Outwit, outplay, outscout.

Office assistant Sandra Diaz-Twine captured a $1 million booty and a new GMC Envoy as the winner of pirate-themed Survivor: Pearl Islands, triumphing over scoutmaster Lillian "Big Lill? Morris in the final vote of the reality show.

Despite an aversion to the water that caused her to perform poorly in aquatic challenges, Diaz-Twine pulled her weight first as a member of the Drake tribe and later the merged Balboa tribe, earning the respect of her teammates.

The 29-year-old mother of two from Fort Lewis, Washington, passed for popular among the other Survivors?she never received a negative vote at any Tribal Council over the course of her Panamanian adventure. As one of 16 colorful castaways, several with shady pasts, Diaz-Twine used a smooth and straight-forward strategy to ease her underdog way to the winner?s circle.

The two-hour season finale aired Sunday night on CBS, followed by the obligatory hourlong Survivor reunion show immediately after.

Here's a recap of the finale:

It all began with a plot by the nefarious Jon "Jonny Fairplay" Dalton to break up the all-female alliance of Diaz-Twine, Morris and Darrah Johnson that had basically assured him a extinguished torch by nightfall. Dalton convinced Morris that the scrawny Johnson was dangerous due to her immunity challenge winning streak, and swayed Morris to vote for the Southern mortician, saving his own hide.

"It's pretty bad when people think you're a physical threat when you weigh about 60 pounds soaking wet," Johnson drawled to the camera upon her exit.

The following morning, the final three rose early on the orders of Jeff Probst to pay homage to their fallen teammates in a touching CBS montage of memories complete with inspirational background music. Then they placed the extinguished torches of the banished castaways aboard a shipwreck and blew the whole thing up in a final blaze of glory (i.e., one of us is a millionaire and you're not?ka-boom!).

Then came the final immunity challenge, which involved teetering on a few planks in the ocean using only hands and feet?-no other body parts?-for balance. Ever water-fearful, Diaz-Twine caved quickly, leaving the other two to battle it out. Morris took the challenge without difficulty, while Dalton tried repeatedly to bargain with her to throw it, promising that he would take her to the final two, should he win immunity.

At the Tribal Council, Morris chose to take Diaz-Twine with her, sending a dejected Jonny Fairplay to the chopping block.

That left the two women to present their cases before the jury of castaways.

In a final plea to a jury of her Survivor peers at the final Council, Diaz-Twine pointed out that she was ?always a team player from the get-go."

Apparently they agreed?Diaz-Twine took the victory in a landslide 6-1 vote, with Tijuana Bradley casting the lone vote for Morris.

Supposedly the ultra-secret results of the game remain sealed to all except producer Mark Burnett and a few other high-ranking CBS execs until the live airing of the winner?s name Sunday night.

However, at least one offshore bookie stopped taking Survivor wagers back in September after he reportedly received more than 15 bets on Diaz-Twine from people all living close to one another in Vancouver-?not far north of the sole Survivor's Northwest digs?-leading the bookie to believe the winner?s name had been leaked.

Simon Noble, CEO of Antigua-based company, BetWWTS.com, said it?s extremely rare for the company to get any bets on the outcome of the game before story lines develop. He said he was ?stunned? by the flow of votes for Diaz-Twine, and quickly shut the betting pool down.

CBS denies any impropriety.

The seventh installment of the Survivor series was a ratings winner for CBS, with a whopping 25.4 million tuning in for Sunday's finale, according to overnight ratings. Some 22.7 million stuck around for the reunion show.

Survivor: Pearl Islands is the second-most-watched show this season, averaging 20.6 million viewers per episode, according to Nielson Media Research. Overall, the show has distinguished itself as the most popular long-running reality show in television history.

Up next for the series is All-Star Survivor, which promises to bring viewers' favorite Survivors from past seasons back to the small screen to compete against one another for a $2 million purse. The season kicks off February 1, immediately following the 2004 Superbowl.