Survivor Winter Park: Season 2

## Cast

***Season 2*** is the second main season of *Survivor Winter Park* and the second season in the first era.

Bringing on a more competitive cast than the previous season, *Season 2* saw large strategic shifts throughout the game (the first instance of a vote split, an idol flush, and an alliance flip are featured in this season), creating the mold for the rest of *Survivor Winter Park* to come. Coming into a merge entirely divided by gender, Cole Groth was able to take advantage of the fractured groups by constantly turning on each group, leading him to the Final Tribal Council with loyal ally Zoey Thomas alongside the untrustworthy Ashton Corddry. Cole would go on and win in a 5-2-0 vote.

## Production

*Season 2* was immediately called to be put together following the "success" of the first season. With George Stedronsky having won, he decided to step back from playing and officially take on the role of host. Half of the cast from the previous season was asked to return, and they would be joined by nine new players, most of whom were nearly picked to play in *Season 1*.

A tribe swap was initially planned to occur at the Final 10, switching into two tribes of five for the next two rounds. This twist, however, would be cancelled upon Cole Groth's public declaration of knowing a swap would be coming. As a way to keep the cast on their toes, he switched it to an earlier merge.

Multiple players were asked to play but were unavailable to compete. Notable examples include Joshua Morris and Makenzie Kennedy from *Season 1*, Madison Lee (who would later compete in *Edge of Extinction*), and Rylee Perrault (who would later compete in *Good vs. Bad vs. Neutral*).

The final day was difficult to put together, as only the Final 4 players remained, but there wasn't time for the jury to come together for at least two months. Only Jacob Ludlow (a pre-juror) and Thorin Groth returned to the final day, resulting in a technical 3-member jury for the Final Tribal Council (the former two were joined by Joseph Ales, who was eliminated later that day). The final vote count was actually 2-1-1: Joseph and Thorin voted for Cole, Jake voted for Ashton, and George voted for Zoey, lying by saying Cecelia Gutman had voted via text. This vote would later be turned into a 5-2-0 jury vote, with the votes of every juror eliminated before Thorin being interpreted based on how they would've voted had they been there.

For the pre-merge, *Season 2* was located at Ward Park, which would become *Survivor Winter Park*'s permanent location. At the merge, the remaining players relocated to George's house, where the first season was held.

## Twists/Advantages

### **Twist**

* **Elimination Challenge:** Instead of a vote, the winner of the Final Immunity Challenge would be able to take one finalist to the Final Tribal Council, with the remaining two competing in an elimination challenge. The loser of this duel would be eliminated.

### **Advantage**

* **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 being used at the Final 6. The last time they could be used was when there were five players remaining.

## Season Summary

The fourteen players, consisting of five returnees and nine newbies, would be split into two tribes of seven: Komoran and Telvani. Despite winning the first challenge, Telvani would still lose Jacob Thigpen due to his arm being broken during the Kickball challenge by Thorin Groth. The Telvani tribe would be run by the "Three Musketeers" alliance (consisting of Cecelia Gutman, Kaley Kolb, and Ryan Hagerty), who were able to execute the vicious blindside of Landon Hurd with an idol in his pocket before the merge. Komoran, meanwhile, would develop a supermajority to split up returning players Caleb Susunaga and Jacob Ludlow, with their tribe strength carrying through into the merge.

Upon the merge, the former Komoran tribe held a narrow majority, which increased when Joseph Ales, who learned that he was on the bottom, switched sides. The Three Musketeers would be targeted, with the girls then joining them after the blindside of Cece to create a gender-divided season. Cole Groth recognized the value of keeping the girls and decided to flip the game around by targeting Caleb, sending the remaining guys scrambling. Cole would continue to flip between alliances while keeping Thorin at the bottom of the tribe, keeping around his longterm ally Zoey Thomas, who would take him to the Final Tribal Council. Cole and Zoey were joined by Ashton after he eliminated Joseph in a sudden-death challenge.

At the Final Tribal Council, Ashton was largely ignored for his performance due to his betrayal of nearly everybody and his mocking of certain players after their eliminations (notably Cece, Kristen Paul, and Thorin). While Zoey was praised for being the only female to make it to the Final Tribal Council, the costly mistake of taking Cole to the end proved to be majorly detrimental. Cole's perceived dominance of the game, taking a more under-the-radar snake position as opposed to George's obvious control in *Season 1*, granted him the victory in a 2-1-1 jury vote. This vote would later be corrected to a 5-2-0 jury vote (Cole receiving every vote except for Cece and Kristen's, which would go to Zoey) to make up for the absence of every juror excluding (Joseph and Thorin).

## Trivia

* Every player from *Season 2* would participate in a future season, being the only season to achieve this feat.
	+ Ashton Corddry, Cecelia Gutman, Jacob Ludlow, and Joseph Ales returned in *Edge of Extinction*.
	+ Jacob Thigpen returned in *Good vs. Bad vs. Neutral*.
	+ Ana-Victoria Gomez and Kaley Kolb returned in *Redemption Island*.
	+ Caleb Susunaga, Cole Groth, and Kristen Paul returned in *Heroes vs. Villains*.
	+ Thorin Groth returned in *Exile Island*.
	+ Zoey Thomas returned in *Worlds Collide*.
	+ Landon Hurd returned in *Dynamic Duos*.
	+ Ryan Hagerty returned in *All-Stars*.
* *Bloodlines* is the only of the first nine seasons to not feature a player from *Season 2*.
* Thorin is the only returnee from *Season 1* to perform better than before.
	+ Jacob placed 8th previously and 14th this season.
	+ Jake placed 7th previously and 12th this season.
	+ Landon placed 6th previously and 11th this season.
	+ Caleb placed 4th previously and 8th this season.
	+ Thorin placed 9th previously and 5th this season.
* *Season 2* is the first season where the first player voted out (Ana) was different from the first player eliminated (Jacob). It was followed by *Redemption Island*.
* *Season 2* is the first season where a guy was eliminated first, albeit through unconventional means (medical evacuation).
	+ *Redemption Island* is the first season where a guy was voted out first.
	+ *Bloodlines* is the first season where a guy was voted out and eliminated first.
* Cole is the only winner to never win individual immunity and win the season.
* *Season 2* ties the record with *Worlds Collide* and *Guild of the Girlies* for most players returning in a single season, with seven in *All-Stars*.

## Future return list

* **4 for *Edge of Extinction*:** Ashton Corddry, Cecelia Gutman, Jacob Ludlow, and Joseph Ales
* **1 for *Good vs. Bad vs. Neutral*:** Jacob Thigpen
* **2 for *Redemption Island*:** Ana-Victoria Gomez and Kaley Kolb
* **5 for *Heroes vs. Villains*:** Caleb Susunaga, Cecelia Gutman, Cole Groth, Joseph Ales, and Kristen Paul
* **1 for *Exile Island*:** Thorin Groth
* None for *Bloodlines*
* **1 for *Worlds Collide*:** Zoey Thomas
* None for *Halloween Spooktacular*
* None for *The Forest Enigma*
* **2 for *Island of Desolation*:** Jacob Thigpen and Landon Hurd
* None in *March Madness*
* **1 for *Lord of the Lads*:** Joseph Ales
* **4 for *Guild of the Girlies*:** Cecelia Gutman, Kaley Kolb, Kristen Paul, and Zoey Thomas
* **1 for *Clash of the Champions*:** Cole Groth
* None for *Dynamic Duos*
* **7 for *All-Stars*:** Cecelia Gutman, Jacob Thigpen, Kaley Kolb, Kristen Paul, Ryan Hagerty, Thorin Groth, and Zoey Thomas
	+ **Total returns:** 29 returns across 16 seasons (an average of 1.81 returns per season)