OK, sit back and relax, this is going to be a long post.
First off, if you missed it, you can watch here http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor/video/?season=13/

Last night on CBS, season 17 of Survivor reached its exciting conclusion. Survivor Gabon: Earth’s Last Eden did not go out quietly, just as most of the season was played. How entertaining it was …
The show started off 30 minutes late, thanks to the NFL, and picked up on Night 36, just after Crystal was blindsided at Tribal Council. Sugar bragged about how she can’t believe she’s that powerful, using her immunity idol to protect Matty. Kenny blasted Bob for not giving him the immunity necklace, saying he was not a man of his word. Bob decided that because Ken outed him in front of the jury at Tribal Council, all bets are off.

The next morning Sugar tells Bob she wants to take him to the Final 3 and they should get rid of Susie and Ken next. She plans to get close to Ken and reassures him that Susie’s the next to go. Ken’s convinced Sugar wants him in the Final 3. (Side note: I’m not a fan of this Final 3 thing; I think it’s much better to just have 2 going into the final.)

Ken goes for treemail and finds garments, beads and makeup with instructions for each to dress themselves as warriors for the next challenge.

The Immunity Challenge involves a maze with traditional Gabonese huts placed throughout. Each castaway must dig under a wall to get in, navigate over planks, get a bag of puzzle pieces from each hut and assemble a hut-shaped puzzle. Bob wins again – 5th straight time.

Back at the Nobag camp Matty tells Ken Susie’s going and then lies to Susie, who’s becoming increasingly paranoid. However, Sugar’s on the fence and can’t quite decide who to vote for. She wants to get rid of Susie, but feels that Ken’s such a liar, he could influence Bob and Matty against her.

At Tribal Council, Jeff points out Bob’s fifth consecutive win, calling him the biggest threat. Ken starts whining about Bob backing out of their immunity deal at the last council. Bob counters Ken’s attack by making the jury aware that Ken and Crystal were planning to vote Bob out when he gave up the immunity necklace. (Backatcha Ken!!)


Kenny, the 22-year-old pro-video gamer, is blindsided 4-1 and becomes the 14th player voted out of Gabon, ending the broadcast’s first hour.

And then there were four …

The next morning, Susie’s convinced she must win the next immunity challenge or she’s gone. Duh?

Susie
The Final 4 take a hike around Gabon, in Survivor’s traditional homage to all the players voted out this season. Each is shown in the order they were voted out and the Final 4 collect a mask for each player to be burned at the site of the final Immunity Challenge.

The House of Cards: This was a new one! For the final Immunity Challenge, survivors were given 200 wooden tiles and tasked to build a House of Cards 10-feet high (anybody else thinking of The Brady Bunch?). After 30 minutes, whoever has the tallest house wins. (I think if Bob doesn’t win, he’s gone.)

Sugar shows talent in card house-building, however once she hits about 6-feet, they keep tumbling down, forcing her to start over. Susie takes the lead, then hers falls. Matty’s having the same problem. Bob, however, can’t seem to get any higher than 3 feet.

After many attempts, Matty scrambles during the last minute to try to take Susie’s approximately 8-foot lead, but just can’t get there. Sugar’s house falls again, and Susie gets immunity, effectively ruining the others’ plan.


Sugar
Sugar cries (literally) to the camera that since Susie won they have no choice but to vote Bob off. Back at camp, Matty tells Bob of his fate. Bob’s resigned to it, realizing that the others wouldn’t stand much of a chance at winning if he’s in the Final 3, and everyone hugs (more tears). Matty, surprisingly, keeps hold of himself and doesn’t cry.

Later on, Sugar tells Bob she’s thought of a way out. What if she and Bob vote for Matty, causing a tie and forcing a tie-breaker challenge. Winner stays, loser goes.

(Hint: If you’re ever going to be on Survivor, practice building a fire with flint for God’s sake. Remember, that’s how Bobby John lost.)

At Tribal Council, Sugar, crying, calls Matty a brother and Bob a father figure (Sugar’s dad passed away recently). Bob chokes up, crediting his own deceased father for making him a good man. Host Jeff relentlessly hammers away at the castaways’ emotions – great TV! Even the jury’s getting into it.

Vote time:

Susie votes for Bob.

Matty votes for Bob.

Bob votes for Matty.

And, Sugar votes for Matty.

TIE!

Guess what happens next? Yep – a fire-making challenge. First one to build a fire that burns thru a thin rope wins.

Bob gets fire first, but it goes out. Matty’s scraping away furiously, but Bob gets his fire going again and voila – Bob wins.


Bye-Bye Matty.

The Final 3 are sent back to camp for their final night in Gabon. The next morning they pack up and burn their hut to the ground.

And it’s Jury Time!! This is gonna be great! Ken’s ready to make trouble. Randy’s still VERY angry, dislikes them all, is "ready to rip Bob a new one" and says it’s about one word – REVENGE!

Oh, and Corinne’s loaded for bear as well.

First off, the Final 3 each get to make their case as to why they deserve the million dollars.

Susie: went on Survivor to teach her son and students that it’s important "to try."

Bob: played with his heart, strategy was to use his personality and survival skills to make life better for everyone. Says he "didn’t Outwit or Outplay, just Outlasted" the rest.

Sugar: thinks she played the perfect social game. Admits lying for the game. No one wrote her name down (to vote out) and thinks she played "a pretty darned good game."

Jeff hands the show over to the seven Jurors.

Charlie doesn’t have anything interesting to say, jokes about spooning with Bob. Bob calls Charlie "a hoot."

Crystal accuses Susie of riding coat tails to get where she is, and says Bob was remote-controlled by Sugar (Bob says he was riding coat tails). She demands to know why Sugar got her voted out, to which Sugar replied that she didn’t like the way Crystal talked to people or her bullying. (I don’t think Crystal’s voting for Sugar … )

Ken says Sugar really scarred him and wants to know why. Sugar said she had an alliance with Bob and Matty and truly thought he was a bigger threat. Ken doesn’t believe her.
Then, here’s a surprise, he brings up that deal with Bob and the Immunity Necklace – again! Bob replies, when "I became aware of your assassination attempt on me, I voted for you."

Corinne (worth the wait) goes after Susie first, guaranteeing her a vote if Susie will agree to have her vocal cords removed. Oh Snap!!
Then she asks Bob to make her believe he doesn’t like Sugar. He can’t.
But she saves her best for last attacking Sugar, calling her an "unemployed, uneducated leech on society" who needs antidepressants and, if that’s not bad enough, brings up her dead father, "if he even is" …. Hello – can you say be-otch?

Sugar gives Corinne the finger as she sits back down.

Marcus, unfortunately, had to follow that and didn’t really contribute much.


Next up is Randy, the Gary Busey of Gabon. Randy starts small and asks Susie to explain why she said she felt sorry for him.
Then he goes after Sugar, referring to her laughing at Tribal Council and making a jackass of him. To which Sugar replied, "I think you made a jackass of yourself." (POW!). "Is that your answer for a million dollars?" Randy retorts.
To Bob, he asks same question about the laughter at Randy’s last Tribal Council. "I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I apologize and I did tell Sugar about it," Bob sincerely replied. (I think Bob’s getting Randy’s vote.)

Matty asks Sugar to name one thing she did that was evil. "I broke Kenny’s heart, I’m sorry," she replied. Kenny roles his eyes. Then he asks Bob why Bob thinks the other two are more deserving. "I don’t think they are," Bob replied.

During the vote, Randy says loudly that "All three of you can kiss my ass." (I’m gonna miss Randy.)

Jeff takes votes and leaves, re-emerging magically at the start of the Reunion Show. Here’s how it went …

Vote 1 – Bob

Vote 2 – Susie

Vote 3 – Susie

Vote 4 – Sue (I’m freaking out at this point, thinking Susie may actually win!)

Vote 5 – Bob

Vote 6 – Bob

Vote 7 – Bob

BOB WINS! Yay! Justice! At 57, Jeff points out, Bob is the oldest winner in the history of the game.



During the reunion show we find out that had Matty made it to the Final 3, five jurors would have voted for him, thereby making the fire challenge a million dollar challenge. This is where Jeff stresses the importance of learning to build a fire if you’re ever cast on Survivor!

Jeff also announces that Randy was the deciding vote and asks why Randy picked Bob over Susie. Randy replied sarcastically, "that cookie didn’t matter much," referring to the food auction where Sugar snubbed Randy’s offer of a cookie, and I’m not sure what reference that was to Susie. But it turns out, it was a million dollar cookie as well.

We later find out that Randy’s not only got the second highest IQ of all the players (physician Marcus was highest), but he’s also a commercial pilot (think about that next time you fly), participated in Iron Man competitions and has an engineering degree. A self-described "bitter man," Randy brought six strangers to the reunion just because they were fans of the show. He applied for Survivor 15 times, and is currently a wedding videographer.

Then it was Corinne’s turn. Jeff called her comments to Sugar at Tribal Council "the worst thing ever said on the show" (Jeff, remember Sue Hawk?). To which Corinne replied, "I guess I just had a lot of anger," as the audience collectively booed her.

On the opposite end, Jeff called Charlie one of the nicest guys ever on Survivor. Crystal actually brought her gold medal to prove she is an Olympic medalist. She said the challenges were a lot harded than she expected, and her friends have been harassing her about her lack of performance on the show, saying "Crystal you suck."

Ace tried to clear up the origins of his faux British accent, saying he was born in Mississippi and raised in London (which didn’t really clean anything up at all).

And Matty’s still engaged.


The Cast of Survivor Gabon: Earth's Last Eden

Bob won an additional $100,000 from Verizon for being voted fan favorite online.

The show ended with a preview of Season 18 – Survivor Tocatinis in the Brazilian Highlands.

See you in Feburary!