Six contestants remain heading in to the finale. Who will come away with the prize money and a spot in Jeff's personal journal with hearts all around their name? Read on to find out.
After Sunday was eliminated last week, David stays up late and creates a fake immunity idol and plants it at camp. Jay finds the "idol" in the morning and believes it is real (cue 'it's a fucking stick' flashbacks). Ken opens the legacy advantage Jess willed to him, and it is revealed he will have individual immunity at the next tribal council.
David wins individual immunity and reward. For his reward, David is asked to pick two contestants to share steaks with. Jay uses the 'steal a reward' advantage that Adam gave him after the family visit. Jay picks David (for winning the challenge) and Adam (for giving him the advantage) to share the reward with him. Jay makes the argument that Bret is a bigger jury threat than he is and guarantees Adam and David that he will take them to the end.
At Tribal council, the votes are cast. Ken plays his legacy advantage and no votes cast for him will count. Jay plays his "idol" but Jeff reveals it isn't authentic. Jay smiles and laughs, telling the other players they got him, and Jeff throws the fake idol in to the fire.
Jay is voted out 5-0 (Jay's sole vote for Ken does not count).
At the immunity challenge Ken wins third individual immunity by correctly solving the word puzzle ("NOT A PARTICIPATION TROPHY"). I wonder if production realises Millennials didn't give themselves participation trophies, Boomers and Gen X did. They have been so ham-fisted with this season's theme.
Back at camp, Adam finds an immunity idol, and final five is the last time it can be played in the game so he is thrilled. He approaches Bret about voting out David, who is on board. David bandies around Adam's name to Hannah and Ken. Adam approaches Hannah and tells her to vote David, but she reveals in confessional she isn't interested in other people making plans for her.
Adam plays his idol for himself, but it wasn't needed. Bret is voted out 3-2 over David. As his torch is snuffed, he tells David "congratulations" on his million dollars.
Adam, who cannot believe the others let David slip through another week, talks to Hannah about how David cannot win individual immunity. Hannah agrees. Adam thinks it is realistic that if both him and David lose individual immunity, it will come down to a 2-2 tie, and fire making challenge, between them.
The immunity challenge is one part skill, one part strategy as there is a time limit (30 minutes). Who ever stacks the most play pots by the end of the time period, or the first to stack 13, wins. With just a few minutes until the challenge ends, Adam stops stacking at 8 pots, hoping the other players will lose their stacks before time ends. David's stack collapses. Ken and Hannah run out the clock with 10 pots each. A tie-breaking showdown between Ken and Hannah takes place for 5 minutes, and Ken comes away with final individual immunity (his fourth win).
Back at camp, David and Ken speak about loyalty, and David confides he isn't worried because he knows Ken is loyal to him and has played an old school game. Ken and Hannah speak privately as well. At Tribal council, Adam and David wish each other good luck, knowing it will be one of them eliminated.
Ken betrays his and David's 38-day long pact to go the final together and votes him out, 3-1 over Adam.
Day 39 dawns with some blah blah "Millennials don't appreciate the sunrise" chat from Ken and a breakfast feast for everyone. In confession, the three remaining players talk about their motivations and strategy for the jury that night.
At final tribal, we get a chance to hear from all 10 jury members, albeit briefly. Taylor asks each player to explain their game. Hannah makes the argument she isn't the goat people thinks she is, and that she put every single jury member where they were. Ken talks about loyalty (I'm sure David was like
?????? ). Adam says he played the best game overall by recognising and working to eliminate the threats. Sunday asks some ridiculous question about if the finalists think that played as a Millennial or a Gen Xer (a friendly reminder that our three finalists were born within a 9-year span). Jessica knocks Ken for playing the loyalty card but betraying David. Will says the first time he was impressed with Ken is when he betrayed David.
Zeke asks the finalists how they think they have evolved Survivor strategy. There is a lot of back and forth between Hannah and Adam about who can take credit for what moves. Ken looks on, befuddled and pretty. Bret asks his question, which similarly gets some heat going between the finalists. Jay comes up and asks why Adam took him out, when he promised to go to the end with him. Adam tearfully answers back that Jay knows why - "[he] was in the way". Jay, knowing Adam is referring to his sick mother, says he doesn't need to elaborate. Chris gets up and pulls a Spencer, imploring the jury to vote for Adam, and gives him credit for getting Ken to vote against David. Ken replies in confusion that he made him own choices. Finally, David asks the contestants how they changed for the better.
In their closing arguments, Ken emphasizes that he played the game for his daughter, and that she was his "number one" alliance, over David. Hannah emphasizes that she made her own decisions and never voted on the wrong side of the numbers since the merge. Adam tearfully reveals to the jury that is mother, and fellow Survivor super fan, is sick and he is playing for her.
Adam sweeps the jury, winning 10-0-0 over Hannah and Ken. At the reunion he reveals that he got to call his mom to tell her he made it to the end, and made it home just hours before she passed away. There are many tears on stage, and even more tears in my living room.
Special shout out to Hannah for being my third losing finalist in seven seasons from my office pool.Photo Source