Survivor

SPOILER ALERT: This story reveals details from the Survivor finale. Talk about a Christmas gift: Mike “Gabler” Gabler, a 51-year-old heart valve specialist ...

Cassidy then chose Owen to sit with her in the final three, leaving Jesse and Gabler to duke it out in the traditional fire building challenge. The episode began with Probst sending the final five — Gabler, Owen, Cassidy, Karla and Jesse — to a new beach to start fresh. The second hour began with the final immunity challenge, which ended up screwing two of the players. After Jesse pulled a surprise hidden immunity idol out of his pocket, the final five broke up into smaller groups (or as Karla said, “let’s dance”) to discuss who goes home. “Tonight was special because I got to tell all of the story …. Gabler vowed to give the $1 million in his father’s name, a Green Beret, to a charity honoring veterans struggling with mental health issues.

Subscribe to our Survivor Newsletter: [Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the Survivor Season 43 Episode 13 finale.] Going ...

In the end, Cassidy got one vote, and Gabler got the rest. He’s now the second-oldest winner of the series at 51, setting two records in one episode, and he declared in the Reunion Show that he’d make good on the promise to donate his winnings to struggling veterans. Cassidy painted the picture of how her strategy, social, and challenge play kept her in the lead and as a perceived threat. Jesse had to restart, and the jury was cheering for Jesse the whole time, proving he was one snapped string away from winning $1 million. Her only concern was for her own game, and her game was best served by taking Owen into the Final Three. If brought to the Final Three, would calling it quits in the final Immunity Challenge be seen as a bad move by the jury? The caveat: the structure was on top of a spring, destabilizing the whole thing. Despite feeling hurt by Owen, Gabler still wanted to be sitting beside Cassidy and Owen in the Final Three, so an alliance with Jesse and Karla wasn’t intriguing. Jeanine, the first member of the jury, keeled over in disappointment when realizing her [idol was still in play](https://www.tvinsider.com/1069153/survivor-season-43-episode-8-recap-jeanine-eliminated-jury/) when she was sent home. But as long as he made it into the Final Three in the two-part finale, the game was his. While Jesse and Karla both started out the episode strong, Cassidy and Owen proved they weren’t to be counted out. He voted out his best friend, Cody, last week in a stunning blindside by using his own idol against him, convinced the entire cast he flushed out an idol when it was in his possession the whole time, and was the sole reason everyone on his original tribe was voted out.

The 52-year-old heart valve specialist then pitched his case at the final Tribal Council, highlighting the fact that he had never had a single vote cast against ...

So I had to figure out how to strike closer to the kindling and the tinder. Did you ponder a lot on whether to bring that up before the voting and why did you ultimately not do that? Jeanine went and found some other stuff to make the fire with, and we had ourselves a feast, a prom dinner, and then we all danced on the beach under the stars. Even the grip challenge where I was struggling, the first five minutes of the grip challenge were the most painful. But I hid that card up my sleeve until the final four and I blazed into final three. And there was only one vote the whole season that had me nervous, and that was the Cody vote. I felt pretty safe except for that one because there was so much going on and everything had to go just right — otherwise, it was me, Owen, and Jesse on the chopping block. And being in the jungle, it did take me a little bit of time to figure it out because it's a lot of moisture, it's damp, it's wet. I shook his hand, I looked him in the eye and I said, "I'll give it to you, James." I was trying to make new friends, trying to make new relationships and alliances. And the edit showed a lot of it, but also left out a lot of it. I had a strong story to tell because I had been playing the entire time.

Survivor 43 winner Mike Gabler made history on Wednesday night after he revealed he'd be donating his entire $1 million prize to veterans.

"But in terms of the conversations, there is no comparison," he added. I fully appreciate that there is something very exciting about a live audience and seeing the players clean and all dressed up." "I know some fans miss the pomp and circumstance of bringing the players back months after the show ended. "We all have the chance of a lifetime out here, the adventure of a lifetime," he said. We made history guys," he added in the tender moment. "And I'm going to donate the entire prize — the entire million dollar prize, in my father's name, Robert Gabler, who was a Green Beret — to veterans in need who are recovering from psychiatric problems, PTSD, and curb the suicide epidemic."

Owen Knight, a 30-year-old college admissions director from New Orleans, LA, talks with Parade.com about his third-place finish in Survivor 43.

I have never wanted to say I was dealt a bad hand because a lot of it was my own doing and the choices I made, But people appreciating that I did give it my best shot. So from Day One, I was kind of a little thrown off my rhythm and just kind of surprised by the "social contract" of it all. I mean, I'm really grateful to have gotten to live the dream and make it onto the show. And I wish it had been shown more how much I was trying at the Jaenine vote to work with Jeanine and try to get Karla and Cassidy together to try to turn the tables. I was trying to strategize on Day One at Baka, and everyone was just so just hesitant to do anything. Eventually does it just get to a point where you're like, "Am I the problem?" But that, to me, was kind of the breaking point for me of just everything going wrong, feeling like I was getting kicked while I was down. And so it was nice to know that that was also kind of part of his vision and that she was someone that he wanted to work with. But when he was getting the jury cracking up so much, and he was kind of revealing more and more, I realized that the tides were turning for sure. But the thing is, I thought I was going to lose to Cassidy in a landslide. And I know people probably think I should have gotten Cass and Gabler to do a 3-1-1-1 against him at the Cody vote. But my perception was that he was just kind of vibing and just being Gabler.

Jesse Lopez shares one last 'Survivor' shocker, and reveals a key part of his early game was completely made up.

But then to have it confirmed and to watch it back and be like, "Oh wow, I was really playing a really good game." And so what I wanted to do at that Tribal was pull out that idol just to make sure that there was nobody who was going to do that and there was no funny business that was going to happen. So I wanted to make sure that that was out there, that the cat was out of the bag, that I wasn't going home that night. But I will say that even though we were at odds in the end and I was constantly trying to trip Karla up, I had very honest and real conversations with Karla about our background and growing up and ending up at UC Berkeley. I love that you brought up the challenges and you didn't make me do it. And so I was very nervous, but I also wanted to stand up and give him the respect that I thought he deserved. She was injured, so I was like, "Challenge-wise, she's probably my best bet to go against because I'm not that great at challenges." I just start thinking about my wife and my hope is that I didn't want to let them down. I think by the end of the night I was very happy with how it turned out. I was coming up with these strategies, I was 100 percent in, and I was giving it my all. And so when his rope snaps, all of that goes up in the air and I just start thinking about my kids. All I told Gabler was that "I think we need to take a shot at Cody.

Mike Gabler announced during Wednesday's show that he plans on donating his $1 million prize money to veterans.

You don't have permission to access "http://www.khou.com/article/features/mike-gabler-survivor/285-5f7bf497-10c8-433f-b684-0afdb8d9b70a" on this server. Access Denied

Wednesday's three-hour season finale covered the last three days of gameplay for the show's final five: Cassidy Clark, Karla Cruz Godoy, Mike Gabler, Owen ...

Mike ended up going against Jesse in a fire-starting contest -- and set a new Survivor record for fastest time, sending Jesse to the jury. The night was long, intense and full of quick decisions and difficult challenges. The announcement earned Mike cheers and applause, and he detailed the significance of the organization, explaining it helps veterans who come back from service "with trouble from psychiatric problems, PTSD, and [they] help curb the suicide epidemic. "And there are people who need that money more, and I'm going to donate the entire prize in my father's name to Veterans In Need." "We all had the chance of a lifetime out here, the adventure of a lifetime, what we all learned from each other is priceless. And the new Survivor 43 champ is...

Owen made it all the way to the final three, where he faced the jury alongside Mike Gabler and Cassidy Clark. And while he said earlier in the finale that "I ...

I was grateful to get out of the water. You've seen in secret scenes, I've been trying to do detective work on the clues, and when I saw the one that day, I knew for sure it was going to be Last Gasp. I felt so hyped up and then not only to win it, but also to triple the duration of the previous longest Last Gasp was pretty incredible. I just lost it and I tried walking away. It just really felt like he was kind of kicking me while I was down. That really was what kind of set me over was the combination of just the imbalanced power dynamic plus then him telling me to go on a wild goose chase for the idol. The Godfather analogy really came to my head when he told me I was protected at the ball-on-the-pole challenge. And that's where I was just like, "Come on. I felt much more confident about my abilities to beat Jesse in the final four challenge and to beat him in fire. I knew I was a long shot. Yeah, and I look at you and Cassie. And I was shocked as the votes were coming out.

In a 'Survivor' first, the Season 43 winner has pledged to donate the entire prize to charity — plus, what was his game-defining move?

I think it showed a lot of people the type of competitor that I could be. I like to do a lot of extreme stuff like that in the outdoors. I have two, and one was at the merge feast. As I looked up at the jury, I was like, “I was in an alliance with you, with you, with you.” At some point, I was with everybody, so I felt that by calling on that history, it would ring true for me. Was that something you practiced before the show? I’m glad I did go that route because I was able to get seven out of the eight votes, and then drop that in Tribal. I wanted to win on my own merit and then make the decision, and it was the right decision. It was really cool and I’m glad that it worked out that way. I did get to the end.” I did tell my wife. You change as a person, and you have this incredible adventure and you have to keep it under wraps, which was really hard. I said, “You know, if I do get to the end, are you okay with me trying to do something big with this money?” She was on board 100 percent. He announced his plans to donate all of his winnings to the Veterans in Need Foundation in the name of his father, Robert.

Going into the finale, Jesse had just used Cody's own idol to expel him from the game. After such an audacious move, Gabler, Karla, Cassidy, and Owen were all ...

As frustrated as I was to watch the jury smile and laugh every time Gabler opened his mouth, only to scowl and shake their heads at Cassidy’s responses, I cannot even imagine how she was feeling. Expecting them to have the clarity to even see what went wrong is a lot to ask. Cassidy was able to convince them she was the better person to keep in the game, despite her strong social and physical game. The final three haven’t even had a chance to take a shower yet! Cassidy did not get to the final three by accident, as much as Jesse and Cody may want to think. Jesse knew it was coming, and he failed, sending Gabler to the final three along with Cassidy and Owen. She’s attempting to argue that this move set the stage for her endgame, that saving herself here and getting Ryan out was important to her game. According to the men, Ryan was always the vote, especially if James was voted out first. He is the only person in the final four never to win individual immunity, and after Cassidy cinches her third immunity win, it seals his fiery fate. Of course, Jesse had Jeanine’s idol hidden in his buff and his spot in the final four secured, but no one — not even anyone on the jury — had any idea. With Jesse’s guaranteed spot in the final four, he is just as guaranteed to make fire. If the goal is to push them further toward the brink of exhaustion, show us how hard it was for them to build shelter again.

Well, that Survivor finale was… a finale. Viewers may have expected Cassidy to take home the $1 million after she won Final Immunity and knocked frontrunner ...

It’s not all that surprising that Gabler got votes in the end, but it is shocking that he got seven out of eight. Perhaps the edit did him a disservice, but perhaps there simply wasn’t footage to support his argument? This jury was ready to give Jesse the $1 million because of the massive moves he played that all players agreed would go down in Survivor history. [winning one Individual Immunity](https://www.tvinsider.com/1068230/survivor-season-43-episode-7-recap-dwight-eliminated/) against Cody (and setting a record while doing it — [Karla and Owen also set a record](https://www.tvinsider.com/1071940/survivor-season-43-episode-11-recap-karla-owen-last-gasp-challenge-record-sami-eliminated/) a couple of episodes later), but he truly wasn’t a threat for most of the season. And the jury cheered for Jesse as he played, indicating the $1 million was in the bag if only he made it into the Final Three. Owen got some votes in Episode 3 and Gabler never got one, but as Cassidy said, it’s because the strong players wanted them in the Final Three to make them look better to the jury. The jury did not, but learned of the plan in the Reunion and were moved. Gabler’s pitch was essentially that he could have played better in challenges, but chose not to to make himself look like less of a threat. The jury was so verbally in support of a Jesse win because of his season-long strategic strikes that never failed once. It was a move so big, it seemed to lock in Jesse’s win with the jury. Was it just us, or did the edit not support that pitch at all? Perhaps the Survivor edit made it clear to some that Jesse’s thrilling long game would come to a heartbreaking end in the Fire Making Challenge.