The only thing that stands out from the big recap is they give credit to Kenny and Crystal for using “superior strategy” to blindside Marcus. They could have strategized all they wanted but it was Susie’s bold move that made it happen.

Kenny has survived 11 trips to Tribal Council. I can’t decide if that’s impressive or not. I can close my eyes and survive 11 trips across a busy intersection but it doesn’t make me very smart.

And here we go. Night 36, and Kenny asks Bob if he’s going to give Kenny the Idol next time. Bob says, “Why don’t you get your own Idol?” Oh yeah!

Sugar tells Bob that Kenny thinks he’s got an alliance with her, and Susie thinks she’s in an alliance with Matty, so Sugar will keep up the charade so she, Bob and Matty can take them out.

Sugar tells Kenny if Bob loses it’s Bob and if Bob wins it’s Susie. Kenny tells us he believes Sugar wants to take him to the end.

Treemail tells them to dress up like warriors. Jeff says Bob looks “very Village People.”

The Immunity Challenge is a small obstacle course followed by a balance beam maze followed by a huge maze. The goal is to find three bags of puzzle pieces hidden among 25 huts.

Susie has the early lead. Matty is the first to get two bags. Sugar is first with three, followed by Bob. Sugar is close on the puzzle…but Bob wins again!

Susie calls him “wizard fantastic Bob” and wonders, “I don’t know how you beat that guy.”

Kenny trusts Sugar and says he’s not worried. Matty tells Sugar he wants the final three to be them and Kenny. They say they’re going to vote out Susie next, but Sugar’s not sure she doesn’t want to vote out Kenny.

At Tribal Council Jeff says Bob’s five straight wins tie the Survivor record. Susie says she waits until people tell her what’s going on. That’s not good to admit. Kenny says there must have been some fine print on his deal with Bob. But Bob explains that Kenny talked to others about blindsiding Bob so that changed things “quite dramatically.” Kenny says he thinks he’s safe tonight but he wants Bob to live up to his deal.

Susie and Kenny vote for each other.

The tally reads: Kenny, Susie, Kenny…Kenny! Never, ever say you’re safe. Back to the nerdery with you!

Day 38 brings Fallen Comrades. When they get to Ace, Sugar cries. When they get to Randy, Sugar says, “You know what I got to say about Randy?” and she sticks out her tongue. Matty says Crystal “got way far.” Locals meet them at the burning. Sugar cries.

The final Immunity Challenge is taking 200 wooden tiles and trying to build a 10-foot-tall house of cards. There is a 30 minute limit so it’s a race instead of the usual endurance test.

Sugar gets halfway there, but her house collapses. Sugar rebuilds to 6.5 feet, but it falls again. Her towers are very narrow. Susie gets over 5 feet, but it falls. Bob can’t get over a couple feet. He’s surprisingly bad at this.

Five minutes left. Sugar and Susie are both over 7 feet. Susie gets to 8 feet, and she stops building, hoping to run out the clock with the lead. One minute left…30 seconds… Matty is closing in, and Sugar is gaining. Ten seconds. Sugar’s falls! Matty’s isn’t tall enough! Susie wins!!! She won the first Individual Immunity and the last one. Not bad at all.

Sugar says they have to vote out Bob because no one can beat him. Sugar cries. Matty tells Bob he’s voting for him.

Susie asks Bob if he would get a lot of votes if he went before the jury but he doesn’t answer the question. Susie can’t stop talking about how shocked she is that she won. Bob gets upset at her and she tells us she would have considered voting out Sugar but Bob sealed his fate. Sugar talks to Bob about maybe forcing a tie to give him another chance. She says Bob is like a father figure. Sugar cries.

She just has to vote for Bob though…right?

Bob says he needs some time alone, and he goes off and practices making fire! What a genius. He says he doesn’t understand why Sugar is being so kind to him.

At Tribal Council Matty says Sugar saved him so he has to vote for Bob. Bob says Matty is well-liked so it’s a better move to go with Sugar and Susie. Sugar says Matty is like a brother and Bob is like a dad. Sugar cries. Bob talks about being a good father. Now Bob cries.

Matty and Bob vote for each other.

The tally says: Bob, Bob, Matty…MATTY!!! And, sure enough, the tiebreaker is fire-making.

Did Sugar just give Bob a million bucks?

Bob has a flame…but it goes out. He blows and blows…and it comes back! Matty’s fire blows. Sugar cries. Bob wins!

Day 39, and Sugar says she helped vote everyone out but Marcus. She laughs and says it would be nice if she could get a jury vote or two.

They torch the hut.

We hear the three most bitter people – Kenny, Randy and Corinne – talk about how they’re going to be, well, bitter.

The final Tribal Council begins with opening statements:

Susie says she wanted to show people how to keep trying, and she’s a lot more confident now than she was when she started.

Bob says his strategy was to use his personality and survival skills to make people’s lives better. He says he didn’t outwit or outplay any of them, he just outlasted them. He thanks them for making the experience memorable and he asks for their vote.

Sugar says she lied and “sacrificed some innocence,” but nobody wrote down her name, and she found the Hidden Immunity Idol her first time to Exile. She says she was a “free agent” the whole time, and didn’t make an alliance until the one with Bob at the end because he deserved it.

Charlie gets the first question and asks the ladies why they should get votes even though halfway through the game they were picked at the bottom of their tribes. Susie says because she never stopped trying. Sugar says she doesn’t know why, but it would be nice if they did. Well then. Charlie asks Bob if he really enjoyed “spooning” with Charlie at night and Bob says it kept him warm so he didn’t care.

Crystal tells Susie she rode other people’s coattails the whole time. She asks Bob what he did that Sugar wasn’t responsible for. He says he didn’t have to change anything to get where he is. She asks Sugar why Sugar voted her out and Sugar says it’s because she was a “bully.”

Kenny asks Susie why she deserves it. Can we get a new question? Kenny says he opened his heart to Sugar and she “scarred” him. Sugar says she thought he was the bigger threat. He says he doesn’t believe her. He (again) asks Bob about the deal and Bob (again) says it was because Kenny plotted against him. Kenny says that wasn’t what he wanted to hear.

Corinne tells Susie she’ll give Susie her vote if Susie can answer yes to this question: “If you win the million dollars will you have your vocal cords removed?” Susie says no. Corinne wants to see Bob’s nasty side. He says he didn’t like when Sugar laughed at Randy. Corinne addresses Sugar by saying, “You are an unemployed, uneducated leech on society.” She says she wants to give Sugar anti-depressants so it would be more sincere when Sugar cried about her dead father. Sugar gives her the finger.

Marcus says it only took “Just a game” for Susie to stop trying to be a positive influence as a mother and educator. He asks Sugar if her father truly died, and how she would honor him with the money. She says giving some to charity, maybe lung cancer research or “children.” Marcus asks Bob for a time he took responsibility for his actions. Bob says the situation never came up for him to take control. Marcus isn’t happy with any of them.

Randy asks Susie what she meant when she said she felt sorry for him. She says he seemed sad and she wanted to help him. He asks Sugar why she laughed at him when she might need his vote on the jury. She says it’s because he was a jerk. Randy asks Bob why he used the fake Idol when he had the votes. Bob says it was strategic and he got mad at Sugar for her response.

Matty asks Susie why the other two deserve it less. She says because Sugar laughed at Randy, and because Bob got mad at her when she won Immunity. Matty wants Sugar to reveal something she did that was evil. She says her vote for Kenny. Sugar cries. Matty asks Bob why the other two are more deserving. Bob says he doesn’t think they are.

I didn’t like Jury Bob. Both Crystal and Marcus asked him to admit to the scheming he did and both times he got defensive. Did Bob just blow what should have been an easy win?

Matty votes for Susie and says they were friends from Day 1.

Corinne votes for Bob but says she’s not sure how he survived the real world.

Randy’s vote isn’t seen but he says, “All three of you, kiss my—“

Kenny paces around and can’t decide.

Cut to “Live from L.A.” Susie has glasses, Bob has a bowtie, and Sugar is dolled up.

The tally goes: Bob, Susie, Susie, Susie! 3-1. Bob, Bob. 3-3!

There is one last vote, and Jeff confirms it is not for Sugar.

And the winner of Survivor: Gabon is…

BOB!

Congrats to the oldest winner ever!

Matty, Kenny and Crystal voted for Susie, and Corinne, Charlie, Randy and Marcus voted for Bob. Bob almost lost to a person whose only argument was “I just kept trying.”

But the real tank job is how Sugar couldn’t get a single vote. Forget the fact that she cast the vote that kept the guy who won all the Challenges in the game. She said it herself: She helped vote out every single member of the jury but Marcus. That’s a good thing! It’s the whole point of the game! On top of that, she didn’t get a single vote cast against her the entire game. Not one! How do you not build that into a great case? “I dominated this game so much that I voted all of you out and not one of you could touch me with one measly vote.”

It’s enough to make me cry.

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