The streak is over!
Tell your friends, neighbors, and countrymen!
Scream it from the tallest mountain!
Janet Carbin, Dean Kowalski, Lauren Beck, Tommy Sheehan and Noura Salman on ‘Survivor: Island of Idols’.CBS
Ring it from the highest bell tower!
There finallywillbe joy in Mudville because, for the first time in 24 seasons, I havenotstruck out.
Is this real, or is it all a fever dream?
Admittedly, I got a little cocky after successfully predicting the winners in three straightSurvivorseasons.
Only problem is, those were seasons 13 through 15.
Its become a well-worn joke in theSurvivorcommunity, with yours truly being the punchline.
Because your boyfinallygot one right.
It may be another 24 seasons before it happens again.
Yep,Survivors unfortunate recent trend of male winners only continued.
Tommy became the fifth consecutive man to winSurvivorand the 11th male winner out of the last 14 seasons.
Thats… not good.
And the past five seasons have been a horror show in the gender disparity department.
Of those 52 votes, 50 have gone to men.
They were the ones that were making all the moves and becoming the biggest personalities.
They were owning the season.
And yet here we are.
Now that weve established all of that, lets give Tommy his due.
For the most part, Tommy simply stayed the course with his alliance.
(Again, social game.)
So, Im happy for the guy.
(And you canread our exit interview right here.)
Especially since he helped me end my epic streak of futility.
He earned his way into the final three.
And why dont you get it?
Because you didnt need it!!!
Lord knows I dont.
I gotta admit: I dont think I would have figured it out.
And since Tommy had told Dean about the clues, Dean then scored the idol hiding inside said bamboo.
It never got played because Dean also won immunity, but it was still kinda cool.
And I TOTALLY want one of those limited edition buffs.
Seriously, if I could inject that directly into my veins, I would.
You may call me horrible, but I prefer the word honest.
Because admit it, you love it too.
And we got sooooo much of it at the start of this one.
And then Noura won it.
And that was great too.
And she looked downright shell-shocked after watching her guaranteed spot become quickly unguaranteed.
But Im proud of the game I played because its who I am.
She should be proud.
In a season short on heroes, she was a big one.
And we were all just as crushed by her ouster as she was.
Wheres the time-lapse action when you need it?
How is that possible?
You know your entire life in the game could come down to that.
The Noura and Lauren fight made me sad and I think they both could have handled that better.
I did it my way.
I did it the Noura way.
Its up, its down.
Its in your face.
Thats how you win the million.
Say things that people dont see coming.
But lord knows I love a disrupter.
I love someone who zigs when the others zag.
Thats what Noura was this season, and thats why she was so fun to watch.
That was a valuable nugget of intel that Noura dropped at just the right time.
I didnt TS Chill, the latter stated, scoring a point.
That would be my line as well.
I feel the exact same way.
I do know this about Dean.
He is a master showman.
After Dean bellowed, Tell me those are moves, Tommy responded: Those arent moves.
Missy came really, really close to dethroning Eliza Orlins as the most ridiculously expressive juror ever.
She even went Full Orlins and milked her time at the voting urn with some classic Eliza indecision.
Hell, Im half surprised she didnt show up to Tribal with a big plate of Applebees!
But how would Jeff Probst deal with the incidents from the past as they looked back on the season?
Heres what went down at the finale:
Dan was not the only player not to attend the reunion.
Jack and Elizabeth also were not in attendance, by choice.
I hope theyre both doing okay and that any scars from this season are continuing to heal.
If you follow the herd, youll never be heard, said Noura, which I love.
She also said Be a c instead of peacock, which I loved even more.
Like I said before, Noura truly is Gods concept album.
Sia gave $100,000 to Elaine.
Sia gave $100,000 to Janet.
Sia gave Jamal…$15,000?
But, above all, I was so impressed with how Kellee handled that sit down.
She was clearly nervous and uncomfortable.
But she was also steadfast.
Okay, thats just about going to put a wrap on season 39.
Look, it was a tough one.
There were a lot of tough things that happened.
Thanks so much for reading.
Well, that and really cheap beer.
