After a satisfying season of strategy-forward gameplay, brutal blindsides and effectively used advantages, a winner has been crowned on Survivor 47.
Warning: Spoilers below for the finale of Survivor 47.
Rachel LaMont beat Sam Phalen and Sue Smey by a vote of 7-1-0 after the three finalists presented their cases to the jury during the Wednesday, December 18, episode. The trio made it to the final three after Rachel, 34, won the last immunity challenge of the season and chose Sam, 24, and Teeny Chirichillo to face off against each other in the fire-making challenge. Sam emerged victorious and progressed to the final three with Rachel and Sue, 59, making Teeny, 24, the final member of the jury.
While explaining her Survivor journey to the jury, Rachel highlighted her adaptability, competition prowess and journey from an “underdog to a big dog.” The jury awarded her gameplay with the title of “sole survivor” and the $1 million prize.
Rachel will go down in history as the winner of what many fans have called the best Survivor season of the CBS show’s new era, which began with season 41 in 2021. Very few Survivor 47 players navigated the game with blind loyalty to their initial tribe members or allies, instead opting to remain adaptable as the playing field dramatically shifted from week to week.
“I think the fluid nature of Survivor is here to stay,” host and executive producer Jeff Probst told Parade on Tuesday, December 17, calling season 47’s excitement a “direct reflection” of casting decisions.
“Today’s player wants to win. And to win, you have to play to win,” Probst, 63, explained. “Playing to win means taking risks that could end your game. That’s the conundrum you face. But taking a cautious approach and just hoping you don’t get voted out will never get the respect of the jury. So it’s a no-win proposition. In order for you to win, every other player must lose, including your closest ally.”
The season’s highly competitive gameplay meant that several members of the jury — which was comprised of Sierra Wright, Sol Yi, Gabe Ortis, Kyle Ostwald, Caroline Vidmar, Andy Rueda, Genevieve Mushaluk and Teeny — would’ve had strong cases to win had they made it to the final three. While players were open about Genevieve, 33, being the player to beat prior to her elimination last week, several jurors were impressed by Andy, 31, and Caroline, 28, after learning more about their games at Ponderosa.
“When [Caroline] came back to Ponderosa, she explained her game to me, and I was blown away. Her level of detail, strategic acumen and self-awareness were all things I didn’t see [during the game], and that was intentional,” Sol, 43, told Entertainment Weekly on Tuesday. “I call her the Silencer because she sneaked her way through the game being a part of a lot of moves, but no one knew it. She could have won for sure.”
Andy echoed the sentiment, telling EW that he and Caroline spent hours discussing their games after reuniting at Ponderosa.
“She’s so intelligent, and played a game perfectly designed for the new era, but in a way that is also innovative and true to her strengths. She had this idea of actively building up shields in front of her by subtly creating the conditions for them to get credit for moves, knowing that it would set them up to be knocked down,” Andy said of Caroline. “So when you see her earnestly brainstorming with someone, or cheerleading for them, that is both her genuine self but also her strategy, and I’m obsessed with that. Her final Tribal Council speech would’ve saved the planet.”
Gabe, meanwhile, praised Andy, who came up with Operation Italy – a scheme involving a fake immunity idol that saved Genevieve from elimination and led to Caroline’s blindside.
“The info dump we got from him was jaw-dropping. His personality, his game, everything about the guy changed when we got to Ponderosa,” Gabe, 26, said.
Andy even impressed Rachel when he laid out his game for her during the December 11 episode while trying to get her jury vote. However, the move backfired, as Andy didn’t know at the time that Rachel had a hidden immunity idol. Rather than selling himself to a player doomed to be voted out, Andy was highlighting his threat level to the person with all the power, inadvertently persuading her to target him instead of Sam.
Rachel then blindsided everyone but her ally Sue with her hidden immunity idol, advancing to the final five while Andy was eliminated. She proceeded to win immunity at the next challenge, allowing her to target her biggest competitor, Genevieve, while she sailed to the final four.
