Survivor: Nicaragua · Season 21

Episode Guide

How Survivor: Nicaragua unfolded, week by week.

1“Young at Heart”Sep 15, 2010Twenty new players are split by age: the over-40 Espada against the under-30 La Flor, with a shared Medallion of Power advantage thrown into the mix. Espada has a Hall of Fame coach in Jimmy Johnson to rally around, but they drop the opener and land at Tribal. There, Wendy DeSmidt-Kohlhoff simply won't stop talking, pleading her case so long and so hard that she talks herself right out of the game in 20th.
2“Fatigue Makes Cowards of us All”Sep 22, 2010La Flor finally drops a challenge, and the young tribe's loud, controlling Shannon Elkins is already on thin ice with his pushy leadership. At Tribal it turns ugly: Shannon launches into a homophobic confrontation with Sash, a low moment that lands badly with everyone there. The tribe has seen plenty, and Shannon is voted out in 19th.
3“Glitter in Their Eyes”Sep 29, 2010Espada keeps struggling, and the tribe faces a tough call about its most famous member. Jimmy Johnson, the NFL coaching legend, is beloved for morale but read as a social and strategic threat who could go a long way. Rather than fight it, Jimmy graciously sees the writing on the wall, and the older tribe votes him out in 18th.
4“Pulling the Trigger”Oct 6, 2010Espada loses again, and Jimmy Tarantino, 'Jimmy T,' has spent days loudly campaigning to be handed a bigger leadership role. His relentless lobbying wears the tribe down instead of winning them over. When the votes come in, all that begging backfires, and Jimmy T is voted out in 17th.
5“Turf Wars”Oct 13, 2010A Day-12 swap reshuffles the tribes, and the much-maligned Medallion of Power is quietly retired for good. On the new-look Espada, fire captain Tyrone Davis has been micromanaging the camp and the rice a little too hard for everyone's taste. When they lose, the tribe decides the bossiness has to go, and Tyrone is voted out in 16th.
6“Worst Case Scenario”Oct 20, 2010A double-elimination night, and a messy one. The vote ties three ways and forces a revote as the tribe sorts out who it can live without. By the end, two players are gone: Kelly Bruno and Yve Rojas both have their torches snuffed the same night. Around all of it, NaOnka Mixon's antagonism, including cruel jabs at Kelly Bruno, is marking her out as the season's emerging villain.
7“What Goes Around, Comes Around”Oct 27, 2010With the merge looming, Marty Piombo, Espada's self-styled chess master, leans on the hidden idol in his pocket to protect his position. But the numbers tilt against his side this week. His ally Jill Behm is left exposed, and she's voted out in 13th as Marty's grip starts to loosen.
8“Company Will Be Arriving Soon”Nov 3, 2010The merge arrives as Libertad, and the old young-versus-old lines blur fast as everyone scrambles for new footing. The first merged vote is a swirl of shifting alliances and broken plans. When it settles, Alina Wilson is the one sent out as the first member of the jury.
9“Running the Camp”Nov 10, 2010Marty Piombo has been the season's strategic engine, and the hidden idol made him hard to touch, right up until now. The merged tribe maneuvers to neutralize his idol and finally box him in. With his protection gone, Marty is voted out to the jury, the chess master beaten at his own game.
10“Stuck in the Middle”Nov 17, 2010Brenda Lowe has quietly been running the dominant alliance, calling shots and steering votes, which makes her the biggest threat nobody's dared move on yet. This week her own group decides it's time, with NaOnka, Chase, and Sash flipping the plan. Brenda is blindsided to the jury in the season's biggest move.
11“You Started, You're Finishing”Dec 1, 2010After days of cold, soaking rain, two players decide they're simply done. NaOnka Mixon, fresh off winning a reward, tells Probst she wants out, and when he asks if anyone else feels the same, Kelly Shinn, 'Purple Kelly,' raises her hand too. Both quit on the spot, torches snuffed without a vote, with roughly eleven days still left to play, a double walkout that drew heavy criticism from fans.
12“Not Sure Where I Stand”Dec 8, 2010Down to the final stretch, the remaining players jockey for position with no clear majority locked in. Fabio starts flashing real underdog energy, scrapping to stay relevant in a game that's mostly ignored him. The vote comes down on Benry, sent to the jury as the alliances keep shifting underfoot.
13“This is Going to Hurt”Dec 15, 2010Jane Bright, the older-tribe fan favorite, suddenly finds herself on the outs as the dominant group tightens its grip. Fabio keeps winning immunity to cling on, but Jane has no necklace and no numbers to save her. Jane is voted out to the jury, leaving as an emotional, bitter swing vote heading into the end.
14“What About Me?”FinaleDec 19, 2010Finale night, and Fabio's late immunity run is the only thing keeping the underdog alive. He keeps winning right when it counts, and the votes pick off Dan Lembo and then Holly Hoffman on the way to the end. That leaves the first all-male final three in the show's history: Fabio, Chase, and Sash. At Final Tribal, the goofy 21-year-old makes his underdog case, and the jury rewards him 5-4-0 over Chase, with Sash shut out, crowning Fabio the youngest Sole Survivor the show had ever had.