Spoiler alert: This article spoils major details of Survivor 43, including the identity of the winner.Survivor 43 has just crowned a new winner and officially closed another chapter in the show's storied history. Mike Gabler shocked viewers and tribemates alike as he beat Cassidy and Owen with a 7-1-0 vote. He had to earn those votes from the at-first-skeptical members of the jury, all of whom played strong games themselves but each taking one fatal misstep that got them voted off the island.
Every player who decided this season's winner had one big flaw in their game that hindered them from winning the $1 million themselves. From suffering from social flaws to winning challenges to decisively, there are lots of different ways these players cuttled their own games.
Jeanine Zheng - Giving Away Her Immunity Idol
Jeanine was originally on Baka and was the first member of the jury when she was voted out in 11th place. She was on the bottom after her No. 1 ally Ellie was blindsided.
Jeanine's biggest mistake while on the island was giving away her immunity idol when Dwight was voted out. It is understood that she was afraid of James's Knowledge is Power advantage, but it was way too early for James to use that to his advantage. So, all this move did was give Jeanine no power at the next tribal when she was voted off. It did give fans an iconic moment as her face when Jesse revealed he had it the whole time was priceless.
James Jones - Blowing Up With Owen
James was a high-profile member of Coco during the pre-merge and kept that same profile when the tribes combined. He was the second member of the jury when he was voted off in 10th place.
James was in a great spot to go far in the game, but he kept on lying to Owen unnecessarily. Owen was in no position of power at the time to do anything about the majority taking out whoever they wanted. So, James technically did not even need to talk to Owen before tribal, and he could have let Sami talk to him. But when he had a big fight with Owen, this painted a huge target on his back and he did not see it coming when he was blindsided. He is definitely a new-school Survivor player who could succeed in the old-school era.
Ryan Medrano - Fishing Too Much
Ryan was on the Coco tribe originally but did not hold much power after Geo was voted out. He was voted out right after James in ninth place.
The worst thing that Ryan did was focus all of his attention on fishing, instead of talking strategy with people. He assumed that because he was the tribe's biggest provider so, he would be kept safe. Fans have seen this before like back when Ozzy played Survivor, and it is not enough to keep one around in the post-merge game. Maybe it works in the pre-merge, but one needs sound strategy and good relationships to make it far in the post-merge.
Noelle Lambert - Winning The Final 8 Reward Challenge
Noelle started in a tough position on Vesi, but managed to make it to the merge and became close with Sami and Owen. She had a resume to win but was blindsided in eighth place.
When Noelle won the reward challenge she had a historic comeback, that pretty much sealed her fate. When she won, the other castaways knew that if she made it to the final tribal council, her story would be too great to beat. The fact that she started on the bottom of her tribe and helped orchestrate James's vote-off, plus all the extra struggles she has had due to being an amputee, would all combine for an awesome and historic final tribal speech. However, it was just too powerful to come to fruition, but fans would love to see her play again.
Sami Layadi - Constantly Flipping
Sami was great at keeping good relationships in his tribe and during the post-merge. He was voted out in seventh place when he tried to play the shot in the dark.
Sami constantly flipped sides during the post-merge, so he was always in the majority vote. This plan seemed to work for the first few weeks as no one notice him switching between the majority alliance and his alliance with Owen and Gabler. The rest of the castaways caught on quickly and started to sense that he can be untrustworthy. Sami tried to etch his name into the sneakiest Survivor players of all time but ultimately came up short.
Cody Assenmacher - Giving Jesse His Idol
Cody was almost instantly a fan-favorite Survivor player with his entertaining and chill attitude and under-the-radar strategy. He came in sixth place when he was blindsided by his number one ally Jesse.
One of the strangest moves of the season was Cody giving his idol to Jesse and letting him hold it. He wanted to prove to Jesse that he trusted him and that the idol represented their bond, but at some point what the idol represented did not matter. Cody should have held on to it, and they would have trusted each other regardless. This directly impacted Cody's game since he was voted out by his own idol.
Karla Cruz Godoy - Turning Against Cassidy
Karla proved she was a good strategist right away as she was a leader at Coco. She was the victim when Jesse played his idol at the final five and came in fifth.
If someone wants to succeed at Survivor, they need another castaway they can trust completely. Towards the middle of the merge, Karla and Cassidy seemed to drift apart after trusting each other the whole game. This separation started when Karla became paranoid when she told Cassidy about her idol. This made a crack in their relationship that could not be fixed. If Karla keeps her trust in Cassidy, and they worked together to find a way to take out Jesse before his idols come into play, Karla most likely takes and beats Cassidy in a final tribal council.
Jesse Lopez - Not Voting Out Cassidy At Final 5
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Jesse made the biggest moves of the season, and it was not even close. Unfortunately, he came up short in his journey as he just missed the final tribal and came in fourth.
If Jesse makes the final tribal council, he most likely wins regardless of who he is sitting next to. His biggest mistake was not taking out Cassidy at the final five. Karla was very injured and had a lot of battle wounds, so her chances of winning the last immunity challenge were slim. This would have given Jesse a better chance of winning. He was the next closest to Cassidy when she won, so who knows what would have happened if Karla plays instead of Cassidy.