***SPOILER ALERT*** This article reveals the ultimate winner of "Survivor." If you don't want to know, don't read it.
As the curtain prepares to drops on a very entertaining season that had us considering the social implications of playing against or with your loved ones, we join the final four -- for now -- survivors after last week's brutal tribal council.
Ciera tells Monica that she didn't mean the stuff she said about Monica being a lap dog, and everyone agrees it's just a game. Wow, how civilized of them.
Ciera is certain that whomever comes back in the game from Redemption Island will be on her side. Tyson knows his biggest chance of going to the finals is with Gervase and Monica. He is certain of Gervase's loyalty, but less so of Monica's so he engages her in conversation, letting her touch his hidden immunity idol and telling her that she can take it home to her kids after the game because he won't be playing it.
Monica thinks she's in a win-win situation, able to go with Tyson and Gervase or with Ciera and the Redemption Island returnee -- either her mom, Laura, or Tina or Hayden. Either way, she says, she's sitting pretty.
Meanwhile, back on Redemption Island, Hayden arrives and gives Laura the good news that Ciera won the immunity challenge, and tells them how they tried to turn Monica. Hayden says if it comes down to Tyson, Gervase or Monica, he'll vote for Jeff Probst.
Redemption Island
It's the final duel. Win and you re-enter the game; lose and you head to the jury. Hayden likes his chances against "two grandmothers." Tina and Laura are stoked for the competition.
It's an endurance challenge. It involves a balance board and a vase. Using one foot while balancing on the other, they must keep the board steady and even, keeping the vase standing. It looks painful.
Surprisingly, Laura, who has been a challenge god, struggles to keep her balance, but eventually gets the hang of it. After 15 minutes she almost loses it again, but somehow recovers, and Hayden suddenly drops his vase.
Laura asks Tina to let her win, and Tinas says no way. Tina's vase has barely moved while Laura's vase seems to wobble violently every few minutes. Tina starts to struggle, but it is Laura's vase that crashes to the ground.
Tyson Apolstol at the 27th season of "Survivor" live reunion show televised Dec. 15, 2013. (Trae Patton/CBS)
Laura is upset because she has told her children to finish strong, and she didn't. Ciera tells her it's OK. Laura has taught her to be strong and how to be a better woman and mother. She didn't fail, and that cheers Laura a bit.
Tina gets the clue to the hidden immunity idol and tucks into her blouse. She's keeping it for herself.
Back at camp, Tina is thrilled to be back and she's hoping she can convince Monica to join her and Ciera. Tina and Ciera search for the idol, but Ciera says there's a chance Tyson already found it.
Tina gets in Monica's face and says the jury is going to be brutal to her. Ciera tries to convince her that if she makes a big move, the jury will respect that and she just might win.
Monica doesn't yet know what direction she'll take.
Immunity challenge
Today's challenge involves holding a table level with a rope while gathering and lining up blocks. If the table tips and the blocks drop, they must set them up again, and if they had a block in their hands, they have to put it back and reset the blocks before trying again. What makes it even more difficult is that the blocks are some distance from the table. To win, they have to have 10 blocks standing.
Everyone starts out about the same, but it is Tyson who masters it and finishes first to win immunity. He's pleased, but he needs to consider not only this vote, but the one afterward.
Tyson, Gervase and Monica talk about whether Tina or Ciera will go next. Gervase thinks he would have a better chance against Tina and Ciera is the bigger threat. Monica wants to get rid of Tina because she's tired of Monica bullying her, and says that Tina hasn't been involved in voting out any of the jury members, which will make her popular with them. Tyson says for them to make the decision. Monica and Tyson get into a heated argument. Monica later tells the camera that she's tired of being bullied and that perhaps Gervase needs to learn that if you want someone to help you, you better be nice to them.
Monica then talks to Ciera and Tina about voting off Gervase. Monica promises that she's going to be the one who makes the decision about who goes home, and it will be for her benefit.
Tribal council
Probst launches right in, asking if Monica feels pulled from both sides. She does. At first she says she knows what it must feel like to be a No. 1 draft choice, but later she says she feels like she's dying inside. Monica says that tonight, it's about her. Gervase says that really frightens him.
And then it's time to vote. Probst asks if anyone has the hidden immunity idol, and if they do, it's the last night to play it. Tyson gives the idol to Gervase, and he's safe. Ciera is voted off.
The votes are revealed for the camera, and Monica, as it turns out, voted with her alliance, casting her vote for Ciera. Monica now feels like she was blindsided. Tyson wouldn't have given Gervase the idol if they had been convinced of her loyalty -- completely forgetting that she gave them ample reason to doubt her. Now she's going to weigh all of her options. But there's still one more challenge to tackle and they say they area ready for it.
The last immunity challenge
They better be. Today's challenge involves racing through a maze to collect six bags of puzzle pieces. They can collect two at a time, and then run up a long, tall staircase, drop the bags on their table and slide down a water slide. When all the bags are collected, they solve the puzzle, which gives them a clue to unlocking a combination and releasing a victory flag.
Tyson wins in a close one and is guaranteed a place in the finals.
Tina talks to Monica about creating a tie vote, casting their ballots for Gervase. Assuming that Gervase and Tyson vote for Tina, it doesn't seem to benefit Monica to create a tie. Monica seems a cert to go to the final, and going there with Tina would not be a good idea. But Monica isn't happy with the boys for playing the idol.
If it is a tie vote, Tina and Gervase would have to make fire, and Tina is confident she could win that challenge.
Tribal council again
Tina admits she had two choices -- win immunity, which she didn't, and work Monica. Probst says that it seems the alliance was over when Monica checked Gervase as they both were running up the stairs. Monica said she was putting Gervase on notice because he admitted talking smack against her.
The votes are cast and counted, and Tina is voted out. There will be no fire building. Tyson, Gervase and Monica are your final three.
The last day dawns and the survivors are treated to a delicious breakfast. They toast each other with orange juice, and Monica swears they will be good friends forever.
Monica is happy that she did it without her former football player husband, and she could win it all. Gervase says he's come full circle, returning to a game that he played 13 years ago and that looks nothing like it looked before.
Thankfully, we aren't subjected to the traditional walk of snuffed torches, and instead, we get right to it.
The final tribal
We start with opening statements, and Gervase is first.
He tells the jury that he used the best of old school and new school strategy. He owns blindsides that he says he orchestrated, and he hopes the jury will be impressed by how he played the game.
Monica says she knows they think she was dragged along like a puppy dog, but that's not true. She participated in the alliance but she has less blood on her hands and she turned down opportunities to go against her alliance because she thinks she had the best chance in the finals if she was sitting with Tyson and Gervase.
Tyson says he knew from the start that he would be targeted and decided to just have as much fun as he could until he was voted off. That changed when his girlfriend, Rachel, was voted off in an attempt to knock him out, but he chose not to take her place on Redemption Island. He wanted to win for her. None of the moves were personal, they were all strategic, and he hopes they know that.
The jurors now get to address the three. First up is Vytas, who says Tyson played the game well, getting him and Aras before they could get him. He promised Tyson that he would not vote for him to win, and he was sticking with that. He doesn't think Gervase or Monica deserve it, so he doesn't know who to vote for.
Katie says that Tyson said he didn't do anything out of malice, but he did. When she was voted out by drawing rocks, Tyson pointed to the jury and told her that her seat was over there. Tyson says he did regret that. It was the emotion of the moment and he's sorry.
Caleb asks Gervase what his big play was, and he says that it was voting out Aras. He also says he was behind the big moves but let Tyson take the heat. Caleb asks Monica why he should vote for her, and she says she is proud of staying and fighting and doing it on her own. Winning would be a badge of honor, proving she wasn't just Brad's wife.
Ciera asks Tyson why he doesn't think of himself as a villain. He says it was all strategy. His girlfriend thinks he's a hero. She asks Gervase if he ever was going to vote off Tyson and he said yes, but the timing was never right.
Laura tells Monica that she doesn't know who she is. She wants Monica to tell her something about herself to show her vulnerability. Monica says people think she's boring and a puppy dog on a leash, but that she fought so hard, all 100 pounds of her, because this is her time.
Tina asks for one word descriptions of themselves. Monica is generous. Gervase is honorable. Tyson is fun loving.
Hayden asks Tyson if he had the hidden immunity idol when they drew rocks, and he says yes. He was one step ahead of him again, Tyson says, and Hayden laughs. Hayden then says he loves Monica and Brad, but Monica came off as being fake. Monica turns on the quavering voice again and says she feels like she's been targeted the entire time. "Have you all never met a nice person," she asks? What is their goal in keeping punching her? Hayden says he doesn't want to do that, but he wants to know who Monica is. Monica suggests they have dinner and talk after the game, and Hayden says he would love to do that.
Aras congratulates the finalists. He asks Gervase to pretend Aras could vote only for Tyson or Monica. Who should he vote for? Gervase says Tyson because he's a great player and had everyone digging up the beach looking for a hidden idol that Tyson already had found. Monica also chooses Tyson, saying he was a charging horse for 39 days. Tyson picks Monica, who had Tyson's back from the start. She acted sort of like a spy for them and she made a big move.
With all the questions asked, it's time to vote for a winner.
And the sole survivor is Tyson. Monica gets one vote, Gervase none.
Excellent season, folks. See you in 2014 for Season 28.
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