Survivor: Caramoan

Survivor: Caramoan — Fans vs. Favorites is the twenty-sixth season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor, which premiered on February 13, 2013 with a special 90 minute episode.

Participants' applications were due on October 4, 2011, just as the same as the previous season, with approximately 800 chosen for interviews in various states. From these semi-finalists, 10 contestants were selected to participate in the show as finalists. Filming was shot between May to June 2012, rather than the United States summer calendar date.

As with Survivor: Micronesia, the first season to have the "Fans vs. Favorites" subtitle, this season initially features a tribe of ten returning contestants from previous seasons opposing a tribe of ten new players. It is the eighth season overall to feature returning players. Production of the show took place in the Philippines' Caramoan Islands, the same location as the previous season.

The two pre-merge tribes were "Bikal" and "Gota" which are towns in the Caramoan islands. The merged tribe is known as "Enil Edam", which contestant Malcolm Freberg named for his mother ("Enil Edam" is the name Madeline spelled backwards).

Casting

According to Jeff Probst, producers had asked both Matt Elrod from Redemption Island and Shannon "Shambo" Waters from Samoa to return but both turned the offer down, believing one season was enough for them and not wanting to let Survivor define their lives. The casting crew had also considered asking fan favorite Lisa Whelchel from Philippines to participate, but realized that asking a mother to participate in back-to-back seasons would be difficult.

Contestants

The contestants include 10 new players to the game and 10 returning players.

Contestant	Original Tribe	Swapped Tribe	Merged Tribe	Finish	Total Votes
Francesca Hogi 38, Brooklyn, NY Redemption Island	Bikal			1st Voted Out Day 3	6
Alexandra "Allie" Pohevitz 25, Oceanside, NY	Gota			2nd Voted Out Day 5	6
Hope Driskill 23, Jefferson City, MO	Gota			3rd Voted Out Day 7	31
Shamar Thomas 27, Brooklyn, NY	Gota			Removed Due to Injury Day 10	72
Laura Alexander 23, Washington, D.C.	Gota			4th Voted Out Day 10	6
Brandon Hantz 21, Katy, TX South Pacific	Bikal			5th Voted Out Day 13	8
Matt Bischoff 38, Cincinnati, OH	Gota	Bikal		6th Voted Out Day 16	4
Julia Landauer 21, Stanford, CA	Gota	Bikal		7th Voted Out Day 19	53
Corinne Kaplan 33, Los Angeles, CA Gabon	Bikal	Bikal	Enil Edam	8th Voted Out Day 22	7
Michael Snow 44, New York, NY	Gota	Bikal		9th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 25	10
Phillip Sheppard 54, Santa Monica, CA Redemption Island	Bikal	Bikal		10th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 28	5
Malcolm Freberg 25, Hermosa Beach, CA Philippines	Bikal	Gota		11th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 30	34
Reynold Toepfer 30, San Francisco, CA	Gota	Gota		12th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 31	85
Andrea Boehlke 23, New York, NY Redemption Island	Bikal	Gota		13th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 33	13
Brenda Lowe 30, Miami, FL Nicaragua	Bikal	Gota		14th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 36	5
Erik Reichenbach 27, Santa Clarita, CA Micronesia	Bikal	Gota		Removed Due to Illness 7th Jury Member Day 36	2
Edward "Eddie" Fox 23, East Brunswick, NJ	Gota	Gota		15th Voted Out 8th Jury Member Day 38	126
Sherri Biethman 41, Boise, ID	Gota	Gota		Runner-up	6
Dawn Meehan 42, South Jordan, UT South Pacific	Bikal	Bikal		Runner-up	2
John Cochran 25, Washington, D.C. South Pacific	Bikal	Bikal		Sole Survivor	0

The Total Votes is the number of votes a castaway received during Tribal Councils where the castaway was eligible to be voted out of the game. It does not include the votes received during the final Tribal Council.

^1 Five additional votes were cast against Hope during a tie-breaker vote.

^2 One additional vote was cast against Shamar during a tie-breaker vote.

^3 Four additional votes were cast against Julia during a tie-breaker vote.

^4 Malcolm played a Hidden Immunity Idol, therefore two votes against him were not counted. Six additional votes were cast against him during a tie-breaker vote.

^5 Reynold played a Hidden Immunity Idol, therefore one vote against him was not counted.

^6 Eddie played a Hidden Immunity Idol, therefore four votes against him were not counted.

The game

Episode title	First air date	Challenges		Eliminated	Vote	Finish
		Reward	Immunity
"She Annoys Me Greatly"	February 13, 2013	Bikal	Gota	Francesca	6–4	1st Voted Out Day 3
"Honey Badger"	February 20, 2013	Bikal1		Allie	6–4	2nd Voted Out Day 5
"There's Gonna Be Hell to Pay"	February 27, 2013	Bikal1		Hope	3–3–3 5–1–0	3rd Voted Out Day 7
"Kill or Be Killed"	March 6, 2013	Bikal	Bikal	Shamar	No vote	Removed Due to Injury Day 10
				Laura	6–03	4th Voted Out Day 10
"Persona Non Grata"	March 13, 2013	Bikal	Gota2	Brandon	8–1	5th Voted Out Day 13
"Operation Thunder Dome"	March 20, 2013	None3	Gota	Matt	4–2–1	6th Voted Out Day 16
"Tubby Lunchbox"	March 27, 2013	Gota	Gota	Julia	3–3 4–0	7th Voted Out Day 19
"Blindside Time"	April 3, 2013	None4	Cochran	Corinne	7–5	8th Voted Out Day 22
"Cut Off the Head of the Snake"	April 10, 2013	Cochran, Eddie, Erik, Michael, Reynold	Brenda	Michael	7–3–1	9th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 25
"Zipping Over the Cuckoo’s Nest"	April 17, 2013	Cochran, Dawn, Erik, Phillip, Reynold	Reynold	Phillip	4–05–06	10th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 28
"Come Over to the Dark Side"	April 24, 2013	Survivor Auction	Cochran	Malcolm	3–3–3 6–0–0	11th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 30
"The Beginning of the End"	May 1, 2013	Andrea1		Reynold	4–2–1–1	12th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 31
		None	Erik	Andrea	3–2–2	13th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 33
"Don't Say Anything About My Mom"	May 8, 2013	Brenda [Dawn] (Cochran, Eddie, Erik, Sherri)	Dawn	Brenda	3–2–1	14th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 36
"Last Push"	May 12, 2013	None		Erik	No vote	Removed Due to Illness 7th Jury Member Day 36
		Cochran	Cochran	Eddie	3–1	15th Voted Out 8th Jury Member Day 38
"Reunion"	May 12, 2013	Jury Vote

In the case of multiple tribes or castaways who win reward or immunity, they are listed in order of finish, or alphabetically where it was a team effort; where one castaway won and invited others, the invitees are in brackets.

^1 Combined Reward and Immunity Challenge.

^2 Bikal forfeited the challenge.

^3 There was no Reward Challenge due to tribal swap.

^4 There was no Reward Challenge due to the tribal merge.

Episode 1: "She Annoys Me Greatly"

• Reward Challenge: Facing off two on two, the tribes would try to retrieve a ring and return with it to their starting flag. The tribe would score a point when one of their members had one hand on the ring and one hand on the flag pole. The first tribe to score four points would win.

• Reward: Flint and 20 pounds (9.1 kg) of beans.

• Immunity Challenge: Two members from each tribe would climb up a four story tower. On each floor would be three crates that they would have to toss from the tower. The crates would shatter on impact to release sandbags. Once all three crates were tossed over, the pair would return to the start and another pair would race to the next floor. Once all of the crates were retrieved, two castaways would retrieve the sandbags. One castaway would then try to toss six sandbags into six targets. The first castaway to get a sandbag in all six targets would win for their tribe.

After the ten Favorites were introduced to the ten Fans, the two tribes immediately started the Reward Challenge. While the Fans won the first round, the Favorites swept the next rounds to take the win. At the Gota camp, Matt and Shamar argued over whether to concentrate on building a shelter or making fire. The two patched things up after Shamar stepped in with the correct technique for starting fire with the fire-saw method. Pairs of alliances formed between Reynold & Allie and Eddie & Hope, and the four then agreed to align together. The snuggling overnight between the pairs caused the other three women of Gota (Julia, Laura, and Sherri) to align. Michael said he would align with the three women, but really kept his options open along with Matt. Over at the Bikal camp, Francesca decided that she wasn't going to be voted out first again and tried to make as many alliances as she could. Meanwhile, Phillip gathered up an alliance with Andrea, Cochran, Corinne, Dawn, and Malcolm. He offered Erik a take-it-or-leave-it option to join the alliance, but Erik didn't like the strong arm tactic. At the Immunity Challenge, the Favorites got an early lead during the tower stage, but Reynold made short work of the sandbag tossing stage to give the Fans the win. Back at camp, Francesca tried get the tribe to vote for Phillip, while Phillip wanted his alliance to vote out Francesca. Brandon, Brenda, and Erik agreed to vote with Francesca, but Brandon and Erik suddenly got spooked by Andrea (who was playing both voting blocs) and wanted to vote her out instead. At Tribal Council, Phillip's alliance of six voted for Francesca and she was voted out by a vote of 6–4 making her the only player to be the first voted out twice.

Episode 2: "Honey Badger"

• Reward/Immunity Challenge: Three tribe members would be pulled on a raft by three other tribe members to a platform out on the ocean. The three would then dive down to release bamboo sticks in a cage to free nine rings. Once all nine rings were freed, the three would board the raft again to be pulled back to the beach with the rings. The remaining three tribe members would then toss the rings onto three posts. The first tribe to have three rings on their posts would win.

• Reward: Fishing gear.

After returning to camp, Brandon was upset about the vote against Francesca and told Erik that he wanted to channel his uncle, Russell Hantz, and play the game dirty. However, he changed his mind the next morning. Over at Gota, Shamar's laziness at camp was annoying the tribe and the alliance of Allie, Eddie, Hope and Reynold wanted to vote him out. Sherri wanted to keep Shamar in the game to strengthen her own alliance so she told him that he was part of her alliance and to keep annoying the alliance of four. At the combined Reward/Immunity Challenge, the Fans struggled during the ring collection stage giving the Favorites the win. Once the Fans returned to camp, Reynold and Shamar had a public argument over what Reynold saw as Shamar's poor attitude. Matt considered joining the alliance of Allie, Eddie, Hope and Reynold in voting out Shamar, but Sherri tried to get him to vote against Allie. Reynold went looking for the Hidden Immunity Idol and found it. Laura noticed a bulge in his pocket just before they were heading off to Tribal Council, but she didn't have enough time to warn her alliance and flush the idol. Instead, she outed Reynold's idol during Tribal Council. Reynold confessed to having the idol and said that he would play it then to get rid of it. But when the vote was about to be read, he pocketed the idol. He regretfully watched, however, as Matt joined Sherri's alliance and voted against Reynold's closest ally, sending Allie home by a vote of 6–4.

Episode 3: "There's Gonna Be Hell to Pay"

• Reward/Immunity Challenge: The tribe would race out into the ocean and climb over and into a bamboo cage. The tribe would then have to untie a door on the cage and drag a heavy chest through the door and back to the beach. Once back onto the beach, the chest would be placed on top of a track. The tribe would then have to use a ring tied to the end of rope to snag three segment of the track to complete the track. The first tribe to place the chest on their finish platform would win.

• Reward: Two chairs, pillows, a blanket, a tarp, and rope.

Tensions were high at the Gota camp after Tribal Council as neither Reynold nor Shamar were happy about how the voting went. Shamar was unhappy with his standing in the game and considered quitting, but decided against it due to the loyalty his alliance showed him. Over at Bikal, Corinne and Malcolm went looking for the Hidden Immunity Idol and found it. The combined Reward/Immunity Challenge was a closely fought contest won by the Favorites. Worried that her poor performance during the challenge would put a target on her back, Laura suggested to her alliance that they split the vote between Eddie and Hope to flush the Hidden Immunity Idol. This would force a three-way tied vote between Eddie, Hope, and Shamar, and the alliance would then vote out Hope during the revote. Shamar hinted to Hope that she should vote for Eddie and save herself, but she went to Julia instead and told her that Shamar had revealed the alliance's plans. Again concerned about being voted out, Laura told Reynold that she could secure Julia's vote and vote out Shamar. But when the vote came at Tribal Council, the alliance of six stuck to their original plan, resulting in a three-way tie before eventually voting out Hope with a re-vote of 5–1–0.

Episode 4: "Kill or Be Killed"

• Reward Challenge: The tribes would use planks to transport two tribe members from one platform above water to another platform a short length away. Once both tribe members were across, all eight tribe members will climb up and over the platform, swimming out to a smaller tower. The first tribe to climb the last tower and get all eight tribe members on or above the top deck would win.

• Reward: A visit by a local bushman who would show them how to improve their camp and cook a feast.

• Immunity Challenge: Five tribe members would swim out one at a time to a platform, climb a tower and leap off it to smash a tile that releases a key. The castaway would then retrieve the key and return to the beach, allowing the next tribe member to go. Once all five keys were collected, two tribe members would use the keys to unlock a chest full of sandbags. They would then use the sandbags to knock off blocks stacked on a wall. The first tribe to knock off all their blocks would win.

At Bikal, Phillip told Brandon, Erik, and Brenda that they were part of his alliance in an effort to contain them, though in reality they were not truly part of the alliance. The Reward Challenge was closely fought with the Favorites just edging out the Fans. After Gota returned to camp, Shamar continued to annoy his tribe with his laziness around camp. During the afternoon, some sand scratched his eye. After a storm rolled in overnight and pounded the tribe, Shamar's condition worsened and the Survivor Medical Team was called in. The Medical Team determined that Shamar had scratched his cornea and he needed to be pulled from the game to be looked at by a specialist. The Fans lost the Immunity Challenge even though Reynold's accurate throwing during the sandbag throwing stage nearly gave them a huge come from behind victory. Back at camp, Matt suggested that Gota should keep the tribe physically strong and vote out Laura instead of voting out Eddie or Reynold. At Tribal Council, Gota discussed voting for being physically strong at challenges versus staying loyal to alliances. When the vote came, Reynold played his Hidden Immunity Idol, but it was not needed as the majority alliance decided to keep the tribe physically strong and sent Laura home by a vote of 6–0.

Episode 5: "Persona Non Grata"

• Reward Challenge: Two members from each tribe would hold on to a rope that would suspend a net. The castaways from the other tribe would attempt to toss coconuts into the net which would weigh it down. The castaway who held on to the rope the longest without letting the net touch the ground would win for their tribe.

• Reward: Steaks, sausages, vegetables, condiments, and wine.

• Immunity Challenge: Bikal forfeited the Challenge before it was introduced.

On the night of day 10, Brandon told his tribe that he was volunteering to be voted out because he felt he was being selfish for leaving his family at home without him. He told the tribe that he considered sabotaging the camp as a way to get them to vote him out, but instead decided to tell them upfront to vote him out. However, by the next morning, Brandon had changed his mind and was back to staying in the game for his family. At the Reward Challenge, Phillip was the last one holding up his net, giving his tribe the win. When Gota returned to camp, everybody went looking for the new Hidden Immunity Idol. Reynold found it and told Eddie that he had it. Over at Bikal, Brandon became upset that Phillip was taking credit for the win at the Reward Challenge and the two argued over what Brandon called Phillip's dictatorial attitude. The two tried to smooth things over and shook hands, but Phillip wanted Brandon voted out as soon as possible. The tension continued to simmer between them until day 13 when things came to a boil. Phillip told Andrea that he was considering throwing the challenge. Andrea passed this along to Brandon. Phillip and Brandon stepped away from camp to again try to settle things between them. Phillip told Brandon that he was not sure he could trust him. Brandon told Phillip that the Stealth R Us nicknames were demeaning and nobody liked him. Phillip said that if that was true, the tribe would vote him out. Brandon then told Phillip "let me give you a reason to vote me out" and then proceeded to dump the tribe's rice and beans onto the ground. When the tribes gathered for the Immunity Challenge, Jeff asked several castaways how they were coping with the conditions. Brandon asked to step off the tribe mat to address Gota. He told them that he was going to give them a second chance and to not let Phillip get to the end of the game. Corinne raised her hand and spoke for the tribe stating that they wanted to forfeit the challenge and give up Tribal Immunity. This sent Brandon over the edge and he went off on his tribe. To ease tensions, Jeff called over Brandon to his side to let him have his say, but the meltdown continued. With things not settling down, Jeff had Erik hand the Tribal Immunity to Julia from Gota and stated that they will have a Tribal Council immediately without torches and fire at the Immunity Challenge site. Voting was done verbally. Brandon voted for Phillip, while the others unanimously vote for Brandon and he was sent home by a vote of 8–1.

Episode 6: "Operation Thunder Dome"

• Immunity Challenge: In pairs, the castaways would race across a field to retrieve six large crates painted in their tribe's colors. Once all six crates were retrieved, the tribes would have to stack the crates into a staircase with "Fans vs. Favorites" properly aligned along the sides. The first tribe to complete the staircase and get all of their members up the staircase to the top of a platform would win.

On day 14, when the tribes arrived at what looked like a challenge, they were instead surprised by a tribal swap. With a smashing of paint filled eggs, the new Gota became Andrea, Brenda, Eddie, Erik, Malcolm, Reynold, and Sherri. The new Bikal was Cochran, Corinne, Dawn, Julia, Matt, Michael, and Phillip. The new tribes did not partake in a challenge, but instead returned to their camp sites. At the new Gota, Eddie and Reynold told Erik and Malcolm that Sherri had been gunning for them from day 1 and they would be happy to join the Favorites in voting her out. Meanwhile, Sherri told her side of the story to Andrea and Brenda. Andrea and Malcolm later shared notes about the factions within the former Gota. Over at the new Bikal, Phillip approached Julia about flipping to the Favorites after the tribal merge. Corinne and Dawn were not happy that Phillip was talking possible alliances with Julia. The Immunity Challenge was thoroughly dominated by Gota. With Brandon gone, Phillip and Corinne wanted to turn their attention to voting the other out, but they were stuck with each other as they had to keep the Favorites alliance in the majority. Phillip told Matt and Michael that he was voting for Julia and that they could join the Stealth R Us alliance if they followed one of his orders some time in the future. Matt and Michael told Julia that they would join her in voting for Dawn, but were really going to vote for Julia. The Favorites discussed voting out Julia or Matt, who was suggested to be a target by Cochran to break up his alliance with Michael. When the voting came at Tribal Council, the Favorites decided to vote out Matt and he was blindsided by a vote of 4–2–1.

Episode 7: "Tubby Lunchbox"

• Reward Challenge: The tribes would be clipped together by a rope carrying 20 pounds (9.1 kg) sand bags each. They would start on opposite sides of the course, racing through knee-deep water to catch the other tribe. If a tribe member drops out they must give their sandbag to someone from their tribe. The first tribe to tag a member from the other tribe would win.

• Reward: A trip to another island where they would be a coffee bar, cookies, croissants, and brownies.

• Immunity Challenge: Three tribe members from each tribe would paddle out in a boat and then dive into the ocean to retrieve a statue. Once the statue is returned to the beach, it would be placed as the bottom of a tower. Three other tribe members would then use a grappling hook to retrieve five keys. Once all five keys were retrieved, the three would use them to unlock the tower. All of the tribe members would then pull on a rope to raise the statue to the top of the tower. The first tribe to have their statue at the top of the tower would win.

After Tribal Council, Phillip and Corinne still wanted to vote each other out as soon as possible. Cochran told Phillip that now was not the time to turn on a fellow alliance member and to wait until the merge. When tree mail arrived and announced that the challenge would be one of physical strength, Phillip boasted that he could beat anybody at feats of strength. However, when the Reward Challenge came, Phillip faltered, dragging his tribe to a decisive defeat. Back at camp, Cochran was concerned about Julia's ties to Phillip and wanted to make sure that one of the Fans was voted out. Phillip thought he had managed to get Julia to flip alliances and to keep that agreement to herself. However, she felt bullied by Phillip and she told Dawn that she felt she had to go along with Phillip's orders. Dawn told Phillip about this and he now wanted to vote Julia out since she had disobeyed his orders to keep it quiet. Over at Gota, Malcolm approached Reynold about setting up an alliance between them, Eddie, and Erik after the merge. Feeling that he could trust Malcolm, Reynold told Malcolm that he had the Hidden Immunity Idol. At the Immunity Challenge, Bikal gave Gota a better fight than at the Reward Challenge, but Gota again prevailed. The division between Corinne and Phillip reared up again when Corinne didn't want to go with her alliance's split vote plan to guard against the Hidden Immunity Idol. Corinne preferred to vote out Julia immediately. Phillip preferred to vote out Michael. At Tribal Council, the vote came out a split between Michael and Julia. On the revote, Julia was sent home by a vote of 4–0.

Episode 8: "Blindside Time"

• Immunity Challenge: The castaways would participate in a local delicacy food eating challenge. The first round would pit two groups of six castaways eating beetle larvae with three castaways moving on from each group. The second round would be the advancing six eating shipworms with three castaways moving on. The third round would be the three castaways eating baluts with two moving on. In the final round, the two castaways would eat pig brains.

On day 20, a boat arrived at the Gota beach announcing the tribal merge. The boat took the Gota tribe to the Bikal beach where the newly merged tribe took part in the traditional merger feast. Malcolm named the tribe Enil Edam; unbeknownst to the tribe, this was to honor his mother Madeline, for Enil Edam being was her name backwards. Phillip told Andrea that they, along with Cochran and Dawn, could take themselves all the way to the Final Four. Corinne plotted with Malcolm about blindsiding Phillip, and they planned to gather a majority voting bloc comprising Corinne and Michael plus Malcolm's new "alpha male" quartet with Erik, Eddie, and Reynold. Their master plan was to vote along with the Favorites in eliminating Sherri before turning on Phillip at the following Tribal Council. At the Immunity Challenge, Andrea, Malcolm, Eddie, Cochran, Phillip, and Michael advanced to the second round. Malcolm, Eddie, and Cochran then downed the shipworms to advance to the third round. Eddie struggled with the balut giving Malcolm the opportunity to face off against Cochran in the final round. The final round was a close and fast competition, with Cochran barely defeating Malcolm and taking the win, upon which he celebrated giddily. Back at camp, Phillip told Corinne that he wanted to split the vote between Reynold and Eddie, but since she needed both of their votes and wanted to keep them from being nervous, she lobbied to vote out Sherri, aiming to keep the eventual plot to blindside Phillip under the surface. Trying to gather support to blindside Phillip, Corinne talked to Dawn about joining the blindside. Worried about what happened last time she kept serious post-merge information to herself, Dawn decided to relay the information to Cochran, and it travelled through the Stealth R Us' members until it reached Phillip. The core Stealth R Us alliance was concerned that Corinne did have the numbers to blindside Phillip, and went to work to blindside Corinne instead. Phillip told Sherri that she could advance in the game by voting for Corinne. Erik became the swing vote with Andrea telling him to vote for Corinne, while Malcolm told him to vote for Sherri. At Tribal Council, Erik decided to vote for Corinne and she was blindsided by a vote of 7–5.

Episode 9: "Cut Off the Head of the Snake"

• Reward Challenge: Divided into two teams of five, one member from each team would stand on a small platform in the ocean to defend a net. The four members of the opposing team would then leap off a second platform one at a time into the ocean while trying to throw a ball past the defender and into the net. For every ball they get into the net, they would score one point for their team. The first team to score five points (edited in episode to show four points due to time constraints) would win.

• Reward: A trip to a waterfall which the castways would rappel down and then enjoy a picnic lunch.

• Immunity Challenge: The tribe members would be in the ocean under a metal grate as the incoming tide rises. As the tide rises, the breathing space under the grate grows smaller. The last castaway to remain under the grate would win.

After Sherri's show of loyalty to the Stealth R Us alliance at the last Tribal Council, Phillip declared her a member of the alliance. The Reward Challenge was won by the team of Cochran, Eddie, Erik, Michael, and Reynold who defeated Andrea, Brenda, Dawn, Malcolm, and Phillip. Sherri was not picked during the school yard pick and sat out the challenge. While on their reward, Eddie, Michael, and Reynold pitched to Cochran an all guy alliance, but that did not appeal to Cochran as he didn't want to join in an alliance with the Fans. While the others were on their reward, Malcolm approached Sherri and Dawn about splitting off from the Stealth R Us alliance and taking control of the game. However, the two women reported Malcolm's try to make a big move to Andrea and Phillip. Seeking to punish Malcolm for his disloyalty, the core alliance told Malcolm that the Stealth R Us alliance would be splitting the vote between Eddie and Reynold when in reality they would be voting for Malcolm. While on a trip to a lagoon, Eddie tried to get Andrea on his side and to vote with him. At the Immunity Challenge, Brenda outlasted Andrea to take Individual Immunity. Back at camp, Malcolm started a plan to target Andrea. Keeping up the fake split vote ploy, Dawn told Malcolm that she would vote with him if Reynold showed her the Hidden Immunity Idol. Reynold did, but then also threatened her that if he felt she wouldn't vote with them that he would play the Idol. This did not go over well with Dawn. Eddie told Andrea that her name was being discussed to be voted out. This caused Andrea to panic and she ran to her core alliance to beg them to change their voting plan. She wanted them to abandon the vote against Malcolm and instead vote for Michael as the safe vote. At Tribal Council, Phillip announced that Sherri was part of the Stealth R Us alliance and also said that anybody who is disloyal to the alliance would get voted out. After the votes were cast, Jeff asked if anybody wanted to play a Hidden Immunity Idol. Reynold stood up to play his Idol, but Malcolm told him to hold up, and persuaded Reynold that after Phillip's speech about being disloyal, it was obvious the alliance had voted for Malcolm and that Reynold should give Malcolm the Idol. Reynold tossed the Idol over and Malcolm played it. But when the votes were read, the Idol went for naught as the alliance ceded to Andrea's wishes and sent Michael to be the first member of the Jury, by a vote of 7–3–1.

Episode 10: "Zipping Over the Cuckoo’s Nest"

• Reward Challenge: The tribe would be divided into two teams of five. One at a time, the teams would race through an obstacle course of balance beams, a water slide, and a mud pit. They would then retrieve a bag of balls in the mud and cross a pit full of rice. Once five bags were retrieved, all of the team members would untie the bags and shoot the balls into a basket. The first team to shoot all twelve of their balls into the basket would win.

• Reward: A trip to a resort and lunch.

• Immunity Challenge: Competing in two heats of five, the castaways would race across a platform, dive into the ocean, swim under the platform with the aid of a rope, climb back up onto the platform, retrieve a ring and put it on a post on the other side of the platform. They would have to complete two laps of this course. The first two castaways to finish their heat would move on the the final round. In the final round, the castaways would have to complete five laps on the course to win.

When the tribe returned to camp after Tribal Council, the Stealth R Us alliance went off to have a private conversation and left Eddie, Malcolm, and Reynold back at the camp. The Stealth R Us alliance agreed they could now freely vote out any of the three as they had no Hidden Immunity Idol, but unbeknownst to them, Malcolm still had one. While off at the lagoon on day 26, Dawn had a major breakdown when she accidentally lost her retainer. She yelled for Brenda to come help her, and Brenda dove down into the lagoon and found the retainer. The two formed a sympathetic bond after the incident with Brenda saying that she was solidly behind Dawn. At the Reward Challenge, the team of Cochran, Dawn, Erik, Phillip, and Reynold easily defeated the team of Andrea, Brenda, Eddie, Malcolm, and Sherri. The next day, Dawn continued to unravel as she was sure that Andrea would turn against the Stealth R Us alliance and blindside her at the next Tribal Council. Her paranoia made Cochran and Phillip concerned, but things turned around the next day after Dawn got some sleep. The Stealth R Us alliance agreed to split their vote 4–3 against Reynold and Malcolm just in case one of them had a Hidden Immunity Idol. At the Immunity Challenge, Reynold and Andrea won their heat over Cochran, Dawn, and Sherri. Before the second heat was to be run, Phillip said that he was opting out of the challenge due to the underwater stage of the challenge reminding him of a childhood incident. With the second heat down to four, Malcolm won the heat and Eddie should have joined him, but he missed the post with his second ring, allowing Brenda to join the final round. In the final round, it was neck and neck until the end where Reynold defeated Malcolm. With Reynold's win spoiling the Stealth R Us voting plan, they switched to a vote split between Eddie and Malcolm. But their plans were further spoiled when Malcolm found a Hidden Immunity Idol in full view of Andrea, Dawn, and Eddie. The Stealth R Us alliance decided to stick with the split vote plan. At Tribal Council, Eddie thought he was sure to go home, but the Stealth R Us alliance was stunned when Malcolm pulled out his second Hidden Immunity Idol and gave it to Eddie. There was a lot of whispering among the alliance as they tried to figure out how they were going to vote now that all three outsiders had immunity. Malcolm announced that his "Three Amigos" of himself, Eddie, and Reynold were going to vote for Phillip, due to the fact he was sucking the life out of the game, labelling Phillip a "Fun-sponge". Phillip told his alliance that they should continue their original split voting plan just in case Eddie and Malcolm did not play their Idols. But when the vote came, they did play them. Everybody in the Stealth R Us alliance except Erik kept to the split vote plan, leaving their votes discarded. The "Three Amigos" kept their word about voting for Phillip and he became the second member of the jury by a vote of 4–0–0.

Episode 11: "Come Over to the Dark Side"

• Reward Challenge: Instead of a Reward Challenge, a Survivor Auction was held. Items won were the following:

Contestants	Item(s)
Andrea	Spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread (mystery item), traded for bag of beans and rice for whole tribe; letter from home
Brenda	Pig brains (mystery item); letter from home
Cochran	Advantage at Immunity Challenge; letter from home
Dawn	Roasted chicken
Eddie	Letter from home; bowl of peanut butter to be shared with entire tribe for 60 seconds (mystery item)
Erik	Letter from home
Malcolm	Beer, nuts, and pretzels; a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol (mystery item)
Reynold	One slice of pizza (mystery item); letter from home
Sherri	Rest of the pizza Reynold purchased

• Immunity Challenge: With one hand, the castaways would hang on to a rope with several knots tied into it. The rope would be tied to one end of a heavy log. The other end of the log would be connected to a pivot point on a platform that the castaways would stand on. The castaways would start at the knot closest to the end of the log. Every five minutes, they would change hands and move one knot further down the rope. This would increase the angle of the log at the pivot point and increase the weight that the castaways would have to hold. The castaway who held on to the rope the longest would win.

With Phillip out of the game, Erik saw his departure as an opportunity to make a move while Cochran and Brenda were shocked and uncertain about their futures. Day 29's tree mail announced the Survivor Auction. Everybody purchased at least one item, with Malcolm and Cochran being the biggest winners by purchasing a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol and an advantage at the Immunity Challenge, respectively. The next day, Andrea followed Malcolm all day to prevent him from finding the Hidden Immunity Idol. At the Immunity Challenge, Cochran's advantage was revealed to be that any time during the challenge, he could move up two knots on the rope. He used this advantage to ultimately defeat Eddie and take his second Individual Immunity. Back at camp, Malcolm tried to get Sherri to flip and join the Three Amigos alliance and promising to take her to the final three. Meanwhile, Reynold tried to get Erik to flip. But when the vote came at Tribal Council, Sherri and Erik stuck to their alliance and the vote was split three votes a piece to Andrea, Malcolm, and Reynold. On the revote, the tally was unanimous and Malcolm was sent to the jury by a vote of 6-0-0.

Episode 12: "The Beginning of the End"

• Reward/Immunity Challenge: The castaways would stand barefoot on wooden slats on an a-frame that was floating out in the water and try to remain balanced on top of the a-frame. After 15 minutes, the castaways would move up to a second set of slats making balancing more difficult. After another 15 minutes, the castaways would move to the top of the a-frame where they would have to balance until the end of the challenge. The last castaway remaining on the a-frame would win.

• Reward: Information in the game.

Day 31's tree-mail announced a surprise Immunity Challenge instead of the Reward Challenge that the castaways expected. When they got to the challenge site, Jeff announced that it would be a combined Reward/Immunity Challenge. With the castaways balanced on the first set of slats, Jeff offered up a plate of donuts and a glass of milk to whomever jumped off. Erik and Eddie agreed to jump off together. When the castaways moved up to the second set of slats, Jeff offered three hot dogs and a soda, which Cochran took. Thirty minutes into the challenge, the castaways moved to the top of the a-frame where Dawn, Sherri, and Reynold fell off, leaving Andrea and Brenda to fight it out. They tried to negotiate for one of them to win, but neither wanted to step off. They continued the challenge for three hours when they agreed to share the reward note and to make up their own fourth stage of the challenge by lifting their left foot off the top of the a-frame. Jeff counted down to this new fourth stage and Brenda fell off the top shortly thereafter to give Andrea the win. Back at camp, the reward note turned out to be a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol. Andrea shared the clue with her whole alliance and they went looking for the idol. Erik found it and handed it over to Andrea. Brenda's determination to stick it out in the challenge made Andrea suspicious of Brenda as she could be a big threat in future challenges. Andrea pushed Cochran, Dawn, and Sherri to blindside Brenda instead of splitting the vote between Eddie and Reynold. But when Tribal Council came, the Favorites did not blindside Brenda and instead sent Reynold to the jury by a vote of 4–2–1–1.

• Immunity Challenge: The castaways would maneuver a buoy through a rope maze to a post. They would then untie a series of knots to release a key. The key would open a chest that contained a set of ladder rung puzzle pieces. The first castaway to assemble their ladder and climb to the top of the tower and raise their flag would win.

After Tribal Council, Andrea was still lobbying hard to Cochran about blindsiding either Brenda or Dawn. Cochran told Brenda and Dawn about Andrea's plan. Brenda immediately turned against Andrea. Erik won the Immunity Challenge by a blowout over Brenda. Back at camp, Andrea continued to push for a blindside. Cochran figured out that Andrea wanted to take Eddie to the final three, possibly displacing Cochran in the final three. Suspicious that Andrea was leaving him out of her plans, Cochran talked to Brenda, Dawn, and Sherri about blindsiding Andrea. Just in case Andrea got paranoid at Tribal Council and played the Hidden Immunity Idol, Cochran got his alliance to split the vote between Andrea and Eddie. Andrea told Erik that she would like to go to the final three with him. Erik wasn't sure if he should join Brenda and Cochran in blindsiding Andrea or joining Andrea in voting out Brenda. At Tribal Council, the timing of a "big move" was discussed. When the vote came, Erik made his "big move" and decided to vote against Andrea. Andrea was not paranoid enough to play her Hidden Immunity Idol and she took it with her to the jury by a vote of 3–2–2.

Episode 13: "Don't Say Anything About My Mom"

• Reward Challenge: The castaways and their loved ones would spin around in circles to unscrew three rails. They would then assemble the rails into a ladder to play a variation of ladder toss. The first pair to have three bolas on their ladder wins.

• Reward: A trip with their loved ones to a boat anchored offshore with a BBQ.

• Immunity Challenge: The castaways would stand on a log on the edge of a platform over the water with their arms behind them hanging onto a handle. The handle would be tied to a rope. At regular intervals, Jeff would turn a crank that would uncoil more rope which would lower the castaways closer to the water. The last castaway that hangs onto the handle without falling into the water or stepping off the log would win.

Day 35's treemail was a Sprint HTC Evo 4G LTE containing videos from the castaways' loved ones: Brenda's dad Raymond, Dawn's husband David, Sherri's husband Jared, Cochran's mom Arlene, Eddie's dad Edward, and Erik's brother Richard. At the Reward Challenge, Brenda's dad Raymond scored the last point to take the win. Jeff called Brenda over and gave her the offer to select one other castaway to join them and Brenda selected Dawn. Jeff then pulled out a second HTC Evo 4G LTE that had a video announcing that, not one, but two loved ones were on the island for the visit. Jeff then told Brenda that she could give up both her and Dawn's visit with their loved ones in exchange for the other four castaways to see their loved ones on the boat. Brenda called the decision a "no brainer" and gave up the the reward. While the four were enjoying their visit, Dawn was livid that she missed out on her loved ones' visit back at camp because of Brenda. When the castaways returned from the visit, Cochran was concerned that Brenda's gesture would protect her for the rest of the game and would even get her votes at the final Tribal Council. At the Immunity Challenge, the challenge came down to Brenda and Dawn. Dawn tried to cut a deal to end the challenge early since Eddie had not won and they would send him to the jury. However, Brenda did not agree to the deal and the challenge continued. Dawn would eventually outlast Brenda to take Individual Immunity. Back at camp, Cochran tried to sell Dawn and Sherri on sending Brenda home. Sherri readily agreed, while Dawn was conflicted on what to do. When the vote came, Dawn followed through with Cochran's plan and blindsided a devastated Brenda by a vote of 3–2–1.

Voting history

	Original Tribes							Swapped Tribes			Merged Tribe
Episode #:	1	2	3		4		5	6	7		8	9	10	11		12		13	14
Eliminated:	Francesca 6/10 votes	Allie 6/10 votes	Tie1	Hope 5/6 votes	Shamar No vote3	Laura 6/6 votes4	Brandon 8/9 votes	Matt 4/7 votes	Tie1	Julia 4/4 votes	Corinne 7/12 votes	Michael 7/11 votes	Phillip 4/4 votes6	Tie1	Malcolm 6/6 votes	Reynold 4/8 votes	Andrea 3/7 votes	Brenda 3/6 votes	Erik No vote8	Eddie 3/4 votes
Voter	Vote
Cochran	Francesca						Brandon	Matt	Michael	Julia	Corinne	Michael	Malcolm	Malcolm	Malcolm	Eddie	Eddie	Brenda		Eddie
Dawn	Francesca						Brandon	Matt	Julia	Julia	Corinne	Michael	Eddie	Reynold	Malcolm	Reynold	Eddie	Brenda		Eddie
Sherri		Allie	Hope	Hope		Laura					Corinne	Michael	Eddie	Reynold	Malcolm	Reynold	Andrea	Brenda		Eddie
Eddie		Shamar	Shamar	None2		Laura					Sherri	Andrea	Phillip	Andrea	Malcolm	Sherri	Brenda	Erik		Dawn
Erik	Andrea						Brandon				Corinne	Michael	Phillip	Malcolm	Malcolm	Eddie	Andrea	Eddie
Brenda	Andrea						Brandon				Corinne	Michael	Eddie	Reynold	Malcolm	Reynold	Andrea	Eddie
Andrea	Francesca						Brandon				Corinne	Michael	Eddie	Malcolm	None7	Reynold	Brenda
Reynold		Shamar	Shamar	Shamar		Laura					Sherri	Andrea	Phillip	Andrea	None7	Erik
Malcolm	Francesca						Brandon				Sherri	Reynold	Phillip	Andrea	None7
Phillip	Francesca						Brandon	Matt	Michael	Julia	Corinne	Michael	Malcolm
Michael		Allie	Eddie	Hope		Laura		Julia	Julia	None5	Sherri	Andrea
Corinne	Francesca						Brandon	Matt	Julia	Julia	Sherri
Julia		Allie	Hope	Hope		Laura		Dawn	Michael	None5
Matt		Allie	Eddie	Hope		Laura		Julia
Brandon	Andrea						Phillip
Laura		Allie	Hope	Hope		Reynold
Shamar		Allie	Eddie	None2
Hope		Shamar	Shamar	None2
Allie		Shamar
Francesca	Andrea

Jury vote
Finalist:	Cochran /8 votes	Dawn /8 votes	Sherri /8 votes
Juror	Vote
Eddie
Erik
Brenda
Andrea
Reynold
Malcolm
Phillip
Michael

^1 The first Tribal Council Vote 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 who tied.

^2 Eddie, Hope and Shamar were not eligible to vote in the second Tribal Council vote.

^3 No vote: Shamar was removed due to injury.

^4 Reynold played the hidden immunity idol; the one vote against him did not count.

^5 Julia and Michael were not eligible to vote in the second Tribal Council vote.

^6 Malcolm and Eddie played hidden immunity idols; four votes against Eddie and two against Malcolm did not count.

^7 Andrea, Malcolm and Reynold were not eligible to vote in the second Tribal Council vote.

^8 No vote: Erik was removed due to dehydration and starvation.

Ratings

U.S. Nielsen ratings

Episode	Rating	Share	Rating/share (18–49)	Viewers (millions)	Weekly rank
"She Annoys Me Greatly"	5.5	9	2.4/7	8.94	#18
"Honey Badger"	5.7	9	2.4/7	9.32	#22
"There's Gonna Be Hell to Pay"	5.9	9	2.6/8	9.17	#18
"Kill or Be Killed"	5.9	9	2.6/7	9.58	#11
"Persona Non Grata"	5.9	10	2.7/8	9.89	#14
"Operation Thunder Dome"	5.8	10	2.6/8	9.79	#10
"Tubby Lunchbox"	5.5	9	2.5/7	9.43	#13
"Blindside Time"	5.7	9	2.5/7	9.25	#22
"Cut Off the Head of the Snake"	5.7	9	2.6/8	9.38	#20
"Zipping Over the Cuckoo’s Nest"	6.0	10	2.7/8	9.99	#12
"Come Over to the Dark Side"	5.9	10	2.9/8	10.31	#15
"The Beginning of the End"	5.8	10	2.4/8	9.25	#19
"Don't Say Anything About My Mom"	5.7	9	2.6/8	9.51

Australian Ratings

The latest season of Survivor was fast tracked to Australian television only 6 hours after the United States airing after fan anger due to the last few seasons airing months after finishing in America, often in a late night time-slot. It currently airs on GO! during Thursday evenings at 7:30 PM.The finale will air on the 12th of May at 8:30 PM.

Episode	Airdate	Viewers
"She Annoys Me Greatly"	February 14, 2013	153,000
"Honey Badger"	February 21, 2013	137,000
"There's Gonna Be Hell To Pay"	February 28, 2013	138,000
"Kill Or Be Killed"	March 7, 2013
"Persona Non Grata"	March 14, 2013
"Operation Thunder Dome"	March 21, 2013	180,000
"Tubby Lunchbox"	March 28, 2013	177,000
"Blindside Time"	April 4, 2013	211,000
"Cut The Head Off The Snake"	April 11, 2013	219,000
"Zipping Over The Cuckoo's Nest"	April 18, 2013	209,000
"Come Over To The Dark Side"	April 25, 2013	226,000
"Beginning Of The End"	May 2, 2013
"Don't Say Anything About My Mom"	May 9, 2013	189,000

External links

• Official CBS Survivor Caramoan Website