Cambodia Episode 14: Rewriting History

Who will be the one to get their second chance dream?

Jeff introduces the final episode, promising that it'll be "historic". Not surprising that this cluster-expletive season would have another trick up its sleeve. We have six players left, and all feel like genuine threats to win the game...Jeremy and Kelley have both made big moves, Tasha survived the hell on Angkor, Spencer has mixed strategic maneuvering with personal growth, and both Keith and Kimmi have played strong social games.

Keith is bitching after tribal that he wanted to sit next to Abi at the end, but Spencer just says he's proving they made the right decision to vote her out. It looks like Spencer, Jeremy, Tasha and Kimmi have this on lock, but Kimmi is willing to make a move. She tells Kelley that she'll make her alliance split the vote and then vote out Jeremy or Spencer. Don't sleep on this girl, she's playing the game.

The challenge is to build a staircase out of puzzle planks. Oof, I remember this one being absolutely brutal. The contestants start off pacing themselves, with Spencer tentatively in the lead. Jeremy has the most energy climbing up stairs but is making costly mistakes. Spencer and Kelley tackle the puzzle first, but everyone else is pretty close behind. Kimmi and Keith bring up the rear with Keith using his last plank as a crutch. Spencer pulls out another puzzle win, and secures his spot in the final 5.

Gamer Kimmi emerges

Kimmi talks with Keith at the well to confirm their plan, and she's bursting with excitement, saying they won't expect it. But Spencer and Tasha have noticed her absence, and get even more suspicious when Kelley disappears too. They tell Kimmi they're on board with the vote split, but once she leaves, Spencer says they can't trust her and have to vote together. Jeremy is pretty skeptical that Kimmi has flipped, and decides to let her know people have doubts, but she just turns on the waterworks and it's back to business.

At tribal council, even Kelley and Keith are playing up that it's 4 vs 2 but Spencer throws it out there that him, Tasha and Jeremy are gonna vote together. He whispers to Kelley that it's not her, but she's not sure if she believes it. Kimmi sees her plan has failed and is visibly frustrated.

Double the fun for the idol holders

After the vote, Kelley decides to err on the side of caution and play her idol. Jeremy then plays his idol too. Three votes for Jeremy are read out, as well as three for Kelley - for the first time ever, we have no valid votes at a tribal council. Nuts! They cut to Stephen on the jury several times, who seems to be having a great time watching.

Jeff is now ordering them to revote for either Tasha, Keith or Kimmi and gives them a little discussion time first. Jeremy asks who voted for him (as if it wasn't obvious) and then chastises Kimmi for daring to flip. The vote comes back 3-3 again, and we are deadlocked between Kimmi and Tasha. Jeff then says it's up to the other players to come up with a unanimous decision, and if they can't...Keith will be out by default. Whew, this is a lot to keep track of. Keith is willing to fall on his sword and let Kimmi have it since she's a mom, but Kelley tells him he needs to stay. Therefore, Kimmi ends up going home...and what an epic ending it was.

After tribal, Kelley is trying to hide her disappointment that Kimmi is gone. At least it wasn't her, but nothing has really changed in her situation. The must-win immunity challenge involves taking on a tricky obstacle course complete with nets, before finishing off a cog puzzle. Jeremy is in the lead collecting the bags, whilst Spencer is behind. His strategy to go for the hard ones first means he eventually catches up though. But for once, Spencer stumbles on the puzzle...and its between Kelley and Keith, the two people who need it most. Kelley wins immunity, and Keith is a little sad because this might have sealed his fate.

Keith's obliviousness continues

Even though it won't be their preferred choice of boot, it looks like Tasha, Spencer and Jeremy are staying solid to target Keith. Kelley tries to save Keith's bacon by giving him a fake idol, hoping they'll be paranoid enough to turn on eachother. Jeremy seems the most worried and after a hilarious scene of him trying and failing to get Keith's attention, he mouths at him to vote for Spencer. Keith and Kelley run with this, since it's all they've got.

At tribal council, Tasha confirms nothing has changed since the last vote and that Keith is the obvious boot. Kelley plays into this too, acting flippant, like her vote doesn't matter. Keith lays subtle hints about maybe having a trick up his sleeve, but did he do enough to get the votes off him? No idols (fake or otherwise) are played, and it comes down to the last vote between Keith and Spencer. Keith ends up going home, and you can hear the disappointment of the jury. Wow, I guess he would've won? He gives us one last "golly" on the way out. What a sweetheart.

Wentwasted

The final immunity challenge is to catch balls as they come out of a metal track. It looks tough with one ball, but adding a second makes it even harder. Jeff urges them not to get distracted by the sound...though I'm sure the sound of his commentary was even more irritating. The step up to 4 balls is too much for Kelley and she can't hide her disappointment. With Tasha out next, it's down to Spencer and Jeremy. Jeremy gets the win and is overwhelmed with emotion. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Kelley is crying too, because she knows she's done.

Spencer and Tasha are acting like they're locked in for final three, but both feel at Jeremy's mercy. Spencer is pretty much encouraging Kelley to vote for him, even saying he thinks he can win. Kelley takes his advice and tries to convince Jeremy that Spencer is a good speaker. Jeremy definitely takes this on board, because he doesn't want to take the wrong person to the end and blow it.

The debate turns feisty at tribal council, with Kelley declaring she's voting for Spencer. Spencer goes one step further, saying not only does he think Kelley will win, but he'll personally make sure it happens. Tasha just shuts up, since nobody's talking about her.

Kelley votes Spencer, saying it's the last time she'll write his name down. Oh snap, she mad. Kelley gets voted out but damn, this finale removed any doubt that she was the breakout star of the season for me. I'm so happy she got to do so much badass shit.

A heavyweight final 3 clash

The final three get their meal and get to see themselves in a mirror, to their horror. Tasha is so happy she cries, as this season has been hard as hell. Spencer is happy too but for him, the job isn't over. Jeremy talks about needing to bring it home for Val and the kids.

At final tribal council, Savage is the first to speak. He calls Spencer out for his arrogance at the last tribal and Jeremy for his treatment of Kimmi. Stephen lets Tasha make a case for why she's a strong independent woman and not Jeremy's puppet. Spencer explains to Ciera how he had to backstab a lot because he had no relationships going into the merge. Keith makes Spencer and Jeremy argue for eachother for his vote.

Abi stands up and reads from her notes to ask a question that isn't even that complicated...what was their subtle move of the game? Tasha says connecting with Spencer, Spencer says shifting distrust onto Joe, and Jeremy says looking for idols...is that subtle? Kimmi has beef with both Spencer, for being a bully, and Jeremy, for replacing her in the alliance with Spencer. Tasha proves Joe wrong that she didn't really do anything by saying she was the driving force behind getting him out. Kelly Wiglesworth decides to give a throwback to Borneo and asks the final three to pick a number. Wow, amazing. Even more amazing is the picks...Jeremy, Tasha and Spencer pick 2, 3 and 4 respectively. The odds would heavily favour Spencer here.

That's a wrap, bitches!

Kass only has words for Spencer, saying she thinks his game was a lot like Chaos Kass, who he famously said had zero chance of winning. Spencer explains he's changed a lot since then, and that he's still going to ask for her vote. Kelley is the last to speak, looking drop-dead gorgeous in her red dress, and sums up the season by asking them to explain what their second chance story was. Tasha says it was maintaining relationships. Spencer says it was trying to improve his people skills. Jeremy talks about his family and finally reveals that he's having a son. Mic drop! The jury go to vote, and you can see it on Spencer's face that he feels he's just lost. We don't see any votes and Jeff carries them off, though not on a jet ski like Kass was hoping.

We cut back to LA to see the final three again. Spencer's wearing a hoodie, giving up any pretense he has a shot. Of course, Jeremy wins, but it's by how much that's the shock - all 10 votes, a record blowout. As expected, he makes a beeline for his wife after the reveal and hands the cheque straight over to Val.

STAR OF THE WEEK: JEREMY COLLINS

Jeremy played the exact game he needed to play to get the win. He kept himself surrounded by shields to hide as long as possible, and even found people who were willing to let him get to the end, despite being labeled as a threat. He was strong both strategically and socially, and dropping the son card at the perfect time finished it off.

Reunion notes:

• Lots of love for Kelley - I loved seeing that, obviously. Maybe a third time is on the cards.
• Not sure why Keith is getting grief for not playing the fake idol. What would that even have accomplished?
• I'm sure Probst slobbering over Joe was meant as a joke, but it would've been funnier if it wasn't so close to the truth.
• I feel a little bad for Spencer that he can't even watch his season without regretting taking out Jeremy.
• Very revealing preview for Kaoh Rong - the return of the brains/brawn/beauty twist, several contestants shown by name, and even hints at multiple medevacs. It's enough to get me intrigued, at least.