Survivor: Tocantins
Template:Infobox Television Survivor
Survivor: Tocantins — The Brazilian Highlands is the eighteenth season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor. The season was filmed in the microregion of Jalapão in Tocantins, Brazil, and first aired Thursday, February 12, 2009. CBS began casting for Survivor: Tocantins once production for Survivor: Gabon was underway. Applications were due by July 15, 2008, with in-person interviews being conducted in various cities sometime in August 2008, and semi-finalists traveling to Los Angeles, California sometime in September 2008. Sixteen applicants were chosen to compete on the show and were initially divided into two tribes. Exile Island returned this season, but with new twists. Instead of one castaway sent to Exile Island, two were sent. While on Exile Island, each exiled castaway picked from one of two urns. One urn contained a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol and an option to join the opposing tribe, while the other urn contained nothing.
James Thomas, Jr. was named the winner in the final episode on May 17, 2009, defeating Stephen Fishbach in a unanimous vote. In addition, JT was named "Sprint Player of the Season", earning the fans' vote over Tamara "Taj" Johnson-George and Sierra Reed. Thomas was the second player to win the game by a unanimous vote, following Earl Cole of Survivor: Fiji, but the first to receive no votes throughout the season in addition to a unanimous jury vote.
The complete season, including the mid-season recap episode and live reunion show, was released on DVD exclusively through Amazon.com on August 5, 2014.
Contestants
| Contestant | Original tribe | Merged tribe | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carolina Eastwood 26, West Hollywood, California |
Jalapao | 1st voted out Day 3 | |
| Candace Smith 31, Dayton, Ohio |
Timbira | 2nd voted out Day 6 | |
| Jerry Sims 49, Rock Hill, South Carolina |
Timbira | 3rd voted out Day 9 | |
| Sandy Burgin 53, Louisville, Kentucky |
Jalapao | 4th voted out Day 12 | |
| Spencer Duhm 18, Lakeland, Florida |
Jalapao | 5th voted out Day 15 | |
| Sydney Wheeler 24, Raleigh, North Carolina |
Jalapao | 6th voted out Day 18 | |
| Joe Dowdle 26, Austin, Texas |
Jalapao | Forza | Medically evacuated Day 20 |
| Brendan Synnott 30, New York City, New York |
Timbira | 7th voted out 1st jury member Day 24 | |
| Tyson Apostol 29, Lindon, Utah |
Timbira | 8th voted out 2nd jury member Day 27 | |
| Sierra Reed 23, Los Angeles, California |
Timbira | 9th voted out 3rd jury member Day 30 | |
| Debra "Debbie" Beebe 46, Auburn, Alabama |
Timbira | 10th voted out 4th jury member Day 33 | |
| Benjamin "Coach" Wade 37, Bolivar, Missouri |
Timbira | 11th voted out 5th jury member Day 36 | |
| Tamara "Taj" Johnson-George 37, Nashville, Tennessee |
Jalapao | 12th voted out 6th jury member Day 37 | |
| Erinn Lobdell 26, Waukesha, Wisconsin |
Timbira | 13th voted out 7th jury member Day 38 | |
| Stephen Fishbach 29, New York City, New York |
Jalapao | Runner-up | |
| James "J.T." Thomas, Jr. 24, Samson, Alabama |
Jalapao | Sole Survivor |
Future appearances
James Thomas, Coach Wade and Tyson Apostol later returned for Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, where they placed 10th, 12th, and 15th, respectively. Wade would return for his third time in Survivor: South Pacific, where he placed as runner-up. Apostol returned for his third appearance in Survivor: Blood vs. Water, alongside his girlfriend Rachel Foulger, and he eventually won the season. Stephen Fishbach returned for Survivor: Cambodia where he placed 9th.
Season summary
The players were split into two tribes, Timbira and Jalapao, prior to the game. However, before the game started, Jeff stated that each tribe was to vote for one of their own to not make the trek to camp. The selected members, Sierra from Timbira and Sandy from Jalapao, assumed they had been eliminated, but it was then revealed that these two would be flown to their respective campsites while the rest had to trek for four hours while carrying supplies. Nevertheless, this would impact their game; both Sierra and Sandy became distant from their tribes. Sandy was eliminated, but Sierra was spared due to Timbira's repeated immunity wins.
Both the hidden immunity idol and Exile 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. Brendan from Timbira and Taj from Jalapao formed a secret cross-tribe 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 hidden immunity idol. Timbira was able to win the last three tribal Immunity Challenges, leaving Taj, J.T., Stephen, and Joe as the only Jalapao members remaining. Shortly after the merge, Joe was evacuated from the game due to an infection in his knee.
After Joe's evacuation, Timbira had a major numerical advantage on Jalapao, up six players to three. However, Timbira had divided into several factions: Coach, Tyson, and Debbie, Brendan, and Sierra, and Erinn on the outside. Coach's faction decided to align with J.T. and Stephen in an attempt to overthrow Brendan and Sierra. With Brendan and Sierra acting distant, Taj and Stephen decided to betray their Exile alliance; Brendan neglected to play his idol and was voted out. With the dissent among Timbira exposed, J.T., Stephen, and Taj aligned with Erinn, navigating between the two Timbira factions to eliminate them all, becoming the final four.
After knocking Taj out of the game due to her likelihood of winning the jury's vote, J.T. eliminated Erinn after he won his third consecutive immunity challenge, bringing Stephen to the final Tribal Council. Stephen's poor Final Tribal Council performance combined with JT's likability led the jury unanimously voted for J.T. to be named Sole Survivor, believing J.T. played a stronger game compared to Stephen's.
| Episode title[1] | Original air date | Challenge winner(s) | Exiled | Eliminated | Finish | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reward | Immunity | |||||
| "Let's Get Rid of the Weak Players Before We Even Start" |
February 12, 2009 | Timbira[a] | None | Carolina | 1st voted out Day 3 | |
| "The Poison Apple Needs to Go" | February 19, 2009 | Jalapao[a] | Brendan | Candace | 2nd voted out Day 6 | |
| Taj | ||||||
| "Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This" | February 26, 2009 | Jalapao | Jalapao | Brendan | Jerry | 3rd voted out Day 9 |
| Taj | ||||||
| "The Strongest Man Alive" | March 5, 2009 | Jalapao | Timbira | Sierra | Sandy | 4th voted out Day 12 |
| Taj | ||||||
| "You're Going to Want that Tooth" | March 12, 2009 | Jalapao | Timbira | Brendan | Spencer | 5th voted out Day 15 |
| Stephen | ||||||
| "One of Those 'Coach Moments'" | April 2, 2009 | Timbira | Timbira | Joe | Sydney | 6th voted out Day 18 |
| Erinn | ||||||
| "The Dragon Slayer" | April 9, 2009 | None[b] | Tyson | None[b] | Joe | Medically evacuated Day 20 |
| "The Biggest Fraud in the Game" | April 16, 2009 | Brendan, Debbie, J.T. |
Tyson | Stephen | Brendan | 7th voted out 1st jury member Day 24 |
| "It's Funny When People Cry" | April 23, 2009 | Debbie, Erinn, J.T., Tyson |
Debbie | Stephen | Tyson | 8th voted out 2nd jury member Day 27 |
| "They Both Went Bananas" | April 30, 2009 | Stephen, [J.T., Taj] |
Coach | Erinn | Sierra | 9th voted out 3rd jury member Day 30 |
| "The Ultimate Sacrifice" | May 7, 2009 | Survivor Auction | Stephen | Taj | Debbie | 10th voted out 4th jury member Day 33 |
| "The Martyr Approach" | May 14, 2009 | J.T., [Stephen] | J.T. | Coach | Coach | 11th voted out 5th jury member Day 36 |
| "I Trust You But I Trust Me More" | May 17, 2009 | None | J.T. | None | Taj | 12th voted out 6th jury member Day 37 |
| J.T. | Erinn | 13th voted out 7th jury member Day 38 | ||||
| "Reunion" | May 17, 2009 | Jury vote | ||||
| Stephen | Runner-up | |||||
| J.T. | Sole Survivor | |||||
- 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.
Episodes
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Rating/share (household) | Rating/share (18-49) | Original air date | US viewers (millions) | Weekly rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 259 | 1 | "Let's Get Rid of the Weak Players Before We Even Start" | 8.0/13[2] | 4.5/13[3] | February 12, 2009 | 13.63[2] | #12[2] |
| 260 | 2 | "The Poison Apple Needs to Go" | 7.8/12[4] | 4.5/12[5] | February 19, 2009 | 13.59[4] | #11[4] |
| 261 | 3 | "Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This" | 6.9/11[6] | 4.0/11[7] | February 26, 2009 | 12.05[6] | #11[6] |
| 262 | 4 | "The Strongest Man Alive" | 7.0/11[8] | 3.9/10[9] | March 5, 2009 | 11.85[8] | #15[8] |
| 263 | 5 | "You're Going to Want that Tooth" | 7.3/12[10] | 4.1/12[11] | March 12, 2009 | 12.82[10] | #15[10] |
| 264 | 6 | "The First Fifteen Days" | 5.0/8[12] | 2.3/6[13] | March 26, 2009 | 8.15[13] | TBA |
| 265 | 7 | ""One of Those 'Coach Moments'"" | 6.5/11[14] | 3.6/11[15] | April 2, 2009 | 11.27[14] | #17[14] |
| 266 | 8 | "The Dragon Slayer" | 6.6/12[16] | 3.5/11[17] | April 9, 2009 | 11.24[16] | #16[16] |
| 267 | 9 | "The Biggest Fraud in the Game" | 6.8/12[18] | 3.5/11[19] | April 16, 2009 | 11.64[18] | #15[18] |
| 268 | 10 | "It's Funny When People Cry" | 6.8/12[20] | 3.2/11[21] | April 23, 2009 | 11.30[20] | #12[20] |
| 269 | 11 | "They Both Went Bananas" | 7.0/12[22] | 3.6/11[23] | April 30, 2009 | 11.73[22] | #17[22] |
| 270 | 12 | "The Ultimate Sacrifice" | 7.0/12[24] | 3.8/12[25] | May 7, 2009 | 11.99[24] | #15[24] |
| 271 | 13 | "The Martyr Approach" | 7.0/12[25] | 3.8/11[26] | May 14, 2009 | 12.18[25] | #18[25] |
| 272 | 14 | "I Trust You But I Trust Me More" | 7.0/11[25] | 4.2/[25] | May 17, 2009 | 12.94[25] | #14[25] |
| 273 | 15 | "Reunion" | 6.4/11[25] | 4.1/[25] | May 17, 2009 | 11.59[25] | #20[25] |
Voting history
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References
- ^ "CBS TV Schedule".
- ^ a b c Seidman, Robert (2009-02-18). "American Idol, The Mentalist and NCIS lead weekly broadcast viewing". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2009-02-18.
- ^ Gorman, Bill (2009-02-13). "Thursday Ratings: Survivor Returns Well, Grey's Boosts Practice To Demo Beatdown". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2009-02-14.
- ^ a b c Seidman, Robert (2009-02-24). "Academy Awards American Idol and The Mentalist lead broadcast viewing". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2009-02-26.
- ^ Seidman, Robert (2009-02-20). "Thursday Ratings: Grey's Anatomy still the demo king, Survivor stays strong". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
- ^ a b c Seidman, Robert (2009-03-03). "American Idol, NCIS and CSI lead weekly broadcast viewing". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2009-03-03.
- ^ Gorman, Bill (2009-02-27). "Overnight Ratings: Fox Wins With American Idol Thursday Visit". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
- ^ a b c Seidman, Robert (2009-03-10). "American Idol, CSI and The Bachelor lead weekly TV viewing". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2009-03-13.
- ^ Gorman, Bill (2009-03-06). "Ratings: Thursday Competition Glad American Idol Is Leaving". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
- ^ a b c Seidman, Robert (2009-03-17). "American Idol, Dancing With the Stars and CSI top broadcast net viewing". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
- ^ Gorman, Bill (2009-03-13). "Thursday Ratings: "Surprise" Clooney Return Provides Little Boost To E.R.". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
- ^ "'American Idol' mows down competition". ZAP2it. 2009-03-26. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
- ^ a b Seidman, Robert (2009-03-26). "Wednesday Ratings: American Idol strong, Lost low". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
- ^ a b c Seidman, Robert (2009-04-07). "Ratings: ER finale shines, but American Idol, Dancing With the Stars and NCIS, still lead weekly viewing". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
- ^ Seidman, Robert (2009-04-03). "Updated Thursday Ratings: ER finale draws 16.3 million viewers". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2009-04-03.
- ^ a b c Seidman, Robert (2009-04-14). "From American Idol to Harper's Island, top 20 shows for week of April 6–12". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2009-04-17.
- ^ Seidman, Robert (2009-04-10). "Thursday Ratings: Modest success for Southland and Parks and Recreation". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2009-04-17.
- ^ a b c Seidman, Robert (2009-04-21). "From American Idol to The Amazing Race, the top 20 shows for week of April 13–19". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2009-04-24.
- ^ Seidman, Robert (2009-04-17). "Thursday Ratings: Southland Holds Up Parks and Recreation dips". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2009-04-19.
- ^ a b c Seidman, Robert (2009-04-28). "Broadcast ratings: American Idol wins again, Fringe is 18-49 hit". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
- ^ Gorman, Bill (2009-04-24). "Thursday Ratings: ABC Wins; Southland, Parks & Rec, Harper's Island All Slip". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2009-04-24.
- ^ a b c Seidman, Robert (2009-04-26). "Weekly top shows: Which JJ Abrams show did better?". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
- ^ Gorman, Bill (2009-05-01). "CBS Wins Thursday in Viewers, Adults 25-54". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
- ^ a b c Seidman, Robert (2009-05-12). "Grey's Anatomy queen of scripted shows, Lost bests Fringe". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2009-05-13.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Seidman, Robert (2009-05-19). "American Idol and season finales lead broadcast prime-time viewing". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2009-05-21.
- ^ Gorman, Bill (2009-05-15). "Ratings: ABC, Grey's Anatomy Win "Finale Thursday"; But Declines Continue". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2009-05-18.