Surviving the Cook Islands, the Finale: Brains vs. Brawn

Her impression is that Yul has been shamelessly working the jury. Is that true? Yul pauses for a moment and then says, “Yes.” She thanks him and says she knows it was tough for him. He can’t contain himself and says the “shamelessly” part caught him but the other jurors are like, “oooooh,” and Candice pauses as well. He says he answered yes first! Candice says she’s going to have to think about it because he broke the rules.

Brad comes up and gives them all kudos. He notes that he had about a 15-second conversation with Ozzy “in my entire life.” What has been the most challenging experience in Ozzy’s life and how did he overcome it?

Ozzy says the most challenging experience in his life would be his relationship with his father. For whatever reason, the man can’t be around and doesn’t want to take responsibility, so he’s always had to make the effort to get to know him and his family in Mexico. To not have his father around… to know that the person who created you doesn’t want you around… (pause for a crying break)… it’s the hardest experience. Whoa, major pity points there for Ozzy, as if he needed them.

Sundra comes up and asks what one thing they have discovered about themselves or life in general from this experience. Ozzy he discovered love (no, this isn’t Billy talking about Candice). He says there is nothing there except for your mind, soul, and body. He doesn’t want to sound like a hippy, but it’s really just about loving and cherishing every moment.

Becky says she was always set by time and schedule, and letting everything go was very scary to her. She has learned to take a moment to herself.

Yul realized a new self-confidence. He came with a lot of fears and self-doubt, and to know he could make it through all the way makes him believe in himself.

Now we have Jonathan. This should be good. He congratulates them and says it was his pleasure to play the game and is thrilled for the three of them, who played hard and played well – and played him! Heh.

He says Yul is brilliant and polite, but polite is half the word of “politic.” So Yul could consider running for office. His future constituents have watched the season – explain to people who would vote for him how telling half-truths, which are also half-lies, keeps in line with his integrity.

Yul says what Jonathan said is absolutely true – he’s done a lot of deceiving in this game and a lot of manipulation (you know, I just don’t think Yul has done quite as much lying as people make it out to be!). But Survivor is a game, he says, and people came in knowing what the game was about. If he were outside the game, he would never do this to unsuspecting people. He has the ability to manipulate people, but if you look at the overall game, he stayed true to the original people he allied with. I gotta hand it to Yul, this was the perfect answer. I just don’t know if the jurors will agree.

Jonathan says Ozzy is obvious extraordinarily talented and can do “almost supernatural things.” On occasion, he has found Ozzy arrogant, with an attitude of entitlement. He acts as if he is a prince. He’s a little uncomfortable giving a million dollars to a 25-year-old kid who has issues of entitlement. So he wants to know how a million dollars will make him a better person and how Ozzy will make the world a better place.

Ozzy says if he had a million dollars, he would go back to school because going to school has been hard for him, as he’s had to pay for it himself. So the first thing he would do is complete a higher education. After schooling, he would like to change the world for the better.

And that’s that. Time to vote. I expect Jonathan to vote for Yul based on strategy. But I think Ozzy will get many of the other votes. Will he get enough? I don’t know. And Becky will be lucky to get a single one.

Jonathan says he admires them all tremendously, but Yul outplayed them all, so indeed that’s how he votes. Parvati votes for Ozzy, saying he’s the ultimate competitor and that the fire he brought to the game captivated her. He played his heart out and totally deserves to win. And that’s all we see.

Probst goes to get the votes, but of course we know he’s not going to show ‘em right away. Instead, he walks off with them and reappears in the Hollywood studio.

Before reading the votes, Probst says to him this has been one of the most enjoyable seasons they’ve had in quite a while. But it comes down to the final three.

Probst reads the votes: Yul (Jonathan’s vote), Ozzy (Parvati’s vote), Yul, Yul, Ozzy, Ozzy, Ozzy, Yul. Probst draws out this moment as long as possible. The final vote is for… Yul!

Yul wins!

Yul is joined on-stage by his family, who all share a group hug. And then the rest of the non-juror Survivors come in for the reunion, which you can read about right here. But that ends the finale episode, with the reunion to be posted separately.

Woohoo! Actually, I’d have been happy with either Yul or Ozzy winning at this point. Obviously, I’m a huge proponent of strategic play, but Ozzy dominated the challenge aspect of the game, and that cannot be ignored. He kept himself alive in the game, but I think the jury probably gave it to Yul because Yul not only kept himself alive, but wrapped the game around him and his intentions. I have to say I was glad to be proven wrong – that it wasn’t a fatal move for Yul to eliminate Jonathan when he did.

All in all, an excellent season.

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