Preceded by Survivor: One World Winner Denise Stapley Presented by Jeff Probst | Followed by Survivor: Caramoan Air date September 19, 2012 Number of episodes 14 | |
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Location(s) Caramoan, Camarines Sur, Philippines Original release September 19 (2012-09-19) – December 16, 2012 (2012-12-16) Winner Denise Stapley | ||
Survivor: Philippines is the twenty-fifth season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor. The season was filmed March 18–April 25, 2012 and premiered on September 19, 2012 with a special 90-minute episode. It is the first season since Survivor: All-Stars to begin with three tribes and the seventh season overall to feature returning castaways.
Contents
Participants' applications were due on October 4, 2011, with approximately 800 chosen for interviews in various states. From there, 15 new contestants were selected. With filming beginning in March, it marked the earliest Survivor season filming to date since Survivor: Borneo. The season featured the 15 new castaways competing with three returning castaways who were removed from their previous seasons due to illness or injury: Michael Skupin (passed out into a fire and suffered severe burns to his face and hands) of The Australian Outback, Jonathan Penner (removed due to a serious infection to his knee) originally from Cook Islands and later evacuated in Micronesia, and Russell Swan (removed after blacking out twice due to low blood pressure resulting from dehydration) of Samoa.
Denise Stapley was named the winner in the final episode on December 16, 2012, defeating Lisa Whelchel and Michael Skupin in a 6–1–1 vote, marking the second time in Survivor history (after China exactly 10 seasons earlier) where all three finalists received at least one vote. Stapley is the oldest female winner in the show's history, and also holds the distinction of being the only person to have attended and survived every Tribal Council in a single season. Whelchel won $100,000 as the "Sprint Player of the Season", narrowly beating out Malcolm Freberg by 0.7% of a voting margin; the closest margin in the history of the award.
A DVD of the season was released on September 23, 2016, via Amazon.com.
Casting
While the three returning players were selected due to being removed from previous seasons for medical reasons, Survivor: Palau contestant Coby Archa alleged that Stephenie LaGrossa from Palau, Guatemala, and Heroes vs. Villains was originally considered to compete in the season when it was planned to be a Redemption Island-styled season with female returnees, but she could not compete due to her pregnancy at the time. Colton Cumbie, who was medically evacuated from One World, heavily implied that he was slated to compete in Philippines but was cut at the last minute due to a negative reception during the airing of his original season, which aired right before the castaways were flown out to the Philippines, and that he was replaced with Jonathan Penner. However, Cumbie returned to the game for Survivor: Blood vs. Water.
Contestants
The contestants include 15 new players to the game and three returning players, who were previously removed from their earlier seasons due to injuries. Notable new contestants this season include the The Facts of Life star Lisa Whelchel, former Major League Baseball player Jeff Kent, and Miss Utah Teen USA Angelia "Angie" Layton.
Future appearances
Malcolm Freberg returned to compete in the following season, Survivor: Caramoan, where he placed 9th; he returned again for Survivor: Game Changers, where he placed 17th. Roberta "R.C." Saint-Amour was originally selected alongside her father, Craig, for Survivor: Blood vs. Water, but they were pulled from the game the day before filming began due to Craig having high blood pressure. Abi-Maria Gomes returned for Survivor: Cambodia where she placed 7th.
Season summary
The fifteen new castaways were split into three tribes and then introduced to their final tribe members, three returning castaways that had been medically evacuated from their previous seasons: Michael Skupin was assigned to Tandang, Jonathan Penner to Kalabaw, and Russell Swan to Matsing. Matsing lost the first four immunity challenges, leaving only Malcolm, who had the tribe's Hidden Immunity Idol, and Denise, his closest ally since the start of the game. After Matsing's dissolution, Malcolm was sent to Tandang and Denise to Kalabaw. Malcolm quickly integrated himself with Tandang's dominant alliance, led by Pete, while Denise joined Kalabaw's majority alliance, led by Jeff. Though Jeff strongly desired to eliminate the returning players, Jonathan had found Kalabaw's immunity idol, using it as leverage to align with Jeff and Carter.
The tribes merged with Tandang holding the majority. Lisa accidentally discovered Malcolm's hidden immunity idol, and promised to keep it a secret if he agreed to take her and Denise to the end of the game. After Jeff and Carter allied with Pete's alliance to vote out the returning players, Jonathan used his idol to save himself. Lisa revealed the existence of Malcolm's idol to the others in an attempt to blindside him. However, after Malcolm convinced the Tandang alliance that he was planning on playing his idol, they voted out Jeff instead. Lisa and Michael, on the bottom of the Tandang alliance, eventually flipped sides, working with the remnants of Kalabaw and Matsing to eliminate the other former Tandang members. Soon after, a core alliance of Michael, Lisa, Malcolm, and Denise was formed, systematically eliminating the others.
Despite winning an advantage in the final Immunity Challenge, Malcolm failed to win immunity and he was subsequently voted out for being the largest threat against the jury. All three finalists were berated by the jury at the Final Tribal Council; Lisa for claiming that she could not handle the pressures of the game, Michael for being strategically and socially inept, and Denise for being condescending at times. However, Denise's argument, coupled with the fact that she was the first player in Survivor history to attend and survive every Tribal Council in the game proved to be the most effective when she earned the title of Sole Survivor by a 6-1-1 vote.
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
Survivor: Philippines was met with a very positive reception, especially in comparison to the previous four seasons. Dalton Ross of Entertainment Weekly ranked it as the 10th best season, praising the overall cast and particularly the "strong final four." In 2014, Joe Reid of The Wire ranked it as the 11th-best season, and the highest-rated post-Heroes vs. Villains season, praising the characters of Malcolm, Denise, and Lisa in particular. It was ranked as the 10th-best season by Examiner.com, and the 5th-best season by fan site "The Purple Rock Podcast," which summarized: “The Philippines rescued Survivor from a four-season slump by giving us a strong cast,” with “an excellent winner” and “some great storytelling (and narration) along the way.” In 2013 and 2014, fan site "Survivor Oz" consistently ranked Philippines as the 9th-best season of the series, with its 2013 position also ranking it as the best post-Heroes vs. Villains season, and summarizing: "Considered 'a breath of fresh air' after a run of seasons that disappointed, it gave us...some great characters and amazing gameplay," which "set the bar high for future seasons." In 2015, a poll on former Survivor contestant Rob Cesternino's website saw Philippines rank as the 8th-greatest season of all time, and the second-greatest post-Heroes vs. Villains season, only behind Survivor: Cagayan; Cesternino himself personally ranked it as the 6th-greatest season overall.