Finalists Owen Knight, Mike Gabler, Karla Cruz Godoy, Cassidy Clark and Jesse Lopez compete against each other before one of them is given the champion title and takes home the $1M prize.
- Dec 15, 2022
AceShowbiz - Five remaining contestants battled against each other for the last time in "Survivor" season 43 finale on Wednesday, December 14. Among the finalists, Owen Knight, Mike Gabler, Karla Cruz Godoy, Cassidy Clark and Jesse Lopez, only the latter who had a hidden immunity idol. Kicking off the finale, the five of them headed back to a new camp where the final games would take place.
After getting a clue to a secret advantage, the finalists had to solve a word scramble so they could start searching for it. Karla managed to solve the puzzle first, but her ankle injury slowed her down. When she found the advantage, she said that she would get a leg up in the next immunity challenge.
At the immunity/reward challenge, the players were required to complete various different obstacles, collect puzzle pieces and then solve a word puzzle. Karla was allowed to collect less puzzle pieces thanks to her advantage. However, it was Owen who solved the puzzle fastest and eventually won the immunity. Additionally, Owen got a protein packed meal for his reward and he decided to share it with Cassidy.
The two then had a debate whether they should eliminate Karla or Jesse. Cassidy suggested to out Karla, and Owen agreed. Meanwhile, Karla said that she was torn between voting for Cassidy or Jesse. Karla pitched the idea of voting for Jesse to Owen, Cassidy and Gabler. Cassidy, however, wasn't happy with Karla's action so she filled Jesse in about the plan.
At tribal council, Karla pointed out how big of a threat Jesse was. In response to that, Jesse pulled out his immunity idol and insisted that he's safe. As her plan fell through, Karla then tried to spin the vote on Gabler or Cassidy. At the end, Jesse played his idol on himself, so he and Owen were safe. The others voted for Karla, so she was eliminated.
Later, the final four competed in the final immunity challenge. They had to use a long fork to navigate bowls through a difficult maze and stack them on top of another. Whoever stacked 15 the fastest, won the immunity. Cassidy won the challenge, and had to pick one to join her in the final.
Cassidy put Jesse in the fire making challenge since he's the biggest threat. Jesse tried to make Cassidy give up immunity and go against him in the fire making challenge but Cassidy didn't fall for it. She ended up taking Owen to the final, meaning Jesse and Gabler were up against each other in the fire making challenge.
Gabler easily beat Jesse and earned his spot in the final three, joining Cassidy and Owen. They all pleaded their case to the jury in order to earn votes. After the jury voted for the finalist whom they wanted to win, host Jeff Probst read the results on the spot. Getting the most votes, Gabler was named the winner of "Survivor" season 43 and took home the $1 million prize.
