Spoilers ahead for last night's finale of Survivor: Game Changers.
In the blink of an eye, another season of CBS' groundbreaking reality competition series Survivor has completed. The 34th season was full of crazy twists and tons of blindsides, which kept on going up until the final Tribal Council. Because rather than the traditional route of jury speeches, an open dialogue was encouraged between the finalists and jury members. And at the live reunion special, it was revealed that if Brad Culpepper had taken Tai to final tribal, the votes for a winner would have resulted in a tie. So then what happens?
Luckily, Jeff Probst got a bit chatty, revealing Survivor's official policy for a final Tribal tiebreaker. No, they're not going to be asked to build a fire. Instead, the third finalist member would have to be the tiebreaker. He said,
This is something we've never talked about, but it's a perfect time. Everybody asks, 'What would you do in the case of a tie at final Tribal?' We would have had one had you said, 'You know what? I'm going to keep Tai and get rid of Sarah.' We would have had a tie. It would have been 5-5. This is the rule. This is what would happen in a future season. The person who is not in the tie --- so we have Brad with five and Tai with five --- Troyzan, you go to the jury and decide the final vote.
Mind. Blown. The Survivor fandom has long wondered what would happen if the jury's votes resulted in a tie. And now it turns out that the finalist left out said tie would be the deciding factor.
This twist (via EW) could actually have monumental affects on the strategy of jury management, so I guess its fitting that it was revealed during Game Changers' reunion. While castaways have to constantly think of every possible outcome, knowing how tiebreakers function could muck things up even more. Because while you ordinarily want to sit at final tribal next to two castaways that you know you can beat, now you have to also take their relationship to the other finalist into account. So while you might think you can beat a certain goat, you'll have to also pander to their potential tie breaking vote.
And for Game Changers, this would have changed who won the million dollars. Brad Culpepper made a big mistake by bringing Sarah Lacina to final tribal, as her impressive resume convinced 7 of 10 jurors to give her the title, leaving Brad with the other two. But if he brought Tai and Troyzan to final tribal, the votes would have tied, and Troyzan admitted his tie breaking vote would go to Brad. Mr. Monica made a million dollar mistake.
With Survivor on its break until the fall, be sure to check out our summer premiere list to plan your next binge watch.
