And that’s Survivor 44! After a few days to sit with my thoughts, let’s look back at the finale and how everything went down.
One Huge Eulogy for Lauren
Final five got interesting and the suspense was built up well with the reveal of another hidden idol waiting to be found. As final five is the last time you can vote someone out of the game, a lot of discussion was had over the possibility of voting out a Tika favorite. With Carson dominating another puzzle, it left Carolyn and Yam Yam in a vulnerable position, and a possible betrayal was teased. Carolyn was wooed by Heidi and Lauren to make a big move against Yam Yam, while Yam Yam at his reward meal with Carson pitched the idea of blindsiding Carolyn.
That’s of course not what happened, as tribal blood turned out to be thicker than water. Carson aggressively shot down the betrayal plan as he and the show tried to convince us that Lauren was this huge jury threat and favorite to win (she won two challenges guys!!!). But in reality even with the verbal shots and bickering between Yam Yam and Carolyn after the five were reunited before tribal council (which if I heard correctly in the reunion was played-up tension as strategy from Carolyn and Yam Yam), they had gotten so far together that there was little chance of the three actually turning on each other. Lauren came to that conclusion over the course of the day and resorted to idol searching for one last lifeline.
And given how the show edited Lauren’s search, we were teased that maybe she found the idol and was going to make her big move. She postures as if she might have an idol as she presents herself as a lone wolf with nothing to lose, but it quickly falls flat as Heidi and Carolyn confirm to everyone that “Yes, people did talk to Lauren this afternoon”. By the end of the tribal council Lauren was rambling about how amazing Survivor is and how the show changed her life, and she is voted out as Tika stuck together again.
A Firemaking Risk Pays Off
Cut immediately to the next challenge: it’s simmotion for a spot in the final three. If a Tika wins, we get this interesting decision of which Tika gets the free ride and which Tika has to earn their spot. Instead, Heidi wins her first challenge and makes it known almost immediately that she wants to opt into firemaking herself. A logical move for Heidi, as she clearly has a worse strategic resume than the Tika three and needs literally anything good to happen to be able to have a chance at tribal council. And it becomes pretty clear who she’s planning to go up against: Carson is struggling to get a fire going and would be the easiest to beat of the three Tika three. Heidi does exactly that: she chooses to opt into firemaking against Carson and she completely dusts him, putting together her fire in three minutes, shattering the record.
The firemaking final four haters can take a victory lap on this one: this outcome was the worst possible one for a final four. Imagine a traditional vote where two of the Tika have to band together and vote out the third, or a scenario where a tie occurs and two Tika’s go against each other in fire. I still believe that the concept works… but maybe they should give it a break as what it has become in the eyes of the castaway, a last second “resume” move, takes away some of the hype.
On the other end, Carson drew the short stick because he was objectively the worst at fire (even though he did a good job at the actual duel, Heidi was just built differently). I feel Carson may have ended up being voted out anyway, given how people were talking up the skill in the game. It’s clear that Carson himself felt like the number one threat, and given the tribe-wide perception of Carson as the “brains” of the Tika three, I think the jury felt the same.
Practical Emotion vs. Inspirational Emotion
So the final three are Heidi, Yam Yam, and Carolyn. Heidi fell out of the race pretty quickly, as her “on the bottom” pleas felt pretty flat when sitting next to two actual underdogs. But I will give her credit for fighting hard and challenging Yam Yam over who was actually controlling the moves Tika made. She did the best with what she had.
On the Tika side, it came down to whose game resonated more with the jury, the charming social game of Yam Yam or the inspirational journey of Carolyn. I have to be a little critical of the production choices with this tribal council: it was difficult to tell what the jury actually thought of these players. Some of that feels deliberate; in recent seasons it has become clearer that the show wants to present every finalist in a positive light, often overlooking the real criticism and flaws that people bring up. Romeo and Owen were two major goats in their season, yet a lot of that was glossed over and spun as a positive.
Why I bring this up is that I think the glorious personality of Carolyn was hiding the reality that she wasn’t getting the same consideration as a winner as Yam Yam. Her tribal council answers rotated around her emotions being a positive thing, and the growth she experienced during the season as someone who’s always been an outcast. All nice things, but those don’t really have anything to do with the gameplay of Survivor. While Carolyn talked through a camera to us and insisted that she was playing a strategic game under the guise of cluelessness, it seems the jury wasn’t so keen to buy into whatever strategy she was presenting as hers. It was pretty shocking to see Carolyn become a zero vote finalist because it really felt like she had jury members (looking at you Frannie) on her side. The Carolyn we were being shown game-wise just wasn’t the same Carolyn that the jury saw.
The Yam Yam Train Runs Away With It
On the flipside, Yam Yam put together a fantastic tribal council, combining his witty and sassy humor with measured explanation of a game centered around strong social play. He was able to deflect attacks from Heidi and present himself as an important piece of the Tika three. He dominates the final vote, winning 7–1–0, with Danny throwing out a lone vote for Heidi.
Yam Yam overcame some major odds to win this season and I am satisfied seeing him win Survivor 44 (especially as the person I determined was going to be the winner a couple weeks ago). The Tika tribe he was in the center of limped its way into the merge and Yam Yam saw himself getting votes as a part of multiple splits. But he rode past that wave with his social game and helped maneuver Tika alongside Carson into a power position, eventually converting that into a win.
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Lamest Reward Meal: Spaghetti
Some people are spaghetti people and will devour it any chance they get. But I think if Survivor is going to treat me for a reward, they should give me something a little more high-class, not something I can make in my apartment for three dollars. At least shell out the bucks for some fine dining if we are doing Italian food!
The Classic Date Move Award: Yam Yam Guiding Carson’s Hands Practicing Fire
It was a cool moment seeing Yam Yam try to help Carson with the fire by moving his hands to get the flint shavings right. But I couldn’t stop laughing as it made me think of a putt-putt date where the guy has his arms wrapped around the girl, holding her hands and showing her the motion to hit the ball.
Best Reveal: Jaime’s Fake Idol Reveal at the Reunion
It really would have been fantastic to see Jaime actually play that idol during the season… its rare to get an advantage that everyone simultaneously knows about but also doesn’t know about. That also had to feel awkward for Jaime to realize the power she thought she held all season was completely useless.
The Returner Heat Check
DEFINITELY GETTING A SECOND SEASON: Carolyn, Yam Yam, Carson… and Bruce
Of course the Tika three are coming back! Write them right into the next cast and immediately have some storylines, akin to the Spencer-Kass-Tasha Brains trio from Cagayan. Carolyn will likely get the biggest appearance check from CBS to return out of all the new era players, and Carson and Yam Yam have both had strong seasons to make it worth a second appearance as well.
And Bruce has already been invited to return to Survivor by Jeff Probst on his podcast. You might be seeing him sooner than expected *wink wink*.
POSSIBLE TO RETURN: Danny
After the Tika three, there’s a bit of a gaping hole in star power. Shocking to hear, I know. The one person who I think made enough of an impact to come back again is Danny, who carved a lane this season as a light villain with his aggressive bulldozing strategy.
UNLIKELY TO RETURN, BUT NOT IMPOSSIBLE: Frannie, Matt
Maybe a bit of a lover’s reunion in Fiji? If they don’t get some sort of package deal return, I think Frannie is worth bringing back just on being pretty likable, but realistically she’d be a last second call because if you look at her Survivor 44 resume beyond finding a boyfriend, it’s pretty barren.
SO YOU’RE SAYING THERE’S A CHANCE/THE HALI FORD ZONE: Matthew
The edit was way too positive for Matthew this season to not consider that Survivor will want to sneak him into a returners cast if they have an opening.
NO WAY: Lauren, Heidi, Jaime, Kane, Brandon, Josh, Sarah, Claire, Helen, Maddy
Unfortunately for deep run castaways Lauren, Heidi, and Jaime, Tika’s dominance of the storyline left no room for them to have any personality to latch onto.
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Survivor 44 is over. Final impressions of the season: it’s another solid season of Survivor, but doesn’t defy any expectations. The New Era of the show is able to deliver good strategy and introduce a few interesting characters a season, but is clearly missing the secret sauce that made seasons in the past truly great. Maybe it’s the congested format, maybe it’s a greater show direction that embraces the self-praise and utopian camaraderie. That requires a bigger thought-piece to break down, but as the show exists now I enjoy getting together with friends every week to watch and will continue to do so next season!