Survivor: Nicaragua is the 21st season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor. It premiered on September 15, 2010, at 8:00pm, moving to the Wednesday timeslot for the first time since Survivor: Borneo.
Jud "Fabio" Birza was named the winner in the final episode on December 19, 2010, defeating Chase Rice and Matthew "Sash" Lenahan in a 5–4–0 vote. Birza became the youngest person to ever win the game, at age 21 years and 6 months, a record previously held by 22-year-old Jenna Morasca from Survivor: The Amazon. This was the first Survivor season to have an all-male final three. Jane Bright won $100,000 as the "Sprint Player of the Season."
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 20 players, initially splitting into two tribes based on their ages containing 10 members each. The tribes are Espada, contestants aged 40 and over; and La Flor, contestants aged 30 and younger. Their names come from the Spanish words "sword" and "flower", respectively. The merged tribe Libertad means "liberty" or "freedom" in Spanish, which was first suggested by contestant Marty Piombo.
Notable contestants this season include Kelly Bruno, a triathlete whose leg was amputated at six months old because of a birth defect; Chase Rice, a NASCAR pit crew member who became a country music artist after the season aired; and former Dallas Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson. Bruno is the second Survivor contestant to be an amputee, the first being Chad Crittenden of Survivor: Vanuatu. She would be followed by Noelle Lambert in Survivor 43.
+List of Survivor: Nicaragua contestantsContestantAgeFrom Tribe Finish Original Switched Merged Placement Day 48 Fromberg,Montana 1st voted out Day 3 30 Lafayette,Louisiana 2nd voted out Day 6 67 Islamorada,Florida rowspan="3" 3rd voted out Day 8 48 Gloucester,Massachusetts 4th voted out Day 11 42 Inglewood,California 5th voted out Day 14 26 Durham,North Carolina 6th voted out Day 15 41 Kansas City,Missouri rowspan="2" 7th voted out 43 Erie,Pennsylvania 8th voted out Day 18 23 Downey,California rowspan=12 9th voted out1st jury member Day 22 48 Mill Valley,California rowspan="2" 10th voted out2nd jury member Day 24 27 Miami,Florida rowspan="4" 11th voted out3rd jury member Day 27 27 Los Angeles,California Quit4th jury member Day 28 20 Mesa,Arizona Quit5th jury member 24 Los Angeles,California 12th voted out6th jury member Day 32 56 Jackson Springs,North Carolina rowspan="3" 13th voted out7th jury member Day 36 63 Water Mill,New York rowspan="2" 14th voted out8th jury member Day 37 44 Eureka,South Dakota 15th voted out9th jury member Day 38 30 New York City,New York rowspan="3" 2nd Runner-upDay 39 24 Fairview,North Carolina Runner-up 21 Venice,California Sole Survivor
Future appearances In 2013, Brenda Lowe returned to compete on Survivor: Caramoan.
Season summary
Twenty new castaways were divided into tribes by age: La Flor, which consisted of castaways 30 and younger, and Espada, which consisted of castaways 40 and older. Both tribes also vied for ownership of the newly-introduced Medallion of Power, which granted them advantages either at camp or when played in challenges. Every time a tribe used its power, ownership of the Medallion would shift to the other tribe.
Several members of the older Espada tribe vied for leadership. While Jimmy J. initially took control, he was quickly overthrown by Marty and voted out. Marty furthered his control of the tribe by finding the Hidden Immunity Idol and voting out aspiring leader Jimmy T. Despite dominating the challenges in the first eleven days of the game, the younger La Flor tribe also had their own share of conflicts. Two warring alliances emerged, one led by Shannon and the other led by Brenda, with both alliances vying for Chase's vote. A confused Shannon lashed out at La Flor's first Tribal Council, causing Chase and some of Shannon's own alliance members to vote him out.
A tribe swap on Day 12 caused allegiances to shift. Alina, Benry, Chase, and NaOnka moved to Espada, while Marty, Jill, and Jane moved to La Flor. At the new Espada, Holly and Dan aligned themselves with the younger members. At the new La Flor, the once-powerful Marty fell from grace, and Jane teamed up with the original La Flor tribe members. Brenda planned to split the vote between Marty and original La Flor outsider Kelly B. in order to flush Marty's idol and send Kelly B. home. Unfortunately for them, Marty decided not to use his idol and Kelly B. was sent home anyway, while Marty still had his immunity idol. Sash told Marty that in order to remain in the game, he must give him his idol. Marty complied, and Sash stayed true to his word by keeping him around, only to send Jill, Marty's closest ally, home instead.
On Day 19, the two tribes were merged into the Libertad tribe. Brenda's original La Flor alliance regrouped, with the addition of Holly and Jane. Marty, however, convinced Dan, Benry, and Fabio to follow him. Without any alliances, Alina was targeted by both voting blocs and sent to the jury first. Marty then tried to form an all-male rebellion against the females, which did not work and sent him home instead. It seemed that Brenda and Sash were in total control of the tribe, but Holly made her own move by turning everybody else on Brenda. Brenda put her faith wholly in her alliance without attempting to plead with them, but they ultimately eliminated her. Meanwhile, while the tribe was at a challenge, their unattended fire ignited their cache of food and supplies, burning them and part of their tarp. The remaining tribe members struggled with the meager rations.
With Brenda gone and the sudden voluntary exits of Kelly S. and NaOnka as a result of the camp fire, Sash was left alone without any allies, but eventually regained power by winning the next Immunity Challenge, becoming the swing vote between Holly, Chase and Jane's alliance and the alliance of Dan, Fabio and Benry. Sash joined Chase, Holly and Jane to eliminate an unsuspecting Benry, whom Sash saw as the bigger threat. The newly formed majority alliance planned to eliminate Fabio next, but he went on to win individual immunity. While Dan was the only non-immune of the minority alliance, Chase, Holly and Sash decided to turn on jury threat Jane, and voted her out instead. Fabio won immunity again and Dan was voted out, but after Fabio won his third successive immunity challenge, Chase and Sash decided to turn on Holly, who they thought had the best chance to win the game against them.
At the Final Tribal Council, the jurors made it clear they would not vote for Sash for his numerous lies and deceptions. Chase was blasted for his inability to make strategic and social decisions, and Fabio was accused of being clueless about what was going on, not voting in the majority many times. Chase was praised however for his honesty, performing well in team challenges, and making relationships with people. Fabio said he was open with everyone, and intentionally was strategically clueless because he didn't want to hurt or play with anyone's emotions. Because of this, Fabio's unique strategy earned him the votes of five jurors, to Chase's four and Sash's zero.
+Challenge winners and eliminations by episodeEpisodeChallenge winner(s)EliminatedNo.TitleOriginal air dateRewardImmunityTribePlayer1"Young at Heart"September 15, 2010 Wendy2"Fatigue Makes Cowards of Us All"September 22, 2010colspan="2" Shannon3"Glitter in Their Eyes"September 29, 2010colspan="2" Jimmy J.4"Pulling the Trigger"October 6, 2010colspan="2" Jimmy T.5"Turf Wars"October 13, 2010Tyrone6"Worst Case Scenario"October 20, 2010rowspan=2 Kelly B.Yve7"What Goes Around, Comes Around"October 27, 2010Jill8"Company Will Be Arriving Soon"November 3, 2010rowspan=2 Jane rowspan="4" AlinaFabio9"Running the Camp"November 10, 2010Benry,Dan, Fabio,Marty, SashBrendaMarty10"Stuck in the Middle"November 17, 2010Chase,Fabio, Jane,Kelly S., NaOnkaJaneBrenda11"We Did it Guys"November 24, 2010Recap Episode12"You Started, You're Finishing"December 1, 2010 Benry, Chase,Holly,NaOnka[Dan]rowspan="2" rowspan="6" NaOnkaKelly S.13"Not Sure Where I Stand"December 8, 2010Chase[Holly, Jane]SashBenry14"This is Going to Hurt"December 15, 2010Chase[Holly, Sash]FabioJane15"What About Me?"December 19, 2010rowspan="2" FabioDanFabioHolly16"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 tribesSwitched tribesMerged tribeEpisode1234567891012131415Day368111415182224272832363738Tribe colspan=2 colspan=2 Eliminated Wendy Shannon Jimmy J. Jimmy T. Tyrone Kelly B. Yve Jill Alina Marty Brenda NaOnka Benry Jane Dan HollyVote 9–1 7–3 8–1 5–3 6–2 3–3–2 5–1 10–2 7–4 8–1–1Quit 4–1 3–1VoterVoteFabio Brenda Marty Alina Jane Brenda Holly Jane Dan HollyChase Shannon Tyrone Yve Alina Marty Brenda Benry Jane Dan HollySash Shannon Marty Kelly B. Jill Alina Marty Brenda Benry Jane Dan HollyHolly Dan Tyrone Yve Alina Marty Brenda Benry Jane Dan SashDan Tyrone Yve Alina Jane Brenda Fabio Jane ChaseJane Dan Marty Marty Marty Marty Marty Brenda Benry SashBenry Shannon Tyrone Yve Alina Jane Brenda FabioKelly S. Shannon Kelly B. Jill Alina Marty BenryQuitNaOnka Shannon Tyrone Yve Alina Marty BrendaQuitBrenda Shannon Kelly B. Jill Alina Marty NaOnkaMarty Brenda Jane Alina JaneAlina Brenda Tyrone Yve MartyJill Brenda Kelly B. JaneYve NaOnka DanKelly B. Shannon MartyTyrone NaOnkaJimmy T. DanJimmy J. DanShannon BrendaWendy Yve
Jury vote16Day39Finalist Fabio Chase SashVotes5–4–0JurorVoteHollyDanJaneBenryKelly S.NaOnkaBrendaMartyAlina
Prodiction Casting Applications were due in January 2010, filming started from June and ended in July 2010. Nicaragua and the following season, Survivor: Redemption Island, were filmed near San Juan del Sur in Rivas Department on the Pacific coast of Nicaragua.
Filming This season's opening titles uses the original version of "Ancient Voices" — Survivors opening theme song — first used for the debut Survivor season. Traditionally, each season features its own version of "Ancient Voices", using instruments and sounds meant to evoke that season's location or theme. One was created for Nicaragua but was not used, though the song was released onto iTunes on October 10. The reason for this omission has not been publicly disclosed. Survivor host Jeff Probst also announced that the Hidden Immunity Idol will continue to be used in the game. However, as idols had been found too easily in the past two seasons, the idol was hidden differently. The clues to the idols' locations were rebuses rather than text as in past seasons.
Reception