The spell is broken as one player reaches the reality TV zenith.
She made history by changing history.
And she won big, in a 7-1-0 vote.
Erika Casupanan on ‘Survivor 41’.Robert Voets/CBS
The truth is, we saw Erika playing very hard from very early on.
And once she got her opening post-merge (which we’ll get to in a minute) she pounced.
It was that stealth that threw viewers.
Jeff Probst and the ‘Survivor 41’ final five.Robert Voets/CBS
It kept the lion looking like a lamb.
Of course, the lamb needed a bit of help.
Which brings us to the Hourglass twist.
Ricard Foyé on ‘Survivor 41’.Robert Voets/CBS
You could easily make the argument that it is the worst twist in the history of the game.
It also saved Erika, who most likely would have been voted out pre-merge without it.
To be 100 percent clear, there should be no asterisk next to her win.
Ricard Foye, Heather Aldret, and Xander Hastings on ‘Survivor 41’.Robert Voets/CBS
That was close shave No.
In the end, the guy who many viewers probably thought was a shoo-in got blanked by the jury.
Again steady, smart, stealthy.
Heather Aldret on ‘Survivor 41’.Robert Voets/CBS
It’s why Stephen Fishbach is still deleting his social media missives.
But as much as I love to razz the guy, I get it!
Hmmm… maybe we should drop the 4 and keep the 1 after all.
Do I think they needed to tell us about it every seven minutes?
But they did their job making this no cake walk.
Why spend more money for the same amount of product?
Anyway, new island.
But things were not fine between Erika and Deshawn after he blew her up at the previous Tribal.
She also then complained that it was personal what Deshawn did.
I have to strongly disagree with that.
Nothing about what Deshawn said at Tribal struck me as personal.
It was a game move, pure and simple.
Maybe not a verygoodgame move, but a move from someone who at leastthoughthe was out of other options.
This wasn’t Varner inGame Changers.
This was 100 percent completely within the boundaries of the game.
And this challenge ended up being Exhibit A in that department.
Producers decided to hide one more advantage.
Everyone was given a clue to solve to find it.
I do appreciate that aspect of it.
It was an equal opportunity to find it, so my gripe has nothing to do with fairness.
Then, she barely beat Ricard in the puzzle to win immunity.
But aren’t you kind of dying to know who would have won had there been no advantage?
Well, guess what?
We’ll never know!
That’s what I find frustrating.
Again, not taking anything away from Erika.
In fact, I’mgladshe won because there is nothing I love more than drunk people at Tribal Council.
I just don’t like the way it plays out dramatically.
Give me an even race any day.
Ricard’s last dance
I mean, he’s a dancer.
So it’s probablynothis last dance.
He can dance as long as he likes.
I don’t know why I made it sound so dramatic.
But it became pretty clear Ricard was a goner after he didn’t beat Erika on the puzzle.
But there wasn’t.
In making the vote-off so glaringly obvious, those cageySurvivorbastards somehow managed to fool me into thinking itwasn’tobvious.
The ultimate reverse psychology.
Ricard was such a gamer.
Even better at strategy.
He added a ton to this season, had a great run, and came up a bit short.
I am pretty positive we have not seen the last of Ricard.
He’s one of many from this cast sure to be back.
(Have I mentioned how much I loved the cast this season yet?)
I like this challenge a lot, just not as a final contest.
It just lacked a bit of the epic scope I would want from the final challenge of the season.
Maybe that’s just me.
So why did he pull a Domenick Abbate instead of a Chris Underwood?
Fire woman
Oooh, that’s a Cult reference for your latest subhead.
Not their best song, mind you.
A bit of a “She Sells Sanctuary” rip-off if I’m going to be honest.
I love when bands rip themselves off.
It’s like, “You know that one hit we had that everybody loved.
Let’s dothatagain.”
Sorry, off topic.
It seemed like she had a fire burning through that rope FOREVER.
But even though her fire was much higher than Deshawn’s for much longer, she somehow lost.
Just think: She wasthatclose to tying Xander with zero votes.
Perhaps even a dramatic slow clap if I’m feeling generous.
Final notes on final Tribal
Erika won.
We’ve established that, but a few observations about the Q&A that preceded the vote.
First off, I’m really not sure why everyone just kept running with Danny’s four quarters analogy.
And then everyone stayed on that whole thing for way too long.
They had to play it safe.
And with omicron raging now, it looks like they made the right call.
But that’s a sacrifice well worth making to confirm we gotsomething including a giant group hug!
Sooooooooo, I guess that’s about it, right?
OH NO IT’S NOT!
Because we still have our exit interviews with the final five.
In fact, my chat with thenew champion Erika is right here!And here’sDeshawn!
you might also follow me on Twitter@DaltonRossand Instagram@thedaltonross.
And if you are super bummed to be done watchingSurvivor 41… don’t be done!
Nothing super spectacular nor insanely annoying happened to really budge it from its spot, at least not yet.
Let me mull it over for a few months and we’ll see.
(And you cansee my always controversial season rankings right here.)
Your kind words make the long hours worth it.
And thanks to the cast for going full-speed and allowing their pain to become our gain as viewers.
