Plot

The last chance for immunity is a fight to the finish with an unlikely pairing of castaways, and the final three plead their case to the jury-find out who will outplay, outwit and outlast the others, on the two-hour season finale.

Previously on...: At the end of the last all-star season, Rob said he'd gladly come back on the show just to kick Russell's ass. He got his wish when he and Russell landed in Nicaragua for "Redemption Island." Put on different tribes, the game was on and Rob used a different strategy, loyalty. He made his alliance with six in his tribe and took that all the way to the end. He also found a hidden immunity idol and kept it secret and hidden. He blindsided Matt and sent him to Redemption Island. Matt stayed alive.

At Zapatera, Russell made his alliance with the youngest girls on the tribe. They threw a challenge just to vote Russell out. At Redemption, Russell cried and said this would be his last time playing "Survivor." After the merge, Matt rejoined the unified tribe but was voted out immediately. Mike and Matt are on a roll at Redemption, and Rob took out Andrea and Grant next.

Redemption Island: Grant arrives at Redemption Island surprised to have been voted out. He says "somebody wasn't being honest," and wonders if it was Rob or Phillip who betrayed him. With Grant now in the mix, Andrea feels like "the under- underdog."

Back at camp: Everyone's a bit down about the vote, but Rob says, "That's the game." Rob tells us he misses Grant and says Grant's departure has hit him. He then tells us Ashley's got to go. He just has a gut feeling about it.

Redemption Island: It's Day 29 on Redemption Island for Matt, who's saying he's loving it now and it "feels like home." Tree mail tells the foursome at Redemption that one of them will return to the game and three will go away after the day's duel. Matt says a prayer for the group and says God deserves the glory for his survival after 29 days.

The challenge: The players will stand on one foot with the other foot on a balancing board. A ceramic vase is at the other end of the board. As the vases drop, the last person standing will stay in the game.

After 20 minutes, Grant loses his balance and recovers. Matt follows with a close call, as does Mike. After 40 minutes, Grant starts to wobble and loses his vase. He's out. After one hour, Andrea tries stretching her leg. Matt glances over and suddenly loses control of his board and his jug falls off. After nearly 30 days on Redemption Island, Matt's shot at the money is over.

Mike and Andrea remain and Andrea and Mike finally loses his balance and falls out of the game. Andrea says she doesn't feel like she's still a part of her former alliance and that it's a "very individual game."

Rob tells us that if Ashley doesn't win immunity, she'll go next.

Back at camp: Andrea doesn't feel welcomed by the people who voted her off. She's worried that if she doesn't make a move, she'll go next. She tells Ashley and Natalie that the other guys at Redemption Island were saying they'd vote for Phillip to win and that the girls were all seen as "puppets."

Ashley is starting to plot a move to take Rob out if she can align with Andrea and Natalie. Rob says he can't wait to vote Ashley off after 37 days, and that they'll need to make sure she thinks Andrea is going.

Immunity challenge: The players will run across a balance beam collecting bags with numbered tiles inside. The tiles are numbered 1 to 100 and have to be placed in order. Rob takes an early lead, followed closely by Ashley and Andrea.

Rob and Ashley after two bags are just about neck and neck. Phillip is way behind. Ashley takes a slight lead before going back for her fourth and final bag. She gets it before Andrea and Rob go back to get their fourth bags.

With 40 numbers in the final section, Rob tries to catch up but in the final seconds cannot do it and Ashley wins immunity again.

Andrea thinks it would make sense for the girls to vote out Rob.

Back at camp: Phillip and Rob take Natalie and Ashley aside and say they have to talk. Rob openly tells Andrea she's going home. The four huddle up and agree that they're voting Andrea out. Rob goes fishing and says he doesn't even need to play his idol, even though this is the last vote when he can.

While Rob is fishing, Ashley asks Natalie for assurance that Phillip will go with the next vote. Phillip notices their meeting and tells Rob about it. Ashley and Natalie watch this and Andrea is sitting right in front of Rob and Phillip. The guys take a walk and Andrea goes to talk to the girls. She makes her case to vote Rob out. Natalie thinks it would be tough to win against Rob in the final vote.

Rob is feeling pretty confident heading into the vote. He says he likes to gamble and won't need the idol as long as he has Natalie.

Tribal Council: Rob says there's a lot of paranoia around camp and Phillip says he's been working in his role as the undercover agent. Andrea tells Jeff (and everyone else) her theory that the girls wouldn't get any credit for having ridden Rob's coattails.

When Jeff asks about a hidden immunity idol, Rob stands up and says his mother always told him it's better to be safe than sorry. He hands Jeff his idol.

Jeff reads the votes: Rob (doesn't count), Andrea, Andrea, and the 16th person voted out is Andrea.

Back at camp: The final four are happy and Phillip tells us he didn't know Rob had the hidden idol all along but suspected it. Phillip goes to get water and Rob tells the girls to stick with him and they'll vote Phillip out next.

Immunity challenge: They have to race through a giant maze collecting four bags of puzzle pieces, then run to the top of a platform to put together a phrase with their pieces. The winner gets immunity.

Natalie is lost quickly, but Rob, Ashley and Phillip get a bag of pieces quickly. Natalie finally gets one as the others get their second bags. Ashley works a strategy of following Rob (sound familiar?). But Ashley dropped a bag along the way, intentionally. Rob finds the fourth and final bag and Ashley is again right behind him.

Rob gets to the platform, followed by Ashley. They say they're working together, but we see that Ashley has put together a couple of words even though she's telling Rob she has nothing. Rob tells her the same thing, but he starts to put together some words and gets the phrase first, "Only you are safe." He slams the table and shouts with joy and all four of them share hugs. Rob gets a bit emotional about the fact that he's in the final.

He cries as he tells us he'll be OK even if he doesn't win, which he finds to be ironic because the only reason he came back was to win. But he knows he did his best. Now he has to decide whether he votes out Phillip or Ashley. He's worried that if he wants to take out Ashley, he'll have to get Natalie on board.

He wants to make Ashley and Phillip comfortable. He tells Ashley not to sweat anything, but also not to tell Phillip anything. Rob tells Phillip it's Ashley, but that she thinks it's Phillip.

Rob takes Natalie, who has promised Ashley she'd tell her if Rob planned to vote her out, aside and tells her to vote out Ashley because she made too many friends on Zapatera. He reminds Natalie that he promised he'd get her to the final and he's going to, but she has to be strong and vote Ashley out without telling her ahead of time. Ashley asks Natalie later if Rob said anything, and Natalie says he didn't, only that the "plan's on."

Natalie tells us that Rob has been watching her back since Day 1, but she has to look out for herself. She says she'd rather lose the game than lose a friend in Ashley.

Tribal Council: Ashley says she's really disappointed she didn't win immunity. Rob says he wants to sit next to people you think you can beat in the end. Natalie says Rob should take him to the final because they've been together since the start. Phillip says Rob knows he was "the specialist." Ashley says she didn't take opportunities to throw Rob under the bus and she thinks she has a better chance of winning than Phillip or Natalie.

Phillip writes down Ashley's name and she returns the favor, saying she can't believe it's taken 38 days to write his name down. "I won't miss you, you're a nutcase," she says.

The vote: Ashley, Phillip, Ashley, and ... the 17th person voted out is Ashley. Natalie looks upset and mouths, "I love you" to Ashley as she walks away.

Ashley later says she was an idiot for thinking she wasn't going home. She says she wouldn't change anything about how she played the game.

Day 39: Phillip wakes up and pays a tribute to his great-great-grandfather, saying he thinks it's OK to tell the world he has a relationship with a man who's been dead since 1870.

As they feast, Natalie says she thinks she stands for her "generation" at the age of 19.

Phillip ceremoniously tosses his briefs into what's left of the fire, saying his manhood was never reflected in those briefs.

Tribal Council: Natalie smiles as she makes her opening statement, saying her strength in the game was her social skills. She stumbles toward the end and simply says she'd be the youngest female "Survivor" winner if they vote for her.

Phillip says he wouldn't be sitting there if not for Boston Rob because he actually wanted to vote Rob out at the first Tribal Council and apologized to Rob for it later. He says he implemented the concept of "Stealth," but Rob was the mastermind.

Rob thanks everyone, especially Ometepe, and defends his game of strategy, winning challenges and working hard around camp. He says ultimately all the time he's spent playing the game has been about his wife and daughter and wanting to bring something back home to them.

Andrea asks Phillip who he really is. He tells her she's had 39 days to get to know who he is and if she doesn't, she shouldn't vote for him. She then asks Natalie about betraying her "best friend" Ashley. She follows by asking her about the "allure of riding coattails."

Ashley's next and she tells Phillip she's sick of hearing his voice. She tells him to listen and not respond and he tells her he'll respond if he wants to. She thanks Phillip for making her a more patient person because after spending 38 days with him she can get through anything. Ashley tells Rob she doesn't know who he is and, "honestly, after this, I don't really know if I want to know."

Grant asks Natalie what the dynamic of her alliance with Rob was, and poses the question also to Rob. Natalie tells Grant that they probably had a similar connection. Rob says Natalie asked him what to do early on and he told her to do what he said and he'd get her to the final.

Ralph mocks Natalie for doing everything Rob asks. He then pokes some fun at Phillip's feathers. He asks Phillip if he likes him, and Phillip says that out of everyone on Zapatera, he thinks Ralph was the funniest and had the best work ethic.

Matt asks Rob where the line is drawn when he lies and deceives in the game he's played for so long. Rob says the line is drawn after he leaves the game, but within the game he feels he needs to play the way he plays. He says everyone, at some point, thought they were going to the end with him.

Julie says none of the three of them played a respectable game. She basically tells Natalie that her parents wouldn't be proud of the way she played the game. She tells Phillip his son wouldn't be proud of his game, either. Phillip tells her, "to hell with you" after she questions his approach.

Mike asks them what they learned. Natalie says she didn't think she could last, Rob says he learned it's time to "stop playing games" and that this will be the last day he plays "Survivor." Phillip says he learned he could stand alone.

Steve commends Natalie for being 19 and for sitting where she is compared to where he is. He commends Rob for lasting 117 days because he buckled after 31. He calls Phillip a "shameful, sorry man."

David doesn't talk to Rob, Natalie and Phillip, but instead says there's only one choice. Rob managed the whole thing, he says, and played the best strategic game in the history of "Survivor."

The vote: David writes down Rob's name and Ralph gives his vote to Phillip. We don't see any other votes written down.

In New York City, Jeff finally reads the million-dollar votes: Rob, Phillip, Rob, Rob, Rob, and the winner of "Survivor: Redemption Island" is Rob Mariano. He thanks the jury and goes to kiss his wife, Amber, having just established the first-ever dual-"Survivor" winner household in TV history.