Day 39: Best Finale
Survivor 39-Day Challenge
A fitting category to finish this blog challenge.
The best finale episode of all time is the recent one: Winners at War (2020).
Winners at War celebrated Survivor’s 20 years on air, and brought back 20 Survivor winners to battle it all out. For others like Sandra and Amber, this could very well be their final appearance on Survivor. For some, especially the recent winners like Nick and Wendell, this could just be the first of their many future returns. It was a season like no other. I mean, if we’re associating words for each season, Winners at War’s would no doubt be epic.
The current pandemic being experienced around the globe limited the finale episode into a virtual reading of the votes. There was no reunion; the closest we got to a reunion was this screenshot of those winners waving to their own camera setups at home.
Despite that and because there was no reunion, the finale episode of Winners at War had a lot of airtime to wrap everything up in a way that was almost quiet yet extravagant. I think the fact that this season had all winners as cast cemented it as one of the best. After all the editing hooplas because of the divided attention between the regular game and the edge of extinction (preventing it to be the best season ever), the finale episode made up for it. It also helped that the penultimate episode ended with the most comprehensive recap in all of Survivor seasons. Fittingly so.
Some of the highlights of the finale: of course, the battle-back challenge of all the remaining castaways on edge of extinction. Natalie winning the challenge in a close call despite having all the advantages she could get was nerve-racking to say the least. It was almost devastating. And to see her winning that after being voted out on Day 2, ah, goosebumps.
But, only one could get back in the game which means all of the other winners are now part of the jury. The short interview that came after was so emotional I had to cry. Ahh, I love these Survivor legends. And the series also does. The amount of respect and gratitude for these players is immeasurable as shown by how well edited everyone was.
The battle to the finish was tight as ever, with Tony, Sarah, and even Natalie being frontrunners to win the season. However, despite its intense theme of war amongst champs, there was really something mellow to this finale episode. It was exciting yet calming, overall satisfying.
The final three, perhaps not up there as the best, was very unique in a sense that Tony, Natalie, and Michele truly played very different games in order to get to the end. Tony successfully established himself as a non-threat in the first part of the game and then used that to his advantage to dominate the second half. Natalie got voted out first but played the best edge of extinction game and earned her way back to the game, but was so out of touch in the final days of the season maybe because of the toll all of those days took on the edge. Michelle had a scrappy game, playing from the bottom the entire season and scratching her way to the end by her social maneuvers. All three presented very good storylines, but of course, it’s all in the jury’s hands. I would’ve had no problems whoever won among this Final 3, to be honest. But Tony winning was oddly satisfying.
Winners at War’s finale is the best simply because it wasn’t as hurried as the other recent finale episodes. It was able to smoothly wrap up the storylines of a season full of good Survivor players, the best of the best if you will. It was mellow, it was exciting, it was epic, almost sacred. Despite the limitations brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, the finale episode of the most anticipated season of Survivor (next to an all legends) delivered amazingly.
From here, I can’t wait to see what the future holds for the next 20 years of Survivor.
Runners-up: Borneo (2000) and The Australian Outback (2001)
