The season finale of Survivor 47 airs tonight on CBS. Read a live recap here.
The Final 4 return to camp after Genevieve was voted out. Teeny says she’s riding her “highest high.” Sue is proud of herself for making it this far. Sam says the feeling of making it to the Final 4 is a hybrid of being fulfilled and motivated. He didn’t want to be on Survivor to be in fourth place; he wants to win. Rachel says she’s not going to stop competing. She says the final immunity challenge is the last stand for all of them.
It’s time for the final immunity challenge. They must first crawl through mud and then use a pole to unweave a rope. Then they must toss a ball to hook onto a handle that will lower a gate. Afterwards, they must run through the gate and solve a combination lock. Finally, they must climb up a ladder and solve a hanging bat puzzle. The first to solve the puzzle will win immunity. The challenge begins, and Sam takes the early lead. However, he struggles lowering his gate, allowing Rachel, Teeny, and Sue to pass him. However, Sam quickly solves the combination puzzle (the clue is what they must do, and the answer is the word “unlock”). Sam climbs up the ladder, but Rachel, Teeny, and Sue join him soon afterwards. Sam is in the lead, but he falls behind as Rachel makes progress on her puzzle. Eventually, Rachel solves the hanging bat puzzle first. Rachel wins immunity!
The tribe returns to camp. Rachel is proud of herself for tying a Survivor record. She joins Kelly Wiglesworth, Jenna Morasca, Kim Spradlin, and Chrissy Hofbeck as the other women who have won four individual immunity challenges in a single season. Rachel also candidly tells Sam and Teeny they will be going to the fire-making challenge. Sam expected it, and Teeny is bothered by Sam’s confidence.
Rachel helps Teeny practice; she wants her to beat Sam. Sam practices too, but he admits he hasn’t been making fire often throughout the game. Sue believes she could easily beat Sam, but she would rather take Rachel’s offer than risk her spot in the Final 3. Sam gets more concerned when he sees Teeny having better success making fire. He knows Rachel, Teeny, and Sue are rooting against him. He’s afraid of looking like an idiot and people wondering why he didn’t practice making fire earlier. Sam reads his letters from home to give himself some encouragement to not give up. He finally builds a fire, and he feels better about his chances going into the fire-making challenge.
It’s time for tribal council. Jeff says Rachel has accomplished the goal of making it to the Final 3. He also gives her kudos for tying a Survivor record. Sam says he’s overjoyed for Rachel, but the necklace doesn’t win you a million bucks. He hopes the jury can acknowledge history and also consider who did the best in outwitting, outplaying, and outlasting. Rachel says that she feels like she doesn’t need to give up immunity to prove anything to the jury. She won the challenge fair and square. Rachel adds that she will be bringing Sue with her to the Final 3 to thank her for her loyalty. Teeny says she hopes she gets to pitch her case to the jury. She quips that she and Sam have had a complicated relationship. She admits it’s a one-sided rivalry. She speculates that Sam had a better high school experience due to being a good-looking and athletic male. Teeny says that makes her feel insecure about herself. Jeff asks Sam for his thoughts about the fire-making challenge. He sees it as an opportunity, and he’s ready to compete.
The fire-making showdown between Sam and Teeny begins. They both begin by scraping magnesium, and Teeny is the first to create flame. Rachel advises her to add sticks to build the fire. “What do I do?” Teeny asks Rachel. Rachel tells her to keep going. Teeny’s fire is getting bigger and bigger while Sam has nothing yet. Sam finally gets a flame, but Teeny’s fire is already touching her rope. Sam’s fire does continue to build, but is it too late? The wind is blowing Teeny’s fire away from the rope, giving Sam a chance for a comeback. They both have large fires, and it will just be a matter of seconds until one of them wins. Sam’s fire burns his rope. Sam wins the fire-making challenge!
Jeff chats with Teeny. Teeny says she’s heartbroken. She played the game like she lives her life. She was 100% herself. She believes she would’ve won if she made it to the end. She says she’ll have to learn to deal with losing to the handsome jock. Jeff also gives kudos to Sam. Sam says the story of his game has been one of resilience.
The Final 3 wake up on the morning of Day 26. It also happens to be Sue’s 59th birthday. They also enjoy a nice breakfast. Sam is happy after winning the fire-making challenge. He says he earned his spot in the Final 3. His game now rests in the hands of the jury.
We next hear some thoughts from the jury members. Sierra says Sam did a lot of things that makes him a winner. He achieved his goals. Sol notes how Rachel got a lot of advantages, but her game is more than that. She knows how to make people feel comfortable. Gabe says Sue played an unbelievably loyal game. Kyle says Sam played his underdog story perfectly. Caroline says Sue is the most loyal alliance partner anyone can have. Andy says Rachel established herself as the “threat of threats.” Genevieve says Rachel wrapped her hands around the control she desperately wanted. Teeny said Sam had to be extremely scrappy.
Sam calls himself the scrappy player of Survivor 47. He thinks his story is one the jury will root for. Sue says everyone underestimated her, and she proved them wrong. Rachel still believes she’s the underdog. She believes she performs the best when her back is against the wall.
It’s time for the Final Tribal Council. Gabe asks the first question. He asks how do you think your game will be remembered, and is it important to them? Rachel says she fell on her face early on, but she adapted. She became the underdog that triumphed. She says it doesn’t matter how her game will be remembered. Sam says he will be remembered as scrappy. He used everything he could to get himself to the end. It matters to him how people will remember his game. He wants to be proud of himself. Sue shares it’s her birthday. She reveals she’s actually a 59-year-old (she’s been telling everyone she’s in her 40s) and would be the oldest winner. She wanted to teach her grandson that being loyal can be a winning strategy. Genevieve asks Sue if deception is a negative way to play the game. Sue says she wouldn’t judge anyone. She just has to judge herself.
Caroline asks what was their biggest mistake and how did they recover. Rachel miscalculated how much game was going around her. She had to course correct after Sierra’s elimination. She reveals she eavesdropped Teeny, Genevieve, Andy, and Sam’s conversation to give herself an advantage. Sam interrupts that that conversation was a ruse anyway. Rachel says she played her idol because of that conversation. Sam says his mistake was not tying up loose ends, such as when he agreed to Andy being a decoy vote at one point. Sam says he recovered by being able to adapt and make strategic plays. Sue brings up how Andy lied to her three times. She says believing Andy again was her biggest mistake.
Sol brings up how he gave Rachel the Safety Without Power advantage. Rachel got lucky with a lot of advantages. Sol wants to know something about Rachel’s game that will surprise him. Rachel is proud how she played her idol. Sam says he had to hype up Rachel so everyone would look at her instead of him. He put a threat above himself. Rachel says that he couldn’t take the threat out himself. Sam counters that Rachel wanted him out of the game too.
Andy says he believes he and she are the biggest super fans. He points out that she has the worst voting record. Rachel thought she could maneuver socially. She says she had to adapt her game. She had Final 3 deals with multiple people and had options. Sam pointed out how she wasn’t able to get anyone to do her bidding. It was just immunity wins for Rachel. Sam says he’s the only one who has voted correctly.
Sierra says she played her game the closest with Rachel and Sam. How did they overcome moments when they felt low in the game? Sam says he thought of his family to never give up. He gets emotional as he thinks back to when he was a six-year-old watching Survivor. He had to surprise himself to achieve things he didn’t think he could. Rachel says her rock bottom day was when Sierra was voted out. She said she had to think about her husband to motivate herself to keep going. Sue said she got strength from the kindness everyone in the game showed her.
Jeff gives the Final 3 a chance to give a final plea. Sue says she beat all of them. She found a Beware Advantage and stayed loyal. She got out people she needed out. Sam admits he didn’t play a perfect game, but it’s the most well-rounded and creative game of the three of them. He found a way to take control without raising his threat level. He found paths to the end without winning immunity or getting lucky with advantages. Rachel believes she has the most dominant game. She denies the advantages were just luck. She adds that she won immunity and tied a record. She’s pleased of her story of going from an underdog to a super dog.
Finally, it’s time to vote. We see Sierra struggling with her decision. We see Kyle vote for Sam. Caroline votes for Rachel. Gabe also seems to struggle with his decision. Afterwards, Jeff gets the votes.
Jeff reads the votes.
The first vote is for…
Rachel
Sam
Rachel
Rachel
Rachel
Rachel
Rachel wins Survivor 47!
It’s time for the After Show. They all congratulate Rachel on her win as they drink champagne. Rachel feels like she’s having an out-of-body experience. She says she’s in shock since Sam had an incredible performance at Final Tribal Council. Everybody voted for Rachel except for Kyle. Kyle was the sole vote for Sam. Jeff asks for his reasoning. Kyle says he appreciates Sam, and he means a lot to him. Sam says he’s disappointed, but he knew it was an uphill battle. He’s proud of his game and he’s at peace. Sue says she wanted to represent people of her generation. She’s proud of her game too. She says it was the hardest experience, but it was the most beautiful experience too.
Jeff talks to Andy next. He says Andy had one of the worst starts anyone has ever had in the game, but he recovered. We see a flashback to when Andy had a meltdown after the first immunity challenge and claimed nobody on his tribe liked him. Andy said he had to find the will to keep going to keep surviving in the game.
Jeff talks about blindsides next. Genevieve says they have to be prepared to experience it all. Caroline adds they have to be socially aware. You have to think what is best for everyone else’s individual game. Gabe was able to acknowledge Survivor just being a game. It wasn’t a struggle for him to vote people out of the game. Teeny says she was born the year Survivor first premiered. She says the game takes a toll, and no one will fully grasp what they go through unless they play the game themselves.
The episode ends with a preview of Survivor 48, which will premiere in February.
And that wraps up this season of Survivor 47. Thanks for reading, and come back in 2025 for a new season of Survivor!
