Survivor 41

***Survivor 41*** is the forty-first season of *Survivor*.

After spending a year and a half on hiatus, *Survivor* returned for a new era, promising a more dangerous, fast-paced experience in a condensed 26-day game with the introduction of several novel twists. As the first season to be filmed following the adoption of the diversity initiative for CBS reality programming, *Survivor 41* also focused on social commentary with its portrayal of the rise and fall of the All-Black Alliance. The season concluded with Erika Casupanan defeating Deshawn Radden and Xander Hastings in a 7-1-0 vote to become the first female Sole Survivor in 7 seasons.

## Contents

* 1Production
	+ 1.1Casting
	+ 1.2Game Within the Game
* 2Twists/Changes
* 3Castaways
* 4Season Summary
* 5Voting History
* 6Trivia
* 7References

## Production

Production for the 41st and 42nd seasons were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As has been the norm since *Survivor: Samoa*, the seasons were scheduled to be filmed back-to-back beginning in March 2020, but had to be put on hold due to the global outbreak of the coronavirus. Prior to the Fijian government allowing production to enter, domestically filming both seasons either in Georgia or Hawaii was considered.

In March 2021, it was announced that production for the two seasons had resumed in Fiji, but due to mobility issues, the production team modified their protocols to ensure the cast and crew's safety such as using a staggered arrival scheme. Each crew member and contestant had to test negative and be quarantined for 14 days. Production also coordinated with the Fijian Ministries of Health and Medical Services and Economy, as well as the Fijian Navy to establish a safe "bubble" within a chain of islands to be used as base camp, tribe camps, challenge sites and Tribal Council, allowing free movement within the bubble and prohibiting physical interaction outside of it. 408 Fijian crew members were employed for the production of seasons 41 and 42.

This season was filmed over 26 days, 13 days shorter than the standard 39-day timeline due to the 1/3 of the production schedule being allocated for quarantine. To keep the shorter game just as challenging, the tribes were given fewer supplies and no food rations. Items won on Reward Challenges were also scarce.

In response to complaints from past *Survivor* contestants about the fact that contestants only received one pair of underwear for the duration of the game, thus exposing them to urinary tract infections, production gave extra pairs of underwear to contestants with vaginas.

Beginning in *41*, seasons will no longer be named after twists or overarching themes and will simply be identified by their season number.

For the first time since *Survivor: Borneo*, the winner was announced on location. In place of a live reunion show, a "deep dive" episode, also filmed on location moments after the Final Tribal Council took place with the finalists and jurors in attendance. According to Tiffany Seely, the jury and the finalists received $10,000 for appearing in the after-show immediately following the Final Tribal Council. This on-location after-show would carry into all subsequent seasons for the foreseeable future.

### Casting

In response to criticism over lack of racial diversity in its reality programming, CBS announced in November 2020 that *Survivor* and its other reality shows must cast at least 50% persons of color beginning with the 2021-2022 television season. Crew members will also have the same composition for a fairer representation of diverse racial and cultural backgrounds in the edited show. However, due to the year-long delay of the production on this season and the subsequent forty-second season, *Survivor 41* was the first season to be cast after CBS announced this mandate.

Jeff Probst stated that contestants from the show's first 20 years will not be asked to return in the foreseeable future, though he has recanted his stance on this matter.

According to eventual *Survivor 42* contestant Zach Wurtenberger, the original cast of *Survivor 41* were to be himself, Brad Reese, Erika Casupanan, Danny McCray, David Voce, Heather Aldret, Jonathan Young, Tori Meehan, Cassidy Clark, Jesse Lopez, Bruce Perreault and Matthew Grinstead-Mayle that were supposed to leave on March 2020. While Brad, Danny, Erika, Heather, and Voce were retained for this season, some of the contestants were eventually re-cast in future seasons: Jonathan, Tori, and Zach on *Survivor 42*; Cassidy and Jesse on *Survivor 43*; and Bruce and Matthew on *Survivor 44*.

Tiffany Seely was brought onto the season last-minute as an alternate to replace future *Survivor 42* contestant Lindsay Dolashewich, who had tested positive for COVID-19 prior to the cast flying to Fiji.

### Game Within the Game

A *Survivor* first, viewers will be given the opportunity to solve rebus puzzles hidden throughout the course of the episode, whether at challenges, Tribal Council, or in underwater shots; after which fans may answer online. The answers to the puzzles are iconic lines from the series' history. Jeff Probst explained the minigame was aimed for the younger audience and aspiring contestants.

## Twists/Changes

* **Shortened Game:** The game lasted for 26 days, 13 days shorter than the standard 39. To retain the difficulty of a 39-day game in a shorter season, no food rations and limited camp supplies are given to the castaways and reward items won in challenges are scarce. This format has subsequently become the standard for all future seasons, except in the case of "special" seasons.
* **Tribe Division:** The 18 castaways were divided into 3 tribes of 6. No unifying theme was used in dividing the tribes.
* **Penalties for Losing Immunity Challenges:** As part of keeping the shorter season just as difficult, tribes that lost the Immunity Challenge had their flint taken away until the next time they win.
* **Shot in the Dark:** By sacrificing one's vote at Tribal Council, a player in trouble may invoke this advantage for a chance to be immune at any vote until there were seven players left. While the chance of a favorable outcome was slim, if successful, the play acted as if a Hidden Immunity Idol was played.
* **Journeys:** Castaways from different tribes were taken to another island where they were given a choice between protecting or risking their vote on their next visit to Tribal Council. If all of them chose "protect", they kept their votes. If all of them chose "risk", none of them were able to vote at their next Tribal Council. If there was a split decision, those who chose "protect" get to keep their vote, but those who chose "risk" obtained a game advantage. The advantages available through this method were:
	+ **Extra Vote:** A castaway may vote twice at any Tribal Council until there were six players left.
	+ **Vote Steal:** On Day 6, a Beware Advantage was planted at each camp, inviting its finder to meet members of the other tribes where they individually chose between taking a free tarp or a Vote Steal.
	+ **Knowledge is Power:** This advantage entitles one player to ask another castaway if they possess a Hidden Immunity Idol or an advantage at Tribal Council. If the target has either item in their possession, the player may steal it from them; otherwise, the advantage was rendered null. In the event that the target had more than one advantage in possession, they may decide which advantage to give up and do not need to reveal every advantage they had. This advantage can be played until there were six players left.
* **Beware Advantages:** Game advantages were hidden at camp in packages labelled "Beware Advantage", the contents of which may only be obtained if its finder opened it and fulfilled its demands; otherwise, they would lose their votes. The advantages that were disguised as a Beware Advantage were:
	+ **Hidden Immunity Idols:** Each camp had one idol, that if found, its finder had to utter a certain code before an Immunity Challenge, and if members of the other tribes respond with their own code sentences, all three idols will have power. Until then, the idols remained powerless and their finders without a vote at Tribal Council. If the conditions were not met before the merge, all three idols will be rendered powerless, though their owners will be able to vote again.
* **Double Tribal Council:** On Day 3, only the first place tribe won immunity, sending the two other tribes to Tribal Council to vote out one person each.
* **Earn the Merge and Exile Island:** The 12 remaining survivors abandoned their tribe colors and competed in an Immunity Challenge in 2 teams of 5. The winning team earned individual immunity, a spot in the merge tribe and merge feast, and the power to choose which of the 2 players who sat out from the challenge will be joining them. The last player unpicked was sent to Exile Island until the next Immunity Challenge.
	+ **Hourglass Advantage:** The exiled player would be presented with an hourglass. If the player wished to "reverse" the events of the challenge, they must destroy the hourglass, stripping the winning team's immunity. The exiled player and the members of the losing team would be given individual immunity instead, while the members of the winning team would be forced to compete in the individual Immunity Challenge.
* **Double Elimination:** On Day 17, the Viakana tribe was subjected to a Double Elimination, where the tribe was divided into two groups of five and two castaways were eliminated through two separate Tribal Councils.
* **Do or Die:** On Day 21, the first player to be eliminated from the Immunity Challenge was subjected to a game called "Do or Die", the mechanics of which were identical to the Monty Hall problem. At Tribal Council, the player had to select the box with the fire symbol to win individual immunity. If the chosen box contained a skull symbol instead, the player would be eliminated from the game with no official vote taking place and any advantage or Hidden Immunity Idols owned by the player cannot save them. The castaways were given the option to sit out of the Immunity Challenge if they did not want to take the risk.
* **Simplified Final Four Tribal Council:** Instead of a traditional vote, the person who won the final four Immunity Challenge got to choose one person to take with them to the Final Three. The remaining two castaways competed in a fire-making challenge to determine who would be eliminated.
* **Expanded Jury and Final Three:** The Final Tribal Council was held with a Final Three facing an eight-person jury.
* **Reformatted Final Tribal Council:** Instead of having each jury member speak individually, an open forum was held to ensure a more insightful rapport between the jury and finalists. Unlike the previous format introduced in *Survivor: Game Changers* however, the discussion was no longer divided into three portions ("outwit", "outplay", and "outlast"), making for a more free-flowing exchange between the jurors and the finalists.