On the first part of the Survivor Worlds Apart Finale, Carolyn said that it was fun having Jeff announce at Tribal Council that Dan was going home. She congratulated herself on making the right choice to stay in the game. Mike said that Carolyn knew she was on the bottom yet Rodney and Sierra was still buddy buddy with her. Mike called Carolyn out on not telling himself and Rodney that she had the immunity idol. Carolyn then said that Mike had her back in the game. They talked about the fact that advantages and idols were off the table for the duration of the competition. Carolyn called Mike the biggest threat in the game and said that if alliances were joined, everyone would be stronger.
Jeff then announced the next Rewards Challenge. They had to race under a net and reach the other end of the course while stopping to play with a slide and some tiles. The tiles had to be taken to the finish table and sorted into pairs. There would be three remaining tiles that didn’t have a mate and those three would unlock a combination lock. The first contestant to complete this challenge would get the reward. For the reward, each contestant’s loved one had come to the island. Carolyn’s husband came out first and she ran into his arms, causing Mike, Will and Rodney to become teary eyed.
Jeff asked Carolyn’s husband about their marriage and he said they were high school sweethearts who have been together for close to 40 years. Next to come out was Mike’s mom. They hugged and Mike told Jeff that he has the utmost respect for her. Rodney’s father then came out and Rodney greeted him with “What’s up bro?” He told his dad he was finally at peace after his sister’s death two years ago. Sierra’s dad then came out and she told Jeff her dad was her best friend in the whole world. Will’s wife then came out crying and they embraced. Jeff then announced that whoever won the Rewards Challenge could bring their loved one back to camp with them. He also said the winner would get an advantage in the next Immunity Challenge.
Mike won the Rewards Challenge and Will seemed extremely frustrated that he lost. The other contestants then said goodbye to their loved ones. Back at camp Mike told his mom to sit down and he would get her some water. Mike told his mom he had been on the outs with everyone and that a lot of them attacked him personally. The next day Mike and his mom found a written message talking about the Immunity Challenge. Mike had to go into a maze blindfolded and find four medallions in order to get the Immunity Challenge advantage. His mom was allowed to go in with him and physically guide him around. At the end of their half hour time limit Mike still had not found the immunity necklace and his mother said she felt horrible because she couldn’t help him find it.
Jeff then announced the final Immunity Challenge of the season. They had to be blindfolded and enter a maze. Then they had to race to see who would find the four medallions in each corner of the maze; the first person to find them and find the immunity necklace too would win the challenge. Mike won the immunity challenge for the fourth time and guaranteed himself a spot in the final four competitors for the season.
Back at camp Carolyn said she and Mike had a bond and she was going to use that bond to make it to the final four. Carolyn said she thought it was time to send Rodney home because he wasn’t doing anything at camp. Sierra said that she would do anything Mike wanted because she didn’t want to go home. She also told Mike that she was onboard to vote Rodney out. Mike said he didn’t trust anyone in the game.
At Tribal Council Mike once again said that he didn’t trust anyone there. Sierra said she was playing hard and always helped around camp. Will said that if Mike didn’t win the next immunity he was going to be sorry. Rodney asked Jeff to get to the vote so Rodney could prove where he was in this game.
After the votes were cast Jeff counted them and announced that Sierra was being voted off.
The next day the four remaining contestants arrived for their Rewards Challenge. They had to untie knots that would open a gate. They then had to race up a tower, retrieve a key and get to the bottom of a giant waterslide. After that they had to navigate an obstacle course to obtain a puzzle which they then had to solve. Mike was the first person to start solving the puzzle. Rodney and Will were then able to start it as well.
Carolyn was the last to start solving the puzzle. Mike and Carolyn were neck and neck in the race to solve the puzzle first. Once again Mike won individual immunity and guaranteed that he would be among the last three remaining survivors of the season. Will asked if he could do the honors of putting the immunity necklace on Mike and Jeff let him.
Jeff then introduced viewers to the second chance nominees. Viewers got to vote on which former Survivor contestants they would like to see on the show again.
Back at camp, Will said he was proud of Rodney for doing so well in the Rewards Challenge. Mike told Carolyn he was not going to vote her out that night. He said Dan, Sierra and Rodney had all turned their backs on him. Mike told Carolyn he wanted that night’s Tribal Council to end with a Fire Challenge. Rodney said he felt pretty confident he’d be in in the final three and Mike said that if he went home it would be poetic justice.
Carolyn decided to practice making fire in case she had to do it at Tribal Council that night. She said she would have her game face on that night but it was not looking good for her.
That night at the next Tribal Council Jeff asked Will about breaking down and Will said he had a sense of price for having gotten so far in the competition. Jeff said Will paid Mike a lot of respect and Mike said the remaining contestants were family now. Carolyn stated that it was obvious Mike or Will was going home that night. Mike said Rodney had been social throughout the game but hadn’t ever pulled his weight at camp.
The votes were then cast and Jeff counted them. Rodney and Carolyn were tied with the same number of votes, so the two had to compete to see who could light a fire first. After almost an hour of trying to, Carolyn was finally the one to win the Fire Challenge, which made Rodney angry. This left Will, Mike and Carolyn as the final three.
After he got eliminated Rodney said he had become a contestant on the show to get away from problems at home with his family. He said he found peace and he felt closer to his family now.
When Will, Mike and Carolyn got back to camp they had orange juice and champagne waiting for them. They also had bacon and eggs available to make breakfast with. Carolyn said she had to convince everyone she made moves and played a good game.
That night at the final Tribal Council Jeff congratulated Mike, Carolyn and Will for making it to the final three. He then told them the jury was their biggest challenge and that each jury member got to talk to each of the three. Joe congratulated them and said they had to earn his vote and he wanted no BS.
He also told Will to man up and give answers. He told Carolyn she was kind of cold and he needed to see how she outplayed the others. Joe said Mike didn’t do much other than win challenges. It was then Hali’s turn. She asked Carolyn how her being a mother figure to the other contestants stuck her with a disadvantage throughout the game. She said people saw her as a mom and not a player and that the other contestants were younger than her by 25 years.
Rodney then called Will his best bud and asked Will how he was real and true to himself and how he kept it real with the jury. Will said that he knew he was going to be the underdog in the game. He said he is very giving and when he won snacks in the auction he shared them with everyone else. Rodney asked Carolyn about the moves she made during the game and said they confused him. She said that she had liked Tyler but if she had let him stay in the game she wouldn’t still be in it. Carolyn admitted Mike was a backup plan for her to get into the final rounds of the competition. Tyler asked Mike what he brought to the table to redeem himself socially in the game.
Mike said that he wanted to do better socially than he actually had. Mike said to redeem himself he would admit he sucked and maybe he wasn’t as genuine as he thought he was. Tyler said Carolyn had gutted him and asked her to give her something that would serve to redeem her in his eyes. Carolyn said it pained her to vote Tyler out and she didn’t feel good about having done it. She said she did things she wasn’t proud of just to avoid ending up on the jury. Sierra asked Will which trait he saw in other players that he wished he had. Will said that he liked Mike’s work ethic. He also said he liked how Carolyn analyzed every move she made in the game.
Jenn said she liked Will, Carolyn and Mike but that the other people on the jury with her were the most bitter people she had ever seen. Jen defended Mike and said the other jury members treated him badly. Dan said Mike put the wrong people on the jury because he didn’t care about them and that he had no necklace to save him that night. Mike said his biggest regret in the game was losing Dan’s trust. He then publically apologized to Dan for going back on his word.
Shirin said she always hoped Mike and Will would be at the final Tribal Council. She said that Mike had run into camp to save her when no one else would and that she didn’t have parents or friends to save her back home. She said she had made her first million dollars by the time she was 25 years old and that meant more to her than possibly winning a million dollars on Survivor. Shirin said Carolyn was getting her vote because Carolyn had played the game the best.
Jeff then announced that it was time for the final votes to be cast. Once the votes were cast, Jeff walked off with the jar of votes in it and said the winner would be revealed on this week’s live broadcast.
On the live broadcast, Jeff read the votes one by one. Mike Holloway was then announced as the million-dollar winner for the season. Mike then celebrated with his mom and the rest of his family as Jeff gave him the million-dollar check.