Survivor: Brains, Beauty, Brawn has been one of the most exciting seasons in the history of the show. It does not disappoint with a great season finale. The final four is Kass, Tony, Woo, and Spencer. The season ends with two immunity challenges to get to a final 2 for the first time in a long time. It ends with a mind boggling decision on the vote to get to a final two that resulted in a player losing the $1 million.
First Immunity Challenge and First Vote Off
It comes late but the Survivors get a visit from their loved ones: Kass’s husband, Tony’s friend, Woo’s cousin, and Spencer’s sister arrive. As always, it is a heart warming moment for the Survivors since they have been away from home for 37 days. The loved ones stay for the challenge. The challenge is two parts. The first part is standing on top of a pole and pulling a bucket of water to the top to pour into a cylinder to raise a key. Once a player can reach a key, they can jump off the pole to swim back to the beach to unlock a chest with blocks to assemble a puzzle. The first leg of the challenge is a problem for anyone afraid of heights. Both Kass and Tony are initially intimidated by it. Tony and Spencer jump out to a huge lead as they are the first ones that get to the puzzle. At this point, I assume that Spencer will win immunity again as he has been a challenge beast and great with puzzles. On the other hand, I know Tony has no chance since he is bad with puzzles. However, it is a very complicated puzzle. Combined with the exhaustion of playing for so long, Spencer has trouble completing it. Eventually, Woo gets to shore too to work on the puzzle. At the same time, Kass is stuck on the pole as she is afraid of heights and she is unable to pour the water in the cylinder properly. It is comical relief as Jeff mocks her for her futility. However, she eventually gets the key and makes her way to the puzzle. To my shock, she quickly puts the puzzle together and pulls off an incredible comeback by assembling the puzzle and winning immunity.
With Spencer not winning immunity, it appears to be a foregone conclusion that he will be voted off. However, Spencer takes Tony aside and comes up with a better argument than I could have ever imagined. Spencer notes that Tony will be the next to go. Kass will take Woo to the end because Tony has made big moves and she believes she has a better chance to beat Woo. On the other hand, Woo will take Kass because the jury despises Kass and will vote for Woo by default. Consequently, Spencer promises Tony that he will take him to the end if he wins final immunity. Spencer’s pitch makes a lot of sense in terms of Tony getting to the end. Tony has never won an immunity challenge. Since a puzzle will be involved, it is highly unlikely that Tony will get to the end by winning immunity. Of course, Spencer has the best chance to win the game if he gets to the end. Accordingly, Tony needs to weigh this fact against improving his chance to get to the end. If Tony votes with Spencer against Woo, it will force a tie which will result in a fire making challenge to break the tie. However, Tony plays to win. Accordingly, he elects to vote off Spencer. I was rooting for Spencer. He is a super fan of the show and has been great television. However, I always knew that it would be an incredible uphill climb to win every challenge. He had a good run but it is very difficult to achieve.
On a side note, Tony also reads the powers of his special idol. It allows him to use it after the votes are read but it has to be used by the final 5. Accordingly, his ploy to wear a useless idol, making the other players think they cannot vote for him, is genius.
Second Immunity Challenge and Final 2
The challenge involves navigating a maze to obtain 4 medallions to open a chest to assemble another puzzle. The puzzle is gears that raise a flag. Since Tony has been terrible with puzzles, I know he has very little chance of winning immunity because he will not solve the puzzle even if he gets to it first. As the challenge plays out, Woo and Tony get to the puzzle first. Kass comes right behind them. In the end, Woo narrowly beats out Kass for immunity. I assume that Woo will vote out Tony as he will sweep the jury against Kass. It is the obvious, intelligent move. Of course, Woo is far from strategic and playing with his head. Back at camp, Tony presents Woo with the argument that Woo has played a game centered on loyalty. Accordingly, Woo will have zero chance to win the game if he deviates from his game and betrays Tony. However, Tony does not believe his own argument since Woo will dominate Kass in the jury. It is a hail merry attempt by Tony. Unbelievably, Woo decides to vote out Kass because he wants to face the toughest competition in the final to be consistent with his taekwondo teachings. Immediately, I believe it is a mistake. Moreover, Tony would have had no problem not being loyal to Woo and voting him off if he won immunity. However, time will tell. On the surface, it reminds me of when Colby Donaldson took Tine Wesson to the end in Survivor: the Australian Outback instead of Keith, who was the goat he could have easily beat in the final vote.
Final Tribal Council
The tribal council is about Tony’s lies versus Woo’s lack of play. In terms of Tony, the jury wants him to own up to his moves. The funniest question comes from Morgan. She notes that having men in her back pocket has been a skill she has had in her life. However, she is curious how Tony is able to do it without breasts. He explains how he did damage control and built relationships at camp by taking care of the tribe. Trish is very angry with Tony. Naturally, she is hurt because Tony is her closest ally. In addition, she is a key to his success since she had to clean up his messes when Tony angered his alliance with his blindsides. She is especially livid about Tony swearing on his family members. She is especially upset about Tony swearing on his dead father’s grave since Trish has lost two siblings and would never swear on their graves. She wants to know if winning the game is worth his father. Tony answers yes without hesitation. Of course, I agree with Tony that it is a game. It is not real life. Accordingly, using deception to advance yourself in a game to win money that can help your family in real life is a valid counterpoint. Spencer ends the tribal council by making a pitch to the jury for Tony to win. It is similar to when David Murphy, in Survivor: Redemption Island, made a plea for the jury to vote for Boston Rob [Mariano] to win the game because of his flawless game play. In terms of Woo, Spencer disagrees with Woo’s excuses for playing a passive game. Most importantly, Spencer rips the terrible decision to take Tony to the end instead of Kass, who Spencer describes as the biggest goat in Survivor history. Spencer has a lot of respect for Tony. Tony has played the game hard, found idols, and was responsible for multiple blindsides. As a super fan, he appreciates the great game Tony played and believes it honors the game. Accordingly, he believes it is clear that Tony is the winner.
The Winner and Reunion
Jeff reads the votes and Tony is crowned the winner. He is a very deserving winner. He dominated the game and convinced Woo to vote against his own interests by bringing Tony to the end. Tasha votes for Woo but Tony sweeps the rest of the jury. During the season, Tony has been compared to Russell Hantz with the thought he had no chance to win the game because of his aggressive play. Unlike Russell, Tony is enthusiastic about the game and does not make things personal with the other Survivors. Moreover, Russell is disruptive and rubs the other players the wrong way. Tony built friendly relationships and took care of the tribe in the day to day life. Accordingly, he is likable enough to win. During the reunion, Jeff also asks who the jury would have voted for in a Woo and Kass final. Of course, he would have won unanimously. The straw poll confirms Woo’s million dollar blunder.
Other interesting moments in the reunion include the tension between Sarah and Tony and Jeff Probst’s apology to Spencer. As we know from earlier in the season, Sarah and Tony are cops. Sarah took her badge very seriously and Tony was willing to lie by swearing on his badge. While they talked it out after the game, Tony has attacked her on social media about talking about her badge in post game interviews. Accordingly, the two are no longer on speaking terms. To Sarah’s credit, she put her bitterness aside and cast her vote for the better player during the final tribal council. In the pregame cast assessment, Jeff predicted that Spencer had a 0.0% chance to win the game. Of course, Spencer had a legitimate chance to win the game. Consequently, Jeff admits he is wrong and gives Spencer a letter he wrote back in the Philippines after day 15 to Spencer with the confession.
Overall Season Thoughts
BBB Concept
The Brains, Beauty, and Brawn concept is not the reason the season is great. They did not assemble the cast with those three categories in mind. They decided on the concept after the cast was selected. I still believe the season did very little to conclude on which one trait is most important since Tony exhibited all three. On the other hand, the casting is probably the best of any group of new players in any season. It is the reason the season has been so entertaining and one of the best seasons in the history of the show.
Special Idol
Like most fans, I hate this idol. It is too powerful. It is a terrible idea to put it in the game. It needs to go and they need to never bring it back again. During the reunion show, Jeff blames the idol on Tyler Perry who suggested it to Jeff in a late night text. I do not care who came up with the idea. It needs to go. I am happy that it did not drastically affect this season.
Next Season: Blood vs. Water 2
I am surprised that the show is going back to this concept so quickly. However, I am on board since I really enjoyed the first one. On the other hand, the rumor is that the show is applying the concept to new players. I like the slight change because it will not cause players to be targeted just because their loved one has done very well in a past season. I will be looking forward to another great season.
About Pat Wong
Patrick is a contributor for Rookerville. He is an avid sports fan. Before joining Rookerville, he was part of a defunct New York Yankees message board, NYYankeefans, where he was its top poster and was inducted in its Hall of Fame for his contributions. Patrick is also a passionate fan of movies. He has enjoyed reading movie reviews over the years and is excited about the opportunity to review movies.