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Survivor: Redemption Island is the twenty-second season of Survivor. It premiered on February 16, 2011. Filming took place in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, the same location used in the previous season. The winner of the season was veteran player Rob Mariano after defeating Phillip Sheppard and Natalie Tenerelli in a 8-1-0 vote. To date, it has produced four returning players (Andrea Boehlke, Francesca Hogi, Phillip Sheppard, and Rob Mariano) for subsequent seasons.

Production[]

The production staff stayed in Nicaragua after filming Survivor: Nicaragua because they enjoyed the warm hospitality and also to minimize production costs. Also, the location of Ponderosa this season was the same location used in Nicaragua.

The idea of bringing back Rob Mariano and Russell Hantz came from the Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains Reunion Show, where Rob (who was eliminated by Hantz's alliance) said he would like to compete against Russell in a future season to settle their rivalry.

After the controversial inclusion of NaOnka Mixon and Kelly Shinn to the jury after their simultaneous voluntary exits in the previous season, Mark Burnett has stated that starting from this season, post-merge quitters may or may not be put on the jury. This decision will be decided by the producers before the next Tribal Council, where the jurors will watch its proceedings. According to Burnett, "It's very unlikely any quitter will be on the jury again."

Twists/Changes[]

  • Redemption Island: In a drastic, game-changing twist, when a player gets voted out from Tribal Council, that player will not be eliminated right away. Instead, they will go to Redemption Island, where they will fend for themselves during their entire stay. When the next person gets voted out, the two players will compete in a "duel". The winner gets to stay at the island, while the loser is eliminated from the game for good. At a certain point, the last person standing on Redemption Island will return to the main game and will continue their pursuit of the one million dollar prize and the title of Sole Survivor.
  • Challenges: In the advent of the Redemption Island duels, this season featured several challenges both for reward and immunity.
  • Two Returning Contestants: Rob Mariano and Russell Hantz returned as contestants to settle their heated rivalry during Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains.
  • Hidden Immunity Idol: Hidden Immunity Idols were available this season, with one hidden at each camp.
  • Early Merge: This season merged with twelve castaways in the game.
  • New Camp for Merger: This is the first time since Survivor: The Amazon where the merged tribe lived in an entirely new camp, rather than using either of the existing camps.
  • Double Elimination: On Day 30, Murlonio was subjected to a double elimination, where two castaways would be eliminated after two rounds of voting.
  • 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 Redemption
Island Status
Votes
Against
Original Tribe Merged Tribe
S22 francesca t Francesca Hogi
36, Washington, DC
Attorney
Ometepe 1st Voted Out
Day 3
1st Eliminated
Day 6
4
S22 russell t Russell Hantz
37, Dayton, TX
Samoa & Heroes vs. Villains
Zapatera 3rd Voted Out
Day 8
2nd Eliminated
Day 10
8
S22 kristina t Kristina Kell
45, Malibu, CA
Law Student
Ometepe 4th Voted Out
Day 11
3rd Eliminated
Day 12
9
S22 krista t Krista Klumpp
25, Columbia, SC
Pharmaceutical Representative
Zapatera 5th Voted Out
Day 13
4th Eliminated
Day 14
6
S22 stephanie t Stephanie Valencia
25, Long Beach, CA
Waitress
Zapatera 6th Voted Out
Day 16
5th Eliminated
Day 17
8
S22 sarita t Sarita White
35, Santa Monica, CA
Visual Effects Producer
Zapatera 7th Voted Out
Day 18
6th Eliminated
Day 19
6
S22 david t David Murphy
31, West Hollywood, CA
Defense Attorney
Zapatera Murlonio 10th Voted Out
Day 24
7th Eliminated
1st Jury Member
Day 25
8
S22 julie t Julie Wolfe
50, Oceanside, CA
Firefighter
Zapatera 11th Voted Out
Day 27
8th Eliminated
2nd Jury Member
Day 28
6
S22 steve t Steve Wright
51, Huntington Beach, CA
Ex-NFL Player
Zapatera 13th Voted Out
Day 30
9th Eliminated
3rd Jury Member
Day 31
9
S22 ralph t Ralph Kiser
44, Lebanon, VA
Farmer
Zapatera 12th Voted Out
Day 30
10th Eliminated
4th Jury Member
Day 33
10
S22 grant t Grant Mattos
29, West Hollywood, CA
Ex-NFL Player
Ometepe 15th Voted Out
Day 35
11th Eliminated
5th Jury Member
Day 36
10
S22 matt t Matt Elrod
21, Nashville, TN
Pre-Med Student
Ometepe 2nd Voted Out
Day 5
8th Voted Out
Day 21
1st Returnee
Day 19
12th Eliminated
6th Jury Member
Day 36
10
S22 mike t Mike Chiesl
30, Del Mar, CA
Iraq War Veteran
Zapatera 9th Voted Out
Day 22
13th Eliminated
7th Jury Member
Day 36
6
S22 andrea t Andrea Boehlke
21, Random Lake, WI
Student
Ometepe 14th Voted Out
Day 32
16th Voted Out
8th Jury Member
Day 37
2nd Returnee
Day 36
9
S22 ashley t Ashley Underwood
25, Benton, ME
Nurse
Ometepe 17th Voted Out
9th Jury Member
Day 38
3
S22 natalie t Natalie Tenerelli
19, Acton, CA
Professional Dancer
Ometepe Second
Runner-Up
1
S22 phillip t Phillip Sheppard
52, Santa Monica, CA
Former Federal Agent
Ometepe Runner-Up 17
S22 rob t Rob Mariano
34, Pensacola, FL
Marquesas, All-Stars, & Heroes vs. Villains
Ometepe Sole Survivor 7

Season Summary[]

The sixteen new castaways, previously divided into two tribes, Ometepe and Zapatera, were joined by returning contestants, Rob Mariano and Russell Hantz, with Rob joining Ometepe and Russell joining Zapatera by random draw. The tribes were then told about Redemption Island, a secluded location where voted out players would go to compete in challenges for a chance to be brought back into the game.

Rob quickly proved to be leader in Ometepe, and kept wary of the Hidden Immunity Idol, including sending one of his own alliance, Matt, to Redemption Island while trying to flush it out. On Zapatera, the bulk of the tribe recognized the threat that Russell could be, throwing a challenge in order to vote Russell out; Russell would lose to Matt at the next Redemption Island challenge. Matt would continue to win several more duels against several Zapatera players after Ometepe dominated the challenges, while Zapatera suffered due to the loss of cohesion within their tribe.

The tribes merged with twelve players left in the game, including Matt, who returned from Redemption Island. Matt discussed blindsiding Rob with the former Zapatera members, however he eventually decided against it, telling this to Rob in an attempt to prove his loyalty. Despite this, Rob decided Matt could not be trusted, using his alliance to send Matt back to Redemption Island, establishing a firm Ometepe majority. The former Ometepe tribe used their numerical advantage to completely eliminate the remaining former members of Zapatera, before having to turn on themselves.

Rob then orchestrated the eliminations of those whom he felt would be threatening to him, including close allies Andrea and Grant. Though Andrea would return to the game from Redemption Island, she was unable to secure any other alliances, and was voted out a second time. Rob's plans were nearly derailed by Ashley's immunity run, but Rob managed to win immunity on Day 38 to send her to the jury and complete his ideal Final Three scenario. Ultimately, the Final Three were Rob, Natalie, and Phillip.

At the Final Tribal Council, Natalie was criticized for simply following in Rob's footsteps, Phillip was chastised for his behavior, while Rob was criticized for his cutthroat gameplay. Rob, after 117 days of fighting in the game over four seasons, was voted the Sole Survivor receiving 8 of the 9 jury votes, while Phillip received one vote.

Episode Air Date Redemption Island Immunity Voted Out
(Vote)
Status Viewership
(in millions)[2]
Rating/Share
(18-49)[2]
Inhabitant Challenger Eliminated Finish
1 "You're Looking at the New Leader of Your Tribe" February 16, 2011 Zapatera1 Francesca
(4-3-2)
1st Voted Out
Day 3
11.16 3.2/9
2 "You Own My Vote" February 23, 2011 Francesca Zapatera1 Matt
(4-2-0)2
2nd Voted Out
Day 5
10.93 3.1/9
3 "Keep Hope Alive" March 2, 2011 Francesca Matt Francesca 1st Eliminated
Day 6
Ometepe1 Russell
(3-3-3;
5-1-0)3
3rd Voted Out
Day 8
11.32 3.3/10
4 "Don't You Work for Me?" March 9, 2011 Matt Russell Russell 2nd Eliminated
Day 10
Zapatera1 Kristina
(4-3)
4th Voted Out
Day 11
10.96 3.2/9
5 "We Hate Our Tribe" March 16, 2011 Matt Kristina Kristina 3rd Eliminated
Day 12
Ometepe1 Krista
(6-2)
5th Voted Out
Day 13
10.73 3.2/10
6 "Their Red-Headed Stepchild" March 23, 2011 Matt Krista Krista 4th Eliminated
Day 14
Ometepe1 Stephanie
(5-2)
6th Voted Out
Day 16
11.00 3.1/9
7 "It Don't Take a Smart One" March 30, 2011 Matt Stephanie Stephanie 5th Eliminated
Day 17
Ometepe1 Sarita
(4-2)
7th Voted Out
Day 18
11.01 3.1/9
8 "This Game Respects Big Moves" April 6, 2011 Matt Sarita Sarita 6th Eliminated
Day 19
Natalie Matt
(6-5-1)4
8th Voted Out
Day 21
10.94 3.2/10
Matt 1st Returnee
Day 19
9 "The Buddy System" April 13, 2011 Matt Grant Mike
(6-5)
9th Voted Out
Day 22
11.09 3.1/9
Andrea David
(6-4)
10th Voted Out
Day 24
10 "Rice Wars" April 20, 2011 Matt Mike David 7th Eliminated
1st Jury Member
Day 25
Rob Julie
(6-3)
11th Voted Out
Day 27
11.02 3.1/9
David
11 "A Mystery Package" April 27, 2011 Matt Julie Julie 8th Eliminated
2nd Jury Member
Day 28
Grant
[Andrea,
Rob]1
Ralph
(6-2)
12th Voted Out
Day 30
11.34 3.2/9
Mike Rob Steve
(6-1)
13th Voted Out
Day 30
12 "You Mangled My Nets" May 4, 2011 Matt Ralph Steve 9th Eliminated
3rd Jury Member
Day 31
Rob Andrea
(5-1)
14th Voted Out
Day 32
10.99 3.1/9
Mike5 Steve
13 "Too Close for Comfort" May 11, 2011 Matt Andrea Ralph 10th Eliminated
4th Jury Member
Day 33
Ashley
[Natalie]1
Grant
(4-1)
15th Voted Out
Day 35
10.77 3.1/9
Mike
Ralph
14 "Seems Like a No Brainer" May 15, 2011 Matt Grant Grant 11th Eliminated
5th Jury Member
Day 36
Ashley Andrea
(4-0)2
16th Voted Out
8th Jury Member
Day 37
13.30 4.0/10
Mike Matt 12th Eliminated
6th Jury Member
Day 36
Andrea Mike 13th Eliminated
7th Jury Member
Day 36
Andrea 2nd Returnee
Day 36
Rob Ashley
(3-1)
17th Voted Out
9th Jury Member
Day 38
Jury Vote
Natalie
(8-1-0)
Second
Runner-Up
Phillip
(8-1-0)
Runner-Up
Rob
(8-1-0)
Sole Survivor
15 "Reunion" 10.91 3.4/8
Notes:
^1 Combined Reward and Immunity Challenge.
^2 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played, negating all votes against its user.
^3 The vote resulted in a tie. Per Survivor rules, a revote would commence.
^4 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played, however, no votes were cast against its user.
^5 After placing first in the duel, Mike also received a family visit reward. He was given the choice between keeping the reward for himself, giving it to his fellow inhabitants on Redemption Island, and giving it to remaining members of Murlonio. Mike chose to give his reward to the remaining players.

Voting History[]

Original Tribes Merged Tribe
Episode 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Voted Out S22 francesca t
Francesca
S22 matt t
Matt
Tie S22 russell t
Russell
S22 kristina t
Kristina
S22 krista t
Krista
S22 stephanie t
Stephanie
S22 sarita t
Sarita
S22 matt t
Matt
S22 mike t
Mike
S22 david t
David
S22 julie t
Julie
S22 ralph t
Ralph
S22 steve t
Steve
S22 andrea t
Andrea
S22 grant t
Grant
S22 andrea t
Andrea
S22 ashley t
Ashley
S22 natalie t
Natalie
S22 phillip t
Phillip
S22 rob t
Rob
Vote 4-3-2 4-2-01 3-3-32 5-1-0 4-3 6-2 5-2 4-2 6-5-13 6-5 6-4 6-3 6-2 6-1 5-1 4-1 4-01 3-1 8-1-0
Rob Francesca Matt Phillip Matt Mike David Julie Ralph Steve Andrea Grant Andrea Ashley Jury Vote
Phillip Francesca Kristina Kristina Matt Mike David Julie Ralph Steve Andrea Grant Andrea Ashley
Natalie Kristina Matt Kristina Matt Mike David Julie Ralph Steve Andrea Grant Andrea Ashley
Ashley Kristina Matt Kristina Matt Mike David Julie Ralph Steve Andrea Grant Andrea Phillip Rob
Andrea Kristina Kristina Kristina Matt Mike David Julie Ralph Steve Phillip Rob Rob
Grant Francesca Matt Phillip Matt Mike David Julie Ralph Steve Andrea Natalie Eliminated Rob
Steve Russell Russell Krista Stephanie Sarita Grant Phillip Rob Phillip Rob Grant Eliminated Rob
Ralph Russell None Krista Stephanie David Grant Phillip Rob Phillip Rob Eliminated Phillip
Julie Stephanie Russell Krista Stephanie Sarita Grant Phillip Rob Phillip Eliminated Rob
David Stephanie Russell Krista Sarita Sarita Grant Phillip Rob Eliminated Rob
Mike Russell Russell Krista Stephanie Sarita Grant Phillip Eliminated Rob
Matt Francesca Phillip Steve Eliminated Rob
Sarita Stephanie Russell Krista Stephanie David Eliminated
Stephanie Ralph None Steve Sarita Eliminated
Krista Ralph Ralph Steve Eliminated
Kristina Phillip Phillip Phillip Eliminated
Russell Ralph None Eliminated
Francesca Phillip Eliminated
Notes:
^1 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played, negating all votes against its user.
^2 Tribal Council 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.
^3 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played; however, no votes were cast against its user.

Trivia[]

Hunab Ku

The "Hunab Ku" (a Yucatec Maya word meaning "The Only God"), the Redemption Island symbol.

  • There was supposed to be a gray Buff worn by the inhabitants of Redemption Island but it was never used. Instead, the survivors retained their original Buffs.[3]
  • With Rob's appearance in this season, he is the first contestant to play Survivor four times.
  • Redemption Island is the first season to have no standalone Reward Challenges, due to the presence of Redemption Island taking up the first challenge of each episode.
  • Redemption Island is the first season to have a three-way tie at Tribal Council.
  • All individual Immunity Challenges were won by members of the former Ometepe tribe.
  • Redemption Island is the first season since Thailand where the highest-placing member of every tribe was a man.
  • Redemption Island is the fifth consecutive season where all the finalists started on the same tribe.
  • The font used on the lettering of this season's tribe names is called "Hobo Std".[4]
  • Redemption Island is the most recent season to not contain any openly LGBT contestants.

References[]

Survivor (U.S.) Seasons
BorneoThe Australian OutbackAfricaMarquesasThailandThe AmazonPearl IslandsAll-StarsVanuatuPalauGuatemalaPanamaCook IslandsFijiChinaMicronesiaGabonTocantinsSamoaHeroes vs. VillainsNicaraguaRedemption IslandSouth PacificOne WorldPhilippinesCaramoanBlood vs. WaterCagayanSan Juan del SurWorlds ApartCambodiaKaôh RōngMillennials vs. Gen XGame ChangersHeroes vs. Healers vs. HustlersGhost IslandDavid vs. GoliathEdge of ExtinctionIsland of the IdolsWinners at WarSurvivor 41Survivor 42Survivor 43Survivor 44Survivor 45Survivor 46
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