Survivor 47 crowned its winner when the jury awarded Rachel LaMont the $1 million prize and title of Sole Survivor. She played an excellent game, was dominant in challenges, and was sociable. Her strategic game evolved to the point where she made few mistakes.
Once she won the final immunity challenge, her record-tying fourth, it seemed she would be the no-brainer choice to win the game. Juries, however, have proven to be fickle and unpredictable through the years. Look no further back than Survivor 46 to see a former ally jealously give their vote to someone who probably wasn’t quite as deserving.
For the most part, the angry jury is a thing of the past. In the early days of Survivor, it was common for jurors to hold fierce grudges against any player in the final tribal council that had a part in them out. As Survivor has evolved, juries have been more forgiving and appreciative of how the game is played and what it takes to get to the final three.
Survivor has changed a lot in the post-COVID seasons in many ways, including nicer juries. They are more understanding of big moves and that it is, in fact, a game. Season 46 notwithstanding, the juries do usually want to vote for the players with the best overall games.
Sam Phalen had an incredible final tribal council in Survivor 47
While Rachel seemed like the obvious choice to win Survivor 47, Sam put up a great fight at the Final Tribal Council. He made an excellent case for himself. He pointed out that after Sierra Wright was voted out, he had to play the rest of the game without a strong ally. He made clear he was on the bottom most of the time after the merge.
He did inflate the importance of the fact he ended up on the right side of the vote more often than not, but the jury knew it wasn’t because he was making moves. He also exaggerated how big of a threat he was in the game. For most of the post-merge time, there were bigger and more dangerous threats than he was. Those were the people on the jury.
As big and athletic as he is, Sam was bested by Rachel repeatedly in challenges, which certainly did not improve his chances. She earned her immunity throughout much of the game.
Rachel made a slight misstep early during the jury questioning. She said she was trying to play her best game, not for her legacy or how she would be remembered. Sam immediately took the opposite side, emphatically stating that he wanted to be remembered for his game. Her answer was that she wasn’t owning her game as much as she should. She rectified that as the tribal council progressed.
Sam also had a few misconceptions about how vital his role was in the game. Rachel, with the help of fellow final-three player Sue Smey and even a couple of the jurors, made it clear that some of Sam’s moves weren’t as big as he tried to make them.
Still, Sam fought hard at tribal council. He didn’t back down and did what he should have done as the underdog. He scrapped. At times, he was very convincing, and there were moments of doubt about whether or not he swayed some votes in his direction.
Ultimately, Sam garnered just one vote to Rachel’s seven. That was the way it should have been. Sam fought, but the most deserving player won. Give the jurors credit for sticking to what they knew to be the truth of this game. Rachel was the most dominant player in Survivor 47.