Survivor: Ghost Island Finale Analysis "It Is Game Time Kids"

"I didn't even have strategy, you know?"

-Sebastian Noel

Well, it's over.  It's finally over.  Ghost Island has spooked us for the last time.  It's time to break down the finale, and who played well, and who sucked.  I'm going to break this down by round of play, so we'll start with the...

Final 6:

Who Played Well:

We'll start with Domenick, who had a mixed round, but overall, it was positive.  His plan to prevent Sebastian and Donathan from putting the votes on him worked perfectly.  He scared Sebastian off and managed to knock him out of the game, plus he kept his idol, guaranteeing himself a spot in the final 4.  On the downside, he come off as a jerk during Tribal Council and rubbed quite a few people the wrong way.

We also have Donathan, who did about as well as he could do this round.  He got on board with the plan to knock Domenick out of the game and he was the only one who followed through.  It wasn't his fault the plan failed, but at least he made it another day.

Who Sucked:

We'll start with the obvious: Angela...  She blew up an actually really solid plan.  She should have 100% gone with Donathan and Sebastian to take out Domenick.  Not only does she not go with their plan, but she tells Domenick everything.  It was a horrendously bad move.

Laurel, once again, doesn't make a move, and doesn't even try to take the shot at Domenick.

Finally, we have Wendell, who had a mixed, but net negative night.  Sure, he won Immunity, which with his idol, guarantees him a spot in the final 4.  But his picks for the reward were definitely questionable.  Sebastian, I get.  He wanted to butter him up on the way out of the game, but taking Angela was bizarre.  It ended up working out, but that really pissed Laurel off and could have cost Wendell the game.  He also pissed some members of the jury off with his behavior at tribal council.

As for Sebastian, he had a solid plan on his way out the door.  Taking out Domenick was absolutely the right move.  He 100% should have gone for it and played his extra vote to call his bluff, but it wouldn't have mattered, due to Angela being a terrible player.

Verdict:

The first "Got It Going On Award" goes to Domenick Abbate for his bold fake idol bluff, getting rid of Sebastian, and holding on to his idol.

The first "Not The Player For Me Award" goes to Angela Perkins for making a terrible move in exposing the plan to take out Domenick.

Final 5:

Who Played Well:

We can start with Laurel, I suppose.  She had a good enough relationship with Wendell to get him to play his idol on her

Then we have Wendell, who won Immunity, and looked good in front of the jury for playing his idol on Laurel.  I didn't love that he saved her at the time because I thought she was the biggest threat for him physically, but I guess it worked out all right for him.

Who Sucked:

Angela and Domenick should have both gone after Laurel.  It wouldn't have mattered because of Wendell's idol play, but Laurel is a bigger threat than Donathan.  Good on Domenick for playing his idol at least.  I'm glad he didn't take it home as a souvenir.

As for Donathan, I think he made some great points in throwing Laurel under the bus on his way out the door.  He probably did the best he could at this stage in the game.  I don't think he should have gone home here, but what are ya gonna do?

Verdict:

The second "Has Got It Going On Award" goes to Wendell Holland for his Immunity win and for looking dominant in front of the jury by playing his idol on Laurel.

The second "Not The Player For Me Award" goes to Angela Perkins for not trying harder to get rid of Laurel.

Final 4:

Who Played Well:

We can start with Domenick, who won Immunity and probably made the best decision he could by forcing Angela and Wendell to face off.  In hindsight, he should have faced-off against Wendell in the fire-making competition, but that is way too much to ask of a player.  I think he did the best we could reasonably expect him to do.

Then we have Wendell who managed to defeat Angela in fire making and come off very good to the jury.

Who Sucked:

We only have Laurel here.  On one hand, she did something right to get Domenick to chose her to go to the finals.  On the other hand it made her look pretty bad in front of the jury.

As for Angela, who is an awful Survivor player, I actually think she did pretty well here.  She made some really good points in why Domenick should not take Laurel to the end and I almost believed her myself.

Verdict:

The third "Has Got It Going On Award" goes to Domenick Abbate for winning Immunity and making the best call he could in regards to the fire-making challenge.

The third "Not The Player For Me Award" goes to Laurel Johnson for getting dragged too the end by Domenick.

Final 3:

This is tough.  I think Domenick gave a fantastic final tribal council performance, and I think Laurel was actually really solid here.  I think Wendell gave easily the weakest performance, yet somehow he won.  So I have no choice but to award the final "Has Got It Going On Award" to Wendell Holland for winning Survivor: Ghost Island.

And I have no choice but to award the final "Not The Player For Me Award" to Laurel Johnson for not getting a single vote at the final tribal council.

Verdict:

I am a little bummed.  While Wendell played a great game, I do think Domenick played better and I believe I would have voted for him.  I really liked Ghost Island except for these last three episode.  Sebastian and Angela were awful Survivor players and Laurel was extremely frustrating to watch.  I loved the pre-merge and the early post-merge.  And the finale itself was pretty enjoyable.  The final battle between Domenick and Wendell was great, the tie was epic, the final 6 tribal was a lot of fun.  I can't stand the final 4 fire making twist.  I hope that goes away forever.  And Sebastian's bitterness at final tribal really pissed me off.  I wish Domenick had won the game, but Wendell did play very well, I'll give him that.

Let's take a look back at the totals for the "Has Got It Going On Awards"

Wendell Holland: 6

Domenick Abbate: 4

Stephanie Johnson: 2

James Lim: 1

Kellyn Bechtold: 1

Chris Noble: 1

Michael Yerger: 1

Angela Perkins: 1

Donathan Hurley: 1

And for the "Not The Player For Me Awards"

Angela Perkins: 4

Laurel Johnson: 3

Kellyn Bechtold: 2

Donathan Hurley: 2

Chris Noble: 1

James Lim: 1

Michael Yerger: 1

Chelsea Townsend: 1

Domenick Abbate: 1

Libby Vincek: 1

Wendell Holland: 1