Survivor Finale Recap 12/15/21: Season 41 Episode 13 and 14 “One Thing Left to Do… Win”

Survivor Finale Recap 12/15/21: Season 41 Episode 13 and 14 "One Thing Left to Do... Win"

Tonight on CBS Survivor airs with an all-new Wednesday, December 15, 2021, Season 41 Episode 13 & 14 and we have your Survivor recap below. On tonight’s Survivor season, 41 episodes 13 & 14 called “One Thing Left to Do… Win” as per the CBS synopsis, “After a dangerous season filled with new twists, only five castaways remain and must battle it out for the title of Sole Survivor and the $1 million prize, on the two-hour season finale of the CBS Original series SURVIVOR. For the first time since season one, the winner will be revealed live on location. The finale will be immediately followed by a one-hour after-show hosted by Jeff Probst.”

So make sure to bookmark this spot and come back from 8 PM – 9 PM ET for our Survivor recap. While you wait for the recap make sure to check out all our Survivor news, spoilers, recaps & more, right here!

Tonight’s Survivor begins now – Refresh Page often to get the most current updates!

Tonight’s Survivor episode begins with Jeff telling viewers that survivors are starting over; new island, no food, no shelter – there will be two immunity challenges and two tribal councils, one fire making showdown and one last twist – for the first time since the summer of 2000, 21 years ago, they are going to read the votes and announce the winner right on the island. The final five are Xander, Deshawn, Erika, Ricard and Heather. This is the finale of Survivor 41.

They arrive on the new beach and Xander is excited that they are starting over, he wants the other people weak and crumbling while he rises to the top. At tribal council Deshawn blew up Erika’s game and she is not happy about it, she won’t even talk about it and tells Ricard that Deshawn made it personal. But what is important as how you bounce back and she plans on doing it. Ricard things Deshawn made it impossible for anyone to work with him and that is perfect because he doesn’t want him anywhere near the final four.

Viakana, day 24, Erika and Deshawn find tree mail, there is one for everyone. The clue says solve the phrase to find the advantage. First they must unscramble the words then decipher the phrase. They cannot look for the advantage until they have correctly solved the entire phrase. Ricard loves this kind of challenge, he says he is good at solving puzzles. But, it takes no time at all for Xander to figure it out; “your treasure hangs where the trees love to dance.” Ricard gets it next, then Deshawn. Ricard teams up with Xander, he doesn’t want Deshawn to get it. Erika is the last to unscramble and she is the one that actually finds the advantage. She gets a slight advantage in the immunity challenge, it’s not a lot, but it may be all she needs.

Time for the Immunity Challenge, for the third time Jeff takes the immunity idol from Ricard. Erika announces that she has something, she reads the final challenge that she found. Today they are going to collect a serious of ropes and use them to build a ladder, they will then maneuver a bag of puzzle pieces to the top. Once there, they are going to use the pieces to solve a 75 piece survivor puzzle. First to finish wins immunity and guaranteed a spot in the final four. In addition, there is a reward; steak, veggies, bread and wine.

Erika has an early lead, Heather is in last place but she never stops trying. Erika had an advantage of having her first four ropes already placed. Erika is first to work on her puzzle but Xander is pushing hard and not far behind her. All five are working on the puzzle, and Erika wins immunity. She is guaranteed a spot in the final four, it is a big spot to be in. In addition, she has won the meal, for two. Now she has to choose to take with her. Erika pics Heather because they had a tough previous Tribal Council.

The two sit down to eat, Erika tells Heather that she wishes Xander wasn’t such a threat because she would love to take him further. The chopping block is between Xander and Deshawn.

Deshawn tells Ricard that he is writing his name down. Ricard tells Erika that he and Deshawn are voting for each other. She says it is pretty clear that she hates Deshawn, he sees on her face that she is conflicted. It makes Ricard sick to his stomach that she can’t make up her mind. Deshawn asks Xander if he is with him and will vote out Deshawn, he says yes. Erika really thinks that it makes sense to get rid of Ricard, he is the biggest threat in the game.

Time for Tribal Council, Xander tells Jeff that Deshawn and Xander know they are all on the chopping block and it’s like a standoff in the wild wild west. Ricard says he has been struggling and it is really hard. Last year he and his husband got pregnant again, and he finally got the call, his baby is due next week.

He is still so proud of himself that he made it this far and he thinks he did a really good job. Deshawn says he understands Xander, he is a good dude. Xander says he and Ricard are having a bromance and it is sad that his back is against the wall. Time to vote. Then, Xander decides to play his immunity idol, he plays it for himself and stabs Ricard in the back. The first vote is for Deshawn, then Ricard, Ricard, Ricard. Ricard is voted out.

Time for the Immunity Challenge, the final four tell Jeff that they didn’t sleep all night because of the rain. This is the final Immunity Challenge and for this one they are going to navigate against a curved walkway while stacking blocks on a wobbly platform. First person to stack all their blocks and spell FINAL 3, is in the final 3. They will have a chance to plead to the jury why they deserve the title of sole survivor and the million dollars.

Along that comes power, they will decided who sits with them and who will have to make fire. Xander takes a quick lead, but this is still anyone’s game because it really takes precision. This is Xander’s challenge to win, but he has to win it. Xander has spelled Final 3, he now has to get back to the finish, he is going really slow and really steady. Xander does it, he wins immunity and will have a shot to plead his case to the jury.

Xander speaks to the other three and lets them plead their case why he should take them to the finals. In the end, after a lot of thinking, Xander decides to take Erika and let Heather and Deshawn make fire to decide who stays and who goes home. He made this decision based on the fact that he believed Erika was good at making fire because she was on Exile. But then, he sees Erika trying to make fire and she is terrible at it, Xander can’t believe it, he can make a big move and have her make fire and lose. Heather tells Xander that he will hate himself if he doesn’t take out Erika and she ends up winning the whole thing.

Time for Tribal Council, Deshawn says his ideal final three would be to sit beside Xander, but that is not the decision he made. Heather says she is open to anything, she will sit with him or make fire. In the end, Xander decides to take Erika with him, Deshawn and Heather have to fight for the lives by making fire. Deshawn has a good start but he smothers his fire and loses it, he has to start again. All of a sudden Heather’s flame start to disspate and Deshawn is back in the game. This begins to be one of the best fire making challenges ever. Both flames are high and the ropes are burning, it is anyone’s game. Deshawn’s rope snaps, he wins.

Xander feels like he was the underdog, he got himself where he is because of his strategic moves. If he wins this game, he will be the youngest player ever, so he knows he needs to give his all to the jury. The final three are enjoying a full breakfast. Erika knows that she is a fierce competitor, a lion dressed like a lamb and she knows that she has what it takes to win. No matter what gets thrown at her, she thinks she has everything she needs to win. Deshawn feels like he has grown since being on Survivor. He feels like he thrived, his social skills got him there and the game taught him so much about himself and he worked his butt off to be there. The money would change his life, so he knows he has to keep his foot on the gas.

Time for the jurors to question the final three. Danny asks them their game plan. Xander says he played a Xander game, take big risks and keep Ricard as a shield. Deshawn says he came in as a huge fan, he came in by building relationships and they got him to this stage in the game. Ricard chimes in and asks Deshawn why the first day of the merge he threw everyone under the bus. Deshawn says everything Ricard says is not true, he never wanted Danny or heather out of the game. Erika says she had a lot of expectations, she was going to be a sweet lamb and slowly work her way up. Ricard says that Erika had a fantastic game, he adores her but she lacked the social game with the rest of the jury and he wishes they could feel it.

Ricard tells Xander that they were tight, but what doesn’t make sense, he took out the number one threat, but the number two threat, Erika. Was he always lying to him? Xander says no, he would have won against anyone. And, he felt like Erika was not a threat. Heather reveals that she told Xander that Erika could win the game. He says yes, but he thinks he had a more wholesome game. Danny tells Erika that she did amazing, she allowed people to underestimate her.

Time to vote and then collects them and announces that he is going to reveal the winner. First vote is for Erika, Deshawn, Erika, Erika, Erika, Erika – she is the winner of survivor 41, the first Canadian winner. All of the rest of the votes are also for Erika. Jeff readjusts a couple of things and is holding the after show right there.

Xander says that he underestimated how much the jurors respected Erika’s game. Deshawn is looking forward to grow from his experience in the game. Jeff says he thinks Deshawn’s turning point was the fire making challenge, he brought back a dead fire. Jeff speaks to everyone, reminices about the highs and lows of the season. They all agree that Survivor has been a life changing experience.

We get a sneak peek at Survivor 42 which will premiere next spring.

THE END!