The Family

The Upolu Five (also referred to as The Family) was the dominant alliance of.

Comprised of three-time player and self-proclaimed Dragon-Slayer Coach Wade and new castaways Albert Destrade, Brandon Hantz, Rick Nelson and Sophie Clarke, the alliance controlled both pre- and post-merge votes. Edna Ma and former Savaii member John Cochran also contributed to the alliance's success.

Inception
On Night 1, Coach, Albert, Brandon, Sophie and Rick formed an alliance away from their other tribemates. Coach suggested Christine and Stacey needed to go and indeed they were the first two Upolu members to be voted out. After a split vote, Edna was later kept over Mikayla as a useful vote to keep the numbers on their side.

Cochran's Flip
During the crucial Final Twelve vote where Upolu and Savaii have equal numbers, Coach convinced Cochran to flip and vote out Keith to avoid the Purple Rock event. In return, he lied to Cochran by proposing a potential Final Four alliance with Albert and Rick. Afterwards, the reamaining former Savaii members were systematically targeted and voted out. On Night 30, Cochran was the last Savaii member to be voted out.

Turning on Each Other
After all the former Savaii members were eliminated, Edna was quickly voted out after she proved to have served her use. However, she gave several convincing theories of why Brandon needed to leave, and although it did not save her it still succeeded in causing the other four members to desire to turn on Brandon next. At Final Five, the Upolu 5 soon had to turn on each other. Albert's name was on the chopping block when the majority of the alliance, including Coach, Rick, and Sophie, began to turn against him as he unsuccessfully tried to target Sophie. However, at Tribal Council, an unexpected move by Brandon in which he decided to forsake his Immunity and save Albert, which proved to be fatal as Brandon was the first member of the alliance to bite the bullet.

After Brandon's elimination, Ozzy returned from Redemption Island and won the Immunity Challenge which ensured his safety. Choiceless, Coach, Albert and Sophie decided to vote off Rick despite Albert's pleas to eliminate Sophie. At Final Four, Sophie won her third Immunity Challenge, beating Ozzy, and together the remaining Upolu 5 members voted out Ozzy and became the Final Three.