Millennials Vs Gen X Episode 13: Family First

Talkin' bout my generation...

The finale is here. and there's 6 people left. Coming back from tribal, Hannah explains to an exasperated Bret why she let David slide. David decides to build a fake idol to leave in a coconut for someone to find. The next day, he gets his wish when Jay takes the bait. This is gonna be hilarious. One person who does have safety though is Ken, as he finally opens up his legacy advantage and finds a note that basically acts as an idol.

The immunity challenge involves climbing walls, crawling through obstacles, using numbered tiles to unlock a key, then using the key to unlock their bat puzzle. There's also a reward of steak for the winner (which I assume was just added to give the reward stealer one last chance to be used). Jay takes the lead going into the combination locks and gets it first, but failing to cover it up gives everyone else the chance to steal it. Jay still has a lead on his puzzle, but David is catching him. Jay's drops off, losing him all his work, and David is able to win immunity. Jay gets some consolation when he plays his reward steal though, allowing himself a dinner with Adam and David.

Over dinner, Jay makes his case to David and Adam that he's a shield for them and they should vote out Bret, who is also a threat. Adam isn't sure about it, since Bret hasn't shown much challenge prowess yet, but he does genuinely believe Jay will take him to the end. Bret thinks this should be an easy vote but gets frustrated when he sees people pulling Jay off for conversations.

At tribal council, Jay admits he used the dinner for strategic purposes. Bret tries to make sure they still see him as the bigger threat though. Hannah worries about reading the jury correctly, whereas David reveals his renewed vigor following the meal.

Jay's idol...and his dream...goes up in flames

After the vote, Jay pulls out his idol and tells them he's not going home. But then he's the one blindsided when Probst reveals the idol is a fake. Ken plays the legacy advantage, which causes even more confusion (and pisses off Jessica when she sees what she could've won). Jay is voted out, but he's a great sport about it and laughing the whole way. Definitely didn't expect to like this kid as much as I did.

"Not a participation trophy!"

We go straight into the immunity challenge now which David sees a must-win, and unfortunately it involves his biggest weakness: swimming. They have to move a buoy through the water, then transfer tiles through an obstacle course by holding them with rods. Then they have to solve a word puzzle. Ken is first out of the water, but keeps dropping his tiles. That evens it up a bit more and gives Bret, Adam and David some ground to catch up. Bret is first to the puzzle but can't get it. Adam looks to be close, but it's Ken who yells it out first. When they see the solution, Adam and Bret can't believe they missed it.

Adam decides to go looking for the idol just to make sure David doesn't get it, whilst Bret covers for him. David meanwhile is telling Hannah and Ken that maybe their plan should be vote Adam out. Adam finds his second idol and is now confident David is going home. But Hannah is playing both sides, and decides maybe she'll pull a fast one and vote out Bret.

At tribal council, Jeff gets them to start thinking about their ideal final 3, but Bret just wants to survive the night. Hannah and Bret make it clear that David is still the biggest threat. David says that if he goes tonight he'll have gained new confidence that he can apply to his real life. Adam says that's exactly why he needs to go: because he has such a fantastic story.

Another baffling vote

After the votes are in. Adam plays his idol, sensing some bullets coming his way. But he's wrong once again as it's Bret who gets voted out. That gets a big reaction from the jury, as well as Bret himself. "The flipper flips again" says the disgruntled cop, as he congratulates David for winning the game.

As Adam tries to justify to the group why he wanted David out, not even David can believe he's still there. Hannah tries to convince Adam that she couldn't afford to piss off Ken, but Adam maintains it was still a huge mistake. Question is, will they get another shot at him?

Down to the wire

The final immunity challenge is to move bowls in between a thin stretch of wire and stack them on top. The winner is the first to reach 13 or whoever has the most after 30 minutes. Adam and Ken are in the lead, but once he gets to 10, Adam decides to just stop and wait for Ken's to fall...which it does. But then Adam loses his as well, and it's anyone's game. With 2 minutes left, Hannah is in the lead. Ken ties it up and attempts for an 11th, but runs out of time. Now it's a tiebreaker between Hannah and Ken! Ken goes fast, Hannah goes slow. Ken manages to stay one step ahead of Hannah, and manages his 7th bowl just in the nick of time to win immunity.

Adam and Hannah are both voting for David, so their worst case scenario is a fire tiebreaker, although Adam thinks he would probably lose. Hannah makes an effort to sway Ken, although he wants to play an honest game. David wonders why Adam isn't trying to target Hannah, but Adam lays it to him straight and says he's gonna lose anyway if he can't get him out. David reassures Ken that he trusts him, which probably makes his big decision harder.

Nine lives over

At tribal council, Jeff praises Hannah for giving it a good go in the challenge. Adam says he was just happy to see David lose, which David says is because Adam knows he's played a better game. David praises Ken's game of loyalty, but Ken admits the others have valid points when they say David is a threat. We get to the vote, and Ken follows through with taking David out, which I genuinely did not see coming. I loved David's game and was rooting for him to pull it off - he came damn close.

Gearing up the final tribal, Ken is hoping his game of loyalty will get him the win. Hannah talks about her journey of growth, and that she plans to stay confident in front of the jury. Adam thinks about what his mom's reaction would be if she knew he was in the final 3, and pledges to win it for her.

We arrive at Final Tribal Council. Taylor is the first juror up, and just asks them for their opening pitch. Hannah says she put everybody on the jury and hopes to explain why. Ken says he brought a human side to the game. Adam thinks he played the best game, because he got to the end with who he wanted without becoming a target. Sunday wants to know how adaptable they were in the game. Adam makes the case that he's a happy medium between Ken's old school game and Hannah's chaotic game. Hannah and Adam then argue over whether her moves were good or not.

Jessica gets on Ken's case for voting out his close ally David after claiming to be a man of integrity, but he says his true loyalty was to his daughter. Will says he actually gained more respect for Ken after that. Zeke wants to know how Adam and Hannah evolved the game. Adam says he kept shields in front of him, but Hannah takes issue with that answer, saying she decided when the shields left, not him.

Michelle asks Adam to defend some of his blunders, and he passes the buck to Hannah. Bret asks Ken when he started playing. He says from the start, as he had to work to get off the bottom of Gen X. Jay asks why Adam voted him out, who says he already knows why this meant so much to him. Lawyer Chris makes the case for Adam to win because he got Ken to turn on David. Ken disputes this (wasn't it actually Hannah?)

Here come the tears again

The last juror is David, who asks about the personal evolutions they all went through. Hannah says that she started the game as someone who was terrified of everything and pushed through that. Ken says he's less socially awkward now. Adam decides to finally open up about his mom, as Ken consoles him.

We don't see any jury votes, but Jay certainly gives the impression he voted for Adam. Probst opens them up at the reunion and it's a clean sweep for Adam. It's an emotional moment and he elects to share it with his family, understandably. Glad this story had some sort of a happy ending.

STAR OF THE WEEK: ADAM KLEIN

We saw a fair share of mistakes from Adam but he also managed to correct them and knew when to lay low. He had a good read on the jury and knew who he could beat and who he couldn't, then made his winning final 3 happen. After the year he's had, he deserves something good coming his way.

Reunion notes:

• Adam recounting his last conversation with his mom was heartbreaking, and it really hit me when he said "this is not some storyline, it's my life."
• I felt like it was a real disservice to Hannah to only talk about her flirting.
• Glad Jessica got to defend her decision to draw rocks. She's right, and anyone who says otherwise is going by results-based thinking.
• Nice sentiment from Sunday about how you can still find out more about yourself even when you're a mom.
• The Figgy & Taylor update could've been a lot more awkward than it was.
• I'm not thrilled about all the choices for Game Changers, but seeing Tony and Sandra face off (or align) is a mouth-watering prospect. Oh, and Probst mentioning Ciera voting out her mom has gone beyond parody at this point.