Location(s) Upolu, Samoa Winner Kim Spradlin Number of episodes 14 | Followed by Survivor: Philippines Air date February 15, 2012 Presented by Jeff Probst | |
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Original release February 15 (2012-02-15) – May 13, 2012 (2012-05-13) Preceded by Survivor: South Pacific Winner Kim Spradlin | ||
Survivor: One World is the twenty-fourth season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor, featuring 18 new castaways divided by gender into two tribes of nine. The season was filmed from August 1 through September 8, 2011 in the vicinity of Upolu, Samoa, which is the same filming location used for seasons 19, 20, and 23. The season aired weekly from February 15, 2012 until May 13, 2012, when Kim Spradlin was named the winner over Sabrina Thompson and Chelsea Meissner by a 7–2–0 vote. In addition, Spradlin won $100,000 as the "Sprint Player of the Season", earning the fans' vote over runners-up Meissner, Greg "Tarzan" Smith and Troy "Troyzan" Robertson.
Contents
This is the fourth season that initially divided the tribes by gender, following Survivor: The Amazon, Survivor: Vanuatu and Survivor: Panama. The season's title is in reference to the two tribes initially sharing a campsite; while this had been done in Survivor: Thailand and Survivor: Palau, this is the first time the concept was both employed at the beginning of the game and continued beyond the first tribal challenge. As a result of the shared campsite, hidden immunity idols were designated for specific tribes; if a castaway found the idol designated for the opposing tribe, he or she was required to give it to a member of the other tribe before the next Tribal Council. All of these twists ended when the tribes were reorganized on Day 12.
A DVD of the season was released on September 23, 2016 via Amazon.com.
Contestants
Notable cast members include Leif Manson, the first little person to compete on Survivor, and Monica Culpepper, wife of former NFL football player Brad Culpepper.
Future appearances
Kat Edorsson, Colton Cumbie, and Monica Culpepper returned for Survivor: Blood vs. Water. Edorsson returned with her boyfriend, Hayden Moss, Cumbie returned with his fiancé, Caleb Bankston, and Culpepper returned with her husband, Brad. Colton quit the game and finished in 19th place. Kat came in 14th, while Monica made it to the final tribal council, coming in 2nd. Michael Jefferson later competed in Discovery Channel show Naked and Afraid. "Troyzan" Robertson and Sabrina Thompson were included on the public poll to choose the cast of Survivor: Cambodia, but neither were chosen to compete. Robertson would eventually return for Survivor: Game Changers.
Season summary
The 18 castaways were divided into gender-based tribes and given maps to their camps, unaware they would lead to the same location. Despite living on the same beach, the tribes would remain split, building separate shelters and fending for their own tribe.
The men's tribe, Manono, dominated the first few challenges. The women's tribe, Salani, was run by a majority alliance formed by Alicia, Chelsea, Kat, Kim and Sabrina. Despite a strong start, the men found difficulty with the outspoken Colton who was initially an outsider, often interacting with Salani instead. After Sabrina accidentally found Manono's hidden immunity idol, she gave it to Colton, who used his newfound power to overthrow Manono's dominant alliance and gain control of the tribe. After the tribes were swapped, Colton found himself again in a position of power on the new Manono tribe; however, he was medically evacuated from the game after being diagnosed with acute appendicitis. Meanwhile, on the new Salani tribe, Kim and Chelsea formed a second alliance with Jay and Troyzan as a backup plan in case their original alliance failed.
Though the genders entered the merge with equal numbers, Kim organized the women into a single alliance while Colton's removal left the men without a leader, leading Jay and Troyzan to align with the women and vote out two of the men. With a clear majority, the women decided to sever ties with Jay and Troyzan, voting them out despite Troyzan's pleas to Kat and Christina, who were at the bottom of the women's alliance. Tarzan was the last man remaining, however Kat's unpredictability and youthful naivety was enough to convince Kim to betray her first. With only six players remaining, Kim found herself caught between her initial alliance of Chelsea and Sabrina, and the alliance of Alicia, Christina and Tarzan. Although Alicia wanted to vote Chelsea out, Kim convinced Alicia that Tarzan was planning to betray her, leading to Tarzan's elimination. Alicia and Christina were subsequently voted out by Kim, Chelsea and Sabrina.
The jury castigated Chelsea for acting as Kim's main pawn and lack of social play, and while they praised Sabrina for her social game, she was berated for her poor challenge performance and being lazy at camp. The jury praised Kim's social ability but also blamed her for all of their eliminations; Kim took responsibility for making every strategic decision, and she was awarded the title of Sole Survivor by a vote of 7–2–0.
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.
Reception
Despite the absence of Redemption Island and having an all new cast, Survivor: One World was the fourth consecutive season of the series to be met with a generally negative reception. Survivor columnist Dalton Ross of Entertainment Weekly gave this season a negative review. He called the cast, "thoroughly uninspiring" and went on to say that, "Colton was more a horrible human being than a classic villain, and the rest of the players were mostly either completely forgettable or people you wish you could forget." Ross ultimately ranked One World as the fourth worst season of the series, only ahead of Thailand, Fiji, and Nicaragua. Jeff Probst felt this season was a "bit of a letdown," adding that "We just didn’t have the standout moments and characters needed for a great season." From 2012 to 2014, Survivor fan site "Survivor Oz" consistently ranked One World in the bottom 5 in its annual polls ranking all seasons of the series; in 2012, it was the 5th-worst ahead of Fiji, Thailand, Nicaragua, and Redemption Island, and in 2013 and 2014, it was the 4th-worst ahead of Fiji, South Pacific, and Redemption Island. Similarly, fellow fan site "The Purple Rock Podcast" ranked One World as the 9th-worst season in 2015. In 2014, Joe Reid of The Wire ranked One World as the 7th-worst season, similarly criticizing Colton and saying that his "petulance, racism, snobbery, whining, and cruelty makes him very possibly the worst person to ever be on the show." In 2015, One World was ranked as the second-worst season of all time on Rob Cesternino's podcast website, only behind Redemption Island.