Wonka’s Golden Ticket on Netflix has been a whirlwind of emotions and magical fun. Now, we've come to the end. Unfortunately, Bryce met his end at the hands of his partner and a Jellybean Brain Buster. From being the last remaining pair, only four singletons remained going into the egg cracking reveal.
As if their loyalties haven't been tested enough, the four finalists return to the chocolate room’s giant gumball machine for another loyalty test.
Who remains on the tour, and who is terminated? It all depends on their loyalty to others and their strategy to win. Ziad, Gabrielle, Taylor, and Garrison have all played a great game, but some bonds are closer than others.
Coin loyalty
In her voiceover, Gabby confirms that she doesn't think she needs Z’s coins. But it's obvious that she wants to save Taylor and Garrison with her extra coins. I hope that means they will save her in return. So, could we see Gabby Garrison and Taylor moving forward with Z terminated?
She's giving three of her coins to Garrison in hopes that they give their coins to her and not Ziad. Yet while she's trying to convince Taylor and Garrison, Ziad paints Gabby as untrustworthy to them and tries to convince them to help him over her. Ziad tells Garrison that all he needs is one after Taylor said she'd give him two of her coins. With Garrison’s morals in play and him owing Ziad one, Ziad drills it in that Gabby's greediness makes her a shoe in for termination.
Now, Taylor and Garrison have to choose between Gabrielle and Ziad's safety or termination in the tour. Although Ziad only wants one coin from Garrison, his pitch was compelling. On the flip side, Gabrielle is giving three of her coins to Garrison and leaving her other two for Taylor. Is Gabrielle’s greediness losing her the spot or will it convince Garrison and Taylor that she'd do anything to save them? In turn, she didn't know and only had a feeling the coins would go towards someone else when she picked five coins.
Coin loyalty results
Due to Gabrielle taking five coins, Wonka tells her to go first. She can only use three of her coins for now, and he reminds her she can't save herself. She reciprocates the respect that Garrison gives to her by giving him her three coins, instantly saving him as she pulls the lever. Gabrielle stands on her word and earns Garrison a pink gumball to move forward.
Now that they're even at two coins each with Garrison safe, their only choices to save are between Ziad, Gabrielle, and Taylor. With confidence that he has Taylor and Garrison in his pocket, he puts his coins towards Taylor's safety. Garrison has a tough decision between who to save when it comes to Gabrielle and Ziad. He follows his morals and gives his coins to Gabrielle to honor how his mom raised him. Ziad is shocked when Garrison doesn't follow through on his promise.
Gabrielle saves Taylor with one of her final coins. With a final peace offering, she has to give her last coin to Ziad, making them two (Gabrielle) against one (Ziad). Taylor is the tiebreaker as she has two coins. She can either put both of them towards Ziad's safety or save Gabrielle with one. With both her loyalties to each of them, she feels the need to repay the loyalty. Her first coin goes to Ziad, putting Gabrielle and Ziad in a tie with two coins each. A yellow gumball rolls out of the gumball machine solidifying Gabrielle’s safety and Ziad's termination.
Wonka Maze
With a lifetime of money on the line, Gabrielle, Garrison, and Taylor become the final three contestants. Wonka congratulates them while listing their qualities they'll need for the final factory test: bravely taken the path unknown (Taylor in the giant gumball machine), encountered a rocky road (Garrison watching his mom be terminated), the smart moves she made at every junction (Gabrielle choosing wisely in a challenge), and the tough choices each of them have made at every obstacle.
He presents to them his brand-new, magnificent Wonka maze. In the maze, the contestants will find three sweet spots where Wonka's Oompa Loompas have adorable life-or-death games for the three contestants to play. The challenges may be familiar, but with the stakes so much higher, how will they react? Each factory test throughout the competition tested a different skill level: persuasion (gumball machine coins), endurance (licorice twist), leadership (lickety splits escape room), perception (Oompa Loompa portraits), and many more.
Now, in the Wonka Maze, they must complete all three games to earn a key card to exit the maze. But here's the catch. Only the first two players out of the maze will move forward to the final part of the tour, while the third player is terminated.
They will enter in the order the gumballs were released. Since Garrison was saved first, he gets a minute head start to go into the maze and Wonka yells at him to get started. So who will come out the other side and who will be lost forever?
Garrison arrives at his first sweet spot, which is a test of patience and precision. Unfortunately, the first sweet spot is the throwing game where the contestants have to feed the Oompa Loompa by landing in a gumball in the spinning statues mouth. Will he have Tatum's luck or Sasha's struggles? As he nails it on the first shot, Taylor enters the maze. As Taylor struggles and misses on the first try, Gabrielle enters the maze. She's having a little more trouble finding the first sweet spot, but this gives both Taylor and Garrison advantage to get ahead even though Taylor is struggling with the first sweet spot and Garrison is lost.
Gabriella's maze turns out a little bit different. She doesn't end up at the Feeding Oompa Loompa test but the gobstopper equation test. She must figure out the equation and find the coordinating gobstopper in the maze: Add the 12 Golden Ticket holders to nine Oompa-Loompas, subtract the 21 people who have been terminated so far and then add the five people in the gumballs.
The final two are revealed
After many, many attempts, Taylor finally mastered her first sweet spot and ran to find the next one. Meanwhile, Garrison is panicking while trying to find the next Oompa-Loompa and he passes Gabrielle who is trying to find the answer to the equation for her first sweet spot. I know I say this a lot, but really, it is anyone's game at this point because although Gabrielle is behind, she could still pull forward with how much the others are struggling as well.
As Gabrielle is making her way back to Tiff with a possible answer, Taylor finds her next sweet spot. Now, she must solve the same equation Gabrielle is trying to finish. As she's reading, Garrison comes up behind her out of breath and happy to have found his second sweet spot.
After they leave, Gabrielle puts her Gobstopper in the shoot and excels at unlocking her next sweet spot which she enters immediately. Luckily this is a challenge she excelled at: stacking five Gobberstoppers, but this time with a twist. Instead of a steady podium for stacking, it'll be spinning.
Despite feeling unsure of the number of Oompa-Loompas, Taylor guesses correctly and unlocks her final sweet spot. As Gabrielle is trying to stack her Gobberstopper, Taylor walks in behind her shocked at the remaining sweet spot. Gabrielle finishes as Taylor starts but she has one more stop before a golden key card can be hers. Meanwhile, Garrison is still struggling with the equation, while Gabrielle and Taylor pull ahead.
Gabrielle has found the Feeding Oompa-Loompa game that terminated her partner, Sasha, during the Wonkavator factory tests. Will Gabrielle succeed or meet the same fate? Gabrielle not only earns her golden key card, but gives Sasha justice on her first try with the feeding game.
Gabrielle becomes the first to complete the Wonka Maze and enter the Wonkavator, securing her spot in the final test. Now, it's between Garrison who is stuck on his second sweet spot (the equation) and Taylor who is on her last (stacking Gobstoppers). As Garrison is inches from the answer, Taylor proves her fighting spirit and runs to find her way out of the maze to join Gabrielle in the final two. Garrison is lost in the maze and terminated on the spot.
Destiny awaits the final two
When Wonka told them they had to earn their spot, he meant it. They step off the Wonkavator into a twisty illusional room and find a tiny door that leads back into the corridor from episode 1. A door opens into the WonkaVision 2.0 studio for another trip into the game show world. Howie Mandel is back to host the finals.
They are transmitted into the factory lobby where all the bad decisions started. The audience is some of the other golden ticket contestants. Last time we saw Garrison he was sad in the maze, but now he's in the audience beside Jackson. My heart can't handle it. Howie reveals that they're here because after their termination, they took a chance with the gumball machine: purple meant their tour was complete, but gold granted them instant power to return to the factory as a jury member. Now, they have the ability to deserve the final two’s, Taylor and Gabrielle, fate.
13 contestants return to the factory to decide who they think deserves to win the factory tour: Jackson, Poppy, Garrison, Austin, Ziad, Jeff, Ava, Marcy, Joanne, Hunter, Kayla, Nick, and Everett. 2 contestants return to the WonkaVision 2.0 studio to watch the factory test unfold on the TV: Sasha and Bryce.
The twists aren't over
Howie opens the floor up to questions from the jury so they can cast the best vote. He warns them to listen carefully because it could affect their final decision.
To make matters worse, Howie calls on Ziad to go first. He doesn't make it easy for them, knowing Gabrielle may fumble her answer. Taylor proves it by bringing up the most recent coin test of loyalty and greediness. I can already tell Ziad doesn't believe Gabriella when she uses the honey bee challenge as her example of risking her chance at winning the lifetime supply of money. Although she apologizes to Austin, Everett shares his hurt with Gabrielle on his termination.
Kayla doesn't shock me at all (but she does shock Taylor and the others) about the final two not being as transparent as they pretend to be. So she simply wants to know what they plan to do long-term with the money if they win. Both of them bring me to tears as they tell the jury their upbringings and current life back home. I agree with Howie they are both worthy but now it comes down to if they appealed to the jury.
Each jury member goes into the voting booth one by one. They must select the Wonka bar of the guest they want to win. Will it be Gabrielle or Taylor? All the votes are in but Howie reveals we aren't done yet and there's another twist. The factory lobby walks around the contestants to continue the game. Howie reminds the contestants that this wasn't a game of popularity, but it was designed to push each contestant in every way possible. So the final decision isn't about how the jury voted because with Wonka it can't be that easy. He reveals to the final two that how they win is knowing how the jury perceives them:
“You will hold up the chocolate bar with the name of who you think the juror voted for. For each correct prediction, I'll give you a point. For each incorrect prediction, you will get nothing. Whoever correctly identifies the most votes and gets the most points wins the lifetime supply of money.”
Wonka knows people hate finding out how they're perceived by others. Now, Gabrielle and Taylor must figure out how the jury feels to win the $3 million dollars. No pressure at all. After six votes/guesses, Gabrielle and Taylor are all tied up with five points each. Again, it is anyone's game with this brain buster. Five more votes with two left, Jeff's vote allows Gabrielle to pull ahead. But Taylor quickly ties it back up when she guesses correctly while Gabrielle doesn't.
The final point comes down to who Kayla votes for. They don't make it easy when each woman votes for herself, hoping she is right. Kayla's Wonka bar holds all the power, as she could swing either way, bringing the game down to the wire. Her vote for Gabrielle breaks the tie: Taylor: 10. Gabrielle: 11.
Gabrielle is the winner of Wonka's The Golden Ticket Reality Competition on Netflix. Sasha and Bryce enter the scene at the best moment to reunite with their partners. Despite losing, Taylor is happy for Gabby and that she got to compete against her. Now, we end our time at the factory as Sasha and Gabrielle bounce onto the Wonkavator as they live happily ever after.
All episodes of Wonka's The Golden Ticket are streaming now on Netflix.
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