Too Close To Fail

This is the season finale episode of Survivor: Portugal.

Previously On Survivor...
Thirty-six days ago, sixteen castaways from all walks alike were marooned on the shores of the European country of Portugal, to begin the journey of a lifetime. The sixteen players were divided into two tribes, Selva, in yellow, and Litoral, in purple. Cooper, Dover, Emma, Julianna, Laurel, Lukas, Ralphie, and Rose made the Selva tribe, and Audrey, Brady, Carmen, Casey, Celeste, Chip, Joel, and Skylar made up the Litoral tribe. Early on, both tribes had their weaknesses, and their alliances. Brady and Chip on Litoral and Cooper and Dover on Selva never really hit it off and started rivalries on both of the tribes. But this did not stop Audrey, Emma, Celeste, and Laurel to be voted off after mistakes in challenges and not-as-close bonds cost them the game.

On day 13, a tribe switched occurred, putting Cooper, Rose, and Lukas on the Litoral tribe, and Brady, Carmen, and Casey onto the Selva tribe. A shift in power led to the flipping of Dover to blindside Julianna, a long time rival, out of the game. Things got worse for the majority alliance on the original Selva, when Lukas became extremely ill, forcing ally Cooper and past tribemate Rose to vote him out.

On day 19, the two tribes finally merged into Vencedor, meaning "winner" in Portuguese, wearing blue. Rose, who stuck with the original Selva, was soon on the minority with Cooper and Ralphie in a 7-3 disadvantage when Dover, the other original Selva member, flipped to Litoral. But Cooper had one last gameplay when he played his idol, negating all but three votes directed at Brady, who was trying to play them. The next three days spiraled for the three last alliance members, as soon, Dover plus Litoral stuck together and sent Cooper to the jury. The next tribal would soon be hectic, as Rose joined Dover, but Casey from Litoral flipped and tried to start an uprising against Joel, but failed as Ralphie was sent to the jury. Rose was soon voted out after the Litorals regained the majority and needed to take out the targets in Dover and Rose. Dover, knowing he was on the outs, knew he needed a immunity run to get himself to the end. He has won the past three immunities, forcing the Litoral five to go against each other. Casey was then voted out after Chip played his idol, and Carmen, his ally, was sent to the jury right after.

Now, only four remain.


 * Chip, the strong leader from the beginning. He lead his tribe through many victories and formed a majority alliance that has been one of the longest-lasting alliances in Survivor history. Him and Skylar formed the dynamic duo of the season and led the game by storm. But they have one problem, and that is Dover. Can he use his physical massiveness to overcome the grocer and finally take him out?


 * Dover, the underdog. Having only voted with the majority three out of the nine tribals he went too, Dover has almost never have a vote go this way. After butting heads with Cooper in the beginning, he was switched to a new tribe where he got a fresh start, and flipped to ensure final seven. He then went on an immunity run to get to the final four. Can he win two more challenges to propel himself to the final two?


 * Joel, the loyal ally. Joel has stuck with the alliance of Chip and Skylar and they had a pact from the very beginning. He wasn't the best at challenges, but his ties with his tribe kept him safe for multiple rounds. Going into the final stages of the game, he has stepped it up to last even longer, now trying to make a final two pact with Chip. Will it stick through?


 * Skylar, the brains behind everything. She and Chip have been together and she has helped him shaped the way to the end. Both are a dynamic duo that might not be stopped. But will she fall right before the end because of Dover?

These four will have two more challenges and tribals before facing the jury, where one will be crowned, the Sole Survivor.

Challenges
Day 37 Immunity Challenge: Snakes and Ladders The castaways must race through an eight-level vertical maze in order to retrieve ten colored tiles. Once they have all their tiles, they must untie the tiles to reveal letters for a word scramble. First castaway to form the correct two-word phrase "Final Three" wins immunity. Winner: Dover

Day 38 Immunity Challenge: Hand on a Hard Idol Each tribe member held on to the immunity idol while standing on a small pedestal. The person who lasts the longest wins Immunity. Winner: TBA

Story
The tribe returns to tribal council, and Chip, Joel, and Skylar congratulate themselves on getting this far.

Meanwhile, Dover just sits in the shelter, all alone.

The four go to bed for the night.

Day 37
The next day, Chip and Joel go to talk, and they head to the beach to sit down.

Chip goes back to the shelter, leaving Joel, a little irritated.

Soon, the final four meet for their next immunity challenge at the arena.

All four draw spots and get ready. On go, all four race into the maze. Dover and Chip go for the highest level and grab their first pieces. Joel though, has taken the bottom piece and is out first, followed by Skylar. All four reenter the maze and grab their second piece, with Joel and Skylar moving up in levels while Dover goes down. Chip is just going all over the place. Soon, Joel and Skylar have their third pieces, with Dover trailing. Chip is behind the three. Joel and Skylar grab their fourth piece and exit the maze while Dover is grabbing his fourth piece. Chip has fallen behind, but has his fourth piece. Joel and Skylar are neck and neck, grabbing their fifth piece, with Dover right behind them. Skylar has her sixth piece as Chip returns with his fifth piece. But soon, Dover's strategy pays off, as Joel and Skylar start to tire as they have to climb all the way up to grab the higher pieces later into the challenge. Dover gets his sixth piece with Joel, Chip is trailing behind. Dover, Joel, and Skylar all get their seventh piece, but Dover has a slight lead over the two. As Dover runs back in to get his eighth piece, Chip runs out with his seventh piece. Dover exits the maze with the eighth place, Joel and Skylar behind him. Dover grabs his ninth piece but Joel is right behind him. Skylar is starting to trail behind. Dover runs out of the maze with Joel and both are now only needing to grab their tenth piece. Joel immediately sees his last piece at the highest level of the maze, while Dover frantically searches for his last piece. Skylar has her ninth piece and reenters the maze. Chip is at nine pieces too when Dover sees his last piece and starts to maneuver the maze. Joel and Dover run out with their tenth pieces and begin the scramble. Skylar comes out right behind them, and Chip a couple seconds after that. All are untying the pieces from their covers and begin the puzzle. Soon, it becomes a race between Dover and Joel to unscramble the phrase. But Dover just beats out Joel and gets the phrase ("Final Three") right, winning immunity.

The four leave and return to camp.

At camp, Chip and Skylar talk about the vote, and bring Dover in to the conversation.

Chip leaves that talk and goes to Joel.

That night, the final four go to tribal council. They put their torches behind them and watch the jury come in. Cooper, Ralphie, Rose, Casey, and Carmen walk in and take a seat on the jury bench. Carmen has cut part of her hair and put it in a ponytail, is wearing a red and black shirt with jeans.

All four go up to vote. Afterwards, Jeff takes the urn and brings it back.

The final three head back to camp.