Survivor season 50 ended with a three-hour-long finale that displayed the final challenges and a live vote reading. This historic season featured a prize of 2 million dollars, as the usual million-dollar prize was supplemented by Mr. Beast for a larger grand prize. Leading up to the reveal of the final three, Aubry pulled out an immunity win against the tight alliance of Joe, Rizzo and Jonathan, securing her place in the final three and allowing her to choose who had to participate in fire making. She decided to let Joe sit beside her in the final three and make Rizzo and Jonathan compete for the third seat, likely because many thought they had to “babysit” Joe through the previous votes, making him easier competition in the end.
Two unprecedented events happened during this finale: Rizzo became the first Survivor player to lose in firemaking twice after his battle against Jonathan, and Jeff mistakenly revealed that Rizzo had lost before the footage was played to the audience. This kind of mistake is the largest that has been made during a live finale in Survivor history, and left fans shocked and disappointed as the suspense of Rizzo’s elimination was ruined. However, Rizzo fans can rejoice knowing our favorite player will still go down in Survivor history, and he won’t let any of us forget about it as he mentions his records in almost every interview.
The questions asked of the final three have also spurred commentary online. Stephanie’s question, in particular, or lack thereof, has been put on blast as she called Jonathan “the total package” and had to be interrupted by Tiffany since she decided to use her time to praise Jonathan instead of asking an actual question. Christian asked the final three to tell their Survivor stories to advocate for their win, which highlighted Aubry’s long journey after playing Survivor three times previously. Joe was largely discounted by the jury, as he failed to orchestrate any big moves himself during the season.
At the end of the questioning, Aubry was the clear winner, receiving eight votes from the jury while Jonathan received only three. Aubry took home both the 2 million prize and a new car from Toyota, one of Survivor’s sponsors. There were also other prizes given away, $100,000 to Cirie Fields from Sia for being the resounding fan favorite this season, and a T-shirt to Ozzie Lusth to commemorate his failure to play his idol despite having a dream telling him to play it the night before he was voted out.
This finale will go down in Survivor history, not only because of the special nature of the season of legendary players, but also because of the social media buzz it created. Several players from previous seasons were sighted attending the finale, including legend Parvati Shallow, who was seen alongside Mae Martin, sparking rumors that the two may be back together after parting in 2024. Survivor’s long legacy has created stars and allowed people to use the prize money to better their lives, and all of this has culminated in the Survivor 50 finale.