Survivor: Game Changers finale recap: One last twist

Survivor: Game Changers had a few last surprises left in store for its finale, and at the end of the episode, there was only one winner.

Survivor: Game Changers may have taken a little while to get started when it came to its finale, but the finish was quite exciting. Let’s just get right to the recap.

After the usual quick re-introduction to each of the six players left in Game Changers, the episode proper opened on night 35, right after Michaela’s elimination. Sarah and Cirie hashed it out, with Sarah particularly angry about Cirie’s attempt to use that vote steal. Cirie named the episode, “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished,” and then said she was trying to expose Tai. Tai then confessed that he really had tried to target Sarah, and Sarah quickly said she was sorry to Cirie for being angry.

That next morning, Tai continued talking, but just to Brad, telling him that he had two idols. in a confessional, Brad added that he “had no problem voting [Tai] out with his own idol.”

Directions Matter

But before a plan could come to fruition, the six players walked up to the much-hyped Survivor finale maze. After collecting puzzle pieces, the key to winning? Finishing a sizable compass rose puzzle. They did not play blindfolded in the maze, however.

However, each of the six players only had to do half of the maze, not the whole one. Things were fairly even when it came to bag collecting, although Sarah fell behind a bit. Brad got to start his puzzle, but Aubry and Cirie were not far behind to start. Next came Troyzan, and Probst announced that the puzzle consisted of 41 pieces. Tai and Sarah then started their puzzles.

Brad had a lead, but Sarah was quite close behind. It turned out that he had left one of his pieces in his bags. That turned out to be what he needed. Brad won immunity and the reward of spaghetti, garlic bread, chicken parmesan, and key lime pie. He chose Troyzan and Sarah to eat with him.

Shifting the Balance

At the dinner, Brad, Troyzan, and Sarah had a conversation about voting out Aubry, but Brad also pointed out that he’d like to make Tai feel vulnerable in order to burn an idol. So, Brad went to tell Tai Plan Aubry, with a warning to play an idol and give the spare to Brad himself as a sign of trust. The conversation left Tai not feeling great, but he showed his idols to both Troyzan and Brad.

Tai then went and showed Aubry his idols, telling her she was the target and offering a partnership with her instead. Cirie came in on their conversation, pointing out that Brad-Sarah-Troyzan had just become a strong threesome. Tai couldn’t come to a decision at first, and he was in tears.

Troyzan casually told Sarah about the two idols in Tai’s hands before Tribal Council as well.

That night at Tribal Council, the first topic was, of course, what had happened after the Michaela vote. Aubry again used the rat terminology in relation to Tai. He made the defense that lying happens all the time in Survivor, but Sarah and Brad in particular were not having it. Tai then talked about all the dealmaking and pressure he’d gone through that afternoon, but Brad didn’t admit he’d been part of that.

Aubry said she would “keep the faith tonight,” and then the voting started. Tai did play one of his idols on himself, and then he pulled out the other and played it for Aubry. That’s when Sarah also pulled out her Legacy Advantage, giving herself immunity. (The jury started freaking at this point.) And then Troyzan played his idol as well. That done, Jeff Probst didn’t even have to read the votes. Cirie was the only person not left immune. Probst told her she had made history just by being eliminated solely because no one else could be voted for (even though none of the votes were actually for her) and he gave her a chance to speak before he snuffed her torch. The jury gave her a standing ovation, and Probst let her say his catchphrase.

The votes went three for Sarah, two for Tai, and one for Aubry. (At the live show, the audience also stood and cheered for Cirie, making her teary.)

“The Biggest Moment of the Game”

Day 37 opened directly with the next immunity challenge. Using a series of paddles, each player had to move three balls over a table that required some moves to get through wires, in what a colleague of mine called the “circus challenge.” Brad actually got the hang of it first, and that turned out to be the only thing that mattered. No one else even finished the table once. Brad won immunity, his fourth this season.

"Brad: “That was for Monica.”"

With Brad immune again, he went off to sit in the hammock. He told Troyzan and Sarah that the plan was Aubry, plain and simple. However, Aubry made her case to Sarah and Tai that Brad would automatically take Troyzan to the finals. Sarah, though, had to have her own conversation with Tai. The two of them, however, also made their own Aubry plan. Tai then spoke with Brad, and Brad continued his pressure, and that’s when Tai went back to Sarah and said Troyzan needed to go instead.

Sarah dubbed that night’s Tribal “The biggest moment in the game” right before the second round started.

Aubry pointed out that she was in danger, and Probst pointed out that the Final Tribal was really the endgame. That’s when Aubry basically brought her case from earlier up about taking Troyzan out. Troyzan tried to play it down, suggesting he could win immunity tomorrow.

Finally, everyone except Troyzan said they thought someone else in the game could beat them. (Pretty much everyone, jury included, looked a bit incredulous or annoyed by the statement.) And then the vote started. Aubry, despite doing her best to avoid it, went out in a 4-1 vote. Troyzan had the other one.

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