Tocantins

Survivor: Tocantins · Season 18

Episode Guide

How Survivor: Tocantins unfolded, week by week.

  1. 1“Let's Get Rid of the Weak Players Before We Even Start”Feb 12, 2009Sixteen players hit the Brazilian highlands split into Jalapao and Timbira, and a 'First Impressions' twist rattles them right away: each tribe has to pick one member to skip the trek to camp, leaving Sandy and Sierra fearing the worst. Jalapao loses the opener, and the vote pits the older, scrappier Sandy against Carolina, whose bossy energy has already grated on the tribe. They send Carolina home 7-1, deciding attitude matters more than a slow start.
  2. 2“The Poison Apple Needs to Go”Feb 19, 2009Exile Island enters the picture, and Brendan uses a trip out there to strike up a quiet cross-tribe pact with Jalapao's Taj. Back at Timbira, Candace has been campaigning hard against Coach, whose larger-than-life presence already rules the camp. Her constant negativity rubs the rest of the tribe wrong, and when Timbira lands at Tribal, Candace is voted out 7-1.
  3. 3“Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This”Feb 26, 2009Brendan quietly cracks the clue and digs up the Timbira hidden idol, tucking the first idol of the season safely away. Over at camp, Jerry has been battling illness, and his fading strength makes him an easier cut than the prickly Erinn. When Timbira drops another challenge, Jerry is voted out 6-1.
  4. 4“The Strongest Man Alive”Mar 5, 2009Taj tracks down the Jalapao idol out near Exile, giving her cross-tribe pact some real teeth. Then Jalapao's winning streak finally snaps and sends them to their first Tribal. The tribe weighs the strategically dangerous Sydney against the older, struggling Sandy, and they land on Sandy, who's voted out 5-1-1 to end her gutsy underdog run.
  5. 5“You're Going to Want that Tooth”Mar 12, 2009JT takes a knock during the immunity challenge and chips off half a tooth, gritting through it like the cattle rancher he is. Behind the scenes, Taj hands the Jalapao idol to Stephen for safekeeping, quietly knitting together the alliance at the heart of the tribe. When Jalapao stumbles into Tribal, young Spencer is the odd man out and voted off 5-1.
  6. 6“One of Those 'Coach Moments'”Apr 2, 2009Coach is in full bloom this week, regaling anyone who'll listen with grand tales of his own legend, the kind of self-mythologizing that earns its own nickname around camp. On Jalapao, Joe pushes hard to cut Taj, but JT and Stephen quietly steer the vote elsewhere to keep their core intact. In the last vote before the merge, Sydney is the one sent home 3-2.
  7. 7“The Dragon Slayer”Apr 9, 2009The tribes merge into Forza, four Jalapao squaring off against six Timbira, and Coach christens himself the 'Dragon Slayer,' casting Brendan as the dragon he plans to take down. But the week turns serious when Joe's leg, infected and badly swollen, gets worse by the hour. Medical examines him and pulls him from the game on Day 20, a gutting exit for one of the strongest players left. With Joe gone, there's no Tribal Council and no vote at all this week.
  8. 8“The Biggest Fraud in the Game”Apr 16, 2009The episode opens with Coach spinning his most outlandish yarn yet, a wild story about being captured by Amazon tribesmen and escaping in a bleeding-handed kayak sprint. The bigger drama is a power shift: the Jalapao trio of JT, Stephen, and Taj decide to flip and team with Coach and Tyson against the old Timbira bloc. At Tribal, Brendan openly admits he's holding an idol but feels safe enough to keep it in his pocket. It's a costly misread, and Brendan is blindsided 4-3-2, the idol leaving with him as the first member of the jury.
  9. 9“It's Funny When People Cry”Apr 23, 2009Erinn, stuck near the bottom, spots a crack and goes to work, convincing Stephen and Taj that the challenge-strong Tyson is too dangerous to keep around. Stephen brings JT on board, and the new majority quietly lines up its move. Debbie wins immunity, but it doesn't change the target, and Tyson, comfortable in what he thought was his majority, is blindsided 5-3 and sent to the jury.
  10. 10“They Both Went Bananas”Apr 30, 2009Camp erupts when Sierra and Coach get into it, Sierra calling out his tall tales and half-truths to his face in a blowup that leaves his credibility in tatters. Coach wins immunity to spare himself the fallout, so JT and Stephen turn their attention to Sierra instead. She's voted out 4-2-1 and heads to the jury, still shaking her head at Coach.
  11. 11“The Ultimate Sacrifice”May 7, 2009Debbie knows she's in trouble and makes a desperate pitch to JT and Stephen, even offering to hand over immunity if she happens to win it, anything to prove she's loyal. They're not buying it. Stephen wins immunity, the Jalapao core holds firm, and Debbie is voted out 4-1-1, her last-ditch sacrifice falling on deaf ears.
  12. 12“The Martyr Approach”May 14, 2009Coach's body finally betrays him, his back seizing up mid-challenge as JT powers through to win his first individual immunity. With Coach exposed, the vote closes in on the self-styled Dragon Slayer. Ever the showman, he treats Tribal like a stage, reciting a dramatic poem and casting himself as a noble martyr, which mostly just irritates the watching jury. Stephen casts the deciding vote, and Coach is voted out 3-2.
  13. 13“I Trust You But I Trust Me More”FinaleMay 17, 2009Finale night, and the final four turn on their own. Erinn convinces JT and Stephen that Taj is too beloved to sit beside at the end, and they blindside their longtime ally, sending Taj to the jury in fourth. JT then powers through a tricky web-and-puzzle final immunity, edging out Erinn for the necklace that matters most. Honoring his bond with Stephen, JT votes Erinn out in third, setting up a Final Two showdown. At Final Tribal, JT lays out his case, and the jury rewards him with every single vote, a clean 7-0 sweep over Stephen. JT Thomas walks away as the Sole Survivor, capping the famous 'perfect game': not a single vote cast against him all season, and a unanimous jury to crown him.