Survivor: San Juan del Sur

Development and casting

The season was originally set to have 20 castaways, but a pair of sisters dropped out before the game began due to a medical emergency. The season would continue with nine pairs, but with the first gender imbalance since Survivor: Fiji. One of the sisters, So Kim, eventually competed on the following season, Survivor: Worlds Apart. While this season initially included Redemption Island, production decided to ultimately not use it for the season, and instead replaced it with the return of Exile Island.

On August 12, 2014, six weeks before the scheduled premiere, the post-production crew for the season went on strike, consequently endangering the premiere date. The approximately 20-person post-production team, who have been working on the show since its inception in 2000, demanded a better health insurance and pension fund. The strike ended a day later, leaving the premiere's intended airdate intact.

Contestants

The cast is composed of nine pairs of loved ones, with relationships including parent-child, siblings, and partners (both married and dating). Notable contestants include former professional baseball player John Rocker, and two-time The Amazing Race contestants Natalie and Nadiya Anderson, who competed together on seasons 21 and 24.

Future appearances

Keith Nale, Jeremy Collins, and Kelley Wentworth returned for Survivor: Cambodia; Nale and Wentworth placed 5th and 4th, respectively, while Collins was the season's winner. Additionally, Val Collins and Dale Wentworth appeared for the loved ones' visit. Natalie Anderson was originally selected for Survivor: Game Changers but had to back out due to personal obligations.

Season summary

The nine pairs of loved ones were separated onto two tribes: Coyopa and Hunahpu. Coyopa lost nearly every challenge; the tribe was initially dominated by a men’s alliance led by John, but Josh was torn between allegiances to the men and perpetual target Baylor. On Hunahpu, Jeremy and Natalie aligned after their loved ones were voted out, and argued with John at challenges over their loved ones' eliminations. Due to John's volatility, Josh orchestrated his ouster and took over the alliance. After a tribe swap, Missy—Baylor’s mother—came into power on Coyopa, while Josh and Jeremy vied for control on Hunahpu. While both men targeted each other, their conflict was never resolved as their tribe won every challenge.

At the merge, two factions emerged: Jeremy’s alliance with Natalie, Julie, Missy and Baylor, and Josh’s alliance with his boyfriend Reed, Wes and his father Keith, and Alec, with dating couple Jon and Jaclyn in the middle. While they prepared to side with Josh’s alliance for the first post-merge Tribal Council, it was cancelled after Julie quit the game, giving Jon and Jaclyn time to change their minds and side with Jeremy’s alliance to eliminate Josh. Jeremy’s fortune was not to last, and he was blindsided by his alliance sans Natalie. While Natalie rejoined her old alliance to pick off the remnants of Josh's alliance, Keith was spared as Natalie enacted her revenge, voting out Jon and Baylor and leaving no intact pairs of loved ones remaining. Keith then lost the final immunity challenge and was the last player voted out of the game.

Missy, Jaclyn, and Natalie were the final three. At the final Tribal Council, Reed eviscerated Missy’s character, comparing her to a “wicked stepmother” and chastising her for a lack of strategy, while Jaclyn was questioned for having only made moves with others, primarily Jon. Natalie was praised for making bold moves without a loved one's support, and was ultimately awarded the title of Sole Survivor with five votes to win, compared to Jaclyn’s two and Missy’s one.

In the case of multiple castaways who win reward, 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 square brackets.

Reception

Former contestants Spencer Bledsoe (Survivor: Cagayan) and Rob Cesternino (Survivor: The Amazon and Survivor: All-Stars) both called the season’s final five “one of the worst” and "least strategic" final fives in the show’s history, while Cagayan winner Tony Vlachos criticized the cast as a whole. Entertainment Weekly's Survivor columnist Dalton Ross called the cast "boring, if not boorish," and said that there were no standout moments from the season. Ross added, "This is not a season that inspires anger or rage, just apathy, which is maybe the worst indictment of all." Despite adding that the final episodes of the season were an improvement, as well as praising Anderson's post-merge gameplay, Ross ultimately ranked it as the fifth-worst season of the series, only ahead of One World, Thailand, Fiji, and Nicaragua. The season was similarly ranked as the fifth-worst by Andrea Deiher of Zap2it in 2015, only ahead of Africa, Vanuatu, Thailand, and Redemption Island. Survivor: Tocantins runner-up and People’s Survivor columnist Stephen Fishbach called it a “humdrum” season, and although it had “a great winner,” he also called the Final Tribal Council “one of the worst in the show’s history.” Host Jeff Probst acknowledged the season as lackluster, especially in comparison to the previous four seasons. In response to whether or not he disliked most of the cast, he stated that “there was a lot of frustration this season,” but similarly to Ross, added that “it got a lot better as it went along.” In 2015, Survivor fan site "The Purple Rock Podcast" ranked San Juan Del Sur as the 8th-worst season of the series, describing the cast as "realistically about 80% fodder," and that "it's hard to get past how unappealing this cast is." Also in 2015, a poll on the website of former Survivor contestant and reality TV podcast host Rob Cesternino saw San Juan Del Sur rank as the 9th-worst season of the series. Rob himself ranked it in the top half of seasons at number 15. While Tom Santilli of Examiner.com reserved some praise for aspects such as the idol plays and the memorability of Keith Nale, he said that the season "mainly consisted of a cast full of people who could only be considered as 'non-gamers,'" and ultimately concluded that "something about this season didn't quite click, and I'm afraid that most of it will be forgotten over time." Gordon Holmes of Xfinity similarly summarized: "I don't get this season. There are big, interesting moves, but it doesn't feel right. It just doesn't pop."