Survivor 36, Episode 14
"IT IS GAME TIME, KIDS"
Well, FTC, I knew it.
Ok, I didn't know know it, and not that I was the only one who felt this was coming -- we Survivor lunatics think about the edit and discuss the show more hours than we watch the show itself, and I have to predict on about 300 different outcomes to land on one, but small detail.
So the finale starts with the aftermath of the Kellyn vote: Donathan knows that he can't expect to be BFFs with Domenick and Wendell anymore. And Sebastian, feeling blindsided, talks about making the f-ing big move with his extra vote *rolls eyes*.
Final Six
For the first immunity of the night, which comes with a steak reward, the players have to collect bags of puzzle pieces through an amazing, giant skull-shaped maze and solve the puzzle. Wendell finishes first and remembers to scream out for Jeff. So Wendell wins and brings Sebastian and Angela with him to the reward, which he says is to repay Sea Bass and spread the wealth to Angela. But this is so transparent, right? True enough, in confessional he admits that this is part of his jury management. Also, he's planning to send Sebastian home that night, anyway, which means the food won't be fueling his other competitors.
So, not being picked for the reward makes Laurel "livid", and *drum rolls* the gloves are off now, she says. She "can't take this anymore", so she's "coming after them". Oooh... a little rash decision, if you ask me.
Before tribal, Donathan, Angela and Sebastian talk about flipping the game and voting Domenick out, and Sebastian reveals to them his extra vote. This is supposed to be their secret, obviously. But Donathan, after knowing full well how tethered Laurel is to Domenick and Wendell, tells Laurel. And Angela and her military training tell Domenick in just three seconds sitting with him, like she's just confessing about her guilty pleasure TV show back home.
At tribal, Domenick calls out Donathan and Sebastian's extra vote. And if the previous night Domenick was a little cocky, tonight he's almost full-on dick. I mean, why does he sound like Donathan is not supposed to turn on him? Eww, Domenick.
Domenick continues his show by bluffing with a fake idol, and Wendell cockily dangles his Erik's idol in front of Donathan, saying that he could have played it on Donathan, if not for Donathan going rogue right now -- which sadly work. Not only does Sebastian not use his extra vote, he also votes for Donathan and gets himself voted out instead.
I get that Donathan can sound like a glitching Westworld host sometimes, but good for him for fighting back and refusing to continue being Domenick and Wendell's minion. And I get that one wrong decision costs you money in this game, but as a viewer, I also wish Angela and Laurel had grown some balls at some point.
So with two idols still left between them, that was the last chance for anyone to stop Domenick and Wendell's reign, and it's gone. We can even go one step further. At final five tomorrow, we already knew at least one of Domenick-Wendell will make it to the final three -- and if only one person makes it, that person is going to win.
Final Five
We start the next round at the immunity challenge, where they have to race through a part-in-water obstacle course, collect bags of puzzle pieces along the way and solve a pyramid puzzle at the end. And Wendell wins his second immunity.
Back at camp, Laurel discusses her dreams with Domenick and Wendell, of getting to the end and picking up some leftover votes from them. Ugh, I'm judging her so hard right now. I mean, I've never been on the island, starving and with worse social skills than [I can't think of a name right now], but listening to her wanting to turn against Domenick and Wendell all season but never doing it, over and over again, and now she wishes to collect just the leftover votes -- how do you not shake your head and palm your face right now?
At tribal, Wendell gives his Erik's idol to Laurel, which he doesn't need to as only Donathan votes for Laurel, and the rest of them vote for Donathan, but Wendell is on a roll, managing his jury right now. "Ghost Island" sounds like a cool concept, but the execution feels a little too gooey to me sometimes. But what do you know, maybe it got me tonight. Because hear this: Wendell has finally reversed the curse of Erik's idol, everyone! That's how you give your idol to someone -- when you yourself are safe and doing so benefits you, like winning you the recipient's favour later in the game. The mythical power of the Survivor relics is real after all... 🤣🤣🤣 lol kidding, make it stop.
Final Four
Immunity is a balancing challenge and won by Domenick.
And when you call for the island, the island shows itself. So all four of them have to spend the rest of the day at Ghost Island before tribal. And on a secret trip up the hill, Domenick as the challenge winner has to choose an urn to be used at FTC, because curses and all. Domenick picks Cagayan's, hoping people would see a little of Tony's game in him.
At tribal, Domenick, after going through various scenarios between Laurel, Angela and even himself to go against Wendell in the fire-making challenge the whole day, ultimately chooses Angela. And Angela, after giving the purple table to Wendell when he says he's spooked by the orange one, loses.
Final Tribal Council
So at least one of Laurel's dreams comes true. She makes it to FTC.
Laurel says she's the underdog who kept having to play from the bottom, being on a decimated tribe, but she managed to find people who were willing to work with her across tribal alliances. So, although her game was not obvious, she did make some moves that saved her alliance members.
Meanwhile, Wendell thinks he's the silent assassin who still succeeds in creating real bonds with the people he sent to the jury.
On the other hand, Domenick believes he has the best gameplay, and that's what the jury wants to see in this age of Survivor, but he hopes he'll be able to smooth his edges when presenting his case later.
So the three repeat these themes at tribal.
Laurel argues that she wasn't just brought along by Domenick and Wendell as she was part of the moves the pair made. She also defends her strategy sticking with Domenick and Wendell because turning on them would only benefit others but not her.
Most people seem to credit Domenick for his social game and for bringing them into the Domenick-Wendell alliance. Wendell says that Domenick was just flashy, while he was the one who saved Domenick from being the early target and who built real connections with people through regular daily conversations: music, food etc. And when asked who the mastermind in their alliance was, Wendell says he was, to Domenick's chuckle. Domenick says there was no mastermind, he made all his decisions himself, and he's not the kind of person who just takes orders from anybody. Got it.
To be honest, coming to the episode and based on FTC, I was rooting for Domenick. The show has told us that the pair is an equal match, anyway, but I guess Wendell's edge is his jury management. (Or maybe just Laurel management? I don't know.)
So there you go. Wendell wins -- fine -- in a historic first ever tie vote at FTC.
The moment Jeff says he's going to read the vote, everything clicks. The edit clicks. Laurel clicks. We know then there's going to be a tie (right?)
So one second after, all eyes are on Laurel, and our hearts just sink (well, at least half of us), knowing exactly what's going to happen. Domenick knows, Wendell knows, everybody knows who Laurel's going to vote for.
Also, while I'm ok with the open conversation format at FTC, I wish it wasn't divided into the clear cut three sections using words from the show's tagline. I feel like a set of topics or questions, maybe referring to a specific event, move, conversation or strategy, would sound less robotic?
Other highlights:
- Michael is again all the praises you've heard about him. So, whatever, good for him. Hope he's happy being awesome and impressive.
- I don't know what PR school Chris enrolled at Ponderosa, but he makes a lot of sense (at least more than he should) at tribal. Every quip, question and comment sounds like he's on Survivor because he understands and cares for the game.
- Kellyn is made for jury. Or at least her facial expressions and her pissy mood.
- I can't even with Sia.
Images: CBS
Well, FTC, I knew it.
Ok, I didn't know know it, and not that I was the only one who felt this was coming -- we Survivor lunatics think about the edit and discuss the show more hours than we watch the show itself, and I have to predict on about 300 different outcomes to land on one, but small detail.
So the finale starts with the aftermath of the Kellyn vote: Donathan knows that he can't expect to be BFFs with Domenick and Wendell anymore. And Sebastian, feeling blindsided, talks about making the f-ing big move with his extra vote *rolls eyes*.
Final Six
For the first immunity of the night, which comes with a steak reward, the players have to collect bags of puzzle pieces through an amazing, giant skull-shaped maze and solve the puzzle. Wendell finishes first and remembers to scream out for Jeff. So Wendell wins and brings Sebastian and Angela with him to the reward, which he says is to repay Sea Bass and spread the wealth to Angela. But this is so transparent, right? True enough, in confessional he admits that this is part of his jury management. Also, he's planning to send Sebastian home that night, anyway, which means the food won't be fueling his other competitors.
So, not being picked for the reward makes Laurel "livid", and *drum rolls* the gloves are off now, she says. She "can't take this anymore", so she's "coming after them". Oooh... a little rash decision, if you ask me.
Before tribal, Donathan, Angela and Sebastian talk about flipping the game and voting Domenick out, and Sebastian reveals to them his extra vote. This is supposed to be their secret, obviously. But Donathan, after knowing full well how tethered Laurel is to Domenick and Wendell, tells Laurel. And Angela and her military training tell Domenick in just three seconds sitting with him, like she's just confessing about her guilty pleasure TV show back home.
At tribal, Domenick calls out Donathan and Sebastian's extra vote. And if the previous night Domenick was a little cocky, tonight he's almost full-on dick. I mean, why does he sound like Donathan is not supposed to turn on him? Eww, Domenick.
Domenick continues his show by bluffing with a fake idol, and Wendell cockily dangles his Erik's idol in front of Donathan, saying that he could have played it on Donathan, if not for Donathan going rogue right now -- which sadly work. Not only does Sebastian not use his extra vote, he also votes for Donathan and gets himself voted out instead.
I get that Donathan can sound like a glitching Westworld host sometimes, but good for him for fighting back and refusing to continue being Domenick and Wendell's minion. And I get that one wrong decision costs you money in this game, but as a viewer, I also wish Angela and Laurel had grown some balls at some point.
So with two idols still left between them, that was the last chance for anyone to stop Domenick and Wendell's reign, and it's gone. We can even go one step further. At final five tomorrow, we already knew at least one of Domenick-Wendell will make it to the final three -- and if only one person makes it, that person is going to win.
Final Five
We start the next round at the immunity challenge, where they have to race through a part-in-water obstacle course, collect bags of puzzle pieces along the way and solve a pyramid puzzle at the end. And Wendell wins his second immunity.
Back at camp, Laurel discusses her dreams with Domenick and Wendell, of getting to the end and picking up some leftover votes from them. Ugh, I'm judging her so hard right now. I mean, I've never been on the island, starving and with worse social skills than [I can't think of a name right now], but listening to her wanting to turn against Domenick and Wendell all season but never doing it, over and over again, and now she wishes to collect just the leftover votes -- how do you not shake your head and palm your face right now?
At tribal, Wendell gives his Erik's idol to Laurel, which he doesn't need to as only Donathan votes for Laurel, and the rest of them vote for Donathan, but Wendell is on a roll, managing his jury right now. "Ghost Island" sounds like a cool concept, but the execution feels a little too gooey to me sometimes. But what do you know, maybe it got me tonight. Because hear this: Wendell has finally reversed the curse of Erik's idol, everyone! That's how you give your idol to someone -- when you yourself are safe and doing so benefits you, like winning you the recipient's favour later in the game. The mythical power of the Survivor relics is real after all... 🤣🤣🤣 lol kidding, make it stop.
Final Four
Immunity is a balancing challenge and won by Domenick.
And when you call for the island, the island shows itself. So all four of them have to spend the rest of the day at Ghost Island before tribal. And on a secret trip up the hill, Domenick as the challenge winner has to choose an urn to be used at FTC, because curses and all. Domenick picks Cagayan's, hoping people would see a little of Tony's game in him.
At tribal, Domenick, after going through various scenarios between Laurel, Angela and even himself to go against Wendell in the fire-making challenge the whole day, ultimately chooses Angela. And Angela, after giving the purple table to Wendell when he says he's spooked by the orange one, loses.
Final Tribal Council
So at least one of Laurel's dreams comes true. She makes it to FTC.
Laurel says she's the underdog who kept having to play from the bottom, being on a decimated tribe, but she managed to find people who were willing to work with her across tribal alliances. So, although her game was not obvious, she did make some moves that saved her alliance members.
Meanwhile, Wendell thinks he's the silent assassin who still succeeds in creating real bonds with the people he sent to the jury.
On the other hand, Domenick believes he has the best gameplay, and that's what the jury wants to see in this age of Survivor, but he hopes he'll be able to smooth his edges when presenting his case later.
So the three repeat these themes at tribal.
Laurel argues that she wasn't just brought along by Domenick and Wendell as she was part of the moves the pair made. She also defends her strategy sticking with Domenick and Wendell because turning on them would only benefit others but not her.
Most people seem to credit Domenick for his social game and for bringing them into the Domenick-Wendell alliance. Wendell says that Domenick was just flashy, while he was the one who saved Domenick from being the early target and who built real connections with people through regular daily conversations: music, food etc. And when asked who the mastermind in their alliance was, Wendell says he was, to Domenick's chuckle. Domenick says there was no mastermind, he made all his decisions himself, and he's not the kind of person who just takes orders from anybody. Got it.
To be honest, coming to the episode and based on FTC, I was rooting for Domenick. The show has told us that the pair is an equal match, anyway, but I guess Wendell's edge is his jury management. (Or maybe just Laurel management? I don't know.)
So there you go. Wendell wins -- fine -- in a historic first ever tie vote at FTC.
The moment Jeff says he's going to read the vote, everything clicks. The edit clicks. Laurel clicks. We know then there's going to be a tie (right?)
So one second after, all eyes are on Laurel, and our hearts just sink (well, at least half of us), knowing exactly what's going to happen. Domenick knows, Wendell knows, everybody knows who Laurel's going to vote for.
Also, while I'm ok with the open conversation format at FTC, I wish it wasn't divided into the clear cut three sections using words from the show's tagline. I feel like a set of topics or questions, maybe referring to a specific event, move, conversation or strategy, would sound less robotic?
Other highlights:
- Michael is again all the praises you've heard about him. So, whatever, good for him. Hope he's happy being awesome and impressive.
- I don't know what PR school Chris enrolled at Ponderosa, but he makes a lot of sense (at least more than he should) at tribal. Every quip, question and comment sounds like he's on Survivor because he understands and cares for the game.
- Kellyn is made for jury. Or at least her facial expressions and her pissy mood.
- I can't even with Sia.
Images: CBS
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