They do the standard season recap which is always fun. Now Amanda is “the beauty queen.” I guess we knew that already but why bill her as a “hiking guide” up until now? She wasn’t put on the show because she can find her way along a nature trail.

Day 37, and it’s the final Reward Challenge. It’s like an obstacle course with big three-dimensional puzzles. The winner gets pizza, beer and brownies.

Wait, no car?? It was such a huge plot point last season with the Yau-Man/Dreamz thing. Did the sponsor not like being used as a bargaining chip? Very curious.

Back to the Challenge. Todd leads after the first two segments but Amanda passes him at the final Tetris-like puzzle for the win. Now the hard part. Jeff says she can eat the meal by herself, or bring someone with her, OR bring two people with her. Wow. A lot to think about. In the end she takes Todd only.

While they eat Amanda tells Todd she doesn’t trust him and she thinks he’s the one most likely to betray her. Todd swears on his “mama’s life” that he’ll be loyal to her till the end.

Back at camp Todd talks to Denise about his fear that the girls will unite against him. Denise asks who he thinks has the best chance in front of the jury and he says Amanda and Courtney.

Courtney hears the whole conversation and goes and tells Amanda how Todd is telling all three of them different stories. Todd walks up and asks if Denise is next and they say yes.

Next up, Fallen Comrades. Watching the slow-mo replay of James slapping Todd makes it all worthwhile.

The final Immunity Challenge is balancing china on a stick. No, not the whole country, just plates and bowls.

Wobbly Todd has a crooked stack and is the first to go out. Amanda makes a strategic adjustment and puts her next bowl upside down. Courtney goes out. Denise wants to make a deal but Amanda turns her down. She looks calmer, straighter and less sweaty than Denise. Sure enough, Denise’s tower falls and Amanda is in the final.

Back at camp Denise plays the this-is-my-family’s-last-chance card. She talks about how if she doesn’t win she’s going back to her lunch lady job. She whips up some near-tears for effect.

Amanda talks to the other two who say they are voting for Denise. Amanda agrees to join them but doesn’t want to tell Denise. Courtney has no sympathy. “This isn’t, like, welfare,” she says. “She doesn’t deserve it because she sucks at life.” Egads.

Amanda tells Denise she won’t vote for her. She says she wants to vote out Todd but doesn’t know if she wants a tie. Amanda tries to get Courtney to turn on Todd but she isn’t interested.

At Tribal Council #1 Jeff asks Denise why the others should keep her. She rambles on and ends up saying her family situation could win votes from the jury, which is exactly why they should not keep her. Good one.

Jeff asks Courtney the same question and she says she knows she can’t compare to the others and she sarcastically adds that she also has her “winning personality.”

Denise says Amanda told her she had her back, but Amanda interrupts and says she may have said that a while back but she didn’t say that today. Todd makes an “Oh no you didn’t” face and Jeff asks him to explain so he says he was reacting for Denise getting burned.

But, since Amanda felt the need to say that it’s obvious she’s going to vote for Denise and, sure enough the tally goes Denise, Todd, Denise and Denise.

Returning to camp, Amanda is upset at Todd’s comment because it made her look bad. Todd tries to tell her he didn’t mean anything about it but she pouts. This is why an all-young-person final stinks.

There’s pancakes and fire. On to the final Tribal Council.

Amanda gets the first opening statement and says her strategy was to align with someone at the start (Todd) and get against people she could physically beat at the end (her two Individual Immunity wins). She feels bad for having lied to James, Jean-Robert and Frosti. Guess she doesn’t feel bad for lying to Denise.

Todd plays up his strategy and says lying was part of his plan but the personal relationships he made with people were real. He says he’s living his dream by being on Survivor and lasting this long and he gives a lot of thank-yous to the jury.

Courtney says every time she wasn’t voted out she was surprised, and you have to give credit to the “little girl” everyone thought would leave early.

James gets the first question and says he won’t be a “bitter betty.” All he wants to know is something fun that happened to Courtney. She says winning the first team Immunity Challenge and not getting voted out first.

Jean-Robert says Courtney doesn’t deserve it but he promised Todd and Amanda he wouldn’t vote for them if they turned on him, so he says his vote is live. He asks Courtney why she deserves to win and she points out that she won an Immunity Challenge and he didn’t. He wants to know if Amanda lied to him or just went back on her word, and she says she didn’t lie, then she apologizes for lying, then she again says she didn’t lie. JR asks Todd why he voted him out instead of the bigger threat (James) and Todd says that as soon as JR realized they should blindside James, JR became a bigger threat so he turned on him first. Big league sucking up going on here.

And it works. Jean-Robert says nothing else and sits down, and James busts out laughing. Jeff asks him about it (that’s new) and James says he can’t believe someone just shut up Jean-Robert.

PG wants to give the money to the most deserving. Todd says he strategized from the beginning and kept the numbers on his side until the end. Amanda says the plan to dump James was her idea.

Erik wants to know each person’s riskiest move. Amanda says it was going after James but Erik correctly points out that eliminating the strongest player isn’t very risky. Amanda says if James had played his Idol she would’ve lost her biggest ally. Erik doesn’t ask the others, probably because Amanda just made the case for Todd’s riskiest move.

Frosti wants to know about backstabbing and Todd apologizes for lying to him and says their personal relationship was real. Courtney says she didn’t actively seek out votes against Frosti.

Jaime uses the old “Why do the others NOT deserve to win?” question. Courtney says Todd schemed against everyone. Todd says Courtney didn’t want to be there. Amanda says Todd lied too much, and Todd says he did the dirty work for “nice girl” Amanda.

Denise says she would’ve won and says Amanda is a liar. She says deception is too easy for Todd but Courtney is open and direct and Denise respects that.

(As far as the “Denise would have won” theory, I don’t buy it. I think this jury is too young to feel sorry for a 40-something mother.)

It’s votin’ time. Jaime votes for Todd because he earned it with his answers. Erik votes for Amanda because he related to her struggle to be honest and she played the most “well-rounded” game. Denise votes for Courtney because she always told the truth and overcame the most odds. Jean-Robert’s vote is unseen but he says, “You just stole a million dollars. Well played.”

They cut to live before Jeff says his “I know you want me to read these votes right now” line (ha ha) and – oh my – who are these people? Courtney has short hair (but at least she looks fed) and Todd is wearing about 50 pounds of hair.

The big money tally goes: Courtney, Amanda, Todd, Courtney (what the?), Todd, Todd…Todd! Complimentary soft drinks for everyone!

So Amanda blew that final Tribal Council so bad she ended up with fewer votes than Courtney. Incredible. Her problem was she had to separate herself from Todd and convince the jury she wanted Todd to look like the puppet master to protect herself. She did hatch the plot to oust James which was the turning point in the game, yet she barely mentioned it.

I can understand not wanting to settle for a tie in the previous vote. If Todd ends up winning the tiebreaker anyway you’ve just made him look even stronger. She either needed an airtight argument that made her look smarter than Todd, or she needed to turn on him with 5 people left and take her chances with PG lasting another round.

I wasn’t a big Todd fan but the guy could talk his way into anything. That verbal wizardry he put on Jean-Robert was worth about 900 grand by itself. And, hey, at least Courtney didn’t win.

Stay tuned for the Reunion!

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