Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers

Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers is the thirty-fifth season of Survivor.

The season was won by Ben Driebergen in a 5-2-1 vote over Chrissy Hofbeck and Ryan Ulrich.

Production
The season was filmed in the spring of 2017, following the same schedule that was used for. The following season was filmed a few weeks after.

The season's motif was inspired by the British colonization of Fiji from 1875 to 1970, with primary focus on shipping trade. As such, Tribal Council was designed to look like an abandoned warehouse overgrown with vines and cluttered with shipwreck debris. The walkway to Tribal Council were actual disused cart tracks.

Twists/Changes

 * Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers: The 18 contestants are divided into three tribes based on how they are perceived by their immediate communities:
 * The tribe are the "Heroes", who serve their duties heroically and courageously.
 * The tribe are the "Healers", who serve others by helping them heal physically or emotionally.
 * The ​ tribe are the "Hustlers", who are praised for their work ethic and determination in achieving goals.
 * Hidden Immunity Idols: For this season, clues for the regular Hidden Immunity Idols will be etched on a tree. In addition to regular idols, before the marooning, a "super-idol", an idol which can be used once a castaway receives enough votes to be voted out at Tribal Council rather than before the votes are read, will be planted beneath the supplies. Unlike its, , , and counterparts, this idol can only be used during the first Tribal Council. If the finder's tribe wins the first Immunity Challenge, that player must anonymously send the idol to a member of the losing tribe.
 * Return of Previous Tiebreaker Rules: The revote, which was removed in the previous season, will be reinstated this season. This was announced to the castaways on this season prior to the start of the inaugural Immunity Challenge.
 * Tribe Switch: A tribe switch occurred on Day 9 at the final 15, shuffling the remaining castaways into three tribes of five.
 * Vote Blocker: After the Reward Challenge on Day 9, a vote blocker was hidden in a bag of potato chips for the winning tribe. This allows a castaway to block another from voting at the next Tribal Council. Should the person who found the advantage not attend the next Tribal Council, they must block someone on the losing tribe from voting.
 * Early Merge: This season merged with twelve castaways in the game.
 * Extra Vote: The extra vote returns, though with a difference in its mechanism. This allows one castaway to place the advantage into the voting urn in lieu of their vote and take a blank parchment, allowing them to vote twice at a future Tribal Council.
 * Simplified Final Four Tribal Council: Instead of a traditional vote, the person who wins the final four Immunity Challenge will get to choose one person to take with them to the Final Three. The remaining two castaways would compete in a fire-making challenge for the right to reach Day 39.
 * Expanded Jury and Final Three: Instead of the conventional Final Two facing the jury of seven, the Final Tribal Council was held with a Final Three facing an eight-person jury.
 * Reformatted Final Tribal Council: Instead of having each jury member speak one by one, an open forum was held to ensure a more insightful rapport between the jury and finalists.

Season Summary
The 18 new players were initially divided into three tribes: Levu, Soko, and Yawa. Yawa struggled early on losing two members; while Levu lost only one member, the tribe was dysfunctional due to Alan Ball's paranoia; Soko went undefeated. With 15 players remaining, a Tribe Switch occurred. On the new Soko tribe, original Yawa member Ryan Ulrich found himself as the swing vote, and he ended up flipping on his fellow Yawa member Ali Elliott and aligning with original Levu member Chrissy Hofbeck.

After the tribes merged, the former Levus and Yawas formed an alliance against the original Soko Alliance. However, the former alliance eventually splintered as Ashley Nolan, Ben Driebergen, Devon Pinto, and Lauren Rimmer formed a sub-alliance, though this alliance soon splintered as Ben became the main target for being perceived as the biggest threat. However, he managed to play three Hidden Immunity Idols, ending up in the final four along with Chrissy, Devon, and Ryan. After Chrissy won the Final Immunity Challenge, a new twist required her to save one of the remaining three players, which would force the other two players to compete in a fire-making Challenge. Chrissy saved Ryan, forcing Ben and Devon to compete in the fire-making challenge. Ben won, joining Chrissy and Ryan in the finals.

At the Final Tribal Council, Ryan was chastised for his weak strategic game and laziness around camp, while Ben and Chrissy received mixed reception. Ben was respected for his strategic play and ability to make it to the end despite being a huge threat, while Chrissy was commended for her prowess in Immunity Challenges, but both, particularly Ben, were criticized for their weak social games. Ben's strong strategic game and ability to make it to the end despite the odds stacked against him beat out Chrissy's dominance in challenges and Ryan's weak game play, and he was awarded the title of Sole Survivor in a 5-2-1 vote.

Reception
This season received heavily mixed reviews from fans, with some calling it a great season with an amazing finish, and many others chastising it for its poorly thought-out theme, equally poorly thought-out twists, particularly the final four fire-making challenge, and its excessive amount of Hidden Immunity Idols. Some fans were heavily critical of the season's Sole Survivor, Ben Driebergen, complaining that the producers had "rigged" the game for him to win.

Trivia

 * The font used for this season is P22 Operina.
 * This season marks the second three-tribe season where all three pre-merge tribes enter the merge, following.
 * However, this season marks the first time that all three starting tribes remained existent entering the merge, as Millennials vs. Gen X started with two tribes and later expanded to three tribes.
 * All three pre-merge tribes attended Tribal Council twice.
 * This is the first season since in which only one male won an individual Immunity Challenge.