Welcome to our “Survivor 50” Episode 13 Recap + Best Moments!
This week brought us a photo finish at the Final Five immunity challenge, an epic hosting slip-up and a new champion of “Survivor.”
For the last time this season, let’s see what unfolds in Fiji.
(Warning: Spoilers Ahead)
“Survivor 50” Episode 13 Recap + Best Moments
Episode Recap
Camp Life
Camp is not the same without Cirie Fields. Rizo says that he “feels like $2,000,000” and that Cirie was so good, she almost flipped the script to get Aubry out. He wants a Final Three with Joe and Jonathan, as he sees Tiffany and Aubry as ‘underdogs with compelling narratives.’
Jonathan thinks that Tiffany will beat him at the end, and Rizo thinks that Aubry will lose at fire if there is a fire-making challenge. Both Jonathan and Rizo lost fire-making in their respective seasons, “Survivor 42” and “Survivor 49,” so both of them would prefer to avoid fire here.
Final Five Immunity Challenge
In the Final Five Immunity challenge, castaways race up a deck, climb a ladder, and then navigate a fishing pole obstacle. Castaways then go through a crawl and retrieve sandbags to knock off three different totems, each with a key. Once completed, players will build a log ladder to reach their puzzle; the first to complete their phoenix puzzle wins immunity.
Jonathan takes an early lead in the challenge, followed by Tiffany and Joe. Jonathan and Tiffany are fairly close on the puzzle, with Jonathan’s leading slowly shrinking as Tiffany builds her puzzle from the bottom up, which is easier to manage and balance. Not to mention, Jonathan runs to the edge of the platform to throw up in the middle of completing his puzzle! Jonathan and Tiffany are both down to two pieces, but Jonathan gets his in faster to win immunity! He falls to the ground in jubilation to celebrate his win.
Pre-Tribal Camp Life
The castaways return to camp, and Tiffany begins pitching to stay. She thinks she can convince Joe that Aubry needs to go. Joe, Jonathan and Rizo are locked in, and Rizo tells Tiffany he will be voting for her here. Tiffany pitches to Jonathan that the jury will favor Aubry over him, and that the old school players will vote for her. Tiffany also promises Jonathan that if she wins Final Four immunity, she won’t put him in fire. Jonathan mulls this over.
Final Five Tribal Council
Tribal Council begins, and Tiffany has a few things she wants to get off her chest. She cites the double standard that she is threatening for challenge wins, while Joe is not, and he’s won the same amount. She exclaims that it’s “scarier when they lose to her, daps and hugs when they lose to the boys.” Tiffany acknowledges it is probably her, and that she is feeling spicy. Tiffany is voted out 4-1 here, and she votes for Aubry.
Camp Life
The vibes around camp are immaculate, as the players can taste the money and the Final Tribal Council. But, uncertainty is in the air… as this season is in the hands of the fans! The players are still unsure whether there will be fire-making at the Final Four this season as there has been since “Survivor 35: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers,” or if it will be a straightforward vote. Aubry says that she needs to win the Final Four immmunity challenge, it’s do or die for her game.
Final Four Immunity Challenge
The castaways arrive at their final immunity challenge, and it’s a “Survivor” classic: Simmotion. Jeff says that 41% of the fans voted for this to be the final challenge. Simmotion is all about consistency and paying attention. Players start with one hand tied behind their backs and drop balls down a shoot. Each time a ball reaches the middle sector of the contraption, a switch flips, and so players will need to alternate between the two outlets of the contraption to retrieve their balls. The last player standing without a ball dropping wins immunity.
All the players are able to make it to the fourth ball, but they begin to struggle there. Jonathan drops out of the challenge first, followed by Rizo. Joe and Aubry both add a fifth ball, and the intensity ramps up. Joe drops shortly after, and Aubry wins individual immunity and a spot at the Final Tribal Council!
Pre-Tribal Camp Life
Jeff announces that fire-making will return, and Aubry has a decision to make. She makes it with limited deliberation; Aubry will be bringing Joe to the Final Tribal Council, and Rizo and Jonathan will be making fire. Joe gets another shot, as he had in “Survivor 48,” and he aims to deliver. Joe decides to help Rizo with his fire-making, as Rizo is really struggling. Jonathan, however, can start a fire very quickly. Rizo equates himself to an underdog in a March Madness game in the fire-making matchup.
Live from LA Moments + Final Four Tribal Council
Throughout the episode, the broadcast cuts to Jeff and some of the cast live in Los Angeles. Several castaways receive awards. Cirie wins the “Spirit of Survivor” award, and Ozzy gets a t-shirt from Jeff that says “Ozzy We Love You, Please Play the Idol!”
Here’s where the fun starts. Following the camp scenes and before the Final Four Tribal Council, Jeff brings Rizo out onto the stage, as the assumed final member of the jury. This completely spoils the upcoming fire-making challenge. Rizo and Jeff try their best to adjust on the fly, but in the words of Q, it’s a “Big Mistake’ and ruins the suspense of the Final Four Tribal and the fire-making challenge.
They quickly cut to a commercial, and when they return, the castaways arrive for tribal council. Rizo said he wanted to avoid fire making, but he’s back at it again. Rizo faces Jonathan in fire, and Jonathan wins convincingly. His rope burns, while Rizo has barely ignited a flame.
Rizo delivers strong final words. He says his narrative will be that “he played Survivor twice, and he fell short both times.” Rizo accomplished what he set out to do and more when he arrived on the beach for “Survivor 49,” and that was to make his Albanian community proud. Finishing fourth on back-to-back seasons within the span of two months is very impressive, especially for such a young player. R-I-Z-G-O-D was such a fun presence on this season, and maybe could have won if Aubry finished in fourth place.
Final Three Camp Life
A boat arrives at camp and, for the first time since “Survivor: Winners at War,” the castaways get to see their loved ones! Joe’s wife arrives, along with Aubry’s mom and Jonathan’s brother. Jonathan’s brother is dressed like one of the Mario brothers, whereas the other two loved ones have more traditional attire.
A delicious breakfast is provided for the castaways and their loved ones, and the whole group relishes the moment. Meanwhile, the jury speaks out on what they want to see from the players. Coach wants Joe to own that he did not play with honor and integrity. Tiffany is looking for Aubry to own her game and explain how she played the middle. Stephenie is rooting for Jonathan and looking to see how he dominated the game.
Final Tribal Council
The castaways arrive at Final Tribal Council and are greeted by a jury of eleven players that they all had a hand in voting out.
Addressing the jurors, Joe emphasizes how he had to adjust his game from “Survivor 48,” and admits he did play a dishonest game this time around. If he didn’t, he would’ve gone home. Joe also credits Aubry for giving him the information needed to help send Ozzy home with an idol in his pocket. He says that he adapted well to the players here and navigated the game to the best of his abilities. Joe wants his legacy from this game to be that he was always willing to be vulnerable.
Jonathan consistently referenced how he changed his game from “Survivor 42” and emphasized his improved social and strategic game. Jonathan knew that different players had different games, and had to hide things from a lot of players. He also let Stephenie take the fall for him when he had pushed Ozzy at the Final Ten. Jonathan also admitted to using real emotional conversations to help blindside people. He did his homework, and worked hard to get to where he was.
Aubry cites adaptation and a growth narrative in a lot of her Final Tribal Council answers. She mentions escaping the target of being a “middle player,” and cites that both Joe and Jonathan targeted people who played the middle. And yet, Aubry, a middle player, is sitting right in between them at the Final Tribal Council. Aubry had to separate herself from Devens, Christian and Emily. Her strongest move was taking Ozzy out and leveraging the information he gave her to make that move. Aubry played this game for 137 days across four stints on the island. The game of “Survivor” changed who she was, and she continuously adapted and changed how she played.
Vote Read + Reunion
Questioning ends, and Jeff prompts the players to vote. We see several castaways vote and share their explanation on who they voted for. Ozzy and Cirie vote for Aubry, and Stephenie and Chrissy vote for Jonathan. Unlike seasons 41-49, Jeff does not read the votes on the island. Instead, he tells the players there will be a live reunion! A little inside baseball here: “Survivor” castaways are paid $10,000 each to attend the reunion. The players will have to wait to find out who wins.
We cut back to LA, and Jeff reads the votes and addresses the finalists live. Aubry receives eight votes, Jonathan receives three and Joe receives zero. Aubry is crowned the winner of “Survivor 50” and wins $2,000,000, as well as a new car!
My Thoughts on the Season
*Survivor 50″ was such a celebration of the franchise. We had old school and new school representation in terms of both seasons and gameplay. There were new school twists, but old school events like the auction and the live finale. The introduction of the Billie Eilish Boomerang idol was a really interesting game mechanic, as was the pair twist where Chrissy and Coach went home. The cast was quite good, and my only complaint was that I would’ve liked it to include a player or two from seasons 21-30. We didn’t get a single one whose original season was in the 20’s, and players like Malcolm, Abi Maria or Spencer stand out to me as good fits for this cast.
The gameplay itself was fascinating, with very few successful advantage plays. Only Rick successfully played an idol and Cirie got an extra vote. Aubry, Stephenie, Ozzy and Rizo all did not have a successful advantage play, despite having powerful advantages. I think that the way information flowed so freely allowed for everyone to play around advantages.
Aubry’s win was such a full-circle moment, but admittedly, the Final Five left something to be desired. None of the biggest names coming into this season made it to the end, which was mildly disappointing. But, this is one of the best seasons of “Survivor” I’ve seen in a long time, and certainly of the new era.
Top Five Baby! Best Moments of the Season
“Top five, baby!” The phrase coined by the great Tony Vlachos in “Survivor Cagayan” rings true here, even once the season ends. The five most impactful moments of the season in my eyes are as follows:
#5. Rick and Christian Hiding the Idol
Rick and Christian were such a fun duo this season, starting on the Cila tribe and continuing their shenanigans at the merge. The way they hid the fake idol in the second episode, following Savannah getting voted out, was masterful. Christian tripping and distracting the tribe as a diversion to let Rick slide in and hide the idol was amazing TV. We rarely see anything happen after a torch is snuffed, and so it was fun to see cameras rolling post-vote in such a way
#4. Cirie Plays the Extra Vote To Take Out Emily and Save Herself
Cirie’s masterful gameplay was on full display here. Ozzy gave her the extra vote to build trust, and she knew exactly when and how to play it. This would have been an incredible move by Emily Flippen, my initial pick to win the season. But, Cirie thwarts it, splitting the vote 2-2 on Emily and Rick with her extra vote. Emily and Cirie both receive two votes, and then Emily goes home 4-2 on the revote.
#3. Blood Moon Twist
This was an epic twist for an epic season. First, we have a “Survivor” classic immunity challenge. Second, we have three tribals that rocked the structure of the game. Genevieve, who was very well positioned on her starting tribe and found two idols, was left defenseless and sent home. Kamilla went home 3-2 as Jonathan flips on her and Tiffany. And sadly, we lost Colby here, who couldn’t even cast a vote on “Survivor 50” since he lost his vote to Savannah at the first journey. Colby was well-liked and well-insulated, but also very injured. Had he stayed, the merge would have likely shaped up much differently.
#2. Ozzy Blindsided
Ozzy, We Love You, Please Play the Idol! Ozzy gets blindsided with an idol in his pocket, just like he did in “Survivor Micronesia.” Ozzy truly adapted and adjusted his game for “Survivor 50,” so seeing him fall short here hurts even more. The way he spilled his whole game to Aubry and lost both Joe and Rizo is hard to watch. However, it’s also somewhat poetic. Ozzy has played “Survivor” five times now and still hasn’t learned how to read the room when he is in trouble.
#1. Rick Flips the MrBeast Super Beware Advantage Coin
Without a doubt, this was the most memorable and exciting moment of the season. We’ve never seen anything like this on “Survivor,” where a player flipped a coin to determine their life in the game. As the writer of a betting odds column, I support more gambling-related twists on “Survivor,” and boy, did this deliver! Rick wants to flip the coin; his kids love MrBeast. There is no one better on this cast to flip the coin than him. It lands on heads and everyone cheers… except for Joe. Had it landed on tails, and Rick had been eliminated, it would’ve been almost as memorable. But the fact that he succeeded, added another million to the prize pool and acquired an idol that propelled him further in the game was incredible television.
Thank you for following my second “Survivor” season writing for In-Between Media (IBT) and reading my “Survivor 50” Episode 13 Recap + Best Moments blog. Stay tuned for offseason and “Survivor 51 Preview” content!
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