Survivor: Game Changers finale review: Did Brad Culpepper, Sarah Lacina, or Troyzan Robertson win?
Tonight, we all bore witness to Brad Culpepper taking said eye of that prize when he opted to take Sarah Lacina to the final three over Tai Trang. Sure, there were many CRAZY moments in the finale, including the insane final six vote where Cirie ended up leaving by default after everyone else was safe, but that is the vote that changed the course of the season presumably. In a vacuum, Brad beats Tai in the end, and is easily able to out-argue him in front of the jury. He overcame the most, and Tai, as sweet a guy as he is, struggles when it comes to explaining out his game.
After Cirie left in sixth and Aubry in fifth, this ironically was the moment that changed the game. Note that we’ve barely mentioned Troyzan in here, mostly because he didn’t do much of anything most of the season in terms of what was shown on TV. Obviously he did play a heck of a social game, but that only tends to work in the game when you’re up against people who are hated in the end. This is an All-Star game, and this is a game where people are going to vote based on game.
What Brad did winning five straight immunity challenges was INCREDIBLY impressive. Yet, it also felt as though he was going to lean too much on that, and there was also the simple fact that he didn’t need the money. If he deserved to win far and away, maybe that wouldn’t matter so much. In a close vote, however, this absolutely matters and was something that he was going to have to navigate.
The final jury twist
Sometimes, there are good changes to the game. Opening up Tribal Council so that people could ask questions on different subjects (outwit, outplay, and outlast) was so smart since it got rid of canned questions and stupid moments. Maybe it did lead to a little bit of groupthink here and there, but for the most part, this was very entertaining and created some good discussion.
The big takeaway from the jury twist was that Sarah was the architect of almost everything this season, and Brad’s social game was what did him in. Sarah may have hurt people, but she also did whatever she needed to in order to further ensure that she stuck around. She ALWAYS knew what was going on. She wasn’t perfect, but she played a heck of a strong game from start to finish and won the jury vote in our eyes here, if she hadn’t won it already.
While it was assumed that Troyzan got zero votes (he even knew it sitting at Tribal), this was a race between two people. Both Brad and Sarah had some love, but as we said earlier, this was more about the person who really played hardest in every aspect, every second of the game.
Congratulations Sarah, who was the winner of this season! Overall, a pretty strong finale with a predictable finish. Grade: A-.
What do you think about the Survivor: Game Changers finale, and do you think the right person won in the end? Share in the comments below!
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