Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains

Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains is the twentieth season of the CBS competitive reality television series Survivor

This season was a celebration to the last ten years of the show and opted to have returning players who were known for their honor and integrity (Heroes) or their deception and duplicity (Villains) - it also marked the first two-time winner; Sandra Diaz-Twine.

Production
Unlike previous seasons where a break in production occurred between seasons, the twentieth season was shot twenty days after Survivor: Samoa was completed, taking advantage of the existing infrastructure from that season. Casting for Heroes vs. Villains was done simultaneously with casting for Survivor: Samoa. Heroes vs. Villains features ten former Survivors known for their acts of integrity and honor, the Heroes, and ten former Survivors known for their deeds of deception and duplicity, the Villains. The cast was officially announced during the 36th People's Choice Awards on January 6, 2010. Jeff Probst, the show's host, stated that while they wanted to do another season where they brought back former players for the show's 10-year anniversary and 20th cycle, they did not want to simply do another All-Stars season. On reflecting on the most popular players, they realized that these players were either seen as likable or despised for those respective seasons, and opted to use that as the theme for this season.

According to Probst, the production initially selected 50 players from the past seasons, paring those down to twenty and keeping one spot open for a possible player from Survivor: Samoa. Some selections were made to match players that production thought would be exciting to see, according to casting director Lynne Spillman. While the players have been classified as Heroes or Villains, Survivor's creator Mark Burnett does not expect these players to maintain these roles in the game, and to do what they need to survive to the end. Rather than the usual slogan "Outwit, Outplay, Outlast", the slogan for this season is "Return, Revenge, Redemption". All challenges in this season will be based on challenges used in previous seasons. Due to the back-to-back filming of Survivor: Samoa and this season, the other players did not have an opportunity to see Russell Hantz's gameplay in Samoa; however, the players were told by the production crew that Hantz was considered "one of the 5 most notorious male villains of all time" prior to the start of the game.

The 2009 Samoa earthquake & tsunami occurred shortly after the completion of filming for this season; a CBS spokeswoman stated that no crew members were harmed from it.

Richard Hatch, the winner of the original Survivor, was asked to return for this season. However, he had to apply to leave the country since he was under house arrest. His request was denied by a federal judge in Rhode Island. Jeff Probst also revealed to TV Guide that Corinne Kaplan of Survivor: Gabon and Shane Powers of Survivor: Panama were also asked to return, but Kaplan declined due to work obligations and Powers was replaced by Russell Hantz of Survivor: Samoa, although Jonathan Penner of Survivor: Cook Islands and Survivor: Micronesia has stated he accepted an offer though was replaced by Hantz. Twila Tanner of Survivor: Vanuatu was asked to be back, which she accepted, but was cut at the last minute. Yau-Man Chan from Survivor: Fiji and Survivor: Micronesia was also asked to return but turned the offer down. In addition, Jeff Probst revealed in an interview that the producers would have liked Elisabeth Hasselbeck from Survivor: The Australian Outback and Colleen Haskell from Survivor: Borneo, neither of whom would have accepted the offer. Jenna Morasca, winner of Survivor: The Amazon, was asked to return but declined, because her boyfriend Ethan Zohn, winner of Survivor: Africa had cancer. Shii Ann Huang of Survivor: Thailand and Survivor: All-Stars was asked back but turned it down due to being pregnant. Alicia Calaway of Survivor: The Australian Outback and Survivor: All-Stars had also turned down an offer to appear. Taj Johnson-George of Survivor: Tocantins turned down an offer to return, as did Sierra Reed of the same season. Tom Buchanan (Survivor: Africa), Natalie Bolton (Survivor: Micronesia), Ozzy Lusth (Survivor: Cook Islands and Survivor: Micronesia), Ace Gordon (Survivor: Gabon), Jean-Robert Bellande (Survivor: China), and Tina Wesson (winner of Survivor: The Australian Outback) were all strongly considered to return but were not chosen. Rudy Boesch of Survivor: Borneo and Survivor: All-Stars was also strongly considered, but the producers deemed him too old to compete. Brian Heidik, winner of Survivor: Thailand, was in talks to compete in the season, but producers were too "repulsed" by him to have him back. Jeff Probst has revealed that Yul Kwon (winner of Survivor: Cook Islands), Terry Deitz (Survivor: Panama), and Michael Skupin (Survivor: The Australian Outback) were considered to return but not chosen. Jon Dalton (Survivor: Pearl Islands and Survivor: Micronesia) has said in an interview that he was initially cast, but cut when Hatch could not make it.

Twists/Changes

 * Heroes vs. Villains: Ten of the most heroic castaways battled against the ten most villianious castaways for the title of Sole Survivor and the million dollar prize, hence the title.
 * Hidden Immunity Idol: 2 idols would be hidden for the contestants to find.
 * Double Tribal Council: On Day 15, both tribes competed for individual immunity for an elimination later that night.
 * Expanded Jury and Final Three: The Final Tribal Council would have a final 3 and a 9 person jury.

Season Summary
Ten of Survivor's greatest Heroes were pitted against ten of Survivor's most notorious Villains. On paper, it seemed that the Heroes had an advantage over the Villains because of sheer strength by winning the first Reward Challenge. But with Rob's leadership, together with his dominance in challenges (particularly in puzzles), the Villains went on to win 7 of 9 challenges during the first 14 days. The Heroes tribe started to fall apart early because the tribe was torn between shifting alliances. This reflected on challenges, where James started to lose his temper for his tribe's lack of unity. After two weeks of competition, the Heroes were quickly reduced to half.

But the Villains also had their share of mishaps. Jealous of Rob's leadership, newcomer Russell decided to hide the machete during their sleep, much to the tribe's dismay. After accidentally discovering the clue to the whereabouts of a Hidden Immunity Idol buried somewhere at camp, the tribe had a group consensus that no one shall be caught digging for it, or it will cause their elimination once the Idol was used. Despite this warning, Russell went out to search, much to the anger of his tribe. Upon receiving the news of a double elimination on Day 15, Rob tried to oust Russell by creating an alliance with five other members and splitting their votes between Russell and Parvati, but only to be thwarted by Russell who made a bold move by secretly asking a gullible Tyson to vote for Parvati instead of him. In another risky move, Russell handed Parvati his Idol, and much to the surprise of the tribe, Tyson was eliminated in Russell's plan by voting Parvati, causing his elimination. The blindside became Russell's rise to power over the Villains. Despite his newfound power, and after the elimination of James, the Heroes rebounded by winning the next three Immunity Challenges, causing the Russell-led Villains tribe to eliminate Rob, Coach, and Courtney, leaving Sandra to fend for herself. After Courtney's ouster, the Heroes and Villains were even with five members apiece. They were then merged as the Yin Yang tribe.

When the Heroes discovered another clue to another Hidden Immunity Idol, they initially wanted to use it against the Villains. But upon realizing that the male Villains were quickly decimating, J.T. made a risky move by giving Russell the Idol, hoping that Russell might flip into the Heroes side. But after merging, it was not the case as J.T. got blindsided by the Villains. Parvati surprised the tribe by handing two Hidden Immunity Idols to Jerri and Sandra. This became the Heroes' subsequent downfall. The Heroes would continue to fall despite attempts by Sandra to convince them to vote otherwise. Russell attempted to play Parvati and Danielle against each other, and while ultimately leading to Danielle's elimination, set Parvati against Russell. The remaining Heroes would be eliminated, leaving the final four as Russell, Parvati, Sandra, and Jerri. Russell, having won final immunity, felt he would have a better chance with Sandra, whom he felt did little in the game, over Jerri, and eliminated Jerri at their final vote. At the final tribal council, the jury showed little respect for Russell's gameplay; he would go on to receive no votes. While Parvati argued for her mastery of the physical and social nature of her game to win the jury's favor, Sandra was able to win over the Heroes' votes by pointing out that she tried to help them vote out the Villains and remained the last of her original alliance with Rob. Along with Courtney's vote, Sandra won the title of Sole Survivor over Parvati and Russell, 6–3–0 respectively, and became the first two-time Survivor winner.

Trivia

 * After filming, the Survivor medical team stayed in Samoa to aid the locals who were affected by the 2009 Samoan Tsunami. As told by Jeff Probst in the TV Guide preview of Survivor: South Pacific, some of the filming locations also took damage from the disaster.
 * This is currently the last season where the merged tribe only consists of ten players.
 * This season marks the first time a previous winner has won for the second time.
 * If The Outcasts are not counted, this is the first and only season where the tribe names came from the English language, being deliberately named "Heroes" and "Villains."
 * This season's logo featured silhouettes of the castaways from the Heroes and Villains tribes.
 * This season holds the record for the most Hidden Immunity Idols played in the season, with 6.
 * This is the only season where four-time player Rob Mariano did not make the merge.
 * This is also the only season where three-time players James Clement, Stephenie LaGrossa, and Cirie Fields did not make the merge.
 * This is the only season where three-time player Amanda Kimmel did not make the Final Tribal Council.
 * The "Outwit, Outplay, Outlast" slogan was replaced by "Return, Revenge, Redemption" for this season.
 * Both returning players from Survivor: Gabon were voted first from both of their tribes and were voted out unanimously.
 * Survivor: Borneo, Survivor: Africa, Survivor: Thailand, Survivor: The Amazon, Survivor: Vanuatu and Survivor: Fiji were not represented in this season.
 * Additionally, no contestant originally cast from Survivor: Guatemala or Survivor: Micronesia aside from returnees made this season.
 * This is the last season to feature returning female contestants until Survivor: Caramoan.
 * Survivor: All-Stars and Survivor: Micronesia are the two most represented seasons, with 4 representatves a piece.