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Survivor: Ghost Island - FINALE - It's Game Time Kids

By Mickie McLeod

I can't believe the Season Finale is finally here! Who were your front-runners this season? Who had what it takes to Outwit, Outplay, and Outlast in this season of Survivor: Ghost Island? Survivor  History was made at the Finale when declaring the title of the Sole Survivor. We got to see it all unfold... so, what happened? I got you covered here:

 

Jeff Probst
(Credit: CBS Entertainment)

Final Six

Last week, Donathan declared war and was ready to go against Wendell and Dom. This shook things up a bit, and now Sebastian is on board with teaming up with Donathan's big moves.

In this entire season, Dom and Wendell have seemed to be running the whole show. Could Donathan and Sebastian's blindside work and FINALLY get either Dom or Wendell out?

 

Individual Immunity Challenge

It was the biggest maze ever in Survivor, and the remaining castaways had to race through it all! The castaways had to retrieve and untie three bags of puzzle pieces throughout a skull maze. The first person to collect their colored bags and solve their puzzle wins Immunity! Along with this Immunity win, was also a reward of a steak dinner waiting for the winner back at camp.

Day 36 has set in, and exhaustion is hitting the castaways hard. The Final five is almost here. Immunity is on the line and its crunch time. This challenge was a hard one, but it finished strong. Making it clear as he finished the puzzle, Wendell yells, "Jeff Probst! I think I'm done, bro!" Since last week he forgot to do this and lost the challenge. This meant that Wendell won Immunity along with the steak reward. Wendell chose Sebastian to join him because he said he "owes him" from going along with him on the last reward. Followed by picking Sea-Bass, Wendell got to choose one more person and said he should "share the wealth," so he surprisingly picked Angela to join in on the steak dinner.

 

Jeff Probst watches the final Survivors compete for Immunity
(Credit: CBS Entertainment)

Tribal Council

Dom and Wendell are ready to battle it out. Both of them still have a Hidden Immunity Idol to play up until next week! Dom isn't prepared to play his idol though.

Even though he brought Sebastian along with him on reward, Wendell is aware that he's a threat and is ready to make a big move getting him out with the help of his ally Dom. Meanwhile, there are a few relics left to play in this season, including Sebastian's extra vote.

Laurel wasn't pleased about Wendell choosing Sebastian and Angela. She's offended that he didn't pick her for the reward, so this makes her unsure which way to go with her vote. In the meantime, Sebastian and Donathan are ready to blindside Dom, with the help of Angela and Sebastian's extra vote advantage. That's four votes potentially against Dom. Donathan even shares the information with Laurel to see if she is ready to flip along with them. This blindside could really work as long as Dom doesn't use his idol at Tribal.

However, let's just say, Angela is a loose cannon. She doesn't know how to keep a secret at all or seem to understand how to play the game of Survivor. Needless to say, Angela spills this whole plan out to Dom and warns him that this blindside is happening. Dom even acknowledges and finds it funny that she can't keep a secret in the game. Angela blew this one up.

At Tribal, Donathan acts like nothing is going on and remains quiet, while explains to everyone that he thinks he is going home. This upsets Dom completely, because Dom knows the truth, courtesy of Angela. Donathan's little comment got Dom so angry that he decides to share his idols to the tribe and show them off; both the real one and the fake one that he still has. Dom reacts strongly at this point, but strategically. He acts very upset and tells the tribe that he knows that they're coming after him. In return, Dom gets up out of his chair and hands the FAKE idol over to Jeff Probst, before the tribe votes. This scares Sebastian and Donathan, as they are both aware that he will be using his idol.

After the votes were cast, Dom steps up and explains that the idol is fake, but will still NOT use his real one. Wow. As a result, Dom scared Sebastian and Donathan's blindside so good that neither of them voted for him. This left Sebastian cursed with the extra vote leaving with him. Sebastian was the next member of the jury.

 

Final Five

The Final Five is here: Wendell, Dom, Donathan, Laurel, and Angela.

Wow, it's hard to tell who is going to win this season at this point! We're getting down to it. Dom and Wendell are for sure going to the Final Four since their Hidden Immunity Idols weren't played at last Tribal Council. Who will be right there with them?

 

Individual Immunity Challenge 

The castaways had to start in the water and swim back to shore, completing multiple obstacles on the way. The exhausted castaways had to climb, crawl, and jump through the series of obstacles. While completing the course, the castaways had to retrieve bags of puzzle pieces. The first castaway to ultimately finish their puzzle wins Immunity!

Is it a surprise? Quietly, Wendell wins this Individual Immunity! WOW. Back to back wins, and Wendell still has an idol in his pocket to give away. Who does he plan on using it for to join him in the Final Four?

 

Tribal Council

Dom is feeling the competition with Wendell. He knows that he's heading to the Final Four because he's going to use his Hidden Immunity Idol though. He's now really thinking who can he win against next? Dom's scattering around wondering who the most significant threats are left. Both Donathan and Laurel have a great resume in this game, and it's unsure who Wendell and Dom will be voting out at this Tribal.

Picking the right person is essential at this point in Survivor. Wendell has the most cursed idol in Survivor history, Erik Reichenbach's, in his pocket. This Tribal is the last Tribal he can use it. Who will he give it to and will it be the right decision?

At Tribal, Dom uses his idol, and so does Wendell. Dom is safe, and Wendell decided to use his Hidden Immunity Idol for Laurel. This meant that only Angela and Donathan were eligible to get voted out. Because his resume was impressive in this game, Donathan was finally voted out at this Tribal. He seriously went down with a fight and a massive amount of "truth bombs!" Was this a smart move on Wendell's part though?

 

Final Four

This season of Survivor: Ghost Island started with 20 castaways, and now it's down to four: Laurel, Wendell, Dom, and Angela.

 

Individual Immunity Challenge

The castaways had to compete in a Survivor classic Immunity Challenge. The remaining castaways gently had to balance and stack balls one at a time onto rings without dropping their own tower. The last person who stacked all their six balls without knocking them down won Immunity!

Wendell was in the lead on this one but fell the last second, which gave Dom a huge lead in this challenge. Because of this, Domenick wins the Individual Immunity Challenge, giving him a spot in the Final Three! Along with this win, he recieved a special message from the host, Jeff Probst.

Who will Dom bring to the Final Three and which two castaways will battle it out and make fire?

Domenick Abbate
Credit: CBS Television Network)

Ghost Island

Instead of going back to camp, the remaining castaways got to spend their final night at Ghost Island. The stakes are high since Dom has all the power right now. What person will he choose, and what two people will be left battling it out in a fire-making challenge? Wendell knows it's time to practice because he's sure he won't be chosen since he's Dom's biggest threat.

At this time, Dom also assures Laurel to practice making fire, and she doesn't like the sound of that. Laurel is confident that she won't be able to make the fire if she goes up against Wendell. That means that Wendell will win against her and earn himself a spot in the Final Three if the opportunity presents itself. Dom is making it clear he doesn't want to sit by Wendell in the finals.

After contemplating who to bring with him to the Final Three, Dom reads the message that he earned at Immunity. The message was that Dom gets to choose what past Survivor "Urn" will be used at this Final Tribal Council. This urn will hold the votes of the jury members who declare the Sole Survivor. The choice of urns have been cursed though. These past Survivor Finale urns were cursed, showing that Dom's position could be a curse itself, explaining that it's crucial to think carefully who to bring to the end. These three urns were from Survivor: The Australian Outback (Season 2), Survivor: Cagayan (Season 28), and Survivor: Game Changers (Season 34).

The cursed urn that he chose was from Season 28th, where Woo took Tony to the end in the Final Two. In that season, Woo took Tony because he wanted to beat against "the best." However, the jury decided to vote for Tony to win that season, leaving the urn cursed because of Woo's poor decision. Dom choose this urn because he explains that he has faith in himself and his game, and strongly believes that he could beat Wendell in the long run, if he does happen to sit by him.

 

Tribal Council

Dom was still contemplating who he should bring to the Final Three and which two would be making fire.

As mentioned, it really has been a Dom vs. Wendell battle. When Jeff Probst asked Dom who he's going to take, he decides to choose Laurel. That means that Angela and Wendell would be building a fire against each other. The first person to make a fire high enough to burn through a rope, is safe.

As a result, Wendell's fire sparked right away, and he made fire, sure enough. Glancing at Dom from afar, Wendell showed that he's ready to battle it out against Dom and Laurel. It's not a surprise that Wendell won again, which meant that Angela is the final member of the Jury.

 

Domenick Abbate and Laurel Johnson
(Credit: CBS Entertainment)

The Winner of Survivor: Ghost Island

The Final Three are clearly the best playing castaways of this season; Dom, Wendell, and Laurel. Who's preach was the most convincing to the jury?

These three have been buddies and the greatest allies in this game. The three are well deserved to sit in the Finals, and it seems the jury believes so too. So, who won Survivor?

At the last Tribal Council, the foreshadow was clear; it was definitely NOT going to be Laurel winning. She was shown to be a person who had the potential to make big moves in taking out Wendell or Dom but chose to play it safe in her game. The jury made this clear about Laurel.

It was down to Wendell or Dom. Both two guys had played a strong game, and they would be the first to admit it. The two guys have played the game the hardest, finding idols, and making powerful moves, Tribal after Tribal. The jury got to ask questions and gather information on who to strategically vote for to win the title of the Sole Survivor.

As Chris from the jury had asked, "Who is the real mastermind of this alliance?" That was the question behind it all.

But, for the first time in 36 Seasons... The Survivor Finale had a TIE.

Jeff Probst, for the first time, reads the votes at Tribal Council, NOT at the LIVE Finale, like usual. He reveals the ballots and they are dead even: five Dom and five Wendell. This meant that since Laurel did not get any votes, she had to vote for the winner between the two. It was shown that HER vote was the only vote that mattered in the long run. So, who did she choose?

The LIVE Finale revealed the last and final vote, Laurel's. It was the only vote that mattered, and Laurel broke the tiebreaker.

WENDELL is the Sole Survivor!

Wendell Holland
(Credit: CBS Entertainment)

Wow. I must know your thoughts on this season, especially this Season Finale! You can tweet me @mick_cloudy! Let's talk more there! This season shocked me. I enjoyed it but am more curious to see what Survivor has in store for us this Fall! I cannot wait to watch another season of this exciting social game. Don't miss the season premiere of the new season of Survivor: David vs. Goliath this Fall on CBS!

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