Survivor: San Juan del Sur · Season 29

Episode Guide

How Survivor: San Juan del Sur unfolded, week by week.

1“Suck It Up and Survive”Sep 24, 2014Eighteen first-timers land in Nicaragua in loved-one pairs, then get split onto opposite tribes, Coyopa and Hunahpu, so your other half is suddenly your rival. The twist bites right away. On Coyopa, the brassy, outspoken Nadiya Anderson rubs people the wrong way fast and never builds the bonds she needs to stick. When the tribe loses, she's the easy first target and gets voted out in 18th, leaving her twin Natalie across the divide, fuming and filing it all away.
2“Method To This Madness”Oct 1, 2014Coyopa can't get out of its own way, and another loss drags them back to Tribal. Val Collins, a cop and the wife of Hunahpu's Jeremy, tries a bold bluff to save herself, telling the tribe she's sitting on two hidden idols when she's actually got none. The swing for the fences just makes everyone more nervous about her. The bluff backfires, and Val is voted out in 17th while Jeremy can only watch from the other beach.
3“Actions vs. Accusations”Oct 8, 2014The lightning rod this season is John Rocker, the former MLB pitcher whose controversial past trails him onto the sand. Josh Canfield, uneasy about the target Rocker's reputation paints on the whole tribe, quietly works the numbers to move him out. Rocker actually holds a hidden idol but misreads the room and leaves it in his bag. He's voted out in 16th, idol unplayed, never seeing it land.
4“We're a Hot Mess”Oct 15, 2014Drew Christy has decided he's running Hunahpu, and his confidence curdles into something self-destructive. So sure he's got the vote locked, he throws the immunity challenge on purpose to set up the boot he wants. It's a reckless gamble, and it blows up in his face: his own tribe clocks the arrogance, flips the plan, and turns the vote on him. Drew is blindsided in 15th, the architect of his own downfall.
5“Blood is Blood”Oct 22, 2014A tribe swap reshuffles the pairs into new groups and instantly scrambles who's loyal to whom. Kelley Wentworth, split from her dad Dale, lands on the wrong side of the new numbers with no clear path back to safety. She hunts for a crack in the majority but can't pry one open in time. Kelley is voted out in 14th, and Dale is left to play on without her.
6“Make Some Magic Happen”Oct 29, 2014Now playing without his daughter, Dale Wentworth knows he's an outsider scratching for any kind of traction. He whittles a fake idol out of a stick and tries to pass it off as the real deal, hoping to spook the majority into keeping him. Nobody bites. Keith falls in with Jon and Jaclyn against him, and Dale is voted out in 13th, his homemade prop fooling no one.
7“Million Dollar Decision”Nov 5, 2014The merge lands, the tribes fold into Huyopa, and everyone braces for the individual game. Then the night takes a turn nobody scripted: Julie McGee, adrift ever since her boyfriend John Rocker left, decides she's had enough and walks away from the game. Her quit puts her out in 12th and actually cancels the planned vote, so for once Tribal ends with nobody's torch getting snuffed. Everyone heads back to camp with the numbers still wide open.
8“Wrinkle In the Plan”Nov 12, 2014With the game merged, the tight couples that have quietly been steering things turn into the obvious threats. Josh Canfield, the sharp Broadway strategist running his alliance alongside partner Reed, is exactly the guy people want gone before he locks down control. Jon's group makes the move and blindsides Josh in 11th, the first member of the jury. Reed is suddenly on his own, his other half already at Ponderosa.
9“Gettin' to Crunch Time”Nov 19, 2014Jeremy Collins has quietly built one of the strongest spots in the game, which is precisely the problem. The Jon, Jaclyn, Missy, Baylor, and Reed group decides the well-liked firefighter is too dangerous to carry any further and springs a blindside on him. Jeremy is voted out in 10th, stunned, warning the rest on his way out to keep a close eye on Jon. Across camp, his closest ally Natalie hears every word and goes quietly, dangerously furious.
10“This Is Where We Build Trust”Nov 26, 2014The post-merge majority goes looking for the easiest next domino, and the Nale father-son duo moves to the top of the list. Keith is the scarier long-game threat, but the group figures it's cleaner to chip the pair apart by taking the son first. Wes Nale doesn't have the numbers to fight it and is voted out in 9th. Keith soldiers on alone, grumbling his trademark 'stick to the plan' to anybody still listening.
11“Kind Of Like Cream Cheese”Dec 3, 2014Night one of a double-elimination, and the last man left from the old power couples is the obvious next target. Reed Kelly has been scrapping hard since Josh went to the jury, but without his partner he can't pull together the numbers to protect himself. The majority closes ranks and votes him out in 8th, lopsided. With Reed gone, both Broadway partners are now sitting side by side on the jury.
12“Still Holdin' On”Dec 3, 2014The second Tribal of the night is where Natalie Anderson finally makes her move. The plan was a routine split, but Natalie, sitting on a hidden idol and sick of following Jon's lead, flips her vote at the last second to blow up the script. The numbers snap 4-3, and Alec Christy is the one voted out in 7th, never expecting Natalie to swing on her own alliance. She's quietly taking the game over.
13“Let's Make a Move”Dec 10, 2014Jon Misch feels so safe that he tells Natalie he's holding a hidden idol just to prove he trusts her, which is all the opening she needs. Still carrying the fury from Jeremy's blindside, Natalie sets up a careful vote-split that ties things 2-2-2 between Jon, Jaclyn, and Keith and forces a revote nobody can plan for. On the do-over the votes pile onto Jon, blindsided in 6th with his idol still tucked in his pocket. Jeremy is avenged.
14“This Is My Time”FinaleDec 17, 2014Finale night, and Natalie Anderson is running the show she spent weeks fighting to control. As the jury fills up she keeps swinging: Baylor goes out in 5th, and once Natalie wins the final immunity she cuts the stubborn, resilient Keith Nale in 4th to lock in the end she wants. That leaves her at Final Tribal beside Jaclyn Schultz and Missy Payne. The jury rewards Natalie's aggressive, blindside-heavy run and crowns her the Sole Survivor, 5-2-1.