It’s time for our final “Survivor 49” episode recap.
The players search the jungle for an advantage, Rizo finally plays his immunity idol and a new winner is crowned. As this is the finale, I will not be providing betting odds on an outcome we already know! The ‘Top Five Baby’ will be, instead, what I felt were the Top Five moments of “Survivor 49.”
Let’s head back to Fiji and see who wins the game.
(Warning: Spoilers Ahead)
“Survivor 49” Episode 13 (Finale) Recap + Best Season Moments
Episode Recap
Camp Life
The players return from tribal and a unanimous vote to take out Steven. Sage says she “Just sent home one of her best friends.” It is an individual game now, and she is playing for herself, not anyone else.
Rizo shows everyone he is willing to “risk it for the biscuit” and now has a spot locked up in the Final Four if he plays his idol on himself here at the next tribal. Soph laments the curse of the Knowledge is Power advantage, but still finds herself in a strong position in the game.
Advantage Hunt
Up for grabs is an advantage in the Final Five Immunity challenge. Color-coded bags of puzzle pieces are scattered around the jungle for players to collect. Castaways will search the jungle to collect these bags and then solve a puzzle. The puzzle will give them a clue to where the advantage is.
Savannah says she has the best cardio among the remaining players, and she proves it by being the first one back to the puzzle and finishing it. She finds that the advantage is located next to Tree Mail, and races off to find it. The remaining players finish the puzzle shortly after Savannah, and Rizo just copies hers as opposed to working to solve it himself. Work smarter, not harder!
Despite a strong head start, Savannah is unable to locate the advantage. She is digging around near Tree Mail to no avail. Savannah says that she is going home if she does not win immunity here, so it is critical for her to find this. Sage thinks the advantage will be above ground, so she starts looking in the trees. Soph, one of the last to finish her puzzle, somehow locates the advantage in a tree! She takes a stick and knocks it out of the tree, gaining an advantage in the immunity challenge.
Final 5 Immunity Challenge + Reward
The players arrive at the field for the challenge, and they are also playing for reward! The reward is a trip to the sanctuary and a meal of steak, wine, mashed potatoes and carrot cake. In the challenge, players must go under a net in the mud and then make their way to a sand pit to dig out a bag with a grappling hook. Players will use the grappling hook to pull a ball, which drops a ladder. Then, they climb up the ladder to release puzzle pieces. Players then must unlock a rope and balance on a barrel to reach the puzzle. The first player to solve the puzzle wins immunity and a spot in the Final Four.
Soph won the advantage for this challenge. Her advantage gives her a smoother path to reach her puzzle. Several players struggled on the initial push through the mud, while others struggled to balance on the barrel. Savannah and Rizo are first to the puzzle, followed by Soph, who catches up with her advantage. Savannah takes the lead on the puzzle over Rizo and continues solving it quickly. Rizo is unable to catch up, and Savannah wins her fourth individual immunity, tying the record for a female on “Survivor.”
At the sanctuary, Savannah and Sage discuss the endgame. Savannah wants Sage in the final four, and Sage mentions that Kristina is good at making fire. Savannah is worried that Kristina could beat her in a fire-making challenge, and so she is her natural target here to go home.
Camp Life (cont.)
Back at camp, the remaining players discuss the vote. Kristina tells Rizo and Soph that the three of them are her ideal final three. She also says that she wants to go against Savannah in fire-making at the Final Four. Rizo thinks he has a better chance against Kristina than he does against Sage. S
avannah wants Kristina out here, as she is afraid Kristina could beat her in fire. Savannah also benefits from stronger players remaining in the game, and she does not see Kristina as a potential winner. Soph is unsure which player to vote for, and Rizo insists that the two of them need to vote together here.
Final 5 Tribal Council
At tribal, Savannah says she cannot celebrate yet, and her sole focus is on becoming the “Sole Survivor.” Sage states that she needs to recharge her battery and that this game has been very difficult for her. Rizo says only one player can win this game, and wonders whose agenda will come out on top.
The players vote, and Savannah gets her way again, with Kristina being voted out 4-1, with Kristina’s vote going to Sage.
Final 4 Immunity Challenge
The players arrive at the beach for their final immunity challenge. The winner earns a spot in the Final Tribal Council and can bring one player with them, sending the remaining two into a Final Four Fire-Making Competition to earn the third spot.
In the immunity challenge, players start on a platform in the water and must get to shore. Then, they dig under a log, find a sandbag, and cross a balance beam. Next, they maneuver a ball through a cage. Once this is completed, they must land both the ball from the sandbag and the ball from the cage in their respective locations at the end of the table maze.
Rizo starts the challenge with an early lead, but Savannah quickly catches him. Soph has a rough start to the challenge and struggles to dig under the log. Once she makes it to the cage in last place, she clumsily navigates that. Sage, Rizo and Savannah all fumble their way through the table maze. Rizo is unable to put his together.
Once Soph reaches the maze, she quickly and aggressively lands her first ball. Shortly after, she lands her second! Soph wins Final Immunity and a spot at the Final Tribal Council. After she wins, she speaks about her journey and how her tribe lost the first three challenges, and it is even more meaningful that she is here now.
Camp life (cont.)
The players return to camp, and Soph has the immunity necklace. She says she needs to make sure she can confidently beat those she takes to the Final Three with her. Soph has never seen Sage, Rizo or Savannah make fire before. Soph also asks the other players not to plead their case to her.
Savannah tries making fire for the first time on Day 25! She worries that Soph will put her into fire because she thinks she is a threat. Rizo tells Soph that if he goes into fire, he wants to go in against Savannah. Beating her in the fire could be a million-dollar move, and Savannah is his biggest opposition to win the game.
Final Tribal Council + Final Four Fire-Making Competition
Tribal begins, and Soph says she needs to make “The best move for me.” Rizo is excited by the potential to make fire, and Savannah does not mind sitting this one out. Jeff reminds the players that fire-making can be a million-dollar decision – right or wrong.
He asks Soph who he is going to force to make fire, and Soph says Savannah and Rizo, as she wants to “make a head decision and not a heart decision.” Savannah says her main motivator to voting Kristina out was Kristina’s ability in fire, and she says she is “Zero percent confident.”
Rizo and Savannah take their spots at their respective fire-making stations. Savannah is the first to find a flame and starts compiling the base of her fire. Rizo tries to nurture his flame, but it keeps going out. Jeff says that you need a foundation to keep your fire going. Savannah is able to construct an inferno, while Rizo is never able to get his together. Savannah wins the fire-making challenge and a spot at the Final Tribal Council!
Jeff says Rizo’s fire is a “day late and a dollar short.” After losing fire, Rizo reflects on his experience and says he made his family proud and has no regrets. Rizo feels he left an impact on the game and that the best players don’t always win. He asks Jeff to refer to him as “Riz God” on the way out.
Final Tribal Council
Sage, Soph and Savannah make the Final Tribal Council! This is our first all-female Final Three since Season 29: San Juan Del Sur. Production brings the three of them breakfast for the final day, and the three of them cheer to playing a badass game. Sage she has a “grenade she is going to drop” at theFinal Tribal Council.
Rizo starts the Q&A from the jury and compliments each player. Sophie asks each player about their duos or trios they were in. Soph says she came to Savannah and Rizo like a lost puppy, but was able to operate as a free agent of sorts to gain information. Sage shares that she used to be in the military and that, in her duo with Jawan, she was the more strategic, under-the-radar player.
Jawan asks what everyone’s “Why” is and who they are playing for. Savannah says she is playing for herself today, her past self and for her future. Soph says she is playing for her family, specifically her grandmother. Sage says she is playing for her friend Jessie, who passed away from Leukemia.
Kristina puts Savannah on the spot and asks her to state the names of the family members of each jury member. Savannah really struggles with this and can only name the names of a few of the jurors’ family members. Savvanah then tells Soph that she is not here to vote out her allies and that she wanted to be in the final three with Soph and Rizo. Sage strategically voted out people who leaked information. The jury saw it as flip-flopping, but Sage saw it as adapting.
When asked about why each of them deserves the million dollars, Savannah states that she won immunity necklaces and made key connections with close allies to earn her spot at the end. The players go to vote, and MC votes for Soph and says, “You changed my mind.” Steven votes for Savannah and says that she is a “Very deserving player.” Jawan says this is a head versus heart decision, and he needs to go with his heart, so he votes for Sage.
The votes are read, and each player receives a vote to start! Soph receives the fourth vote, and then the Savannah votes begin to roll in. Savannah ends up receiving five votes and is crowned the winner of “Survivor 49,” earning $1 million.
First Look at Survivor 50
Jeff gives us a sneak peek of “Survivor 50.”
It opens with a Magellan quote from the infamous Coach, followed by confessionals from both Colby Donaldson and Jenna Lewis from the first two seasons of “Survivor.” Jeff also introduces celebrities into the game, including Zac Brown and Mr. Beast. I am unsure how they will impact the game, but I hope they are more for fun and ratings than to significantly affect the integrity of the game.
“Survivor 50” has a chance to be an incredible season of the franchise, and I truly hope it delivered.
RELATED: Way-Too-Early “Survivor 50” Preview + Castaway Betting Odds
Top Five Baby! Best Moments of the Season
The winner has been decided, and we no longer have five players remaining to discuss, only one! So, let’s pivot to the top five moments of the season.
5. Rizo Beating Alex on the First Journey
The first episode provided us with one of the most entertaining, yet heart-warming sequences of the season. Rizo falls significantly behind Alex in a challenge for tribe supplies. He then cheats off Alex’s puzzle and closes the gap.
Alex digs in the wrong places, while Rizo expertly locates the right spots and digs up the right supplies. We get to know Rizo on a more emotional level here, too, as he shares his family and background with the viewers.
4. Soph’s Perseverance
Soph attends the most tribal councils this season, by a significant margin. She attends the first three on the cursed Kele tribe, including surviving a vote where only three players voted and one had an idol. By Final Eight, she is the only remaining member of her starting tribe.
Soph worked tirelessly to make new relationships and earned her way to the end, even winning Final Immunity. A strong narrative and underdog story resulted in second place, two jury votes and $100,000.
3. Sage & Jawan’s Arc
Sage and Jawan were on the outs of the original Uli tribe. Had Uli lost pre-swap, we never would have gotten to see their quirky friendship develop. Their strategic partnership began when they voted out Shannon, and continues well into the merge with the Nate, MC and Alex votes. Although Sage falls short at Final Tribal Council, and Jawan goes home in eighth place, they made a significant impact on the season in a fun, chaotic way.
2. Rizo Continuously Saves His Idol
By the end, it turned into a bit of a joke and meme, but wow, Rizo has balls of steel for holding onto his idol for so long. He held his idol for nine tribals, despite the fact that it was public. This helped set him and Savannah up for success, as people were afraid to target both of them, and primarily Rizo. His fake idol play and lying about the expiration of his idol propelled him further in the game, and it was very entertaining to watch. He used the idol offensively rather than defensively.
1. Savannah Wins “Survivor 49”
Savannah was a dominant winner, both strategically and physically. She won four individual immunity challenges and the Final Four Fire-Making Challenge. She recovered expertly from the blindside of her close ally, Nate, at the merge, building inroads with Sage and Sophie to insulate herself despite her strong threat level. She even managed to get Soph and Rizo to mistakenly vote out Kristina at Final Five. Overall, a very strong game and a worthy winner.
Thank you all for following along on my first “Survivor” season writing for In-Between Media (IBT). I hope to write some content between now and the start of “Survivor 50,” so stay tuned!
For more entertainment content, check out our other blogs here at IBT. And be sure to follow me on Twitter/X @robbrereton for more “Survivor” content.
