Survivor Retrospective: South Pacific

Rating: 5.5/10

South Pacific was a season of strengths and weaknesses. It featured some firmly compelling stories: the most exciting challenge arc in franchise history, Coach's satisfying evolution into a measured leader, the introduction of one of the the show's brightest personalities and a blueprint championship performance from one of Survivor's greatest players. South Pacific also featured long streaks of predictable vote-outs, a series of cringeworthy Tribal Councils, generous screentime devoted to inane players and unsavory religious overtones. South Pacific repeated Redemption Island's principal gimmicks: one returning player assigned to each team and the predecessor's titular artifice. Coach and Ozzy were dubious choices to fill the coveted returning player slots, but both managed to turn in peak performances before late expirations. 

The latter's game revolved around Redemption Island. Shortly before the merge, Ozzy suggested his team vote him out so he could tackle tribe nemesis and Redemption crusher Christine. The tribe complied, Ozzy defeated Christine and returned to the game. Shortly thereafter, Ozzy suffered his signature soul-crushing backstabbing - this time at the hands of articulate, physically-intimidated John Cochran. 

Two seemingly-solid tribes were knotted at six heading into the critical first postmerge Tribal Council. The first vote came out 6-6, but Cochran flipped on the re-vote to avoid rock drawing, evacuate an unfavorable pecking order in his tribe, build his resumé and curry favor with the new crew. The move backfired, as Cochran was lambasted by his tribe, then voted out by the tribe he'd joined once they'd eliminated all his former mates. Cochran lost the battle but won the war. His dramatic flip, along with several other luminous moments, paved the way for a profitable return performance.

Perhaps if Ozzy had shown some affability towards Cochran, the sweater-vest wouldn't have betrayed him. But conviviality was never Ozzy's style. His motif was always providing and competing in challenges. Redemption Island was Ozzy's nirvana, a sanctuary from the manipulation and strategizing he never managed to wrap his head around. Ozzy spent eighteen days on Redemption, vanquishing eight competitors in duels after sharing his home, fish and life story with them. After returning to the game a second time, Ozzy won one more thrilling immunity before losing the climactic all-or-nothing final challenge to Sophie. Ultimately it was the most vintage of Ozzy's four performances: he found an idol straightaway and vowed to keep it to himself, managing to do so for two days before telling Keith, who immediately told Whitney; he acted like a baby after his closest ally Elyse was removed, then revamped into a hero by offering himself to challenge Christine on Redemption and finishing the deal; he won a zillion straight challenges, including one where five enemies helped dueling Edna solve a puzzle; he won the second-to-last immunity and targeted eventual champion Sophie, but Albert chose to off Rick instead (most likely to give them a better chance of defeating Ozzy in the final immunity). It was Ozzy's most impressive physical game yet, but another hopeless social foray. 

Rival returning player Coach also submitted his finest performance. Coach limited his bombast to competitors and cameras alike in favor of humility and patience. Meanwhile, he honed his strategy and played the game. Coach (cooperating with Albert and Sophie) found an idol early, hid it from half the tribe for several days, then pretended to find it during a faux team search to build tribe morale. Upon merging, he immediately began working Cochran and ultimately got him to turn (and then got his vote for winner). He took home an idol as a souvenir. If anything, Coach overplayed. He made too many promises to too many people. Some of them (including Ozzy, who trashed Sophie at Tribals but ended up voting for her) didn't forgive him for breaking them. 

After Cochran's flip, there was little question who'd make the final five. That unconcealed alliance had held since the first night. The intrigue began there, with erratic Brandon gifting an idol to Albert for unknown reasons. "My soul has never grieved like it does in this moment," Coach told the cameras before voting Brandon out, blessedly ending his erratic, screentime-sucking game. Albert ducked and weaved his way to the final three. He expressed confidence before Final Tribal, but his machinations were so transparent and heavy-handed he garnered zero jury votes. 

Coach's house of cards came tumbling down at Final Tribal while Sophie delivered a precise, tactical defense of her game after revealing deep vulnerabilities at the previous Tribal. She won the final vote 6-3-0 to cap off a subtle all-around powerhouse performance. She'd return for Winners At War, slowly taking control of the game before succumbing to Tony in a battle of GOATs. Her efficient Final Tribal and well-deserved victory ended the inconsistent season on a high note.

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.

Survivor Retrospective: Nicaragua

Rating: 3.5/10

Survivor: Nicaragua was an objective disaster. It began with awful gimmicks and a dubious cast and devolved from there. Its best players were eliminated before the homestretch. Its most memorable moment came 29 days in when two players quit. Its victor was considered an idiot by many of his competitors. But Nicaragua and its champion shouldn't be ranked in the bottom tier, as many pundits have ranked them.

The biggest problem with Nicaragua was its misguided young vs old tribal gimmick. The younger tribe predictably clobbered the older one in the immunity challenges and voted the old out when they mixed and merged. This was particularly problematic because the older tribe included the season's most interesting players, while the younger tribe was mostly comprised of imbeciles. The early game was further complicated by a poorly-explained challenge feature called the Medallion of Power.

Former NFL coach Jimmy Johnson met an early demise, leaving Marty in charge of the old folks. Marty was the season's tour guide, highly articulate and strategic. He played a mean, aggressive game, compiling enemies, allies, idols and screentime. He lost his top ally, Jill, through an unfortunate tribal swap. Marty received votes at five straight tribal councils but clawed his way to the merge. He managed to convince Fabio he was a chess Grand Master before the Powers That Be (Brenda and Sash) knocked him out.

Brenda, who Marty called "Black Widow, King Cobra and Black Mamba all rolled into one" was identified as the shot-caller by some weaker players and offed next. She would get another crack at Survivor; Marty is still waiting for his call-back. That was the end of Nicaragua's entertainment value, outside of some impressive endurance challenges from Marty's foil and fan-favorite winner Jane. Strategic Sash snaked his way to the finale, but received no votes from a disenchanted jury.

21 year-old Judd, nicknamed Fabio by his tribemates, defeated NASCAR pit crewman and country singer Chase 5-4 at Final Tribal. Fabio got an idiot edit early, but redeemed himself (and the season to some degree) down the homestretch. He won the last three immunity challenges with his head on the chopping block. He iterated his plan in confessionals: play dumb, avoid backstabbings and keep a low profile while allowing his gentle soul to shine through the game's grit. That was enough to beat dense, wishy-washy Chase and slimy Sash to become Survivor's youngest champion.

Survivor Retrospective: Heroes vs. Villains

Rating: 9/10

Often regarded as Survivor's greatest season, Heroes vs. Villains set new benchmarks for cast quality, wall-to-wall entertainment and ruthless strategy. Yet its most ruthless strategist was repudiated at Final Tribal in favor of a kinder, gentler mastermind, bringing Survivor full circle after twenty seasons.

For once the predetermined gimmick worked as intended, with the good & evil dichotomy between the tribes accentuated by the personalities of the castaways as well as the edit. While a few felt they'd been unfairly villainized, most castaways embraced their stereotypes. The tribes were allowed to compete with each other unadulterated until ten remained. This gave ample time for alliances to develop and crack, disagreements to fester, rivalries to marinate and drama to deepen. 

The Villains won four of the first five immunities. Boston Rob spearheaded a lopsided puzzle advantage and managed to get fire by rubbing two sticks together. While Rob would have been celebrated as indispensable most seasons, his Heroes vs. Villains eminence attracted the wrong sort of attention: that of Russell Hantz. The two alphas fought bitterly for control of the tribe, with Rob's group appearing to earn the upper hand over Russell, Parvati and Danielle. Rob's group of six decided to split the vote between Russell and Parvati to mitigate immunity idols. Russell then bamboozled Tyson into believing he was going to flip on Parvati to save his own skin. Tyson preferred Russell to Parvati, sensing a possible eventual betrayal of the Robfather. So Tyson wrote down Parvati when his alliance expected him to write down Russell, changing the votes from three for Russell and three for Parvati to two for Russell and four for Parvati. Meanwhile, Russell, Parvati and Danielle wrote down Tyson, giving him three votes. Russell then delivered the coup de grace, handing Parvati his idol before votes were read. Parvati's four votes were extinguished by the idol, burying Tyson in a grave he'd helped dig himself.

Russell's faction still trailed Rob's by a 5-3 margin, but they were able to swing Jerri. Her closest ally, Coach, found himself stuck between now-opposing allegiances to Jerri and Rob and punted his vote to avoid betrayal. Rob was ousted 4-3-1. Russell had won his greatest battle, but that didn't help him win the war.

Rob's ally Sandra was next in line to the slaughterhouse, but she cleverly planted a rumor that Coach was trying to eliminate Russell. Danielle also pushed hard to cancel Coach. Russell became infatuated with the misguided Hero notion that an all-female Villain alliance was picking the men off. Looking to strengthen that notion and assuage his own paranoia, Russell took the bait and arranged for Coach's exit.

The Dragonslayer's death fortified the Villain female alliance theory, inspiring J.T. to propose one of the most infamous schemes in Survivor history: giving Russell an immunity idol to save himself so that he could later ally with the Heroes. The gambit was hilariously misguided due to Russell's overt villainy, but J.T.'s earnest note put it over the top. Russell happily pocketed the idol, then laughed about it with companions the Heroes thought were his enemies. They voted out Courtney and concocted a group lie to maintain the false narrative of the Villain female alliance.

The Heroes had to vote players out too. They did so with fewer shenanigans. Disconnected, annoying Sugar went first. Then they went after the threats: Stephenie, Cirie and Tom Westman. James got injured again and was put out to pasture. Both tribes had five players left when they merged.

But the Heroes had no idols and the Villains had three: the idol J.T. gave Russell, an idol Russell had found earlier and an idol Parvati and Danielle had recently found and kept secret. Believing the Heroes would target Parvati, Russell gave her one of his idols for protection. Parvati rekindled talks with old pal Amanda and again defeated her, sniffing out a bluff that the Heroes were targeting Parvati. Sandra tried to warn the Heroes of the Villainous conspiracy, but they wouldn't listen to her nor her conduit Rupert. Realizing her alarms were falling on deaf ears, Sandra reluctantly voted for J.T. with the Villains to maintain a false sense of unity. The Heroes voted for Jerri. Parvati, knowing Amanda was bluffing about her peril, gave away both her idols to Sandra and Jerri. The latter's votes were nullified, J.T. was sent to the Jury and the Villains took a pivotal lead.

Sandra redoubled her efforts to oust Russell, but traitorous Candice flipped and dug a knife into her tribe's back just like she did on Cook Islands, voting with the Villains. Sandra again stuck with the Villains to maintain false unity. They ousted Amanda shortly after she became the first castaway to play 100 days of Survivor, a record Parvati would soon match and extend. Russell unnecessarily used an idol, receiving no votes.

Candice's treason got her nowhere, as the Villain females agreed she couldn't be trusted. With Rupert pretending to lodge an idol in his pocket, the Villains arranged a split between him and Candice. Rupert and Colby sniffed out the split and voted for Candice, who got to play one more time for unknown reasons.

Russell then turned savagely on Danielle, correctly fearing her bond with Parvati was stronger than his. Danielle broke down at Tribal Council and revealed the plan had been to go to Final Tribal with Russell and Parvati, convincing Jerri to turn on her. The two remaining Heroes happily joined and the Panama runner-up was eliminated in seventh place. 

Parvati was disgusted, but knew she needed to eliminate Rupert and Colby to have a chance with the Hero-laden Jury. Like Sandra, she swallowed her pride and anger to advance further. Parvati and Sandra joined Russell and Jerri to knock the last Heroes out. Russell then won the final immunity challenge. Believing Sandra was a goat and Jerri had the best chance to beat him, Russell knocked one of Survivor's first villains out in fourth place, her strongest showing.

But Russell was delusional. He thought every juror valued strategy as highly as he did. For Russell, relationships didn't matter on Survivor; every castaway was just a chess piece. Just as he'd assumed in Samoa, Russell thought everyone viewed the game like he did. This was his fatal flaw. In back-to-back seasons, Russell proved he could and would do anything to get to Final Tribal. If the goal of the game was simply to outlast, Russell would be the GOAT. But the beauty of Survivor is that you have to woo your adversaries to win. Russell was never able to evaluate himself through the eyes of his adversaries. He lost his first game 7-2 to the undistinguished goat he hand-selected to accompany him to Final Tribal. He received zero votes at his second, three fewer than Parvati and six less than Sandra. In the end, Russell was the true goat, not the true GOAT. He was the one you most wanted to bring to the end, because by that point he'd have ostracized everyone on the Jury.

Like its champion, Heroes vs. Villains was a little better on paper. No season had more entertaining antics, more brilliant moves, more dramatic Tribal Councils or more intelligent castaways (at least until Winners At War). But the players themselves didn't match their reputations. Stephenie never got a chance to show her tenacity or her abs. Cirie was ousted before sinking her claws in. Tom descended over the hill. Clever Tyson was too clever for his own good. James was truculent, not heroic. Boston Rob got outplayed. J.T. pulled one of the biggest boners in franchise history. Rupert was a hobbled shell. "Challenge beast" Colby performed pathetically all season. The final four of Jerri, Russell, Parvati and Sandra was talented but unlikable. Sandra's win came by default, not because of spectacular game play. Many phenomenal players from the show's first twenty seasons graced the screen, but Survivor's true GOATs had yet to play.

Survivor Retrospective: Cook Islands

Rating: 6/10

Cook Islands introduced Survivor fans to a handful of franchise fixtures. It began with a provocative gimmick and featured one of the show's most compelling season-long story arcs. It was loaded with intriguing twists and surprises. But Cook Islands failed to add up to the sum of its parts. The twists mostly backfired, causing a disjointed first act, a second that lacked emotional punch and a predictable third. Fortunately, the cast of Cook Islands was vivid enough to overcome the season's procedural misfires.

Cook Islands began with a wild, controversial twist known to the audience but not the contestants: their tribes were determined by race. Four tribes of five - African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Latinx and whites - lived separately and convened together only to compete in challenges. The twist was hyped as a format-altering social experiment. It was abandoned just six days into the competition, its disappearance never explained as a fold to controversy, acknowledged stupidity or if that was just the plan.

The eighteen remaining castaways were reconstituted into two big tribes and a standard Survivor game commenced. When the tribes were trimmed to six castaways each, the next big twist arrived: everyone was given the opportunity to "mutiny" and switch tribes. Aitu's Candice, who'd struck up a romance with Raro's Adam on the Caucasian tribe, elected to defect to Raro. Jonathan Penner thought Candice was the one person he could trust and hastily decided to follow. (Ironically, Candice didn't trust Jonathan because he mistrusted everyone else). Just like that, Raro swelled to eight castaways while Aitu had just four.

Consolidated down to its strongest and most loyal members, the "Aitu Four" of Becky, Ozzy, Sundra and Yul steadily seized control of the game with a series of challenge victories. Their third immunity victory included another twist: the losing Raro tribe was forced to vote out two consecutive players at the same Tribal Council. Raro's lead shrunk to 5-4 when the tribes merged.

The immunity idol complicated the 5-4 postmerge split. The idol was overpowered at the time: it could be played after votes and it could be played for the duration of the game, through its final elimination. Yul dug through sand for hours on Exile Island to find the idol, so he was sure to mine every bit of value out of it. He first showed it to fellow Korean Becky to guarantee their bond. When Candice and Jonathan defected, Yul revealed the idol to Ozzy and Sundra to solidify the Aitu Four. And when the tribes merged, Yul showed the idol to Jonathan to flip him back to Aitu.

Jonathan found himself between a rock and a hard place. He knew Aitu was voting for him, meaning he'd be eliminated if Raro voted for Yul. When he tried to convince Raro that Yul had the idol, they laughed him off. Jonathan knew Raro would never forgive him if he flipped, but that was better than getting voted off. Penner flipped and the Aitu comeback was complete.

Aitu executed Candice the traitor next, though the blonde would get two more cracks at the game for some reason. Jonathan, whose disloyalty had ostracized him to everyone left in the game, went next. Penner's articulation, not his unsavory game play, garnered him two more tries as well. And then went Parvati, a first-ballot Hall of Famer whose Cook Islands appearance hardly scratched the surface of her potential.

The Aitu Four finished Raro off (eight consecutive eliminations) and learned of the game's final twist: for the first time, Final Tribal would include three players. Ozzy won the last immunity challenge and the Four decided to honorably memorialize their alliance by ousting someone via challenge, not votes. They engineered a 2-2 tie between Becky and Sundra, resulting in a cringe-inducing firemaking tiebreaker neither could complete. After one embarrassing hour, Becky & Sundra were supplied with matches. Becky finally got a fire going after Sundra's last match fizzled out.

The Final Tribal of Three rule change backfired when Becky got no votes. But it was an exciting and satisfying reveal, with Yul edging Ozzy 5-4. It felt proper: Ozzy's vigorous athleticism and benevolent spirit deserved to be acknowledged, but Yul played the better strategic game (and one of the finest all-around games in franchise history to that point). Curiously, the intellectual champion waited 27 years for another go while four of his vanquished competitors returned sooner.

Survivor Retrospective: Samoa

Rating: 5.5/10

Samoa's legacy as one of the more memorable Survivor seasons is entirely due to its introduction of legendary villain Russell Hantz. From the opening stanza of the season, when the oil tycoon immediately pioneered a new level of depravity by pouring out the water of his tribe's canteens, Russell dominated the game. He established franchise benchmarks for screen time, idols found (all three without a clue!) and played and tribal councils survived. He controlled the game's strategy like few players ever have. He reveled in the season's brutally rainy conditions, celebrating the adversity he was best equipped to handle. He won the final immunity challenge over a must-defeat foe. Yet Russell's most memorable moment came at the Reunion when he received just two of nine jury votes.

Russell quickly sought to forge allegedly longterm alliances with everyone on his tribe. Those who agreed latched onto his flowing coattails. Those who astutely recognized him as a charlatan were immediately sent packing for their suspicions. Russell ran an authoritarian regime from the first vote. Any dissent was immediately crushed.

Dissent dissipated as Russell's Foa Foa tribe kept losing challenges to Galu. By the time the tribes merged, Russell's loyalists had been condensed to Bible-beating bimbo Natalie, affable doctor Mick(Dreamy) and law student Jaison. Galu's numbers doubled Foa Foa's at the mergepoint, but unconventional ex-marine Shambo had long detached from Galu and fell under Russell's wing. Natalie pulled an ace out of her sleeve to sow seeds of doubt surrounding Galu's Erik. Whether it was deft social play from Natalie, the opposite from Erik, or other unexplained motivations, Galu ripped the heart out of one of their own - while an idol languished in his pocket - and the lid off Pandora's Box.

Russell ironically wasted his first idol on that 10-2 vote, but immediately made up for it. He found a second idol the next day and hid its identity from Galu. He successfully played the idol at the next Tribal to save himself and dust Galu's Kelly. Just like that, the factions had drawn even at 5-5. Russell next bamboozled cocksure rocket scientist John, getting him to break a 5-5 headed-to-rocks tie on a revote under the guise of a faux secret power pact. Betrayed by John, the remaining Galu were happy to take Russell's suggestion and vote him out at the next Tribal. The Foa Foa four executed one Galu after another. Lightly-featured nice guy Brett provided some late game intrigue by winning three straight immunities - forcing Foa Foa to turn on Jaison - but Russell beat him in the climactic final immunity. 

Russell's resumé - hand-picked eliminations of most of the season's players, three immunity idols found without any clues, one of them successfully played to save himself and defeat an entire tribe, another so unnecessary it was taken home as a souvenir, a final immunity defeat of a sure-fire winner - was objectively impressive, staggering even. Russell was convinced of his own merits, repeatedly telling the cameras he was taking Natalie because there was no way she could beat him in votes and proclaiming himself the victor after defeating Brett. Even in the Reunion, when he could have been chastened by the 7-2 margin, Russell affirmed he'd played the greatest strategic game in Survivor history. But Survivor's merits aren't objective. The defining accolade of the game lies in the eyes of the beholders - the Jury culled from fallen competitors.

In this instance the Jury heftily repudiated Russell's tactics. It was shocking at the time, even disenchanting. Russell had been the star of the season since its opening moments. He impeccably accomplished every objective he'd delightfully articulated from the season's opening moments. Indeed, he was the season's narrator - more so than Jeff Probst, despite the latter's unnecessary, patronizing previously-ons. Russell's narration stood alongside that of Survivor's premier tour guides - Richard Hatch, Rob Cesternino and Rob Mariano. He was the season's most interesting, exciting and charismatic player - and certainly edited as such. Natalie once killed a rat and ate it.

But if you examined the proclivities of each jury member, Natalie's landslide wasn't a surprise. Brett bonded with her over the Bible. Jaison said in his exit interview that Russell's unnecessary blindside of him was a deal-breaking betrayal. Monica and Laura despised him. Kelly was repulsed by Russell's hypocritical Final Tribal claim that honor, integrity and loyalty were his most important values outside the game. Erik used his Final Tribal platform to lambast Russell and Mick before singing Natalie's praises. Most jurors valued Natalie's qualities more than Russell's. She played this particular iteration of Survivor better than Russell - even if his skills were more likely to translate to other versions.

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.