Emily Pena

**Emily "Em" Pena** was a contestant on Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites, the second runner up of Survivor: Blood vs. Water, and was a contestant on Survivor: Legends.

A powerful player, Em would showcase potential before getting taken out of her first season by a rock draw, and would further prove this potential to be true as she ended up strategically playing everyone she possibly could. Unfortunately, this would lead to some jurors being upset at her for her game, leading her to get only one jury vote. Em would return once again in *Survivor: Legends*, where she would show why she was one of the best female contestants in the game, only to get eliminated for her win potential.

## Season

### Seasons

Fans vs. FavoritesBlood vs. Water

Legends

### Tribe(s)

Tribe Parvati (Fans vs. Favorites)Tribe Natalie, Tyson Tribe (Blood vs. Water)

Tribe Garcia, Merged Tribe (Legends)

### Finish

14/14 (Fans vs. Favorites)3/14 (Blood vs. Water)

7/19 (Legends)

### Alliances

Sam Rehl, Adam Frelka, Michael Garcia (Fans vs. Favorites: Revenge of the Fallen)Black Widows, New Jersey Alliance (Blood vs. Water: Redemption Island)

TBD (Legends)

### Votes Against

0 (Fans vs. Favorites)1 (Blood vs. Water)

4 (Legends)

## Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites: Revenge of the Fallen

Em Pena, one of the first two *Survivor Whitewater* contestants from New Jersey, would be ecstatic to start her game and would not showcase much shock, if she had any, regarding the First Impressions voting that she would take part in. She would end up voting against Corey, breaking away from the past two consecutive votes against Kenzie, despite the latter receiving the majority of the votes. Like the others, Em would be shocked to learn just moments later that the two groups were not even their actual tribes, and right before the first immunity challenge she would be placed onto Tribe Parvati alongside new players Cole and Sam, and returning players Adam, Michael, Steph, and Ness. At the immunity challenge, Em would go up against her boyfriend, Vin, only to lose against him very quickly. As a response, she would jokingly throw her bat at him as he started to walk away from the dueling area, with this loss contributing to her tribe losing the first immunity challenge of the season. At camp, Em would be sad at the thought of voting someone out but would confidently go head-first into conversations with most of her tribemates stating that she did not see enough athleticism to help her make her decision. Once most of the men split apart to convene for the vote, Em would take this opportunity to throw Cole's name out alongside Michael and Ness, as the three of them wanted to split the trio of men. However, Em would then agree to plans with Cole, and then Adam to vote against Ness, implying that she would be a liability to them in challenges, and would even push for Ness while speaking to Adam. Privately, Em would further go on to discuss her ideals about how she believes they need athleticism on their tribe and would confidently state that she was the most athletic woman in the entire cast while also joking about her and her boyfriend's questionable matchup in the prior immunity challenge. Em would continue to be pulled in by both sides of the tribe, but at Tribal Council, Em would side with Ness and would vote against Cole, feeling as if that was where the majority of the votes were going towards. This would ultimately send Cole home in a vote of 5-2, showcasing that Em had picked the right side to vote with.

Em and the rest of the remaining contestants would then be immediately thrown into the next immunity challenge, where they would face off against a member of the opposing tribe with a giant ball in an attempt to knock them out of a square. Although Em would win her round against Tribe Cochran's Maggie, Tribe Parvati would lose narrowly lose the challenge. Back at camp, Em, once again being trusted by everyone, would pull Em into multiple conversations about the next vote. Ness would speak with Em and Sam about targeting Steph due to her prior attempt in *Survivor: Winter War*. However, Em would privately react to this with the thought process that they should vote Michael out instead of Steph due to his aggressive strategic gameplay already getting him involved in multiple alliances. Michael would then approach her about targeting Adam due to his threatening social-strategic gameplay. However, Em would end up convincing Michael to instead target Ness, citing that she would not be the best help for their tribe in the future and could have a threatening advantage in the game as a result of the returnees' First Impressions vote. Ness would go on to reveal privately that, after talking to Michael, Em immediately told Ness that Michael was targeting her. This would all lead to a showdown between Michael and Ness at Tribal Council, with Em voting against Ness. This would end up causing a tied 3-3 vote, and Em would once again vote against Ness in the revote. Unfortunately, this would end up being her undoing, as the votes would become deadlocked, and a rock draw would force Em out of the game. After the shock had settled down, an embittered Em would be let in on the news of an impending comeback competition, to which she confidently stated that she would be the one coming back into the game to showcase that she would be the best woman in the cast.

During the comeback competition, Em would give it her all in the hopes of returning to the game. However, like the others, she would be quickly passed by Cole, who would end up beating her to the win. This would end her game altogether, finishing in 14th of 14th place with unfinished business and a burning desire to prove herself to be the best of the best.

**Em's Voting History**
 **1** | Cole
 **2** | Ness
Ness
***DREW***
***N/A***

## Survivor: Blood vs. Water: Redemption Island

Em would return to the game in *Survivor: Blood vs. Water: Redemption Island*, once again alongside her boyfriend, Vin. However, she would be shocked at the reveal of playing against her boyfriend in the game as well as the immediate first immunity challenge and the introduction to Redemption Island, with Em joining Tribe Natalie alongside Breanne, Cody, Corey, John, Lita, and Nathan. At the immunity challenge, Em would once again start off the game going against Vin, twice, with both of them not being able to get a point for their tribes the first time and her losing to Vin the second. This would be easily forgotten though, as Tribe Natalie would win immunity, with this also being Em's first immunity win. At camp, Em would immediately strategize with everyone, creating an all-woman's alliance with Breanne and Lita and privately revealing that she already had an alliance with Corey and Nathan.

At the next immunity challenge, Em's and Nathan's puzzle skills would immensely help their tribe, helping Tribe Natalie to once again win immunity, guaranteeing that Em would score better than her previous attempt regardless of whether or not she got sent to Redemption Island. At camp, Em would smartly bond with her tribe, and later on would privately assume that Christian's comments and vocalness at the immunity challenges could eventually do him in and assumed Breanne's brother Grant would be the next one to go if they were voting on physicality. After witnessing Lita's boyfriend JP lose the first Redemption Island duel against Grant, Em would return to camp and would strategize with Cody and Corey, the latter of whom would attempt to suggest they target Breanne and Lita due to their loved ones, JP and Grant, having already been voted out of the game. At the next immunity challenge, Em would be largely uninvolved, as each tribe was told to select only a few people on each tribe to compete. However, this would work in her favor, as Tribe Natalie would win immunity for the third consecutive time, keeping herself safe once again and guaranteeing herself to see the light of Day 2 while finishing off Night 1 in a very good spot in the game.

A tribe swap at the beginning of Day 2 would send Em over to Tribe Tyson alongside Christian, Cody, Corey, and Lita, where she would once again gain safety within the game as Tribe Tyson would win the next immunity challenge. At her new camp, Em would search for the hidden immunity idol to no success, and would also reconnect with Christian and would align with him and would further bond with her tribe. In private, Em would reveal that she trusted none of her tribemates and that she believed Cody had the hidden immunity idol, with this piece of information being told to her by Christian. Em would once again be trusted by almost everyone in her tribe as she continued to strategize for the future of her game. At the next immunity challenge, Em would help her tribe to gain immunity once more, guaranteeing her to finally see the merge.

The start of the merge would bring Breanne back into the game from Redemption Island, shocking Em, who wanted to get her and Cody out of the game for their strategic and physical prowess. However, Em would be targeted alongside her alliance of Christian, Corey, and Vin, who would be dubbed as the New Jersey Alliance. This would not stop her from attempting to enforce her plans and ideas on the game, and she would even help to give Lea the idea of utilizing the *Slip-Up Disadvantage* she had received in the Solo Room against Nathan. Em would lose individual immunity at the next challenge to Breanne, and she would also be given another surprise as the entire merged tribe was sent to Tribal Council immediately after the first individual immunity challenge. At Tribal Council, Em would cast her vote against Cody, seeing him as the biggest eligible threat to be taken out of the game. However, she would once again be thrown a shocking portion of bad luck as Christian would end up being eliminated from the game in a 6-3-1-1 vote, with her feigning confusion at Nathan's extra vote from the *Slip-Up Disadvantage*. Immediately after Tribal Council, Em would be given an opportunity to get an advantage in the game if she agreed to sit out of the next individual immunity challenge. However, she would have to go against Cody for this advantage, but would be successful in her attempt and would win the *Safety-Without-Power* advantage. After Corey won individual immunity, Em would tell him about her new advantage, and would privately predict that she and him would be the two bigger targets within the New Jersey Alliance and would plan to use her advantage at the Final 8. Em would be clued in on many plans, all surprisingly going towards Breanne and Cody, and she, alongside Vin, would be offered a Final 3 alliance from Corey, but with the threat that if they screwed Corey in anyway, he would not vote for them at the Final Tribal Council, should they make it that far. Em would also privately reveal that Cody offered her and Vin a Final 5 alliance consisting of the three of them and Lea and Nathan, to which Em was unsure of going forward with due to her not wanting to ditch Corey. At Tribal Council, Em would call out Breanne for constantly targeting her, and she would throw her vote onto Breanne in what would be a 6-3 vote.

Although Em would lose the next individual immunity challenge to Cody, she knew she would currently be safe regardless, as Corey's and Vin's plans to oust John went into motion. Privately, Em would air her concerns with her true intentions to use her *Safety-Without-Power* advantage at the upcoming Tribal Council, but she also stated her thoughts about how she did not want to get taken out of the game if plans went awry and multiple hidden immunity idols were played. Later on, Em and Nathan would be approached by Corey and Vin about making a Final 4 deal, to which Em would agree to in order to try to get Nathan on their side to vote out John. At Tribal Council, Em would use the *Safety-Without-Power* advantage, granting her a 1/7 shot at winning the game as she headed back to camp as John was voted out. After Tribal Council, Em would be let in on another plan by Corey and Vin to get the NJ Alliance's biggest threat, Cody, out of the game. Although Em would get very close to winning the next individual immunity challenge, she would ultimately lose to Lita, keeping her eligible for elimination. Back at camp, Em and Vin would agree to a plan to vote Corey out of the game after being approached by Cody, Lea, and Lita. The couple would later be approached by Nathan on his ideas to get Cody eliminated that round, and she would get information from Nathan and Vin as to what went down the previous Tribal Council. Privately, Em would talk about how she was making sure their plan would work for the next vote, and then said that she was gunning for Nathan after that round, citing him as a snake. Em would later join a conversation between Corey and Lita in the hopes of helping her ally in getting Lita on their side. Later, Em would discuss the plans and game updates with her NJ Alliance as they went into Tribal Council. While voting, Em would privately reveal that she had made plans with Lea and Lita to make a women's alliance to dominate the game after they got Nathan out, citing that it would just be the women with Corey and Vin. After the votes were cast, Corey would play his second hidden immunity idol, and Em would finally get her way as Cody would finally be voted out of the game.

After Tribal Council, Em would be thrown into the next individual immunity challenge, of which she would lose to Vin. Back at camp, despite people wanting to take Corey out, Nathan would start to throw Em's name to Lea and Lita, seeing her as a threat due to her and Vin being the last pair remaining in the game. As Nathan would see Em walk up to them, he would walk away and the two women would immediately tell Em what he said and she, alongside Corey and Vin, would assure the two women that they were going to target Nathan that round. As Corey would later begin to have second thoughts on their plan, Em would be right there beside him to convince him that it was the best plan moving forward for them, citing that she had already convinced Vin and the women to go along with her plan. Privately, Em would reveal that her plans are to move forward with the Women's Alliance rather than the NJ Alliance, although she stated that she may have to get rid of one of the women if necessary. Em would later talk to the women, and they would solidify a plan to get Nathan out, and then Corey soon after, and she and Lea would convince Vin to go along with this plan, saying to him that Corey would be a major Final Tribal Council threat. At Tribal Council, Part 1 of Em's master plan would be completed, as Nathan would get voted out in a 4-1-1 vote, with Em receiving Nathan's vote. Back at camp, Em would talk to Vin more about voting Corey next, and the couple would make a plan to vote out Lita incase Corey would win the next individual immunity challenge. However, during this conversation with her boyfriend, Corey would be campaigning to Lea and Lita about voting against Em. At the next individual immunity challenge, Em would once again get so close to winning but would ultimately lose once more to Lita and was now at risk. At camp, Corey would attempt to get Em on his side to vote against anyone but him, but she would basically tell him that there was no way she could save him, and she attempted to ease the blow by stating that if the roles were reversed that she would still throw her jury vote to him at the end. Em and Vin would then go on to solidify their plan with Lea and Lita, and Em would give her thoughts as to how she thinks the jury should vote based on how they got to the end of the game, with the context being Corey's bitterness towards her for saying she would betray him. Em would then privately talk to Lita and would make a Final 2 pact with her just on the offchance that there was a Final 2 instead of a Final 3, and she would tell Lita that they would be targeting Vin the next round. In a confessional, Em said Lita would play her hidden immunity idol on her this round, with it being the last round to play it, and stated that she now felt guilty for wanting to take her out the next round, but emphasized that if she made it to the end with Vin that it would be a battle between them both as to who would win. At Tribal Council, Part 2 of Em's master plan would be completed, as Corey would be voted out in a 3-1-~~1~~ vote, with Lita using her hidden immunity idol on Lea instead of Em. The Final 4 would then be thrown into the last individual immunity challenge of the season, and would be shocked to see Lea win, granting Lea a spot at the end. Back at camp, Em would be in control, as she could either vote out Vin or Lita, both of whom were being seen as sociostrategic threats to win at the end with both already having support from members of the jury. In private, Em would reveal that she believed eliminating Lita would be the best for her game and stated her beliefs that her being at the end without an individual challenge win to her name could showcase to the jury that she had played the best strategic game out of the game and cited that she only had her name written down once up to that point. Em would go on to convince Lita to vote against Vin, and she would tell the other women that she would always "love her black widows", referring to the name of their women's alliance, with the name being based on the name of the all-women's alliance from CBS's *Survivor: Micronesia: Fans vs. Favorites*. At Tribal Council, Em would complete Part 3 of her master plan, and would vote Lita out in a 3-1 vote, guaranteeing her spot at the Final Tribal Council.

At the Final Tribal Council, Em would campaign heavily on how she had only one vote casted against her the entire game, and would say that she played a purely strategic game and did not ride Vin's coattails as everyone had thought she had and attempted to prove it by talking about utilizing Lea and Lita to vote out some of the men she knew were threats to win, such as Corey and Nathan. As the jurors would speak with her, many of their conversations with Em would revolve around her being an individual player in terms of not riding Vin's coattails and her not always agreeing with her boyfriend's gameplay as well as the pros and cons of her sociostrategic game, specifically with her conversations with Breanne and Lita. However, the jury's respect for Vin was much greater than their respect for her, despite their respect for her, and her only jury vote would come from Corey, who wanted to show his appreciation for her game considering that he knew Vin would win in a landslide vote. Corey would ultimately be right, as Em would lose the game to Vin in a 4-2-1 vote, placing 3rd out of 14th and becoming the 2nd Runner-Up of the season.

**Em's Voting History**
 **7** | Breanne
 **10** | Nathan
 **11** | Corey
 **12** | Lita
 **Jury Votes** | Corey

**\***At the Final 8 Tribal Council, Em used the *Safety-Without-Power* Advantage. This allowed her to leave Tribal Council before the votes were cast, making her immune, but also revoking her vote for the round.

## Trivia

* Em is the first female contestant to be taken out because of a rock drawing at Tribal Council.
	+ Em is the only female contestant in *Survivor Whitewater* to be eliminated by a rock draw.
* Em is the first contestant to return to a future season after being eliminated in a rock drawing, with her first season as a returnee player being *Survivor: Blood vs. Water: Redemption Island*.
* Every time Em played the game, she would play with Vincent Petruzzella and Corey Davis, and each time Vin would place better than her.