Top 6 moments of ‘Survivor 44’ finale: Yam-Yam’s big win, a record-breaking fire and festive reunion

Vincent Mandile

May 26, 2023 at 11:45 AM·6 min read

The season finale “Survivor 44” aired on Wednesday night and concluded with host Jeff Probst crowning a new millionaire in Yamil “Yam Yam” Arocho. The 36-year old from Puerto Rico defeated Heidi Lagares-Greenblatt and Carolyn Wiger after swaying the jury to believe he was the most deserving of the title of sole survivor. So for the final time this season, we look back at the dumbest, most shocking and most exciting moments of this memorable finale.

SEE 54% of ‘Survivor 44’ viewers say Carolyn Wiger should have won [POLL RESULTS]

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Top 6 moments of Episode 13 (in chronological order):

1. New Camp, Same Experience: Did I feel bad that the remaining contestants had to start from scratch at a new camp? No, but I was not exactly laughing as much as I did last season. This group was all for the new digs. With Heidi’s immunity idol out of the way, the search was on and Carolyn seemed confident that she would find it. “Yam Yam” pranking Carolyn and Carson Garrett with a piece of wood as a fake idol was hilarious.

2. A Must Win Challenge: Props to the designers of this Immunity Challenge. It made me question how long I would last and, spoiler alert — it wouldn’t be long! In the end, the puzzle proved to be the great equalizer and Carson walked away with immunity. With his win, there was a glimmer of hope that he could continue this run of success all the way to the end. The ladies zeroing in on “Yam Yam” was a bit jarring. Did they really just realize that he was a threat to win? It’s nice to see lightbulb moments happen, but hopefully they will not be so late in the game next season. In the end, this tribal council truly set the tone for the remainder of the episode as it was abundantly clear that it was everyone for themselves. Lauren was sent packing in fourth place.

3. The Most Important Challenge of the Season: Did you hear that loud scream last night? That was me screaming out of excitement at the sight of my favorite “Survivor” challenge of all time. I have said this before, but it bears repeating: mass produce this and I will buy this in a nanosecond. It is also the most important challenge to win since it’s the last one of the season. Carolyn was the first eliminated, but gave an admirable effort. In the end, Heidi won immunity and left the Tika three in a predicament, but she also noted the possibility of her making fire to pad her resume. Honestly, my friend said it best when he immediately texted, “Heidi knows she hasn’t done enough to win.”

4. Burn Baby Burn: This fire challenge scares the hell out of me as it is essentially not dependent on how well one can make a fire, but the weather conditions. One gust of wind and you can lose just like that. Fire is also Carson’s kryptonite, which was an interesting little tidbit of information, and “Yam Yam” comforted him like a good friend. This time around, the participants were Carson and Heidi, as Carolyn and “Yam Yam” received safety from Heidi. Say what you will about their erratic gameplay, but it got them to the final three. Heidi’s million dollar bet paid off and she sent Carson to the jury, ensuring she would get votes at the final tribal council. She also set the record for the fastest fire build in “Survivor” history. With Carson in the jury, the biggest threat was gone and the game was wide open as the unlikely final three were one step closer to a million dollars.

5. A Winner is Crowned: The final three each brought their own form of strategy to the jury when it came winning votes. For the most part everyone seemed to be open to hearing the trio out, even if they were the victim of their votes. The art of jury management was not great this season as it seemed like everyone had the finalists figured out. Jeff welcomed the trio of contestants to the final tribal, where they now had zero power, and we saw three different approaches to winning over the jury.

“Yam Yam”: Let’s be honest here, “Yam Yam” had the easiest case to make as he made the more obvious moves to get to the end out of the three. He was more than capable of answering all of the questions thrown at him with ease and even shut down an interruption from Heidi like a boss. He did not avoid the fact that challenges were not his thing, even if he did well at them. The fact he survived after seeing his name written down multiple times without an idol or an advantage was his strongest argument and he never even mentioned it. When it comes to social game, he was unparalleled and he knew it. My grade: A

Carolyn: Carolyn had an ease with answering questions and acknowledged that she was indeed underestimated throughout the season. Her underdog journey was seemingly appreciated by the jury and the most pathos driven of the three finalists. Her journey was a win within itself and she did not shy away from that fact. In the end, super inspirational story that should hopefully ensure a return on an all-star season. She played the game in her own unique manner. My grade: B+

Heidi: Heidi struggled a bit from the start as she answered questions, which was exactly what I expected from a contestant that was constantly left out of votes, misplayed advantages and idols, and did not have much impact until the last few weeks of the game. Thus, she really tried to defend her gameplay and at times came across as being a bit fake and pushy. It was an odd mix of canned answers with genuine emotion. By the end of the questioning, she shook off her nerves and seemed comfortable. My grade: B

6. Reunion Tidbits: The jury and finalists feasted on pizza as they fielded questions from Jeff. Danny Massa was the sole vote for Heidi and after his explanation, Jeff noted that “Yam Yam” received the rest of the votes. Carolyn could honestly not care less and was more excited by the pizza and the company. We truly need more people like her on the show as she slowly became my favorite of the season. My favorite part of the entire reunion though was the shock that Matthew Grinstead-Mayle planted a fake idol and took the real one home with him. Turns out the little things still could shock the contestants after twenty-six days after all. Jamie Lynn Ruiz had my favorite reaction of the season. In the end, there was fun, blindsides, a love connection, and friendships in one heck of a season.

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