Welcome to the final episode of Survivor 47.
It's been a wild ride these last few days,
starting with Operation Italy.
That took out Caroline and flipped the game.
And that sent Rachel into stealth mode,
literally crawling through the sand like a spy
to listen in on Sam and Andy
and Genevieve and Teeny
as they plotted her demise.
So, armed with that knowledge,
she made the biggest move of the season.
Played her Block a Vote and her idol,
took out Andy in a revenge vote, flipped the game again.
Then Rachel won her third individual immunity challenge
and used that leverage to take out Genevieve.
And now we're down to four:
Rachel, Sue, Teeny and Sam.
Two of them are gonna sit right here.
The other two will be forced to make fire
to earn that third spot.
Then the final three will face their jury and get a chance
to plead their case about why they deserve the title
of Sole Survivor and the million dollars that comes with it.
And then we will crown a winner of Survivor 47.
And immediately following that, we're gonna stay right here
in this beautiful Tribal Council and do the aftershow.
It is a very big night for Survivor.
It's the finale of Survivor 47.
Previously on Survivor...
I find out so much.
Oh, my God.
I trust her. She shared so much with me.
My loyalty to Rachel is real.
If anybody has an advantage
or an idol and you want to play it...
Jeff?
I'd like to play it for myself.
First vote: Rachel. Does not count.
Thirteenth person voted out
and the sixth member of our jury: Andy.
The tribe has spoken.
All eyes on Rachel right now. Does she have it?
- Good girl. - And she does. It's over!
Rachel has won
her third individual immunity.
Oh, my God.
I won immunity when I needed it so bad.
I've never felt more confident that I'm less confident
in what's going to happen.
Genevieve just spun me around in circles,
and I'm sick of it.
Fourteenth person voted out
and the seventh member of our jury:
Genevieve.
The tribe has spoken.
They have.
-Final four. - Oh, my God.
Final four, guys.
I am ecstatic.
I'm in the final four of Survivor--
my dream of all time.
- We did it! - Come on! Final four!
- Final four. - Final four.
And I am one round away
from having a chance to pitch my case to win.
Genevieve is gone. I just want to say
- It's so crazy. - congrats to all of us.
- I know. - That girl was a legend.
And Genevieve is gone.
So, right now,
I am riding the highest high
of my entire 23 years of life.
There were... How many people have we beaten?
- Fourteen. - How did that happen?
My daughter Chelsea's last text to me was,
"Mom, I want you to know,
"if you get voted out the first day,
we're still so proud of you."
And now I'm here in the final four.
- You guys, final four. -Final four.
It's the craziest thing,
and I want to scream at the top of my lungs.
Ah!
Sam, we got to final four
and we never wrote each other's name down.
- Yeah. How about that? - I'm pretty proud of us.
I'm at the final four of Survivor, and it's this
weird, like, hybrid of being fulfilled
and being motivated.
- How you feeling, Sam? - Feeling like, uh...
big day tomorrow.
Because my dream was not to come on Survivor
and get fourth place.
My dream was to be the Sole Survivor,
and I really feel like I'm one day away.
We're gonna wake up on day 25 on Survivor.
What a concept.
Tonight I'm just,
like, happy and feel in a celebratory mood
and just, like, want to kind of take it all in.
The last few votes, I've had to win to survive,
and I'm not gonna
stop competing now.
I feel like this immunity challenge coming up
is the last stand, the final battle
for the four of us,
and it's the most important of them all.
Come on in!
What in the world?
Take it in.
This is what stands between you and a million dollars.
Four big smiles.
They're nervous smiles, Jeff.
Yeah, they're scared smiles.
They should be.
Wow.
So, here we are, day 25.
You've made it to the final four.
You have one immunity challenge left.
Shall we just get to it?
- All right.
First things first, Rachel.
For the third time,
got to take back the necklace.
- Thank you. -Thank you.
For the last time,
immunity is back up for grabs.
For today's challenge, you're gonna crawl
under a muddy net.
You'll then use a long pole to unweave a rope.
Once you have that rope,
you'll use it to lower a gate.
You'll run through it and collect a bag of letter tiles.
You'll need those tiles to solve a combination lock.
That'll release a machete.
You'll use the machete to drop the ladder,
climb to the finish where you will race
to solve a hanging bat puzzle.
First person to finish wins immunity,
is guaranteed a spot in the final three.
You will be at that Final Tribal Council,
where you will get a chance to plead your case to your jury
about why you deserve the title of Sole Survivor
and the million dollars that comes with it.
You also have power because you decide
who sits next to you in that second spot
and who you force to make fire to earn that final spot.
Which means one of the four of you will be forced to make fire
and you're gonna lose
and your dream is gonna fall
one day short.
Only way to prevent that from happening:
win right now.
Yeah.
Biggest challenge of the season.
We'll draw for spots. We'll get it on.
All right, here we go.
For immunity, guaranteed spot in the final three,
Survivors ready?
Go! First, you're going back through mud again.
- Day 25, Survivor 47.
- You want it,
this is where you step up
- and grab it.
Sam through, Rachel's through, Teeny's through.
Come on, Sue! Let's dig!
Now you're gonna untie
a long pole and use it to unweave a rope.
You need that rope.
Sam has his pole.
That pole has a little bit of a U.
You can use that U to grab that rope
and push it up and over those pegs.
It is Sam in the early lead.
Rachel's starting to get the hang of it.
Teeny doing a nice job.
Sue has her first bit of rope.
Sam figuring it out.
Once you're there, knock off the ball.
Sam has his.
Now you got to untie more knots, get through that little gate.
Rachel has hers.
It is Sam and Rachel.
You should be used to these knots by now.
They are a staple on Survivor.
Sam is through his knots.
Rachel's through hers.
Sam and Rachel pulling ahead.
Gonna use that ball to try to lower the gate.
Sam almost does it with his first shot.
Rachel just misses.
Here comes Teeny working on her knots.
Sue working on her knots.
You got to figure out the slack,
'cause you need that ball to travel.
- Ah. -Sam's a little short.
-Here comes Teeny and Sue.
Everybody in this.
- Sue launches. No. - Aah!
- Teeny launches.
Rachel has a shot
if she can get it to come down.
Close. Will it work?
Rachel's done it! She's through first!
Rachel now working on her letter tiles.
It is Rachel in the lead.
Big immunity on the line.
Everybody fighting right now.
Gonna use the letter tiles, try to solve that combination lock.
- Aah! - Sam still trying to lower his gate.
- Teeny's still working on her gate.
Sue working on her gate.
Sue...
lowers her gate.
Let's go, Sue!
-Sue falling through.
That's 25 days of exhaustion on Survivor.
Rachel still in the lead.
You've got letter tiles to help you solve this.
You've got a clue.
Teeny and Sam still struggling.
Now is when you really feel that pressure.
Teeny drops her gate.
Teeny now working on the letter tiles.
Here goes Sam.
Sam very close. Can he get it to drop?
Sam has his gate! You're through.
We got a challenge!
Got a clue, you've got letter tiles.
You're trying to solve that one word.
Sam quickly gets his letter tiles.
Everybody now on the combination lock.
It's a word this time, not numbers.
It's what you need to do now.
Sam thinks he has it.
And he does. Sam got it very fast.
Covers his word up so nobody can see it.
Sam, with one swat, knocks down his ladder.
Rachel has it.
Does not cover it...
- Ah! -...leaving it open.
Now Rachel's gonna cover it.
Sam heading up to work on that bat puzzle.
Rachel drops hers. Got to get through the knots.
Teeny solved it.
It is Sam in the lead.
Rachel now heading up her ladder.
Teeny trying to drop her ladder.
Sue has the word.
Still taking her a while to get it. She's got it now.
Rachel now joins Sam.
-Sue will be up here soon.
Teeny's now trying to drop her ladder.
Still working with that machete.
Sam did it in one swat.
Sue has hers. She's heading up.
- Let's go, Teeny!
Here comes Sue.
Sam with another piece on this bat puzzle.
It would be Sam's
first individual immunity win of the season.
Rachel's at three.
Teeny drops hers! Everybody's still in this.
One piece at a time.
Sam with another piece.
Here comes Teeny.
Sue is quickly getting into this puzzle.
Sue has won one individual immunity.
Teeny has not won.
Sam has not won.
We know Rachel's story. She's trying to tie a record.
Four women have won four immunity challenges,
but Sam is ripping through this early.
Puzzles have not been his friend so far,
but today might be a different story.
Teeny looking for another piece.
Sue trying to find one.
It is Rachel and Sam right now side by side and very close.
Rachel with another piece.
Sam looking to place another piece.
Will it fit?
No!
Rachel with another piece.
And another.
Now Rachel in the lead over Sam.
Sue is in it, down on the end.
Teeny's in it.
Teeny, just gonna go right next door. "I'm just gonna look."
Now Sam's doing the same thing.
No pride on Survivor.
What that means is you're looking
at somebody else's puzzle.
That means you are trailing.
Rachel with another piece.
Rachel starting to pull away now.
There have been over 350 woman that have played Survivor
over 46 seasons.
Only four have won four immunity challenges.
Rachel down to three pieces.
Rachel down to two pieces.
Rachel down to her last piece.
Rachel thinks she has it.
She does not.
Something is not right.
This challenge is still alive.
That is opening the door for everybody else. What is it?
Puzzles look right when they are finished.
Your life in the game is on the line right now.
Keep fighting.
Rachel making a switch.
Is that it?
That's it! Rachel's done it!
Claims a spot in the final three
and in the Survivor hall of fame.
Wow, what a final challenge.
Rachel, come on over.
For the fourth and historic time,
immunity is yours.
You're in a very elite group now.
Only five women-- including yourself--
over 46 seasons
have won four individual immunities.
The biggest thing is you are guaranteed a spot
in the final three. So, what is the feeling, knowing
you accomplished the goal, you made it to the end?
I don't have words right now, Jeff.
I mean, to be standing here with this necklace on--
it's overwhelming and it's incredible.
And yet, at the same time, in my gut,
I, like, knew I could do this.
And I just think that, like, everything I do in life,
I do with incredible determination.
And I didn't know if I could do it out here,
and I'm so proud that I-I have.
Congratulations.
So, tonight at Tribal, you have a lot of power
'cause you're gonna decide,
between Sam, Teeny and Sue,
who you put in that second seat at the final three
and which two players you force to make fire to earn it.
You have the afternoon to figure out
what you're gonna do with that big decision.
- Thanks, Jeff. - Grab your stuff, head out.
See you tonight at Tribal Council
for the final fire-making showdown.
- Congrats. - Thank you.
Rachel wins immunity yet again, and
I feel defeated.
I've tried to knock her out of this game,
I've tried to beat her at a challenge,
but my plan has been foiled.
And I know pretty much immediately
I'm making fire for my life tonight.
Ooh.
The feeling right now is
a little bit of disbelief
that this is where I am right now in this game.
You're forever in the hall of fame.
It's... I'm so proud of you.
- Thank you. - Yeah. That was kick-ass.
I've tied an immunity record.
It never occurred to me that I could win four.
- Well, I'm gonna go wash off. - I'm gonna go wash off, too.
And so,
the fact that I'm tying
Jenna Morasca, Chrissy Hofbeck,
Kim Spradlin
and Kelly Wiglesworth-- that's
so cool. But it also
reminds me that Kelly and Chrissy didn't win,
and they both got to the end.
And so, I have to make the right decision tonight
when it comes to fire-making so that I set myself up
to truly clinch this win.
- I need to go under. -Yeah, me too.
Let's just do it, okay?
Yeah. I mean, I can just tell you.
Like, you two are going to fire. I'm not gonna, like,
hold a...
No, I know, I know, I know, I know.
Sue has been
the only loyal ally I've had
in this late stage of the game,
and this
wouldn't feel right without her sitting next to me
in the final three.
After tonight, one of us will no longer be in the game.
And the person I know
that I want in fire tonight is Sam.
He is someone that I've been trying
to get out for a long time, and I think I could
put myself into fire if I needed to.
And I was prepared, if I lost the challenge,
that I was going to fire tonight.
But I think that
when I take a step back and I look at my game,
I don't think that knocking Sam out directly is going
to elevate me in any substantial way.
And Teeny could be a formidable,
like, opponent to Sam.
You're gonna let me make fire?
- Yeah. - All right.
- I'm down. - I'm down, too. I have no choice.
Like, you don't need to be like that.
- Like what? - Arrogant.
I'm not arrogant.
"You're gonna let me make fire?"
My worst-case scenario was Rachel winning
because I knew that she would put me and Sam into fire-making.
I've been threatened by Sam
since before we even met out here on this island,
in the sense that he's super smart,
he's charismatic,
and he knows this game like the back of his hand.
And a part of this game is fire.
- Shut up! - I swear, I've never made a fire once.
-You've never sparked the flint? - No.
- I don't want to hear from you until tonight. - It's okay.
Sam is telling us, you know, he never practiced fire.
But in my mind, it's all a ruse to try and get in my head.
All right, well, I need to practice.
It's a shame I don't know how to make fire.
I'm leaving.
I'm just sick of Sam.
And the last thing I need right now,
when I'm about to compete against him
in such a high-pressure situation,
is him pulling these mind games yet again on me.
You just want the, like, best shavings possible.
Hold your knife like this.
And then put the knife on the... like, here.
- Yeah.
I see what you mean. I think I'm getting it.
I want Teeny sitting with me in the final three.
And so, I'm like, "I will help you, Teeny."
You're, like, sparking really well, and you got flame. Okay.
Teeny needed a little bit of encouragement, and she needed
a little bit of technique change,
and she's killing it.
Okay.
I hope Sam doesn't know what he's doing.
- I hope Sam doesn't know what he's doing. - Me too.
Just go slow.
- Thank God that Sam sucks at doing fire.
We all thought Sam was lying to us,
that he actually has been practicing fire,
and that he was gonna
be good.
He's not good. It's-it's, like, pathetic.
He's gonna feel like an idiot, honestly.
Just take a breath.
What I've seen from Sam today...
I could easily beat him in fire.
But I'm gonna go with what Rachel wants to do
and just sit and be able to relax tonight,
knowing that I'm going to the end.
How's it going?
No idea how to do this.
I've gone 25 days.
I maybe touched a flint one time.
Very bad for me right now because now I'm starting to wish
I would have done a little bit more
to prepare for this potential moment.
Like, making fire is a foreign concept to me.
And it makes me really nervous that Teeny has a coach
like Rachel who definitely knows what she's doing,
and I've got no help.
I know everybody's rooting against me.
Guess who's at camp, pissed that he's not getting ...?
- I believe him. -Huh?
He doesn't know what he's doing.
- He's playing it up. - I don't know. Maybe.
- But he looked, uh, genuinely annoyed. - Thank you.
- Genuinely. - That actually helps.
I feel like Teeny has really
gotten her confidence up.
She's ready to take on Sam.
- I'm proud of that. - You should be.
And I believe
she will best him tonight.
I think that she knows what she's doing.
She just has to go in and not panic.
- Ah. - That looks good.
And have the confidence to get this done.
That you?
Yeah.
When I see Teeny is making fire,
I'm like, "Oh, crap."
I'm in way over my head tonight.
I'm scared.
I'm worried a little bit, you know?
I, uh...
You don't want to play 25 days and come up that short.
And I can...
feel it slipping away a little bit.
So...
I'm afraid of what's gonna happen.
I'm afraid of looking like an idiot.
I'm afraid of everybody at home saying,
"Why didn't you practice fire?"
And me saying, "I don't know."
And then I pulled out my letters from home,
and there was something that my dad wrote to me.
He had written that he knew
I would give it absolutely everything I have out here,
and that he wasn't gonna bet against me.
And the thought of
him rooting for me...
told me, "You're not one to quit."
That really fired me up.
I'm not ready to go home. I want to see day 26.
I've got to find a way
to get myself to the end of this game.
I'm on Survivor for a reason.
The second you let your brain start to get to a point of doubt
is the second that you've lost.
And I'm not ready to go there yet.
I-I can't believe it.
I made a fire and I-I built it up.
And that's when I said, let's go into Tribal Council...
...with some momentum and let's go to war.
Right now, the only thing
standing between me...
...and the Final Tribal Council...
...and a chance at a million dollars...
...is one fire.
...is a flame burning through a rope.
It is the biggest opportunity
I've ever had to change my life and accomplish a dream
that I've been working towards
since I was a conscious, living human being.
I have scrapped my way all the way
to the end of this game on my own.
So, I'm hoping that tonight I can find a way
to find a way yet again.
Now bring in the members of our jury.
Okay.
So, let's talk about today's challenge.
Rachel, you win your fourth
individual immunity challenge
and in doing so, you accomplish the goal of every player,
which is tomorrow night at Final Tribal Council,
you will get a chance to face your jury and make your case
about why you're the player
that is most deserving of the title
of Sole Survivor and the million dollars
that goes with it.
We also have to take a moment
to formally acknowledge
that, with your fourth individual immunity win,
you join a very elite group of women.
Out of 47 seasons and 24 years,
only five of you have ever won four individual challenges.
Sam, the other side
of Rachel winning four is the reminder
that of the four other women, only two of them won the game.
This is not a slam dunk that this season is over.
It's just recognizing a big achievement from a player.
Yeah, absolutely. Like, I, like everybody else,
am overjoyed for Rachel, but
at the same time,
the necklace doesn't win you a million bucks.
And as a player in the game, and hopefully,
as jury members out of the game,
we're able to separate the idea
of history that should be recognized and admired
and what it takes to
outwit, outplay and outlast.
And, Rachel, that brings us to the other part of winning today
is this power you have that comes with a decision.
Which of these three do you give that second spot
at the final three and which two players
do you force to go make fire and earn it?
Yeah. I feel like
I could go to fire and try to take out Sam,
but I also feel like
I earned this necklace today in a challenge
and I don't think that I need to give it up
to do another challenge and prove
whatever that proves.
I mean, I came into this game
being extremely loyal to the people
that I wanted to ally with.
And what I learned pretty quickly is that
none of them were as loyal to me
as I was willing to be loyal to them
until I found Sue.
And Sue has genuinely been
the most loyal person to me
and so I only feel like it is fair to bring her to the end.
And so Teeny and Sam
- will be making fire. -So, Sue,
- you're in the final three. -I am.
Thanks to Rachel.
So, Teeny, two things of note that Rachel said.
One is she's rewarding Sue for loyalty.
What she also said is,
"I could have taken a shot at fire to take out Sam."
So, does this create an opportunity for you? Does this
surprise you? What do you make of that statement?
Um, I feel like I have
an acute sense of awareness
of what these people think of me,
how they underestimate me in this game, but it doesn't
matter, necessarily, what
these people think of me. It matters what
these people think of me and it matters
that I get to the point
to be able to pitch my case.
So, this is absolutely an opportunity.
And it's funny that it's me and Sam because I would say
Sam and I have had a complicated relationship,
and it's more my end of things.
"It's not you, it's me"?
Yes, absolutely. I would say that
I've had a bit of a one-sided rivalry
with Sam, and to open up about it honestly
is that I look at Sam and I see a handsome,
smart, athletic, strong guy.
And Sam's somebody who, probably when he was younger,
got a lot of, like, attention from girls.
The teachers wanted him to be the kid who was,
like, moving the desks around the classroom.
- Moving desks? - And, like, that's kind of the thing
that I always wanted to be doing, and,
because of, you know, my identity and my gender,
just to say it, like, that's not necessarily the experience
I've gotten, and I've worked really hard to get to a place
where I'm more confident in, like, this version of myself
and how I present to the world now.
And I'm still working through things.
So, when I see Sam, he's done nothing,
honestly, throughout this game but try and work with me.
But I've projected insecurities onto him
and I've tried to get him out,
on top of the fact that I do see Sam as a threat
and a really good Survivor player, too.
So, right now, the two of us making fire,
it's an opportunity for one final showdown.
And if I can beat him,
that's a great end to the story for me.
And if I can't, then I'll have more to say after.
Sam, how about for you?
Opportunity?
Yeah, I-I'm excited for the opportunity.
I'm at peace with the result tonight.
I'm ready to plead my case.
I'm ready to fight like hell.
Uh, last I checked,
yeah, my torch still has fire in it,
so I'm ready to go.
All right.
So, here's how it's gonna work. Teeny and Sam,
you're gonna take a spot at the fire-making stations.
Pick whichever one you want.
Oh.
I'm gonna give you both a minute
to take a look at your supplies,
figure out how you're gonna start this
fire-making showdown,
and then we'll go.
Sam?
All right, it is time
for the fire-making showdown
between Teeny and Sam.
Each have the same job: create a fire
that burns high enough and hot enough
to burn through that rope
and raise a flag. You do that,
you're in the final three.
You don't, you're out
and become the eighth member of our jury.
Are you ready to begin?
- Yeah. - Yeah.
Good luck. Begin.
Takes three things to make a fire.
You need fuel.
That can come from the magnesium.
That can come from the husk you're using.
You need heat. That's gonna
come from striking that flint.
And then you need air.
Fire's got to breathe in order to burn.
Lots of different ways to approach making a fire.
Both players prepping a little bed,
now scraping magnesium.
That's a great igniter.
And you get the heat you need
from striking that flint
and get a little bit of a spark.
Teeny has a baby flame. Can she get it?
- That hessian is limited in supply. - Yes. There you go.
It'll burn quickly.
And it'll burn out just as fast.
Key is you got to make something happen
while you have the flame.
Teeny is nursing that fire,
adding little pieces of kindling.
It looks like it might be positioned just under that rope,
which is where you want it.
Sam continues to work,
trying to get his first real flame.
Teeny has kept her fire going and it's starting to increase.
She's adding more sticks.
This could be a million-dollar fire.
Teeny's fire continues to burn.
Sam yet to get a flame.
Still a long way from burning through that rope with that
wind starting to blow. That's gonna be a factor.
Sam now feeling the desperation,
trying to get it to spark and hope it ignites.
Teeny is doing a nice job, slowly nursing that fire.
Now that flame's starting to burn higher,
nicking that rope.
Sam continues to try to fight to get in this.
Teeny's flame is now starting to hit that rope.
You can see the fibers on that rope lighting up.
Little by little, that rope is getting frayed.
There's another burn of the rope.
It's right under the rope now.
Sam needs to get something going to have a shot at this.
Sam's got a flame going now.
Sam trying to get back into this.
He's got to make something out of that flame quickly.
Can he nurse that into something?
Teeny's fire now with a gust of wind. That helps.
- Yeah. - Keep going.
Anything that lifts it closer to the rope.
She's got a good foundation.
Sam is trying to build a foundation
without smothering it.
Blow, blow.
Sam is trying to get his going higher.
Can he catch Teeny and make a game of this?
Teeny adds another stick and another.
That flame is burning all around that rope.
Sam's got a flame going now.
Can he catch Teeny? We got a showdown now.
Two fires. This is very close.
Teeny and Sam for a spot in the final three.
Teeny's rope continues to burn.
It's got to break and pop that flag.
Sam is right there in it.
He's trying to get that flame, coaxing it up.
- Come on! -Teeny has an inferno.
Teeny is all over that rope.
It's only a matter of time before it pops.
Would be a huge comeback
if Sam could burn his rope before Teeny's.
Sam's got a big fire. He's burning his rope.
- Now the wind is blowing Teeny's away from the rope - No!
- and Sam's into the rope. - Yo. - No!
-Unbelievable turn of events! - Come on, baby.
This could come down to seconds being the difference.
Come on, baby.
- Let's go! -Sam pulls it out!
- Come on! - An unbelievable comeback
- in the 25th day of season 47. - Holy cow.
- Oh, my God! -Sam will earn a spot
in the final three, and a dejected Teeny.
- Find a way to find a way! -Wow.
Never seen a fire-making challenge
- that close, ever, on Survivor. - Wow.
You did really well, Teeny.
All right, Teeny and Sam, take your spots back over here.
Teeny, it takes so much
to get on Survivor.
It takes so much to get through day one,
then day two, all the way
to day 25.
All the things you've endured to get to this spot
and to get that close and to still fall short.
It's the stakes of Survivor.
But it doesn't mean it's not terribly disappointing.
So, what is the feeling right now?
Obviously, I'm heartbroken,
and...
it is something
I'll have to deal with forever--
that right there, that rope
still not burned.
But I'm at peace as well,
because I played this game
exactly how I always knew that I would.
I played this game exactly how I live my life.
I played this game 100% as Teeny
because that's the only way that I know how to be.
And at least I can go out now saying
that I believe I would have won if I got there,
- and I'll just never know.
Um, and,
as I said, losing to the big handsome jock--
it's just another part of the story
that I got to deal with.
Well, Teeny, I got to say,
it's been a pleasure having you on the show.
I respect everybody who plays Survivor.
I've never played,
but I've been a witness to every single person
who has played this game for 24 years.
And I continue to learn life lessons
from all of you, including you this season.
So, thank you for braving Survivor
and coming out here and fulfilling your childhood dream.
Jeff, thank you for giving it to me.
I can't even believe I'm looking at you in the eyes right now.
And that is something that I will carry with me forever.
So, I'm happy. I know I did my best.
There's nothing more I could have done,
and that's how I'll go on.
And fittingly, in Survivor,
the other side of this story is you, Sam.
Teeny gave it everything she had. She came up short.
You looked like you had
absolutely no shot
to even get a flame. Did you have any moments
where you said, "I'm done. I'm not gonna get there"?
The moment that you let your brain
get to, "I'm out,"
it's self-fulfilling, in a way.
But I think the story of my game...
...has been one of resilience,
so, I'm elated.
All right, Teeny,
it's time. Need to grab your torch.
Can we have hugs?
- Yeah. - Yeah.
Bring it in, brother.
- I'm proud of you. - Thanks. You too.
Never wanted to do this.
But it's a part of the journey.
It's a part of the journey.
Teeny, the tribe has spoken.
- Time for you to go. - Thanks, Jeff.
- Thanks for being out. - Thank you for letting me.
- You smell good.
- Bye, Teeny. - Good luck, guys.
Rachel, Sue, Sam, congratulations.
You made it to the final three.
Tomorrow night, as you know,
the power in this game now shifts to the jury.
Eight players that you had a hand in voting out
will decide who wins this game.
Prepare, be ready.
You have one more night here in Fiji.
Try to get some sleep.
You're gonna need it. Grab your torches.
Head back to camp. We'll see you tomorrow night.
-Good night. -Good night.
I do think
that moment will haunt me for the rest of my
time on Earth. But I've had to overcome
a lot of emotional hardships out here.
Throughout my life, I've obtained
this sort of sidekick energy.
And out here I've learned to, you know, be my own best friend,
and it'll help me live my real life
in ways I never did before.
-Day 26! -Day 26!
Talk about an alarm clock. Hello.
-Good morning, sunshine! -Good morning.
Final three. I want to
scream! I'm so pumped! I'm so pumped.
I'm final three.
Today is actually my birthday, and I'm
59 today.
-Oh, my God! -I see
- a big old thing. - Oh!
Oh, my God! Chocolate croissants!
What?!
It was glorious.
I've had some good rewards out here,
but this was just special.
- Survivor 47. - 47.
Survivor history right here.
- Final three, baby. - Final three.
The final breakfast is an iconic
Survivor moment that you only
dream of when you step on the mat on day one.
- Sam's first watermelon, day 26. - My first watermelon, day 26.
I don't love it. I'll eat it. I don't love it.
You're crazy.
The war is
on pause until tonight.
Breakfast this morning is a peace treaty
for the remaining soldiers to look at each other
and just take a break from the chaos
that is in this game.
I might suggest we get the skillet started here.
- You need help with the fire? - He's got the fire.
In historic Survivor fashion, I come
from behind, I win the fire-making challenge.
I earn my spot in the final three.
But now, the fate of my game
lies in the hands of the jury--
eight people that I contributed
to leaving this game.
Talk about our fallen...
- Oh, yeah. - fallen friends.
Sierra--
first member of the jury,
the most beautiful sunshine on this season.
Gone too soon.
For me, especially.
There's a lot of things in this game
that Sam did that makes him a winner.
Sam is somebody,
once he sets a goal,
he will make it happen.
So, it's, like, I think
he could do that tonight.
-Who's next? - Sol.
-Sol. -He is such a cool guy.
Hey, Mr. Miyagi.
When we met on the merge beach,
we instantly had a connection.
Somebody sent me an advantage.
Yeah.
Here's what I know about Rachel's game.
She got a lot of advantages.
But I do believe
that the majority of it wasn't just luck.
Rachel makes people feel very, very comfortable.
She's an impressive girl.
So, who was after Sol?
- Gabe. -Gabe. Gabe.
Gabe was intense.
The scariest player in this game to me.
He was the only one I confided in.
He was a good guy.
Sue played
an unbelievably loyal game.
That is a very powerful thing in the game of Survivor.
And if Sue wants to get my vote, she needs
to show that her loyalty
was conscious loyalty and something
that she was putting on sale.
-Who went after Gabe? - Kyle.
- Kyle.
A guy who, two seconds
into my first conversation with him, I knew he had to go.
Kyle, safe tonight at Tribal Council.
I will forever
have respect for somebody
who can bust it that hard.
He's got more drive than I think I've ever had in my life.
Sam deserves to win because I think
that he played his underdog
story perfectly.
I mean, he owned being at the bottom,
and he found a way to find a way.
Who was after him?
- Caroline. -Sweet Caroline. - Sweet Caroline.
I knew if your Caroline didn't go
that the three of you would be sitting here at the end.
Sue was the most loyal
alliance partner you could ever have.
Sue played her game the Sue way,
and that's absolutely undeniable.
- Who's after her? Yeah. - Andy. -Andy.
Oh. -Oh, my God. Andy.
He was somebody who seemed like
he didn't know what he was doing out here.
They don't like me.
And the minute that I picked him up, I realized,
"Whoa, you're good."
I wanted to trust Andy, and I, like,
could not for a single moment trust him.
- Okay, can we, like... - Work together?
- Maybe we can work together. - Actually work together?
- For real. - Yeah, let's do it, Andy.
Rachel established herself
as the threat of threats.
She's made history with her ability
in these challenges, and so,
she has to have a really good shot tonight.
-Who's after Andy? - Genevieve.
Oh, that's... Oh, wow.
I feel like Genevieve and I
immediately clocked each other.
I was like, "This girl is smart
and I am scared of her."
Um,
I think she felt the exact same way about me.
Rachel wrapped her hands around
the control that I so desperately wanted
and wouldn't let it go,
which is incredibly impressive.
I want Rachel to stand up at Final Tribal and tell
everyone how much better she is than them.
-And then we have Teeny. - Teeny.
It's apt her name is Teeny because
she is the biggest personality, the biggest force.
So much better at
- this game than I expected. - Mm-hmm.
Sam had to be extremely scrappy.
People did not want to work with him.
He was a pariah at many times in this game.
But he always found a foothold and he always found a way out.
Sam made it to the end by truly
playing the game of Survivor.
Three of us. How far
did you guys realistically think
you would make it coming into the game?
I wouldn't have
come out here and played if I didn't think I could win.
I'm ready to go head-to-head with Sam
and ready to kind of
catch the grenades he throws in my direction
and lob them right back at him.
I would say the same thing.
I thought, like, I would be good at it,
but there's been a lot of times that I felt like,
-"All right, this is the end of my rope." -Yeah.
"All right, this is the end of my rope."
And then I found new rope.
I know that I'm going in
against a heavyweight.
But my story is one
that's rootable, one
that the jury is gonna want to get behind.
Where do you think your turning point was?
- I think you'll find out tonight. - Oh. Oh.
I think we'll have to talk about it tonight.
I am the guy that nobody could get rid of.
The scrappy player of Survivor 47.
And all of the lows that I've been through in this game,
all of the fighting is worth it,
'cause I've got a shot, and I know I've got a shot.
This is my one last chance
to give myself
my birthday gift that I've been wanting to give myself.
I know that Sam and Rachel are up there high-fiving.
Those two feel that they're one and two
and I'm just gonna be the goat, but everyone
underestimated me.
I downplayed myself the whole time and I fooled them all.
I'm still coming in with the mentality of an underdog
because that's when
I perform my best, is when I am
backed into a corner and my only option
is to kick ass.
Going into Final Tribal Council
is a lot like going into fire-making.
I'm the underdog and I might look dead,
but you never know
when I'm gonna strike that last second flame.
Tonight, I'm not just hoping for fire.
I'm hoping for fireworks.
I do not know what name I'm writing down tonight, and
if I don't see someone own their game
like they're cooks, they're not getting
this million dollars.
You need to explain
how you executed your strategy.
It's not gonna just be given to anybody.
I want them to be sweating
when we're asking these questions tonight.
This season is gonna
come down to the wire.
Tonight is gonna be
a verbal bloodbath.
All right.
Welcome to your Final Tribal Council.
Congratulations. This is as far as you can go.
You survived every Tribal Council you attended
and you made it to the final three.
And now it's one of the most unique aspects
of the Survivor format.
The power shifts from
the players in the game to the players
voted out of the game. It is the jury
who ultimately decides
who will win any season of Survivor.
Tonight, they're going to be asking you questions.
They're looking for information.
This is your final test.
You got to figure out
"What is it they want to hear from me?"
Jury, I'm gonna give you a minute
to gather your thoughts, and we will get started.
All right.
Let's get to our Final Tribal Council.
Jury, who's gonna get us started?
-Uh... - Think I'll kick it off.
- All right, Gabe. - I think Gabe will. - Gabinator.
So, first and foremost, a very, very big congratulations
- to all three of you. - Thank you.
You accomplished a remarkable milestone in this game
just by sitting there, and I really hope that
you're proud of yourselves. With that being said,
I will kick it off with the first question,
and we'll start with Rachel
and we can just go down the line.
How do you think-- not hope--
how do you think your game will be remembered?
And is that even important to you?
Um, I think my game
will be remembered as...
someone that fell on their face pretty hard
and had the ability
to adapt and go from
the most underdog, the most left-out person
in this entire room to
someone that became a threat.
And as much as that does matter,
I didn't come in trying to have a Survivor legacy.
I came in to play Survivor. So,
no, I don't really care
how I will be remembered.
Uh, I think my game
will be remembered as scrappy,
a guy who never gave up on himself,
found a way using creative strategy,
social adaptability,
using some charm, using some humor,
using some self-deprecation
to get himself to the end.
And it does matter to me
how my game is remembered.
I want to leave feeling proud of myself,
and other people are...
You know, admire me, in a way.
- Thank you. -Yeah, so,
something that's very important
that I need to share with all of you is that
today, back home, is my birthday,
and I'm not in the 40s.
- I'm actually 59. - Oh.
- Wow. -So, if I were to win,
I will go down in history
as being the oldest woman
to ever win Survivor.
And my legacy is that
I get to have my grandson,
who's five years old,
see his grandmother make it
all the way through this whole entire game
being truthful and honest, and I want to teach him
that loyalty is something
that can make good guys finish first.
Sue, I definitely agree.
Your game was, like, all about loyalty.
- Yeah. - So, do you view lying and deception
as negative traits in someone's Survivor game
- and as sort of anti-loyal? -Oh, no, not...
I expected all of that.
Look, I'm not dumb. You know, like,
"Tweedleydee," whatever, but you know, like...
"Tweedleydum"-- that's not me.
So, I won't judge anybody for who they are.
I just know I have to judge myself.
- All right. Caroline. -All right.
So, I would love to hear
what you believe is your biggest mistake in this game
and how you recovered from it.
- Let's have Rachel go first. - Sure.
Then Sam, then Sue.
So, I started this game not on a good footing.
I miscalculated and I didn't understand
how much game was going on around me.
And then we hit the merge.
You all voted out Sierra. I was like,
"Oh, my God, what is going on?"
And I decided to course-correct
and completely change my game.
I tried to build bonds with Lavo
and I tried to reconnect with Andy
and I had a relationship with Sol
and I started trying to cross-check everything.
I even snuck up on people.
The night of your vote-out,
Caroline's vote-out,
Genevieve, Teeny, Andy and Sam--
they just went to the beach.
And I followed them down there and I laid under a bush
and I listened to their entire conversation.
I found out that they were all completely against me,
that Genevieve had an idol,
that Teeny told them about my advantage
that I got from the journey, that Andy had flipped.
That entire conversation is a ruse, though.
Like, that was already a premeditated...
But to push back on that, you know,
I did reveal that she had a Block a Vote Advantage, which
- does reveal that I was against her. -Which we are...
And if I hadn't known that, I would not have known
about the next day to play by idol.
Okay.
- Sam? -Yeah. Uh, I think
my biggest mistake in this game
was not tying up loose ends.
Things like throwing Andy's name out
as a potential hinky vote ended up
losing me a lot of trust with allies.
But I learned that
this group of people loved sharing information
and I pivoted to kind of try and
weaponize it a little bit.
Things like a fake idol that I can make with Genevieve
and leak information to Teeny
can then help me make a strategic play
that flips the game and taking you out of it.
I just want to ask a follow-up on that.
When you chose to reveal that information to me
and I brought it to Rachel and Sue,
-Right. - they did not believe you.
Further, in a way...
- Right. - that didn't really matter at all.
- To us. -Well, it mattered because I didn't
- want Teeny out of the game. It was important -Right, I'm s...
to my game to get Genevieve.
Me too. I'm saying that, like, even if it had been real,
it would have decoyed on you,
- which was also fine with us. -Sure.
Yeah, we would... It... We didn't think twice about it.
I think I have enough
from that, thank you. Sue?
So, Andy,
I say this with the deepest of love.
- Uh-huh.
You lied to me three times
and you blindsided
sweet Caroline.
So, believing you a third time--
that was my greatest mistake.
Awesome.
Satisfied, Caroline?
- Yes. - Sol, get in on this. -Yeah.
So, as a fan watching this game on TV,
you know, I have criticism to give players
and I'm like, "What a stupid move. Why would you do that?"
And when you come out here
and play you realize that
watching it on TV, you don't know ...
And so, for Rachel,
here's what I believe to know about your game.
I gave you the Safety without Power vote,
which saved you in the game.
You found an idol clue in the French fries.
You had a Block a Vote,
and you made a historic run with
the immunity challenges.
Give me one thing
that I don't know about your game
that will blow my mind.
I think final six, when I knew I was in trouble,
I don't think I could have played that idol
any more effectively.
Having every single person in the game
sell your game to the jury for you
without you actually leaving the game-- that was something
that I've never seen on Survivor.
That was something
that I'm really proud of that I pulled off.
Okay, so, a follow-up to Sam.
Eulogizing Rachel-- it backfired on you.
So, my response to Rachel...
I was very intentional with the idea
of elevating Rachel's threat level.
I had to gas somebody up
in front of everybody else so that
nobody's looking at me, everybody's looking at Rachel.
So, I was able to navigate the game
without the protection of an immunity necklace.
I was able to put another threat above myself.
Think the problem is you didn't take the threat out.
Saying you can't beat someone
in front of the jury and then going to the end with them
is not a strategy that I think is a very smart one.
But you made it clear you wanted me out when you helped Teeny
at fire all day yesterday
and told me you didn't want to help me
because "I need Sam out of this game."
I would rather have Sam
- out of the game than Teeny. - And that's... I mean...
And I would have rather not sit next to you.
But sometimes people win immunity challenges.
It didn't go perfectly,
but didn't go perfectly for anybody else sitting here.
I'm all set, Jeff.
Andy?
My question is for Rachel.
Rachel, Rachel.
Andy, Andy.
I really believe that we are the two biggest
superfans out here, so,
I know that coming into this
that the likes of
Mike Holloway and Ben Driebergen
are not highly ranked
- on your winner list. - Yeah.
- They're not, personally, right? - No.
But here you are, the challenge beast.
You were, in my opinion, better than Kyle, who's amazing.
-You run the analytics on it.
It's better than Kyle's.
You are the idol-finder, and
we all know you would be the fire-maker
if you needed to be.
And you have the worst voting record
of this final three.
- Yeah. - And so, if you want my vote tonight,
you really have to reconcile this.
Yeah, you're right, that
being Mike Holloway in this game
is not how I ever saw it happening.
I came into this game thinking that
my social prowess
would allow me to maneuver strategically,
but I couldn't convince other people
to do my bidding like I hoped I could out here.
It just forced me to find
a different way to play the game,
like winning immunity. And yet,
I had a final-three deal with Teeny and Andy.
I had a final-three deal with Caroline and Sue.
And I brought all of us together because I was like, "This five--
this is my best option to protect myself,"
if I couldn't go on this crazy immunity run.
I think Rachel said it well when she said
she couldn't get people to do her bidding anymore.
She lost a lot of strategic agency
and social agency, which was
the entire purpose of elevating her threat level
and taking out one of her numbers.
So, I don't think she can reconcile. It was
immunities and an idol in fries
that got her to the end of this game.
I think it's easier to say that
from your perspective, where people weren't totally
- targeting you because you... - I got-I got voted for
more than anybody here. I'm the only one in the game
that never voted incorrectly.
I was voted for at four different Tribal Councils
and received a total of ten votes throughout this game.
And I was somebody who you said, multiple times,
I need out of this game as a threat.
Sierra?
Sisi. -Rachel and Sam,
I played my game
the closest with you both
and really got to know you on a personal level.
And we discussed times at home
when we hit rock bottom
and how you overcame that rock bottom.
I really just want to know how you
translated that in the game. When you hit a low,
what did you do to overcome that low, and, you know,
how does that reflect, like, why you should be the name
I'm writing down tonight?
-Yeah, I... Oh, sorry. -Sam, if you want to take the l...
Yeah, I think I...
I channeled the joy that I knew was on the other end.
Uh, like, the thought
of watching an epic, fire-making duel with my parents,
the thought of hearing
my fiancée's voice in my head telling me, like,
"Don't you dare give up on yourself." You know?
Um, and I thought of
being a six-year-old kid watching Survivor
and telling myself and everybody around me,
"I'm gonna do that one day.
I'm gonna be that one day."
And I thought of letting him down, you know?
And I think that continually fueled me
when I felt like I was at my lowest moments in this game.
And it's why I continued to surprise myself
and did some things that I didn't expect
to achieve out here.
I really appreciate that, Sam.
- Thank you. -Yeah.
Um, my rock-bottom day on this
entire journey was the night you went home,
when I went back to camp
and was like, "I have no one in this game."
And I just channeled my husband Derek.
He wrote me this note before I came out here that said,
"Any of this pain that you feel is temporary
"and you just need to trust your instincts
and I know you can do this."
I was channeling him
in everything that I did and it just kept working.
And in my everyday life,
I've had a lot of personal accomplishments,
like, in my career, in my life,
and I don't
ever own the things
that I accomplish.
And I knew that coming in tonight,
the hardest part about sitting here
would be, like, owning my game, truly, and just being like,
"I am proud of this game that I've played."
And that's what I'm hoping to bring home with me.
Like, I look at my husband and I see
the most talented artist I've ever met.
And yet he doesn't have that much self-confidence.
And it's really hard for me to look at him and see that.
And then I realized that, like,
that's probably also what I'm doing, you know?
And so, I think that I will take that home with me
and I hope to be able to share this with him.
And that is something that I think will affect my real life.
And Sierra presented
that question to you two because of
the personal relationship that she had with both of you.
And, you know, I had a very personal relationship
with Sue out here,
and I'd like to hear her answer to that question.
So, I-I found that when I hit my low,
I actually found the strength
to share with my tribe.
And even Kyle-- like,
you hugged me and you held me.
That compassion you all gave to me
gave me so much strength, knowing I had support.
I'll forever be grateful for the kindness
that all of you gave to me at my times of weakness.
All right, so,
jury, great job.
Sue, Sam, Rachel,
I'm gonna give each of you one final chance
to address the jury. They've done a really great job
of giving you a chance to defend your game.
These are your last words to them before they vote.
Sue?
So, at 59 years old,
I came in here and I was pretty much
of a beast in my own right.
I actually won the bucket challenge
and I could have outlasted the two gentlemen
that were there as well.
- Yes, I could have.
You were struggling, Kyle.
You went head-to-head with me a couple times.
-Yeah. - We've seen how that turned out.
Well, but again, as a 59-year-old,
I beat all your asses, right?
- I found the Beware Advantage.
I stayed loyal to the people I wanted to go to the end with,
and I did get out the people I needed to get out and, um,
I would love your vote.
Sam?
I did not play a perfect game by any means,
but I think my game was the most well-rounded,
adaptable, dynamic
and creative game
of the three people sitting up here.
Social and strategic resilience,
creative gameplay.
I found a way to take control of the game
without raising my threat level.
I found multiple pathways to get to the end
without relying on winning immunity necklaces
or buying the right item at the auction.
So, I believe that if you're looking for the player
that outwitted, outplayed and outlasted,
despite being counted out multiple times,
I deserve your vote tonight.
- Rachel? - I believe that I am sitting here
with the most dominant game of the three of us.
There were two advantages and one idol
in the post-merge, and I controlled all of them.
And that wasn't just through luck.
It was through social connection.
It was through stealthiness.
I had to get an idol when everyone was at camp,
and then I had to play it in
a incredibly large fashion
that I feel like made a huge statement.
I won four immunities
and I tied a record
and I'm really, really proud of it.
And so, I sit here pleased
with my game and my story,
from going from a super underdog to a big dog.
And I hope I get your vote.
All right, jury, great Final Tribal Council.
You asked a lot of thoughtful questions.
You gave the final three a chance to defend their game
and you gathered a lot of information in the process.
I'm gonna give you a moment now to take it all in
and then we will vote.
All right, well, this is the only time in Survivor
when you want
to see your name on the parchment.
For the last time,
it is time to vote. Sierra,
you're up.
Oh, my God.
I'll go get the votes.
Uh-huh.
Well, we've done this 47 times.
And it's different every time
because of the players.
Sue, Rachel, Sam,
you played three very different games,
but it got you here. The question is
did it earn you a million dollars?
We're about to crown a winner
of Survivor 47.
I'll read the votes.
First vote:
Rachel.
Sam.
One vote Rachel, one vote Sam.
Rachel.
Two votes Rachel, one vote Sam.
Rachel.
Three votes Rachel, one vote Sam.
Rachel.
Four votes Rachel, one vote Sam.
The winner of Survivor 47:
Rachel.
Well, there it is!
We have our winner of Survivor 47.
All it took was 26 days
of living in the jungle, playing the most
complicated game of social politics
that got Rachel a million dollars.
Jury, come on over.
- Celebrate your winner. - Let's go, let's go.
It was a crazy finish.
There were a lot of late-season big moves
that took out of lot of big targets
and continued to flip the game.
So, what we're gonna do now is we're gonna bring in
some champagne, we're gonna bring in some pizza
in the beautiful jungles of Fiji here at
the great Tribal Council. We're gonna talk about it all.
It is the Survivor 47 aftershow.
We'll be right back.
I need a little champagne, too. Let's go.
Aw, thank you.
- Congratulations. -Thank you.
Oh, what a fun season.
Up next...
We have just crowned our newest winner.
- Rachel, congratulations.
Andy, one of the worst starts
- Yes. - in the history of Survivor.
Here's your first look at Survivor 48.
- ♪ ♪
All right, welcome to the Survivor 47 aftershow.
There's a lot of energy. We have just
crowned our newest winner,
- Rachel. Congratulations.
Your name will now be forever
a part of Survivor history as you join
a very special list of people who've won this game.
Your name is also about to be written down on a check
- Oh, my God. - for a million dollars.
-Oh, my God. -Oh, my God. -So,
I want to exploit a moment. The reason that
I like doing the aftershow
immediately following is because
this is as pure as it will ever get for any of you.
Because you haven't been home.
Nobody knows, outside of this group,
what has happened. You haven't been influenced by social media
and all the criticism that'll come with that
that you don't deserve. So, let's
time-stamp this right now, Rachel.
- You just won Survivor 47. -Oh, my...
You can let it out.
- What is that feeling -Yes.
of accomplishing something
- this difficult to achieve? -I feel like I'm having
an out-of-body experience, because
it's just so surreal that
this show that I fell in love with because I...
the second I watched it, I was like, "I have to do that."
And the biggest lesson I think I walked in with
is I thought I had such a good grasp
of my strengths and my weaknesses, and I think
that this game really flipped that completely on its head,
and yet I was able to just kind of
work with it and adapt to it and-and
land myself here, and I am...
I'm, like, a little bit in shock, if I'm completely honest.
I thought Sam had an incredible Final Tribal,
- and I genuinely did not know -Agreed.
- where those votes were going,
- and I got very nervous. - Well, let's see-- let's talk about the votes.
With the jury, Rachel got all the votes except for one.
- Who voted for Sam? - Kyle.
Kyle, what was--
I know you would vote for yourself.
Kyle, what was the rationale for Sam?
I just-- I really appreciate Sam and I appreciate
where he's headed in life, his sacrifices,
his ethic, the way that he puts himself
in front of vulnerable situations.
This man right here means a lot to me.
He's impacted my life greatly. And I love him for that.
- Cheers.
- To Sam.
And, Sam, I want to echo
what Rachel said, which is
I'm closer to the audience
than I am to being a player, for sure,
and I thought tonight's Final Tribal was riveting.
- Yeah. -So, Sam, when you hear that, even from
the woman who just beat you--
that she said, "I got nervous, that was
a really compelling argument"--
does that give you a sense of pride
even though you didn't get the votes to win?
Yeah, for sure. I mean, I'm disappointed not to win,
but I knew it was an uphill battle
coming in. Like, I just tried
to come into tonight with the same mentality
I went into fire with, you know?
Come out fighting and give it my best.
I knew I could make a compelling case. I felt like
I played a really good game that I should be proud of.
And I came into tonight, like,
wanting to win but at peace with the result regardless.
And, so, yeah, I'm-I'm blessed.
Sue, I'm gonna give you a little love.
I want to share a statistic with you.
- Okay. - Forty-seven seasons,
24 years, 700-some people have played,
350 have been women.
There have been 21 women over 50.
That's five percent.
Of those, there have only been five
that have made it to the end. That's a little over
- one percent. You were in a very rare group.
Survivor is a tough game
once you're over 40.
- Brutal. Yeah. -And you made it to the end.
- What is that feeling for you? -I just wanted to represent
the people of my generation, to show them that
life doesn't end at 50
or 60 or 70. It's just-- You-you-- you have to
just go for it, and I just went for it.
And I'm very proud of my game.
I'm very proud of what I did and what I accomplished and how
I achieved it and, all in all, you know,
it's been, like, the hardest experience
yet the most beautiful experience,
and I feel like I have a whole new family here,
and I'm really blessed to be here.
Cheers to Sue.
- Aw, thank you. - Badass.
- Sue. - Yeah.
Sue, you were also one of
a few people to find an idol this season.
And the way each of you
- found them was very unique -Right.
Yeah. - to the situation. Rachel,
you buy a burger, get some fries.
When did you know there was something in there?
Did you see it first
or did you reach for a fry and feel it?
I went to reach for another fry and all of a sudden I saw
the piece of paper sticking out of my fries.
And it was, like, half sticking out.
It was, like, kind of obvious.
And I immediately
was like, "Oh, my God."
And I look over and Sol
is staring at my platter.
And I thought you saw it.
- Because... - Oh, I'm just a big burger fan.
I know. And so, I...
Like, at one point, he was just like, "Can I smell your burger?"
And I was like, "Okay, he was staring at the burger.
And I, like, covered it up. It was harrowing.
Andy, I want to go back to the first episode.
- Yes. - Day three.
-Yes. - One of the worst starts
-Yes. - for any player in the history of Survivor.
Und-Undoubtedly.
So, Andy, give everybody else the update.
I was overheated. I-I'm okay now.
-Okay. All right. - I'm okay now. I'm cooled down.
- All right. You feel all right? - Yeah.
Okay. You seem emotional.
Yeah. I was fighting for my life.
I'm on the bottom.
I see it in their eyes when...
they don't-- I crack open a coconut
and they didn't cheer for me.
They cheered for Jon and they...
And then I... I...
They don't like me.
But I don't want to talk about the bad part.
-Yeah. - I want to talk about the recovery,
because anybody watching this season,
when they saw that happen at the challenge,
they said, "He's done, no chance."
I... just
felt the enormity of this opportunity--
in terms of not the game but my life.
And it was, "Hey, like, if you
"stay down
"and if you give up, like,
could you even survive that?"
And so, every single breath I take
until that torch is snuffed should be to find
the will to survive.
And I found
this resiliency
that I could never have imagined.
And it's completely
orthogonal to what I expected to happen, and--
Are we all listening to his word choice
- and wondering what they mean? -Oh, yeah.
- Orthogonal. - Orthogonal? - Orthogonal.
- Orthogonal. - The linguistic...
It's a right angle. It's not...
- An-Anyway... -Of course!
Sam, it's a right angle. Hello?
- I know. - My bad. -My bad.
- Cheers to Andy. Well done. -Thank you.
He turned the worst start
- in Survivor history into - Yeah.
- a life-changing moment. - Yes. Yes.
On that note, quick break. More aftershow right after this.
Where'd my bottle go?
Up next...
I was born the year Survivor came out.
You really impressed me with how you
- carried yourself. - Thank you, Jeff. -Cheers to Teeny!
Plus, later, a first look
at Survivor 48.
Welcome back to the Survivor 47 aftershow.
Let's talk about blindsides.
They're essential to the game. We had a lot
this season. They grew in intensity
and they grew in their impact.
Genevieve, if there was an essential quality--
outside of being able to lie--
that allows you to pull off a blindside, what is it?
You have to prepare,
when you come out to play Survivor,
to experience it all. You can
fantasize about experiencing
only the highs and playing from the top.
But, like, raise your hand
if you played from the top the entire time.
No one. So, be prepared
to be on the bottom.
Caroline, anything you would add to that?
I think another one is being socially aware.
What I personally found to be really helpful with blindsides
is thinking through what is best
for each person's game?
When is it that a blindside right now
is gonna be beneficial for this person and this person
and this person? And that is when they want to strike.
Gabe, did you struggle at all
with the emotional part
and if you didn't, is that because you turned it off
- or you just don't struggle?
Uh...
I don't think I struggle with the emotional part
so much. I-I mean, look,
I-I was able
to come into this game and say, like, "It's just a game.
"I'm coming out here to win the title of Sole Survivor
and to make a million dollars."
So, I knew that I was gonna break some eggs
making an omelet. And that's what you got to
be prepared to do if you're gonna
be a good chef on Survivor, right?
Teeny, you grew up watching this show.
Now you're out here playing this show.
What would you say to somebody who's never gonna play,
"Oh, here's what you need to know in order to understand
why this game is so difficult"?
You know, being somebody who-- I was born
the year Survivor came out. Sorry to age anybody.
- Wow. - But-- Yeah. I mean, like, I've grown up
with this show. And you have to realize that
we're all, at our core, obsessed with Survivor.
And so when you come out here,
you start at the baseline of
we put so much sacrifice into this,
we put so much work into this
and we put so much love
and pressure on ourselves because of this.
So, every single round of the game
is life or death.
So, to have to
overcome that and make hard decisions while you're starving,
while you're stressed out,
while you're unsure of who's lying to you--
it is almost frustrating.
Because I know that nobody
that I ever explain this to will fully grasp
what it is that we've had to do out here.
And I hope that I was able to articulate that well enough.
Teeny, I just want to say, as you mentioned,
you were born, basically, when Survivor started.
Really impressive
to see a young person come out here
and play a game with people-- some of which
are quite a bit older and have more life experience--
and the young person never thinks that's a deficit.
But, being around here for a while,
it is. Life experience matters.
You really impressed me with how you carried yourself.
So, I hope you're proud of the game you played.
- Thank you, Jeff. -Cheers to Teeny!
Thank you. I really appreciate that.
-Teeny chill, Teeny chill. - Teeny, cheers.
Okay, now we have to turn the corner.
- It's hard to say goodbye-- - ♪ ♪
Oh, wait, wait.
Can you hear it? It's calling.
Survivor 48. Your first look
- when we come back.
All right, I want to say thank you to all of you,
and I mean it. And to all the non-jury who couldn't
be here tonight, we love our jobs
on Survivor, we've loved having you on the show,
but every season has to come to an end.
We've been very lucky for a long time
to say there's another one, and there is.
Here's your first look at Survivor 48.
Survivor has been calling me
for a long time.
I just wasn't listening.
I can feel it.
When people see me, they assume
that I'm going to be reading their tarot cards.
But I've led hundred-million-dollar projects
for my company.
My parents would always say,
"You're gonna be the first one sent home." Like,
they came up with the reasons as to why
I would just be, like, the first boot.
I'm too weak. I'm not friendly enough.
Like, I'm weird.
I feel like Jeff was talking to me when he said,
"Come on, apply now!"
He was talking to me. I don't know
if y'all thought he was talking to y'all,
but he was talking to me.
I think this is my time to have confidence in myself
that I can do this. I'm physically fit,
I'm mentally fit,
- um, I'm always--
Whoa! Is that a fly? Okay. Um...
Eh... Uh...
-Go! - Let's go!
These 18 strangers
have answered the call for the adventure of a lifetime.
I know how to play with people.
That is my superpower.
If Mozart's superpower was the piano,
my superpower is people.
They must learn to adapt or they'll be voted out.
You want to know why I have muscles? I drink
so much chocolate milk.
It has the perfect
protein-to-carb ratio.
That's all-that's all chocolate milk, right?
That's right there.
In the end, only one will remain to claim
the million-dollar prize.
I am on the autism spectrum.
But I've always looked at my autism as a gift.
Being a physicist, being an engineer,
playing men's hockey--
this does not scare me at all.
Stop! Medical.
This is a historic moment.
Being a single dad, I'm out here
to walk away knowing that when my kids watch this
I want them to look at me and say,
"I'm proud of him."
I like it!
All right, well, that's it.
If you want to bid on props from this season,
- uh, you can do so.
Proceeds benefit Stand Up To Cancer.
And if you want to be on Survivor, you got to apply.
We'll see you in the spring for Survivor 48.
All right.
- Now we're really celebrating.
Let's get over here and sign.
- Anywhere? Anywhere? -Anywhere you want.
Everybody's got to sign the logo.
I got pens.
Rachel, the winner of Survivor 47.
Captioning sponsored by CBS
and TOYOTA.
Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org