Survivor: Island of the Idols Finale "Mama, Look at Me Now" Analysis

"I'm never looking down on you...anymore."

-Noura Salman

It's over!  It's finally over!  Island of the Idols is definitely one of the worst seasons of Survivor, which is too bad because it had a very strong pre-merge.  It has hands down the worst post-merge of the entire show, and an okay winner.  I did really like this finale though and I'm still excited to talk about this gameplay, so let's get into the Final Five.

Who Played Well:

Dean had a stellar round of play in the Final Five.  He found a very tricky Hidden Immunity Idol and suckered a bunch of information out of Tommy.  I loved it for Dean.  He also won Immunity, repaired his relationship with Noura, and knocked Janet, the biggest threat, out of the game.  It really couldn't have gone much better for Dean here.

Getting rid of Janet was also a very good move for Lauren and Noura.  I also liked how Noura made a Final Three deal with Dean.  She had no shot of winning, but might as well make sure you get to the end.

Who Sucked:

The only person I have here is Tommy.  I do think he made the right move in getting rid of Janet, but I hated how much information he gave to Dean.  I get that he's colorblind, so maybe getting Dean to help once was okay, but going back to give him more information was terrible, especially because it was obvious Dean wasn't going to help him.

As for Janet, she had to go here.  It made too much sense.  In a world where Idol Nullifiers exist, it's a very risky move to draw the votes onto yourself and I think Janet would have been better served to go on the offensive here and convince the others to vote out Lauren rather than going on the defensive and drawing the votes intentionally.  I don't know if it would have worked, but it might have.

Verdict:

The Best Player of the Final Five has to go to Dean Kowalski for finding the Idol, winning Immunity, repairing his relationship with Noura, and eliminating Janet.  This is his 3rd time winning this award.

The Worst Player of the Final Five is Tommy for giving Dean too much information.  This is his first time winning this award.

Let's move on to the Final Four.

Who Played Well:

Winning a fire-making challenge is always a good look in front of the Jury and Dean pulls it off here. I also liked that he didn't get upset when Noura told him he was making fire.  He got right to business.

Noura won Immunity and made the right choice in bringing Tommy to the end.  I don't like how she treated Lauren on the way out.  That's killing off a potential jury vote (not that Noura was getting any votes, but still), but I do think she was overall a net positive in the Final Four.

Finally, Tommy convinced Noura he was bad at making fire, so she took him to the end.  Tommy made the Goat role work for him and that's a huge move.

Who Sucked:

None of the remaining players sucked.  

As for Lauren, she lost the fire making challenge and let Noura get to her too much.

Verdict:

The Best Player of the Final Four is Dean Kowalski for winning the fire-making challenge.  I think he looked the best in front of the jury here out of the finalists.  This is his 4th time winning this award.

I'm not giving out a Worst Player here.

Final Three

Finally, we have the Final Three.  I think both Dean and Tommy did a great job here and outlined their games well.  Dean made a few more mistakes and I think that's why Tommy ended up winning it.  Noura was really all over the place, but she made it a fun Final Tribal Council.  I would have voted for Dean, but I'm not too upset over Tommy's win.  He was my original winner picker after all.  This is only the 4th time I've been right with a winner pick and I've been watching since season 4!  It also is kinda cool to see someone win with such an old-school game.

Verdict:

The Best Player of the Season was tough.  There weren't any true standouts, but I have to give it to Dean Kowalski.  He really fired up at the end with starting with the Elaine boot and I also really like how he handled Jamal giving him the fake Legacy Advantage.  Dean had a rough start, but really came around.

The Worst Player of the Season has to be Noura Salman.  She had a great physical game, but was absolute garbage socially and strategically.  That said, I would love to see her play again. 

And that about does it.  Like I said, great pre-merge and the worst post-merge of the series.  I'm not sad to see this season go and I'm ready for season 40!