"SURVIVOR" - SEASON 22 - FINALE

Survivor 22: Redemption Island

Another "SURVIVOR" Reality Show is finished!

 It took him four tries, 10 years and a record 117 days, but “Boston” Rob Mariano has finally won Survivor.

The 35-year-old was declared the winner of Survivor: Redemption Island on Sunday night after besting former federal agent Phillip Sheppard and teenager Natalie Tenerelli.

Host Jeff Probst said Rob had played as close to a perfect game as anyone in the series' 22 seasons.

Rob did a masterful job throughout the season. His control of other people in his alliance was so absolute it was compared to a cult or to a mob family with him as the godfather.

On Sunday's episode, Rob assured himself a place in the final three by first playing the immunity idol he had been hiding for days after his nemesis Ashley Underwood won the immunity challenge; and then by winning the final immunity challenge, which involved walking through a maze to retrieve bags of puzzle pieces, then using the pieces to spell the words “Only you are safe.”

In a final show of his strategic ability, Rob chose to take Phillip and Natalie to the final tribal council with him.

 

Phillip had annoyed his teammates with bizarre behaviour that included walking around camp in nothing but a pair of pink underwear, claiming to commune with his great, great grandfather's spirit and arguing heatedly with just about everybody but Rob, even accusing former NFL player Steve Wright of being racist.

 

 

Natalie was inoffensive but had done nothing to further herself in the game except whatever Rob told her to do.

She got no votes from the jury members and Phillip only got one, from farmer Ralph Kiser, who declared Phillip a decent guy.

Both Phillip and Natalie were unimpressive in the final tribal council, choosing to emphasize their relationship with Rob over their own accomplishments.

  

Jury members either ignored or insulted Phillip. Steve told him he was "pretty shameful" and Julie Wolfe told Phillip "none of us like you or respect you."

She also blasted Natalie, saying if Natalie was her daughter she wouldn't be proud of how she played the game.

Rob came in for some knocks too, with Matt, whom Rob blindsided twice, calling him duplicitous and deceiving.

 

 

But lawyer David Murphy had the most interesting speech.

He told his fellow jury members of Rob, “He controlled all of you. One by one by one, all of you were blindsided ... There's a guy sitting over there who just played the best strategic game ever seen."

Even Russell Hantz, who claimed to be the best player Survivor has ever seen but got knocked out pre-merge after his tribe threw a challenge, congratulated former arch-enemy Rob on his game. And the two finally shook hands. Rob refused to shake Russell's hand at the Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains reunion show.

Russell, predictably, blasted his former Zapatera tribemates for throwing a challenge. He singled out Steve.

“This man gave up his momentum, a former professional football player threw in the towel in a game.”

But Russell made it clear he's not throwing in the towel on Survivor, telling Jeff when Jeff pressed him on whether he'd play again, “Just keep my (phone) number.”

The other player who got lots of air time was Phillip.

He told Jeff that his apparent craziness was a strategy that he came up with on Day 2 when he saw what a grip Rob had on the tribe. "How do you get close to the guy that's gonna control our tribe and that's be the most villainous person” to take the focus off Rob, Phillip said.

Phillip also apologized to Steve for accusing him of being racist and shook his hand.

Jeff tried to clear up doubts over Phillip's claim that he was a former federal agent, by bringing out a current federal agent who had trained with Phillip and who assured Jeff that Phillip was what he claimed to be.

But the clear fan favourite onstage - besides Rob - was Matt Elrod, the ultra-religious player who spent most of the series on Redemption Island.

He was the only player who came close to besting Rob for the Sprint Fan Favourite award, worth $100,000, but Rob won that too, by 40 per cent to 36 per cent of the vote for Matt.

Still, maybe Matt will get another shot at the million.

When Survivor returns for its 23rd season, it will bring back the twist of returning two players to the game, as well as the Redemption Island feature. The new season will be set in the South Pacific to debut at a still unnamed date.

No Fallen Comrades tribute? I’m still in a state of Survivor shock at its omission!

The omission of the Fallen Comrades montage! No burning down shelters? Usually the only drama involved with the Fallen Comrades tribute is whether it will be by land or by sea. Not this season. Perhaps there simply wasn't time because we had to hear from Rob 683 times about how he played for 10 years, 117 days, never won, and it had all led to this…blah, blah, blah. Or maybe they just realized that having players wax nostalgic about people they never even played with or cared about was absurd ("Krista…uh, yeah, she was…um, a girl…blonde, I think?"). Either way, no awkward remembrances or burning of wooden name planks up on a mountaintop with a dramatic 360 degree helicopter shot for us.

I always want the most deserving player to win, and it is impossible to argue that Rob was not the most deserving player.

Rob was treated like a rock star the second he showed up and then the adoration only grew form there. As a result, there was not any real drama since Matt was voted out for the second time. I really do wish we could rewind the entire season and Rob and Russell would have picked opposite buffs. That could have been fascinating to see, because the Zapatera tribe would not have given Rob the free ride that Ometepe did. We can't do that, of course. But we can rewind this final episode and reunion show to see how the final chapter went down in a season that shall from here on out be retitled Survivor: Rob Takes Candy From Babies.

The most shocking development in Survivor history!

 

        Last immunity, a start to the $1,100.00