Survivor 41

Survivor 41
Season Information
Version:	United States
Season No.:	41
Filming Location:	Mamanuca Islands, Fiji
Filming Dates:	April 15, 2021 - May 10, 2021
Season Run:	September 22, 2021-December 15, 2021
No. of Days:	26
No. of Castaways:	18
Winner:	Erika Casupanan
Runner(s)-Up:	Deshawn Radden Xander Hastings
Tribes:	Luvu Ua Yase Viakana
Cast
Season Chronology
Previous:	Winners at War
Next:	Survivor 42

Survivor 41 is the forty-first season of Survivor.

After spending a year and a half on hiatus, Survivor returned for a new era, promising a more dangerous, fast-paced experience in a condensed 26-day game with the introduction of several novel twists. As the first season to be filmed following the adoption of the diversity initiative for CBS reality programming, Survivor 41 also focused on social commentary with its portrayal of the rise of the All-Black Alliance. The season concluded with Erika Casupanan defeating Deshawn Radden and Xander Hastings in a 7-1-0 vote to become the first female Sole Survivor in 7 seasons.

Production

Production for the 41st and 42nd seasons were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As has been the norm since Survivor: Samoa, the seasons were scheduled to be filmed back-to-back beginning in March 2020, but had to be put on hold due to the global outbreak of the coronavirus. Prior to the Fijian government allowing production to enter, domestically filming both seasons either in Georgia or Hawaii was considered.

In March 2021, it was announced that production for the two seasons had resumed in Fiji, but due to mobility issues, the production team modified their protocols to ensure the cast and crew's safety such as using a staggered arrival scheme. Each crew member and contestant had to test negative and be quarantined for 14 days. Production also collaborated with the Fijian government (including bodies like the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Economy, and the Fijian Navy) to establish a safe "bubble" within a chain of islands to be used as base camp, tribe camps, challenge sites and Tribal Council, allowing free movement within the bubble but prohibiting physical interaction outside of it. 408 Fijian crew members were employed for the production of seasons 41 and 42.

This season was filmed over 26 days, 13 days shorter than the standard 39-day timeline due to the production schedule being compromised by the Fijian government's quarantine rules. To keep the shorter game just as challenging, the tribes were given fewer supplies and no food rations. Items won on Reward Challenges were also scarce.

In response to complaints from past Survivor contestants about the fact that contestants only received one pair of underwear for the duration of the game, thus exposing them to urinary tract infections, production gave extra pairs of underwear to contestants with vaginas.

Beginning in 41, seasons will no longer be named after twists or overarching themes and will simply be identified by their season number.

For the first time since Survivor: Borneo, the winner was announced on location. In place of a live reunion show, a "deep dive" episode, also filmed on location moments after the Final Tribal Council took place with the finalists and jurors in attendance. According to Tiffany Seely, the jury and the finalists received $10,000 for appearing in the after-show immediately following the Final Tribal Council. This on-location after-show would carry into all subsequent seasons for the foreseeable future.

Casting

Following criticism over lack of racial diversity in its reality programming, CBS announced in November 2020 that Survivor and its other reality shows must cast at least 50% persons of color beginning with the 2021-2022 television season. Crew members will also have the same composition for a fairer representation of diverse racial and cultural backgrounds in the edited show.

Jeff Probst also stated that contestants from the show's first 20 years will not be asked to return in the foreseeable future.

Tiffany was brought onto the season last-minute as an alternate to replace future Survivor 42 contestant Lindsay Dolashewich, who had tested positive for COVID-19 prior to the cast flying to Fiji.

Game Within the Game

A Survivor first, viewers will be given the opportunity to solve rebus puzzles hidden throughout the course of the episode, whether at challenges, Tribal Council, or in underwater shots; after which fans may answer online. The answers to the puzzles are iconic lines from the series' history. Jeff Probst explained the minigame was aimed for the younger audience and aspiring contestants.

Twists/Changes

• Shortened Game: The game lasted for 26 days, 13 days shorter than the standard 39. To retain the difficulty of a 39-day game in a shorter season, no food rations and limited camp supplies are given to the castaways and reward items won in challenges are scarce.
• Tribe Division: The 18 castaways were divided into 3 tribes of 6. No unifying theme was used in dividing the tribes.
• Penalties for Losing Immunity Challenges: As part of keeping the shorter season just as difficult, tribes that lost the Immunity Challenge had their flint taken away until the next time they win.
• Shot in the Dark: By sacrificing one's vote at Tribal Council, a player in trouble may invoke this advantage for a chance to be immune at any vote until there were seven players left. While the chance of a favorable outcome was slim, if successful, the play acted as if a Hidden Immunity Idol was played.
• Summit and Prisoner's Dilemma: Castaways from different tribes were taken to another island where they were given a choice between protecting or risking their vote on their next visit to Tribal Council. If all of them chose "protect", they kept their votes. If all of them chose "risk", none of them were able to vote at their next Tribal Council. If there was a split decision, those who chose "protect" get to keep their vote, but those who chose "risk" obtained a game advantage. The advantages available through this method were:
  • Extra Vote: A castaway may vote twice at any Tribal Council until there were six players left.
  • Vote Steal: On Day 6, a Beware Advantage was planted at each camp, inviting its finder to meet members of the other tribes where they individually chose between taking a free tarp or a Vote Steal.
  • Knowledge is Power: This advantage entitles one player to ask another castaway if they possess a Hidden Immunity Idol or an advantage at Tribal Council. If the target has either item in their possession, the player may steal it from them; otherwise, the advantage was rendered null. In the event that the target had more than one advantage in possession, they may decide which advantage to give up and do not need to reveal every advantage they had. This advantage can be played until there were six players left.
• Beware Advantages: Game advantages were hidden at camp in packages labelled "Beware Advantage", the contents of which may only be obtained if its finder opened it and fulfilled its demands; otherwise, they would lose their votes. The advantages that were disguised as a Beware Advantage were:
  • Hidden Immunity Idols: Each camp had one idol, that if found, its finder had to utter a certain code before an Immunity Challenge, and if members of the other tribes respond with their own code sentences, all three idols will have power. Until then, the idols remained powerless and their finders without a vote at Tribal Council. If the conditions were not met before the merge, all three idols will be rendered powerless, though their owners will be able to vote again.
  • Vote Steal
• Double Tribal Council: On Day 3, only the first place tribe won immunity, sending the two other tribes to Tribal Council to vote out one person each.
• Team-Based Merge Challenge and Exile Island: At the final 12, the players were divided into two groups of five, leaving two players to sit out. Each member of the winning team won individual immunity, the right to eat in the merge feast, and to take one of the two sit-outs to join them. The unchosen sit-out was sent to Exile Island until the next Immunity Challenge. This player, along with the members of the losing team, would compete in the first individual Immunity Challenge.
  • Hourglass: The exiled player would be presented with an hourglass. If the player wished to "reverse" the events of the challenge, they must destroy the hourglass, stripping the winning team's immunity. The exiled player and the members of the losing team would be given individual immunity instead, while the members of the winning team would be forced to compete in the individual Immunity Challenge.
• Double Elimination: On Day 17, the Viakana tribe was subjected to a Double Elimination, where the tribe was divided into two groups of five and two castaways were eliminated through two separate Tribal Councils.
• Do or Die: On Day 21, the first player to be eliminated from the Immunity Challenge was subjected to a game called "Do or Die", the mechanics of which were identical to the Monty Hall problem. At Tribal Council, the player had to select the box with the fire symbol to win individual immunity. If the chosen box contained a skull symbol instead, the player would be eliminated from the game with no official vote taking place and any advantage or Hidden Immunity Idols owned by the player cannot save them. The castaways were given the option to sit out of the Immunity Challenge if they did not want to take the risk.
• Simplified Final Four Tribal Council: Instead of a traditional vote, the person who won the final four Immunity Challenge got to choose one person to take with them to the Final Three. The remaining two castaways competed in a fire-making challenge to determine who would be eliminated.
• Expanded Jury and Final Three: 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 individually, an open forum was held to ensure a more insightful rapport between the jury and finalists. Unlike the previous format introduced in Survivor: Game Changers however, the discussion was no longer divided into three portions ("outwit", "outplay", and "outlast"), making for a more free-flowing exchange between the jurors and the finalists.

Castaways

Contestant		Tribe Affiliation		Finish	Votes Against
		Original Tribe	Merged Tribe
	Eric Abraham 50, San Antonio, TX Cyber Security Analyst	Yase		1st Voted Out Day 3	5
	Sara Wilson 23, Boston, MA Healthcare Consultant	Ua		2nd Voted Out Day 3	4
	David Voce 34, Chicago, IL Neurosurgeon	Yase		3rd Voted Out Day 5	3
	Brad Reese 49, Shawnee, WY Rancher	Ua		4th Voted Out Day 7	4
	JD Robinson 20, Oklahoma City, OK College Student	Ua		5th Voted Out Day 9	4
	Genie Chen 46, Portland, OR Grocery Clerk	Ua		6th Voted Out Day 11	3
	Sydney Segal 25, Brooklyn, NY Law Student	Luvu	Viakana	7th Voted Out Day 14	5
	Tiffany Seely 47, Plainview, NY Teacher	Yase		8th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 16	8
	Naseer Muttalif 36, Morgan Hill, CA Sales Manager	Luvu		9th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 17	8
	Evvie Jagoda 28, Arlington, MA Ph.D. Student	Yase		10th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 17	7
	Shan Smith 34, Washington, DC Pastor	Ua		11th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 19	9
	Liana Wallace 20, Washington, DC College Student	Yase		12th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 21	10
	Danny McCray 33, Frisco, TX Ex-NFL Player	Luvu		13th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 23	7
	Ricard Foyé 31, Sedro-Woolley, WA Flight Attendant	Ua		14th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 24	9
	Heather Aldret 52, Charleston, SC Stay-at-home Mom	Luvu		Eliminated 8th Jury Member Day 25	5
	Xander Hastings 20, Chicago, IL App Developer	Yase		Second Runner-Up	2
	Deshawn Radden 25, Miami, FL Medical Student	Luvu		Runner-Up	7
	Erika Casupanan 31, Toronto, ON Communications Manager	Luvu		Sole Survivor	2

Season Summary

With the game shortened to just 26 days, the 18 castaways were subjected to a more brutal and relentless Survivor experience, having to live with fewer supplies, subsist on no food rations, and negotiate a barrage of game advantages. The Yase tribe struggled out of the gate, but found reprieve after a powerful women's alliance took control. Ua suffered numerous Immunity Challenge losses and was quickly whittled down to just the alliance of Shan and Ricard, the former of whom acquired the tribe's Hidden Immunity Idol and advantages through a series of deceptions and betrayals. Despite reaching the Day 12 merge completely intact, Luvu was plagued by constant paranoia surrounding Erika, even attempting to throw a challenge to eliminate her.

At the merge, Liana quickly defected from Yase, having earlier forged an unbreakable bond with Shan during a trip to the Summit. The two women also recruited original Luvu members Danny and Deshawn to form an alliance consisting of all the African-American players remaining in the game. Though this alliance was initially successful in removing Liana's former Yase allies, they suffered from poor communication and infighting, particularly between Deshawn and Shan. This culminated on Day 19, when Danny and Deshawn joined the rest of the tribe in splitting the vote between Liana and Shan, eliminating the latter with the idol in her pocket.

In the wake of Shan's departure, Ricard formed a new majority alliance with Erika, Heather, and Xander, eliminating the remnants of Shan's alliance until only Deshawn remained. Deshawn's fortunes would soon turn however, after Erika led the charge to oust Ricard at the final five, citing him as the biggest jury threat remaining. On Day 25, Xander won the Final Immunity Challenge and chose Erika to join him in the Final Three. This subjected Deshawn and Heather to the fire-making challenge, which Deshawn narrowly won.

At the Final Tribal Council, Xander was praised for his overall congeniality, but was criticized for his lack of social awareness and questionable decision to bring Erika, the second-most popular player with the jury, to the end. Deshawn was lauded for his strong social relationships, but was chided for his sloppy and temperamental gameplay. Erika was highlighted for her role in orchestrating major power shifts without being seen as a large threat, but was questioned for not making enough close bonds with everyone. In the end, Erika's strategic acumen won the jury over, and she was awarded the title of Sole Survivor in a 7-1-0 vote over Deshawn and Xander respectively.

Episode		Air date	Challenges		Eliminated (Vote)	Finish	Viewers (in millions)	Ratings/Share (18-49)
			Reward	Immunity
1	"A New Era"	September 22, 2021	Ua	Luvu	Abraham (5-1)	1st Voted Out Day 3	6.25	1.1/8
					Sara (4-1-1)	2nd Voted Out Day 3
2	"Juggling Chainsaws"	September 29, 2021	Luvu1		Voce (3-1)	3rd Voted Out Day 5	5.90	1.0/7
			Ua1
3	"My Million Dollar Mistake"	October 6, 2021	Luvu1		Brad (3-1)	4th Voted Out Day 7	5.79	0.9/6
			Yase1
4	"They Hate Me 'Cause They Ain't Me"	October 13, 2021	Ua	Yase	JD (3-1)	5th Voted Out Day 9	5.67	0.9/5
			Yase	Luvu
5	"The Strategist or the Loyalist"	October 20, 2021	Yase1		Genie (2-1)	6th Voted Out Day 11	5.62	1.0/7
			Luvu1
6	"Ready to Play Like a Lion"	October 27, 2021	Danny, Deshawn, Evvie, Ricard, Sydney [Naseer]1,2		TBA	7th Voted Out Day 14	5.32	0.8/7
7	"There's Gonna Be Blood"	November 3, 2021	None	(Erika, Heather, Liana, Shan, Tiffany, Xander)3	Sydney (5-4-3)		5.47	1.0/7
				Ricard
8	"Betraydar"	November 10, 2021	Danny, Deshawn, Erika, Evvie, Ricard	Evvie	Tiffany (6-2-2-1)	8th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 16	5.56	1.0/7
9	"Who's Who in the Zoo"	November 17, 2021		Erika	Naseer (3-3; 4-0)	9th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 17	5.76	0.9/7
			Xander1,4		Evvie (3-2)	10th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 17
			Danny, Deshawn, Evvie, Liana
10	"Baby with a Machine Gun"	November 24, 2021	Ricard, [Heather, Shan, Xander]	Ricard	Shan (3-3-2; 6-0)	11th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 19	5.54	TBD
11	"Do or Die"	December 1, 2021	None	Danny	Liana (5-3)	12th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 21	5.63	TBD
				(Deshawn)5
12	"Truth Kamikaze"	December 8, 2021	Deshawn, Erika, Xander	Ricard	Danny (3-3; 4-0)	13th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 23	5.70	TBD
13	"One Thing Left to Do... Win"	December 15, 2021	Erika1		Ricard (4-1)6	14th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 24	5.62	TBD
			[Heather]
			None	Xander	Heather (No Vote)7	Eliminated 8th Jury Member Day 25
			Jury Vote		Xander (7-1-0)	Second Runner-Up
					Deshawn (7-1-0)	Runner-Up
					Erika (7-1-0)	Sole Survivor
14	"Aftershow"						4.00
Notes: ^1 Combined Reward/Immunity Challenge. ^2 The tribes merged, but the tribe was divided into two groups of five, with the winning team winning immunity and the right to partake in the merge feast and take one of the two sit-outs (Erika and Naseer) to join them. ^3 The unchosen sit-out from the last challenge (Erika) was exiled, but was given an hourglass which she may choose to break to strip the winning team of their immunity, transferring it to the losing team and herself. Erika broke the hourglass. ^4 At the Immunity Challenge, the ten remaining players were divided into two groups of five, with one person from each team winning immunity. The last player standing overall (Xander) won reward for their team. ^5 By winning the "Do or Die" game, Deshawn was granted immunity at Tribal Council. ^6 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played; however, no votes were cast against its user. ^7 Instead of a traditional vote, the winner of the Immunity Challenge, Xander, would choose someone to take with them to the Final Three. He chose Erika. The remaining two castaways, Deshawn and Heather, would compete in a fire-making challenge to determine the last finalist.

Voting History

Survivor 41 Voting History
		Original Tribes						Merged Tribe
Episode #:		1		2	3	4	5	7	8	9			10		11	12		13
Voted out:		Abraham	Sara	Voce	Brad	JD	Genie	Sydney	Tiffany	Tie	Naseer	Evvie	Tie	Shan	Liana	Tie	Danny	Ricard	Heather	Xander	Deshawn	Erika
Vote:		5-1	4-1-1	3-1	3-1	3-1	2-1	5-4-32	6-2-2-1	3-32, 4	4-02	3-2	3-3-24	6-0	5-32	3-34	4-0	4-15	No Vote6	7-1-0
►	Erika	—		—	—	—	—	Sydney	Tiffany	Naseer	Naseer	—	Liana	Shan	Liana	Danny	Danny	Ricard	—	Jury Vote
►	Deshawn	—		—	—	—	—	Evvie	Tiffany	—		Evvie	Shan	Shan	Ricard	Danny	None	Ricard	Won
								Evvie
►	Xander	Abraham	—	None1	—	—	—	Deshawn	Naseer	—		Liana	Liana	Shan	Liana	Deshawn	Danny	Ricard	—
															Liana
►	Heather	—		—	—	—	—	Sydney	Tiffany	Naseer	None	—	Liana	Shan	Liana	Danny	Danny	Ricard	Lost			Erika
►	Ricard	—	Sara	—	Brad	JD	Genie	Evvie	Tiffany	Heather	Naseer	—	Shan	Shan	Liana	Deshawn	Danny	Deshawn				Erika
►	Danny	—		—	—	—	—	Evvie	Xander	—		Evvie	Shan	Shan	Ricard	Deshawn	None				Deshawn
►	Liana	Abraham	—	Voce	—	—	—	Sydney	Tiffany	—		Evvie	Erika	None	Ricard							Erika
►	Shan	—	Sara	—	Brad	JD	Genie	Sydney	Tiffany	Heather	Naseer	—	Erika	None								Erika
										Naseer	Naseer
►	Evvie	Abraham	—	Voce	—	—	—	Deshawn	Heather	—		Liana										Erika
►	Naseer	—		—	—	—	—	Sydney	Xander	Heather	None											Erika
►	Tiffany	Abraham	—	Voce	—	—	—	Deshawn	Heather													Erika
►	Sydney	—		—	—	—	—	None3
	Genie	—	Ricard	—	JD	JD	Ricard
	JD	—	Sara	—	Brad	Genie
	Brad	—	Sara	—	None1
	Voce	Abraham	—	Tiffany
	Sara	—	Brad
	Abraham	Tiffany
Notes: ^1 This castaway found the Beware Advantage containing the Hidden Immunity Idol, and until all of the Hidden Immunity Idols were found, they were barred from voting. ^2 An Extra Vote advantage was used, allowing a castaway to vote twice at Tribal Council. ^3 This castaway used their Shot in the Dark, making them ineligible to vote at Tribal Council. The scroll they selected however read, "Not Safe", thus all votes against them remained valid. ^4 The 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. ^5 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played; however, no votes were cast against its user. ^6 Instead of a traditional vote, the person who won the Immunity Challenge, Xander, would take someone with them to the Final Three. He chose Erika. The remaining two castaways, Deshawn and Heather, would compete in a fire-making challenge to determine the last finalist.

Trivia

• Survivor 41 marks the first time that a country is used nine consecutive times.
• Survivor 41 is the first season of Survivor to not have a subtitle. The working title for the season during pre-production was Survivor: Dawn of a New Era, but this subtitle was scrapped prior to filming.
  • Borneo did not have a subtitle when it aired, but was retroactively given one, making this the second season to air without a subtitle.
• Survivor 41 is the first season to have castaways born in the 2000s, and the first season to have castaways born after the premiere of Borneo.
• Survivor 41 is the first season to last fewer than 39 days.
  • It is the second season to not last 39 days, after The Australian Outback which lasted 42 days.
• Survivor 41 is the first season to enact the CBS diversity initiative where at least 50% of the cast was BIPOC.
  • This is the first season since Fiji to have at least 50% of the cast be people of color.
  • This is the first season to contain six Black contestants.
• Survivor 41 was tied with Micronesia, Game Changers, David vs. Goliath and Island of the Idols for the most LGBT contestants with 3: Evvie, Genie, and Ricard. This record was broken by Survivor 42 with 5.
  • After filming, Evvie came out as non-binary (using they/them as pronouns). This is the first time someone has changed their gender identity between filming and airing.
• Survivor 41 is the first season to contain multiple Canadian contestants: Erika and Shan.
  • In addition, Survivor 41 is the first season to be won by a Canadian contestant since the rule allowing Canadian residents to participate was adopted prior to Island of the Idols.
• Survivor 41 is the first season since South Pacific, and the first season with three starting tribes, to not have a Tribe Switch.
• Survivor 41 breaks the record previously set in Game Changers for most contestants immune at a single Tribal Council; 7 contestants had individual immunity at the first post-merge Tribal Council. This would be tied in Survivor 42.
  • Survivor 41 also sets the record for most contestants to be immune at any Tribal Council; a total of 10 contestants had individual immunity this season.
• Survivor 41 is the first season since Kaôh Rōng without any votes negated by a Hidden Immunity Idol.
  • Survivor 41 is the first season since Cagayan in which at least one idol was played, but no idols negated any votes.
• Survivor 41 is tied with Palau, Caramoan, and Kaôh Rōng for most tie votes, with 3.
  • Because all 3 ties occurred after the merge, Survivor 41 holds the record for most post-merge tie votes.
• Survivor 41 is the first season since Game Changers to be won by a woman, breaking a six-season streak of male winners, the longest gendered streak of winners in the series' history.
  • Erika also has the highest percent of jury votes of any woman on the American version with 7/8 or 87.5%.