisa was ready to vote out Denise at the final five, but couldn’t convince Skupin to do so, which is why Abi called him an idiot and a moron, to emphasise how unlikeable she has been and how good she would be to take to the end.
I love the standing on pegs/buoys challenges, because it’s not too difficult the challenge is all about who wants it the most.
Hi Scott, thanks. That’s interesting and plausible, though I’m not sure Lisa would have been forthright with Abi in this respect. Perhaps Lisa changed her mind at some point? It does seem she was more game-savvy than Skupin.
I’ll give the transcript of what Lisa said right before that tribal council:
Lisa [quietly to Skupin]: “Our best chance is a) Abi, b) Denise, and c) Malcolm.”
Skupin: “The one problem is, if Malcolm wins immunity at the final four, you and I are not guaranteed the final three.”
Lisa: “We may need me, you, *and* Denise against Malcolm at the final immunity challenge.”
Lisa [privately to producer]: “I want to go to the end with Abi, someone I feel it would be easier to beat. But, Malcolm won the immunity necklace today, and he is getting more and more dangerous by the day. He could continue to win immunity all the way up to the end, maybe the whole game. And so, we need all available manpower to defeat Malcolm at the final immunity challenge. And, Abi’s not a scary opponent, so we may need Denise in there, to knock Malcolm out of there. Since my brother came out, he did kind of recalibrate me, and tonight’s decision for me is based purely on strategy, purely on playing out all the different scenarios, which trade off is going to cost me the most and which trade off is going to reward the most, and just hoping that I guess right.”
This is consistent with Lisa’s determination to vote out Malcolm at the final four, even though it broke her agreement with him and Denise was also a threat.
Thanks, Frank! Glad you found the blog!
I think Malcolm and Denise always planned to eventually turn on her, but it’s nice that they continue to be friends beyond the game. I think that’s the mark of true Survivor players.
I agree with you about the mistake – the smart move would have been to keep Abi and vote out Denise, hoping to get Malcolm out next time despite his prowess in challenges.
Lisa said that “god” doesn’t care who wins survivor, then she went on to contradict herself and say “god” cares about so&so enough that they will win a reality tv show. Bleargh.
That’s not what she said Cathy. She said God cares about Denise winning Survivor because He cares about Denise, and that He also cares about others who didn’t win because He cares about them, kind of a blanket statement. And God even cares about you! Just sayin’.
I don’t care about a ‘god’ who is more interested in reality TV show contestants & viewers than in preventing mass murder. If I wanted to hear that stuff Lisa said, I would go to church. But in the U.S. these days it seems unavoidable in popular culture.
I’m inclined to agree with Paul here. I think the point Lisa tried to make was that she believes god cares about everything that happens to everyone. She was asked about her religion, recognized that things like prayer and personal beliefs don’t really translate over television, and I think she delivered one of the better explanations of her own beliefs that I’ve seen on the show. Everyone is entitled to their own religious beliefs, but this discussion is more about how religion comes across when people are on reality TV shows like Survivor.
I’ll concede that it was good to see her suggest that religious practice may translate kinda kooky on these shows. I certainly appreciated the relative absence of it this season.
My mother and I finally watched the final episode on Tuesday evening. Before the show, we went with our usual round of predictions; I was almost sure that Denise would pull out the win, whilst my mother was still going for Malcolm. I won’t go over the first part of the episode, as you already covered it perfectly. I have to disagree with you when you say that you hate the Fallen Comrades; I found it really touching, especially when they commented on Penner, whose final words literally brought me tears. Plus, it was nice to see the players who were eliminated at the beginning of the show, like Zane, Angie, Russell, poor Dana (I never managed to fully get over her elimination), and Sarah Dawson.
When Skupin won the final IC, I literally howled. After the final elimination of Malcolm, I was quite confident that he had a good shot at the win, if he managed to do a good speech, and he had the potential to do so. The problem is, that his final speech was extremely disappointing. In my opinion he should have spoken of his evacuation in Australian Outback, the fact that he returned after TWELVE years and managed to pull it to the end, win challenges, do an overall quite good strategic and social game (on the contrary, Lisa did lots of errors during the game and never had to pay for them). Indeed, he said that he’d been the underdog for the whole game, that his back had constantly been pushed against the wall, but the impression his speech left me was not as good as it should have been. I honestly preferred Denise’s speech; I too had the impression that it was a bit over-rehearsed, but she said exactly what I was expecting from her.
Then there were the jury questions. I loved Artis’ speech, I think he was dead-on right on Lisa, and I was pretty sure he would vote for Denise. Other sure votes for Denise I thought would came from Jeff (angry with Lisa and not wanting the returning players to win), Pete, Penner (I actually burst out clapping after his questions and his outing of Lisa as a TV star). I understand Michael being so hard with Denise, but we must think that he was eliminated the day before and was surely still very angry about it, so I think he only wanted her to suffer a little bit when he said that he’d considered voting for Lisa, but in the end he would be on her side, as he actually was. So in my mind there were already five votes for Denise, one obvious vote (Carter) for Skupin (how hilarious was that the only vote Skupin received in two seasons was actually misspelled?) and two wildcards, Abi and RC, who I honestly hadn’t a clue for who they would vote. I had read the other day an interview where RC confessed she was still angry about the outcome of the game, and compared the game of Survivor to World War II, so it doesn’t come as a surprise to me that she actually voted for Lisa, who in my mind was the least deserving player left. What really surprised me was Abi’s vote to Denise, who she always seemed to hate with a passion. Were the apologies Denise gave her during Abi’s speech truly accepted, or she managed to admit that Denise had played the best game?
Before the votes were cast, I had the result at a 5-2-1 in Denise’s favour, with Skupin in second and Lisa in third; in the end, Abi’s vote was the only one that truly surprised me. I found myself to be genuinely happy with Denise’s victory, she had such a great story that it would have been unfair if the jury hadn’t acknowledged that. Probably I would have voted for her, if I had been at the Tribal Council. The only thing that disappointed me was the Sprint Player of the Season which was awarded to Lisa (I had tried, unsuccessfully, to vote for Penner).
Overall, this was a FANTASTIC season. Ok, it was my first, but if I was so hooked to this show, week after week, even if this is the twenty-fifth installment of the series, there has to be an explanation. No matter how many twists you can bring into the game, the psychological/sociological part of the game is what makes Survivor an unique game in its kind, I’ve never seen anything of this sort on TV and I can’t wait to see more of it. I just want to thank you for your wonderful recaps that helped me enormously along this wild ride, I hope you manage to read this even if I was a little bit late with my reply (sorry for that!) See you on February 17th for the next season! I already can’t wait!
Ok, I made a mistake. When I wrote “I understand Michael being so hard with Denise”, I obviously meant Malcolm, not Michael. Sorry
Can you add Philippines to your list of seasons that you ranked? Can you rank the winners?