SURVIVOR: BRAINS VS BRAWN VS BEAUTY FINALE – 5/21/14

After Jeff’s slightly cheesy intro from CBS Television City (which kills me because it’s less than a mile from where I’m typing this) we get the big background check on the previous 12 episodes. In a nutshell, Brawn and Beauty did fine, the Brains were a bunch of idiots, then, things got really interesting. The tribe swap turned everything upside down which gave the remaining Brains players new life, while the Brawn and Beauty tribes began to turn on themselves. Drama played out each week, with the following key words all playing a role: flipping, blindsides, idol finds, stolen clues, special powers, drawing for rocks, immunity runs, bag of tricks…all leading up to one Wild Finish.

Night 36, after Trish’s departure, the #finalfour congratulate each other on reaching this point. Kass asks Tony if he voted for Trish, which he says he did and tells her why. The fact she’s made no enemies on the jury put a target on her back, so he played the best strategic move he could and blindsided his closest ally. Spencer, on the other hand, reveals he’s more concerned about the Tyler Perry idol, which Tony is still bluffing that it guarantees him a place in the final 3. While everyone considers if that’s valid, Kass is the most vocal that Tony could be lying out of his ass.

“I’m still not sure it’s usable at Final Four, but I was surprised he had it…”

Tony knows that if his bluff doesn’t work and he doesn’t win individual immunity, he could very well go home next.

The next morning, Tony and Kass are discussing Trish’s evil side that led to her demise. Tony reiterates that she was a well-liked, but Kass contends that she was hated by many. Tony’s not liking Kass’s attack on Trish, because “we’re still here and she’s gone,” but Kass just thinks Tony’s an idiot who was lucky enough to be on a winning tribe throughout the game.

A boat approaches and what I thought was a medical situation last week turns out to be something much better. As the castaways sit around wondering what surprises the boat may offer, Kass suddenly jumps up,

“That’s my husband!”

Finally, the “loved ones” episode that everyone’s been blowing up about on Twitter. I can’t recall another topic that was getting so much debate during the season. Was it really that important to the course of the show? Maybe the producers just wanted to save a few bucks and only have to pay for 4 family members to come out, but whatever the reason, the impact of the family members’ arrival affects everyone. The 4 who arrived were:

Spencer’s little sister
Woo’s younger cousin
Kass’s husband
Tony’s best friend

Tony is clearly disappointed his wife didn’t come, but with a 4 month baby back at home, I can understand why she didn’t make the trip, and so should he. The emotional letdown is evident on Tony, as his tears are true, many, and heartbreaking. However, to hear that his little baby is growing and healthy is consolation for any disappointment he feels. All the players seem recharged by this visit. And while wolfing down a basket of munchies, Woo reads Treemail and it looks to be some kind of balancing challenge.

Kass has a private conversation with her husband and tells him the lay of the land. She’s up against “the big boys” and has her work cut out for her. But, she is the last woman standing, and if possible, play that card to the jury. She came out and kicked ass and if she was a man, she’d be considered tough; but the fact she’s a woman – she’s a bitch. That’s not a role she’s unused to as an attorney, but we’ll see if too much damage has been done.

We then cut to Probst as he reveals the Green Room at CBS Studio where all the players (sans family) are watching the finale (kind of a cool thing to show us viewers, since they’ve never done this before). I like that they’re making this an “all-night event” and not just, “here’s the show and let’s talk to the most popular players.”

The Immunity Challenge is up and we’ve seen elements of it before. Players stand on a high perch and use a bucket to pull water up from the ocean below. They spill the water into a chute which raises a key. Once the key is up, players grab it and swim back to shore where they have to complete a block puzzle. Seems appropriately difficult for an immunity challenge at this stage…

With the loved ones watching from shore, Tony’s already freaking out at how high and unsteady the perches are. He tries to get Kass to panic a little, but she’s already doing that on her own. As the challenge begins, a bit of wind kicks up that gives the players another element to contend with as they pour the water. Tony seems to have slow and steady system as he pours meticulously. Spencer and Woo are spilling a bit more haphazardly, and Kass is just lucky to stay up on the perch. As she finally gets her first bucket of water, she’s so shaky that she spills all the water with none falling into chute. That seems to be the way it goes on bucket #2 as well, so it appears she isn’t going to be a factor in this challenge at all. Tony’s doing really well and is able to grab his key first. His only stumble is that he can’t jump into the water since HE DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO SWIM! Are you f**king kidding me!? He climbs down the pegs and doggie-paddles back to shore.

Spencer is the second to reach his key, which may be a coup for him since we’ve seen how well Tony does at puzzles. Tony’s early lead is evaporated as Spencer starts on his puzzle just a few moments later. Soon after, Woo is able to grab his key and make his way to shore. Kass has managed to tangle her rope around a post so she has to climb down from her perch to untangle it. She eventually gets her key and arrives on shore to begin the puzzle. However, with a huge learning curve on solving it, she’s soon almost caught up with the others.

Spencer seems to be doing the best, with a slow and steady method. Tony and Woo seem a tad chaotic as they throw pieces around and try every combination, but it just looks like everyone is having a tough time. Finally, in the purest example of The Tortoise and the Hare, Kass overtakes Spencer and wins immunity. No one is happier than Kass’s husband, who couldn’t be more proud of his wife. But, it’s not like she was going anywhere anyway… I wonder how this is going to play out for Tony…? Spencer is annoyed that he lost out to a “brain dead weasel,” so he’s gotta turn on his A-game and figure out a way to make it another few days.

As they return to camp (single-file, of course!) there’s about thirty seconds of back slapping before Spencer asks Tony for an audience with the don. He obliges and they head off so Spencer can make an offer Tony can’t refuse… Spencer postulates that based on what Jeff told them at the end of the last challenge, this season is going to be a final 2, not a final 3 (looks like the show is downsizing in a number of areas…) and if it’s a final 2, Tony is screwed if he gets rid of Spencer tonight, because Woo or Kass would obviously take each other to Final Tribal (assuming Tony doesn’t win final immunity). And if he keeps Spencer, Kass would dump Spencer over Tony in a final immunity (assuming she wins). I think a lot of this depends on Tony NOT winning, but Spencer’s gotta do what he’s gotta do to stay in the game. I get it. Spencer knows that anything he can do to stay in the game or force a tie is all he’s got. Tony seems receptive to everything Spencer’s saying, so let’s see how all this plays into what Woo needs to do to stay in the game.

While Tony and Spencer are away, Woo wonders to Kass what they’re talking about. He knows that Spencer is probably talking about how to vote out Woo so he needs to put his thinking cap on. Or maybe it’s his non-thinking cap, as he comically ponders what happens in case of a second tie in the vote: Draw rocks? The jury? We fight for it? I don’t know. He seems to be in total shock as it looks like a producer informs him that he’d need to make fire.

“Anything can happen at tribal council…” he confesses…

Before they head to Tribal, Kass tells us that she and Woo are voting for Spencer and Spencer and Tony will probably vote for Woo, so it looks like a fire making challenge. She doesn’t care because she’s “sitting pretty.”