Survivor Winter Park: Good vs. Bad vs. Neutral

## Cast

***Good vs. Bad vs. Neutral*** is the fourth main season of *Survivor Winter Park* and the fourth season in the first era.

As the first season with three tribes, *Good vs. Bad vs. Neutral* was the beginning of a new age in *Survivor Winter Park*, focusing on increased production quality, a renewed focus on new players, and the start of the eventual hosting takeover of Cole Groth. In a season filled with drama and blindsides, Jordan Rotz's charisma and jury connections would win him the game over the scrappy underdog Alberto Araya in a 4-3 vote.

## Production

For the third season in a row, the hosting title would change, this time from Thorin Groth to his twin brother and former *Season 2* winner, Cole Groth. Since Cole had not helped plan any of the previous three seasons, he wanted to bring a fresh perspective to the game.

While assembling the cast, Cole approached his friends in the hallways. Since he had to choose only the most interesting people that he knew, Cole decided on the good vs. bad vs. neutral theme in order to separate his friends into different archetypes, figuring that this would lead each player to have a more defined character arc.

The idea for the Prisoner of War twist was born out of the desire to see players from other tribes interact with each other and how players will react to the power of having a vote while being immune to a different tribe. This would be the first major twist involving voting and would be the inspiration for twists in future seasons.

The season was originally planned to feature an entirely new cast, the first since *Season 1*. However, Cole and Thorin felt guilty for not inviting Jacob Thigpen to spectate *Edge of Extinction* and decided to include him mostly as a joke, considering his poor performances in his previous two seasons. This, combined with Jacob becoming closer friends with Cole, brought him into the cast as the only returning player.

There were a few production firsts this season. First, it featured a production team, with former hosts George Stedronsky and Thorin, as well as *Season 2* and *Edge of Extinction* player Cecelia Gutman. Second, it replaced the generic colored bandanas with Survivor buffs (also known as "Huffs", with the Buff brand being licensed), created by Thorin. There were buffs for every team, as well as brown buffs for the crew members.

## Twists/Advantages

### **Twists**

* **Prisoner of War:** For the pre-merge, a player from the winning tribe(s) would join the losing tribe at camp and Tribal Council as an additional voter. The Prisoner of War could not be voted out. This twist was not run for the first vote of each tribe cycle (Final 15 and Final 12).
* **Tribe Reduction:** At the Final 12, the remaining players were randomly shuffled into two tribes of six, with the Lotai tribe being dissolved.

### **Advantages**

* **Hidden Immunity Idol:** A Hidden Immunity Idol was hidden at all three tribe camps at the start of the game, with a third being added into circulation upon the merge\*, and a fourth and fifth after being used at the Final 7 and Final 6, respectively. The last time they could be used was when there were five players remaining.
	+ The original Satu idol from *Edge of Extinction* was found by Alberto Araya at the merge, mistaken for an authentic Hidden Immunity Idol. Due to the unclear nature and rules for idols, it was accepted as a real idol for the Final 7. This would set the precedent for all future seasons.
* **Extra Vote:** An Extra Vote was introduced at some point during the merge phase of the game, allowing the holder to cast an additional vote at Tribal Council. The last time this could be used was when there were six players remaining.

## Season Summary

The season began with the formation of three tribes based on pre-determined characteristics on how the players would act during the season: "good" (Savu), "bad" (Vanto), and "neutral" (Lotai). The Vanto tribe would be the only of the three to live up to their pre-determined name, with constant in-fighting between the cast presenting them as villains to the opposing tribes. Lotai would illustrate their unmatched dominance while winning every challenge, and the Savu tribe would largely surround the actions of two-time player Jacob Thigpen, with players either aligning with or against him. He would be swiftly taken out at the first round of the tribe swap, in which the three remaining Vanto members would continue their losing streak by attending every Tribal Council of the pre-merge, allowing for the formation of a large Lotai / new Savu voting block to form.

The merge began with an explosive start. The Lotai alliance (helmed by Jordan Rotz and Leah Munro) went around Trevor Mummah's volunteering for elimination and took a shot at Gabriella Pedrazzani, the biggest personality on the Vanto trio. Her blindside at the merge would set the tone for the remainder of the season: Alberto Araya and Pedro Kawamura were forced into the underdog position by using idols and cracks in alliances to survive, while Jordan would use his bonds with players outside the game to his advantage. However, the game would be complicated as his allies would slowly turn against each other. Jordan's crucial win at the final immunity challenge allowed him to finally split up the duo and take out jury favorite Pedro Kawamura.

At the Final Tribal Council, Alberto faced almost no chance of receiving four of the seven jurors votes, due to their connections with Jordan. However, Jordan's constant praise of Alberto's game would leave many jurors frustrated with their final decision. While both finalists were insistent on awarding credit to each other, Jordan would maintain the votes of his friends, granting him the title of Sole Survivor in a narrow 4-3 vote. The first instance of the MVP award (Most Valuable Player) would be awarded to Pedro, concluding an explosive season.

## Trivia

* *Good vs. Bad vs. Neutral* is the first season with three tribes. It is followed by *Worlds Collide* and *All-Stars*.
* *Good vs. Bad vs. Neutral* is the first season to have official Survivor buffs, unofficially referred to as "huffs", due to "Buff" being an official brand.
* *Good vs. Bad vs. Neutral* is the only season in which not every player had visited Tribal Council before the merge, with Trevor Mummah achieving this feat.
	+ Excluding Prisoner of War visits, he is joined by Jayna Shah, Jordan Rotz, and Rylee Perrault.

## Future return list

* **2 for *Redemption Island*:** Nicole Salmons and Tyson Nguyen
* **5 for *Heroes vs. Villains*:** Alberto Araya, Griffin Hallemeier, Nicole Salmons, Rylee Perrault, and Tyson Nguyen
* **3 for *Exile Island*:** Gabriella Pedrazzani, Griffin Hallemeier, and Leah Munro
* None for *Bloodlines*
* **1 for *Worlds Collide*:** Pedro Kawamura
* None for *Halloween Spooktacular*
* None for *The Forest Enigma*
* **4 for *Island of Desolation*:** Jacob Thigpen, Nicole Salmons, Pedro Kawamura, and Rylee Perrault
* None for *March Madness*
* **2 for *Lord of the Lads*:** Griffin Hallemeier and Pedro Kawamura
* None for *Guild of the Girlies*
* **1 for *Clash of the Champions*:** Jordan Rotz
* None for *Dynamic Duos*
* **4 for *All-Stars*:** Griffin Hallemeier, Jacob Thigpen, Pedro Kawamura, and Rylee Perrault
	+ **Total returns:** 22 returns across 14 seasons (an average of 1.571 returns per season)