Survivor: Guatemala

Survivor: Guatemala, also known as Survivor: Guatemala — The Maya Empire, is the eleventh season of Survivor.

Filmed among the ancient Mayan ruins, the season pitted 16 new castaways against returning players Bobby Jon Drinkard and Stephenie LaGrossa, who had become famed during their outing on Palau for weathering the Ulong tribe's decimation. The season also saw the birth of the Hidden Immunity Idol twist, which would become a permanent fixture of Survivor from this point forward.

In the end, Danni Boatwright's combination of stealthy social gameplay and tenacity as the final member of her alliance earned her the title of Sole Survivor after beating Stephenie in a 6-1 landslide, only losing the vote of Rafe Judkins. To date, it has produced two returning players (Danni Boatwright and Stephenie LaGrossa) for subsequent seasons.

Production[]

Originally, this season was supposed to be filmed in a location on the Indian Ocean, with scouting taking place in Madagascar, Southern India, and Sri Lanka in November 2004. However, the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami forced the plans to be scrapped. Guatemala was chosen as the backup location.^[2]

Applications were due January 14, 2005. Around March, 800 applicants were selected for an interview by CBS. Out of these 800, 48 semi-finalists were selected to go to Los Angeles sometime around April 2005. There, 16 of the nominees were chosen to participate on the show. Shooting began in June and ended in August.

This season also features the return of Survivor: Palau fan favorites Stephenie LaGrossa and Bobby Jon Drinkard, raising the number of contestants to 18. Other notable contestants include former beauty queen and model-turned radio announcer Danni Boatwright and ex-NFL quarterback Gary Hogeboom.

Twists/Changes[]

One Returnee per Tribe: Two former contestants, Bobby Jon Drinkard and Stephenie LaGrossa, returned for another chance to win. Each tribe was assigned one of the returning players.
Tribe Switch: On Day 9, a tribe switch occurred.
- Summit: As part of the tribe switch mechanic, two members of each tribe were sent on a picnic where they could get to know each other before they returned to their respective tribe camps to find that the tribes had been switched.
Double Tribal Council: On Day 15, both tribes attended Tribal Council. They played for reward, with the winners competing for individual immunity and the opportunity to observe the losing tribe's Tribal Council, and vote for one person to receive immunity.
Hidden Immunity Idol: Located around the Xhakúm campsite was a small wooden totem that could be used as a form of individual immunity. Clues are given to winners of challenges. The idol was to be played before the vote to detract particular voting blocs from targeting the player in question. Once the idol was played, it was discarded.

Castaways[]

Contestant		Tribe Affiliation			Finish	Votes Against
Contestant		Original Tribe	Switched Tribe	Merged Tribe	Finish	Votes Against
	Jim Lynch 63, Northglenn, CO Retired Fire Captain	Nakúm			1st Voted Out Day 3	8
	Morgan McDevitt 21, Decatur, IL Magician's Assistant	Yaxhá			2nd Voted Out Day 6	8
	Brianna Varela 21, Edmonds, WA Retail Salesperson	Yaxhá			3rd Voted Out Day 8	7
	Brooke Struck 25, Hood River, OR Law Student	Nakúm	Nakúm		4th Voted Out Day 11	5
	Blake Towsley 24, Dallas, TX Real Estate Broker	Nakúm	Yaxhá		5th Voted Out Day 14	5
	Margaret Bobonich 43, Chardon, OH Nursing Practitioner	Nakúm	Nakúm		6th Voted Out Day 15	7
	Brian Corridan 22, New York City, NY Ivy League Student	Yaxhá	Yaxhá		7th Voted Out Day 15	7
	Amy O'Hara 39, Revere, MA Police Sargeant	Yaxhá	Yaxhá		8th Voted Out Day 18	4
	Brandon Bellinger 22, Manhattan, KS Farmer	Nakúm	Yaxhá	Xhakúm	9th Voted Out Day 21	6
	Bobby Jon Drinkard 28, Los Angeles, CA Palau	Nakúm	Yaxhá		10th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 24	8
	Jamie Newton 24, North Hollywood, CA Water Ski Instructor	Yaxhá	Nakúm		11th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 27	10
	Gary Hogeboom 46, Grand Haven, MI Former NFL Quarterback	Yaxhá	Yaxhá		12th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 30	8
	Judd Sergeant 34, Ridgefield, NJ Hotel Doorman	Nakúm	Nakúm		13th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 33	5
	Cindy Hall 30, Naples, FL Zookeeper	Nakúm	Nakúm		14th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 36	6
	Lydia Morales 42, Lakewood, WA Fishmonger	Yaxhá	Nakúm		15th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 37	10
	Rafe Judkins 22, Pittsburgh, PA Wilderness Guide	Yaxhá	Nakúm		16th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 38	2
	Stephenie LaGrossa 25, Toms River, NJ Palau	Yaxhá	Nakúm		Runner-Up	2
	Danni Boatwright 29, Tonganoxie, KS Sports Radio Host	Nakúm	Yaxhá		Sole Survivor	1

Season Summary[]

Sixteen players were split into two tribes named Nakúm and Yaxhá after two Maya cities. Each tribe was joined by a contestant from Survivor: Palau, Bobby Jon Drinkard, who was assigned to Nakúm, and Stephenie LaGrossa, who was assigned to Yaxhá. Yaxhá struggled early on, losing two of the first three Immunity Challenges to Nakúm.

After a tribe switch on Day 9, Stephenie, Rafe, and Jamie formed a new alliance with Judd to take control of Nakúm, prompting Judd to betray his original tribemates. However, Yaxhá went on a losing streak, with the former Nakúm members opting to eliminate the original Yaxhá members. Thus, the original Yaxhá entered the merge with a 6-4 deficit against Nakúm.

Upon merging, the new tribe was informed that a Hidden Immunity Idol was located in the jungle. Judd received a clue to the whereabouts of the Hidden Immunity Idol after winning a Reward Challenge. However, Gary found the idol and used it at Tribal Council prevented him from being eliminated.

The threat of the Hidden Immunity Idol made the post-switch Nakúm vote out Bobby Jon, though Gary soon followed after the idol was used. Danni survived this Pagonging by winning immunity on Day 33 and making a deal with Rafe. Eventually, Stephenie, Danni, and Rafe worked together and reached the Final Three. When Danni won the Final Immunity Challenge, she voted Rafe out after he released her from their prior deal.

At the Final Tribal Council, Stephenie was berated for her multiple betrayals, losing to Danni in a 6-1 decision, with the jury praising her effective, stealthy game despite being the last person standing in her alliance.

Episode		Air date	Challenges		Eliminated (Vote)	Finish	Viewers (in millions)^[3]	Rating/Share (18-49)^[3]
Episode		Air date	Reward	Immunity	Eliminated (Vote)	Finish	Viewers (in millions)^[3]	Rating/Share (18-49)^[3]
1	"Big Trek, Big Trouble, Big Surprise"	September 15, 2005	Nakúm	Yaxhá	Jim (8-1)	1st Voted Out Day 3	18.41	6.6/19
2	"Man Down"	September 22, 2005	Nakúm	Nakúm	Morgan (8-1)	2nd Voted Out Day 6	16.98	6.1/17
3	"The Brave May Not Live Long, but the Cautious Don't Live at All"	September 29, 2005	Nakúm	Nakúm	Brianna (7-1)	3rd Voted Out Day 8	17.29	5.7/16
4	"To Betray or Not to Betray"	October 6, 2005	None	Yaxhá	Brooke (5-3)	4th Voted Out Day 11	17.92	6.3/17
5	"Crocs, Cowboys and City Slickers"	October 13, 2005	Yaxhá	Nakúm	Blake (5-2)	5th Voted Out Day 14	17.85	6.5/18
6	"Big Ball, Big Mouth, Big Trouble"	October 20, 2005	Nakúm	Rafe	Margaret (6-1)	6th Voted Out Day 15	17.78	6.1/17
6	"Big Ball, Big Mouth, Big Trouble"	October 20, 2005	Nakúm	[Gary]¹	Brian (5-1)	7th Voted Out Day 15	17.78	6.1/17
7	"Surprise Enemy Visit"	October 27, 2005	Yaxhá	Nakúm	Amy (4-1)	8th Voted Out Day 18	17.38	6.2/17
8	"The Hidden Immunity Idol"	November 3, 2005	None	Gary	Brandon (6-4)	9th Voted Out Day 21	18.28	6.6/17
9	"Secrets and Lies and an Idol Surprise"	November 10, 2005	Judd [Bobby Jon, Stephenie]²	Jamie	Bobby Jon (6-2-1)	10th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 24	18.98	6.9/19
10	"Eating and Sleeping with the Enemy"	November 17, 2005	Danni, Gary, Judd, Stephenie	Rafe	Jamie (6-2)	11th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 27	18.82	6.4/17
11	"Everything Is Personal"	November 24, 2005	Cindy [Rafe]	Rafe	Gary (6-1)	12th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 30	19.54	6.6/20
12	"Price for Immunity"	December 1, 2005	Survivor Auction	Danni	Judd (4-2)	13th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 33	20.21	7.0/N/A
13	"Big Win, Big Decision, Big Mistake?"	December 8, 2005	Cindy [Stephenie]	Stephenie	Cindy (4-1)	14th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 36	19.82	7.1/19
14	"Thunder Storms and Sacrifice"	December 11, 2005	None	Rafe	Lydia (3-1)	15th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 37	21.18	7.7/17
			None	Danni	Rafe (1-0)	16th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 38
			Jury Vote		Stephenie (6-1)	Runner-Up
			Jury Vote		Danni (6-1)	Sole Survivor
15	"Reunion"						15.21	5.7/14
Notes: ^1 Rafe had the right to assign individual immunity to a member of Yaxhá, in which he chose Gary. ^2 Every castaway received a different meal based on how they placed in the challenge. Judd chose to share the first place meal with Bobby Jon and Stephenie.

Voting History[]

		Original Tribes			Switched Tribes					Merged Tribe
Episode		1	2	3	4	5	6		7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
Voted Out		Jim	Morgan	Brianna	Brooke	Blake	Margaret	Brian	Amy	Brandon	Bobby Jon	Jamie	Gary	Judd	Cindy	Lydia	Rafe	Stephenie	Danni
Vote		8-1	8-1	7-1	5-3	5-2	6-1	5-1¹	4-1	6-4	6-2-1	6-2	6-1	4-2	4-1	3-1	1-0²	6-1
►►	Danni	Jim	—	—	—	Blake	—	Brian	Amy	Jamie	Stephenie	Jamie	Gary	Judd	Cindy	Lydia	Rafe	Jury Vote
►►	Stephenie	—	Morgan	Brianna	Brooke	—	Margaret	—	—	Brandon	Bobby Jon	Jamie	Gary	Judd	Cindy	Lydia	None	Jury Vote
►►	Rafe	—	Morgan	Brianna	Brooke	—	Margaret	—	—	Brandon	Bobby Jon	Jamie	Gary	Judd	Cindy	Lydia	None	Stephenie
►►	Lydia	—	Morgan	Brianna	Brooke	—	Margaret	—	—	Brandon	Bobby Jon	Jamie	Gary	Judd	Cindy	Danni			Danni
►►	Cindy	Jim	—	—	Lydia	—	Margaret	—	—	Brandon	Bobby Jon	Jamie	Gary	Lydia	Rafe				Danni
►►	Judd	Jim	—	—	Brooke	—	Margaret	—	—	Brandon	Bobby Jon	Gary	Gary	Lydia					Danni
►►	Gary	—	Morgan	Brianna	—	Blake	—	Brian	Amy	Jamie	Cindy	Jamie	Cindy						Danni
►►	Jamie	—	Morgan	Brianna	Brooke	—	Margaret	—	—	Brandon	Bobby Jon	Gary							Danni
►►	Bobby Jon	Jim	—	—	—	Blake	—	Brian	Amy	Jamie	Stephenie								Danni
►►	Brandon	Jim	—	—	—	Brian	—	Brian	Amy	Jamie
►	Amy	—	Morgan	Brianna	—	Blake	—	Brian	Bobby Jon
►	Brian	—	Morgan	Brianna	—	Blake	—	Bobby Jon
►	Margaret	Jim	—	—	Lydia	—	Judd
►	Blake	Jim	—	—	—	Brian
►	Brooke	Jim	—	—	Lydia
	Brianna	—	Morgan	Lydia
	Morgan	—	Lydia
	Jim	Margaret
Notes: ^1 For winning the individual Immunity Challenge, Rafe was given the opportunity to cast a vote to one member of Yaxhá that would receive his Immunity Necklace; if that player received enough votes to be voted out, all votes cast against that player would be negated, with the player that received the next highest number of votes being voted out instead. ^2 Rafe and Stephenie did not vote as they could only vote for each other. By virtue of winning the Final Immunity Challenge, only Danni voted.

Trivia[]

Guatemala is the first season of Survivor to include both new players and returning players.
- This is the first season of the "one returnee per tribe" format.
  - This is the only season with the "one returnee per tribe" format to contain a female returnee.
- This is the first season where a new player defeated a returning player in the Final Tribal Council.
Guatemala is the only U.S. season with no African-American contestants.
Guatemala is the most recent season of Survivor to have a Final Two without any evacuation or quit.
After Danni was voted out on Winners at War, all of the castaways from Guatemala have been voted out at some point.
- It is the fifth season to gain this distinction, after Borneo, Cambodia, Heroes vs. Villains, and Game Changers.

References[]

Survivor (U.S.) Seasons
Borneo • The Australian Outback • Africa • Marquesas • Thailand • The Amazon • Pearl Islands • All-Stars • Vanuatu • Palau • Guatemala • Panama • Cook Islands • Fiji • China • Micronesia • Gabon • Tocantins • Samoa • Heroes vs. Villains • Nicaragua • Redemption Island • South Pacific • One World • Philippines • Caramoan • Blood vs. Water • Cagayan • San Juan del Sur • Worlds Apart • Cambodia • Kaôh Rōng • Millennials vs. Gen X • Game Changers • Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers • Ghost Island • David vs. Goliath • Edge of Extinction • Island of the Idols • Winners at War • Survivor 41 • Survivor 42 • Survivor 43 • Survivor 44 • Survivor 45 • Survivor 46 • Survivor 47

[1] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080716115645/http%3A//www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp%3Fvnu_content_id%3D1002576393

[2] "Survivor: Palau" Cast Revealed

[ratings-3] 3.0 ^3.1 http://www.spottedratings.com/2011/12/spotvault-survivor-cbs-fall-2005.html

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