‘Survivor: South Pacific – Loyalties Will Be Broken’ Season Finale And Reunion Recap

Posted on 19. Dec, 2011 by Michelle Ealey in Survivor Reviews, Survivor Season 23 "SOUTH PACIFIC"

After all the praying and lack of backstabbing, the season finale is here.

With the alliance having to eat its own members, many lies are coming to the surface. Everyone knows that Albert knew Brandon was going to Redemption; he might have covered his actions by voting for Sophie, but he knew Brandon was on his way out.

As Coach says, at the end, loyalties will be broken.

At the last Redemption Island duel, Ozzy and Brandon have to hold on to a pole. The first to fall is out of the game for good. After forty minutes, they begin to slip and slide. It is a close competition, but Brandon is not as physically strong as Ozzy, and Ozzy wins again. Ozzy had a good run on Redemption; he lasted two weeks and beat eight people to win his way back into the game.

Ozzy knows that if he doesn’t win immunity, he will be going home. Coach reminds him of their secret deal, but Ozzy doubts it because he questions why anyone would want him at the end. This is true, not because of the feats Ozzy has accomplished, but because the jury is five former Savaii members. Ozzy could moon the jury and still win.

Coach says he is secure, and we learn that he has final three deals with everyone. I’ve been saying that this is Coach’s game to lose, and with so many deals, he will have to break his word to many people. This is not the wisest move, and I’m worried that Coach may have to burn too many bridges to make it to the finals. Once at the finals, he will have to talk his way to a win. Coach does have a way with words. Maybe he can talk his way to a win.

At the immunity challenge, players have to use one hand to keep a board steady. With the other hand, they have to build a house of cards. Sophie boasts that she has a book on how to build a house of cards. Coach, Ozzy, and Sophie are close. Sophie has a solid structure, but she runs out of cards. Coach and Ozzy don’t panic. Ozzy runs out of pieces and has to start over. Ozzy recovers quickly. Sophie drops many pieces and wants Albert to drop his stack so he can pick up her cards. Jeff coldly tells her that there is no helping in individual challenges; if you want immunity, you have to win it yourself. Sophie is angry. Coach and Ozzy are close, but Ozzy pulls ahead and wins.

Ozzy enjoys watching the others turn on each other, and he plans to pit them against each other. Ozzy tries to convince Albert to vote out Sophie. Albert has thought Sophie is a threat because she is well-spoken and has won challenges. Before, Albert talked to Coach, and they planned on voting out Rick. For some reason, Coach thinks Rick has a shot of winning. Rick doesn’t. Rick hasn’t made any moves or won any challenges. I thought Coach would take Rick because Rick has been riding his coattails, which would make Coach’s case easier to make.

Coach tells Rick that he thinks Sophie has turned on Rick. Coach is not a very good liar to Rick. Rick wants to know if he will not vote Rick out, but Coach can’t look Rick in the face.

Ozzy tells Albert about Coach’s plan to take him to the final three. Albert is upset and confronts Coach. Again, Coach does a poor job lying to Albert. I’ve said this has been Coach’s game to lose, and Coach might be losing the game by not being able to lie very well. If you can’t lie well, then don’t promise the sun to everyone because if you do, you will have to burn someone to make your plans happen.

At tribal council, the Savaii members of the jury are happy to see Ozzy with immunity. The choices are Rick and Sophie. Coach is not an option because he has the idol, and he can play it to guarantee his spot in the final four. Sophie has a mini meltdown because of the attacks on her character. Rick plans to vote for Sophie, as is Ozzy. Since he has wanted her out, I think Albert is going to vote for Sophie. Coach does not play the idol. Just when I think Sophie is gone, Rick’s name is called three times. Oh Albert. You had your chance. Dumb move, Albert. And this is a dumb move on Coach’s part too. Rick has been very loyal, and when he is voted out, he knows everyone, especially Coach, lied to him. Rick leaves pissed.

Ozzy’s plan to make it to the finals to win immunity. He knows this is his only option. Coach and Ozzy clear the air. Ozzy tells Coach that he revealed their secret plan because he has been burned and screwed by the game so many times that he has issues trusting people. Coach is moved by Ozzy’s explanation. Coach considers Ozzy’s plan of making Sophie and Albert fight for a spot in the finals by tying the vote, making the two build a fire to win a spot in the finals. Ozzy makes the case that Coach has preached about taking warriors to the finals so the best person wins, so Ozzy says that if Coach means what he says, he will take Ozzy.

The final four do not reminisce about former players and burn their torches. I miss this part that became a staple for many seasons of the show.

At the final immunity challenge, the final four have to race through an obstacle course. There are five stations. At each station is a bag of puzzle pieces. After they get the bags, they can complete the puzzle. The puzzle is difficult; the sections of the puzzle rotate, so players have to rotate the parts until they can fit a piece. Ozzy races through the obstacle course easily, building a large lead. Sophie finishes the course and catches up to Ozzy by solving the puzzle quickly. Sophie wins immunity!

Ozzy wants Coach to keep his word and have him and Albert build a fire for the last spot in the final. What gets me is that Coach’s name is not brought up. Coach has not been in danger since the beginning of the game. Wow.

Coach’s heart is heavy with contemplation. He wants to stay true to his word, but he also wants to win the game.

At tribal, Savaii is upset to see Ozzy without immunity. Ozzy reveals that he hopes Coach keeps his word. Albert admits that he might not win against Ozzy in a fire building competition. They vote. Albert and Sophie vote for Ozzy. Ozzy votes for Albert. Jeff reveals the final vote. Coach voted for Ozzy. Ozzy said that he had a good ride.

The final three are Sophie, Albert and Coach.

The three have a glorious breakfast. They burn the camp. They go to the final tribal council.

Jeff explains that the format is opening statements, questions, and the vote.

Albert states that his game was social. Coach talks about his uphill battle and how he played differently. Sophie states how she outwitted, outplayed, and outlasted everyone.

Ozzy goes first. He says that no one wants to vote for any of them. He asks Coach to confess that the honor stuff was a bunch of bull. Coach says that he did break his word to advance in the game and he knows that he hurt people. Jim asks Albert about why the other two shouldn’t win and instructs him to not start with a compliment. Albert compliments the quality of Jim’s questions. He says that Coach was not the leader; they carried him. He says Sophie wasn’t as social as he was. Dawn asks Sophie about her strategy. Sophie says that she wishes she was a guy so she could have gotten a couple of young girls to do her biding. Instead, she got Coach, who told her that he valued loyalty above everything else, so to Sophie, Coach was like a girl. She teamed with Albert so she could have someone to discuss strategy with, but confesses to almost voting him out because of his actions later in the game and to increase her odds of making it to the end.

Rick is next. He is still pissed. Coach apologizes to him for lying, but Rick says that he stabbed him in the back. He tells Albert that he knows he lied to Brandon about giving back the necklace. He tells Sophie that she lied all the way. She tells him that she felt bad about lying, but lied when she thought it was justified and tried to tell as few lies as possible.

Brandon confronts Coach about giving his word as a man of God to not vote him out. Coach commends Brandon for raising their standards and for being open about his love of God. Brandon says that he forgives Coach. Brandon then asks Albert if he knew Brandon was going home. Albert hesitates. Brandon says it is a yes or no question, no hesitation necessary, but Albert stumbles, finally saying that he didn’t know. Brandon does not believe him.

This is when I realize Albert does not have a chance. His inability to answer Brandon’s question immediately has put him out of the race for the million. I’m disappointed in Coach’s incessant need to apologize. He put the alliance together. He got Cochran over to their side. He got the five to the end. He needs to say all of the things he has done. His reluctance to say what he has done is making Sophie’s claim of being the brains behind the operation appear to be true.

Whitney calls Albert sleazy, accuses Coach of using God to manipulate others, and says Sophie is condescending. Sophie says that she knows she has a hard exterior and is difficult to get to know.

In one the best moments of the night, Edna makes a speech about how they should not be angry for being duped. Everyone signed up for the same game; everyone volunteered to be a part of a game that is about lying and being manipulated. Religion has been a tool used to manipulate people on a grand scale, so it being used in the game should not been seen as a negative.

Keith asks Coach about the idol. Coach says that it was a tribal idol. They thought about using it if Cochran wasn’t going to come to their side. Sophie takes this moment to explain how the idol was actually found. Coach had found it and thought about keeping for himself, Sophie, and Albert, but decided to reveal it in an elaborate ruse. The shocked look on Brandon’s face is another highlight of the night. Sophie’s clever timing might have just earned her Brandon’s vote. And maybe Rick’s since Rick was duped as well by Coach’s ruse.

Cochran tells Coach that he played a great game but used the word “honor” too much. Without talking about honor, Cochran wants Coach to explain his game. Coach admits to wanting to please everyone, and in wanting to please everyone, he ended up hurting many people. His game became a convoluted mess on his way to the finals. He says that he is not that great of a strategist.

And it is when he says this that I think Coach just cost himself the game. Why, Coach, why? I really thought you could have won the game, but not now.

They vote. Jeff takes the urn. The votes are read in L.A. at the reunion show.

To win, a player needs five votes. After six votes are read, Coach and Sophie are tied. Sophie gets two more votes and wins!

Coach was right in calling her the new Dragon Slayer. By remaining calm during the final tribal council, letting Coach apologize continuously, and revealing the ruse about the hidden immunity idol, Sophie won. She played a good game. She made a great alliance, won some immunity challenges, and used her observation skills to take herself to the end.

Jeff interviewed different players during the reunion show. Highlights include:

• Poor Brandon. The Hantz family is not impressed by how he played the game. Russell was there, and Russell does not like how Brandon wanted to undo the masterful way he played the game. Russell missed the point. Brandon didn’t want to win by being a liar. Jeff proposes a season with one tribe lead by each Hantz.
• Edna is pregnant.
• Whitney and Keith confirm their romantic relationship. Whitney says the game provides a way for people to get to know each other quickly.
• Cochran is still single.
• Christine and Stacey are close friends.
• Jeff polls the jury. If Coach had taken Rick and Albert to the finals, Coach would have won. If Ozzy was in the finals, he would have won.

The Sprint Player of the Season is revealed. In a landslide, Ozzy won the $100,000 prize.

For the first time in ‘Survivor’ history, Jeff got to give the check to the winner.

Season 24 is called ‘Survivor: One World.’ The tribes will share one island. The tribes will have to decide to either share resources or hoard. The new season will premiere in February.

With that announcement, the reunion showed ended, bringing one of the most lackluster seasons of ‘Survivor’ to a close.

Tags: CBS, Survivor, Survivor South Pacific