The stakes could not be higher at a crucial, muddy immunity challenge. Castaways must spark a win or flame out at a fire-making showdown to earn their way to the final three. One castaway will be crowned Sole Survivor and awarded the $1 million prize.
I am ecstatic. I'm in the final four of Survivor. My dream of all time. And I am one round away from having a chance to pitch my case to win. And Genevieve is gone. So, right now, I am riding the highest high of my entire 23 years of life.
My daughter Chelsea's last text to me was, 'Mom, I want you to know, if you get voted out the first day, we're still so proud of you.' And now I'm here in the final four. It's the craziest thing, and I want to scream at the top of my lungs. Wuh!
I'm at the final four of Survivor, and it's this weird, like, hybrid of being fulfilled and being motivated. Because my dream was not to come on Survivor and get fourth place. My dream was to be the Sole Survivor, and I really feel like I'm one day away.
Tonight I'm just, like, happy and feel in a celebratory mood and just, like, want to kind of take it all in. The last few votes, I've had to win to survive, and I'm not gonna stop competing now. I feel like this Immunity Challenge coming up is the last stand, the final battle for the four of us, and it's the most important of them all.
Rachel wins immunity yet again, and I feel defeated. I've tried to knock her out of this game, I've tried to beat her at a challenge, but my plan has been foiled. And I know pretty much immediately I'm making fire for my life tonight.
The feeling right now is a little bit of disbelief that this is where I am right now in this game. I've tied an immunity record. It never occurred to me that I could win four. And so, the fact that I'm tying Jenna Morasca, Chrissy Hofbeck, Kim Spradlin and Kelly Wiglesworth… that's so cool. But it also reminds me that Kelly and Chrissy didn't win, and they both got to the end. And so, I have to make the right decision tonight when it comes to fire-making so that I set myself up to truly clinch this win.
Sue has been the only loyal ally I've had in this late stage of the game, and this wouldn't feel right without her sitting next to me in the Final Three. And the person I know that I want in fire tonight is Sam. He is someone that I've been trying to get out for a long time, and I think I could put myself into fire if I needed to. And I was prepared, if I lost the challenge, that I was going to fire tonight. But I think that when I take a step back and I look at my game, I don't think that knocking Sam out directly is going to elevate me in any substantial way. And Teeny could be a formidable, like, opponent to Sam.
My worst-case scenario was Rachel winning because I knew that she would put me and Sam into fire-making. I've been threatened by Sam since before we even met out here on this island, in the sense that he's super smart, he's charismatic, and he knows this game like the back of his hand. And a part of this game is fire.
Sam is telling us, you know, he never practiced fire. But in my mind, it's all a ruse to try and get in my head. I'm just sick of Sam. And the last thing I need right now, when I'm about to compete against him in such a high-pressure situation, is him pulling these mind games yet again on me.
I want Teeny sitting with me in the Final Three. And so, I'm like, 'I will help you, Teeny.' Teeny needed a little bit of encouragement, and she needed a little bit of technique change, and she's killing it.
Thank God that Sam sucks at doing fire. We all thought Sam was lying to us, that he actually has been practicing fire, and that he was gonna be good. He's not good. It's-it's, like, pathetic. He's gonna feel like an idiot, honestly. What I've seen from Sam today - I could easily beat him in fire. But I'm gonna go with what Rachel wants to do and just sit and be able to relax tonight, knowing that I'm going to the end.
I've gone 25 days. I maybe touched a flint one time. Very bad for me right now because now I'm starting to wish I would have done a little bit more to prepare for this potential moment. Like, making fire is a foreign concept to me. And it makes me really nervous that Teeny has a coach like Rachel who definitely knows what she's doing, and I've got no help. I know everybody's rooting against me.
I feel like Teeny has really gotten her confidence up. She's ready to take on Sam. And I believe she will best him tonight. I think that she knows what she's doing. She just has to go in and not panic. And have the confidence to get this done.
When I see Teeny is making fire, I'm like, 'Oh crap.' I'm in way over my head tonight. I'm scared. I'm worried a little bit, you know? I… You don't want to play 25 days and come up that short. And I can… feel it slipping away a little bit. So… I'm afraid of what's gonna happen. I'm afraid of looking like an idiot. I'm afraid of everybody at home saying, 'why didn't you practice fire?' And me saying, 'I don't know.' And then I pulled out my letters from home, and there was something that my dad wrote to me. He had written that he knew I would give it absolutely everything I have out here, and that he wasn't gonna bet against me. And the thought of him rooting for me… Told me, 'you're not one to quit.' That really fired me up. I'm not ready to go home. I want to see Day 26. I've got to find a way to get myself to the end of this game. I'm on Survivor for a reason. The second you let your brain start to get to a point of doubt is the second that you've lost. And I'm not ready to go there yet. I-I can't believe it. I made a fire and I-I built it up. And that's when I said, let's go into Tribal Council with some momentum and let's go to war.
is a flame burning through a rope. It is the biggest opportunity I've ever had to change my life and accomplish a dream that I've been working towards since I was a conscious, living human being.
The final breakfast is an iconic Survivor moment that you only dream of when you step on the mat on Day 1. The war is on pause until tonight. Breakfast this morning is a peace treaty for the remaining soldiers to look at each other and just take a break from the chaos that is in this game. In historic Survivor fashion, I come from behind, I win the fire-making challenge. I earn my spot in the Final Three. But now, the fate of my game lies in the hands of the jury - eight people that I contributed to leaving this game.
I know that I'm going in against a heavyweight. But my story is one that's rootable, one that the jury is gonna want to get behind. I am the guy that nobody could get rid of. The scrappy player of Survivor 47. And all of the lows that I've been through in this game, all of the fighting is worth it, 'cause I've got a shot, and I know I've got a shot.
This is my one last chance to give myself my birthday gift that I've been wanting to give myself. I know that Sam and Rachel are up there high-fiving. Those two feel that they're one and two and I'm just gonna be the goat, but everyone underestimated me. I downplayed myself the whole time and I fooled them all.
I'm still coming in with the mentality of an underdog because that's when I perform my best, is when I am backed into a corner and my only option is to kick ass.
Going into Final Tribal Council is a lot like going into fire-making. I'm the underdog and I might look dead, but you never know when I'm gonna strike that last second flame. Tonight, I'm not just hoping for fire. I'm hoping for fireworks.
I do think that moment will haunt me for the rest of my time on Earth, but I've had to overcome a lot of emotional hardships out here. Throughout my life, I have obtained this sort of sidekick energy and out here, I've learned to, you know, be my own best friend and it'll help me life—my real life—in a way I never did before.
”
Final Tribal Council[]
Tribal Council 16: Jury Vote
Voted for Winner
Voter
Rachel (7 votes)
Andy, Caroline, Gabe, Genevieve, Sierra, Sol, Teeny
(voting for Rachel) I'm so happy, thrilled, and excited to be writing your name down. I played with you firsthand and saw how your mind works. And you shocked me… with how brilliantly you played that idol.
