Survivor: Tocantins

Survivor: Tocantins
Season 18
File:Survivor Tocantins brazilian highlands s18 region 1 dvd.png Region 1 DVD cover
Presented by	Jeff Probst
No. of days	39
No. of castaways	16
Winner	James "J.T." Thomas Jr.
Runner-up	Stephen Fishbach
Location	Jalapão, Tocantins, Brazil
No. of episodes	14
Release
Original network	CBS
Original release	February 12 (2009-02-12) – May 17, 2009 (2009-05-17)
Additional information
Filming dates	November 2 (2008-11-02) – December 10, 2008 (2008-12-10)
Season chronology

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. The season was filmed from November 1, 2008, to December 9, 2008. 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 "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.

Contestants

File:Tyson Apostol visits a petting zoo- 2014-03-06 01-16.jpg

File:DebraBeebe.jpg

File:Coach Wade PR 2010.jpg

File:Tamara Johnson-George (cropped).jpg

From left to right: Tyson Apostol, Debbie Beebe, Benjamin "Coach" Wade, and Tamara "Taj" Johnson-George

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 contestants

Contestant	Age	From	Tribe		Finish
			Original	Merged	Placement	Day
Carolina Eastwood	26	West Hollywood, California	Jalapao		1st voted out	Day 3
Candace Smith	31	Los Angeles, California	Timbira		2nd voted out	Day 6
Jerry Sims	49	Rock Hill, South Carolina			3rd voted out	Day 9
Sandy Burgin	53	Louisville, Kentucky	Jalapao		4th voted out	Day 12
Spencer Duhm	19	Gainesville, Florida			5th voted out	Day 15
Sydney Wheeler	24	San Diego, California			6th voted out	Day 18
Joe Dowdle	26	Austin, Texas		Forza	Medically evacuated	Day 20
Brendan Synnott	30	Vail, Colorado	Timbira		7th voted out 1st jury member	Day 24
Tyson Apostol	29	Heber City, Utah			8th voted out 2nd jury member	Day 27
Sierra Reed	23	Los Angeles, California			9th voted out 3rd jury member	Day 30
Debra "Debbie" Beebe	46	Auburn, Alabama			10th voted out 4th jury member	Day 33
Benjamin "Coach" Wade	37	Bolivar, Missouri			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	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	Timbira		13th voted out 7th jury member	Day 38
Stephen Fishbach	29	New York City, New York	Jalapao		Runner-up	Day 39
James "J.T." Thomas Jr.	24	Mobile, Alabama			Sole 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 (for winning on Blood vs. Water). Outside of Survivor, Apostol competed on the first season of The Challenge: USA.

Season summary

File:A Origem das Dunas.jpg

The season filmed in Jalapão in the Tocantins.

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 episode

Episode			Challenge winner(s)		Exile Island	Eliminated
No.	Title	Original air date	Reward	Immunity		Tribe	Player
1	"Let's Get Rid of the Weak Players Before We Even Start"	February 12, 2009	Timbira		None	Jalapao	Carolina
2	"The Poison Apple Needs to Go"	February 19, 2009	Jalapao		Brendan (Timbira)	Timbira	Candace
					Taj (Jalapao)
3	"Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This"	February 26, 2009	Jalapao	Jalapao	Brendan (Timbira)	Timbira	Jerry
					Taj (Jalapao)
4	"The Strongest Man Alive"	March 5, 2009	Jalapao	Timbira	Sierra (Timbira)	Jalapao	Sandy
					Taj (Jalapao)
5	"You're Going to Want that Tooth"	March 12, 2009	Jalapao	Timbira	Brendan (Timbira)	Jalapao	Spencer
					Stephen (Jalapao)
6	"The First Fifteen Days"	March 25, 2009	Recap Episode
7	"One of Those 'Coach Moments'"	April 2, 2009	Timbira	Timbira	Joe (Jalapao)	Jalapao	Sydney
					Erinn (Timbira)
8	"The Dragon Slayer"	April 9, 2009	None	Tyson	None	Forza	Joe
9	"The Biggest Fraud in the Game"	April 16, 2009	Brendan, Debbie, J.T.	Tyson	Stephen		Brendan
10	"It's Funny When People Cry"	April 23, 2009	Debbie, Erinn, J.T., Tyson	Debbie	Stephen		Tyson
11	"They Both Went Bananas"	April 30, 2009	Stephen [J.T., Taj]	Coach	Erinn		Sierra
12	"The Ultimate Sacrifice"	May 7, 2009	Survivor Auction	Stephen	Taj		Debbie
13	"The Martyr Approach"	May 14, 2009	J.T. [Stephen]	J.T.	Coach		Coach
14	"I Trust You But I Trust Me More"	May 17, 2009	None	J.T.	None		Taj
				J.T.			Erinn
15	"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

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Rating/share (household)	Rating/share (18-49)	Original air date	U.S. viewers (millions)	Weekly rank
259	1	"Let's Get Rid of the Weak Players Before We Even Start"	8.0/13	4.5/13	February 12, 2009 (2009-02-12)	13.63	#12
With the castaways already split into tribes, they were dropped off by a truck in a clearing. The game started immediately with Jeff announcing that the tribes would have 60 seconds to gather as many supplies from the back of the truck as they could. Timbira took all of the water and bags of beans, leaving Jalapao with only some melons and a few other supplies. Jeff then announced that the tribe's campsites were about a 4-hour trek by foot away, that one person from each tribe "would not be making the journey" and a vote would take place immediately. Jalapao voted for Sandy and Timbira voted for Sierra. Sandy and Sierra thought they were being voted out the game, but Jeff announced that they would only not be making the trek to camp and instead would be flown to their campsites by helicopter. When Sandy and Sierra arrived at their respective campsites, they were given the option to start setting up camp or follow clues to a disposable Hidden Immunity Idol that can only be used during their tribe's first Tribal Council. Sandy opted to follow the clues but did not find the idol before her tribe arrived. Sierra opted to start setting up the camp in order to improve her impression with her tribe. Carolina was annoyed that Sandy didn't work on the campsite. Timbira's trek did not end until dark, by which time Sierra had built a shelter big enough to house the entire tribe. Despite her hard work, Coach’s view on Sierra did not change and he still wanted to vote her out first. On day 2, Sandy resumed her search for the Hidden Immunity Idol but was stumped by the second clue. Reward/Immunity Challenge: Six members of each tribe would race across a series of sand hills and into a river to retrieve a raft with puzzle planks tied to it. When all six members of the tribe returned to shore with the raft, the puzzle planks could be untied and taken back to the start line. The two remaining tribe members would assemble the planks into a staircase. Once all of the tribe was at the top of the staircase, any two tribe members would work together to navigate a peg through a table maze, which would release the tribe's flag to win flint and immunity. At the Reward/Immunity Challenge, Sandy gave Jalapao a huge lead by building the staircase quickly. However, Brendan and Erinn quickly caught up and solved the table maze for a comeback victory for Timbira. Back at Jalapao's camp, Carolina's bossy personality rubbed some people the wrong way, while Sandy's effort at the challenge earned high praise from her tribemates. Still worried about being voted out, Sandy went searching for the Hidden Immunity Idol before Tribal Council but was again unsuccessful. At Tribal Council, Jalapao decided that Carolina should leave due to her bossy personality and she was unanimously voted out. Before sending the tribe back to camp, Jeff gave them flint.
260	2	"The Poison Apple Needs to Go"	7.8/12	4.5/12	February 19, 2009 (2009-02-19)	13.59	#11
In a quest for protein, the Jalapao tribe broke open a termite mound to eat the termites. At Timbira, Sierra decided that she needed help following the clues to the special first-Tribal-Council-only Hidden Immunity Idol and she recruited Brendan in the search. Together they went to the beach to follow the clues but were caught digging a large hole on the beach by Debbie and had to stop their search. Sierra came up with the cover story that she and Brendan were building a fire pit for the tribe that night, which Debbie believed and relayed to the rest of the tribe. Candace and Coach argued over how to cook the afternoon meal on day 5. Back at Jalapao, Taj told her tribe that she was married to famed football player Eddie George. At the start of the rain-soaked Reward/Immunity Challenge, Jeff announced that someone from the losing tribe would go to Exile Island. He added that there was a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol at Exile Island, and a twist would be revealed after the challenge. Reward/Immunity Challenge: Three castaways from each tribe would face off against each other in a river to retrieve a ball and throw it into their tribe's net to score a point. The first tribe to score three points would win tribal Immunity and fishing gear consisting of a spear, two poles, fishing line, fishing hooks, a cast net, tackle box, a diving mask, and a knife. Jalapao overcame a 2–0 deficit to win the challenge and chose to send Brendan to Exile Island. Jeff announced the twist was that Brendan could choose one person from the winning tribe to join him on Exile Island; he chose Taj. J.T. and Stephen put their newly acquired fishing gear to use but did not catch anything. On Exile Island, Brendan and Taj found two urns and each had to choose one. Brendan's urn contained two notes: the first note was a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol which he could optionally share with Taj and the second note telling him that he could switch tribes if he wanted to. After some pestering by Taj, Brendan shared the clue with her and they realized that the clue hinted that there was a Hidden Immunity Idol back at each tribe's campsite. They agreed to work to get sent back to Exile Island together to collect more clues. At Timbira, Candace lobbied her tribemates to vote for Coach, but her negativity backfired on her and she became the target to vote out. When Brendan returned to Timbira's campsite, he lied to his tribemates telling them that Taj had the urn with the clue and that she went to look for the Hidden Immunity Idol on her own, but did not appear to have found it. At Tribal Council, Candace's lobbying to vote out Coach could not overcome her negativity and she was voted out.
261	3	"Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This"	6.9/11	4.0/11	February 26, 2009 (2009-02-26)	12.05	#11
Back at camp after Tribal Council, Erinn scrambled to realign herself with the rest of her tribe after Candace, with whom the tribe thought she was aligned, was voted out. Jerry started to develop stomach pains which he blamed on Timbira's diet of beans. At Jalapao, the tribe struggled with their casting net, only catching a few minnows, but had better luck with the fishing line and hooks. Reward Challenge: Six castaways from each tribe would be blindfolded and tethered together in pairs. The remaining castaway would work as a caller to direct the paired tribemates through a maze. Each set of tribemates would have to locate a bucket in the maze, navigate the rest of the maze to a tower, fill the bucket with water from the tower, return to the beginning of the maze, and empty the bucket into a container which would raise a flag. Once the water container was filled enough to raise a flag, the process would have to be repeated again, this time filling the buckets with corn from a different tower. The first tribe to raise both flags would win a tarp, an umbrella, folding chairs, pillows, blankets, and a hammock. At the Reward Challenge, Jalapao easily won and selected Brendan to return to Exile Island. As per their agreement the first time they went to Exile Island, Brendan selected Taj to return with him to Exile Island for the second time. On Exile Island, Brendan and Taj shared the next clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol, further cemented their secret alliance, and discussed bringing Sierra and Stephen into their cross-tribe alliance. 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 the name of their tribe properly aligned along the sides. The first tribe to complete the staircase and get all of their members to the top of a platform climbing the staircase would win immunity. This challenge would later appear in Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains. Jalapao secured their third challenge win in a row at the Immunity Challenge by coming from behind during the staircase assembly task. After returning to camp, Jerry's weakening condition made him a target for elimination. Coach was upset about Erinn's reaction after she realized Jerry was sick and he was likely to be voted off next. Coach tried to persuade Tyson, Sierra, and Debbie to keep Jerry and vote out Erinn, but Sierra did not want to "sever off another limb so we can get our vendetta's against Erinn" and cast her vote for Jerry. Tyson tried to get Jerry to stick it out and vote against Erinn. A few hours before Tribal Council and using the second clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol, Brendan found the Idol hidden within the statue next to the tree mail. At Tribal Council, Tyson looked for a blindside against Erinn, but the tribe could not ignore Jerry's illness and voted him out.
262	4	"The Strongest Man Alive"	7.0/11	3.9/10	March 5, 2009 (2009-03-05)	11.85	#15
Back at camp after Tribal Council, Coach was angry at Erinn for saying that Brendan was a better leader than himself, but he eventually accepted it and anointed Brendan as tribe leader. At Jalapao, Taj told Stephen about her secret alliance with Brendan and told him that if Jalapao were to win the next Reward Challenge, they would need to choose Sierra to go to Exile Island, who would pick Stephen to go along. However, Brendan could not find the time and privacy to tell Sierra about the alliance. Reward Challenge: Two men and one woman from each tribe would stand on perches holding a wooden pole on their shoulders to which weighted bags would be added. Every few minutes, two members of the opposing tribe would select someone to carry an additional 20 pounds (9.1 kg) of weight. If the weight becomes too much for a castaway, they would drop the pole and be out of the challenge. The last castaway standing would win for their tribe. The winning tribe would send two castaways to the losing tribe's camp where they would be allowed to steal two items. At the Reward Challenge, Brendan, Tyson, and Debbie shouldered the weight for Timbira, and J.T., Joe, and Taj for Jalapao. Brendan dropped out first when he was about to carry 220 pounds (100 kg). Tyson dropped out next at 140 pounds (64 kg), leaving just Debbie for Timbira. J.T. carried 220 pounds (100 kg) before dropping out next, tying the weight carried by Rupert Boneham in Survivor: Pearl Islands. Moments later, Joe dropped out at 140 pounds (64 kg), leaving the two women to continue the challenge. Just as both women were to move to carrying 120 pounds (54 kg), Debbie dropped her pole, giving Jalapao their fourth straight challenge victory. In a rare show of sportsmanship for Survivor, Taj congratulated Debbie for a "hell of a job". Jalapao selected Sierra to go to Exile Island, but since Brendan did not tell Sierra of his alliance's plan, she immediately picked Taj to join her. Joe and J.T. arrived to raid the Timbira camp and they chose to take Timbira's larger sack of beans and a canister for water. Sandy derided the decision, stating that they should have taken both sacks of Timbira's beans. On Exile Island, Taj got the clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol, which told her it was hidden around the tree mail area. Taj told Sierra about her secret four-way alliance and Sierra readily agreed to join the alliance. Immunity Challenge: One tribe member at a time would race along a winding path to retrieve a puzzle piece. Each puzzle piece is a large wooden triangular prism with letters written on each of the three faces. Once all eight puzzle pieces are retrieved, they would need to be placed in their correct spot in a frame. The pieces would then need to be rotated to display a scrambled phrase. The first tribe to solve their puzzle would win. At the Immunity Challenge, Timbira broke Jalapao's winning streak. Before Tribal Council, Jalapao was undecided whether to vote out Sandy or Sydney. Ultimately, Taj, J.T., and Stephen did not want to risk Joe and Spencer feeling betrayed by voting Sydney off, so the vote went against Sandy and she was voted out.
263	5	"You're Going to Want that Tooth"	7.3/12	4.1/12	March 12, 2009 (2009-03-12)	12.82	#15
The day after Tribal Council at Jalapao, Taj and Stephen found the Hidden Immunity Idol in the statue next to tree mail. Taj gave the idol to Stephen as he had shorts with pockets and was able to conceal the idol. While the rest of Timbira was off fetching water from the river, Sierra told Brendan that she decided to join the Exile Island alliance. Reward Challenge: A tribe member would sit on a spinning platform at one end of the playing field. Another tribe member would start at the other end and race across to the platform, grab a rope and pull it back to the starting line. The rope would be wound around the base of the platform, causing the platform to spin as the rope is unwound. When the "puller" returned to the finish line, the sitting tribe member, now dizzy, would have to race across a balance beam to the finish line. The tribes would race against each other in rounds with the first dizzy tribe member across the finish line scoring one point for their tribe. The first tribe to score three points would win a trip to a cafe with coffee, fresh water, pastries, cookies, muffins, and a toilet with toilet paper. Immunity Challenge: Two tribemates from each tribe would alternate launching balls from a slingshot while the remaining four tribemates have to catch the balls with handheld nets. Catching a ball would score one point for their tribe. The first tribe to reach five points would win. Despite J.T. losing half of a tooth and almost single-handedly winning the Immunity Challenge for his tribe by catching four balls, Tyson and Brendan helped score a victory for Timbira. Tempers flared at Jalapao over their performance at the Immunity Challenge, with J.T. upset at Spencer's poor defense and Taj venting at Joe. Joe wanted to vote off Taj for this reason but Jalapao eliminated Spencer instead, voting him out.
272	14	"I Trust You But I Trust Me More"	7.0/11	4.2/	May 17, 2009 (2009-05-17)	12.94	#14
Back at camp after Tribal Council, Stephen was concerned that he would be perceived as the one who betrayed Coach and that he lost jury votes. Immunity Challenge: The castaways would have to race through a series of rope tunnels in the shape of a tarantula to three different stations to retrieve three bags of puzzle pieces, one at a time. The puzzle pieces would then be assembled into a web-shaped puzzle. The first castaway to finish their puzzle would win. At the Immunity Challenge, J.T. got a large lead during the puzzle piece bag retrieval stage, Erinn made a huge comeback from behind during the puzzle assembly stage, but J.T. managed to finish his puzzle just in front of Erinn to win immunity. Erinn pleaded her case to J.T. and Stephen that Taj was a threat for winning jury votes. The men agreed that they would take each other to the Final Two no matter what but were undecided on if Erinn or Taj would be a greater threat at the next Immunity Challenge and with the jury. At Tribal Council, the men decided to break up the Jalapao alliance that existed since very early in the game with a vote against Taj and she was blindsided by a vote of 3–1. On day 38, Erinn and Stephen told each other that they had to win the Immunity Challenge as neither stood a very good chance against J.T. with the jury. J.T. gave his word to Stephen that he would take him to the Final Two and Stephen likewise gave his word. The day's tree mail told the Final Three to take the traditional journey honoring the castaways voted out before heading to their final Immunity Challenge. Immunity Challenge: The castaways would drop a ball into a metal chute. The ball would travel down a spiraling metal track and exit out of one of two points. The castaway would have to catch the ball and drop the ball back into the chute at the top. Every few minutes, an additional ball would be added to the track until eight balls were simultaneously going around the track. A turnstile gate in the middle of the track would rotate, causing the balls to alternate exiting out of the two exits. If a ball exits the track and is not caught, the castaway would be eliminated from the challenge. The last castaway remaining would win. To make the challenge more difficult, each castaway would have one hand tied behind their backs. At the Immunity Challenge, Erinn was out first with three balls simultaneously going. With four balls circling the track, Stephen bobbled and dropped a ball, giving J.T. his third Immunity Challenge win in a row. Back at camp, even though Stephen lost the challenge, he felt a great relief that he would not have to decide who he had to take to the Final Two. Erinn told J.T. that Stephen told her that he would take her to the Final Two over J.T. to ensure himself a victory with the jury. When J.T. asked him, Stephen denied that he would have taken Erinn to the Final Two. At the final Tribal Council, J.T. decided to stick with his alliance and promise to Stephen, voted against Erinn, and she became the final member of the jury. J.T. and Stephen enjoyed the traditional Final Two breakfast that they had planned to attend since the very beginning of the game. At the final Tribal Council, Brendan focused on Stephen's opening statement that he had grown personally in the game, asking Stephen and J.T. if personal growth was relevant and important to winning the game. Erinn asked Stephen about his changing alliances between the Jalapao Three, the Exile Island alliance, and the Warrior alliance. She asked J.T. why Stephen was the best player in the game. Debbie questioned J.T. about if her first impression of him of being an honest person was correct or if lying and deception was his M.O. She asked Stephen that if he had been the one wearing the Individual Immunity necklace at the last Tribal Council, would he have taken Erinn or J.T. to the Final Two. Coach asked J.T. and Stephen for examples of honesty and integrity during later stages of the game and being the noble warrior. Sierra had no question to ask of Stephen. She asked J.T. what he meant by taking the strongest players to the end as she called Stephen one of the weakest players in the game. Tyson asked J.T. if and why Stephen was an asset to him in getting to the Final Two. Tyson asked for a response from Stephen about J.T.'s answer to Tyson's question. Taj asked J.T. why, if it was so hard for him to write down Coach’s name at Tribal Council, it seemed so effortless for him to write down her name and why he thought it would be easy to lie to her. She asked Stephen why he felt it was so important to blindside her and if he felt that she was that big of a threat in the game.
273	15	"Reunion"	6.4/11	4.1/	May 17, 2009 (2009-05-17)	11.59	#20
Months later, the castaways return to discuss the season with host Jeff Probst. The votes were read, and J.T. earned all seven jury votes, winning the title of Sole Survivor.

Voting history

	Original tribes						Merged tribe
Episode	1	2	3	4	5	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
Day	3	6	9	12	15	18	20	24	27	30	33	36	37	38
Tribe	Jalapao	Timbira	Timbira	Jalapao	Jalapao	Jalapao	Forza	Forza	Forza	Forza	Forza	Forza	Forza	Forza
Eliminated	Carolina	Candace	Jerry	Sandy	Spencer	Sydney	Joe	Brendan	Tyson	Sierra	Debbie	Coach	Taj	Erinn
Votes	7–1	7–1	6–1	5–1–1	5–1	3–2	Evacuated	4–3–2	5–3	4–2–1	4–1–1	3–2	3–1	1–0
Voter	Vote
J.T.	Carolina			Sandy	Spencer	Sydney		Sierra	Tyson	Sierra	Debbie	Erinn	Taj	Erinn
Stephen	Carolina			Sandy	Spencer	Sydney		Brendan	Tyson	Sierra	Debbie	Coach	Taj	None
Erinn		Candace	Jerry					Sierra	Tyson	Stephen	Debbie	Coach	Taj	None
Taj	Carolina			Joe	Spencer	Sydney		Brendan	Tyson	Debbie	Debbie	Coach	Erinn
Coach		Candace	Jerry					Brendan	Sierra	Sierra	Taj	Erinn
Debbie		Candace	Jerry					Brendan	Sierra	Sierra	Coach
Sierra		Candace	Jerry					Coach	Tyson	Debbie
Tyson		Candace	Jerry					Sierra	Sierra
Brendan		Candace	Jerry					Coach
Joe	Carolina			Sandy	Spencer	Taj
Sydney	Carolina			Sandy	Spencer	Taj
Spencer	Carolina			Sandy	Taj
Sandy	Carolina			Sydney
Jerry		Candace	Erinn
Candace		Sierra
Carolina	Sandy

Jury vote
Episode	15
Day	39
Finalist	J.T.	Stephen
Votes	7–0
Juror	Vote
Erinn	Yes
Taj	Yes
Coach	Yes
Debbie	Yes
Sierra	Yes
Tyson	Yes
Brendan	Yes

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 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."

External links

• Official CBS Survivor: Tocantins Website