The Finale: Deal or No Deal?
Surviving Fiji, the Finale: Deal or No Deal? by David Bloomberg -- 05/13/2007 It all comes down to this! Survivor: Fiji has been getting more interesting, the close we get to the end. And you’d better believe the finale continues that trend. Will Dreamz last long enough to see if he honors the deal with Yau-Man? What are the ramifications if he does or if he doesn’t? Who responds well to the jury? Who doesn’t? And who wins it all? So here we are once again, a Survivor finale. This edition started off with some people complaining it was a bit dull. But the series has really picked up as the season went on, with the last few episodes being among the best ever aired. I expect this to continue right into the finale. Who do I think will win? Well, I’m pretty danged sure it won’t be Dreamz. He has himself in a spot right now that would be difficult to get out of. I can’t imagine Cassandra will suddenly pull out a bunch of strategic planning and make a win happen for herself. Same with Boo. It could be Yau-Man, though the fact that he is vulnerable in the next Tribal Council has me worried. It seems that Earl is the most likely contender at this point. So let’s find out! After a recap of everything that has happened to this point, we join the remaining five contestants as they return from Tribal Council. Cassandra asks Yau-Man if he’s alright, and he says yes. But he tells us it was “brutal” because of all the talk about how he put a target on his back with the truck giveaway. So he ended up using the immunity idol, which was a good thing. Earl, ever the optimist, tells Yau-Man it might have just been a move to flush out the idol because they knew he had it. They don’t know about Earl’s of course. Yau-Man says if he doesn’t win the next immunity, he might have to “borrow” Earl’s. Earl is worried they might try to target him, though, because they know he doesn’t trust them now. The next morning, day 37, Yau-Man tells us once again how he is the biggest target because if he goes now, Dreamz would not have to renege on their deal. So Yau-Man figures he needs to win the immunity challenge. Yup. Earl tells Cassandra he just wants somebody to talk to him. He claims he doesn’t care if they take out Yau-Man, he’s all about strategy and just wants to know what’s going on. He further claims he always said certain people should be in the top five, so he wasn’t going to write down Yau-Man’s name because that would have gone against his word. He says he wouldn’t have told Yau-Man about it, it was up to Yau-Man to defend himself. I don’t think Earl is speaking a word of truth here. Instead, he’s trying to make Cassandra think he trusts them, thus erasing any need for them to target him. For her part, Cassandra tells us she doesn’t see any way Earl is going to cut Yau-Man loose, so basically, she doesn’t believe him either. Thus, she, Dreamz, and Boo have to bond together while they have the numbers. As their discussion is breaking up, Cassandra asks if Earl thinks Yau-Man has the second hidden immunity idol. Earl says he doesn’t think so – they haven’t even seen Yau-Man walking around looking for it. Cassandra thinks he might have just found it quickly, but Earl says he and Boo have been looking around and haven’t found it, so they doubt Yau-Man just got it quickly without anybody notices. Cassandra says if Earl has the hidden idol and Yau-Man wins immunity, they are in trouble. Actually, it’s worse than that, Cassandra. If Earl wins immunity, he has no reason to keep the idol (since this is the last Tribal Council in which it can be used), and so would likely give it to Yau-Man, with the same end result. Time to find out who wins immunity. The final five arrive at the immunity challenge and meet host Jeff Probst. It looks like a big honkin’ maze. Probst explains that indeed it is a “massive, five-section maze” (nearly the length of a football field). Oh, and they’ll be doing it blindfolded. Each of them will wear a uniquely-shaped medallion. They have to run around blindly until they find a key station. There they have to feel for the shape that matches their medallion and insert it into a hole to retrieve their keys. From there they have to find the correct drawbridge, use their key to unlock and lower it, walk over, and move into the next section of the maze. If they get lost, there are guideposts they can feel that help point the way to the keys and bridges. First person to get all five keys across all five drawbridges wins. And they’re off! Boo finds his first key first. Yau-Man is second, Dreamz third. Yau-Man gets to the drawbridge as Earl gets his key. Dreamz steps into the water, so he knows he’s near a bridge. Boo knows he’s near too, but falls into the water. A few minutes later, Dreamz and Boo both have their drawbridges down and are across. Probst notes that each section gets more complicated as they go. Yau-Man has his second key. Boo and Dreamz slam into each other. Ouch. Boo has his second key while Earl is just at his first drawbridge. And where, you might wonder, is Cassandra? Out at the edge of the maze, pretty much the middle of nowhere, wandering around aimlessly. Dreamz has his second key and Yau-Man gets his second drawbridge down. Boo is not far behind. Hey, Cassandra found a key! Dreamz gets to his second drawbridge just as Yau-Man gets his third key. Go Yau-Man! But Dreamz is not far behind, as he gets his third key, and then Boo does as well. Yau-Man finds his third drawbridge. Probst says it’s pretty much up to Yau-Man, Dreamz, and Boo at this point, with Cassandra and Earl “out of it.” Just as he says it, Cassandra takes a dive into the water. Boo crosses his third drawbridge. Yau-Man finds his fourth key, as does Dreamz. Yau-Man crosses his fourth drawbridge while Boo gets his fourth key. Then Boo ends up walking through the water and has to backtrack. Dreamz and Boo get their fourth drawbridges down and cross. Yau-Man finds the fifth and final key, but then runs into a dead end. He finds his drawbridge and lowers it. Yau-Man wins! Hooray! Awesome job! Probst sends them back to camp, saying it “should be a crazy afternoon” as they prepare for Tribal Council. Indeed. They arrive back at camp and Yau-Man is obviously happy that he and Earl are safe. He talks to Cassandra and says he is hoping they can take out Boo. Cassandra sounds a bit surprised and say, “oh, okay,” like she thought she was going to be the target. They high five on it. Yau-Man tells us if everybody plays it straight, it will be Boo – unless Boo tries to make some sort of other deal. Well, somebody on Survivor certainly wouldn’t do that, would they? Yau-Man shakes Boo’s hand and tells him he’s one of the strongest competitors he’s ever met… and Boo finishes his sentence by saying, “that’s why you’re voting me out tonight.” Yau-Man says, “No hard feelings,” and Boo says he understands. Boo tells us after the challenge, he saw the writing on the wall. It said: “Boo, good game, it’s time for you to go.” But Dreamz is certain it’s him. He asks Cassandra and Yau-Man, who both say they’re voting Boo. Dreamz doesn’t sound convinced. Boo pulls Earl aside and recounts a conversation they apparently had earlier in the game, in which Earl said he didn’t want to face Yau-Man in the final two. I can certainly understand that – though little do they know it will be a final three. Boo says he gives Earl the best chance of beating Yau-Man, which means he needs to vote out Dreamz tonight. Earl appears to be considering it, but I think his main problem is convincing Cassandra and Yau-Man to do it. When Earl returns to the others, Cassandra says he has a puzzled look, to which Earl replies that he’s always puzzled at this point. Earl tells us Boo raised a good point and he’d much rather go up against Boo or Cassandra at the end rather than Dreamz or Yau-Man. Dreamz would get the sympathy vote and Yau-Man would get the underdog vote. Next, Boo tries his spiel on Yau-Man, saying Dreamz could definitely win the next challenge and also the vote. Yau-Man agrees, noting it would be a sympathy vote. Boo says Yau-Man could win against everybody else but Dreamz, and offers a deal. Yau-Man tells us the offer is enticing, but he needs one more vote. He talks to Earl and asks if Earl thinks Dreamz will live up to his deal – because if not, they should take Dreamz out now. They arrive at Tribal Council and the jury is brought in. Probst begins the questioning with Dreamz, asking if he is more concerned about somebody who is a physical threat or somebody who could betray you. Dreamz is more concerned about somebody who doesn’t keep their word. Um, you mean like you did to the other three Horsemen? Just wonderin’. Probst says that has to be difficult to navigate at this point of the game, and Dreamz says it’s a game for a million dollars, so sometimes you just have to go with your gut feeling. Earl is asked whether the game should come down to the “most deserving” (whatever that means) or just whether you can beat somebody. Earl says trust goes a long way but at the very end, even if you’re with a close friend, part of you is saying you might not be able to beat them so you might choose somebody else. Indeed, that’s what you should be saying, or else you end up with a Reality TV Hall of Shame Moment like Colby did in the second season. Boo smiles at this comment. Probst asks Boo if people were scrambling at camp after Yau-Man won immunity. Boo says he thinks he was the only one who suggested some things because he thinks Dreamz will be dangerous. Boo continues that he is a better candidate to go to the finals rather than Dreamz or Yau-Man (Earl doesn’t seem to like that Boo revealed that part in mixed company) because Dreamz would get the sympathy vote and Yau-Man has worked hard and not made any enemies. Dreamz has a rebuttal, saying he doesn’t know if this discussion of popularity means they’re back in high school or what, but he tells people his life story to show how far people can make it if they keep trying, not to get sympathy votes. Boo notes that he didn’t say Dreamz was trying to get sympathy votes, just that he will get sympathy votes. Probst wonders if Dreamz is uncomfortable with Boo saying Dreamz and Yau-Man are popular, given that Yau-Man is wearing immunity. Dreamz says at this point, Yau-Man has him as part of his top four strategy, which shows him that he should be there until at least the top four. Probst says it looks like Dreamz is now taking the negotiation and throwing it back on Yau-Man, and Dreamz says yes, pretty much – because otherwise, he gave away the truck for no reason. Boo says it’s probably time to get rid of Dreamz now because that would be the best thing for the others. Dreamz responds that if Boo stays in the game, he might keep winning challenges, and he knows better than to take Yau-Man to the finals. Boo says he doesn’t have any enemies on the jury, but he doesn’t have any friends there either. Dreamz would win by a landslide, as would Yau-Man. So he told Earl and Yau-Man that he would guarantee he will take them to the final two if he wins. Um… OK, let’s do math. Boo would be one of the final two. Two minus one is… one. So, not knowing there is actually a final three, Boo can really only promise one of the others he will take them to the final two. Not sure why he revealed that he promised them both… Before they vote, Probst points out that if anybody has an immunity idol, tonight is the last time they can use it (after the votes are cast and before they are read, of course). With that, it’s time to vote. Dreamz unsurprisingly votes against Boo. Boo returns the favor. And those are, of course, the only two vote we see. Probst tallies the votes and asks if anybody has the idol. Earl, of course, stands up and presents it with a big smile. I doubt there are any votes against him anyway. Time to read the votes: Boo, Dreamz, Boo, Boo. I guess Boo wasn’t convincing enough. He gives handshakes all around, gets his torch snuffed, and then runs right off the set as if he has a hot date. In his final words, Boo says Yau-Man is a strong competitor who will be a hard person to beat; he respects him on many different levels. He thinks it would be funny if Dreamz wins immunity and keeps it, though he doesn’t think Dreamz will break his word. But he expects fireworks tomorrow. The next day, Yau-Man talks to us about what a great accomplishment it is for him to make the final four, especially after the hard times on Ravu. Earl tells us he and Yau-Man have the same morals and values in life and they respect and admire one another, and they know they will be friends for life. The older Chinese guy and the younger black guy friends – it’s like Rush Hour. Heh. All four talk around the fire, with Dreamz saying his fate was sealed when he took the truck. He just wants to show everybody that he is a man of his word, and shakes hands with Yau-Man. Dreamz further tells us that it’s very important for him to win immunity so he can keep his word. Dreamz says he found out it’s a $60,000 truck, and Yau-Man jokes that if he had known how much it was worth, he wouldn’t have been so fast to offer the deal. Dreamz says it’s not just a truck, it was a man giving something to another man because he didn’t have it. It could have been strategy, but it helped him. So his game plan, he tells us, is to give Yau-Man the necklace, and whatever happens tonight, he’s happy. Treemail comes in the form of a bone and a note. They are told that before proceeding to their final immunity challenge (think they know yet that it’ll be a final three, not two?), they will honor the memories of their fallen comrades. They have to row their boat to the mangroves and collect the torches of the others. They will then put the torches on a canoe and light it on fire. Yau-Man says he’s sorry Jessica was the first to go, they hardly knew her. Erica is next, then Sylvia. Yau-Man again says he’s sorry she had to go so early. In voiceover, she says she thought she hid her natural leadership, but her tribe saw through her – that she was a bossy s.o.b. Heh. Gary’s torch is next, then Liliana. Earl picks up Rita’s torch, calling her one of the best moms in the world. Anthony is next, and then Rocky, who voices over that a “straight shooter, like myself, probably doesn’t have any business in this game.” The problem wasn’t that you shot straight, Rocky, it was that you shot off your mouth too much. Lisi’s torch is next, followed by Michelle. Then it’s Edgardo, and Dreamz says he bets he never saw it coming. No kidding. Mookie’s torch follows, then Alex’s. Yau-Man pulls Stacy’s torch, saying he knows she learned a lot about herself and life. Indeed, if my interview with her was any indication, she probably did. Finally, they arrive at Boo’s torch. They put all the torches into the canoe and, well, torch it. They watch from a distance as the canoe burns and all those torches that could have been sold on eBay burn up. The final four then arrive at the immunity challenge. As Probst takes the immunity necklace from Yau-Man, Dreamz tells him, “You’ll get it back.” Probst describes the challenge as saying it will test their threshold for pain and their desire to win the game. They will lie on a plank on their back with their arms over their head, holding on to a wooden handle. The plank is elevated and at an angle. Every five minutes, Probst will increase the angle, thus making it more difficult to hang on. Oh, and water will stream out of a barrel and down the plank making it slippery. When they’ve had enough, they let go of the handle, slide down the plank, and into a pool of water. Last person hanging on wins and is guaranteed a spot at the final Tribal Council – because, as Probst reveals to them now, three of them will face the jury. And they’re… on! They begin at what looks like about a 45-degree angle, and most look fairly comfortable as they are able to hold themselves up without really using the handle. Probst talks about how this is a particularly interesting challenge for Dreamz and Yau-Man because of the truck deal. “With a million dollars this close, we’ll see.” It’s been five minutes, and Probst increases the angle. I guess I was wrong about the angle before, because now it’s at 40 degrees. It was probably 35 before. Cassandra and Earl are already having problems. Another five minutes have passed, so it’s another five degrees. You know, Yau-Man and Dreamz really have the advantage here. Yau-Man is wiry, and Dreamz has the best athletic body for this type of challenge. Earl and Cassandra are pretty much doomed. Indeed, Cassandra is barely hanging on – by her fingertips. She’s trying to pull herself up and not having much luck. Right now, Dreamz and Earl look the most comfortable. But it’s time for another five degrees to be added. Before Probst is even done, Cassandra can’t take it is and drops. Even Dreamz is struggling now. Pain is evident on all their faces, though Yau-Man looks the most comfortable. It’s now been 20 minutes and another five degrees of tilt are added, to 55 degrees. Earl almost goes down but saves himself. Whoops, never mind – down he goes. What did I tell you? Looking at them right now, I don’t think Yau-Man can take it. And even as I’m typing these words, he falls. Dreamz wins! And now we get to find out if he is truly a man of his word. Probst points out he fulfilled part of his bargain with Yau-Man. He won, now we have to see if he hands it over. At this point, I really don’t know what he will do. He’s been talking about how he will hand it over, but that was hypothetical. Now it’s real. He has to decide whether a promise made in a game situation is a true indication of who he is – though there also was a $60,000 gift involved! However, from a strategy standpoint, if he decides not to uphold the deal, he has zero chance of winning. It will show the entire jury that no matter how many times he talked about being a man of his word, when it came down to it, he is not. And he will lose. Instead, Dreamz would be better off trying to convince Cassandra to vote with him against Earl, causing a tie. Let them fight it out with a fire-making challenge. At least that way, he’d have a chance. And if he wins and sticks around, he is in the final three and has shown the jury that, indeed, he is a man of his word. Let’s see what he does. The contestants return to camp and Cassandra asks Yau-Man how he wants her to vote tonight. Yau-Man, apparently certain he will get immunity, says they will vote Dreamz out. Meanwhile, Earl tells Dreamz he really wanted him to get it. And he tells us that Dreamz has an even tougher decision now, because they don’t go down to a final two. That means he could go back on his word and save himself, and have a chance at a million dollars. Of course, as I just mentioned, I firmly believe going back on his word would erase any chance he has of getting that million dollars. Yau-Man, Cassandra, and Earl talk, with Yau-Man saying there’s no guarantee. Earl, however, says Yau-Man has “nothing to worry about.” Mind you, this is the same Earl who told Yau-Man in the last episode that the others weren’t going to target him. Cassandra adds that Dreamz is “a good kid.” Dreamz joins them and Yau-Man requests that if he changes his mind, can he at least not vote for Yau-Man. Dreamz asks why he would say that, and Yau-Man says he knows he won’t change his mind, but he’s “just so nervous.” Yau-Man tells us he thinks Dreamz is a man of his word, but from the very beginning when they brought him into their alliance, he’s thought Dreamz was one of the biggest wildcards. Now, he is in control and that worries Yau-Man. Dreamz tells Cassandra it’s hard to give up a million dollars. Again, it’s not giving up a million dollars. Dreamz put himself in a position where he’s damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t. Yes, he can move up a spot. No, he cannot win. Period. End of story. Earl tells him he’ll do the right thing. Dreamz says he’ll just keep thinking about his kid and that will ensure he does the right thing. But just in case he doesn’t, he’s telling them they’d better both vote for Yau-Man, or one of them is going home. Hmmmm. Dreamz tells us if he gives up immunity, it knocks him out of the game. But after the game, the benefit is that people know he is really an honorable and noble person. Still, it will be one of the most difficult decisions he has ever had to make – one million dollars or keeping his word. Not to beat a dead horse, but that’s not really the choice. He cannot win. Why can’t he see this simple fact? They arrive at Tribal Council and greet the jury. Probst informs the jury that there will be three people at the final Tribal Council. Then, Probst says there is really only one topic to discuss tonight – the deal between Yau-Man and Dreamz. So Dreamz won and is this close to a million bucks – does he start weighing his word vs. the fact that this is a game? Dreamz says he did weigh it out in his head, and this is a game of people lying and deceiving and tricking. But when your humanity side is there, you forget that and try to do it according to your friendships. Probst wants to know where humanity falls in this situation. When he was making the deal for the car, he really wanted the car; now that’s time to pay back, it’s not so easy. Dreamz says it’s not easy at all because it’s a million dollars. At the time, he really wanted the truck, and he still does, and Yau-Man did that for him. But he did it out of strategy. If he gives Yau-Man immunity, Dreamz knows he’s going home. Probst says that seems like a big jump – there are a lot of scenarios that don’t involve him being voted out. Um, no, not really, Jeff. Dreamz says he pretty much knows it, and is prepared for it. Did Yau-Man talk to Dreamz about it and ask where he was? Yau-Man says no, he just congratulated him. He doesn’t think Dreamz needs any encouragement or meddling on his part and he wasn’t going to do any campaigning – he left it to his own volition to decide. As much as several jurors are giving questioning looks at this, I think Yau-Man is right. If he nagged Dreamz about it, it might just turn Dreamz against him. Let Dreamz ponder it in his own mind. What’s Yau-Man’s gut telling him? He says having known him for just a short time, his gut feeling is that Dreamz will live up to his word. He doesn’t say that easily for people. What does Cassandra think Dreamz should do? She says it’s a difficult situation and agrees that it was a gamble. She can’t even imagine being in his situation. Nice job of not answering the question. Did Earl have any discussions with Dreamz about it? He says they all pretty much just left Dreamz alone because it’s such a difficult decision – integrity or the game, what matters to you the most? What would Earl do? He says he never would have gotten himself into the situation to begin with. Probst goes back to Dreamz, asking if his fear is that if he gives up immunity, he’ll be voted out. Dreamz says he knows it. That’s just part of the game. But what they didn’t know at the time was that three of them would make it to the final Tribal Council. That’s what makes everything more difficult. “It sucks, Jeff.” Yau-Man is given one last chance by Probst to say anything he wants to Dreamz. He says, “I hope you’ve thought it over and hope you live up to your word. Whatever you do, you’ll have to live with it.” That is pretty much the best thing he could have said – slam him with the guilt! Before the vote, Probst officially asks Dreamz if he wants to hand over the immunity necklace. Dreamz covers his face with his hands and decides… to keep it. Yau-Man looks saddened while Earl’s eyes about pop out of his head and Cassandra heaves a heavy sigh. With that, it’s time to vote. As Earl gets up to vote, tears begin to form in Dreamz’ eyes. We don’t see any of the votes. Probst goes to tally them, and Dreamz whispers, “I’m sorry, Yau-Man.” Yau-Man doesn’t respond. What can he say? Dreamz just looks miserable. Probst reads the votes: Cassandra, Yau-Man, Yau-Man, Yau-Man. He has his torch snuffed and nobody looks happy. That includes me. Probst tells the remaining three that the power has now shifted to the jury. Tomorrow they will decide which of the three is most deserving of the million dollars. Here’s a hint: It’s not Dreamz! In his final words, Yau-Man says he’s sorry Dreamz did not see fit to live up to his end of the bargain. “Enjoy the truck.” He is very surprised that Earl voted him out today – he must have had his reasons for it though Yau-Man doesn’t understand why. He’s glad he could hold his own and to make it this far is quite an accomplishment that he’s proud of. Upon returning to camp that night, Dreamz apologizes to Cassandra and Earl for breaking his word. Um – wrong people to apologize to, man. Now he’s taking the viewpoint that “it is just a game.” Uh huh. Funny how earlier he talked about how it would show everybody that he’s a man of his word, etc. Now Dreamz realizes that the jury is going to rip him up. Yes, they are. Which is why it really wasn’t worth it to break your word. But Earl thinks the jurors are going after him for turning on Yau-Man. Dude, I think they have bigger fish to fry. Let me say a few words right now on my feelings about this. I have always been a proponent that you do or say whatever is necessary to win the game. When Rob & Amber turned on people they knew who had helped save Amber in Survivor: All-Stars, I agreed with the move. When Colby took Tina to the finals instead of Keith, I disagreed with the move. So then it seems like I should be applauding Dreamz rather than condemning him. However, there are differences here. Dreamz received a $60,000 gift in exchange for his vote. That’s more than just a handshake deal. Dreamz talked about how this would show he is a man of his word, but then, when it came time to show it, he backtracked and suddenly took the “it’s just a game” viewpoint. That’s hypocrisy, pure and simple. And there were other options. He could have failed to win immunity and worked on the others to vote a different way. Or he could have handed over immunity and done the same thing. And in the end, he will not win, as he apparently just realized. So he truly gained no strategic advantage from it, but could have done something strategically and held to his word, thus putting himself in prime position to win. Anyway, now you know my thoughts on the matter. Earl gives us his by saying he was very surprised at Dreamz’ decision. Dreamz claims to them that this is nothing like he is at home and it hurt him to do it. But he knew if didn’t do it, he’d be on the jury “with no chance at all of winning a million dollars.” Guess what? You still have no chance at all of winning. Earl tells us he was pissed and couldn’t believe he was writing down Yau-Man’s name after all they’d been through. He hopes he still has Yau-Man’s vote and won’t hold it against him. Dreamz tells us he has no regrets and thinks he made the right decision. He planned it out step by step and it worked out perfect. Funny, the fact that he was crying might indicate to me that he had some regrets. He tells Earl and Cassandra that he really did plan it out and hopes they respect it, though he doesn’t care if they don’t. He continues with the “it’s a game” claim, and everybody else lied, so why shouldn’t he? Ah, so we do know what kind of person Dreamz is: He can rationalize anything, no matter what he said previously. He went from “I’m a man of my word and I’ll show everybody” to “it’s a game” and “everybody else does it.” Good job, Dreamz, you hypocrite. Oh, and incidentally, I think I was wrong when I said in a previous recap that Yau-Man’s decision to deal the truck was what Probst was talking about in last season’s finale. Obviously, it was Dreamz’ decision to blow off the deal. The next day – the final day on Fiji – the final three discuss how happy they are to be there. The plan is to enjoy the moment. But then they are given treemail that tells them they will be getting gifts from the sky. Sure enough, a plane flies over and drops a crate for them. Earl has to swim out to get it for them. The goodies include eggs, cheese, veggies, drinks, etc. More talk of how excited they are to be there. Yadda yadda. Before they go to Tribal Council, it’s time to burn up everything. They light up just about everything there, from palm fronds to logs to crates. Meanwhile, Dreamz goes on about how being homeless helped him on Survivor and words can’t explain what it’s like to have a shot at a million dollars. Good, because you don’t have any shot at a million dollars! Do you sense I’m a little perturbed at him? Earl tells us he’s proud of himself for making it this far and he’s challenged himself so much in this game. It’s been the experience of a lifetime. Etc. The final three head to their last Tribal Council and the jury is brought in. Probst goes through his usual speech of how the power rests with the jury. They will each make an opening statement, then the jurors will get to address them, and then the final vote. Earl is first. He says hello and that it’s good to see everybody. Dude, it’s not a reunion. He says he played an honest and clean game. He knows there has been talk of rats and snakes, but that didn’t work for him, he didn’t want to be that. So he played “the hard way,” which is just to make the right moves and put himself in the right position so he didn’t have to sacrifice a lot of integrity. He says nobody ever wrote his name down to be voted off and he never had to win an immunity challenge. Good points. He thinks that shows he played a pretty intelligent game. Referring to what Boo had said previously, he says he doesn’t want the sympathy vote or the underdog vote, he wants the respect vote. Cassandra thanks the jury, saying she started the game pretty slow but she wanted to make sure throughout the game that everybody had somebody they could come talk to and befriend. She was fortunate enough to get with an alliance and stay firm. As I listen to her, what I hear is, “Earl carried me.” She’s hoping people can respect that she always stayed positive and she hopes they can all still be friends. Wow. That was a really bad opening statement. Time for Dreamz. He says he is going to get to the point. He is sure everybody knows his life story because he opened up to everybody just to see who opened back up to him. He likes getting to know people, and those who he got to know all know everything about him, including what he would do with the money. He hopes they vote to help him and his life, and other people. Not terribly convincing. Time for the jury to address the final three. Michelle begins by asking what they think was the biggest hardship or obstacle they were faced with. Dreamz says sleeping with the dirt and starving were really nothing to him because he grew up having to do that. The hardest thing was thirst. Wrong answer – his answer should have been that the hardest part for him was breaking the deal with Yau-Man, which would have given him an opportunity to explain why he did it. Cassandra says the biggest obstacle was overcoming her inability to swim. Michelle asks if she thinks her fear of water earned her a million dollars. Cassandra says the combination of her fear of water and opening herself up to everybody and forming an alliance – which was also an obstacle for her. Horrible answer. Earl says as the only original Ravu member in the final three, everybody on the jury who was ever at Ravu knows about suffering. No water, no food, but still pushing yourself. Then he got sent to Exile Island! He thinks he suffered more than anybody, but he got through it. Earl has Michelle’s vote. Edgardo is next, asking Earl how he found out who on the Four Horsemen alliance had the hidden immunity idol. Earl answers simply, “Dreamz.” Edgardo says, “That’s it,” and sits down. Earl has Edgardo’s vote. Mookie congratulates the three of them and then asks Dreamz if he told anybody about the immunity idol Mookie found. Dreamz says yes. “Would you consider that betrayal?” Dreamz says no, it’s lying. Mookie continues, saying it’s not betraying his alliance? Dreamz says if that’s what he considers betrayal, then it’s betrayal in his eyes, but to Dreamz, it’s just a lie, a con, deceit. To help out, I just looked up “betrayal” on Dictionary.com. It provides the following definitions as the top four: “to deliver or expose to an enemy by treachery or disloyalty” and “to be unfaithful in guarding, maintaining, or fulfilling” and “to disappoint the hopes or expectations of; be disloyal to” and “to reveal or disclose in violation of confidence.” It seems to me that Dreamz did all of these. So, yes, Dreamz betrayed the Four Horsemen alliance. Mookie finishes by giving a word of advice to the final three: Tonight is not the time to lie or get caught in a lie. Earl has Mookie’s vote. Alex asks Cassandra to describe the moment that she grappled the most with maintaining her integrity. She says the biggest struggle was in the beginning of the game when she walked in on a conversation Alex was having with Boo that involved her and she had to decide if she was going to stay and listen or walk away. Alex plays attorney by following up and asking her to describe the conversation. She says it was about whether they were going to eliminate her or Dreamz. Alex says one of two things is going on. Either she’s lying to him right now and that was not, in fact, the moment she struggled with most; or two, she cared very little for Stacy, took her, comforted her, nurtured her, only to use her vote and discard her when she was no longer of any use to her. Cassandra says Alex has the situation wrong and hopefully Stacy can clarify it. Alex cuts her off in a very lawyerly way, saying, “Stop. I get to talk.” Cassandra fires back, “You didn’t let me finish.” Alex says it doesn’t matter and he has enough information. She says no, she wants to respond. He acts like a total ass and tells her to stop talking. Does she understand? Should he have Edgardo say it in Spanish? She obviously can’t believe he’s talking to her this way. I’d have told him to go **** himself. Alex moves on to Dreamz, saying Dreamz had specifically said his goals are to help kids. So explain how cheating, lying, and backstabbing to succeed would make a good role model to the kids the two of them are trying to help. Dreamz says it’s part of the game, not part of the real world. “This game is based on cons, lies, and deceit.” In the real world, if you do that, you pay the consequences. I would suggest that you also can pay the consequences for that on Survivor, as Dreamz will find out soon. Alex says he would wish Dreamz luck, but unlike Dreamz, he’s a man of his word, so he doesn’t wish him any luck at all! “You can’t hide from karma forever, ‘my friend.’” (Yes, he put the last two words in air quotes.) Earl has Alex’s vote. Lisi does “eeny meeny miney moe” and replaces “tiger” with “liar” as she points to each of them. She ends on Cassandra and asks to see her water shoes. Lisi says they are the worst looking water shoes she’s ever seen, which tells Lisi that Cassandra was completely unprepared to play this game. Would Cassandra agree? Cassandra says no, it’s day 39 and she’s still here, her shoes are still here, and she doesn’t see the relevance in the question. What did you expect, it’s Lisi! Her accusing somebody else of being unprepared is like a lake accusing a river of being wet. Lisi says she brought up the shoes because Cassandra was in over her head. This earns a confused look even from Jeff Probst! So Lisi is thinking Cassandra made it 39 days because of greed. Wha? Greed is what fueled everything, does Cassandra agree? No, though she’s not surprised to hear that comment from Lisi. Heh. Her reason for being on the show was to prove things to herself. So greed never propelled her? No. What did? Her love of the outdoors? Cassandra says winning the million dollars, like everyone, and Lisi gives an “aha!” Cassandra says they’re all here for the million dollars. I’m thinking that wasn’t the best thing to say. Cassandra may have actually just gotten outsmarted by Lisi! Yikes. Lisi moves on to Dreamz, asking how many zeroes there are in a million. He says six – enough to keep somebody’s life good and help a lot of people. Lisi asks him to repeat it and he starts to repeat the second part, but she wants the number of zeroes again. He says six and she looks to the jury as if for confirmation because she’s not smart enough to know the answer. Well, that’s my read on it, anyway. Dreamz tries to ask her a question back but she says no, she’s the juror and this is her game, just like he played his game. Moving to Earl, Lisi says when Yau-Man got voted off, Earl “did a whole show for the jury.” He gives her a questioning look and she says yes, that was one of the looks he gave. She wants to know why he looked so shocked when he voted Yau-Man off. Earl says he was shocked when Dreamz broke his word. That put him in a situation and he voted Yau-Man out. He couldn’t believe it – the person who had gone through the whole game with him was going. Lisi points out that Earl could have voted off Cassandra, and Earl says they’re at that part of the game where he had to make a choice, and it was a smart choice. Lisi says it’s amazing how “smart” becomes interchanged with lying and manipulating. Like Lisi has any idea what “smart” means. I have no idea who has Lisi’s vote, because she’s a total wack-job. Stacy’s turn. She says the only real difference she sees between him and Dreamz is that Earl is a little more sophisticated. He’s college-educated and will land on both feet when he leaves the game. For Dreamz, it could change his life. She wants to know how she should base her vote. Earl says they wouldn’t be there if they didn’t all need a million dollars. A million dollars would change Dreamz’ life, Cassandra’s life, and his own life. He’s not going to feel bad because he has a job and a car. He had a tough upbringing and he worked hard. He was raised by a single mom, there were drugs and violence in his family. So it shouldn’t be based on need, just how they played the game – because they all need it. Well said, Earl. Rocky asks them each to answer how they manipulated the best. Cassandra says she listened to people when they really needed somebody to listen to and give positive feedback. She’s not answering the question and Rocky interrupts to tell her so. He gives her one more chance and she says she doesn’t feel she’s manipulated anybody. He cuts her off and moves to Dreamz. Dreamz says, “I manipulated my way to the top,” and every time he was on the chopping block, he turned it around. He manipulated Yau-Man (Rocky interjects, “obviously”) into keeping him around. Rocky looks at Cassandra and tells her, “That was an answer.” Oooh, slam. Earl says he manipulated everybody up there because nobody thought he was even playing the game. Well, we don’t know for sure who has Rocky’s vote, but I guarantee it’s not Cassandra. I’d bet on Earl. Boo begins his questioning by tipping his hat to Yau-Man, saying by far he was the best all-around player. He relied on Dreamz’ word, and Dreamz didn’t come through. Boo says you can’t make a promise in your heart and then change it. Dreamz interrupts to say it wasn’t in his heart, but Boo says he’s speaking. And I think Dreamz is full of crap anyway, because he said what he said to the cameras, and it sure looked like he was saying he would stick to his word because that’s who he is. Boo asks Dreamz if he was playing Yau-Man when he made the deal or if he, “as a Christian,” came back later and decided it was his chance to play the game. Ooooh, ooooh, I know. Number two! But Dreamz says he came to play the game. He started getting new friends, which messed with his mind. It took his mind off the game. He blathers on a bit and brings him back on point by asking again if he, as a Christian man, was playing the game when he took the truck deal. Dreamz says Boo doesn’t know what was going on inside Dreamz’ mind, and he did it because he was playing the game. He asks what everybody else would have done in his position – would they have given up the chance for a million dollars? Boo says it was a good try, but he still sees straight through it. He believes Dreamz is “an immature Christian” and hopes that one day he will “be a strong Christian man” who can tell the Devil to dangle all the money you want in front of him, but he is not for sale. Alrighty then. I think it’s safe to say Earl has Boo’s vote. Time for Yau-Man to step up. This should be fun. He begins with a personal statement, saying that being a 54-year-old man, he has the advantage of not having testosterone overload to poison the brain. So he can admit to a mistake. What happened yesterday was entirely Yau-Man’s fault, he says. The truck was given to Dreamz in good faith, so he should enjoy it and not feel guilty about having it. Wow. That would make me feel even more guilty if I were Dreamz! Now he’s going to give Dreamz “a chance to have the gonads to stand up and say why you changed your mind.” Dreamz claims he didn’t change his mind – he was playing a game. It’s outwit, outplay, outlast, and he did that. He’s sorry that Yau-Man was the victim. So when he accepted the truck, Yau-Man asks, he was playing Yau-Man at the time? Dreamz says Yau-Man knows it was a game and Yau-Man himself was playing it hard. “So you are not going to admit you changed your mind?” Dreamz says he would admit it if it were true. What utter BS. Yau-Man turns to Earl and asks him why he didn’t want to take Yau-Man to the final three. Earl answers simply, “because I would not win. Because you played the best game by far.” Earl has Yau-Man’s vote. So I think it’s pretty clear that Earl has won, likely by quite a margin. I don’t expect Cassandra to get a single vote. Dreamz might get one. But I doubt it. This could be the first unanimous vote in Survivor history! Time for the jurors to vote for a winner. We see lots of voting, but none of the actual choices being made – which only leads me to further believe it could be unanimous. Otherwise they certainly would have shown the one non-Earl vote, right? Probst gathers the votes and tells everybody they will be revealed back in the U.S. He walks out of Tribal Council and, poof, we’re in New York City! Probst wants to get directly to the votes. Time to read them: Earl, Earl, Earl, Earl, Earl! Earl wins! He is immediately embraced by Cassandra and Dreamz, and then his entire family when he goes into the audience. Probst verifies that indeed, Earl received all nine votes, meaning for the first time in Survivor history, it was a shutout. And a shutout against two opponents! I’m happy that Earl won it. I’d have been happier if it had been Yau-Man, but Earl was definitely a thinker and a strategizer. There was a reason I dubbed the core alliance as the Earlliance – he was the man with the plan. Cassandra was a hanger-on and, I’m sorry, but touchy-feely stuff isn’t going to win over a jury. And as I said (and said, and said, and said), Dreamz blew any possible chance he had by screwing over probably the most-liked and respected player in the game.