Season 18 of Survior was released in 2009 was released at the tail end of what is now considered the golden age of the show and it continued the generational run the show was on. The season featured a return to the basics of the show and focusing on the truely incredible cast of characters the season had. The season is captivating at every level, from its aggressive strategy, to its incredible story and gripping emotions Tocantins is, in my opinion, peak Survivor. (You might recognise Coach from my review of Survivor: South Pacific, where he is much less fun than here in his debut)
The First Like 5 Minutes
The season begins with the two tribes, Timbira and Jalapao were both forced to vote for a member of their tribe, everyone believing that the person voted out would immedialtly be out of the game, however instead both Sierra and Sandy got to skip the 4 hour treck each tribe would have to make to their camp. This forced both tribes to form dynamics purely off of first impressions and led to very interesting gameplay moving forwards. The first tribal councils highlighted this.
The Early Dynamics
In Jalapao, the trios of Taj/JT/Stephen and Joe/Spencer/Sydney took control of the tribe by working together to eliminate Caroline at the first vote. However their second tribal was far more interesting, as Taj, JT and Stephen did not want to vote out Sandy, but felt they coudln’t risk losing both Joe and Spencer’s loyalty if they blindsided Sydney.
In Timbera, things were very messy. Coach wanted nothing more than to control the tribe and eliminate the weak players, as he wanted to go as far as possible with only the strongest players and he brazenly spoke about this to everybody. This really rubbed Candace the wrong way, and she wanted him out as early as possible, however the tribe felt it was too early to target a strong physical player, so Candace was the first to be voted out. After this first vote however, it became clear that Brendan and Coach were bound for a power struggle as they wrestled for control over the tribe.
Timbera would never get to decide a true leader however, as they would win the final 2 immunity challenges to be up 6-4 in the merge. This being a swapless season, one could expect a pagonging on the Jalapaos. Instead the fact that Timbera never could resolve their power struggle meant they went into the merge only targeting eachother.
The Merge
Once the merge came it became abudently clear that Brendan vs Coach was very much motion. Both sides instantly approached the remaining Jalapaos to strike a deal, however before the first tribal, Joe had to be medically evacuated. This meant there would be 3 more days of scheming. Brendan felt as though he was safe as he had spent most of the pre-merge creating a secret “Exile alliance” with Taj, Stephen and Sierra. The 4 of them were the only players who had been to exile island this season, and as they were being sent as pairs, 1 player from both tribes, they were able to solidify an alliance and find both immunity idols. The alliance would have the numbers advantage as JT was an honourary member due to his position as both Stephen and Taj’s number 1 ally aswell as Brendan deciding after 1 singular conversation with him that he wanted to bring him to the end.
However JT and Stephen were not entirely on board with the alliance, as Stephen did not want to put all his eggs in one basket and JT felt they could trust Coach more.Taj also became less trusting of Brendan as he wanted the alliance to lay as low as possible and not communicate often. This led to JT spilling some information to Coach, who told Tyson and Debbie that they had to take out Brendan right now, and at the first pre-merge tribal, Brendan was blindsided.
The Reverse (almost) Pagonging
One might think that this move would be incredibly bad for the remaining Jalapaos, as now the Timbiras still had the numbers and could pick them off one by one now that they didnt have their exile alliance. However the fractures that Timbira had continued to show themselves as neither Sierra or Erinn wanted to work with Coach’s side, feeling that they were on the bottom of Timbira and that Coach would target them over even the remaining Jalapaos. This, combined with Tyson’s prior challenge dominance and vulnerability at the final 8, having lost individual immunity for the first time, led to the Jalapao’s with Sierra and Erinn blindsiding the group that had just won the war against Brendan by taking out Tyson.
However this group did not stay working together for very long, as the very next round the Jalapao’s would pivot back to Coach and Debbie to take out Sierra, before pivoting back to Erinn to take out Debbie. This left Jalapao with the numbers advantage in the game at the final 5 and was the first time they had the numbers since the final 13. It was clear at this stage of the game that neither Coach or Erinn had any prospects to win a jury vote, however the trio decided to stay strong and vote out another Timbira. However the trio could not agree which one to vote for. JT wanted Erinn out and Taj wanted Coach, Stephen would make the deciding vote and eliminate possibly the most insane person to ever play Survivor.
The Finale
The final 4 of Erinn, Taj, JT and Stephen featured much intrigue as JT and Stephen and brought up the possibility of blindsiding Taj before, whilst Taj expected the trio to remain loyal to Jalapao. The duo of JT and Stephen ultimately decided that Taj was a bigger jury threat at the end, so she was taken out. This actually led to Taj rooting for Erinn and planned to vote for her if she made it to final 2.
JT and Stephen continued to promise eachother that they would take the other to the final 2, as they had been a duo since day 1. However Stephen secretly planned to betray his number 1 ally, as he knew he had no chance against JT in a jury vote, however Stephen would not get to make this choice as JT won final immunity, meaning he got to choose who would come with him. Erinn told JT about Stephen’s plan to take her to the end but Stephen denied this and JT decided to stay loyal to his day 1 allaince and took out Erinn, bringing Stephen to the final tribal council.
The End
Despite the duo’s incredible closeness, they went for eachother’s throats at this final tribal, brigning up whatever dirt and difference they could come up with for why one should beat the other, however ultimately Stephen never had a chance and he knew it. JT was the golden boy in the truest sense of the term. He had never received a vote and to be honest no one had ever even considered voting for him he was that well liked. This led to only the second ever unanimous vote in Survivor history and the first ever perfect game.
The Characters
Before I conclude this review I wanted to take a minute to really appreciate the incredible characters on this season. Everyone was entertaining in their own way and came to play with very few forgetable characters or rounds. With Coach, Stephen JT and Tyson all competing again and all but Stephen returning at least twice, aswell as iconic characters like Taj, Sierra and Debbie who we sadly never got to see return.
Coach especially was a highlight of the season for many, as his eccentric and baffling nature led to so many hilarious moments. From the “dragon-slayer” to his time on Exile and him taking a lie detector test for Jeff at the finale, I can’t even imagine where the casting department found this guy.
Conclusion
Survivor Tocantins is an iconic season to say the least, with its innovative strategy, memorable characters and brilliant storyline it delivers at every level and is, in my opinion, the perfect prototype for a great season. Similar to South Pacific in another way this season actually did produce another winner, this time with Tyson on Blood Vs Water. Something incredible about the weird guy on these seasons and coming back for a win.