Survivor: Cook Islands

 is the 13th season of Survivor. The season generated a lot of controversy due to the decision to split tribes by ethnicity. It is also known for being the first season to utilize the Final Three, which has become a mainstay in modern Survivor.

The season was won by Yul Kwon in a 5-4-0 vote over Ozzy Lusth and Becky Lee in the first Final Tribal Council to deviate from the original Final Two format.

Development
The tribal camps, Exile Island, and many challenges of Survivor: Cook Islands were filmed on small "motu" (Polynesian word for "islet") in the Aituaki lagoon. The Rarotonga (later Aitutonga) tribe's camp was on Moturakau. The Aitutaki tribe lived on Motukitiu. The short-lived tribes of Manihiki and Puka Puka lived on Rapota and Muritapua, respectively. Most challenges were filmed on Tekopua and Tapuaetai (One Foot Island). Exile Island, a small sand cay south of Tapuaetai, is called "Nude Island" by locals in reference to its lack of vegetation. Akaiami hosted challenges and also the loser's lounge, where eliminated contestants were sequestered until the end of the game. Tribal Council, the production camp, and a few challenges were located on the main island of Aitutaki. There were three reward trips to the neighboring islands of Atiu, Mitiaro, and Rarotonga.

Twists/Changes

 * Ethnicity: Following the previous season's four tribes format, this season featured twenty contestants that were divided into four tribes of five divided by race, despite controversy.
 * : Returning from the previous season, after a Reward Challenge, players may banish a player from the rival tribe to Exile Island. This island (entirely separate from the existing camps) will force the banished player to fend for him/herself until the upcoming Immunity Challenge (unless stated otherwise). The player would not be left in despair, for he/she will be given clues to a Hidden Immunity Idol that is hidden somewhere on the island.
 * Tribe Switch: On Day 7, the four tribes became two. Puka Puka and Manihiki were dissolved, with the 18 remaining contestants spread into the new Rarotonga and Aitutaki tribes with nine members each.
 * Double Tribal Council: On Day 15, both the Aitutaki and Rarotonga tribes were forced to visit Tribal Council to eliminate one of their own.
 * : On Day 19, the tribes were offered to switch tribe affiliations.
 * Message in a Bottle: After losing the Day 24 Immunity Challenge, the Rarotonga tribe received a sealed bottle with a note that can only be read after the Tribal Council elimination. The tribe assumed it was a note about instructions about the upcoming merge. But much to their shock, the note instructed them to vote another member off the tribe.
 * Delayed Merge: Because of the sealed message in a bottle twist, the tribes were merged with nine members.
 * Three-Way Finals and Expanded Jury: Unlike the first twelve seasons where the usual Final Two facing a seven-player jury is featured, this season featured a Final Tribal Council with three remaining finalists facing a nine-person jury.

Season Summary
The 20 players were initially divided into four tribes based on race. On Day 7 of the competition, two of the four tribes were dissolved and the remaining members were split up and joined the two remaining tribes. An early visit to Exile Island resulted in Yul discovering the Hidden Immunity Idol. With the tribes having six members each on Day 19, Probst announced that any tribe member may mutiny and join the other tribe; Candice and Jonathan opted for this move, leaving the Aitutaki tribe at four members, consisting of Yul, Ozzy, Becky, and Sundra, and an eight-strong Rarotonga tribe. However, this served to only increase the determination of the Aitutaki tribe; between strong teamwork skills, Yul's intelligence, and Ozzy's physical skills, Aitutaki remained strong and continued to win both tribal and individual challenges, sending the Rarotonga tribe to Tribal Council three times in a row. When there were four Aitutaki members and five remaining Rarotonga members the two tribes merged into Aitutonga. Yul cemented his Aitutaki alliance by showing them the Hidden Immunity Idol, and convinced Jonathan, a former Aitutaki member who had accepted the mutiny offer, to vote along with them in order to give the former Aitutaki tribe the majority. The Aitutaki 4 would eventually remain in a domination of the game, and ended up as the final four. With Yul holding the Hidden Immunity Idol and Ozzy winning the Final Immunity Challenge, the four agreed to let a fire-making challenge decide who would join them at the Final Tribal Council; despite this taking more than an hour to complete, Becky emerged victoriously. The jury, seeing Becky's coat-tailing of Yul and poor performance at the fire-making challenge, did not consider voting for her, and Yul's brains edged out Ozzy's brawn, five votes to four.

Trivia

 * Thus far, this is the only season to have one tribe accidentally stumble upon the opposing tribe's camp (Aitutaki members Jessica Smith, Ozzy Lusth, and Cao Boi Bui had accidentally ended up on the rival Rarotonga's beach while exploring the bay).
 * This season ties with for the most starting tribes with four.
 * It is the first and only season to have the tribes divided by ethnicity. featured the same ratio of ethnicities, but only featured two tribes of varying ethnicity.
 * Due to this twist, this season ties with for the most African-American contestants, with five.
 * This was the first season to feature a Final Three at the Final Tribal Council rather than a Final Two as in previous seasons. Since and including Cook Islands, twelve out of fifteen seasons have had a Final Three at the Final Tribal Council.
 * The three exceptions are, , and.
 * Cook Islands is the only season where the offer was accepted.
 * The jury (except for the last member) consists of all former post-mutiny Rarotonga members, while the Final Three and last member of the jury consists of all former post-mutiny Aitutaki members.
 * This was the first season since to have the jury phase start before the merge.
 * It is the first season since to have only two different players (Adam Gentry and Ozzy Lusth) win individual immunity post-merge.
 * This was the first season to have a nine-person merged tribe since . would later feature a nine-person merge.
 * had its individual stage start at the final nine, but it was not a merge as the eight-member Koror tribe conquered the one-member Ulong.
 * This season had the most representatives in, with three.
 * This is the first season in which a finalist (Becky) received no jury votes, which has since become very common in seasons with Final Threes.
 * This was the first season where the first two people voted off were both men. It was followed by.
 * This was also the first season where the first two people eliminated were men, unless one counts The Outcasts from as not being eliminated when they were voted out of their original tribes. It was followed by  and.
 * 13 of the 20 contestants of this season were from the state of California. This is a Survivor record for the most castaways from one state in a single season.
 * This season had the most pre-merge jury members, with three.
 * had three jury members who never took part in an individual challenge, but one of them was a member of the merged tribe.
 * This season featured four returning players who each played exactly three times. Parvati played in and, Jonathan played in Micronesia and , Ozzy played in Micronesia and , and Candice played in Heroes vs. Villains and.
 * This is the first season since to not have the Second Chance challenge.
 * All returnees that originated from this season have played exactly three times each.
 * Ozzy Lusth is the only one of these people to have never been a member Rarotonga.
 * 17 out of the 20 contestants were recruited for this season.