Survivor Winter Park: Exile Island

## Cast

***Exile Island*** is the seventh main season of *Survivor Winter Park* and the first season in the second era.

Transitioning into a larger-scale game, *Exile Island* brought equally competitive returnee and newbie casts, eager to participate in the evolution of the game. The pre-merge saw a game divided: one tribe was moving quick with strategy (Hononga and Ogeuso) while the other was saved through multiple voluntary eliminations (Osuego and Agnonoh), with the merge bringing together "The Cult", which would control all the gameplay of the merge against outsiders Griffin Hallemeier and Thorin Groth. Cult leader Blake Cox would make a final immunity run to the Final Tribal Council, demolishing two-time returnee Grace Peters in a unanimous 9-0 for her wishy-washy gameplay.

## Production

Originally planned for a season under George Stedronsky, the theme for *Exile Island* would've been "Juniors vs. Seniors" (or the Class of 2021 vs. the Class of 2022), the first season to reach outside the Class of 2022. However, this would quickly be lost in the shuffle of casting, with not enough juniors being available for the season (only Blake Cox of that class would participate). Cole Groth would eventually take over the hosting of the season, using the Exile Island twist for its easily understood mechanics (a step-up from the twists of *Heroes vs. Villains*) and minimal impact on the season as a whole. Casting would even reach out to two members of the Class of 2024, Keyes Rodriguez and Samuel Bernbaum.

Notable players who were cast and then dropped include:

* Madison Lee from *Edge of Extinction*
* Caroline Dentel from *Bloodlines*
* Oceane Cristofari-Little and Susan Mallen from *The Forest Enigma*
* Alexander Adams and Maddox Muscato from *Lord of the Lads*

## Twists/Advantages

### **Twists**

* **Exile Island:** For every round of the pre-merge, the winning tribe would send a player from the losing tribe to Exile Island, where they would avoid Tribal Council for the round without the potential to be voted out. They would be given a chance to look for a Hidden Immunity Idol.
* **Tribe Captains:** Before the start of the game, the players had voted on three players of their choosing to be designated tribe captains. The two players with the most votes would be placed in separate tribes and granted immunity at their first Tribal Council.
* **Double Elimination:** At the Final 17, both tribes competed in an individual immunity challenge and went to separate Tribal Councils, both voting out a player from their tribe. One player from each tribe received immunity.
* **Tribe Swap:** At the Final 15, the remaining players were shuffled into two tribes of seven, determined by the players randomly mixing around while blindfolded in a field. The seven players to Cole's left were placed on the new Agnonoh tribe, while the seven players to Cole's right were placed on the new Ogeuso tribe. The player in the center (Zaki Patni) was sent to Exile Island.
* **Joint Tribal Council:** At the Final 14, Faustian Bargain resulted in no tribe winning immunity. Both tribes went to a Joint Tribal Council, where they would all vote for a single player to be eliminated.

### **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 at Exile Island, a fourth in the bathrooms during the Final 14 challenge, a fifth after the merge, and a sixth on the start of the fourth day. The last time they could be used was when there were six players remaining.
* **Tickets:** A plethora of "ticket"-based advantages were hidden throughout the game.
	+ **Escape Ticket:** Inside the immunity statue for the season (a stone frog), an advantage was hidden, acting as a Hidden Immunity Idol with the drawback of the player being required to leave Tribal Council immediately, preventing them from voting in the case of a tie. The last time it could be used was when there were eight players remaining.
	+ **Golden Ticket:** At the Final 9, an advantage was hidden, allowing the holder to send any player of their choosing to Exile Island for the round.
	+ **Skip Ticket:** At the merge, Cole began wearing an advantage around his neck for any player to grab. The player who took it would be allowed to leave Tribal Council before voting, granting themselves immunity from the vote. The last time it could be used was when there were eight players remaining.

## Season Summary

The game began with Griffin Hallemeier and Thorin Groth, two previous two-time veterans, being selected as the captains for Osuego and Hononga respectively. As tribes of ten, Osuego would be saved for their Tribal Councils by multiple players requesting to leave, while Hononga would have more intense eliminations, executing a series of blindsides. The tribe swap would lead to the formation of multiple power alliances, notably the core Ogeuso alliance, including Blake Cox, Clarisa Groff, Griffin, and Thorin, as well as the major blindside against power player Gabriella Pedrazzani at the Final 14 Joint Tribal Council. The bonds formed during this time would heavily impact gameplay in the post-merge phase.

The merge saw the creation of The Cult Alliance, helmed by Blake, with a majority of the tribe acting as members with strong loyalty to it. The merge vote would set the tone for the rest of the season: while The Cult attempted to eliminate Griffin from the game first, he was warned by Thorin into playing his idol. This would result in Sawyer Roby's elimination, cementing Griffin and Thorin's position at the bottom of the tribe. From this point on, every vote would be one of the two, while they would continuously fight for their survival with immunity wins and advantages until the Final 7 and 6, where both would be eliminated back-to-back. Following Thorin's elimination, Blake would go on a necessary immunity streak to the Final Tribal Council while keeping his two most loyal allies to the end, deciding to take Grace Peters over Leah Munro to the end.

At Final Tribal Council, Grace was berated by nearly every single jury member for playing into Blake's hands for the entire season, while Blake was credited for creating the most dominant alliances in the game's history. For the first time in *Survivor Winter Park* history, the final vote was a unanimous 9-0 in favor of Blake.

## Trivia

* *Exile Island* is the first season to introduce entirely new tribe buffs for the swap, with the new tribe names being reflections of the original tribes (Hononga into Agnonoh, Osuego into Ogeuso).
* *Bloodlines* and *The Forest Enigma* are the only seasons post-*Exile Island* to not feature any of its players.
* *Exile Island* is the fourth in a row to have the first boot be a *Redemption Island* player.
	+ Nicole Salmons in *Good vs. Bad vs. Neutral* played in *Redemption Island*
	+ Olivia Short was the first boot in *Redemption Island*
	+ Grace Wheeler in *Heroes vs. Villains* played in *Redemption Island*
	+ Alex Rodriguez in *Exile Island* played in *Redemption Island*
* Blake Cox is the first winner to be a member of the tribe that went to the first Tribal Council.

## Future return list

* None for *Bloodlines*
* **2 for *Worlds Collide*:** Lyndsey Keith and William Turner
* **1 for *Halloween Spooktacular*:** Keyes Rodriguez
* None for *The Forest Enigma*
* **4 for *Island of Desolation*:** Blake Cox, Clarisa Groff, Grace Peters, and Samuel Bernbaum
* **1 for *March Madness*:** Alex Rodriguez
* **2 for *Lord of the Lads*:** Griffin Hallemeier and William Turner
* **1 for *Guild of the Girlies*:** Mya Khatri
* **2 for *Clash of the Champions*:** Alex Rodriguez and Blake Cox
* **2 for *Dynamic Duos*:** Keyes Rodriguez and Natalie Watkins
* **5 for *All-Stars*:** Griffin Hallemeier, Lyndsey Keith, Natalie Watkins, Thorin Groth, and William Turner
	+ **Total returns:** 20 returns across 11 seasons (an average of 1.818 returns per season)