Survivor 49 has officially wrapped up, with Savannah Louie being crowned the Sole Survivor. During the Final Tribal Council, Savannah won the game in a 5-2-1 vote against Sophi Balerdi and Sage Ahrens-Nichols. Throughout the season, Savannah received a prominent edit in most episodes. While she was a hero at times, she was quite villainous at others.
In comparison to recent winners from the New Era of Survivor, Savannah is somewhat controversial. While some fans were elated to see her win, others were frustrated by the result. Savannah played a decent game on Survivor 49, however, some critical errors prevented her from becoming a clear fan favorite. While some fans adored her, those who didn’t strongly opposed her.
Savannah Louie played an aggressive game on Survivor 49, while dominating in challenges
One of Savannah’s biggest strengths this season was her challenge performances. After the Merge, Savannah dominated in both reward and individual immunity challenges. Savannah won individual immunity four times, which put her in an elite group of only a few women to ever do the same in forty-nine seasons of Survivor. Since her name was constantly being tossed around, Savannah consistently needed to win immunity in order to make it to the next round.
Savannah’s challenge performances were one of the main things that helped her secure her win. Since she was able to dodge elimination so many times by winning, many of the jurors were impressed with Savannah’s game. Savannah also played aggressively when it came to strategy, such as when she tried to steal MC Chukwujekwu’s keys to unlock an idol. While not everyone was impressed with Savannah’s aggressive gameplay, those who were really admired it.
Savannah’s social game wasn’t as strong, as she struggled to connect with several of her competitors
While physical and strategic games are important on Survivor, social games are as well. Unfortunately for Savannah, this is where she lacked. She did form tight bonds with her original allies, Rizo Velovic and Nate Moore, and later on with Sophi. However, during the Merge, Savannah struggled to connect with the rest of the tribe. At times, Savannah alluded to feeling left out by some of her competitors. On the flip side, however, Savannah didn’t work too hard to get to know all of them either.
During Final Tribal Council, Kristina Mills asked Savannah a shocking question. She felt that Savannah hadn’t prioritized getting to know everyone and put her social game to the test. Kristina asked Savannah to name one family member or partner of each of the eight jury members. When Savannah admitted that she didn’t think she could, Kristina insisted that she try. Savannah was only able to come up with two names, proving Kristina’s point. While the majority of the jury still voted for Savannah, this was a bad moment for her game.
Some viewers felt that Savannah was a mean girl on Survivor 49
Apart from not prioritizing social relationships with everyone, Savannah had several villainous moments throughout the season. Some fans and even several of her competitors considered her to be a mean girl, by the way she acted around some of her peers, as well as in confessionals. When Jawan Pitts was blindsided, Savannah taunted him throughout the vote. This was unnecessary and mean, and had no impact on Savannah’s game. Savannah was also quick to judge her peers, as she did with Jawan early on in their original Uli Tribe.
Savannah was also shown to be very full of herself, which rubbed some viewers the wrong way as well. Throughout the season, Savannah continuously referred to herself as being the best and claimed that the rest of the cast was obsessed with her. While it’s fun to be a little villainous on Survivor, Savannah tended to go to the extreme at times. It’s not common for villains to win on Survivor, but when they do, it can get controversial. While Savannah did have a fan base, she also upset some viewers with the way she played this season. Savannah will be returning for Survivor 50, and it will be interesting to see if she takes a different approach.
Survivor is available to stream on Paramount+.
TELL US – WHAT DID YOU THINK OF SAVANNAH ON SURVIVOR 49? ARE YOU HAPPY THAT SHE WON THIS SEASON? ARE YOU EXCITED TO WATCH HER PLAY AGAIN ON SURVIVOR 50?
