Survivor: Tocantins – The Brazilian Highlands (commonly referred to as Survivor: Tocantins) 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.
James "J.T." Thomas Jr. was named the winner in the final episode on May 17, 2009, defeating Stephen Fishbach in a unanimous vote. In addition, J.T. 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. This would be the last season to feature a final two until the twenty-eighth season, Survivor: Cagayan.
Format
Survivor is a reality television show based on the Swedish show Expedition Robinson, created by Mark Burnett and Charlie Parsons. The series follows a number of participants isolated in a remote location, where they must provide food, fire, and shelter. One participant is removed from the series by majority vote every three days, with challenges held to give a reward (ranging from living- and food-related prizes to a car) and immunity from being voted out of the series. The last remaining player receives a prize of $1,000,000.
Contestants
The cast is composed of 16 new players, initially splitting into two tribes. The tribes are Jalapao and Timbira. The merged tribe Forza means "Force" in Italian. Notable cast includes SWV band member Tamara Johnson-George, and Miss USA 2003 contestant and Miss Ohio USA 2003 Candace Smith.
+List of Survivor: Tocantins - The Brazilian Highlands contestantsContestantAgeFrom TribeFinish Original Merged Placement Day 26West Hollywood,California1st voted outDay 3 31Los Angeles,California rowspan="2" 2nd voted outDay 6 49Rock Hill,South Carolina3rd voted outDay 9 53Louisville,Kentucky rowspan="4" 4th voted outDay 12 19Gainesville,Florida5th voted outDay 15 24San Diego,California6th voted outDay 18 26Austin,Texasrowspan=10 MedicallyevacuatedDay 20 30Vail,Colorado rowspan="5" 7th voted out1st jury memberDay 24 29Heber City,Utah8th voted outDay 27 23Los Angeles,California9th voted out3rd jury memberDay 30 46Auburn,Alabama10th voted out4th jury memberDay 33 37Bolivar,Missouri11th voted out5th jury memberDay 36 37Nashville,Tennessee12th voted out6th jury memberDay 37 26Milwaukee,Wisconsin 13th voted out7th jury memberDay 38 29New York City,New York rowspan="2" Runner-upDay 39 24Mobile,AlabamaSole Survivor
Future appearances James "J.T." Thomas Jr., Benjamin "Coach" Wade, and Tyson Apostol later returned for Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains. Wade returned for his third time on Survivor: South Pacific. Apostol returned for his third time on Survivor: Blood vs. Water with his girlfriend Rachel Foulger. Stephen Fishbach returned for Survivor: Cambodia. Thomas returned for his third time on Survivor: Game Changers. Apostol returned to compete on Survivor: Winners at War. Wade competed for a fourth time on Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans.
Outside of Survivor, Apostol competed on the first season of The Challenge: USA and on the third season of House of Villains.
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. Ultimately, Sandy was eliminated pre-merge, but not before her tribemate Carolina was ousted first. Sierra made the jury.
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 did not 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 J.T.'s likability led the jury unanimously to vote for J.T. to be named Sole Survivor, believing J.T. played a stronger game compared to Stephen.
+Challenge winners and eliminations by episodeEpisodeChallenge winner(s)ExileIslandEliminatedNo.TitleOriginal air dateRewardImmunityTribePlayer1 colspan="2" Carolina2"The Poison Apple Needs to Go"February 19, 2009 rowspan="2" colspan="2" rowspan="2" Candace3"Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This"February 26, 2009 rowspan="2" rowspan="2" rowspan="2" Jerry4"The Strongest Man Alive"March 5, 2009 rowspan="2" rowspan="2" rowspan="2" Sandy5"You're Going to Want that Tooth"March 12, 2009 rowspan="2" rowspan="2" rowspan="2" Spencer6"The First Fifteen Days"March 25, 2009Recap Episode7"One of Those 'Coach Moments'"April 2, 2009 rowspan="2" rowspan="2" rowspan="2" Sydney8"The Dragon Slayer"April 9, 2009Tyson rowspan="8" Joe9"The Biggest Fraud in the Game"April 16, 2009Brendan,Debbie, J.T.TysonStephenBrendan10"It's Funny When People Cry"April 23, 2009Debbie, Erinn,J.T., TysonDebbieStephenTyson11"They Both Went Bananas"April 30, 2009Stephen[J.T., Taj]CoachErinnSierra12"The Ultimate Sacrifice"May 7, 2009StephenTajDebbie13"The Martyr Approach"May 14, 2009J.T.[Stephen]J.T.CoachCoach14"I Trust You But I Trust Me More"May 17, 2009rowspan="2" J.T. rowspan="2" TajJ.T.Erinn15"Reunion" 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
Voting history
Original tribesMerged tribeEpisode123457891011121314Day3691215182024273033363738 Tribe Eliminated Carolina Candace Jerry Sandy Spencer Sydney Joe Brendan Tyson Sierra Debbie Coach Taj ErinnVotes 7–1 7–1 6–1 5–1–1 5–1 3–2 4–3–2 5–3 4–2–1 4–1–1 3–2 3–1 1–0VoterVoteJ.T. Carolina Sandy Spencer Sydney Sierra Tyson Sierra Debbie Erinn Taj ErinnStephen Carolina Sandy Spencer Sydney Brendan Tyson Sierra Debbie Coach TajErinn Candace Jerry Sierra Tyson Stephen Debbie Coach TajTaj Carolina Joe Spencer Sydney Brendan Tyson Debbie Debbie Coach ErinnCoach Candace Jerry Brendan Sierra Sierra Taj ErinnDebbie Candace Jerry Brendan Sierra Sierra CoachSierra Candace Jerry Coach Tyson DebbieTyson Candace Jerry Sierra SierraBrendan Candace Jerry CoachJoe Carolina Sandy Spencer TajEvacuatedSydney Carolina Sandy Spencer TajSpencer Carolina Sandy TajSandy Carolina SydneyJerry Candace ErinnCandace SierraCarolina Sandy
Jury voteEpisode15Day39Finalist J.T. StephenVotes7–0Juror VoteErinnTajCoachDebbieSierraTysonBrendan
Reception Survivor: Tocantins – The Brazilian Highlands received very positive reviews from critics and fans alike. Fans and critics praised the "back-to-basics" structure of the season as well as the highly entertaining cast. Particular praise was handed to the personalities of finalists James "J.T." Thomas and Stephen Fishbach, who formed a tight alliance early in the game and managed to make it to the end while remaining on great terms with the rest of the contestants. Contestants Benjamin "Coach" Wade and Tyson Apostol were met with polarized receptions due to their villainous behavior. Thomas, Fishbach, Wade, and Apostol would go on to compete in future seasons of the show and are seen as some of the most popular and influential players in Survivor history. In 2015, a poll by Rob Has a Podcast ranked this season 11th out of 30 with Rob Cesternino ranking this season 12th. This was updated in 2021 during Cesternino's podcast, Survivor All-Time Top 40 Rankings, ranking 10th out of 40. Dalton Ross of Entertainment Weekly ranked this season 22nd out of 40 saying the season was bolstered by "Coach" and that "other than Tyson getting blindsided, were there any memorable moments that didn't involve the Dragonslayer?" The "Purple Rock Podcast" named the season the eleventh greatest in Survivor history, claiming, "The strategy is slightly lacking and there aren’t many gimmicks or twists, but the season makes up for it with comedy and a group of players so likable you probably won’t care much who wins the season." Similarly, Inside Survivor also ranked the season as the eleventh best. In their review, they highlighted that, "It has some modern-day twists (with idols and Exile), a couple of epic blindsides, and a shift into 'big-character' edits." In 2024, Nick Caruso of TVLine ranked this season 29th out of 47.
References
External links Official CBS Survivor: Tocantins Website