Simvivor: The Bramblewood

***Simvivor: The Bramblewood*** is the third season of *Simvivor*. *The Bramblewood* went on to be one of *Simvivor'*s best rated seasons, earning higher viewership than the franchise's previous two installments. Reese Montanez went on to say that the third season was his favorite, calling the cast the most competitive the show had seen thus far.

The season culminated in a close battle at the Final Tribal Council once again, with Mermaid Joshua Song being declared the victor over Alicia Rivas in a 4-3 vote.

## Production

*The Bramblewood* is the first season to be produced after the airing of *Simvivor* had completed with television audiences. Due to its massive success, further production took place on additional seasons. Filming for *The Bramblewood* began shortly after production completed for the previous season.

Over 10,000 Sims applied for *Simvivor* after the series premiere, and from that pool, 48 were again selected as finalists and eventually that number was narrowed down to the 16 castaways selected to compete.

*The Bramblewood* was originally intended to feature two former castaways, returning for a second chance at redemption. Miles Soares confirmed that he was approached, but declined, which led to the twist being scrapped. The female returnee option has never been revealed.

## Twists/Changes

* **Tribe Composition:** The sixteen castaways were divided into two tribes of eight.
* **Tribe Switch:** Three members from both tribes were selected to join the other tribe.
* **Merged Tribe Composition:** The merged tribe was composed of ten members.
* **Final Tribal Council Format:** Two finalists faced a jury of seven. The jurors individually addressed the finalists.

## Season Summary

*The Bramblewood* began with two tribes of eight brand new castaways – the Cordelia tribe was led by Alvin Shade, while Hakim Okorie took leadership of the Volpe tribe. While both tribes attended Tribal Council early on, it was clear that Cordelia was better coordinated in the challenges and enjoyed a winning streak thereafter. Each Tribal Council eliminated outsiders, but the show’s first tribe swap brought shocking changes, especially when strong competitor Omar Al-Shirazi was voted out unanimously by new tribemates.

Once the two tribes merged, Alicia Rivas proposed to her remaining former Cordelia tribemates to finish off the members of Volpe, stalling only once to vote off the untrustworthy September Maupin. Viva Corbin recognized the danger a looming alliance between Alicia, Joshua Song, and Lorie Brink would pose to her and Hakim’s games. Hakim’s refusal to side with “troublemakers” Karen Townie and Royce Oliveras eventually led to him and Viva being voted out just prior to the top three.

Even though Alicia’s long-term strategy proved to be more successful, Joshua chose to bring her to the Final Tribal Council over physical threat Lorie. However, all of the members of the jury were incredibly bitter at Alicia for her “boring” gameplay, leading to a split decision that crowned Joshua as *Simvivor*’s next Sole Survivor instead.

## Trivia

* This was the first season to feature a Mermaid Sole Survivor.
* This is the first season to have a mixed-gender Final Tribal Council, with one male and one female Sim.
* This is the third season in a row to conclude with a 4-3 jury vote for the winner.
* *The Bramblewood* is the first season to film in a location featured in The Sims 4.