Surviving the Amazon, the Finale: A Model Victory

When they get there, they start picking up various items. Jenna finds something to go around her neck (if my e-mail is any indication, many viewers would like to volunteer to tie it…). Matt picks up something and wonders if it’s a crotch protector. Jenna says it’s too small to be a cup there, “cowboy.” Hmmm. How does she know it’s too small? Inquiring minds want to know. Well, okay, they really don’t. So the final three decorate themselves, paint their faces, etc.

From there, it is off to the final immunity challenge. Rob says it’s the most important one of the game and he’s prepared for anything. It could cost him a million dollars if he’s not successful. Matt, on the other hand, is thinking the opposite. He figures if he loses the challenge, he won’t have to vote either of them out and both will likely take him along. Perhaps it’s time to throw the game. Matthew probably didn’t know this since he wasn’t a big fan prior to being on the show, but that’s exactly what Rich Hatch did in the first series. It worked for him.

Jenna says it’s time for serious players to be in the game. Some might say a serious player should have been in it all along. But she says she really worked hard to get there. She claims not to know who she could beat in the final two, as she doesn’t know what the jury is thinking. Rob burned a lot of people. He may be easier to beat, but she’s not going to stress over it til after the challenge.

And that challenge will actually play out in front of the jury. It will then be immediately followed by Tribal Council, where the winner casts a vote and decides who to take to the final two.

Probst says the challenge is the purest of them, simply based on will. They have to stand barefoot on a narrow wooden perch, holding their headdress above them, with a string of beads on it attached to their neck so they can’t move it too far forward or to the side. If they fall off or the headdress touches any part of their head or body, they are out. Last one standing wins. So, in other words, it’s not just a matter of will, like Probst said – it’s a matter of balance and strength.

They’re up and getting ready. Probst asks if they are comfortable. Jenna says no. He asks if they are balanced. Jenna says no. But she holds on because the challenge starts as the jury looks on. Matt loses his balance on the perch and steps down. Frankly, it looked rather fake. He should have done a better acting job. From the look on Alex’s face, even he seems to think so.

Rob offers Jenna a deal – step down and I’ll take you to the final two. She almost falls in reaction to his question but says no, they’ll fight it out, and then pick whoever. This immediately tells me (and I’m sure Rob as well) that she’s taking Matt. Otherwise there was no real reason not to take the deal. Probst asks Matt if he’s surprised that Rob tried to make that deal. Matt says a little, but he might have done the same. He doesn’t know because he didn’t make it far enough. Oh please. Spare me.

Jenna keeps looking like she’s going to fall, but always catches her balance again. I’d like to know why Rob isn’t trying to make her laugh! Obviously they are allowed to talk to each other, so why not tell some jokes to keep her – literally – off-balance? Ah well. In the end, Rob just can’t keep his balance. He falls and is out. Jenna wins!

Probst asks Rob how he’s feeling. He replies that he did the best he could. He doesn’t feel like he’s in a great position but what can he do now? He adds that Jenna did a great job. Probst moves to Matt, saying he was the first out and wondering if Jenna might say he doesn’t deserve it. He says he did his best and he’s just exhausted from the day. She did an exceptional job, she won, she deserves it.

So, Jenna, what will you base your vote on? She says she will take someone she thinks deserves it, who worked hard and will be good competition. She doesn’t want someone she can beat easily – don’t pick the easy mark, winning is beating the best competition (of course, if you vote someone out earlier, you’ve still beaten them, so that one doesn’t hold up logically). Probst keeps probing. Is she willing to risk $900,000? She says she played well and good competition never hurt. Yeah, right. Tell it to Colby.

So Jenna votes. The vote is read. It is… Rob! Heidi smiles from the jury. Christy smiles. Alex smiles. So Rob is voted out. Dammit, Rob! If you could have just stayed on there a bit longer! The best player of the season gets sent home. (And if you want to know more about why, check out Why Rob Lost.)

So now, says Probst, the power shifts to the jury. The finalists will get the chance to state their case the next day.

Rob gets to have his say first in his final words. He has no complaints and wouldn’t change one thing about how he played. It was the most tremendous time of his entire life. He said he wasn’t going to stop smiling until they put his torch out. And there he is, still smiling!

Back at camp, it’s day 39. Jenna and Matt paint the last number on the tree they’ve used to keep track of the days. Then they add their names.

It’s raining, so Jenna says they decided to write the names in white paint of everybody in the order they had been booted (yeah, your idea, right – what a coincidence that we have a retrospective of this type in every series). They talk about each one briefly, but we get to hear very little. Jenna says it’s closure to a chapter of their lives that will never be fully closed (considering how many of the previous contestants come back again and again, you have no idea how true that is!).