Survivor Retrospective: Tocantins

 

Rating: 7/10

Despite one of the most predictable endgames in franchise history, Tocantins was a terrific season thanks to its extraordinary cast. While early seasons appeared to strive for a representative cross-section of Americans, Tocantins clearly delved its cast from a stocked pond. Former pop star Taj was discovered through a recruitment of NFL players' wives. Tyson was immediately savage and hilarious. Coach was so far over the top he'd revolved to the bottom. Tocantins featured not one but two leggy blonde models, a Johnny Drama lookalike and a prototypically bright, handsome young entrepreneur Alpha. But a hillbilly whose charisma tested the boundaries of credulity casually overcame them all.

Pre-merge, the game's most compelling storyline was a secret cross-tribal alliance creatively engineered by Brendan the entrepreneur. Forced to choose a companion from the other tribe for an overnight stay on Exile Island, Brendan selected Taj for reasons never explained on camera. Together they engineered a stealth alliance of four, with Taj bringing in cerebral tribemate Stephen and Brendan allying with kind-hearted free agent Sierra. The plan was to keep the alliance under wraps until the merge, then dismantle their tribemates before they knew what was happening. But Brendan didn't solidify his relationships strongly enough. Taj and Stephen rolled with foundational ally J.T. instead, betraying Brendan in the Coach-approved "Dragonslaying" shortly after the merge.

J.T. and Stephen formed one of the tightest bonds ever developed on Survivor, steadfastly controlling their tribe's votes from beginning to end. They handled the dirty work equally, but J.T. managed to oust his adversaries with a smile and a bow of respect. Taj operated as the alliance's third wheel, coordinating an awesome blindside of Tyson and Coach's demise before the duo viciously blindsided her with four left. Taj's painful exit was softened by a particularly poignant preceding family visit with her famous, immensely likable husband Eddie George. That one wasn't, but many of the episodes were overproduced - a problem exacerbated by Coach's ludicrous theatrics.

Though he helped dig the grave for Coach, J.T. managed to maintain his promise of not writing his name down. Stephen sensed the jury might have a preference for his compatriot, but we never found out the climactic question of whether Stephen would slit J.T.'s throat for the million. The southerner won the final two immunity challenges. J.T. never received a vote at Tribal Council until the Final one when he received them all. He added the additional $100k as the season's fan favorite. He lost a tooth during a challenge and immediately returned. Seemingly all of his adversaries sung his praises all season. One of them fell for him so hard he vowed he'd sacrifice his game for J.T.'s - moments before the southerner sent him packing. Before his reputation was tarnished in return seasons, J.T. established himself as one of the game's most popular and dominant players.