Survivor Winter Park: Edge of Extinction

## Cast

***Edge of Extinction*** (originally *Season 3*) is the third main season of *Survivor Winter Park* and the third season in the first era.

*Edge of Extinction* took a turn from the previous two more traditional seasons, with a plethora of new twists (Edge of Extinction, a tribe swap, multiple new advantages) complicating the gameplay more than ever. The season was largely dictated by the returning cast members, complicated by the inclusion of George Stedronsky, the winner of *Season 1*. Largely divided into two parts (the first two days and the last day), a weak newbie cast led to the domination of the Huleti tribe numbers-wise, but crumbled when met with the strategic remainders of the Fitu tribe. In the end, Madison Visconti's bonding with the jury granted her a controversial win over the strategic Cecelia Gutman in a 3-2 vote, crowning her as the first female Sole Survivor.

## Production

Planning for the season began immediately following the conclusion of *Season 2*, with Thorin Groth taking over hosting duties from George Stedronsky to give him another chance to compete. The season was originally billed as *Season 3* to not give away the Edge of Extinction twist, which was the first of many twists Thorin had wanted to implement. The season continued to struggle with casting new players like the previous seasons, mostly reaching out to players who were contacted for the previous seasons as well as close friends of Cole Groth (who acted as the co-host for the first two days of the season), George, and Thorin.

Notable players considered to play but were unavailable were Ana-Victoria Gomez and Zoey Thomas from *Season 2*, Griffin Hallemeier (who would later compete in *Good vs. Bad vs. Neutral*), and William Dietz (who would later compete in *Dynamic Duos*). Kristen Paul from *Season 2* was on the initial cast until the day of the season began, leading to Bradley McNabb joining the cast in the last minute.

Zachary Ross was unable to attend the second day and was removed from the game. Needing a replacement, Madison Visconti was introduced as a player in his place, the first and only instance of a player debuting after the game had already started.

After the conclusion of the second day, production was put on hold due to date conflicts between the remaining players. Nearly six months later, seven of the remaining eight players were able to reconvene (Zachary Asarnow was unable to return and was eliminated). The Edge of Extinction twist was meant to continue until five players remained (turning it into the Final Six), but none of the remaining members on the Edge were able to return (Jacob Ludlow, Joseph Ales, and Meaghan Schlossmacher), so the twist was cancelled.

## Twists/Advantages

### **Twists**

* **Edge of Extinction:** Upon elimination, players were given the option to continue playing through the Edge of Extinction or end their game at that moment. Players who chose to continue through the Edge could leave at any time but would simply wait around for the chance to return at the merge.
* **Tribe Swap:** At the Final 11, the remaining players were shuffled into two tribes of five, determined by a random buff draw from a backpack. The player who drew the lone green buff (George Stedronsky) was sent to Exile Island for the round, where he would join the losing tribe after Tribal Council.
* **Fake Elimination:** At the Final 10, due to both tribes continuously cheating, both would attend separate Tribal Councils to vote a player out. However, Huleti had secretly won the challenge. The player voted out (Ashton Corddry) would instead lose his vote at his next Tribal Council.

### **Advantages**

* **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, a fourth after the auction between the Final 8 and 7, and a fifth after multiple were used at the Final 6. The last time they could be used was when there were five players remaining.
	+ **Edge of Extinction Idol:** Upon returning to the game, Makenzie Kennedy was gifted with a two-part Immunity Idol. She had to give one half to another player to activate it, requiring both players to survive the following elimination. She elected to give her half to Darcy Zobel before the first vote of the merge, successfully activating it afterwards.
* **Immunity Ring:** An Immunity Ring was hidden at both tribe camps at the start of the game. Unlike a Hidden Immunity Idol, Immunity Rings would only negate a single vote against the user. The last time they could be used was when there were five players remaining.
* **Skip Ticket:** On Exile Island, George was granted the Skip Ticket advantage, which allowed him to remove himself from Tribal Council, where he could not be voted out but would not cast a vote. The last time this could be used was when there were seven players remaining.
* **Send Away Advantage:** At the Auction, George purchased the Send Away advantage, which allowed him to choose any player to remove from Tribal Council. That player could not be voted out but would not cast a vote. The last time this could be used was when there were seven players remaining.
* **Extra Vote:** An Extra Vote was hidden at the opening immunity challenge by the dug-out in the field it was being played it, but it went undiscovered.

## Season Summary

*Edge of Extinction* began with the formation of two tribes of seven: Fitu, wearing pink, and Huleti, wearing blue. Huleti never faced Tribal Council before the swap and thus had little strategy. Fitu, meanwhile, would prove to be a disaster by losing all three of their challenges, with constant flipping between gendered factions leading to the elimination of all three newbies. In secret, the players were being offered a chance to go to the Edge of Extinction for a chance to return to the game. While most would voluntarily leave before the merge, a few would stay around. Key returning players were blindsided during the post-swap phase as the former Fitu tribe members continued to run most of the decisions in their tribes.

Following Jacob Ludlow's elimination at the start of the merge, there would be a major pause between the second and third days. When the remaining seven players reconvened (having lost Zachary Asarnow), the game would essentially start from scratch, dividing into guys against girls. For the first time in *Survivor Winter Park* history, the girls would come out on top, eliminating former power players Ashton Corddry and George Stedronsky at the start of the day. Nobody spent their time at camp looking for the idol, allowing for more bonding between the players as only players eliminated on that day would serve as jury members. In the end, Madison Visconti would take Cecelia Gutman to the end to prove her loyalty and finish off their mission to ensure a girl would win.

At the Final Tribal Council, Cece would take credit for a majority of the strategic decisions and the major initiatives made at the start of the day to get herself where she was, while Maddie would be credited with her increased connections with the jury and difficulty to reach the end. She would go on to be crowned the first female Sole Survivor in a 3-2 vote over Cece.

## Trivia

* *Edge of Extinction* holds the record for having the most collective wins from its newbie cast (4): Madison Visconti with two (*Edge of Extinction* and *Clash of the Champions*), Meaghan Schlossmacher and Zachary Asarnow with one each (*All-Stars* and *Bloodlines*) respectively.
* *Edge of Extinction* is the first season to have a twist that brought players back after their elimination. It would be followed by *Redemption Island* and *Island of Desolation*.

## Future return list

* None for *Good vs. Bad vs. Neutral*
* None for *Redemption Island*
* **4 for *Heroes vs. Villains*:** Cecelia Gutman, George Stedronsky, Joseph Ales, and Makenzie Kennedy
* None for *Exile Island*
* **1 for *Bloodlines*:** Zachary Asarnow
* None for *Worlds Collide*
* None for *Halloween Spooktacular*
* None for *The Forest Enigma*
* **1 for *Island of Desolation*:** Madison Visconti
* None for *March Madness*
* **1 for *Lord of the Lads*:** Joseph Ales
* **2 for *Guild of the Girlies***: Cecelia Gutman and Meaghan Schlossmacher
* **3 for *Clash of the Champions*:** George Stedronsky, Madison Visconti, and Zachary Asarnow
* None for *Dynamic Duos*
* **2 for *All-Stars*:** Cecelia Gutman and Meaghan Schlossmacher
	+ **Total returns:** 14 returns across 15 seasons (an average of 0.933 returns per season)