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Survivor: Tocantins, also known as Survivor: Tocantins — The Brazilian Highlands, is the eighteenth installment in the U.S. reality show Survivor. It was filmed in Tocantins, Brazil and premiered on February 12, 2009. Once production of Survivor: Gabon was underway, CBS began casting for this season. Shooting occurred between October and December 2008. The season saw one medical evacuation and has to date produced four returning players (Coach Wade, J.T. Thomas, Stephen Fishbach, and Tyson Apostol) for subsequent seasons.

J.T. Thomas became the Sole Survivor on the live finale broadcast May 17, 2009. He finished the first "perfect game" in the history of the show, not having a single vote cast against him all season and earning all seven jury votes in a unanimous decision, beating out Stephen Fishbach. In addition, J.T. was named "Sprint Player of the Season", earning the fans' vote over Taj Johnson-George and Sierra Reed.

Production[]

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Twists/Changes[]

  • First Impressions: On Day 1, Jeff Probst instructed the newly marooned castaways to make their first vote-off. Relying only from first impressions, the tribes must select which of their tribemates will be the biggest liability to their team, and these two players will "not make it to the journey." The contestants assumed that the two would be eliminated, but the "journey" was revealed to be a four-hour trek to their camps. The two people who were singled out (Sierra from Timbira and Sandy from Jalapao) will be airlifted to their camps, while their tribemates underwent a treacherous walk to their respective encampments.
  • One-Time Use Hidden Immunity Idol: After being whisked away to their camps, the two left out players were given a choice between creating a shelter (to possibly change their perceptions of them) or search for a one-time use Hidden Immunity Idol that can only be good at their first visiting Tribal Council. Unfortunately, both idols were never found and wasted away in the process.
  • Hidden Immunity Idol: Hidden Immunity Idols return this season, with one being hidden at each tribe and clues for the idol being found on Exile Island.
  • Exile Island: Exile Island returns this season, with new twists. After a Reward Challenge, the winning tribe must send one person from the losing tribe to Exile Island, and in return, the said person must pick one member from the winning tribe to join him/her on Exile Island. Another twist is that, upon reaching Exile Island, the two banished players will get to chose between two unmarked bottles; one bottle contained a clue to a Hidden Immunity Idol, hidden somewhere at their camps. The player who gets the clue will also have the option to switch tribes at will (hypothetically, if an exiled player already found his/her tribe's idol, the player in question may switch tribes to potentially find the other tribe's idol). The person who gets the second bottle will get nothing.
    • Mutiny: The person who receives the idol clue also receives the chance to mutiny to the other tribe. However, nobody took the offer.

Castaways[]

Contestant Tribe Affiliation Finish Votes
Against
Original Tribe Merged Tribe
S18 carolina t Carolina Eastwood
27, West Hollywood, CA
Bartender
Jalapao 1st Voted Out
Day 3
7
S18 candace t Candace Smith
31, Los Angeles, CA
Attorney
Timbira 2nd Voted Out
Day 6
7
S18 jerry t Jerry Sims
49, Rock Hill, SC
U.S. Army Sergeant
Timbira 3rd Voted Out
Day 9
6
S18 sandy t Sandy Burgin
53, Louisville, KY
Bus Driver
Jalapao 4th Voted Out
Day 12
6
S18 spencer t Spencer Duhm
18, Gainesville, FL
Student
Jalapao 5th Voted Out
Day 15
5
S18 sydney t Sydney Wheeler
24, San Diego, CA
Model
Jalapao 6th Voted Out
Day 18
4
S18 joe t Joe Dowdle
26, Austin, TX
Real Estate Salesman
Jalapao Forza Evacuated
Day 20
1
S18 brendan t Brendan Synnott
30, Vail, CO
Entrepreneur
Timbira 7th Voted Out
1st Jury Member
Day 24
4
S18 tyson t Tyson Apostol
29, Heber City, UT
Professional Cyclist
Timbira 8th Voted Out
2nd Jury Member
Day 27
5
S18 sierra t Sierra Reed
23, Los Angeles, CA
Model
Timbira 9th Voted Out
3rd Jury Member
Day 30
11
S18 debbie t Debbie Beebe
46, Auburn, AL
School Principal
Timbira 10th Voted Out
4th Jury Member
Day 33
6
S18 coach t Coach Wade
37, Bolivar, MO
Soccer Coach
Timbira 11th Voted Out
5th Jury Member
Day 36
6
S18 taj t Taj Johnson-George
37, Nashville, TN
Former Pop Star
Jalapao 12th Voted Out
6th Jury Member
Day 37
7
S18 erinn t Erinn Lobdell
26, Milwaukee, WI
Hairstylist
Timbira 13th Voted Out
7th Jury Member
Day 38
5
S18 stephen t Stephen Fishbach
29, New York City, NY
Corporate Consultant
Jalapao Runner-Up 1
S18 jt t J.T. Thomas
24, Mobile, AL
Cattle Rancher
Jalapao Sole Survivor 0

Season Summary[]

The players were split into two tribes, Timbira and Jalapao, prior to the game beginning. Timbira won the majority of the Immunity Challenges, and was dominated by an alliance led by Coach and Tyson. Both the Hidden Immunity Idol and Exile Island twists were in play, with the clues to the Hidden Idols available at Exile. The winning tribe of each Reward Challenge would be able to select one member of the losing tribe to be exiled, while the exiled player would be able to choose a member of the winning tribe to join them.

On one of these occasions, Brendan from Timbira and Taj from Jalapao formed a secret cross-tribal alliance for the merge, bringing in Sierra and Stephen, respectively. The alliance members saw several repeat visits to Exile, securing both Immunity Idols by sharing the clues. After J.T. accidentally stumbled upon the Hidden Immunity Idol in Stephen's pocket, Taj and Stephen agreed to bring J.T. into their own alliance, and the three decided to share the use of the Idol. Timbira was able to win the last three Immunity Challenges before the merge.

While Timbira had the numerical advantage entering the merge, they were fractured due to lack of trust; with Coach and Tyson recruiting J.T. and Stephen into their alliance to overthrow Brendan and Sierra. With Taj and Stephen deciding to betray the Exile Alliance and Brendan neglecting to play his Idol, he was voted out. With the dissent among Timbira exposed and through recruiting Erinn, J.T., Stephen, and Taj managed to navigate between the two Timbira factions to eliminate them all. At the final 4, J.T. and Stephen opted to blindside Taj for being a jury threat. When J.T. won the Final Immunity Challenge, he brought Stephen to the Final Two.

At the Final Tribal Council, the jury unanimously voted for J.T. to be named the Sole Survivor, believing he played a stronger and more strategic game compared to Stephen.

Episode Air Date Challenges Exiled Eliminated
(Vote)
Finish Viewership
(in millions)[2]
Rating/Share
(18-49)[2]
Reward Immunity
1 "Let's Get Rid of the Weak Players Before We Even Start" February 12, 2009 Timbira1 Carolina
(7-1)
1st Voted Out
Day 3
13.63 4.4/13
2 "The Poison Apple Needs to Go" February 19, 2009 Jalapao1 Brendan Candace
(7-1)
2nd Voted Out
Day 6
13.59 4.5/12
Taj
3 "Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This" February 26, 2009 Jalapao Jalapao Brendan Jerry
(6-1)
3rd Voted Out
Day 9
12.05 3.9/11
Taj
4 "The Strongest Man Alive" March 5, 2009 Jalapao Timbira Sierra Sandy
(5-1-1)
4th Voted Out
Day 12
11.85 3.8/10
Taj
5 "You're Going to Want That Tooth" March 12, 2009 Jalapao Timbira Brendan Spencer
(5-1)
5th Voted Out
Day 15
12.82 4.1/12
Stephen
6 "The First 15 Days" March 25, 2009 Recap Episode N/A N/A
7 "One of Those 'Coach Moments'" April 2, 2009 Timbira Timbira Joe Sydney
(3-2)
6th Voted Out
Day 18
11.27 3.6/11
Erinn
8 "The Dragon Slayer" April 9, 2009 None Tyson None Joe
(no vote)
Evacuated
Day 20
11.24 3.5/11
9 "The Biggest Fraud in the Game" April 16, 2009 Brendan,
Debbie,
J.T.
Tyson Stephen Brendan
(4-3-2)
7th Voted Out
1st Jury Member
Day 24
11.64 3.6/11
10 "It's Funny When People Cry" April 23, 2009 Debbie,
Erinn, J.T.,
Tyson
Debbie Stephen Tyson
(5-3)
8th Voted Out
2nd Jury Member
Day 27
11.30 3.5/11
11 "They Both Went Bananas" April 30, 2009 Stephen
[J.T.,
Taj]
Coach Erinn Sierra
(4-2-1)
9th Voted Out
3rd Jury Member
Day 30
11.73 3.6/11
12 "The Ultimate Sacrifice" May 7, 2009 Survivor
Auction
Stephen Taj Debbie
(4-1-1)
10th Voted Out
4th Jury Member
Day 33
11.99 3.8/12
13 "The Martyr Approach" May 14, 2009 J.T.
[Stephen]
J.T. Coach Coach
(3-2)
11th Voted Out
5th Jury Member
Day 36
12.18 3.8/12
14 "I Trust You but I Trust Me More" May 17, 2009 None J.T. None Taj
(3-1)
12th Voted Out
6th Jury Member
Day 37
12.94 4.2/11
J.T. Erinn
(1-0)
13th Voted Out
7th Jury Member
Day 38
Jury Vote Stephen
(7-0)
Runner-Up
J.T.
(7-0)
Sole Survivor
15 "Reunion" 11.59 4.1/10
Notes:
^1 Combined Reward and Immunity Challenge.

Voting History[]

Original Tribes Merged Tribe
Episode 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Voted Out S18 carolina t
Carolina
S18 candace t
Candace
S18 jerry t
Jerry
S18 sandy t
Sandy
S18 spencer t
Spencer
S18 sydney t
Sydney
S18 joe t
Joe
S18 brendan t
Brendan
S18 tyson t
Tyson
S18 sierra t
Sierra
S18 debbie t
Debbie
S18 coach t
Coach
S18 taj t
Taj
S18 erinn t
Erinn
S18 stephen t
Stephen
S18 jt t
J.T.
Vote 7-1 7-1 6-1 5-1-1 5-1 3-2 No vote1 4-3-2 5-3 4-2-1 4-1-1 3-2 3-1 1-02 7-0
J.T. Carolina Sandy Spencer Sydney Sierra Tyson Sierra Debbie Erinn Taj Erinn Jury Vote
Stephen Carolina Sandy Spencer Sydney Brendan Tyson Sierra Debbie Coach Taj None
Erinn Candace Jerry Sierra Tyson Stephen Debbie Coach Taj None J.T.
Taj Carolina Joe Spencer Sydney Brendan Tyson Debbie Debbie Coach Erinn J.T.
Coach Candace Jerry Brendan Sierra Sierra Taj Erinn J.T.
Debbie Candace Jerry Brendan Sierra Sierra Coach J.T.
Sierra Candace Jerry Coach Tyson Debbie J.T.
Tyson Candace Jerry Sierra Sierra J.T.
Brendan Candace Jerry Coach J.T.
Joe Carolina Sandy Spencer Taj Evacuated
Sydney Carolina Sandy Spencer Taj
Spencer Carolina Sandy Taj
Sandy Carolina Sydney
Jerry Candace Erinn
Candace Sierra
Carolina Sandy
Notes:
^1 Joe was evacuated from the game due to a severely infected wound; therefore, the Tribal Council scheduled for that night was cancelled.
^2 Erinn and Stephen did not vote as they could only vote for each other. By virtue of winning the Final Immunity Challenge, only J.T. voted.

Trivia[]

  • Tocantins marks the third country (Brazil) to be revisited as a location of filming, following Panama and Palau, though it became the first country to host two seasons in two separate locations. While Survivor: The Amazon was filmed in the Rio Negro river, this season was shot in an entirely different province of Brazil, at the Rio Novo river.
  • Tocantins is the only Survivor season with "Outwit, Outplay, Outlast" entirely on the top of its logo.
  • Tocantins is the first season since Survivor: Panama to follow the original format that was used during the first four seasons (a pool of sixteen contestants, with ten making the merge, a Final Two, and a seven person jury).
    • Tocantins is the most recent season with 16 contestants.
  • Thus far, Tocantins is the only season to feature black as the color for a starting tribe. Black has otherwise only been used as the color of the merged tribe.
  • Tocantins is the first season since Survivor: Thailand to feature an all-male Final Two.
  • Abi-Maria Gomes from Survivor: Philippines was originally recruited for this season. However, she was cut because she might gain an advantage due to her being Brazilian. Abi-Maria is originally from Goiás, a neighboring state of Tocantins.
  • Tocantins has produced the most returning players, all of the same gender, with four, all of whom being male.

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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