Survivor: Nicaragua

Survivor: Nicaragua
Season Information
Version	United States
Season No.	21
Filming Location	San Juan del Sur, Rivas, Nicaragua
Filming Dates	June 14, 2010 - July 22, 2010
Season Run	September 15, 2010 - December 19, 2010
No. of Episodes	16
No. of Days	39
No. of Castaways	20
Winner	Fabio Birza
Runner(s)-Up	Chase Rice Sash Lenahan
Tribes	Espada La Flor Libertad
Viewership (in Millions)	13.611
Opening Sequence
Season Chronology
Previous	Heroes vs. Villains
Next	Redemption Island

Survivor: Nicaragua is the twenty-first season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor. It premiered on September 15, 2010 at 8 pm, moving to the Wednesday timeslot for the first time since Survivor: Borneo. The tribes were split into two tribes divided according to age. The season has to date produced one returning player for subsequent seasons: Brenda Lowe. Fabio Birza became the winner, defeating Chase Rice and Sash Lenahan by a vote of 5-4-0.

The season is perhaps most notorious for its twelfth Tribal Council, which featured two castaways quitting together. This incident resulted in permanent alterations to the Survivor Rulebook to discourage quitting.

Production

The location of Nicaragua was announced at the conclusion of the finale of Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains. This season and Survivor: Redemption Island were both filmed in San Juan del Sur. Jeff Probst has stated that he and the production crew were very grateful for the natives' warm hospitality.

Twists/Changes

These are the game-changing events of the season:

• Old vs. Young: The 20 contestants will be divided up into two tribes based on their ages. The Espada​​ tribe will feature contestants over the age of 40, and La Flor​​ tribe will include contestants aged 30 years and younger. The producers deemed that they have a good slate of competitive older people, so they expected that the "Battle of the Ages" format will not agree to the younger tribe's sheer strength.
• Hidden Immunity Idol: Similar to Fiji, China, Tocantins, Samoa, and Heroes vs. Villains, one idol will be hidden at both tribe camps. Jeff Probst, has also announced that the Hidden Immunity Idol will be hidden differently this season. Realizing that idols have been found too easily the past two seasons (notoriously often by Russell Hantz), the clues of the idol's location will be rebus puzzles rather than textual. They dubbed it as "The Russell Factor." Both idols are usable up until the Day 36 Tribal Council.
• Medallion of Power: The two tribes will also vie for a new item, the Medallion of Power. The tribe that currently hold the Medallion will have an option to have an advantage in challenges (i.e. shortcuts, less workload etc.). They can either use it or save it until the next challenge. However, once the Medallion is utilized, regardless of whether the host tribe won or lost the challenge, they must surrender it to the rival tribe. The premise of the Medallions is to further even up the playing field for the tribes defined by age. After the tribe switch, the Medallion was retired.
• Less Physical Challenges: Aside from the Medallion of Power, challenges in this season will be more innovative and less physical, due to the Old vs. Young format. Instead of sheer strength, majority of the challenges will require teamwork to win. Jeff Probst said: "It's way less physical this season, so there will be no wrestling on the beach. Our challenge department has come up with some inventive ideas that are fair, still take skill and still take strategy. They're going to be the kind of things you think would be fun to do."
• Tribe Switch: Selected tribe members will be transferred to the rival tribe.
• Double Tribal Council: Both tribes will go to Tribal Council and will vote somebody out, with one member of both tribes possessing individual Immunity.
• Early Merge: Similar to Survivor: Samoa, the tribes will be merged with twelve people still in the game.
• Expanded Jury and Final Three: Instead of the conventional Final Two facing the jury of seven, the Day 39 Tribal Council was held with a Final Three facing a nine-person jury.

Castaways

Contestant		Tribe Affiliation			Finish	Votes Against
		Original Tribe	Switched Tribe	Merged Tribe
	Wendy DeSmidt-Kohlhoff 48, Fromberg, MT Goat Rancher	Espada			1st Voted Out Day 3	9
	Shannon Elkins 30, Lafayette, LA Pest Control Company Owner	La Flor			2nd Voted Out Day 6	7
	Jimmy Johnson 66, Islamorada, FL Former NFL Coach	Espada			3rd Voted Out Day 8	8
	Jimmy Tarantino 47, Gloucester, MA Commercial Fisherman	Espada			4th Voted Out Day 11	5
	Tyrone Davis 42, Inglewood, CA Fire Captain	Espada	Espada		5th Voted Out Day 14	6
	Kelly Bruno 26, Durham, NC Medical Student	La Flor	La Flor		6th Voted Out Day 15	8
	Yve Rojas 41, Kansas City, MO Homemaker	Espada	Espada		7th Voted Out Day 15	7
	Jill Behm 43, Erie, PA ER Doctor	Espada	La Flor		8th Voted Out Day 18	3
	Alina Wilson 23, Downey, CA Art Student	La Flor	Espada	Libertad	9th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 22	10
	Marty Piombo 48, Mill Valley, CA Technology Executive	Espada	La Flor		10th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 24	15
	Brenda Lowe 27, Miami, FL Paddleboard Company Owner	La Flor	La Flor		11th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 27	13
	NaOnka Mixon 27, Los Angeles, CA PE Teacher	La Flor	Espada		Quit 4th Jury Member Day 28	3
	Kelly Shinn 20, Mesa, AZ Nursing Student	La Flor	La Flor		Quit 5th Jury Member Day 28	0
	Benry Henry 24, Los Angeles, CA Club Promoter	La Flor	Espada		12th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 32	5
	Jane Bright 56, Jackson Springs, NC Dog Trainer	Espada	La Flor		13th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 36	11
	Dan Lembo 63, Water Mill, NY Real Estate Executive	Espada	Espada		14th Voted Out 8th Jury Member Day 37	9
	Holly Hoffman 44, Eureka, SD Swim Coach	Espada	Espada		15th Voted Out 9th Jury Member Day 38	4
	Sash Lenahan 30, New York City, NY Real Estate Broker	La Flor	La Flor		Second Runner-Up	2
	Chase Rice 24, Fairview, NC Professional Racecar Jackman	La Flor	Espada		Runner-Up	1
	Fabio Birza 21, Venice, CA Student	La Flor	La Flor		Sole Survivor	2

Season Summary

Twenty new castaways were divided into tribes by age: the younger La Flor, and the older Espada. Both tribes also vied for ownership of the newly introduced Medallion of Power, which granted them an advantage when played in challenges. At Espada, several members of the tribe such as Jimmy Johnson and Jimmy Tarantino vied for leadership as Marty Piombo stealthily built an alliance along with close ally Jill Behm.

Despite dominating in challenges, La Flor also had their own share of conflicts. Two warring alliances (one led by Shannon Elkins, and the other led by Brenda Lowe and Sash Lenahan) emerged, with both alliances vying for Chase Rice's vote. A confused Shannon lashed out at Tribal Council, making some of his alliance members and Chase to turn on him, causing his elimination instead. The remnants of Shannon's group found themselves at the mercy of the majority alliance. Not only did they have the numbers, but Brenda and NaOnka Mixon successfully found their Hidden Immunity Idol, leaving them more vulnerable. However, their supposed eliminations were put on hold, as La Flor went on to win two more Immunity Challenges.

On Day 12, a Tribe Switch caused allegiances to shift. At the new Espada, Holly Hoffman bonded with her new tribemates, and formed an alliance with them. At the new La Flor, the once-powerful Marty fell from grace, thanks to Jane Bright flipping to Brenda's alliance. Marty narrowly escaped the swapped tribe by giving Sash his Hidden Immunity Idol. On Day 19, the two tribes were merged into the Libertad tribe.

Sash and Brenda took control of Libertad, finally eliminating Marty. Seeing that Brenda was controlling the game, Holly made her move by turning everybody else on Brenda (who hoped that Sash would give her his Idol), causing her demise. Brenda's elimination, along with the voluntary exits of Kelly Shinn and NaOnka, left Sash alone and without allies. However, Sash became the swing vote and managed to find a new alliance in Holly, Chase, and Jane. After voting out the untrustworthy Benry Henry, the new formed majority alliance planned to eliminate Fabio Birza next, but he went on to win the last three Immunity Challenges, ending up in the Final Three along with Chase and Sash, who were forced to turn on Jane and Holly.

At the Final Tribal Council, Sash was ignored by the jury because of his numerous deceptions; while Chase was castigated for his indecisiveness at several points during the game. Fabio on the other hand was chastised by the other two for seemingly coasting throughout the game, but he rebutted that he did that on purpose to not hurt anybody's feelings, and still stay longer in the game. In the end, Fabio's unconventional strategy earned him the title of Sole Survivor by a 5-4-0 vote over Chase and Sash.

Episode		Air date	Challenges		Medallion of Power	Eliminated (Vote)	Finish	Viewership (in millions)	Rating/Share (18-49)
			Reward	Immunity
1	"Young at Heart"	September 15, 2010	La Flor	La Flor		Wendy (9-1)	1st Voted Out Day 3	12.23	4.0/13
2	"Fatigue Makes Cowards of Us All"	September 22, 2010	Espada1			Shannon (7-3)	2nd Voted Out Day 6	12.59	4.0/12
3	"Glitter in Their Eyes"	September 29, 2010	La Flor			Jimmy J. (8-1)	3rd Voted Out Day 8	12.26	3.5/11
4	"Pulling the Trigger"	October 6, 2010	La Flor1			Jimmy T. (5-3)	4th Voted Out Day 11	12.05	3.8/11
5	"Turf Wars"	October 13, 2010	Espada	La Flor		Tyrone (6-2)	5th Voted Out Day 14	12.32	3.8/11
6	"Worst Case Scenario"	October 20, 2010	La Flor	Jill		Kelly B. (3-3-2; 5-1)2	6th Voted Out Day 15	12.26	3.6/11
				Holly		Yve (6-1)	7th Voted Out Day 15
7	"What Goes Around, Comes Around"	October 27, 2010	Espada	Espada		Jill (3-2-2)	8th Voted Out Day 18	11.82	3.5/10
8	"Company Will Be Arriving Soon"	November 3, 2010	None	Jane		Alina (10-2)	9th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 22	12.30	3.7/11
				Fabio
9	"Running the Camp"	November 10, 2010	Benry, Dan, Fabio, Marty, Sash	Brenda		Marty (7-4)	10th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 24	11.29	3.2/10
10	"Stuck in the Middle"	November 17, 2010	Chase, Fabio, Jane, Kelly S., NaOnka	Jane		Brenda (8-1-1)	11th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 27	11.98	3.5/10
11	"We Did It Guys"	November 24, 2010	Recap Episode					N/A	N/A
12	"You Started, You're Finishing"	December 1, 2010	Benry, Chase, Holly, NaOnka [Dan]3	None		NaOnka (no vote)	Quit 4th Jury Member Day 28	12.26	3.6/11
						Kelly S. (no vote)	Quit 5th Jury Member Day 28
13	"Not Sure Where I Stand"	December 8, 2010	Chase [Holly, Jane]	Sash		Benry (4-2-1)	12th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 32	12.13	3.6/10
14	"This Is Going to Hurt"	December 15, 2010	Chase [Holly, Sash]	Fabio		Jane (5-0)4,5	13th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 36	12.32	3.5/11
15	"What About Me?"	December 19, 2010	None	Fabio		Dan (4-1)	14th Voted Out 8th Jury Member Day 37	13.59	4.1/11
				Fabio		Holly (3-1)	15th Voted Out 9th Jury Member Day 38
			Jury Vote			Sash (5-4-0)	Second Runner-Up
						Chase (5-4-0)	Runner-Up
						Fabio (5-4-0)	Sole Survivor
16	"Reunion"							11.19	3.4/9
Notes: ^1 Combined Reward and Immunity Challenge. ^2 The vote resulted in a tie. Per Survivor rules, a revote would commence. ^3 Jeff tempted the winners of the Reward Challenge by offering a new supply of rice and tarp for the tribe if one of the winners chooses to give up their share of the reward. Furthermore, being singled out due to the odd number of players, Dan was chosen to sit out in the challenge, but if he guessed the winning team correctly, he would join them at their reward. Dan guessed the winning team correctly, winning himself reward as well. ^4 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played, negating all votes against its user. ^5 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played, however, no votes were cast against its user.

Voting History

		Original Tribes				Switched Tribes					Merged Tribe
Episode		1	2	3	4	5	6			7	8	9	10	12		13	14	15
Voted Out		Wendy	Shannon	Jimmy J.	Jimmy T.	Tyrone	Tie	Kelly B.	Yve	Jill	Alina	Marty	Brenda	NaOnka	Kelly S.	Benry	Jane	Dan	Holly	Sash	Chase	Fabio
Vote		9-1	7-3	8-1	5-3	6-2	3-3-21	5-1	6-1	3-2-2	10-2	7-4	8-1-1	No vote2		4-2-1	5-0-03,4	4-1	3-1	5-4-0
►►	Fabio	—	Brenda	—	—	—	Kelly B.	Kelly B.	—	Marty	Alina	Jane	Brenda	—		Holly	Jane	Dan	Holly	Jury Vote
►►	Chase	—	Shannon	—	—	Tyrone	—		Yve	—	Alina	Marty	Brenda	—		Benry	Jane	Dan	Holly
►►	Sash	—	Shannon	—	—	—	Marty	Kelly B.	—	Jill	Alina	Marty	Brenda	—		Benry	Jane	Dan	Holly
►►	Holly	Wendy	—	Jimmy J.	Dan	Tyrone	—		Yve	—	Alina	Marty	Brenda	—		Benry	Jane	Dan	Sash		Chase
►►	Dan	Wendy	—	Jimmy J.	Jimmy T.	Tyrone	—		Yve	—	Alina	Jane	Brenda	—		Fabio	Jane	Chase				Fabio
►►	Jane	Wendy	—	Jimmy J.	Dan	—	Marty	Marty	—	Marty	Marty	Marty	Brenda	—		Benry	Sash				Chase
►►	Benry	—	Shannon	—	—	Tyrone	—		Yve	—	Alina	Jane	Brenda	—		Fabio						Fabio
►►	Kelly S.	—	Shannon	—	—	—	Kelly B.	Kelly B.	—	Jill	Alina	Marty	Benry	Quit								Fabio
►►	NaOnka	—	Shannon	—	—	Tyrone	—		Yve	—	Alina	Marty	Brenda	Quit								Fabio
►►	Brenda	—	Shannon	—	—	—	Kelly B.	Kelly B.	—	Jill	Alina	Marty	NaOnka								Chase
►►	Marty	Wendy	—	Jimmy J.	Jimmy T.	—	Brenda	None	—	Jane	Alina	Jane										Fabio
►►	Alina	—	Brenda	—	—	Tyrone	—		Yve	—	Marty										Chase
►	Jill	Wendy	—	Jimmy J.	Jimmy T.	—	Brenda	Kelly B.	—	Jane
►	Yve	Wendy	—	Jimmy J.	Jimmy T.	NaOnka	—		Dan
►	Kelly B.	—	Shannon	—	—	—	Marty	None
►	Tyrone	Wendy	—	Jimmy J.	Jimmy T.	NaOnka
	Jimmy T.	Wendy	—	Jimmy J.	Dan
	Jimmy J.	Wendy	—	Dan
	Shannon	—	Brenda
	Wendy	Yve
Notes: ^1 The vote resulted in a tie. Per Survivor rules, a revote 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. ^2 NaOnka and Kelly S. both elected to quit the game. No vote occurred for their removal. ^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.

Trivia

• This is the second season to have tribes split by age, the first being Survivor: Panama, which was divided by age and then by gender.
• This season's Tribal Council set is designed after a destroyed church, with a mock graveyard pathway where the eliminated castaways walk after being voted out.
• This was the first season since Survivor: All-Stars to feature two castaways quit in the same season.
  • This season marked the first, and currently only instance in Survivor that two castaways quit at the same time.
• This season marked the second time that Jeff bribed a tribe for something after an unfortunate event at camp. The first time this happened was in Survivor: The Australian Outback, where the Barramundi tribe suffered miserably after a terrible storm, with their remaining food supply being washed up. Jeff bribed them to dismantle their shelter for a new supply of rice.
• This season has three 4-day cycles. "Company Will Be Arriving Soon", "Not Sure Where I Stand", and "This Is Going to Hurt" all covered more than 3 days.
• This season marked the second time that more than one castaway used a Hidden Immunity Idol at a single Tribal Council, being Sash and Chase.
• Original La Flor members had an etched flower design at their torches, while the original Espada had saber-like etchings on theirs.
• This was the first time that tribe names were prominently displayed on the buffs, though this would be the second time that buffs were customized for a tribe, following Survivor: All-Stars, where their buffs had their tribe insignia drawn on it.
• This is the first (and most recent overall) season since Survivor: Gabon where the difference in the jury vote was only one vote.
  • It is the first season since Survivor: Cook Islands where the jury vote has been 5-4-0. There had been three seasons with a final three and nine jury members between Cook Islands and Nicaragua.
• This season marks the third all-male Final Tribal Council, following Survivor: Thailand and Survivor: Tocantins.
  • This season also marks the first and only all-male Final Three.
• This is the first season to have a castaway that was born in the 1990s: Kelly Shinn.
• Composer Russ Landau had composed a new version of "Ancient Voices" for this season featuring indigenous flutes and elements of Spanish music, however the producers instead used an extended version of the original theme from season 1. The theme composed for Survivor: Nicaragua was later released on iTunes and is known as "Survivor: Nicaragua Unapproved."