We have reached the end of Survivor 47 and only four remain standing. Sam, Teeny, Rachel, and Sue have fought their way to the finale, and now, we have a challenge and fire-making to determine who exactly will be in our final three.
After a wild ride to the final four, the remaining survivors are clearly elated to have made it this far. And it makes sense, especially with how the game has been going. But who has what it takes to win the final immunity challenge?
The final immunity challenge of Survivor 47
The survivors have to crawl under a net in the mud, then they have to untie a pole to unravel a rope that they have to push over pegs. Then they will have to knock off a ball and then untie more knots to get through a gate to lower a gate. From there they have to use letter tiles to solve a combination lock. This releases a blade that they can use to release a ladder and then get through the knots. Once they get through this challenge, the last step is to solve a hanging bat puzzle.
Sam takes an early lead, but Rachel definitely keeps up with him, and Teeny and Sue are not far behind. In fact, everyone catches up at the gate, where Rachel gets through first. Sue is actually the next player to get the gate down. Teeny and Sam finally get through their gate, and now everyone is trying to solve the letter puzzle combination lock.
Sam ends up solving the letter combination and makes it up to the puzzle first, but Rachel is not far behind him. And at this point, it actually looks like it will be Rachel who wins the final immunity of the season. With Sam struggling, it ends up being Rachel who gets to the end and ultimately pulls out the win.
Only five women have ever won four individual immunities in Survivor history and one of those women is Rachel.
Back at the Beka beach
After the challenge, they all head back to the Beka beach and find their flint and blades. As they are all getting clean in the water, Rachel immediately tells them all that she is sending Teeny and Sam to firemaking. She plans to reward Sue for being a loyal ally and is taking her to the final three.
Sam tries to psych Teeny out about going head-to-head in firemaking. Rachel decides to teach Teeny how to make fire, after Sam shares that he has never made fire or struck a flint with a blade. At first, no one believes him, until he starts practicing and Sue realizes that he wasn't lying to them.
In the individual interviews, Sam shares that he really never did make fire and he is regretting it now. It is clear that he should have been practicing and he uses his letter from home as his motivation.
Who wins the Fire Challenge in the Survivor 47 finale?
Before we get to firemaking, Jeff starts the conversation with Rachel and her win and how it's history-making, but he also points out that two of the women who also won four immunities didn't win the overall game. And Sam points out that the immunity necklace doesn't guarantee a win.
Rachel reveals that the only person who has been loyal to her is Sue so she is rewarding her by taking her to the final three. This means that Teeny and Sam will officially be making fire.
So which survivor will win the firemaking? After Teeny shakes Sam's hand and wishes him luck, the final challenge of the season is on.
Sam and Teeny both prep a bit differently, but Teeny gets the first baby flame of the challenge. Slowly she starts growing her fire. On the other side, Sam hasn't been able to make a flame yet, whereas Teeny has a true fire that is hitting the rope.
Sam finally gets a flame and starts building a foundation. And thanks to a gust of wind, it looks like he might have a chance. We actually have a showdown. With both of them having massive fires, the wind ends up helping Sam take the win.
Sam has made it to the final three. (And while he celebrates, he also takes the time to hug Teeny and tell her he is sorry.)
After his win, the final three are back at the Beka beach the next morning celebrating their final moments on Survivor 47. It's the final breakfast and all three are enjoying this moment of comradery.
As they chat, they go player by player as to who joined the jury. As they talk, we get to hear from each member of the jury and their thoughts on each member of the final three. It's an interesting insight into who they might be voting for in the end. It really sounds like it could be anyone's game, but Sam and Rachel seem to be the two who have the best chance of winning. But we refuse to count Sue out.
Now it is up to the final three to make their pitch and explain to the jury why they think they deserve to win.
The final Tribal Council results of Survivor 47
Gabe asks the first question about how the players think they will be remembered. And while Rachel doesn't seem to care about how she is remembered, Sam says he wants to leave feeling proud of himself. Sue admits that it is her birthday and she is 59, and her legacy is having her grandson see how she played the game.
Genevieve asks Sue if she is judging people for how they played the game. This leads to Caroline asking about the mistakes they made and how they recovered. Rachel admits that she started off poorly and admits that she spied on the small group chatting about her and wanting her out. Sam admits that he didn't tie up loose ends and that he lost trust with allies. Sue tells Andy that he lied to her multiple times and believing him was her greatest mistake.
Sol wants to know one thing that he doesn't know about Rachel's game, which leads to her talking about the idol that she believes saved her game. Sol wants to know how Sam feels about what went down, with him saying that it did pull attention away from him.
Andy asks Rachel about how poorly she voted and she shares that she thought her social game would be enough to get people to do her "bidding," and she admits that she had to play the game differently to make it to the end.
Sierra wants to know how people overcame their lows in the game. Sam said he tried to channel the joy that will come after the season. He also talks about being a kid and watching Survivor and not wanting to let his younger self down. Rachel on the other hand shares that he channeled her husband. Sue talks about the support that the tribe offered her.
Sue tells everyone in her final words that she outlasted everyone on the jury and was loyal. Sam admits he didn't play a perfect game, but he feels like he was dynamic in his gameplay. And he points out that he made it to the end without immunity necklaces and idols. Finally, Rachel shares that she had the most dominant game of the final three. And she points out all of the idols and advantages that she had that helped her get to the end.
Rachel is the winner of Survivor 47
After the final three gave their pitch, the jury was given a few moments to really think about what they heard before making their final decision on who they believed should be the winner. Sierra goes first to cast her vote and it is clear that she has to really think about who she wants to win.
So how did the votes break down? Well based on the votes that Jeff read, Sue didn't get any votes, while Sam only got one vote and Rachel earned herself five for the majority and the win.
Now it is time for the after show with pizza and a bit of a celebration with the jury and the final three.
Rachel shares that she feels like she is "having an out-of-body experience" after winning Survivor 47. And she also admits that she thought Sam had an incredible final tribal.
Kyle admits that he was the only one who voted for Sam. Sam also says that he is disappointed that he didn't win, but he also feels like he did his best. He felt proud of his game and he shared that he is at peace with the results no matter what.
Sue talks about being older and how brutal the game can be, but she wanted to show her generation that it can be done. She admits that she is feeling blessed, even without the win.
Jeff also points out that Andy had one of the worst starts a Survivor player can have, but also how he recovered from that point. Andy shares that he felt the enormity of this opportunity in his life and he believes that he found a resiliency in himself that he never thought he would.
Finally, Teeny shares that she was born the year that Survivor came out, and that there are a lot of hard decisions that are made in the game under harsh conditions. After a round of cheers for Teeny, it is time to say goodbye to Survivor 47.