Survivor 50 featured Aubry Bracco winning $2 million over runner-up Jonathan Young during the three-hour finale event Wednesday night on CBS.

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Aubry, a now four-time Survivor castaway finished as the runner-up on Survivor: Kaoh Rong -- Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty, won Survivor 50 and its epic $2 million prize in an 8-3 jury vote instead of Jonathan, who placed fourth on Survivor 42, at the Final Tribal Council on Night 26 of the game.

The third place finisher, Joe Hunter -- who placed third on Survivor 48 -- received zero jury votes.

Survivor host Jeff Probst announced the voting results live in front of an audience I n Los Angeles, CA, which marked the series' first live aftershow since Survivor: Edge of Extinction in 2019.

"I've come in second place, gone deep scrapping, flopped really hard with an idol in my pocket, and then I came back and I was more intuitive," Aubry said after winning the season.

"I trusted myself, I moved differently, and most importantly, I learned from all of the incredible players before me. It was such a celebration of all the incredible players, and thank you [all] for everything you have given to Survivor."

On Night 23 following Cirie Fields' ouster, Tiffany was incredibly mad at Aubry, and her tribemates accused her of being salty and immature.

Jonathan, Joe and Rizo discussed how they all wanted to sit in the Final 3 together, and so they agreed that Tiffany or Aubry needed to go next -- depending on who won the next Individual Immunity Challenge.

Aubry was well aware the guys were gunning for her because this was her third time making the Final 5 on a Survivor season. She was afraid the newbie players would target her because her reputation and pattern of success would probably impress the jury.

On Day 24, the Final 5 competed in an Individual Immunity Challenge that was set up like a massive obstacle course, which included crawling in the mud and through rope tunnels, building a tall wooden ladder, and solving a big round phoenix puzzle.

In "one of the closest finishes we've ever had on the puzzle," according to Jeff, Jonathan won immunity.

Jonathan and Tiffany were neck and neck on the puzzle, and Jonathan ended winning by a single piece. He yelled and cheered in celebration, and Tiffany appeared devastated and told the cameras that she was "pissed and angry" to have lost immunity by a second or two.

"They are clear and free to take a shot," Tiffany lamented.

After the challenge, Rizo admitted to Tiffany that he was going to vote her out, and so Tiffany did her best to convince the tribe that Aubry was the bigger threat and more likely to walk away with the $2 million. Tiffany thought she could work on Joe to make that happen.

At Tribal Council on Night 24, Tiffany complained about how she was viewed as the biggest threat when Joe had won the same number of Immunity Challenges.

Jonathan assured Tiffany that targeting her was nothing personal -- and that everyone just thought she was a great player -- but Tiffany wasn't buying it.

After the castaways voted, Rizo played his hidden Immunity Idol for himself.

Jeff proceeded to read the votes in the following order: Aubry, Tiffany, Tiffany, and Tiffany.

Tiffany was therefore the 20th person voted out and the tenth member of the jury.

Tiffany ignored her tribemates when she walked out of the game, and Jonathan shrugged his shoulders, seemingly perplexed about why she was so upset.

"I am extremely proud of the game I played," Tiffany said in her final words.

"I'm walking away from this with my head held high, and amongst all these Survivor giants and legends, I was seen as one of the biggest threats on the beach. It just lets me know that I guess I'm a Survivor giant too."

On Day 25, Joe and Jonathan agreed that one of them needed to win the next Immunity Challenge so they could take Aubry out.

"If one of us doesn't win this and Aubry does, we're all screwed," Jonathan told the cameras.

Aubry had been working with the guys left in the game, but she assumed they weren't going to take her to the end.

Aubry therefore noted that the next challenge was going to be "do or die" for her.

For the Final Individual Immunity Challenge, the four remaining castaways were each required to drop a ball down into a shoot, where it would spiral to the bottom. The players had to catch the ball and put it back into the top of the contraption. Jeff told the castaways that more balls would be added throughout the iconic challenge, making it more difficult.

Jeff revealed that 41% of the fans had voted for this to be the final challenge of Season 50.

Jonathan was out of the challenge first, and then he was followed by Rizo.

The challenge was therefore a showdown between Joe and Aubry. They both had five balls going at once, and in the end, Aubry won.

Aubry dropped to her knees and cried with joy. She hugged Jeff and couldn't believe her first Individual Immunity win of Season 50 was this one.

"I never thought this would happen for me again. I don't have any words," Aubry told Jeff.

In addition to being immune, Aubry got to decide which two players would compete in the firestarting challenge. Sixty percent of fans had voted for there to be a fire showdown instead of just a clean vote out.

Rizo, who had lost in fire on Season 49, called this outcome "terrible."

Aubry revealed she had practiced that challenge before appearing on Season 50.

Aubry said Rizo had become an underdog and she wanted her own underdog story to be highlighted at the end. She said she wanted Rizo gone since their stories and Survivor resumes were similar.

Aubry told Joe that she was going to take him to Final 3, and Joe cried because hearing those words meant so much to him. He couldn't wait to appear in the Final 3 again for his family.

Jonathan also lost in the firemaking challenge on his previous season, and so Rizo joked about how one of them was going to become "a two-time firemaking loser."

Rizo started to cry because he felt so good about his overall game and could, once again, have it slip through his fingers.

Jonathan, for his part, had been practicing to make fire every single day of Survivor.

"On paper, I'm 10 times a better firemaker than Rizo. So if I don't make a fire before Rizo, it's because God decided -- not me," Jonathan told the cameras.

Joe decided to help Rizo because his skills appeared to be so poor. Joe wanted both men to have a fighting chance.

"It feels like I'm destined to reverse the curse and flip the script. I don't care that it's Jonathan; all I care about is burning that rope," Rizo boasted in a confessional.

"I'm not losing hope that I can win $2 million, and I can win it today."

When Jonathan saw Rizo repeatedly spark a flame with just one strike, he admitted that he got inside his head a little bit and feared history was going to repeat itself.

"I need Jonathan to beat Rizo today. I do not want such a smooth talker... sitting next to me in the Final 3," Aubry noted.

On Night 25 at Tribal Council, Aubry announced her decision to take Joe to the Final 3.

Rizo and Jonathan were therefore each required to build a fire that would burn high enough -- and hot enough -- to burn through a rope.

Jonathan found redemption by winning in fire, and Rizo became the eleventh member of Survivor 50's jury.

Rizo got emotional and shared how he had no regrets because he played the best game he could and managed to inspire fans, his family and the Albanian community.

Jeff also reminded Rizo that some of the best Survivor players ever have never won the game.

"The one outcome I couldn't afford to happen, happened. And I lost in fire... I'm proud for the eight-year-old boy that started watching Survivor," Rizo said in his final words.

"He idolized so many people I just played with, and I was once again one fire short from I feel like being the winner of Survivor 50."

On Day 26, Aubry got a visit from her mother, Joe got reunited with his wife, and Jonathan got to see his brother. On top of that, they all enjoyed a Survivor feast.

Aubry boasted about how she peaked in the game at just the right moment, Jonathan said he played an awesome social and strategic game that no one saw coming, and Joe admitted he got his hands dirty and betrayed some people this time around to win.

On Night 26, the jury gathered to interrogate the Final 3.

The jury consisted of Rizo, Tiffany, Benjamin "Coach" Wade, Chrissy Hofbeck, Christian Hubicki, Cirie Fields, Dee Valladares, Emily Flippen, Ozzy Lusth, Rick Devens, and Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick.

Jonathan admitted it was his idea to take Ozzy out and that he actually wanted Ozzy out of the game much earlier.

Jonathan said he got to know everyone's personality and so he adjusted his game with every person knowing how they wanted to play.

Aubry told the jury that she had blabbed Ozzy's plan to her alliance and so she spearheaded that vote, but Jonathan disagree.

Joe gave Aubry credit for talking him into the Ozzy vote, but Joe took credit for Ozzy not playing his idol because he told Ozzy not to and Ozzy really seemed to trust him.

Stephenie applauded Jonathan for fishing, winning immunities, winning firemaking, and playing a great social game.

"You are a new era player, but you played with an old school heart," Stephenie announced.

"In my mind, I think you're the total package."

Cirie said someone had to supervise Joe through every vote because he was difficult to work with, but Joe confessed that he lied to multiple people's faces.

"Every single vote was run through you. There is power in that," Emily told Joe.

Aubry said a moment of adaptation for her was after the merge, when she switched alliances. And Ozzy said Aubry's ability to play the middle was "exemplary."

Jonathan said he used heart-to-heart conversations with people to blindside them, which was hard to do.

When being criticized for playing a passive game, Aubry insisted she had agency and definitely drove votes. She also said she had to get rid of her idol early in order to not become a target right away.

Jonathan also revealed to the jury that his blowup with Dee was planned by him, which appeared to shock and impress Christian.

Joe said his name was only written down one time and he wants his legacy to be that he was always willing to be vulnerable.

Aubry shared her story about how she took time to work on herself before Survivor 50 -- after multiple tough Survivor losses -- and changed who she was and how she played to get to the end.

"I just want to show people that it doesn't matter who you are -- if you're a brain, brawn or a beauty -- if you believe in yourself, you can outlast more than you ever thought you could," Aubry shared.

"You can push and you can get to the end, and you can evolve just like Survivor." 

Jonathan said he wasn't just "the big guy" this season; he played a dangerous game. He said he did his homework and worked on his speaking, puzzles, balance and more.

One by one, the jury voted for the winner of Season 50.

Stephenie was shown voting for Jonathan, and Cirie was shown voting for Aubry.

Jeff then revealed that the results were going to be read live in Los Angeles.

The pre-recorded footage then switched to Jeff live in studio with the Final 3 castaways waiting to learn their fate.

Jeff proceeded to read the votes in the following order: Jonathan, Aubry, Jonathan, Aubry, Jonathan, Aubry, Aubry, Aubry, and Aubry.

Dee, Christian, Emily, Ozzy, Devens, Cirie, Tiffany and Rizo voted for Aubry, while Chrissy, Coach, and Stephenie voted for Jonathan.

Jonathan told Jeff after finishing in second place, "I'm so proud. I played the best game that I could. For four years, I thought about Survivor every day and how I'd play the game differently. And I had someone I could bounce ideas off of, Boston Rob, and that was a big, big moment for me -- to come out here and play Season 50... and I've heard the third time is the charm!"

And Joe shared, "When you've been through some real things and you have a chance to be put on a stage in a game that tests that and you can make it through it, nobody can take that from you!"

The live reunion also featured Cirie being given "the Spirit of Survivor" award because she's an inspiration to other castaways and arguably the best player to never win the game.

Tiffany confirmed she'd play again and she will be "winning" her next season.

Ozzy was given a T-shirt that reads, "Ozzy, we love you -- please play the idol!"

And Jeff accidentally announced Rizo as the last member of the jury before the episode even aired his firemaking showdown at Final 4 against Jonathan.

Aubry was awarded a Toyota truck.

Survivor fans voted for Cirie as their favorite player, and so singer Sia -- who gave out money to her favorite players multiple times in the past -- awarded her $100,000.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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