SURVIVOR: MICRONESIA - FANS VS. FAVORITES

Maybe Parv will propose to Natalie.

Oh, come on. Not all women have an overload of estrogen.

Now Ozzie’s crying.

What is it, ladies hormone night?

Damn—Ozzy is making ME cry.

You right. I should have added...... if they are going to cry all the time.

Amanda looked better without make up.

No!

Blind sided!

I think Amanda is pregnant.

Either that or just fat.

Amanda looked better without make up.

I agree!

Another crappy ending by Amanda. Rather than say why she deserves to win, and saying things powerfully, the idiot once again looks weak, manipulated, and ashamed of being in the Final Two. What a loser. I am suprised that Cirie voted for Parvati. I guess Amanda must be a whole lot different than she appears on edit. Two seasons in a row I thought she had it locked up at the end if she could get there, and twice she gets trounced.

Wow, it's so quiet here.

Of the final four, I think Cirie deserved the win the most, but I couldn't get very enthusiastic about any of the four. Great season overall, though. Much better than Survivor: China.

Coming up next: Survivor: Gabon - "Earth's Last Eden," as they call it. Of course, they have to play up the wild jungle aspect. But Gabon is one of the most developed countries in sub-Saharan Africa and they do have oil.

Until then...goodbye. It's been fun.

Hey, it’s all right. I know you and I know you like women. :-)

Before this season even started I read several spoilers. Here are three of them:

Parvati would win
Anything from Cirie would win to not even make the jury
Amanda would quit because of an injury during a challenge.

I wonder what would have happened if she took Cirie with her. I think that would have been the better move since Parvati had James, Alexis and Natalie's votes regardless of what the jury said during questioning so Amanda would need all of the final 5 votes to win, but I knew she had Ozzy's vote.

I still can't believe they picked Parvati for the win.

Survivorfever.net had Amanda and Cirie as the final 2. They were pretty accurate for the most part, but didn't get that one right.

Well, I don't think Amanda came out swinging until Ozzy got bounced.

After that she went with the flow until the guys were gone. After that the HII slap to the team was what started her down the road to the final 2.

The two snakes were Parv and Cirie.

She should have swung with Nat and get ride of Cirie and Parv. The she could have told the jury that the favs used her for some dirty work to get rid of the last of the guys and that is the only reason she is there.

Oh. well.

On to Gabon.

Good morning ladies and gentlemen.

Well, Jeff said it all last night during the reunion show when he said: “Aside from the very first season, this, the 16th season of Survivor may very well go down in history as the best season of Survivor yet.”

I’ve hosted the Survivor Ping List for the last 14 seasons, through the good (this season), and the bad (Survivor: Thailand), and the truly ugly! (Survivor: All Stars)
Through it all, you have allowed me to become a small part of your Survivor experience. And for that, I’ll always be grateful.

But the time has come for me to hand the reins over to someone new and to “hang up my spurs and ride off into the sunset.”

I take with me many fond memories and wish each and every one of you the best of luck and prosperity.

I’ll leave the ping list up on my profile page until the start of the next season, for whoever wants to take over hosting duties.

Again, thank you.

And now, without further delay, here is your:

FINAL SURVIVOR RECAP!

SPINNING A WEB TO VICTORY: PARVATI IS SOLE SURVIVOR

After 39 days, twenty Survivors, tribes divided between Fans and Favorites, harsh conditions that forced three people from the game, a powerful female alliance, and an unprecedented number of blindsides, there emerged a Sole Survivor. The woman's alliance devoured the men one-by-one in the merged Dabu tribe and eventually each other, whittling down to four strong women: Parvati, Amanda, Cirie, and Natalie. But it was Parvati Shallow, the 25-year-old Charity Organizer from Los Angeles, California who outwitted the competition, orchestrated a blindside against the biggest threat in the game, Ozzy, and made the right social connections that ultimately won her the million dollar prize and title of Sole Survivor on SURVIVOR: MICRONESIA: FANS VS. FAVORITES.

THE FINAL FOUR

The four remaining Dabu members, Amanda, Parvati, Cirie, and Natalie, return to camp after a triumphant Tribal Council. They had successfully fooled Erik into giving his Immunity Necklace to Natalie and subsequently voted him out. Squealing and hugging each other, Parvati cries out, "Let's stir the pot, ladies," and they pantomime stirring a cauldron like a gaggle of witches, cackling with glee. Amanda celebrates, dancing around and singing, "Final Four, Final Four!" Despite the woman's alliance successful outing of all the men, they now eagerly look at their new competition--each other. Parvati playfully taunts, "Let's see what happens next."

WHO DO YOU TRUST?

As the sun rises at the Dabu camp, the girls continue their celebration. Parvati jokes with Cirie and Amanda, "The guys just walk right into the Venus flytrap and they just get eaten alive." Cirie, though, feels on shaky ground amidst so many schemers. She tells the two girls, "I'm gonna check and see if my money's still in my pocket around ya'll. I'm nervous around ya'll."

Aware of how well they've play the game, and set to turn on each other, Natalie looks to firm up her connection with Parvati, saying of her, "Does it benefit me at all if [Parvati and I] are closer than not? Of course!" As Parvati and Natalie have a heart to heart, Cirie and Amanda spy on them from the beach. Cirie has her mind set on who she wants out, threatening, "We're thinking that winning this challenge is pretty much guaranteed Final Three. So we have to beat Natalie." The four girls set off, ready to face each other in the challenge.

IMMUNITY CHALLENGE: CRYSTAL METHOD

The Dabu women arrive at the Immunity Challenge where Jeff Probst explains the rules. The Survivors will start out on a very small perch atop a twenty-foot pole in the water. Each of them will lower a bucket from their perch to collect water, pull it up, and try to pour the water into a small chute attached to their pole. As the chute fills, it will steadily raise a set of keys high enough for them to reach. The Survivors will collect the keys, swim back to shore, and unlock a chest containing sixteen individually shaped ladder rungs. The first person to correctly assemble their ladder puzzle, climb to the top, and raise their flag wins Immunity and a guaranteed spot in the Final Three.

The girls delicately balance on the small perch atop their tall towers. Jeff calls, "Go," and they all reach down and start pulling up their buckets, wobbling precariously on their perches as they do so. Natalie takes an early lead, her life on the line, as she hauls up bucket after bucket of water and carefully pours it into the chute attached to her tower. Her keys rise quickly, with Parvati close behind her. Amanda and Cirie struggle, having trouble aiming the water into their chutes. Natalie pours one last bucketful of water into her chute and her keys raise up high enough for her to reach. She grabs them and leaps from the tower swimming back to shore. Parvati's chute rises too and she snags her keys and swims after Natalie. Natalie unlocks her chest and grabs the sixteen ladder rungs, trying to fit them into the ladder. Each one is individually shaped, making the puzzle harder. Amanda and Cirie finally fill their bamboo chutes, grab their keys, and jump into the water. They swim back to shore, unlock their chests, and join Natalie and Parvati in fitting their ladder rungs into the ladder. Natalie has the early lead, but surprisingly, Amanda quickly gains ground. She fits them in solidly, one at a time, finding the right ladder rungs at each juncture. Natalie scrambles to regain her lost ground, trying to catch up to Amanda. But it's too late--Amanda passes Natalie, Parvati and Cirie. She snaps in her last rung, her ladder complete, and mounts the final platform raising her flag, and leaping with joy as she wins Individual Immunity and a one in three chance at a million dollars.

EATING THEIR OWN

With Tribal Council on the horizon, the Dabu girls have to scramble to figure out their votes. Amanda is the only one safe, and celebrates, "I'm in the Final Three! I can't believe it! I'm ecstatic! This is like twice in a row!" Natalie, on the other hand, feels like the "low woman on the totem pole." She looks for a way to stay in the game and sees her chance when Cirie asks about Natalie's jury vote. "Have you promised anybody your vote?" Natalie says she hasn't and Cirie answers, "Oh, good. Good." Natalie, witnessing Cirie maneuvering for her jury vote, decides to sell her out to Parvati. She muses, "I believe Cirie's quite nervous as far as jury votes are concerned. I could use this to address Parvati to help me out." Meanwhile, Parvati and Amanda walk along the beach and worry about Cirie. Amanda says to Parvati, "Cirie is probably going to pull out all the stops. She's probably working [Natalie] over right now for a jury vote." Amanda declares, "I don't want Natalie to go. I think she definitely deserves to be here."

SELLING OUT CIRIE

As Amanda and Cirie talk a few feet way, Natalie pulls Parvati aside and informs her that Cirie asked for her jury vote. Parvati whispers to her, "It's been the game that [Cirie's] been playing. Shady." As the girls pack up for Tribal Council, Parvati entertains the thought of switching up the game once more, "I love Natalie to death and I think she's a lesser threat as far as jury votes than Cirie." The Dabu women head to Tribal Council and after watching Natalie sidling up to Parvati, and the women's track record of blindsiding, Cirie has a moment of panic, "I could be going home tonight. [Parvati and Amanda] could have made a deal with Natalie."

TRIBAL COUNCIL

At Tribal Council, the four remaining Survivors discuss their four back-to-back blindsides in a row and how the same could happen tonight. Amanda announces, "At this point, Jeff, I have no idea what's going. I mean how many times does a blindside have to happen before you figure out that you know nothing about what's going on at all?" The question arises of whether or not the game will come down to a Final Two or a Final Three and Cirie declares, "It is nerve-racking to think it could be Final Two because that makes me feel like once again I'm on the bottom of the alliance, which is not a good place to be." Amanda, confused by Cirie's statement, demands an explanation. Natalie smiles at this proclamation of Cirie's vulnerability and Amanda's defensive strike, and she crosses her fingers that the sudden riff could better her chances to stay in the game. But in the end, the three Favorites decide to stick together and Amanda, Parvati and Cirie take out the last remaining Fan and one of their fellow femme fatales, Natalie, who becomes 17th person to leave the game, and takes her spot as the seventh member of the jury.

Natalie Bolton, the 32-year-old Personal Trainer from West Hollywood, California leaves behind her final words. "I have to say that I am pretty happy with the way that I played the game. I was the last Fan standing and I feel proud of the group of girls that I finished with. I respect the way you guys played the game with me, so thank you."

DABU IMPLODES

The long-time allies, Amanda, Parvati, and Cirie, arrive back at camp and Amanda attacks Cirie, "You were trying to make us look so awful at Tribal!" Cirie denies this, saying she was just being honest about how she always feels at the bottom of their alliances. Amanda calls Cirie a liar, setting off Cirie. She yells at Amanda, "[Parvati] told me she couldn't vote you, so that makes me at the bottom of this alliance! Have any one of you ever said, I can't vote Cirie out?" Cirie's counter attack is too much for Amanda and she begins to cry, apologizing for accusing Cirie of making them look bad in front of the jury. Cirie forgives her and the three girls hug as Amanda bawls, "I feel like I've been doing this forever, you know, straight from China, I come here and I just, I just couldn't take it." The girls discuss what would happen to them if it became a Final Two instead of a Final Three. Cirie worries, "It's been the plan from day one for Parvati, myself, and Amanda to be Final Three, and it would just break my heart to find out it's gonna be a Final Two." The girls head off to bed, unsettled that the game may not be over.

THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM

In the morning, the girls bask in their victory over their competition. Parvati declares, "I'm ecstatic to be here in the Final Three with these two girls. At least we assume it's a Final Three." They decide to celebrate their victory by setting free Gloria, their last remaining chicken. But Gloria won't leave camp and makes a nest by their shelter. The girls laugh and Cirie declares of the chicken, "I guess she doesn't realize this is over, it's a done deal."

WHAT GOES AROUND...

The girls all go together to fetch Treemail. They're expecting a feast for the Final Three and as they draw nearer to Treemail, Parvati moans, "What is it? It doesn't look like food. It looks like a challenge." She holds up the paddle with a note attached and says ruefully, "Freaking paddle." She reads Treemail aloud. They are to pay their respects to their fallen comrades and head to their final Immunity Challenge. The girls look at each other, stunned. Cirie looks pained and Amanda begins to sob, "Someone has to leave now? Like after everything. I am so tight with these girls. This just sucks completely." They pow-wow at the shelter and Parvati tells the girls, "I feel sick." Cirie surmises that karma may be at work here, "The fact that it's a Final Two and not a Final Three was almost poetic. I mean, we've been blindsiding people left and right and essentially, we got blindsided." The girls hang their heads after this serious blow, but regroup and paddle out to say good-bye to their fellow Survivors.

RITE OF PASSAGE

The Final Three, Cirie, Amanda, and Parvati, paddle into Exile Island where they find the torches of their former tribemates. Parvati says of their emotional journey, "It's a chance for us to honor everyone that we fought so hard to beat and I think we might want to give those people credit for being strong competitors." The three girls reflect on their 38 days in Micronesia, place the charred torches on Exile's tower, and set it ablaze. They say their last goodbyes to their fallen friends and push off from Exile Island, paddling towards their final showdown: an Immunity Challenge that will determine which among them moves on to the Final Tribal Council.

IMMUNITY CHALLENGE: THE BALL DROP

The girls paddle into the challenge and Jeff Probst explains the rules. Each of them will have a long wooden cylinder that has been cut into several pieces. In the center is a groove on which rests a small metal ball. The Survivors will raise and hold steady the first wooden cylinder by squeezing their handles on both ends of the cylinder like bookends, all the while balancing the ball on the center cylinder. If they lose their concentration or squeeze too hard, the wooden pieces and ball will fall and they will be out of the challenge. Every five minutes, the castaways will add two more pieces, making their cylinder longer and therefore harder to hold steady and keep the metal ball balanced atop. Last person standing wins Immunity, and is guaranteed a spot in the Final Two. Also, as the deciding vote in tonight's Tribal Council, the winner will, in effect, be choosing who they want to sit beside them at the Final Tribal Council.

The Survivors steady their metal balls in the slot on the center cylinder, picking it up with their cylindrical handles, and hold absolutely still. Jeff counts down, "5, 4, 3, 2, 1… This challenge is officially on." Concentrating on the balls balanced precariously atop the cylinder in their hands, the girls do not look up at all, focused. After five minutes, Jeff calls the round over, and the girls place the cylinder back on the table, adding two more pieces to their cylinder. Again, they pick up their handles, longer and more cumbersome. They focus in on the ball, their handles steady. Jeff calls an end to round two and the girls now add two more pieces, totaling five. Jeff warns them, "Now, it's gonna get interesting." The girls hold their cylinders out before them, their arms stretched out wider than shoulder-length. Their balls slightly rolling along the short groove on their cylinders as their hands shake with the effort. Parvati's hands cramp up and the pieces of her cylinder break apart, her ball dropping. She's out of the challenge. Amanda and Cirie concentrate harder, ignoring Parvati as she walks off the mat. Jeff calls an end to the round and the girls shake out their very tired arms and hands. They add yet another two pieces to their cylinder and hold it out before them. They survive this round and move on to the next as Jeff tells them to add their final two pieces to their cylinder handles. Amanda's grip stays strong while Cirie's hands wobble and shake with tension. Her ball moves about unsteadily on the cylinder and sweat drips from her brow. The two girls exercise extreme focus, but Amanda's ball remains absolutely still until finally, Cirie loses her concentration and her cylinder falls apart. Amanda wins Immunity and will move on to face the Jury. The girls congratulate each other on a game well played, but soon Amanda will have to choose between her two closest allies.

ONE OR THE OTHER

With Tribal Council looming, Parvati and Cirie's fates rest in Amanda's hands. She will be the only castaway voting at Tribal Council, sending one to the jury and bringing the other with her to battle for the million-dollar prize. Amanda feels the burden of power, "This is the hardest decision I've had to make this whole game because we're each close. So who do you send home?" Cirie, a nurse who relies on arm strength in her normal life by holding steady medical utensils on a regular basis, bemoans her misfortune, "I thought for sure I could win this one." She looks at the two girls left, herself and Parvati, and thinks her chances are slim. She worries, "Since Parv and Amanda are so buddy-buddy, unless something happens, I'm probably going home tonight." Amanda, finding some time alone in the cave with Parvati, confides in her. She tells Parvati how hard it is to make this decision. Parvati watches her closely and theorizes, "My fate is pretty much in Amanda's hands right now, but I'm fairly confident that she's going to take me to the Final Two with her." Amanda approaches Cirie and tells her, "This is such a nightmare that this happened today. I can't even believe that. How do I make this decision? What do I go by?" Cirie makes her last plea to Amanda to take her to the Final Two, telling Amanda that she's less of a threat with the jury than Parvati because she's angered more of them than Parvati has. But Amanda doesn't listen, telling Cirie, "I just feel like you're one of those people that can talk their way in or out of anything you want." Cirie maintains her position, saying she's screwed everyone over on the jury so bad that they won't listen to her. Amanda finally takes this in, agreeing that it's true that more people are mad at Cirie than Parvati. She heads to Tribal Council with her two trusted friends, trying to make a decision.

TRIBAL COUNCIL

At Tribal Council, the future of the game rests on Amanda's shoulders and she has a hard time dealing with it. She chokes up, saying through hiccups and sobs, "I have to choose who goes with me and we're so close. It's a hard, hard decision." Both Parvati and Cirie agree that it's a tough decision for Amanda because they had all formed a tight alliance of three since day one, never expecting that it may come down to a Final Two. Amanda weighs the pros and cons of taking Cirie or Parvati with her and summarizes that it's a toss-up: Cirie's a great talker and Parvati's played a great social game. Both girls have their downsides and Amanda determines, "I ultimately made a decision on my gut feeling." With that, it's time to vote and Amanda tearfully walks to the voting booth, tormented, not wanting to hurt either of her close friends.

In the end, Amanda chooses to vote out Cirie and take Parvati with her to the Final Tribal Council. She's devastated in making this decision and hugs Cirie good-bye, crying all the while. A devastated Cirie becomes the 18th person to leave the game, and the eighth member of the jury. Cirie Fields, the 37 year-old nurse from Norwalk, Connecticut leaves behind her final words. "Here am I again, coming up just short. HB, John, Jamie, Jared, Mom, Dad, sorry, I tried my hardest. It just wasn't meant to be." Amanda and Parvati wake up in the morning excited to have finally reached Day 39. Amanda giggles to her friend, "We bamboozled everyone out of the game!" The two girls are all smiles as Parvati declares, "All the hard work has paid off, we're here and it's done, and we're Final Two!" The girls go to check Treemail and scream at the sight of food. They chow down together on the goodies as they plot out how best to portray themselves in front of the jury. Amanda wants to show that she's played the most loyal game while Parvati wants to do the opposite, owning up to her cut throat strategic moves while capitalizing on the social bonds she did make. As the ladies burn down their shelter and say their final good-byes to the Dabu beach, Amanda declares, "I am ready to fight for this."

FINAL TRIBAL COUNCIL

Amanda and Parvati take a seat at Tribal Council as the jury assembles to ask the questions that will help them make their ultimate decision. Amanda emphasizes her loyalty to her allies and Parvati capitalizes on her strategic moves, unapologetic for any of the plays she made despite who she may have hurt. After the opening statements, the jury unleashes a barrage of emotional questions on the Final Two. Amanda defends herself when Erik demands to know what right she had to brutally attack him in the last few Tribal Councils. James and Ozzy drag Parvati over the coals for the ruthless blindsiding and disloyalty she showed them. After turning on Parvati, Ozzy regains his composure and faces Amanda. She glows as Ozzy confesses his love and affection towards her, happy to have lost Cook Islands so that he could have come to Micronesia and met her. With that, the jury casts their final votes and in a 5 to 3 vote, awards Parvati the million dollars and the title of Sole Survivor of SURVIVOR: MICRONESIA -- FANS VS. FAVORITES.

Thank you for 14 great seasons.
And as always,
Take care,

Cuz, you’re the best, thanks for all the hosting. Your shoes will be might hard to fill. Can’t believe Parvati won. He last name is Shallow!!!! How appropriate. Amanda really deserved it more in my opinion. Happy James won the 100,000, even though I voted Eric to get it. What can I say he got my puppy dog vote. Loved James story about the funeral. We just buried my mom - hey can I see your abs?? LOL. See you all next season. Hope someone can take over.

thanks! especially female action heros.

Great job hosting over the seasons, Cuz. We will miss your recaps and picks!

NFP