Survivor Retrospective: Redemption Island

Rating: 4.5/10

Redemption Island was so thoroughly dominated by one player it lost almost all of its latter-game intrigue. Yet that domination was an essential textbook in the franchise canon, what Jeff Probst called "the most perfect game in Survivor ever" to that point. Its winner served as the season's protagonist and tour guide as well, peeling back the curtain into the workshop of a Survivor mastermind.

Producers weren't willing to risk the repeat low point of Nicaragua, so they injected two twists to shake things up. For the first time, Survivor would be a double-elimination game, with traditional losers heading to Redemption Island to compete in duels to stay in the hunt. At the last minute, they surprised the fresh fish with the news they'd be playing with two of the game's most infamous castaways - Boston Rob and Russell Hantz. It was a thankful addition, because the first twist wasn't enough to hide another embarrassingly dull drove of competitors.

Russell quickly fell to the bottom of his tribe's social pecking order. They grew so paranoid and desperate to expunge Hantz they threw a challenge to seal the deal. Meanwhile, Rob ascended his tribe's social ladder, eventually elevating himself above his classic Robfather role all the way to cult leader. 

Rob worked individual relationships with everyone on the tribe, convincing each their personal bond would endure to the end. To the camera, he identified teenager Natalie as a loyal goat he could drag to the finish. Sure enough, she voted along with him at every Tribal and received no votes in the end. Shortly after the merge, Rob told the cameras inflammatory, widely-despised Phillip would accompany him and Natalie to Final Tribal. Indeed he'd shield Phillip all the way there as well. The erratic tool did better than Natalie - receiving a single vote to prevent a sweep from Rob.

On the rare occasions Rob met resistance, he acted swiftly and mercilessly to quell it. Intrepid Kristina immediately found an idol without a clue, then made the mistake of telling Phillip. The self-claimed "Former Federal Agent" spilled the beans at Tribal, foiling Kristina. After shipping beaming Bible thumper Matt off to Redemption Island for his relationship with Andrea, Rob vanquished Kristina instead of universally-hated Phillip, recognizing the Agent's loyal value. 

In the game's secondary compelling storyline, Matt won six straight duels to return to the game at the merge. Rob and company savagely sent him back to Redemption Island after he admitted to Rob he'd considered flipping to the other tribe, but had elected to stick with the castaways who had originally voted him out. Matt lasted to the final duel, but succumbed to friend-turned-foe Andrea. She was immediately voted out again - this time for good.

Ashley won a dramatic challenge to advance to the final four but Rob narrowly ousted her in the final immunity challenge. Rob broke down, knowing he'd locked up the million. Rob managed to get Natalie to betray her best friend in the game, setting the table for a Final Tribal trouncing and subsequent 8-1-0 vote.

Rob limited information when he could (finding the idol and telling no one, throwing a clue into a volcano without opening it) and controlled it when he couldn't (instituting the Buddy System to keep his allies from speaking alone with the minority alliance). He toyed with his opponents, honoring Amber's stuffed animal Murlonio by naming the Tribe after it under a fake Spanish "From the Sea Together" definition. It was the pinnacle performance of the show's most celebrated competitor.