Heading into part two of the Survivor 47 finale, there was only one player with everything to lose. Luckily, she didn't. Rachel LaMont is the winner of Survivor 47, and deservedly so!
When "The Last Stand," the 14th episode of Survivor 47, started, there were only four players left: Rachel LaMont, Sam Phalen, Teeny Chirichillo, and Sue Smey. The Final Four faced off one last time in the individual immunity challenge, which Rachel won. Then, Teeny and Sam faced off in the fire-making challenge. Sam won the challenge, and Teeny lost, becoming the eighth and final member of the jury.
The Survivor 47 winner is Rachel LaMont
If there was any doubt that Rachel deserved to win Survivor 47, Rachel erased all of that in the first half of the season finale on Wednesday, Dec. 11. After losing the immunity challenge with six players left in the game, Rachel was the easy vote for the remaining five players (except for Sue Smey). Rachel was the clear favorite by that point in the game, but luckily for her, she had something in her bag to save her. And, she played it perfectly.
Rachel let everyone think that she was going home. She had accepted defeat, or so they thought. Rachel played her hidden immunity idol, and Rachel and Sue collaborated to vote out Andy Rueda.
Then, Rachel won the immunity challenge at the Final Five, cementing her spot in the Final Four.
Honestly, Rachel just had to not lose twice in a row in the immunity challenge and then the fire-making challenge to win Survivor 47. And, she didn't.
Looking back at the season, there is no surprise that Rachel is here. We'll be publishing a more complete breakdown soon about why Rachel won Survivor 47, but the highlights are her FOUR immunity challenge wins. As Jeff Probst pointed out, only five women have ever won that many immunity challenges in a season in Survivor history. She's easily one of the best competitors we've seen in the new era of Survivor. On top of that, she obtained and played several advantages correctly, including the Safety Without Power advantage that kept her in the game and the Block a Vote advantage that she used at the Final Six.
Then, she found and played a hidden immunity idol perfectly exactly when she needed to play it. It was a masterclass in gameplay from Rachel all season. It's hard in the new era to remember a Survivor winner who deserved to win a season more than Rachel, and that's quite high praise. We've seen some great Survivor players over the last seven seasons.
Rachel also pulled off one of my favorite moments of the season that went under the radar. Rachel knew that something was weird at Tribal Council in the eighth episode when Sam and Sierra Wright were targeted with the split vote. Rachel had found the hidden immunity idol before the vote, and she used her Shot in the Dark to see if the other players would react when she played it. She knew she wasn't part of the vote in any capacity, so she threw her vote away to possibly save herself and to see if anyone flinched. They didn't, so Rachel felt safe in not playing her hidden immunity idol. She deserves a lot of credit for the little elements of her gameplay.
As a long-time Survivor fan, I love moves like that. Anything that moves the game forward is incredible, and Rachel definitely did that. I'm wondering if the Shot in the Dark play will evolve in Survivor after Rachel used it in a super creative way.
So, that's it, y'all! Thank you for following along with our coverage all season at Surviving Tribal. Rachel is the winner. There's not much more that needs to be said right now.
Congratulations, Rachel, and to the whole Survivor 47 cast. This was one of the best seasons in a long time.