Survivor 44

Billed by Jeff Probst as one of the most intense and unpredictable seasons in the series, Survivor 44 stuck to the formula established by the previous seasons in the "new era" and featured an exuberant cast, new twists, and intertribal dynamics that contributed to a generally unpredictable early game. Amidst the chaos of the merge, the Tika Three took charge and discreetly controlled the game all the way until Day 26. At Final Tribal Council, Yam Yam Arocho was recognized for being one of the key driving forces to his alliance's strategic success and was awarded the title of Sole Survivor in a 7-1-0 vote over Heidi Lagares-Greenblatt and Carolyn Wiger.

Survivor 44 has produced one returning player, Bruce Perreault, for a future season.

Production[]

The 44th season was filmed in the same production cycle as Survivor 43, with the same COVID-19-related modified protocols.

The season was accompanied by an official Survivor podcast, On Fire with Jeff Probst, which provided behind-the-scenes insights and discussion regarding each week's episode.^[4] On the podcast, Jeff confirmed that, even with the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions, future seasons will continue to play as 26-day games, with the exception of "special" seasons that will revert to the 39-day format.^[5]

The season's art direction had a medieval motif, with the Immunity Idol being a sword and shield. The Tribal Council set was a ruined castle.

Twists/Changes[]

• 26-Day Game
• Tribe Division: The 18 castaways were divided into 3 tribes of 6. No unifying theme was used in dividing the tribes.
• Penalties for Losing Immunity Challenges
• Shot in the Dark
• Hidden Immunity Idol: Each tribe has a locked birdcage containing a bag. Hidden somewhere at their camp is a key that unlocks the birdcage and thus the Hidden Immunity Idol inside the bag. The bag also contains a tribe-colored trinket which has no power and whose utility is left to whomever opens the cage to decide. The appearance of the Hidden Immunity Idols is different for each tribe—a bracelet for Ratu, a medallion for Soka, and a coin for Tika—and each tribe's real idol matches the appearance of another tribe's powerless trinket—Ratu's medallion, Soka's coin, and Tika's bracelet. Re-hidden idols and idols introduced after the merge were hidden as usual at camp.
• Journeys: Castaways from different tribes were taken to another island. Separately and in private, each castaway would draw from a bag containing three packages: two will cause them to lose their vote at their next Tribal Council, while one contains an advantage. If the castaway draws the advantage, their task is complete. If they find that they have lost their vote, they may choose to draw one of the two remaining packages. They may either receive an advantage, or find that they have lost their vote for the next two Tribal Councils that they attend.
  • Bank Your Vote Advantage: The advantage holder is allowed to keep a blank parchment at any Tribal Council instead of casting a vote, allowing them to vote twice at a future Tribal Council.
  • Inheritance Advantage: This advantage allows its holder to pocket all advantages and Hidden Immunity Idols that are played at any Tribal Council up until the final seven. Its holder must play the advantage when casting their vote.
  • Temporary Hidden Immunity Idols: On Day 8, the three castaways who went on the summit each received an idol that would expire when the individual phase of the game began. The castaways did not have to risk their vote to receive the idol.
  • Tribe Switch: Also on Day 8, the three castaways who went on the journey were instructed to drop their buffs and pick a new buff at random to switch tribes.
• Earn the Merge: The final 12 players were divided into 2 teams of 6 by random draw. The teams competed in an Immunity Challenge where the members of the winning team won individual immunity, a spot on the merge tribe, and the merge feast.
• Post-merge Team Immunity Challenge: In the first round as a merged tribe, the group split into two teams. The winning group would be immune from Tribal Council under the rules of tribal immunity, but would observe Tribal Council from the jury bench.
  • Control a Vote Advantage: The winning team was given the chance to search for an advantage that allowed them to control one vote of any of the losing team members at Tribal Council. The advantage holder will announce their intent to play the advantage at Tribal Council, publicly stating both the target and the person whom the target will vote for; the target must vote as the holder dictates. As clarified at Tribal Council, this advantage affects only a single vote, so a person with an extra vote still holds autonomy over that second vote.
• Simplified Final Four Tribal Council
• Expanded Jury and Final Three: The Final Tribal Council was held with a Final Three facing an eight-person jury.
• Reformatted Final Tribal Council: Instead of having each jury member speak individually, an open forum was held to ensure a more insightful rapport between the jury and finalists. The discussion was divided into three portions—"social", "physical", and "strategic".

Castaways[]

Contestant		Tribe Affiliation			Finish	Votes Against
		Original Tribe	Switched Tribe	Merged Tribe
	Bruce Perreault 45, Warwick, RI Insurance Agent	Tika			Evacuated Day 1	0
	Maddy Pomilla 28, Brooklyn, NY Charity Projects Manager	Ratu			1st Voted Out Day 3	1
	Helen Li 28, San Francisco, CA Product Manager	Tika			2nd Voted Out Day 5	3
	Claire Rafson 25, Brooklyn, NY Tech Investor	Soka			3rd Voted Out Day 7	4
	Sarah Wade 26, Chicago, IL Management Consultant	Tika	Tika		4th Voted Out Day 9	2
	Matthew Grinstead-Mayle 43, Columbus, OH Barbershop Owner	Ratu	Ratu		Quit Day 11	0
	Josh Wilder 34, Atlanta, GA Surgical Podiatrist	Soka	Tika		5th Voted Out Day 13	9
	Matt Blankinship 27, San Francisco, CA Security Software Engineer	Soka	Soka	Va Va	6th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 14	3
	Brandon Cottom 29, Newtown, PA Security Specialist	Ratu	Ratu		7th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 15	6
	Kane Fritzler 24, Saskatoon, SK Law Student	Ratu	Ratu		8th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 17	6
	Frannie Marin 23, Cambridge, MA Research Coordinator	Soka	Soka		9th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 19	11
	Danny Massa 31, Bronx, NY Firefighter	Soka	Soka		10th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 21	5
	Jaime Lynn Ruiz 35, Mesa, AZ Yogi	Ratu	Soka		11th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 23	5
	Lauren Harpe 30, Mont Belvieu, TX Elementary School Teacher	Ratu	Ratu		12th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 24	3
	Carson Garrett 20, Atlanta, GA NASA Engineering Student	Tika	Ratu		Eliminated 8th Jury Member Day 25	2
	Carolyn Wiger 35, Hugo, MN Drug Counselor	Tika	Tika		Second Runner-Up	3
	Heidi Lagares-Greenblatt 42, Pittsburgh, PA Engineering Manager	Soka	Soka		Runner-Up	8
	Yam Yam Arocho 35, San Juan, PR Salon Owner	Tika	Tika		Sole Survivor	6

Season Summary[]

Survivor 44 retained most of the game mechanics introduced in Survivor 41. A new feature unique to the season was the introduction of Hidden Immunity Idols locked in cages along with a purposely crafted fake idol for an added layer of deception.

Ratu experienced a chaotic first Tribal Council, but managed to put aside their differences and win the remaining Immunity Challenges. On Soka, the pairs of Frannie and Matt, and Danny and Heidi formed a strong alliance which carried them to the merge, after losing only one Immunity Challenge. Tika suffered the most misfortunes; following the medical evacuation of their strongest member Bruce and a string of Immunity Challenge losses, they entered the merge with only three members: Carolyn, Carson, and Yam Yam.

At the merge, both Ratu and Soka targeted one another, with Tika in the middle. By pitting both sides against one another, the Tika Three managed to make it intact to the final four alongside Heidi. Though the trio nearly succeeded in reaching the Final Three, Heidi forfeited her immunity at the final four and took on Carson, the favorite to win, in the fire-making showdown. She succeeded, joining Carolyn and Yam Yam at the Final Tribal Council.

At Final Tribal Council, Carolyn was praised for successfully using her eccentricity to hide her strategic prowess, but the jury still associated her with more emotional gameplay. Heidi was lauded for taking out Carson in the fastest fire-making challenge on record, but her body of work paled in comparison to that of her fellow finalists. In the end, it was Yam Yam whose happy-go-lucky personality and incisive gameplay helped him to win the title of Sole Survivor in a landslide 7-1-0 vote.

Voting History[]

		Original Tribes				Switched Tribes		Merged Tribe
Episode		1		2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
Voted Out		Bruce	Maddy	Helen	Claire	Sarah	Matthew	Josh	Matt	Brandon	Kane	Frannie	Danny	Jaime	Lauren	Carson	Carolyn	Heidi	Yam Yam
Vote		No vote1	1-02	3-1	4-0	2-02	No vote7	7-3-1	3-28	4-02	5-3-1-1	5-2-1	3-2-02	4-211	3-1-1	No vote12	7-1-0
►►	Yam Yam	—	—	Helen	—	Josh	—	Josh	Matt	Frannie	Kane	Frannie	Danny	Jaime	Heidi	—	Jury Vote
►►	Heidi	—	—	—	Claire	—	—	Josh	—	Brandon	Kane	Danny	Carson	Jaime	Lauren	—
►►	Carolyn	—	—	Helen	—	Sarah	—	Kane	—	Brandon	Kane	Heidi	Danny	Jaime	Lauren	—
►►	Carson	—	—	Helen	—	—	—	Josh	—	Frannie	Kane	Frannie	Danny	Jaime	Lauren	Eliminated			Yam Yam
►►	Lauren	—	None5	—	—	—	—	Josh	Yam Yam9	Frannie	Heidi	Frannie	Heidi	Carolyn	Yam Yam				Yam Yam
►►	Jaime	—	None4	—	—	—	—	Josh	Matt	Frannie	Heidi	Frannie	Heidi	Carolyn					Yam Yam
											Heidi10
►►	Danny	—	—	—	Claire	—	—	Josh	—	Brandon	Kane	Frannie	Carson					Heidi
►►	Frannie	—	—	—	Claire	—	—	Josh	—	Brandon	Jaime	Heidi							Yam Yam
►►	Kane	—	Brandon	—	—	—	—	Yam Yam	—	Frannie	Danny								Yam Yam
►►	Brandon	—	Maddy	—	—	—	—	Yam Yam	Matt	Frannie									Yam Yam
►►	Matt	—	—	—	None6	—	—	None6	Yam Yam										Yam Yam
►►	Josh	—	—	—	Claire	Sarah	—	Yam Yam
►	Matthew	—	None3	—	—	—	Quit
►	Sarah	—	—	None6	—	Josh
	Claire	—	—	—	None3
	Helen	—	—	Carolyn
	Maddy	—	Brandon
	Bruce	Evacuated
Notes: ^1 Bruce was evacuated due to a head injury. No vote occurred for his removal. ^2 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played, negating all votes against its user. ^3 This castaway played their Shot in the Dark, making them ineligible to vote at Tribal Council. The scroll they selected, however, read "Not Safe", thus all votes against them remained valid. ^4 This castaway played their Shot in the Dark, making them ineligible to vote at Tribal Council. The scroll they selected read "Safe", but no votes were cast against them. ^5 This castaway played the Bank Your Vote advantage, abstaining from the vote in exchange for an Extra Vote that can be played at a future Tribal Council. ^6 This castaway lost their vote at the summit, thus they were unable to cast a vote. ^7 Matthew elected to quit the game due to his shoulder injury. No vote occurred for his removal. ^8 The Va Va tribe was divided into two teams before the Immunity Challenge, and only the losing team voted at Tribal Council. ^9 This castaway's vote was controlled by another player. ^10 This castaway played an Extra Vote advantage, allowing them to vote twice at Tribal Council. ^11 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played; however, no votes were cast against its user. ^12 Instead of a traditional vote, the winner of the Immunity Challenge, Heidi, would choose someone to take with them to the Final Three. She chose to save both Carolyn and Yam Yam and compete against Carson in a fire-making challenge to determine the last finalist.

Trivia[]

• Survivor 44 is the first season to include a contestant residing in a U.S. territory at the time of filming.
• Survivor 44 contains the most LGBT contestants of any season, with 6: Carolyn, Claire, Frannie, Josh, Matthew, and Yam Yam.
  • This is the first season with 3 LGBT female contestants.
  • This is the first season with multiple LGBT finalists.
• Survivor 44 is the first season since Ghost Island to not have a blue tribe.
• Survivor 44 is the first season since Winners at War where a Hidden Immunity Idol negated the majority of the votes at a Tribal Council.
• Survivor 44 is the second season, after Survivor 42, where three different tribes attended the first three Tribal Councils.
• Survivor 44 is the first season since Winners at War with a tribe switch.
  • Survivor 44 is the first season since One World where the number of members on each tribe did not change after the switch, and the first season since China to do so when the numbers were not previously equal.
• Survivor 44 is tied with One World, Survivor 45 and Survivor 46 for the fewest people voted out during the tribal phase of the game, with four.
  • Survivor 44 is the first season where only women were voted out during the tribal phase of the game.
• Survivor 44 is tied with The Australian Outback, David vs. Goliath, and Survivor 46 for the fewest pre-merge Tribal Councils, with five.
• Survivor 44 is the third season, after Micronesia and David vs. Goliath, to have both an evacuation and a quit.
• Survivor 44 holds the record for fewest elimination votes cast, with only 77.
• Survivor 44 is the fourth consecutive season where the jury vote was 7-1-0.

References[]