Was it real, or was it all a dream?
Look, I ain’t gonna lie.
I’m cracking a beer right now.
Mike Gabler on ‘Survivor 43’.CBS
For those who have read theseSurvivorrecaps over the years, that may come as no great surprise.
Did Mike “Gabler” Gabler just winSurvivor?Is that something that just happened?
People make a run at mess with me by insisting that really happened, but I know better.
Cassidy Clark on ‘Survivor 43’.CBS
No one would actually put that on national television.
GABLER!!!!!
To be clear, we’re not talking about Jesse.
The ‘Survivor 43’ final five.CBS
We’re talking about GABLER!!!
How did this happen?
Instead of LIVIN', did he have a Medallion of Power tattooed on his right ass cheek?
Jesse Lopez, Cassidy Clark, Karla Cruz Godoy, Owen Knight, and Mike Gabler of ‘Survivor 43’.CBS
Did he employ the services of noted jury whisperer Tata the Bushman to seal the deal?
Going into the finale, I saw the Jesse win, obviously.
He made the move of the season.
Jesse Lopez, Cassidy Clark, Karla Cruz Godoy, Owen Knight, and Mike Gabler of ‘Survivor 43’.CBS
I saw the Karla win.
She played a big game and was always in the mix when big decisions were being made.
I even saw the (admittedly far less likely) Cassidy and Owen wins.
The cast of ‘Survivor 43’.CBS
They both won multiple immunity challenges.
Cassidy could also point to the"Cassidy Curse"and that whoever came after her went home.
Nobody seemed to take the guy seriously out there.
Jesse Lopez on ‘Survivor 43’.CBS
Remember that super awkward group meeting he called after one disastrous challenge?
Or the fact that he actually told people to vote him out on day 3 of the game?
Or how frustrated Sami always seemed by him?
Cassidy Clark and Owen Knight on ‘Survivor 43’.CBS
At one point, Gabler’s main storyline was just how tired he was.
Look, I’m not hating on Gabler as a champion by any means.
As far as I’m concerned, the more metalheads we have winningSurvivor, the better.
I just did not see this coming from any angle.
I mean, even Gabler’s strategy seemed a bit confusing.
Maybe that’s just Gabler being Gabler…
I have no idea.
But the unimaginable started to become very imaginable as that final Tribal Council against Cassidy and Owen continued on.
Gabler had the jury smiling.
He had them laughing.
And perhaps his best move of all is in what he didnotsay.
So he wisely didn’t.
Gabler was super solid at FTC.
It wasn’t a terrible final Tribal from Cassidy by any means.
This wasn’t Amanda Kimmel fromChina.
Or Amanda Kimmel fromMicronesia.
Or Mike Turner fromSurvivor 41.
At least not from what we saw.
But it wasn’t perfect either.
Owen was… fine.
But Cassidy flat-outtoldus she expected to win.
While the Gabler victory was certainly surprising (and I suppose surprising is good?
Look, if I am killing the cast ofSurvivor 43, I am killing them with kindness.
That’s because I do think they are generally a really great group of really kind and thoughtful people.
And that was the problem.
I could point to a final Tribal Council from pretty much any old-schoolSurvivorseason to see serious fireworks.
Again, totally unfair to compare the two seasons.
Like, just decent, nice, regular people.
Not too much, mind you.
Not a raging inferno like my man Gabler used to take out Jesse.
Just a little heat in general.
But the WTF nature of an almost unanimous Gabler victory at least makes up for some of it.
And the answer will be yes… yes, he did.
And I’m cool with that.
Wait, you thought we were done?
Karla can’t take advantage
Why is it so fun seeing Owen angry?
And he certainly had reason to be cranky at the start of the finale.
Naturally, there was an advantage hidden on their new island.
So Karla had an advantage in the first immunity challenge.
A very cool challenge, I might add.
Soooooo, I guess youcanhide in a dangerous game?
Or this game wasnotparticularly dangerous?
Not sure how that all shakes out.
All I do know is that for Karla, that challenge loss would prove to be crushing.
But she still had some waves to make on her way out.
But I do want to hit on the conversation between Karla and Cassidy.
Clearly, there was no love lost between the previously close pair at this point.
However, my position on jury threats has not changed.
And the jury is a major element in the game.
But there were simply too many enemies for our island Warrior Princess to battle.
All we need to know is that Karla played hard and is demanding ofourrespect… if not Cassidy’s.
At that point, he just owned that jury.
Which is why he had to go.
That house of cards contest earlier this season was about as good as it gets.
So when I saw the final four was going to have to stack bowls, I was into it.
Unfortunately, we did not get as many falls as I would’ve liked.
(Classic Owen!)
But, unfortunately, Cassidy was just too damn good and never faltered.
I say unfortunately not because I was rooting against Cassidy.
And trust me,Survivorhas beenverygood to me in those regards.
The victory meant that both Cassidy and Owen each won three individual immunities.
To which the jury once again said… so what?
They just don’t.
And if you don’t believe me, go ask Chrissy Hofbeck about it.
All they see is someone walk in with a necklace.
None of them as spectators got to watch Cassidy persevering to win that final contest.
So it doesn’t really register.
At least not as much as other factors.
This is not a complaint, just an observation.
And there is one actual problem when it comes to winning that final challenge.
To fire or not to fire?
You all know I’m not a fan of the final four fire-making twist.
It’s just a bad game mechanic and I hate it.
And I hate that Cassidy was put in that position.
She ultimately chose Gabler to take on Jesse, and Gabler got the job done in record time.
He wins at fire, he wins a million dollars.
The jury knew it.
That was a million-dollar fire, and Jesse just couldn’t get it.
And he didn’t even attempt to hide his disappointment, or his tears.
The good news is, he’ll get another chance.
(Imagine poor Cassidy having to do a champagne toast mere seconds after having her dreams completely crushed.)
The reunion is just better on pretty much every single level.
However, that said, I totally get why they do the on-location after-show.
Do you remember what a disaster the end ofWinners at Warwas?
The season was filmed before Covid and then aired when the entire country was locked down.
That meant there was no after-showorreunion for arguably the biggest season in the franchise’s history.
This was nobody’s fault at all.
That was just where we were with Covid at the time.
And what if we end up there again?
What if they ditched the after-show and planned for a reunion instead, and then folks got sick?
Then you’re left with nothing.
Which is why staging the after-show is the safest move and totally makes sense.
Of course, why does it have to be one or the other?
My suggestion has always been to do both!
Film your immediate on-location after-show and air it after the votes are read.
Don’t want to air yet another post-finale hour on CBS?
Put it on Paramount+.
(Hell, while you’re at it, bring back the Ponderosa series and putthaton Paramount+ as well.
I’m getting all riled up now completely overhauling the former CBS All Access to my whims and demands.
Gabler’s generosity had to make the jury feel that much better about their vote.
After the After-Show
So, I guess I should stop writing now????
First, a little house cleaning.
Then again, I’m not sureIproduced any knock-your-socks-off recaps, so who am I to judge?
Check back here or follow me onTwitter,Instagram,Mastodon(not Gabler’s favorite band!
), orPostor anywhere else that will have me for updates on when those all go live.
Thanks so much for taking this journey with me and wasting time reading this nonsense all season long.
Happy holidays, and I will be back in March with our first oversized scoop of 2023 crispy!
