One player gets the glory, while another steals the show.
Nothing shocking happened on the three-hour finale ofSurvivor 45.
There were no jaw-dropping blindsides.
Dee Valladares on ‘Survivor 45’.Robert Voets/CBS
There was no WTF move from the jury crowning a winner no viewers saw coming.
None of that happened.
Lets start with the winner, Dee Valladares.
The ‘Survivor 45’ final five.CBS
I should be mad.
The guy seemed sharp, social, athletic, yet not flamboyant enough to make himself an easy target.
He also has luxurious flowing locks of hair.
Jake O’Kane on ‘Survivor 45’.CBS
Maybe that had something to do with it…
So savage, especially after he informed her about the Julie vote earlier.
No quid pro quo here, my friend!
Jake O’Kane on ‘Survivor 45’.CBS
But her best move of the season was yet to come.
And when I saydidn’ttell him, I mean shenevertold him.
Not after the vote.
Katurah Topps and Julie Alley on ‘Survivor 45’.CBS
Not after Drew went.
Not after Julie went.
Like someone married to Dalton Ross waiting for him to stop talking incessantly aboutSurvivor, she waited.
The ‘Survivor 45’ final five.CBS
And then waited some more until the time was perfect.
And that time was during final Tribal Council.
ITS A TRAP!!!!
Austin Li Coon on ‘Survivor 45’.CBS
And he fell right into it.
There was no recovering from that.
Dee knew, Austin didnt.
Julie Alley on ‘Survivor 45’.CBS
Its impossible for anyone to be upset with that.
Sure, you may have been moved by Jakes story and never-say-die attitude.
But theres simply no way to argue Dee did not deserve this.
The ‘Survivor 45’ jury of Kaleb Gebrewold, Kellie Nalbandian, Kendra McQuarrie, Bruce Perreault, Emily Flippen, and Drew Basile.CBS
The woman checked all three boxes social game, strategic game, and challenge performance.
Dee’s name is a worthy entry into theSurvivorhistory books.
CBS
Riding the “Survivor” roller coaster
Obsessed.
The ‘Survivor 45’ final five.CBS
Jakes journey in the finale is one of my favorite things ever.
And Ill begin by admitting… Ive been sleeping on Jake a bit this season.
Sure, I always found his confessionals entertaining.
The dude is hella funny.
And I was intrigued by his weird mix of boldness and self-doubt.
And now Jake is one of my absolute favorite players of the season.
Just look at what happened to this dude in the finale.
Who thought J.T., Denise, and the Alligabler would prove to be such key elements in the finale?
But Jake completely sabotaged his chances with not one, buttwohuge gaffes.
The camera kept brutally giving us close-ups of the missing piece to accentuate what a blunder Jake was making.
Making this double blunder so brutal is that Jake was right on Austins heels.
He very well may have (would have?)
(Or so he thought.)
To quote the noted philosopher Austin Li Coon: Im sorry, but whyd you tell me, bro?
Whyd you tell me?
Why deliver just one surprise when you’ve got the option to deliver two?
But there he was right on Dees tail at 13 cups each.
And then it all went to hell.
Thats on you, announced Probst after telling the player he was done.
Yes, show me some emotion.
Show me some frustration.
I love it when people are all pissedDanny Massa-style after blowing it in challenges.
A passionate contestant is a fun contestant to watch win, lose, or pounding all over aSurvivorchallenge build.
EPIC HIGH!Im making a fire.
Im burning a rope.
Im doing it as fast as possible.
Best line of the finale, hands down.
But lets get into what set it up.
Instead, he wanted to earn it.
No plan went my way, he told us.
Jake asked to be put into fire, and he then absolutely killed it.
This was Jakes signature moment.
That dude, perhaps more than anyone inSurvivorhistory, needed a win.
Unfortunately for Jake, his full arc did not end there.
That said, I hope thats not the way Jake looks at it.
Plus, plenty of great players have been zero-vote finalists in the past.
True, some terrible players likeStephen Fishbachalso are in that mix (hahahahahaha!
), but there are great players too!
Jake wanted the fullSurvivorexperience, and holy moly did he get it.
But there is one other thing I also cant stop thinking about.
The moment Dee should have lost
Dee Valladares never should have wonSurvivor.
Never should have won that final immunity challenge.
Never should have stunned Austin at final Tribal Council.
Never should have received a single jury vote.
Because Dee should have beenonthe jury.
Survivoris a game of inches.
Just ask Emily Flippen.
And then there is the opposite side of that equation with Dee.
Instead, she would have been voted out in fifth place.
And what happens then?
All we know is, it aint Dee!
Shes the one who convinced Jake to change his vote from Julie to Dee.
And she did it!
If left together, Dee and Austin would ride it out all the way to the end.
This was the one chance to break them up.
She knew what had to be done!
She convinced someone else to join her!
And then she bailed on her plan and was forced to watch her biggest nightmare come true.
Well… thats not entirely accurate.
Katurahs biggest nightmare would be getting teamed up withBruce Perreaultfor the next season ofThe Amazing Race.
(Note to CBS: like make this happen IMMEDIATELY!)
But outside of that, watching her game go down due to her own vote has to be tough.
Give me someBrandonstruggling to get up a ladder!
Let me seeSifureferring to himself in the third person!
Put me down for as much alien pyramid talk as it’s possible for you to find!
It was the freakin Rites of Passage!
Ill admit I had a love/hate relationship with the Rites of Passage segment back in the day.
Hate, because it took up so much damn time.
Inject that content directly into my veins and let me ride the lightning, baby!
There is a trick to that one, by the way.
It just makes for good television.
And when people then stomp right on top of it like a giant sasquatch, it becomesgreattelevision.
Had Katurah not changed her vote, she may have won it all.
See how they react.
Dont let them skate by with non-answers or faulty claims.
Which is why Emily is unsurprisingly my jury MVP.
Anytime someone asks Can I push back on that?
I hope more people in the future follow her lead.
Listen to the man, future contestants!
that cant be answered 10 minutes after final Tribal Council ends.)
And it was nice to see them all exhale and let loose after an intense 26 days.
All that said, I STILL WANT MY REUNION!
And I loved, loved, loved this cast.
So many big personalities and just interesting people.
And what I saw in those first few days of the game?
But hold on a minute.
Were not even close to being done withSurvivor 45.Were three hours not enough?
We have anexclusive deleted scenefrom the finale, and it hasyourname on it.
We also tracked down Jeff Probst toget his thoughtson everything that went down, including Jake breaking the challenge.
Once all that is done, so shall conclude my coverage ofSurvivor 45.
It is an honor and privilege to serve.
Until 2024, this is Dalton Ross signing off with his final scoop of the crispy.
Thats showbiz, baby!
