Surviving the Gabon Reunion: The Million-Dollar Cookie and Fire-Making Challenge

By now, you’ve undoubtedly read both Part 1 and Part 2 of the Survivor: Gabon finale. Host Jeff Probst announced that Bob won and all was right with the world (in my opinion, anyway). The rest of the cast who wasn’t in the finale joins everybody else on stage and Probst says now we will find out how Bob made the “beautiful fake idol” and will answer the question of whether Crystal is really an Olympic gold medallist. Ha! Also, have Sugar and Corinne made up? I’d bet my house against that one.

Coming back from commercial, we see a few Bob-related scenes, including him not being picked at the tribal switch and Probst wondering if he’s a “diamond in the rough.” He tells us his strategy is to be needed, and Corinne having him around is definitely good, but she’s not looking to take him to the end. Indeed. Bob wins five straight challenges! Etc.

And now we’re live! We’re reminded that Bob is the oldest winner ever. So what was his key to doing so well? Bob says he tried to be necessary and friendly and play the game. He’s clearly overwhelmed and can barely talk.

Did Bob have a game plan coming into the game? Hey, Probst is stealing my standard opening interview question! Bob says his plan was to fly under the radar as long as he could, be necessary, and be liked.

How important was the “amazing fake idol”? Bob says that saved his place in the game. He knew he’d be taken out, but they traded for Randy. “Sorry, Randy.” Heh. How did he make the idol? Bob says he collected beads and other items. At one point, he stripped off a bunch that were on the Kota flag. Then he found the base of the idol and put it all together using his mother’s art experience.

Probst says he took a lot of grief for throwing Bob’s fake idol into the fire. Probst says that’s what they do – when somebody gets burned by a fake idol, the idol gets torched. Randy – no longer sporting a Mohawk – does not look amused. Probst says after everybody left, he went in and grabbed what was left, and shows everybody. There is still a decent amount left – and Probst wants to know where he got the rope because “we don’t give you guys anything.” Bob answers, “I take stuff.” Ha! The instructions at Exile Island were rolled up with a string, and Bob kept the string. Probst hands over the remainder of the idol.

What do Bob’s students think? They’ve been very supportive and have enjoyed it. But they still have to take tomorrow’s test. Apparently, he’s tried to turn some of the challenges into physics problems – such as the one where they threw balls at a target over a cliff.

Probst wants the jury to let him know – if Matty had won the fire-making challenge, how man people would have voted for Matty. Five of them. So it was a million-dollar fire-making challenge. Way to rub it in, Jeff. Probst says Bob practiced, so why didn’t Matty? Matty says he was confident and didn’t see it coming. When you get confident in Survivor, you get in trouble. He thought he had it in the bag, and he didn’t.

Probst tells all future Survivor contestants that if they get on the show, go out and get a flint and practice making fire, because it cost Matty a million dollars! Matty says, “I was never very good at homework.” Heh.

Turning to Susie, Probst says he has a question and prefaces it by noting that whenever somebody begins a statement by saying, “With no disrespect intended,” it probably means there is some. Then he asks how she got so far in the game and get three votes, coming just one away from winning?! Yeah, I want to know that one too.

Susie says she’d like to think people liked her. She stayed under the radar and was a hard worker. She never wanted to hurt anybody’s feelings or say anything nasty. Plus, she got lucky with the two immunity wins.

Probst says he was shocked at the votes, and Susie agrees. Probst continues that as he was looking through them, he was like, “Another Susie? Is she going to win?” The deciding vote was Randy, and Probst wants to know why he voted for Bob instead of Susie? Before Randy answers, I have to ask: Is that really a question? Randy couldn’t stand Susie in the game. Why the heck would he vote for her?!

Randy says it was the cookie incident. Susie kept telling him it didn’t matter much, “It’s just a cookie.” Randy says it was a million-dollar cookie. Susie says she was just discussing it and telling Bob what had happened when he returned from Exile Island. But apparently it upset Randy and he “kind of took my head off.”

Probst moves to Sugar and says she’s been one of the more popular people on the season. I’m sure she’s happy to hear that, since she’ll be looking for acting work and obviously wasn’t very popular with the jury. She says she’s getting a lot of people coming up to her, including some thanking her for the Randy cookie incident (Susie probably won’t be one of those). She says she has to make sure she looks good before leaving the house, because people are even blogging about seeing her drive her car (RNO won’t be writing about that). Probst goes overboard and calls her “a superstar” who can’t leave her house. She points out that they showed her license plate to the world, so yeah.

What was it like for Sugar to have to deal with the recent loss of her father while having to go out and deal with this very taxing show? Sugar says anybody who has a heart (obviously not including Corinne) understands that’s probably why she was so emotional the whole time. She says she really doesn’t cry every day normally, and she’s stronger now.

Probst says it’s fair to say that while she was popular with viewers, not so much with some of her fellows on the show. Probst says this comment from Corinne is “one of the nastiest comments I have ever heard” (as Corinne chuckles) – and we hear Corinne’s incredibly nasty jury statement again.