"Survivor: Worlds Apart" (CBS)
Quick Note: Just because the season is over, doesn’t mean the fun is over. Check back for exit interviews with the “Survivor: Worlds Apart” final five. And, be sure to follow me on Twitter (@gordonholmes) for up-to-the-minute news and info.
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Previously on “Survivor: So? So long. Vince? Vamanos. Nina? Ni-nope. Lindsey? Tattoo ta-ta. Max? Meh. Joaquin? Bro down. Kelly? Cop rocked. Hali? Hasta la vista. Joe? No. Jenn? (Expletive Deleted), Jenn. Shirin? Snuffed clean. Tyler? Punted. And Dan? Edited out…
39 Days, 18 People, 1 “Survivor” Blog…
Let’s take a look at the tribe as it currently stands…
The Merica Tribe (wearing purple)
Carolyn – Corporate Executive, 52
Mike – Oil Driller, 38
Rodney – General Contractor, 24
Sierra – Barrel Racer, 27
Will – YouTube Sensation, 41
Alright, let’s wrap this business up!
We start off after last week’s crazytown Tribal with Rodney telling Carolyn that he’s upset with her because she didn’t tell them about her idol. However, Carolyn doesn’t feel too bad about it because they VOTED FOR HER.
Reward Challenge Time: The players will race under a net, then they’ll slide tiles through a target. After that they’ll use a machete to carry the tiles across an obstacle course. They’ll then use the tiles to figure out a combination. First person to open their lock and raise their flag wins time with their loved one and an advantage in the next immunity challenge.
Wait…this is a loved-ones challenge? Oh man…cue the tears…
Carolyn’s husband is out first, adorable…
Mike’s mom is out next. Equally adorable!
We meet Rodney’s dad, and hilariously, Rodney calls him “Bro.” Our Boston buddy also breaks down a little bit which is odd considering this happened…
“My father would see me crying, and he’d be like, ‘Are you bleeding? No? Then get the (expletive deleted) back up. You (expletive deleted).’ That’s how I was taught. There are no tears. One of the guys said that 80% of the people cry on this show. You’re not going to see a single tear out of me.” – Rodney (About Two Days Before the Game Started)
Rodney goes on to explain that his time in the game has helped him get over the death of his sister. That’s awesome. Good for him.
Sierra’s dad is next and he’s even taller than her! A family of giants!
Finally we get to meet Will’s wife. She still thinks he’s cute despite 30-some days in the wilderness.
The challenge starts off and Will has an early lead…wait, what?
Mike’s the first one to complete the tile sliding portion. He’s followed by Will, Rodney, and Sierra.
From there, Mike destroys the obstacle course portion. He figures out the combination and wins reward.
Back at camp, Mike’s mom Deborah is making herself at home. The Texas twosome goes for a walk and Mike fills her in on what’s going on in the game.
In a cute moment, he lends her his Texan swimwear so they can go in the water together. I adore Mike’s mom.
Later on, Mike and Deborah are allowed to spend time figuring out the next challenge. It’s a blindfold maze. She tries to lead him through the maze, but she makes a few mistakes. She feels terrible about this and is worried that she just screwed up his game.
Could you imagine? That’d make Thanksgiving awkward.
Immunity Challenge Time: The players will be blindfolded and placed in the middle of a maze. They’ll have to find four medallions and then the immunity necklace. First person to retrieve the necklace wins immunity.
We start off and there isn’t much to describe except for stumblin’ and a-bumblin’.
Mike is the first one to retrieve a medallion and he maintains that lead throughout the whole thing. Rodney even tries to help Sierra and Will, but it doesn’t matter. Mike wins immunity.
It wasn’t even close.
Quick Aside: I hate the challenge advantages. That was awful and boring.
Back at Merica Beach, Carolyn and Sierra approach Mike about getting rid of Rodney. Mike says he’s fine either way and isn’t writing Carolyn’s name down. But, he doesn’t like that everyone was working together in the challenge against him.
Sierra tries to mend fences and says she’ll vote with Mike. She swears 100% on her father’s love. C’mon, Sierra. Mike doesn’t work with percentages that low.
Later, Mike tells Rodney that the women are targeting him. Rodney counters by saying that Sierra has a better shot of beating Mike at final three.
That night at Tribal Council, Dan looks really annoyed that Mike has immunity.
Mike knows he’s the swing vote. But, he doesn’t trust anyone to get him to the final three.
Rodney says that he swore his vote on his sister’s life. Father’s love vs. sister’s life…yikes.
Sierra says she’s playing hard and she’s been second place behind Mike many times. Probst calls her out, saying she might be pointing out that she’s a threat.
Will says Mike’s out if he doesn’t win the next immunity. Way to keep him on your side there, buddy.
Also, Will says that’s a 150,000% certainty. Now there’s a percentage Mike can understand!
Voting Time: Rodney votes for Sierra, Sierra votes for Rodney, and the rest are secret.
Probst tallies and returns. We’ve got one vote for Sierra, one vote for Rodney, one vote for Sierra, and the fourteenth person to be eliminated from “Survivor: Worlds Apart” and the seventh member of the jury is…Sierra.
Wow…I thought Carolyn was an obvious first boot.
Immunity Challenge Time: Players will untie knots to open a gate. Then they’ll race to the top of a tower to retrieve a key. Once they have the key they’ll slide down a giant slide and climb to the top of structure to retrieve a bag of puzzle pieces. Then they’ll do it again. Once they have all three bags, they’ll have to put together a light tower puzzle. First person to complete their puzzle wins immunity.
Mike gets an early lead, but Will and Carolyn are right behind him.
Will and Carolyn are dragging, Rodney eventually passes them.
Mike is the first to retrieve all three bags. He goes to work on his puzzle. Rodney isn’t too far behind. Carolyn and Will catch up as well.
Carolyn does well with the puzzle, but Mike’s lead was too much. Mike wins immunity.
So, the winner of “Survivor: Worlds Apart” by a vote of seven to one is…Mike.
Before we head to commercial, everyone congratulates and hugs one another. Will, Carolyn, and Rodney even ask to put the necklace on Mike. That’s nice.
Then, Mike treats us to some happy dance! Even better!
Politicking around camp starts with Rodney and Will wanting Carolyn gone because you can’t win the game against a Mama. Ummm…Missy is someone’s Mama.
Mike tells Carolyn that he’s not going to vote for her because his Blue Collar compadres turned on him. He wants Carolyn and Rodney to have to build fire as the tie-breaker. He tells Carolyn that she should start practicing. Lucky for her the tie-breaker isn’t clever impressions.
Like it matters, any combo of this final four will lose to Mike.
That night at Tribal, Mike says he was moved by the others wanting to put the necklace on him at the challenge.
Rodney and Carolyn both appreciate that they’re in danger.
Mike says they’re both threats and it says a lot that they got this far.
Quick Aside: Dan is making so many exaggerated faces that he’s probably going to owe Eliza Orlins royalties after the show.
Voting Time: Caroyln votes for Rodney, Rodney votes for Carolyn, and the rest are super secret.
JPro tallies and returns. We’ve got one vote for Rodney, two votes for Carolyn, and the final vote is for…Rodney. We’ve got a tie.
Tie-Breaking Challenge: First person to build a fire high enough to burn through a rope gets to stay. Loser joins the jury.
We start off and Mama C’s flint breaks six minutes into it. Probst has a back up for her. Eventually Rodney needs a second flint too.
I wonder if those are the flints Wes lost in San Juan del Sur…
Forty five minutes later…ho boy…Rodney finally gets fire…kinda…no…it’s out.
Fifty three minutes later…Rodney gets fire again…and so does Carolyn!
They race to place wood on their fires…and Carolyn wins it!
So, the fifteenth person to be eliminated from “Survivor: Worlds Apart” and the eighth and final member of the jury is…Rodney.
As Rodney’s saying his farewell testimony, he says that he’s going to make Mike pay for making him do a fire challenge.
The next morning, the threesome is greeted by the traditional Day 39 brunch.
Wow…the final three is one from each collar. Hakuna Matata.
They each talk about how their collarness led them to the end. Mike says he has a battle waiting for him. Yeah…too many votes are going to be thrown at him.
That night at Tribal, Joe bats lead-off. He claims his vote is open at this point. He tells Will he won’t vote for him unless he owns his game. He tells Mama C. that she has to show how she outsmarted people. Then, he says Mike has to prove that he did things other than winning immunity.
Joe, he won like a billion immunities. Give him a break.
Hali asks Carolyn if being in the mother role has been a disadvantage. She says she embraced the mother role because everyone was younger than her.
Rodney goes next. He asks Will how he kept things real. Will says that he knew he was going to be the underdog. He tried to make friends and was very giving by sharing his snacks. He says he has a relationship with everyone except Shirin.
Shirin agrees.
Rodney then asks Carolyn what moves she made. She says she axed Tyler because she couldn’t beat him. She also admits that she was one of the few people who voted for Dan. Well played, Carolyn.
Tyler is batting clean-up. He asks Mike about his social game because he feels like Mike became paranoid toward the end. Mike says he wanted to do better socially than he did, but he thinks he failed.
Dan agrees.
Tyler then tells Carolyn that he’s heartbroken because she stabbed him in the back. She says Tyler was her most difficult vote, but “Survivor” makes you do things you’re not proud of if you want to get to the end.
Sierra asks Will which trait he would want that the other finalists have. Will says he likes how Carolyn analyzes things and he likes Mike’s work ethic.
Jenn doesn’t have problems with anyone. She then tells the jury that they’re bitter because Mike did better than they did. She says a vote for Mike proves that the voter is a fan.
Dan goes next. He tells Mike that Colby proved that winning immunities doesn’t win you the game. He claims that Mike didn’t care about the jury. Mike says his biggest regret in the game is losing Dan’s trust. He says he’s sorry and he hopes that they can be friends. Dan thinks that’s the most honest thing Mike has said to him since the auction.
Finally, we get to Shirin. She’s very proud that she was able to stand up to Will during his attack. But, she was very moved that Mike came to her aid. She then admits that she made her first million by the time she was 25. She says Mike doesn’t have her vote, because she’s voting for who played the best game and Carolyn is still in it.
She says Mike is like a howler monkey because he’s loud and will rip you apart if you get in his face. She thinks Carolyn is a hidden stingray who will sting you dead if she needs to. She points out that Carolyn was on the winning side of every vote.
Um…what about the Sierra vote?
EDIT: I stand corrected, Carolyn did vote for Sierra.
Finally, she says Will was a dead fish that they dragged in with their nets.
She wraps it up by quoting Sue Hawk. C’mon, Shirin. You can go more obscure than that.
My Thoughts: I’m still pretty sure Mike’s gonna win this, but Carolyn did a heck of a job.
Voting Time: Jenn votes for Mike, Rodney votes for Will, Sierra votes for Carolyn, Dan bangs his head against the voting podium because he’s soooooooo torn, and the rest will have to wait till we get to Los Angeles.
We meet up with Probst in the City of Angels and he’s ready to read ’em. We’ve got one vote for Mike, one vote for Will, one vote for Carolyn, two votes for Mike, and the winner of “Survivor: Worlds Apart” is…Mike.
Verdict: Lindsey called it. A Blue Collar won the whole thing.
Overall, this season had all of the strategy, backstabbing, and craziness that I love from “Survivor,” but it was overshadowed by some ugliness.
Mike’s a solid winner, but this season will probably end up in the middle of the pack for me.
Power Rankings Results: Josh and I had Mike and Rodney in the right spots for four points. While Reed only had Mike in the right spot for two points. So, the final score is Team Josh: 88, Team Reed: 94, Team Gordon 96. Thanks again to the Broadway Betrothed for being such awesome Power Rankings competition!
Any Questions? Drop me a line on Twitter: @gordonholmes
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