Episode Report Card Sara M: B- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Weak
By Sara M | Season 18 | Episode 14 | Aired on 05.17.2009
Erinn interviews that it would be "noble" and "honorable" for J.T. to take Stephen to the end, but he has a much better shot of winning the money against her. She says voting Stephen out tonight is "the only thing that makes sense." Doing things that make sense is not common on this show and especially not this season, so, buh-bye, Erinn! She walks off and Stephen has his turn to talk to J.T. He asks if Erinn's "pressuring" J.T. to pick her tonight. "She pleaded her case," J.T. says; "she has a very good one." And here's where Stephen's game totally falls apart. J.T. says that Erinn told him about how she and Stephen agreed to take each other to the end if J.T. lost immunity. Stephen doesn't say anything at first, then tells J.T. it isn't true while not looking J.T. in the eyes and touching his face. He couldn't be more obviously lying if he was telling J.T. that he was once captured by a tribe of short Amazon Indian cannibals. Stephen says if J.T. has doubts, that's okay. J.T. says going against Erinn means he's guaranteed to win the million, so, yeah, he has doubts. Stephen says if he picks him, he'll still win the million "and you'll do the right thing." Ew. I don't like it when people talk about "the right thing" in this game, especially if those people were just talking about not doing "the right thing" before the immunity challenge took that choice away. But maybe Stephen is just trying to say whatever he thinks will appeal to the sense of honesty and truthiness everyone seems to think J.T. possesses no matter how many times he shows them he's willing to lie to win.
Stephen interviews that taking Erinn to Final Two is a lock for winning the million, whereas taking Stephen could be a gamble for J.T. Stephen says he and J.T. didn't let sentiment get in the way when it came time to get rid of Douche and Taj, so why stop now? On the other hand, he also thinks that he knows J.T. well enough by now to know when he's telling the truth and when he's lying, and he thinks J.T. is telling the truth when he says he'll keep Stephen. That's what Douche thought, too. And Taj. And everyone else. Stephen makes a last point that if J.T. keeps him in the game over Erinn, it'll only make him look better to the jury, so he'll win no matter who he chooses. Stephen says he's known from the beginning that J.T. would win this game, but J.T. isn't quite so sure. "I'd be scared if I were you," J.T. tells Stephen. J.T. interviews that his mother told him he had what it took to win this game as long as he didn't do anything stupid. She probably followed that up by not saying she loved him. J.T. says if he loses because he takes Stephen to the end, his family back home will be disappointed in him. But the cows won't care! They never judge.
Tribal Council! The Final Three arrive, and in come the jury. Brendan walks in first and looks happy to see J.T. wearing the immunity necklace, which tells you everything you need to know about how the Final Tribal Council is going to go down. Douche somehow manages to walk in unassisted by the dragon cane, and there's Taj refusing to look her former alliancemates in the eye. She's pissed. Probst begins by talking about how awesome J.T. is for winning all those immunity challenges and earning his way into the Final Two, then turns to Erinn and asks her what she said to J.T. to convince him to take her to the end. She says they talked about who would get votes from which jury member, and how Erinn wouldn't get very many at all. Debbie nods snottily at this, although she might just be drunk. Or having a stroke. It's hard to tell with Debbie. Erinn says that Stephen, on the other hand, could be harder for J.T. to beat. She'll fight to win the game in the Final Tribal Council, but her chances are pretty slim.
Probst turns to Stephen and asks him why J.T. should keep him over Erinn. Stephen says that they've been partners since the beginning of the game and "shared a brain" and "made every move of this game together." Taj doesn't seem to enjoy hearing this. Stephen continues that he and J.T. made "long-term commitments" and will have a friendship outside of this game or something. I'm not really sure what he's saying at this point. What happened to him?
Probst says it sounds like J.T. has to choose between loyalty and easy money. J.T. says he has to figure out what's more important to him, and he knows that he'd stand a better chance of winning against Erinn. Probst asks why J.T. would bring Stephen to the Final Two. J.T. says picking Stephen would mean he stuck to his word (for like the first time in this game) and that he was bringing "the best to the end," which Douche loves hearing, of course. Probst doesn't think this explanation is good enough. J.T. says he also has to think about if Stephen would have taken J.T. if he had won immunity. He doesn't know. Stephen asks if he can say something. Probst says sure, and we all brace ourselves for some kind of revelation or something to make this more interesting. But no. Stephen's big point is that he and J.T. have been talking about the Final Two breakfast since the beginning of the game. That's it. The jury is not amused. Probst gets his sarcasm on, saying that a million dollars or "breakfast with your thirty-nine-day friend" is a tough choice indeed. Stephen says there is more to a relationship than a million dollars. Prost asks if Stephen is saying that their friendship would be over if J.T. picked Erinn. Stephen says they'd still be friends but it wouldn't be the same, because J.T. promised him things. Stephen says that he's also made promises that he's broken, at which point Debbie points to Taj, but he hopes that the serious promises that J.T. made to God to be loyal to his ally will hold up in the end. Probst turns to Erinn and says that she doesn't really have to say anything, since Stephen is talking himself out of the Final Two. Perhaps he's faking all this nervousness and stammering to make J.T. think he'll suck in front of the jury? Erinn agrees with Probst, and Stephen says he's nervous, just like everyone except J.T. is. J.T. says he's pretty nervous, too.
Probst asks J.T. to make a case for taking Erinn. Once again, J.T. says that he's more likely to beat her than Stephen. And then it's time to vote. J.T. casts his vote. Probst fetches it and ... it's for Erinn! I guess J.T. figured that no matter who he took with him to the end, he'd win, so he might as well appear honorable doing it. Douche, of course, believes that J.T. is upholding the game-changing standards Douche laid down at the beginning of the game, and celebrates J.T.'s decision on the jury bench. Taj doesn't look very pleased, probably because she doesn't understand why J.T. could turn his back on her and not Stephen. Stephen just looks shocked. Probst extinguishes Erinn's torch and she's gone. Probst says the game is now in the hands of the jury and kicks J.T. and Stephen out. As soon as he's allowed to stand up, Stephen gives J.T. a big, grateful hug.
For her good-bye words, Erinn says she's a little bit surprised, but deep down she had a feeling that J.T. would stick with Stephen. She says the game was "life-changing" and she's happy to have made it so far. Good for her; she was one of the few people who played this season and she played well.
And it's the last day at Camp Forza. J.T. interviews that it's a beautiful morning and he's here with Stephen, just like they planned in the beginning. Stephen says they'll be "friends for life." This will only make it all the more painful when they talk shit about each other at the Final Tribal Council. Stephen interviews that he and J.T. are the Final Two on Day 39, just like they planned, and no matter what happens tonight they'll always have that. They walk to treemail together, and J.T. says they dominated the entire game both physically and socially. True, and it made for a boring season. But we're bound to have a likable winner, so that's cool, I guess. With that, the breakfast feast is waiting for them at treemail.
Pancake batter is poured and someone tries to peel an avocado. Oooh, and there's bac