Survivor 47 is officially down to the Final Four after Andy Rueda and Genevieve Mushaluk were voted out in part one of the Survivor 47 finale. Heading into part two of the finale, Rachel LaMont is the heavy favorite to win the title of Sole Survivor and $1 million prize. And, there's only one way that can all go wrong.
Rachel hasn't always been the favorite to win Survivor 47, but she's been in the conversation all season long. Every time her back has been against the wall, she's come up with a way to keep herself in the game. If that's not the spirit of a Sole Survivor, I don't know what is.
Heading into the second half of the finale, there are three other players left: Sam Phalen, Sue Smey, and Teeny Chirichillo. At worst, Rachel will be making fire against one of these players with a spot in the Final Three on the line.
First, she will have a chance to win her fourth individual immunity of the season. After winning immunity at the Final Five and saving herself in the game, Rachel has a chance to tie Kyle Ostwald for the most individual immunity wins this season. But, even with Kyle, one of those wins came during the weird, split tribe part of the game. It counts, but it's much more impressive that Rachel could win four individual immunity challenges after the merge! That would be up there with the all-time greats of Survivor!
Assuming Rachel doesn't win individual immunity for the fourth time this season, the fire-making challenge is the ONLY thing between Rachel and the $1 million prize. If she wins immunity, it's over. She might be a unananimous winner!
Making fire is no easy feat obviously. We've seen the game won and lost during this part of the game many times over the years. Charlie Davis accepting Ben Katzman's
Rachel's Survivor 47 resume
Building Rachel's resume was pretty easy, although I might be missing a few moments!
- Epic Tribal Council moment playing the Safety Without Power advantage
- Finding the hidden immunity idol in the tarp while the tribe was gathered around the camp
- Using her Shot in the Dark in a revolutionary way
- Helping orchestrate the Gabe Ortis blindside
- Playing the immunity idol and saving herself at the Final Six
- Winning three individual immunity challenges, including the Final Five
- Voting out Andy Rueda, personally
- Voting with Sam and Sue to send Genevieve home
No one left in the game has Rachel's resume. That's why she should win, if she continues to make things go her way in the finale.
Looking back, there are a few moments when Rachel started to take control of the game. The first came when she ended up in the mini-tribe with the five remaining Tuku players for one vote. Sol Yi gifted Rachel a Safety Without Power advantage, which allowed her to leave Tribal Council before the vote. It was a huge move in the game, and Rachel played it perfectly. She didn't do anything smug, and she expressed a lot gratitude, which obviously goes a long way in Survivor.
Then, she won two individual immunity challenges after the merge, found a hidden immunity idol, used her Shot in the Dark in a super creative way to see if she was a target, and formed a crucial alliance that removed several major threats in the game. That was all before the finale.
In the first half of the finale, Rachel flexed her muscles on the rest of the tribe. She brilliantly allowed everyone to think she was going home, which kept the target on her, and then she played her hidden immunity idol and convinced Sue to vote out Andy. She needed Sue to make that move happen, and it worked to perfection.
Then, Rachel won the Final Five immunity challenge, saving herself again in the game. It's been a lot of that for Rachel this season. She also dictated the move to get rid of Genevieve instead of Sam, which was definitely a smart move on her part. Sam is definitely not as big of a threat to win the game.
So, all in all, Rachel has created a perfect scenario for herself. She's at the Final Four with three players she can beat. In an ideal world, Rachel wins the next immunity challenge and wins Survivor 47.
If she doesn't, she'll likely be making fire for $1 million. No pressure, right?
The second half of the Survivor 47 finale airs on Wednesday, Dec. 18, on CBS and Paramount+!