After a satisfying season of strategy-driven gameplay, brutal blindsides and effectively used advantages, a winner has been crowned Survivor 47.

Warning: Spoilers below for the finale of Survivor 47.

Rachel LaMont hit Sam Phalen And Sue Smey by a vote of 7-1-0 after the three finalists presented their cases to the jury on the Wednesday, December 18, episode. The trio made it to the final three after Rachel, 34, won the final immunity challenge of the season, choosing Sam, 24 Teeny Chirichillo to compete against each other in the fire-making challenge. Sam emerged victorious and made it to the final three alongside Rachel and Sue, 59, leaving Teeny, 24, the final member of the judging panel.

While I explain it to her Survivors On her way to the jury, Rachel highlighted her adaptability, her competitiveness and her journey from “underdog to big dog.” The jury awarded her gameplay the title of “Lone Survivor” and a prize of $1 million.

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Rachel will go down in history as the winner of what many fans have called the best Survivors Season of the new era of the CBS show, which began with season 41 in 2021. Very few Survivors 47 players navigated the game with blind loyalty to their original tribe members or allies, choosing instead to remain adaptable as the playing field changed dramatically from week to week.

“I think the fluid nature of Survivors is here to stay,” host and executive producer Jeff Probst said Parade on Tuesday, December 17, calling the Season 47 excitement a “direct reflection” of the casting decisions.

“Today’s player wants to win. And to win, you have to play to win,” explained the 63-year-old Probst. “Playing to win means taking risks that could end the game. That is the conundrum you face. But if you tread carefully and just hope you don’t get voted out, you’ll never gain the jury’s respect. So it’s a no-win offer. For you to win, all other players must lose, including your closest ally.”

The highly competitive gameplay of the season resulted in several members of the jury – consisting of Sierra Wright, Sol Yi, Gabe Ortis, Kyle Ostwald, Caroline Vidmar, Andy Rueda, Genevieve Mushaluk and Teeny – would have had a strong case to win had they made it to the final three. While the players spoke openly before their elimination last week about Genevieve, 33, being the player to beat, several judges were impressed by Andy, 31, and Caroline, 28, after learning more about their games at Ponderosa had experienced.

“When (Caroline) came back to Ponderosa, she explained her game to me and I was blown away. Her level of detail, her strategic acumen and her confidence were all things I didn’t see (during the game), and that was intentional,” said Sol, 43 Weekly entertainment on Tuesday. “I call her the silencer because she sneaked her way through the game and was involved in a lot of plays, but no one knew it. She definitely could have won.”

Andy echoed the sentiment and said meaningfully EW that after their reunion in Ponderosa, he and Caroline discussed their games for hours.

“She is so intelligent and has played a game that is perfectly designed for the new era, but also innovative and true to her strengths. She had the idea of ​​actively building shields in front of herself, subtly creating the conditions for them to receive recognition for movements, knowing full well that this could crush them,” Andy said of Caroline. “So when you see her seriously brainstorming with someone or cheering them on, that’s both her true self and her strategy, and I’m obsessed with that. Your last speech at Tribal Council would have saved the planet.”

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Gabe, meanwhile, praised Andy for coming up with Operation Italy – a plan involving a fake immunity idol that saved Genevieve from elimination and led Caroline to a dead end.

“The flood of information we received from him was mind-boggling. His personality, his game, everything about the guy changed when we got to Ponderosa,” said 26-year-old Gabe.

Andy even impressed Rachel when he pitched her his game on the December 11 episode, trying to get her jury vote. However, the move backfired as Andy didn’t know at the time that Rachel had a hidden immunity idol. Instead of selling himself to a player doomed to be voted out, Andy emphasized his threat level to the person with all the power, inadvertently persuading them to target him instead of Sam.

Rachel then surprised everyone except her ally Sue with her hidden immunity idol, advancing to the final five while Andy was eliminated. At the next challenge, she continued to gain immunity, allowing her to target her biggest competitor, Genevieve, as she sailed to the final four.