Survivor Winter Park: Season 1

## Cast

***Season 1*** is the first main season of *Survivor Winter Park* and the first season in the first era.

As the first season of *Survivor Winter Park*, George Stedronsky was able to take swift control of the game with the Angara tribe, with the elimination of key strategic threats at optimal times, prevailing over the struggling guys alliance of the Bataru tribe. Despite Makenzie Kennedy's challenge dominance, she would be eliminated before the Final Tribal Council to become the only female member of the jury. The season concluded with George defeating Daniel Jaffe in a 3-2 vote at Final Tribal Council to become the series' first Sole Survivor.

## Production

*Survivor Winter Park* was born out of a film project between George Stedronsky, Daniel Jaffe, and Joshua Morris during their freshman year of high school. George brought in Thorin Groth on May 2, 2019 to kick off the season, as both were avid fans of the television product. The challenges were mostly planned by George, while the casting choices came from both him and Thorin. Casting proved to be a difficulty for the production team, with short notice for an unspecified amount of time for an unknown "*Survivor* experience" not being the draw it was initially thought to be. The cast mostly consisted of George's friends from their after-school soccer club, with Ellie Meyer and Makenzie Kennedy being the only girls to be available and willing to participate.

Ashton Corddry was a tentative cast member for the season, but due to no knowledge of his availability, he had the potential to drop out. George had himself as the last-minute alternate of the season, having trained his father, "D", to host in the case of George needing to play. On the day of the season's beginning, Ashton officially backed out of the cast, leaving George as the tenth and final cast member.

The theme of the season was originally based around NBC's "The Office", with the three tribes initially being titled "Bears", "Beets", and "Battlestar Galactica" (a reference to the show's 21st episode of their third season). This theme had been retroactively changed by Thorin for a more standard *Survivor* theme.

Multiple players were asked to play but were unavailable or unwilling to compete. Notable examples include Ana-Victoria Gomez, Joseph Ales, and Zoey Thomas (who would later compete in *Season 2*), and Madison Lee and Zachary Ross (who would later compete in *Edge of Extinction*).

Ashton and Cole Groth (both later *Season 2* players) were both involved with the production of the season, acting as the season's cameramen. Ashton left shortly after the start of the first day while Cole filmed the rest of the project. The season was played at George's house: the Angara/Navarro camp was at a stream down his street, the Bataru camp was in his front yard, the Tribal Council was on his back patio, and voting was inside.

## Twists/Advantages

### **Twist**

* **Final Immunity Challenge Duel:** Instead of a vote, the winner of the final immunity challenge would be able to assign a larger goal to a player of their choosing during the soccer challenge (thus making it harder to defend one's goal). The loser of this duel would be eliminated.

### **Advantage**

* **Hidden Immunity Idol:** A Hidden Immunity Idol was hidden at both tribe camps at the start of the game, with a third being added into circulation upon the merge. The last time they could be used was when there were five players remaining.

## Season Summary

Divided into two tribes of five, the Bataru tribe saw an immediate alliance of Caleb Susunaga, Jacob Ludlow, and Landon Hurd form, placing the other two tribe members on the outside who would be eliminated during their only Tribal Councils of the pre-merge. Meanwhile, the Angara tribe had a more fluid dynamic with Daniel Jaffe and Makenzie Kennedy on the outside. However, due to Thorin Groth's rabid paranoia, he was targeted for their one elimination before the merge.

Upon the merge, the former Angara tribe took advantage of their 4-3 numbers advantage over the former Bataru tribe, viewing Jake as the most strategically sound member for their first vote. While the guys wanted to eliminate Makenzie early on (notably Daniel), Landon would be blindsided through George Stedronsky's weaponization of his knowledge of the later challenges (Landon's soccer skills were used against him, with George telling tribe members that there would be a soccer challenge down the line). Without the ability to eliminate Makenzie for the next two rounds, George would pull in both Caleb and Daniel to eliminate strategic threat Josh in a 2-0-0 vote following multiple idol plays, only to flip on Caleb in the next round. Upon winning the Final Immunity Challenge, George was able to grant an advantage to Daniel for the elimination duel, resulting in his victory over Makenzie.

At the Final Tribal Council, George largely avoided any blame for his tricky gameplay throughout the season, leading to the ire of multiple jury members. However, due to Daniel's refusal to give a final speech, the jury would award George the inaugural title of Sole Survivor in a 3-2 vote, with Daniel receiving votes with the sole intent of messing with George.

## Trivia

* Ellie Meyer would be the only player from this season to never participate in a future season.
	+ Caleb Susunaga, Jacob Ludlow, Jacob Thigpen, Landon Hurd, Thorin Groth competed in *Season 2*.
		- Ellie would be the only member of her former Angara tribe to not compete in *Season 2*.
	+ George Stedronsky, Joshua Morris, and Makenzie Kennedy competed in *Edge of Extinction*.
	+ Daniel Jaffe competed in *Island of Desolation*.
* *Season 1* is the first season in which every idol was found and played. It was followed by *Dynamic Duos*, 16 seasons later.
	+ *Season 1* is the first season in which every idol was simply found. It was followed by *Exile Island* and *Dynamic Duos*.
* Every elimination of the season except one (Caleb's) was considered "votigami", a measure of if a statistical vote count has previously occurred.
* *Season 1* is the smallest main season of *Survivor Winter Park*, with only 10 players. It is followed by *Redemption Island*, with 13.
	+ *Season 1* holds the record for the shortest pre-merge of any season with a merge, only lasting 3 rounds. It is followed by *Season 2* and *Dynamic Duos*, both of which only lasted for 4 rounds.
* *Season 1* is the first of two seasons with a Final Two in which both finalists are from the same tribe (Bataru). It would be followed by *March Madness*, 12 seasons later.
	+ Coincidentally, these seasons were both the first and last with a Final Two.
	+ Coincidentally, these are the only two main seasons to be ranked in the F-Tier.
* *Season 1* is the first season to have every Hidden Immunity Idol found and played. It was followed by *Dynamic Duos*.

## Future return list

* **5 for *Season 2*:** Caleb Susunaga, Jacob Ludlow, Jacob Thigpen, Landon Hurd, and Thorin Groth
* **4 for *Edge of Extinction*:** George Stedronsky], Jacob Ludlow, Joshua Morris, and Makenzie Kennedy
* **1 for *Good vs. Bad vs. Neutral*:** Jacob Thigpen
* None for *Redemption Island*
* **4 for *Redemption Island*:** Caleb Susunaga, George Stedronsky, and Makenzie Kennedy
* None for *Exile Island*
* None for *Bloodlines*
* None for *Worlds Collide*
* None for *Halloween Spooktacular*
* None for *The Forest Enigma*
* **3 for *Island of Desolation*:** Daniel Jaffe, Jacob Thigpen, and Landon Hurd
* None for *March Madness*
* None for *Lord of the Lads*
* None for *Guild of the Girlies*
* **1 for *Clash of the Champions*:** George Stedronsky
* None for *Dynamic Duos*
* **2 for *All-Stars*:** Jacob Thigpen and Thorin Groth
	+ **Total returns:** 19 returns across 17 seasons (an average of 1.118 returns per season)