Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains

***Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains*** is the twentieth season of the CBS competitive reality television series *Survivor*.

This season was a celebration of the ten year anniversary of the show and opted to have returning players who were known for their honor and integrity (Heroes) or their deception and duplicity (Villains). It also marked the first two-time winner: Sandra Diaz-Twine, who beat Parvati Shallow and Russell Hantz in a 6-3-0 vote. To date, it has produced ten returning players (Candice Woodcock, Cirie Fields, Coach Wade, J.T. Thomas, Parvati Shallow, Rob Mariano, Rupert Boneham, Russell Hantz, Sandra Diaz-Twine, and Tyson Apostol) for subsequent seasons.

## Production

Unlike previous seasons where a break in production occurred between seasons, the twentieth season was shot twenty days after *Survivor: Samoa* was completed, taking advantage of the existing infrastructure from that season. All challenges in this season were based on challenges used in previous seasons. Rather than the usual slogan "Outwit, Outplay, Outlast", the slogan for this season was "Return, Revenge, Redemption".

The 2009 Samoa earthquake and tsunami occurred shortly after the completion of filming for this season; a CBS spokeswoman stated that no crew members were harmed from it.

The castaways eliminated pre-jury were sequestered in Australia.

### Casting

*Heroes vs. Villains* featured ten former castaways known for their acts of integrity and honor, the Heroes, and ten former castaways known for their deeds of deception and duplicity, the Villains. The cast was officially announced during the 36th People's Choice Awards on January 6, 2010. Jeff Probst, the show's host, stated that while they wanted to do another season where they brought back former players for the show's 10-year anniversary and 20th cycle, they did not want to simply do another "All-Stars" season. Upon reflecting on the most popular players, they realized that these players were either beloved or despised for those respective seasons, and opted to use that as the theme for this season.

Casting for *Heroes vs. Villains* was done simultaneously with casting for *Samoa*. According to Probst, the production initially selected 50 players from the past seasons, paring those down to twenty and keeping one spot open for a possible player from *Samoa*. Some selections were made to match players that production thought would be exciting to see, according to casting director Lynne Spillman. While the players had been classified as Heroes or Villains, *Survivor* creator Mark Burnett did not expect these players to maintain these roles in the game, and to instead do what they needed to survive to the end.

Richard Hatch, the winner of the original season, *Survivor: Borneo*, was asked to return for this season. However, he had to apply to leave the country since he was under house arrest. His request was denied by a federal judge in Rhode Island. Corinne Kaplan of *Survivor: Gabon* and Shane Powers of *Survivor: Panama* were also asked to return, but Corinne declined due to work obligations while Shane was replaced by Russell Hantz. Natalie Bolton of *Survivor: Micronesia* was seen shooting promotional images on location, but was ultimately not chosen for the final cast.

Due to the back-to-back filming of *Samoa* and this season, the other players did not have an opportunity to see Russell Hantz's gameplay in *Samoa*. However, the players were told by the production crew that Hantz was considered "one of the five most notorious male villains of all time" prior to the start of the game.

## Twists/Changes

* **Heroes vs. Villains:** Ten of the most heroic castaways battled against the ten most villainous castaways for the title of Sole Survivor and the million dollar prize, hence the season title.
* **Hidden Immunity Idol:** Idols were hidden at each tribe camp for castaways to find.
* **Double Tribal Council:** On Day 15, both tribes were forced to attend Tribal Council separately to vote out one of their own.
* **Expanded Jury and Final Three:** The Final Tribal Council had a Final Three and a nine-person jury, including two jurors from the pre-merge portion of the game.