Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans Finale "Reverse the Curse" Gameplay Breakdown

 "These people are here to chop my head off."
-Joe Hunter



Well, that was a fine enough Survivor finale, I guess.  The main problem was that it was extremely predictable.  That said, I think the Final Tribal Council was good due to the solid performances of all the finalists and Jeff Probst accidentally spoiling the fire-making challenge is one of the funniest things to ever happen on this show.  I'm not a big fan of any of the finalists, but the finale was fine.  I think it's the 3rd best all-star season.  Behind Cambodia and Winners at War, but ahead of Heroes vs. Villains (hot take, I know), Game Changers, and All-Stars.  Anyway, let's get into who played well and who sucked in the Final 5!


Who Played Well:

I'm putting all of the surviving contestants in this category as they all made the right move in voting out Tiffany.  It sounds like she could have beaten everyone else and was more of a challenge threat than Aubry.  The most credit goes to Jonathan for winning Immunity by about a second to take out Tiffany.


Who Sucked:

None of the surviving contestants got in this category, but Tiffany didn't do herself any favors by being so angry with everyone else.  That's not what the truly great players do.  Maybe if she had been more open to working with people who voted against her plans, she could have convinced the guys to turn on Aubry.


Verdict:

Best Player of the Final 5 goes to Jonathan Young for winning Immunity and taking out Tiffany.

I'm not giving out a Worst Player.  As a reminder; the eliminated player is not eligible for either Award.


Moving onto the Final 4!


Who Played Well:

Aubry won the final Immunity Challenge, which won her the game.  She also made a good choice in bringing Joe to the end and forcing Jonathan and Rizo to make fire.  I think she was smart to try and knock Rizo out here.

Jonathan won the fire-making challenge to get some redemption and make his way to Final Tribal Council.

Joe was taken to the end, but I do like that he tried to help Rizo with his fire-making.  I think Joe would have been better served in going to the end with Rizo over Jonathan.  I think it's possible that Joe gets the votes of Chrissy, Coach, Stephenie, and Jonathan that way.


Who Sucked:

None of the remaining contestants end up here, but Rizo...come on, man.  I can't believe he didn't work on learning how to make fire all season.  He should have been making it every single day to become a master of the flame.  Utterly hilarious that the same flaw takes him down two times in a row.


Verdict:

Best Player of the Final 4 goes to Aubry Bracco for winning Immunity and taking Joe to the end.

I'm not giving out a Worst Player.


Final Tribal Council:

I was very impressed with all three finalists in the Final Tribal Council.  They all gave great, strong answers and owned their games.  Aubry was able to show why playing the middle was so valuable, Jonathan was able to show how much he improved in game acumen from his previous season, and Joe was able to own up to playing a dirtier game than his previous season.  I think Jonathan made a mistake in triggering a fight with Dee, which may have led to his loss.  Yes, he won the battle against Dee, but he sent her to be the first member of the Jury, which is a hugely influential position.  You never want your enemy to be the first juror.  His social game was prickly at times, which is why he came up short.  As for Joe, he was never really in contention and was in way over his head all season.


Verdict:

Best Player of the Season goes to Cirie Fields.  I think it's incredible she made it as far as she did and her gameplay eclipsed everyone in the Final 5.  Just with her reputation, I don't think she was ever going to make it farther than she did and I don't think there was anything she could do to change that.

Worst Player of the Season goes to Joe Hunter for being too stubborn to work with easily, but not stubborn enough to make moves on his own.  It was a bad combination.  You don't want to be hard to work with on Survivor.


That's it for season 50.  I was disappointed in most of the voting outcomes for the season, so I'm expecting Jeff to continue to learn the wrong lessons going into this "open era" of Survivor.  I'm expecting big twists in nearly every episode and I'm not looking forward to that.  I just hope the cast is fun and likable.  If I don't like the gameplay mechanics, at least let me get invested in the players.  We'll see.

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