Edge Of Extinction Episode 14: Comeback Kid

End of the road at last for the now-extinct

There's so much to get through tonight, we don't even have time for a full recap, we just go into the challenge. And this challenge is for the Edge of Extinction players to return to the game. They have to unwrap themselves from multiple ropes, then build a rope bridge and get balls through a table maze. Eric is first out of the fence section, with Aurora, Julia and Joe behind him. Ron and Wardog are going very slow, Reem and Aubry get stuck. Aurora gets through the rope bridge first, and it's her, Joe, Eric and Chris shooting for the win. Joe gets a chance to win it, but misses. Chris goes for it...and gets it. The losers from the challenge all get to tell their story one more time, as Reem recounts her darkest day, Joe wonders if he's let down the kids that look up to him, and Julia gets to mention losing her dad.

Back into the game after missing most of it, Chris tells them all he has to offer is information. Victoria doesn't buy the soft quit act he's doing. Chris gives Lauren some advice, telling her that Victoria is the next biggest jury threat after Rick and that she has to make a big move with the idol (which everyone knows about, thanks to Kelley).

Plug the gaps

The immunity challenge is to jump over obstacles, pick up a bag from a beam, unlock a puzzle and then solve it. Chris is the fastest out of the gate, but Victoria gets lucky on the combo and soon Chris is in last. Julie and Lauren make great progress on the puzzle, but Julie is having a tough time getting her last piece in. Chris starts helping Julie, which makes Rick mad. Julie wins immunity, and gets to choose two people to eat. She picks Chris, because he hasn't had a reward, and Lauren. Now Rick is mad again.

Julie discusses the vote over the meal, and says she is hoping Rick's idol is fake so she can vote him out. They want to split on Rick and Victoria. Gavin and Victoria start to get nervous the other three are working together, so approach Rick about possibly voting Chris. But Rick doesn't want to betray Chris a second time. Rick asks Chris if he got anything in his bag, and as a matter of fact, he got the same two-part idol Rick did. He hands a piece off to Rick and then also extracts a promise from Lauren that she will use her idol on him if Rick plays his.

At tribal council, Rick cries as the pressure of being on the bottom takes its toll. Victoria says she's not gonna rock the boat when there's an obvious target. After the vote, Rick plays his idol, so Lauren plays hers on Chris like she said she would. Victoria is sent home with two votes, so it went to waste. She wishes Gavin luck on the way out.

Rick watching Lauren take the bait

Rick is looking for his next idol, but also planting some fakes as well. He finds the real one just ahead of Chris and Julie, and then decides to give Chris his half back. Lauren, who is still mad at herself for wasting hers, goes looking with Julie. Julie finds the first fake and then Lauren finds the 2nd, as Rick laughs in the background.

The next immunity challenge is to get bags back from 5 different stations and use the pieces to solve a puzzle (a water version of the one Kelley Wentworth won in Cambodia). Gavin and Rick go for the same one, and Gavin wins it. Gavin is first to start on the puzzle, ahead of Chris. It soon ends up Gavin vs Rick and Rick manages to win.

Now that he doesn't even need his idol, Rick offers to use it on Gavin if he promises to take him to end....Gavin agrees, but knows he can't keep it. Julie, Gavin and Lauren all agree to vote Chris. Lauren starts to get worried that her idol could be a fake, so makes her case to Chris to vote for Julie as she won't be much use in a firemaking challenge. Chris and Rick decide which of the girls they're sending home and Rick says he thinks Lauren has played the better strategic game.

At tribal council, Chris says he needed to win. Lauren says it's frustrating Chris doesn't seem to trust her despite her playing the idol on him. Rick is annoyed everyone is still focused on him. Gavin points out he's done well in challenges so he's willing to take Rick on tomorrow. Now comes time to play the idols, and Julie and Lauren both play their fakes. Rick then plays the real one on Gavin, and Chris plays his real one too. The Chris votes are canceled and Lauren goes home. Man, huge misplay by Lauren that she held onto her idol that long and then threw it away one vote before she needed it.

No sudden movements

The final immunity challenge is to walk over a rocking beam, placing blocks on the end to spell out "final 3". Julie takes the early lead, but then drops. Chris is first to get all six, but takes his time going back. After what seems like an eternity, he gets over the line to win. Back at camp, he tells Gavin and Julie to both practice fire and whoever is better at it will be Rick's opponent. They both seem confident, but Chris hints at a bolder move.

At tribal council, Chris says again he needed to win. Julie and Gavin both say they're comfortable making fire, so Rick jokes that they should let both of them do it. Chris then shocks the jury by giving Julie the necklace and throwing himself into the showdown with Rick, to give the season the ending it deserves.

Breaking news: I'm out!

The match-up will take place in the voting booth due to wind. Both guys take a while to get going, as Wardog gives updates to Gavin and Julie who can't see. Chris gets something eventually, and Wardog declares "it's over". But then Rick does get a flame and might be back in it. Chris holds strong however, and knocks Rick out. Wow, this is really how it ends for him? I wasn't even really rooting for Rick but swapping a 4th boot for a 3rd boot feels like a real monkey's paw situation.

The most underwhelming final 3 in history enjoy the last breakfast. Julie thinks her relationships are what got her this far. Chris thinks that his game in just 3 days has been better than the 39 days of the other two. Gavin is hoping he can explain that he wasn't just a follower and that his social game gave him options.

Off to make a millionaire

David opens up final tribal council by asking them what their most important relationship was. Gavin says Victoria. Chris says Rick. Julie says Ron and Eric. Aubry gets Chris to talk about his social game on Edge of Extinction. Gavin talks about his social bonds, and Chris interrupts to call him a goat, which annoys Kelley. Julie admits to being emotional, but says she had a big part in Julia getting voted out. Rick and Wardog have a lot to say about this, saying the vote wouldn't have switched without them.

Jury getting grilled too

Chris defends his time out of the game by saying Julie didn't go to tribal until the merge. He says his biggest move was getting Lauren to use the idol on him, which she admits was stupid of her and she got played like a violin. Jeff asks who is undecided and a lot of hands go up. Aubry encourages them to keep fighting.

Rick asks why the others didn't look for idols and Gavin says he had the numbers. He also asks about the unfair advantage of getting information from Extinction. Gavin adds that Chris got a free idol too, and he at least played the full 39 days. Julia disputes this by saying the game evolved. Wardog says the theme isn't on trial...maybe it should be. Gavin raises his hand when Rick asks who never had their name written down.

For their closing statements, Gavin just talks about his family and not really his game. Chris says the odds were so stacked against him after coming back he had to make as many big moves as he could. Julie says not playing an aggressive game doesn't mean she's not worthy and thanks them for being respectful.

Back in the studio, Jeff reads the votes pretty quickly since there are a lot. We go back and forth between Gavin and Chris for what ultimately ends up being a 9-4 win for Chris. Well, my worst fears for this twist all came true! Very cool that it all came down to a table maze and basically nothing else mattered. I don't say this lightly, but this could be a shark jumping moment for the show. Now let's just put this entire chapter behind us.

STAR OF THE WEEK: CHRIS UNDERWOOD

To Chris' credit, he made good use of the tools at his disposal and did a lot when he was actually in the game. But the purist in me doesn't like that somebody who spent only 13 days in the actual game (less than Wendy) was able to win. I kinda think he has to be 38th on the winner rankings just by default.

Next time on Survivor: Island Of The Idols. The theme seems fairly unobtrusive and much less game-ruining than this season, at least. But my God, are they serious with those giant head statues!? Perhaps one of the show's most embarrassing moments.