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Survivor: Island of the Idols

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Survivor: Island of the Idols is the thirty-ninth season of Survivor.

Tommy Sheehan was awarded the title of Sole Survivor over Dean Kowalski and Noura Salman in a 8-2-0 vote.

Production

Starting with this season, Canadian citizens are eligible to apply for Survivor.[3]

The mentors, Rob Mariano and Sandra Diaz-Twine, were given creative control over the happenings on the Island of the Idols, from the lessons they will teach and how they will go about them. Host Jeff Probst stated that production would have built a shelter for Rob and Sandra, but the two refused and insisted to relive the Survivor experience and built their own shelter.[4][5] Rob and Sandra also attend Tribal Council, albeit in secret. They have a special hiding place in one of the huts in the Tribal Council set where they watch the proceedings.

Twists/Changes

  • Mentors: Two former Survivor winners, Rob Mariano and Sandra Diaz-Twine, would return for this season as mentors to the castaways this season. Neither mentor is in contention to win the million dollar prize. The mentors also get to attend Tribal Council in a hideaway spot near the fire pit.
  • Island of the Idols: A selected castaway will be sent to the eponymous Island of the Idols where they will be taught survival skills and game strategies by Rob and Sandra. The castaway may choose to be tested on what they learned from the mentors for a chance to win an advantage in the game. However, losing the mentors' challenge will disallow them from voting the next time the player attends Tribal Council. Host Jeff Probst describes the island as a "Survivor boot camp."[6][7][8]
  • Hidden Immunity Idol: A Hidden Immunity Idol is hidden at each camp. In addition, temporary Hidden Immunity Idols may be offered on the Island of the Idols which are only usable for two to three Tribal Councils after obtaining them.
  • Vote Blocker: The castaways sent to Island of the Idols on Days 9 and 15 were eligible to win a Vote Blocker. Unlike its previous appearance where it had to be used at the following Tribal Council regardless if the holder would attend that Tribal Council or not, the Vote Blocker was reworked so that it could be used at any Tribal Council the holder attends up to the final six.
  • Tribe Switch: On Day 12, a Tribe Switch occurred, spreading the sixteen remaining castaways across two tribes of eight.
  • Safety Without Power: The castaway sent to the Island of the Idols on Day 17 would be eligible to win an advantage that allows them to leave Tribal Council before the vote, effectively making them immune, at the cost of not voting. This advantage is usable until the final seven.
  • Early Merge: The merge occurred with thirteen players remaining.
  • Double Elimination: The Lumuwaku tribe was briefly split into two groups (one of six and one of five) with each group attending a separate Tribal Council to vote out a member. Following the Immunity Challenge, one group remained at the Lumuwaku camp while the other was sequestered at the old Lairo camp for the afternoon.
  • Extra Vote: The castaway sent to the Island of the Idols on Day 34 would be given an option between this, an Idol Nullifier, or a Hidden Immunity Idol good for the next Tribal Council, if they win the mentor's test.
  • Idol Nullifier: The castaway sent to the Island of the Idols on Day 34 would be given an option between this, an Extra Vote, or a Hidden Immunity Idol good for the next Tribal Council, if they win the mentor's test. The Idol Nullifier is usable until the final five.

Castaways

Contestant Tribe Affiliation Finish Votes
Against
Original Tribe Switched Tribe Merged Tribe
S39 ronnie t Ronnie Bardah
36, Henderson, NV
Professional Poker Player 		Lairo 1st Voted Out
Day 3 		7
S39 molly t Molly Byman
28, Durham, NC
Law Student 		Vokai 2nd Voted Out
Day 6 		7
S39 vince t Vince Moua
27, Palo Alto, CA
Admissions Counselor 		Lairo 3rd Voted Out
Day 8 		7
S39 chelsea t Chelsea Walker
26, Los Angeles, CA
Digital Content Creator 		Lairo 4th Voted Out
Day 11 		6
S39 tom t Tom Laidlaw
60, Greenwich, CT
Former NHL Player 		Lairo Lairo 5th Voted Out
Day 14 		6
S39 jason t Jason Linden
32, New York City, NY
Personal Injury Lawyer 		Vokai Vokai 6th Voted Out
Day 16 		6
S39 jack t Jack Nichting
23, Harrisonburg, VA
Graduate Student 		Vokai Lairo 7th Voted Out
1st Jury Member
Day 19 		2
S39 kellee t Kellee Kim
29, Philadelphia, PA
MBA Student 		Vokai Lairo Lumuwaku 8th Voted Out
2nd Jury Member
Day 22 		8
S39 jamal t Jamal Shipman
33, Providence, RI
College Administrator 		Vokai Lairo 9th Voted Out
3rd Jury Member
Day 24 		6
S39 aaron t Aaron Meredith
36, Warwick, RI
Gym Owner 		Lairo Vokai 10th Voted Out
4th Jury Member
Day 27 		5
S39 missy t Missy Byrd
24, Tacoma, WA
Air Force Veteran 		Lairo Vokai 11th Voted Out
5th Jury Member
Day 27 		3
S39 elizabeth t Elizabeth Beisel
26, Saunderstown, RI
Olympic Medalist 		Lairo Vokai 12th Voted Out
6th Jury Member
Day 30 		8
S39 karishma t Karishma Patel
37, Houston, TX
Personal Injury Lawyer 		Lairo Lairo 13th Voted Out
7th Jury Member
Day 32 		22
S39 elaine t Elaine Stott
41, Rockholds, KY
Factory Worker 		Lairo Vokai 14th Voted Out
8th Jury Member
Day 35 		8
S39 dan t Dan Spilo
48, Los Angeles, CA
Talent Manager 		Vokai Vokai Ejected
Day 36 		5
S39 janet t Janet Carbin
59, Palm Bay, FL
Chief Lifeguard 		Vokai Lairo 15th Voted Out
9th Jury Member
Day 37 		8
S39 lauren t Lauren Beck
29, Glendale, CA
Nanny 		Vokai Vokai Eliminated
10th Jury Member
Day 38 		1
S39 noura t Noura Salman
36, North Potomac, MD
Entrepreneur 		Vokai Lairo Second
Runner-Up 		6
S39 dean t Dean Kowalski
29, New York City, NY
Tech Salesman 		Lairo Lairo Runner-Up 5
S39 tommy t Tommy Sheehan
26, Long Beach, NY
4th Grade Teacher 		Vokai Vokai Sole Survivor 2

Season Summary

The twenty castaways were divided into two tribes: Lairo and Vokai. Multiple castaways were sent to the Island of the Idols over the season and were mentored and challenged by former Survivor winners and legends Rob Mariano and Sandra Diaz-Twine in exchange for game advantages.

Vokai were the more cohesive unit and dominated the challenges, with Tommy Sheehan and Lauren Beck secretly running the show. On the other hand, Lairo was fractured by excessive politicking, with Missy Byrd being behind most of the strategies taking place and Karishma Patel being the perennial decoy target. The Tribe Switch allowed social in-roads between the tribes, with several players switching strategies and allegiances despite initial uneasiness. Both the pre-swap and post-swap portions of the premerge were characterized by players perceived to be threats being the primary targets, including some eliminations caused by idols and advantages.

The merge was initially marred by controversy due to Kellee Kim's accusations to Dan Spilo of inappropriate touching. The other women came forward to exclaim they also felt violated by Dan, though Missy and Elizabeth Beisel fabricated their claims for strategy and Kellee was voted out at the subsequent Tribal Council. Dan was later expelled from the game for a separate but similar offense. While initially the post-swap Vokai faction worked together, that changed when a Double Elimination occurred which saw Aaron and Missy get blindsided.

Tommy and Lauren used their social relationships to eliminate the remaining Lairos, but when only Dean Kowalski remained, he managed to make a resurgence and go on a power run by winning Immunity Challenges and finding or receiving, and using Hidden Immunity Idols and advantages. The most consequential of these advantages was an Idol Nullifier which sealed Janet Carbin's elimination on Day 37. On the penultimate day, as a precautionary measure in case he failed to win the Final Immunity Challenge, Tommy convinced Noura Salman to take him to the Final Three. Noura did win and took Tommy, leaving Lauren and Dean to compete in a fire-making challenge. Dean defeated Lauren and secured his spot at the finals.

At the Final Tribal Council, Noura was praised for her multiple challenge wins, but was overshadowed by her personality quirks and emotional gameplay. Dean, on the other hand, was lauded for his strong endgame, but the jury felt his social game was poor. It was Tommy's quiet yet effective strategic and superb social games, as well as more consistently being in the loop than his fellow finalists, that won the jury over, winning him the title of Sole Survivor over Dean and Noura in an 8-2-0 vote.

Episode Air date Challenges Island of the Idols Eliminated
(vote) 		Finish Viewers
(in millions) 		Ratings/Share
(18-49)
Reward Immunity Exiled Result of
Mentor's
Challenge
1 "I Vote You Out and That's It" September 25, 2019 Vokai1 Elizabeth Lost Ronnie
(7-2) 		1st Voted Out
Day 3 		6.29[9] 1.3/6[9]
2 "YOLO, Let's Play!" October 2, 2019 Lairo1 Kellee Won Molly
(7-2-1) 		2nd Voted Out
Day 6 		6.57[10] 1.2/6[10]
3 "Honesty Would Be Chill" October 9, 2019 Vokai1 Vince Won Vince
(5-3-1) 		3rd Voted Out
Day 8 		6.51[11] 1.2/6[11]
4 "Plan Z" October 16, 2019 Vokai1 Noura Lost Chelsea
(6-2) 		4th Voted Out
Day 11 		6.91[12] 1.4/7[12]
5 "Don't Bite the Hand That Feeds You" October 23, 2019 Vokai Vokai None Tom
(5-2) 		5th Voted Out
Day 14 		6.82[13] 1.3/6[13]
6 "Suck It Up Buttercup" October 30, 2019 Vokai Lairo Elaine Won Jason
(4-3) 		6th Voted Out
Day 16 		6.37[14] 1.2/6[14]
7 "I Was Born at Night, but Not Last Night" November 6, 2019 Vokai2 Vokai Janet Declined Jack
(2-0)3,4 		7th Voted Out
1st Jury Member
Day 19 		6.82[15] 1.3/6[15]
8 "We Made It to the Merge!" November 13, 2019 None Aaron None Kellee
(8-5) 		8th Voted Out
2nd Jury Member
Day 22 		6.07[16] 1.1/6[16]
Aaron Jamal Lost5 Jamal
(6-3-0)3 		9th Voted Out
3rd Jury Member
Day 24
Missy
9 "Two for the Price of One" November 20, 2019 Noura None Aaron
(5-1) 		10th Voted Out
4th Jury Member
Day 27
Elaine6 Missy
(3-2) 		11th Voted Out
5th Jury Member
Day 27
Elizabeth,
Karishma,
Missy,
Tommy6
10 "Bring On the Bacon" November 27, 2019 None Noura Lauren Won Elizabeth
(1-1-0;
7-0)7 		12th Voted Out
6th Jury Member
Day 30
11 "A Very Simple Plan" December 4, 2019 Janet,
Tommy
[Dan,
Lauren] 		Lauren None Karishma
(5-3)3,4 		13th Voted Out
7th Jury Member
Day 32
12 "Just Go for It" December 11, 2019 None Dean Dean Won Elaine
(5-2) 		14th Voted Out
8th Jury Member
Day 35
Dan
(no vote)8 		Ejected
Day 36
13 "Mama, Look at Me Now" December 18, 2019 Dean None Janet
(4-1) 		15th Voted Out
9th Jury Member
Day 37
[Noura]
None Noura Lauren
(no vote)9 		Eliminated
10th Jury Member
Day 38
Jury Vote Noura
(8-2-0) 		Second
Runner-Up
Dean
(8-2-0) 		Runner-Up
Tommy
(8-2-0) 		Sole Survivor
14 "Reunion"
Notes:

^1 Combined Reward and Immunity Challenge.
^2 Promotional pictures were released showing an unaired challenge that would have occurred during the episode. A member of the Island of the Idols cast anonymously informed the Survivor Wiki admins about the outcome of the challenge.
^3 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played, negating all votes against its user.
^4 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played, however, no votes were cast against its user.
^5 Jamal inadvertently took the mentors' challenge by taking a hanging note with an enticing message. The note sent Jamal to the Island of the Idols, only to be informed by Rob and Sandra that he lost due to taking an opportunity that is too good to be true. However, the mentors offered him a pencil and a piece of paper to write whatever he pleases to sabotage another player. Jamal chose to write a fake Legacy Advantage and passed it to Dean.
^6 At the Immunity Challenge, Lumuwaku was divided into two groups, with one person from each team winning Immunity, and the last person standing winning reward for their team. Elaine was the last person left standing and won reward for the Orange Team.
^7 The vote resulted in a tie. Per Survivor rules, a revote will commence. Elizabeth received all seven votes, eliminating her.
^8 Dan was ejected from the game because of repeated inappropriate touching.
^9 Instead of a traditional vote, The winner of the Immunity challenge, Noura, would choose someone to take with them to the Final Three. She chose Tommy. The remaining two castaways, Dean and Lauren, would compete in a fire-making challenge to determine the last finalist.

Voting History

Survivor: Island of the Idols Voting History
Tribes Original Tribes Switched Tribes Merged Tribe
Episode #: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Voted Off: S39 ronnie t
Ronnie 		S39 molly t
Molly 		S39 vince t
Vince 		S39 chelsea t
Chelsea 		S39 tom t
Tom 		S39 jason t
Jason 		S39 jack t
Jack 		S39 kellee t
Kellee 		S39 jamal t
Jamal 		S39 aaron t
Aaron 		S39 missy t
Missy 		Tie S39 elizabeth t
Elizabeth 		S39 karishma t
Karishma 		S39 elaine t
Elaine 		S39 dan t
Dan 		S39 janet t
Janet 		S39 lauren t
Lauren 		S39 noura t
Noura 		S39 dean t
Dean 		S39 tommy t
Tommy
Vote: 7-2 7-2-1 5-3-1 6-2 5-2 4-3 2-03,4 8-5 6-3-03 5-1 3-2 1-1-03,4,5 7-0 5-34 5-2 No vote6 4-1 No vote7 8-2-0
►► Tommy — Molly — — — Elaine — Kellee Jamal — Missy Karishma Elizabeth Karishma Elaine — Janet — Jury Vote
►► Dean Ronnie — Karishma Karishma Karishma — Jack Kellee Jamal Aaron — Karishma Elizabeth Karishma Elaine — Janet —
►► Noura — Molly — — None1 — Jack Dan Jamal Aaron — Karishma Elizabeth Karishma Elaine — Janet —
►► Lauren — Molly — — — Elaine — Kellee Karishma Aaron — Karishma Elizabeth Karishma Elaine — Janet — Tommy
►► Janet — Molly — — Tom — Dean Dan Jamal Aaron — Karishma None Noura Elaine — Lauren Tommy
►► Dan — Molly — — — Elaine — Kellee Jamal Aaron — Elizabeth Elizabeth Noura Noura Ejected
►► Elaine Ronnie — Vince Chelsea — Jason — Kellee Karishma — Missy Karishma Elizabeth Karishma Noura Tommy
►► Karishma Ronnie — Vince Chelsea Tom — Dean Dan Janet — Missy Janet Elizabeth Noura Tommy
►► Elizabeth None1 — Vince Chelsea — Jason — Kellee Karishma — Tommy Karishma None Dean
►► Missy Ronnie — Vince Chelsea — Jason — Kellee Janet — Tommy Tommy
►► Aaron Vince — Karishma Chelsea — Jason — Kellee Jamal Janet Dean
►► Jamal — Jason — — Tom — Dean Dan None1 Tommy
►► Kellee — Molly — — Tom — Dean Dan Tommy
► Jack — Jason — — Tom — Dean Tommy
► Jason — Molly — — — None2
► Tom Ronnie — Karishma Chelsea Karishma
Chelsea Ronnie — Vince Karishma
Vince Ronnie — Tom
Molly — Noura
Ronnie Vince
Notes:

^1 This castaway lost their right to vote for losing the mentors' test.
^2 Elaine used a Vote Blocker on Jason, preventing him from voting at Tribal Council.
^3 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played, negating the votes against its user.
^4 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played, however, no votes were cast against its user.
^5 Tribal Council resulted in a tie. Per the rules, a second vote was held where the castaways involved in the tie would not vote and the remaining castaways could only vote for those involved in the tie.
^6 Dan was ejected from the game because of repeated inappropriate touching. No vote occurred for his removal and he would not be part of the jury.
^7 Instead of a traditional vote, the person who won the Immunity Challenge, would take someone with them to the Final Three. The remaining two castaways would compete in a fire-making challenge to determine the last finalist.

Trivia

References

  1. ↑ https://www.truedorktimes.com/s39/calendar.htm
  2. ↑ https://www.cbs.com/recommended/news/1009303/check-out-premiere-dates-from-the-2019-cbs-fall-primetime-schedule-including-ncis-and-survivor/?ftag=EOS-05-10aca0c
  3. ↑ https://etcanada.com/news/371354/jeff-probst-announces-canadians-are-now-eligible-to-compete-on-survivor/
  4. ↑ https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/mind-and-soul/rob-and-sandra-take-charge-on-survivor-island-of-the-idols/vp-AAHclgB
  5. ↑ https://ew.com/tv/2019/10/03/survivor-jeff-probst-island-of-the-idols-episode-2/
  6. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8swCzpmJ7I8
  7. ↑ https://twitter.com/survivorcbs/status/1171151287997517824
  8. ↑ https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/survivor-boston-rob-sandra-diaz-twine-season-39-island-idols-explained-1210431
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 https://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/wednesday-final-ratings-sept-25-2019/
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 https://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/wednesday-final-ratings-oct-2-2019/
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 https://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/wednesday-final-ratings-oct-9-2019/
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 https://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/wednesday-final-ratings-oct-16-2019/
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 https://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/wednesday-final-ratings-oct-23-2019/
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 https://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/wednesday-final-ratings-oct-30-2019/
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 https://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/wednesday-final-ratings-nov-6-2019/
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 https://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/wednesday-final-ratings-nov-13-2019/
  17. ↑ https://imgur.com/LPmOH4L

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