Previously on Survivor Hamilton: Old Meets New
The game of games has almost come to a close, but before we end for our hiatus we had some important business to get to. Our final three players – April, Graham, and Jon – would need to compete in the last Immunity Challenge of the season. It was a 3-stage battle befitting of these champions, and when the dust settled, the winner of her 2nd hugely important individual Immunity in a row was April. Tonight, at April’s 21st Tribal Council of the season she will choose one of Graham or Jon to join her in Friday’s finale.

All season had been a battle for April, and aside from Jon she’d survived the most Tribal Councils out of anybody. At the game’s 5th vote, April was involved in a tie with both Damien and Sasha, and a different result could have sent her home in 26th place. But she survived, and 3 votes later needed to protect herself with a Hidden Immunity Idol to even make the Tribe Swap. April was a target from the game’s early stages, and that was partly because of her role as a leader in The Family alliance, but also because she had a habit of keeping her cards close to her chest.

Her decision to partner with Bryan on Ulloo solidified her status in another strong alliance, and by the time April joined the merged tribe, Tendua, she had lots of options and people wanting to work with her. Though she didn’t win individual Immunity until the later stages of the game, 10 weeks went by without April receiving a vote against – until Bryan basically had no choice – and that shows the strong social and strategic ties in April’s game. Now April had what seemed to be a simple choice (correction: she earned it) and it was between Graham and Jon.

Graham, a Survivor Hamilton veteran since the very beginning, had the most eventful season of his career, and he had his wife at his side the entire time. Not in the game mind you – they weren’t on the same tribe until the merge – but they had the benefit of seeing the game from multiple angles, as well as helping eachother with challenges. That “help” seemed to hinder in the game’s early stages, but it’s come in clutch at the end as they both adapted over time to the Immunity Challenge variety and methods. There was a very essential point in the game when Graham changed directions, and it clearly helped him get to this point. He had been doing whatever it took to survive his time on Nevala, and after transferring to Kobara he found out he didn’t have the trust he thought he had with some key “allies”.

Being voted out, and subsequently being voted back into the game by Exile Island, changed Graham’s game. He needed to work with someone he could completely trust, and that person was obviously April. Though he had relationships spread throughout Tendua, they all only served the purpose of getting Graham and April to the end. Graham’s focus narrowed to that goal, and the plans of every other player (even if they involved him) didn’t matter anymore. That shift worked to Graham’s advantage, but he may have burned too many bridges along the way to earn the final vote.

Jon had survived 21 Tribal Councils, and though he had 6 votes cast against him he had cancelled them out with his hard-won Hidden Immunity Idol, so technically Jon’s gone all the way without any “counted” votes against. That’s incredible considering his closest ally David M. was voted out all the way at Tribal Council #3, and it would just as easily been Jon instead of David M. That choice by the Nevala majority obviously ended one player’s game, but it set Jon on a path to work with Ruth, Sasha and Sharon which  he maintained until the Tribe Swap. Though he stayed on Nevala, help arrived.

Reunited with his friends from the Bastards alliance – Chris, James & Peter – Jon enjoyed a majority on Nevala up until the Merge, when they actually became the main targets. Timely idol plays and the ability to pull players over to their side, the Bastards were able to avoid the chopping block for a few weeks before Peter was eliminated. When Chris and James were voted out in 7th and 6th place respectively it was all up to Jon to survive on his own. He won his 3rd individual Immunity necklace to make it to the Top 4, then defeated Jordan in a head to head battle to get himself to this point.

But when April won yesterday’s Immunity Challenge, she earned all the power, and the final say in who would be sitting in the last Tribal Council of the season. Obviously her teamwork with Graham played a factor, but she’d need to decide who would be the better opponent to sit beside. April needed to look at the Jurors, try to figure out who they were most likely to want to win, then add up the numbers to see which option would give her the best chance to win. Loyalty doesn’t earn you Jury votes, big game moves do – but it’s also math. And on top of simply predicting the numbers, whichever two players sat at the final Tribal Council, they’d need to effectively make their case for why they played the best game and are worthy of the title of Sole Survivor Hamilton.

So April, Graham and Jon entered their last Tribal Council before the power shifts into the hands of the Jury. Let’s see what happened:

As mentioned, the decision was solely up to April. She’d decide between Graham and Jon which player would give her the best chance of winning the hearts and minds of the 13 players on the Jury.

So April would write down one name – the name of the player that she was voting out of the game in 3rd place that would become the 13th and final member of the Jury.

The player that April decided to vote out is…

…

…

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With April’s only vote, Jon takes 3rd place out of 30 competitors, and becomes the 13th and final member of the Jury! 

This was Jon’s 22nd Tribal Council, and as he mentioned to me tonight he was almost done after his 3rd, when David M. was voted out. He only really started following the Survivor TV show around when quarantine started, but Jon not only excelled that the Immunity Challenges all season long, but built himself strong social relationships and avoided the target/spotlight very effectively. Obviously Jon had the benefit of some Survivor Hamilton veterans and close friends to work with, but he got by some close calls and ultimately earned his own way to the Final 3. One last challenge win was all he needed, but Jon came up just a little bit short, and the rest is history. Great game Jon, you were a great competitor and it was a pleasure to get reconnected to you after all these years!

And so, after over 3 months, we finally have our Final 2, and amazingly it’s a wife and husband duo that everyone else should have voted out a long time ago!

April and Graham both battled all game long, separately and together, to get to this point. They are both worthy adversaries and will now each need to make the case on Friday night as to why they deserve the title of Sole Survivor Hamilton. Each of the 13 Jurors will have their own perspectives, but they didn’t experience everything April and Graham did, so the speeches and how they answer the questions will go a long way to winning Jury votes. Good luck!

The Final Tribal Council will take place on Friday at 8pm, while the votes will be revealed live and in-person at our Oshawa Finale Party. See you there! And here’s Jon’s episode of PLAYED! with Meg & Mike for your review:

MH