The three-hour finale of “Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans” aired May 20 on CBS and ended with Aubry Bracco earning the title of Sole Survivor after years of coming up short. Bracco defeated Jonathan Young and Joe Hunter in an 8-3-0 vote, winning the season’s record $2 million prize. However, while many fans celebrated the win, others argued that Jonathan played a stronger overall game.
Jonathan dominated physically, controlled multiple votes and survived despite being one of the biggest threats left in the game. Jurors Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick and Chrissy Hofbeck openly praised him during the Final Tribal Council. Stephanie even referred to Jonathan as “the total package,” in what barely resembled a question.
Instead of helping Jonathan, the over-the-top praise from Stephanie and Chrissy appeared to frustrate most of the jury and pushed favor towards Aubry. Online fans on Reddit were angry about how the two kept “slobbering” over Jonathan so aggressively to the point that they accidentally tanked his chances at the win.
However, even before the finale aired, prediction markets on Kalshi heavily favored Aubry due to insider trading. The markets become a major talking point among online fans and spoiler communities.
During the live reunion in Los Angeles, host Jeff Probst accidentally spoiled the outcome of the fire-making challenge before it aired on television. While speaking to Rizo ‘RizGod’ Velovic, Probst referred to him as the newest jury member, revealing he lost to Young moments before the viewers even got the chance to watch the challenge.
The cast and audience members immediately reacted with confusion as Probst realized the mistake live on air. And after a commercial break, he jokingly referred to the incident as “a sneak peak into the future.” Fans online quickly labeled the incident as something Probst did on purpose to up his chances of removing live reunions.
The reunion moved itself along quickly, with Probst interviewing finalists and highlighting fan-favorite moments from the season. Cirie Fields also received the fan-voted Sia Award and its $100,000 prize along with the first ever “Spirit of Survivor” prize, created to honor her legacy of over 20 years of playing.
While the reactions to the seasons were mixed, the finale proved that even after 50 seasons, “Survivor” can still entertain its audience.
Whether or not fans loved the twists, the finale guaranteed one thing: “Survivor” will always continue to be a cultural icon.
