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by Scott Wyatt Published: May 22, 2005
Day 37 dawns with the Final 4 chucklenuts laughing about the previous night’s events at Tribal Council. Katie is even giddy about it because Ian’s betrayal of her was thrown out into the open. His betrayal of her? Oh please! Ian knows he took a lot of heat and his stock took a hit. He feels pretty good about his standing. As Tom and Ian have a light conversation, screams emerge from the jungle. Did Katie get eaten by a Kimono Dragon? Unfortunately, it’s only a cooler full of breakfast foods but it may as well be a treasure chest of gold. We get a few feel good moments as they have a real breakfast of eggs, bacon, bread and coffee. After breakfast, Ian and the girls are discussing strategy and Ian promises the girls that if he or them win the challenge then Tom goes home. Ian tells us that it is time to make his move. He wins and Tom goes home. If he loses, Tom becomes his best friend again. Remember this statement for later. IMMUNITY CHALLENGE #1 It is a super-challenge with several different stages. Jeff brings in the Final 4 and has them walk around a Chevrolet SSR. He says the car goes to the winner of Survivor as well as what is in the glove box. It is a blank check for one million dollars. Nice Visual. On to the challenge. Each person is attached to a rope and has to make their way through a tire crawl-thru. At three points along the way, untie a key and carry it with you. At the end, use the keys to open three locks and undo yourself from the rope. Climb up to the next stage and undo a series of knots until you can open the next hatch and climb up to the third level. Once you reach the third level, toss the grappling hook to pull up your ladder rungs from the ground. Once you have all of you rungs, build your ladder and make it to the top and raise your flag. The first two to raise their flags will move on to the final round. They will slide down the flying fox to a crate to a box in the ocean with a bag on it. Bring the bag back to the shore. In the bag is three numbers. Arrange the numbers in the right order so you can undo the combination lock. Open the box, get your flag and raise it to win the challenge. The challenge begins with Tom and Jenn zipping through the tire crawl and retrieving their keys. Ian is not too far behind but Katie is bring up the rear where else would she be. At the tower, Tom, Ian and Jenn are flying along until they get to the grappling hooks. While Tom and Ian are getting their ladder rungs, Jenn can’t seem to figure out how to toss the grappling hook. I guess she doesn’t use that when watching the kids. I can think a few uses for it with mine. Nevertheless, Tom and Ian get to the top of the tower first. Jenn was forever stuck on the hook while the ass-end of the team, Katie, barely made it to the second level of the tower and never got any of the knots united. In the final round, Tom reaches the bag first because Ian lets his legs drag in the water slowing him down. They both get the bags and head back to the beach with a slight lead to Tom. Now the number sequence is the key. Both make several tries until Tom beaks through and opens his box, gets his flag and raises it to win the all-important immunity. I guess Ian will be Tom’s best buddy again. Back at camp, the maneuvering begins. Ian is voting for Jenn. Tom, to his credit or stupidity, is telling Jenn what the plan has been and informing her that she is most likely going home tonight. Tom tells everyone what he has told Jenn and Jenn is grateful with his honesty. Tom tells us it’s a risk but that’s his move and he will ride it out. It’s a subtle move to sway a jury member – nice game play not seen much before. As the sunsets, Ian makes one of the most boneheaded moves in the game by saying he’s glad he didn’t win immunity and have to make the choice on voting. This makes Tom think that his good buddy was going to stab him in the back. To Tom, a deal is a deal. While he’s pondering what it meant, Jenn joins him on the beach and confirms Tom’s fears by revealing that Ian had promised to vote out Tom if he had won immunity. Tom takes Jenn and goes to find Ian and Katie. When he gets them together, he lays it on the line and asks if he really said that. Ian, once again, stumbles with his words and when pressed by Tom, admits that he did make that deal. That’s all Tom wants to hear as we head off to Tribal Council. Uh oh! This could be good. TRIBAL COUNCIL #1 Jeff brings in the jury now with Caryn throwing an evil look at the Final Four. To begin, Jeff says that TC normally begins around sundown but it is way past that time which means something was going on back at camp. Tom goes through the whole story. Ian is again on the hot seat. He tries to save his butt by calling it a gentleman’s agreement to take each other to the Final Three then duke it out between them. When Jeff asks Ian if he ever went to Tom and let him know what was being said, Ian says he did. Jeff then asks Tom why it’s such a surprise to him. Tom says he didn’t tell him and that is his third strike. One was the slip of the tongue at the fire about the tough decision. Two, he admitted he was going to vote him out. Three, there was no gentleman’s agreement to TRY and carry each other to the Final Three. The deal was TO take each other to the end despite the physical threat to each other. Ian continues to fumble over his words and desperately tries to claim that Tom is believing Jenn now instead of his Day 2 alliance pal. It’s not working. Jeff says it’s interesting to read their expressions. Tom looks angry. Katie looks hurt. Jenn looks delighted and has the smile to match. Jenn is happy that she has stirred the pot. Katie is asked why she looks hurt and in typical Katie-fashion says that Ian is concerned about what Tom thinks but not about what she thinks. It’s always about Katie. *&#**! She says she has a vote too. She goes into one her little temper tantrums and does point out that the vote could end in a tie and then asks if Ian has lied to her in the last 24 hours. Ian pauses for a moment, dumb and then says no. Katie seems satisfied. It’s time to vote and Tom is keeping the necklace. When Jeff comes back with the vote, it is tied 2-2. Tom has turned on Ian. Since we are tied, we will vote again but only Tom and Katie will vote. After the second vote, we are still tied. Tom is really hacked with Ian. Now we move to the tiebreaker. Please not the F’ing purple rock! Jeff says that since we down to 4 and one has immunity, we won’t draw rocks. Yea but huh? The tiebreaker will be Jenn vs Ian in a fire-starting challenge just like the one we saw earlier in the game. The mini-challenge begins and it’s not much of a contest as Jenn is not that good at making fire. Ian’s rope burns first and he wins the right to stay in the game. After Jenn leaves, Jeff says it should be an interesting night and they need to try and get some rest because they will need it for their day ahead and final immunity challenge. Head back to camp. Writer’s Aside: Someone want to explain how much more stupid Ian can play this game. How can a guy play the game so brilliantly for 36 days then collapse in a day? As a buddy pointed out to me, Ian’s best bet would have been to tell Tom and Katie to go sit on a snake. This game is for a million bucks and I’m doing what I have to do to win. If you don’t like then vote me out but I’m not gonna grovel for you. Idiot! FINAL 4 Vote
Once the Final three return to camp, it is a bitter and nervous situation. Tom is worried since he tried to send Ian home but it backfired with Ian’s fire challenge win that sent Jenn home. On the other hand, Tom knows he cannot trust anything that Ian says due to his slip of the tongue earlier in the evening. All is quiet until Ian starts talking and all of the bad feelings from TC come back out and the fight is on once again. This time, the difference is Katie. While she sat there like a stump on the log, which is most of her usefulness, at Tribal, she is burying Ian with her evil claws. She is hanging him out to dry exposing his lies and telling him that he should just admit to Tom the truth. Ian continues to believe that he has done nothing wrong, Obviously, Katie has Ian with his head so far up his rectum, he has to stand on his head to take a leak. Ian thinks he is being crucified for a decision he didn’t have to make. Tom just wants Ian to admit the truth. Katie isn’t worth the words. And Ian, his alone with his thoughts. Day 38 dawns and Ian is depressed. He still feels that he was abandoned last night. Katie is still giving him the cold shoulder for the most part. However, she continues to worry about her sorry ass by telling Ian that he needs to fight and then take her to the Final 2. To the camera, Ian breaks down sniff sniff. He is now questioning his role in the game but he resounds to continue to fight as he brings tree mail back to camp. The message tells them to go get the old torches and bury them at sea and then onto the final immunity challenge. They get the torches and begin their trek by burying the voted out tribe member’s torches. There is no mention of Jonathan or Wanda since they were never really in the game. Jolanda, Ashlee, Jeff, Kim, Willard, Angie, James, Ibrehem, Bobby Jon, Coby, Janu (Quitter), Stephenie, Gregg, Caryn and Jenn all have their torches left at the bottom of the sea. I really like this part of the show even if they may not mean everything they say. The Final 3 arrive at the immunity challenge and it is going to be the typical endurance challenge. There are three poles with a small disc on top of buoys floating in the water. Each survivor will have stand on top of the disc above the buoy. Their feet cannot hit the buoy and they cannot sit down and they must do it barefoot. The last person standing wins immunity, a spot in the Final 2 and gets to choose who will sit beside them to face the jury. It’s a simple challenge but one that could go a long time. At the two-hour mark, the wind begins to howl and Ian’s buoy is tipping over. Sucks being tall. But we press on. At 3hs 18 min, the rain starts but no one is budging. After 4 hours, everyone, including Katie, is confident that they can win this challenge. As the sunsets at the five-hour mark, Katie is hurting. Apparently, the pain is too much as she steps down and swims over to Jeff. It’s now down to Tom and Ian. At the 8-hour mark, Jeff points out that nothing has been said in the last 4 hours and not even a deal has been tried to be made. Apparently, this gets Tom’s mind rolling as he tells Ian that if he wins outright he is taking Katie to the finals. If Ian steps down then he will take him. Ian is not hearing it and tells Tom to step down because he’s not going out on Tom’s terms. He even throws out that Tom wanted to duke it out. Tom keeps needling him anyway. At 11 hours and 45 minutes, Tom and Ian are still at it. Ian suddenly pipes up that he has a solution. He offers to step down if Tom takes Katie. What the hell? Jeff wants to be clear on it. Ian says this is the only way he can leave the game with a clean conscience. He is willing to give up a million dollars to win back friendship with Tom and Katie. Jeff asks Tom if it would work and Tom says that Ian would be his friend after the game regardless but he would win back his respect. And after 11 hours and 55 minutes, Ian dives into the water. Tom wins immunity! Then, another Survivor first, Jeff declares that with what he has heard tonight that it would be pointless to go to Tribal Council so they will hold it right here. Tom asks Ian one more time and Ian says they made a deal. Jeff says give me a verbal vote and Tom reluctantly votes out Ian. Tom and Katie head back to camp while Ian stays with Jeff. Writer’s Aside: While some may call this an honorable way to play, I call it a stupid way to play. If Katie had any integrity herself, she would have told Ian to win for himself. It just proves that she only cares about herself. Tom, on the other hand, I have a different beef with him. For as bad as Katie used Ian in the game, Tom used Ian twice as bad. He played on Ian’s youth and concerns about his feeling for others. Sure, Tom felt betrayed but this is Survivor. It’s not a game of honesty. Now the other problem I have with this sequence is no Tribal Council. The jury got to hear none of what went on. For Jeff to declare a vote on the spot reeks of producer control over the game. Just leave a bad taste in my mouth. Final 3 Vote
It’s Day 39, the last day and only Tom and Katie remain. When they awaken, they are giddy and excited about being the Final 2 but more importantly, no more nights on the beach. They blow smoke up each other’s backsides a little bit then spend the day alone in their thoughts. Tom is a little bit philosophical in his memories. They decide that the Koror flag goes to the winner. They also decide to burn everything they can, including the pots, pans and silverware. The picnic table goes in with the wine bottles. Katie tells us that she will be candid with the jury and try to show what kind of a beast lies within Tom. She hopes she gets some credit for the way she played the game. And how was that Katie? Lazy? As they depart, they both pledge no more coconuts and wish the rats well. And off to the final Tribal Council we go! FINAL TRIBAL COUNCIL Tom and Katie take a seat as Jeff brings in the jury of Coby, Quitter, Stephenie, Gregg, Caryn, Jenn and Ian. It’s been 39 days and now the power shifts to the jury. They will hold you accountable for your actions in the game. First, Tom and Katie will get to address the jury. Then each jury member will get a question and reply. After all of the questions, Tom and Katie will get a final address to the jury then we will vote. This is the one time that you want to see your name on the votes. Opening Statements Tom: He feels it’s an honor to play with them as a family for the last couple of weeks. He wants to be judged on the way he played and he cherishes the time he got to spend with all of them. Katie: She isn’t going to pretend that she is even close to Tom. She says the goal of the game is self-preservation and she may be seen as someone who skated by with a strong alliance but that is the nature of the game. She hopes it doesn’t affect their judgment of her but she definitely feels that she outwitted all of them. Oh, and she feels honored to be sitting here. Advantage: Tom. He came across as himself and didn’t insult the jury. Katie was doing okay until she basically told the jury she was better than them. Stupid move Katie but I’ve come to expect that from her. Jury Questions Coby; I have issues and bringing them, I respect them that you outplayed me but no the way you played the game. Katie, you sat out of most of the challenges, did nothing at camp and your self-proclaimed social skills suck other than those in your alliance. The only talent you had was to ride the coattails of those who did play the game. If I vote for you, it’s not for you but against Tom. Now Tom, my main problem is that you played the game as dirty as I wanted to. He accuses Tom of playing dirty and challenges Tom to bring out his badge of courage that he likes to wave around and wants to hear the truth. Depending on how much truth he hears will determine his vote. Advantage: None. Coby just made a statement. There’s always someone who is bitter and while Coby isn’t even near the Sue Hawk level, he still comes across as a bitter, whiney little boy who didn’t get to play the whole game. Gregg: Tom, when Koror was tribe of 7, you didn’t have a immunity and were nervous. We had an agreement not to break the Five Alive Alliance and I saved you but you didn’t return the favor to me. Why should I give you my vote? Tom: When I voted you out, I thought you had turned on me and I was wrong. I apologize. I believed what I was told and I have regrets about how I was taken in on a lie. Gregg: Katie, you are pathetic. You were worthless at camp and insignificant if not embarrassing at challenges. You would think that you would make friends around camp but I can list countless times where you ridiculed and made fun of every single member on the jury. I want to know how being so pathetic was you “plan” for the game. Katie: Wow, I don’t where to begin and I’m sorry you had to go there because I wouldn’t have gone there as the tears begin to flow. sniff sniff I don’t think that I am pathetic but I don’t have an athletic card to play. I used the only tools that I had and I’m sorry if you think it’s not good enough. Advantage: Tom. He told Gregg the truth. He admitted he was wrong, apologized and felt regret. Katie was a mess. She had no real answer because Gregg nailed it on the money. This is going to get really ugly for Katie. Stephenie: Congratulations. Tom, you told me I was not a dead walk man walking. When my name came up on the block, what did you do to save me and I don’t want to hear game play as an excuse. Tom: I went as far as I could with you but I could not betray my five-person alliance. Stephenie: Katie, why should I not vote for Tom? Katie: I was really hoping this wouldn’t be as ugly as it has been but Tom came to me before you showed up and said we need to take out Stephenie. Tom looks shocked as Katie is lying her ass off. Tom: Why would I do that if Stephenie was an ace in the hole? What is there to gain? Katie: I swear I remember that conversation. Advantage: Tom. Katie has now resorted to lying to try and salvage a vote. Katie may remember a conversation but Gregg was the one that wanted Stephenie gone, not Tom. Janu: Tom, tell me how hard was it to compromise your integrity in this game and how do you reconcile that? Tom: We all know the rules and there are line to cross or not cross and I don’t feel I got anywhere close to crossing that line. You cannot play this game and not misdirect or mislead. I played with as much honor as I could and want to be judged on those facts and I welcome that chance now. Janu: If you could three positive and negative adjectives that describe your game. Katie: I don’t expect your vote so I don’t feel I need to do that. Janu: You’re assuming that you don’t have my vote. You don’t know that for a fact but if you don’t feel you need to answer my question then I will return to the jury. Katie: waves her hand at Janu Advantage: Tom. This is getting ridiculous. Katie isn’t worth the words anymore. That little *itch may as well just say I quit and give Tom the money. Caryn: Tom, what was I to you in the game? Was I a pawn or did we have a real friendship? Tom: I never lied to you. I never made an alliance with you. All I said was that we needed to watch each other’s backs. Caryn: Was I a pawn or was it something real? Tom: I won’t even answer that question. I’m gonna let you find that answer within your heart. Caryn: Katie, you were a phony and cruel to everyone except for Tom and Ian. You were mean to me and everyone else. Give me one reason why I should vote for you. Katie: I’m sorry if you think I’m unkind but I’m not. Caryn: That’s not the question. You made one move and rode on the backs of two people. What else did you do? Katie: This game is about making alliances. I did and you didn’t. That’s why I am sitting here and you’re not. Advantage: Who else but Tom. Katie has buried herself so far that it would take a fictional digger to get out of the ground. I never thought insulting the jury right before they vote to see who wins the money was a good strategy and you know what – it’s not but don’t tell that ass-hat Katie. Jenn: Congratulations. Tom, in my mind, you a bit chauvinistic in your thinking. You never respected my game. I am a woman with a vote and why should I give you the respect of my vote when you didn’t respect me or my game? Tom: I’ll agree that my respect for your game came very late. Your game was hidden until the very end. I had no game to gauge. Jenn: Katie, what’s worse than being disrespected is being disrespected over and over again and taking it. You had the opportunity to play this game as a strong woman but am I wrong because I never saw it. Katie: By preserving myself in my alliance makes me a strong woman. I believe I am by sticking to my plan. Advantage: Tom. He told Jenn the truth and we know this because Jenn was non-existent unless seen on Greg’s arm. Ian: Katie, what is the biggest reason that we, as a group, shouldn’t give you a million dollars? Katie: Because of my personality and sense of humor is your definition of Outwit, Outlast & Outplay then don’t vote for me. Tom: Because I’ve already had my payday being out here with you folks for this duration. Being a 40-year old man and being able to have a little boys adventure is a once in a lifetime thing and I’ve been compensated. Advantage: Tom. Although Katie probably gave her best answer, Tom still made his sound heartfelt and believable. Do I have to say anymore? This should be a no-brainer here. Tom should win this by a 7-0 or 6-1 vote depending on Coby’s interpretation of events. So much for the suspense. Jeff gives them a moment to ponder their closing remarks. CLOSING STATEMENTS Jeff says that they have no heard from the jury and had a chance to consider your closing remarks. Tom: When I found out I was coming out here, I tried to decide how to play and for better or worse you met the real Tom Westman. I stuck with the people from the beginning that I agreed to and sometimes to a folly. Because of that I hurt some people along the way and I apologize for that. Somehow I ended up here and I’m willing to be judged on how I played the game. No matter how you vote, there are no hard feelings on this end so thank you. Katie: I’m sorry if I hurt anyone. I knew that Tom was my biggest threat and that’s why I aligned with him and Ian. All I can say is give me a chance. I gave it everything I had and while I am leaving with my self-respect, I may not be leaving with yours. Advantage: Tom because he was honest with everyone. Katie just couldn’t resist the last chance to insult the jury. Jeff instructs the jury that they are voting for the person that they feel is most deserving of the title of Sole Survivor and winner of a million dollars. For the last time, it is time to vote. We see Janu vote for Tom because she is leaving with an incredible experience and that was only possible because he chose her on the beach that first day. Wow! The pick’em game is benefiting someone at the end. Coby votes for Katie because he doesn’t think that Tom was honest. No other votes are seen. Jeff goes and gets the urn and comes back to the podium. As usual, he tells them that the votes will not be read until the return to the US. He walks out of Tribal Council and into a sound stage in New York City. No cheesy entrance this time. The set is the same as the island Tribal Council except Katie has morphed into Jenna Lewis. Jeff waits for the crowd to quiet down before recapping what the winner receives – a 2005 Chevy SSR, the title of Sole Survivor and $1 million dollars. Let’s get to the vote. First vote is for Tom. 2nd is for Katie. The rest are for Tom. It is a 6-1 vote and TOM WESTMAN IS THE SOLE SURVIVOR OF SURVIVOR PALAU! Congratulations to Tom for his win. It’s one of the few times that we’ve gotten a deserving winner. This was a season of a lot of firsts and was one of the better seasons for Survivor. At the end of the Reunion Show, they announced that the next season of Survivor will be filmed in the Central American county of Guatemala. 18 new Americans will try to Outwit, Outlast and Outplay in the Mayan ruins when Survivor Guatemala - The Maya Empire airs this fall on CBS. For me, I will try once again to be cast on the show and prove that they have been missing the best player. In addition, I will take a long rest and recharge for the fall season. I will not recap the Reunion show because it’s difficult to do and is really boring to write about in the first place. So, until the fall season and its cast is announced, take care and God Bless.
For all your Survivor News, Links, Interesting Tidbits check out these sites: Sirlinksalot's Survivor: Palau Page | SurvivorNews.net | SurvivorUpdates.com |
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