Finally. Last one before I'm all caught up.

The season finale of Survivor: Samoa was probably one of the most satisfying episodes of all. After fifteen vote-offs and evacuations, the five remaining castaways, fresh off Shambo's long-overdue vote-off, returned to camp, set to enter crunch time. The four Foa Foas -- Mick, Jaison, Russell H., and Natalie -- were hellbent on getting rid of Brett, as him being there would put their final four plan in jeopardy. Plus, with a jury consisting mainly of angry Galu jurors, he'd win the final vote in a landslide. So they had to hope that he lost the next Immunity Challenge.

Um . . . he did not. He won immunity and guaranteed himself a spot in the final four. So the Foa Foas' plan to be in the final four together was kaput. So Russell H. and Natalie got together to decide who'd be going. Russell H. actually had Natalie in mind until she convinced him to spare her. She gave him the idea to target Jaison instead, saying he'd win a jury vote easily. They could get Brett to help them.

And they did. By a 3-2 vote (I think), the fourteenth person voted out of Samoa, the sixteenth person to leave overall, and the eighth member of the jury was . . . Jaison. So his torch was snuffed, and he was sent on his way.

Jaison was a nice guy, but he didn't have the fire to win, so I'm not upset at his vote-off.

The final four castaways, fresh off Jaison's vote-off, returned to camp. The final three Foa Foas were anxious to get rid of Brett once and for all. He'd won three Immunity Challenges. If he ran the table by winning the next one, he was guaranteed to win a spot in the final three, and he'd definitely have all of the Galus' votes to win (except maybe Shambos). In case he did win, Mick and Natalie agreed that it was time to get of Russell H. So either he or Brett would be on the chopping block after the next Immunity Challenge.

Before finding out who'd that be, they had the usual walk to honor the castaways who'd been voted out of the game. After taking some time to honor the sixteen people who'd left -- Marisa, Mike, Betsy, Ben, Yasmin, Ashley, Russell S., Liz, Erik, Kelly, Laura, John, Dave, Monica, Shambo, and Jaison -- they burned all of their torches and headed off to their final Immunity Challenge.

Turned out . . . it'd be Brett on the chopping block, because. Russell H. won the final Immunity Challenge. Before Tribal Council, he privately promised to force a tie vote between Brett and Mick so that they could duke it out in a fire-building challenge to see who'd take the last spot in the final three. Russell H. fully intended to take Natalie with him to the end, because he knew she had no chance in hell of winning, as she'd be viewed as a coattail rider.

At Tribal Council, Brett was backstabbed as he was the fifteenth person voted out of Samoa, the seventeenth person to leave overall, and the ninth and final member of the jury. He was voted out by a 3-1 vote. So his torch was snuffed, and he was sent on his way.

I liked Brett, invisible as he was for most of the season. But he just couldn't pull out that final immunity win, so I'm not surprised to see him go.

The final three castaways, fresh off Brett's vote-off, returned to camp that night. They had a big breakfast the next morning provided by the show's staff to celebrate them making them final three. While they ate, Russell H. openly boasted to Mick and Natalie, lecturing them and talking down to them about how he was clearly going to win over the jury at the upcoming final Tribal Council. Mick and Natalie just let him talk. Pretty much ignored him.

At the final Tribal Council, there was a lot of questioning from the nine jurors -- Erik, Kelly, Laura, John, Dave, Monica, Shambo, Jaison, and Brett. A few of them came off bitter, mostly at Russell H. He was expecting them to love his game -- or least grudgingly respect it -- but they didn't. They weren't too keen on the way he'd treated all of them around camp (well, he treated Jaison well, but he was mad that Russell H. didn't at least warn him that he was getting booted). Erik said that while he wasn't too keen on Natalie's under-the-radar game, he respected it, acknowledging that it was a legitimate way to play. That probably made all the difference. (Mainly because nothing positive was said about Mick.) So the final voting began, this voting by the jurors.

When the show switched over from the pre-taped footage to the live portion, the final vote was read. By a 7-2-0 vote, the winner of Survivor: Samoa was . . . NATALIE! YES! She got the votes of Erik, Kelly, Laura, Dave, Monica, Jaison, and Brett. The two votes were John and Shambo's for Russell H. Mick got the short end of the stick, getting no votes at all.

I'll address Mick first. I've gotta say, as physical a competitor as he was, he did not deserve to win. He talked game a lot, but he never made moves or led his alliance in making them. Plus, he was boring. Later, Mick. Glad you didn't win.

As for Russell H., while he played a good strategic game (I only said "good," not "great"), he only focused on one thing -- getting to the end. All his mind was on was the strategic game. However, he paid no attention the other crucial aspect of Survivor -- the social game. He was making moves, but he wasn't making any social bonds. In fact, he was alienating every single person in camp, including those in his own alliance! Plus, he didn't even think about playing to the jury and making a winning case for himself. All he did was spurn the majority of them into voting for the person with the best social game, and that was Natalie. But whatever. I loathed him so much due to all of his misogynistic behavior, I just wanted anyone to win who wasn't he. So I'm glad that he lost. And the fact that he was nearly in tears when he lost made it all the sweeter! And he lost to someone who considered a "dumb-ass b*tch," to boot! HA-FREAKING-HA!

And now for our winner. I loved Natalie, and I had an inkling that she'd probably win based on one crucial confessional she had in episode four of this season. When Russell H. boasted about how he'd planned on taking Natalie to the end of the game with him because he knew she'd only be seen as the sidekick, Natalie privately said that she planned on letting him, because she knew that while strategy was valued, she was also well aware that social bonds were important, and she more than proved it. She was the main force behind the Foa Foas taking control of the game. If not for her getting in with the Galu girls, she'd never have gotten them to vote out Erik at the merge. And she got closer with almost everyone in the jury and soon found herself being well-liked by nearly all of them. Strategy, while important, really isn't the be-all, end-all of Survivor, and she made that point abundantly clear in her jury speech (and Erik and John, at different times, repeated it). Say what you want (including you whining crybabies on the Survivor forum of this site), but Natalie did deserve to win. Was she the best player strategically? No. But she was the best one socially, and sometimes, that's all you can count on, especially since Survivor is mainly a social game, anyway! She'll gladly join the ranks of our past female winners and become the eighth one, following in the footsteps of Tina, Vecepia, Jenna, Sandra, Amber, Danni, and Parvati! Congratulations, Natalie!

In other news, Russell H. somehow managed to win the $100,000 fan favorite prize. Blech. And the next season, Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains a season that'll feature ten popular heroes facing off against ten "popular" villains, was introduced! Oh, and so you know (highlight to read): Russell H. will be in that season, too. Other than that, nothing too exciting.

And so ends Survivor: Samoa. It was a season of many blindsides, a "feel-good" underdog story, and, best of all, a deserving winner in Natalie. I can only hope Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains will be better than this season, though, because I do think Russell H., as many blindsides as he caused, ruined this season but good. Especially with him dominating the majority of the screen time. Will next season be better? We'll see . . . in either February or March!

Almost caught up.

This week's episode of Survivor: Samoa had one of the most satisfying endings ever. It began with the six remaining castaways, fresh off Monica's vote-off, returning to the game. Brett knew he was a big target, because he was the last "true Galu" (don't forget that Shambo's with the Foa Foas now). He knew he was in big trouble without an immunity win.

I'll just cut to the chase and say that he pulled that off, putting Russell H.'s plans of having himself, Natalie, Mick, Jaison, and Shambo as the final five to rest.

Before Tribal Council, the question came up whether to boot Mick or Shambo. Because of his own status as an immunity threat, Mick seemed like an obvious choice. But . . . Jaison wanted Shambo out because they needed to get rid of Brett by beating him in an Immunity Challenge. And Mick being gone wouldn't allow that. (I . . . don't see the point of purposely keeping an immunity threat in the game just to beat another one, but okay.)

Jaison won out. Shambo was the twelfth person voted out of Samoa, the fifteenth person to leave, overall, and the seventh member of the jury by a 5-1 vote. (Even Brett voted for her.) So her torch was snuffed, and she was sent on her way.

While I personally don't think it was smart to get rid of someone who was so non-threatening in Immunity Challenges, I'm still happy that Shambo finally lost. She had no grasp on the game of Survivor whatsoever -- not on the strategic or the social aspects. She only got to the merge because Galu kept winning immunity, and she was lucky that the Foa Foas reached out to her and got her to jump over to their side. If not for that, she'd have been out really early. See ya, Shambo!

Five castaways remain. With three Tribal Councils coming up in Sunday's season finale, who'll fall victim to the final two vote-offs, who'll be the final three castaways facing the jury, and who'll win the million-dollar prize as the Sole Survivor? We'll see this Sunday!

Sorry this is so late. I had to go out of town for a wedding and got behind. Please comment only on this episode.

This week's episode of Survivor: Samoa was . . . I guess interesting to those who saw it. It saw the eight remaining castaways, fresh off John's vote-off, resuming the game. Quick damage control was done by Russell H. as he convinced Shambo that John was trying to target her, which is why the Foa Foas had gotten rid of him. An obvious lie, but she bought.

To make this one fast, there was an Immunity Challenge that Jaison won, and then a Tribal Council. Dave was the tenth voted out of Samoa and became the fifth member of the jury by a 5-3 vote.

After that, the seven remaining castaways, fresh off Dave's vote-off, went back to the game, now with Brett firmly in the crosshairs as a potential immunity threat. Also, the truth about Russell H.'s wealth came out, and he was NOT happy.

Unfortunately for Shambo and the Foa Foas, Brett won his first Immunity Challenge, which turned the target onto the only other Galu member left (or at least the only loyal one): Monica. And at the second Tribal Council of the episode, after rattling Russell H.'s cage by pointing out to him that the jury hated him and wouldn't be voting for him if he made it to the end, she was the eleventh person voted out of Samoa, the thirteenth person to leave overall, and the sixth member of the jury by a 5-2 vote.

Six castaways remain. Who'll be voted out next week? We'll see then!