Episode 14: "This Game Ain't Over"

• Immunity Challenge: The castaways would race across a rope net and a balance beam to retrieve a bag of puzzle pieces. Once back with the bag, they would climb up a steep wall to a platform where they would assemble the puzzle pieces. The first castaway to assemble their puzzle would win.

The remaining Foa Foa concentrated on getting rid of Brett, feeling that he shouldn't be there. Russell H. talked to Natalie about how they could keep her in the game should Brett win the next Immunity Challenge as Russell H. thought the men would stick together and vote her out in order to try to beat Brett at the following Immunity Challenge. Russell H. was again extremely confident going into the Immunity Challenge, but while he had an early lead, Brett came from behind during the puzzle assembly stage and pulled off his third Immunity win in a row. Natalie and Russell H. again discussed what the plans were for Tribal Council. Russell H. wanted to keep Natalie around as he felt that she wouldn't get any jury votes as he felt she would be seen as riding his coattails. Russell H. told Jaison that in order for them to make it to the final three, they had to keep Natalie and get rid of Mick, which Jaison agreed with. Russell H. told Mick a different story in that Jaison could not beat Brett in anything and that only voting out Jaison gave the former Foa Foa a chance against Brett. Mick agreed with the plan as he felt that Jaison wasn't mentally in the game, while Natalie was. With the vote split Jaison agreeing to vote for Mick and vice versa, the power of who went home fell to Natalie and Russell H. They decided to vote against Jaison and he went home blindsided by a vote of 4-1.

• Immunity Challenge: The castaways would balance a wooden statue on top of a pole which they would have to keep upright holding the bottom of the pole. At regular intervals, an additional section would be added to the end of the pole, making the pole longer and harder to balance. The last castaway to drop their statue would win.

Upon returning to camp, Brett knew that he had to win the next Immunity Challenge or he would be going home. Russell H. made a deal with Brett that should either of them win the next Immunity Challenge, that they would take each other to the final three. The final four took the traditional journey honoring the castaways voted out before heading to their final Immunity Challenge. The challenge came down to Brett and Russell H. With the poles at 7 feet (2.1 m) in length, Brett lost the balance on his pole and Russell H. won his first Individual Immunity. Brett figured that his only hope to remain in the game was the deal he made with Russell H. Russell H. gloated about his challenge win to Mick and Natalie and said that he thought he had a great shot at the million dollars and was already rehearsing his jury speech. Mick was concerned that Russell H. had some secret plan and that Mick was going home, but Natalie reassured him that the former Foa Foa would stick together. Russell H. told Brett that he had a problem because he had made a deal with everybody to take them to the final three. Russell H. told Brett that Brett was the kind of guy that Russell H. wanted his kids to marry and he wished he was like Brett when he was young. Russell H. told Brett that Mick and Natalie would be voting against him and asked if Brett could win a fire starting challenge if Russell H. joined Brett in voting for Mick, forcing a tie. At Tribal Council, Mick and Natalie stated that there was no doubt in their mind that Brett was going home. Jeff asked Russell H. if he could appreciate the competitor in Brett. Russell H. answered that he respected the game and that Brett deserved to be in the final three. Mick and Natalie emphasized that strategically, Russell H. had to vote out Brett. In the end, Russell H. voted against Brett and he became the final jury member by a vote of 3-1.

Mick, Natalie, and Russell H. celebrated with the traditional Day 39 breakfast. Russell H. pressed Natalie over what she was going to say to the jury and he continued to gloat over how he had locked up the necessary jury votes. The three then burned their encampment. At the final Tribal Council, the final three made their opening statements. Mick stated that he tried to play the game without overstepping his morals by trying not promise too much, overtly stomp on, lie, and mislead people, or treat them as pawns in the game. Natalie focused on how she came into the game wanting to gain the confidence in going outside her comfort zone and that she appreciated everybody on the jury. Russell H. went over many of his big strategic moves throughout the game and that he played the game better than Mick or Natalie. The time then came for the jury to ask their questions to the final three. Jaison was up first, asking the three to tell the members of the jury who they really were and if they didn't, that he would. All three told the jury what they did, but Jaison pointed out that both Natalie and Russell H. had made a lot of money before coming on Survivor, that Mick had the potential to make a lot of money, and that the jury should not focus who was broke, but on other criteria for their vote. Shambo took the opportunity to apologize to America for dismantling Galu and that she questioned that judgment call. She called Mick's overall game play "feckless", which Mick did not know the meaning of. She used the word "coattail" to describe Natalie, to which Natalie defended that she purposefully tried not to be aggressive in the game. Shambo then said that there was no way that Mick and Natalie would get her vote and said nothing to Russell H. Brett asked Mick what a "bro date" would be like with him to see to what level Mick invested in Brett as a human being. Brett asked nothing of Natalie or Russell H. Kelly started with Natalie, telling her that she thought she was never on the field in the game and that Kelly always saw Natalie asking for help in the challenges, to which Natalie said that while she might not have been good in the challenges, but she gave 100% and that she got better as the game progressed. She asked Russell H. if he lied, cheated, and stole in real life as he did in the game, to which Russell H. said that he did not and that "honor, integrity, and loyalty" was the most important thing to him, which she had a hard time believing. She said nothing to Mick. Next up was Monica, who asked Mick and Natalie why they felt the other two sitting beside them did not deserve to win. Mick said that Natalie rode out her alignment with Russell H. throughout they game and that Russell H. was willing to lie, pit people against each other, mislead, and had a giant ego. Russell H. interrupted Mick's answer by stating that both Natalie and Mick didn't mind when Russell H. was being a snake and was congratulating him all the way. Natalie never got the opportunity to answer Monica's question. Dave asked the three what they thought their chances were with the jury. Mick thought it was 20-25%, Natalie 30-40%, and Russell H. 55%. Laura asked Russell H. what he learned about her that enabled him to beat her and asked nothing of Natalie or Mick. John asked for Mick and Natalie for the "hard sell" for his vote. Mick repeated the theme of his opening statement that he was a stand up guy. Natalie said that she saw how the aggressive women in the game were getting voted out and that she adapted her game after that. John asked nothing of Russel H. Erik asked no questions of the final three and instead made statements to the three. He told Mick that he did nothing to deserve the title of being the tribe leader of Foa Foa. To Russell H. he said that he played an unethical game and wondered if Russell H. got to the right place by behaving the wrong way and that Russell H. was proud of doing that. Finally, Erik told Natalie that people would call her weak and undeserving, that she would call herself the less deserving of the title Sole Survivor, but that "maybe, just maybe, in an environment filled with 'arrogance' (pointing to Russell H.), 'delusional entitlement' (pointing to Mick), maybe the person who thinks she is the less deserving is probably the most" and that she had his vote and hoped she would get four more. The jury gave Natalie an additional six votes and she became the Sole Survivor over Russell H. by a vote of 7-2-0.

yeah...

russell was like shaun. backstabber, asshole. yeah.

nothing else.