Survivor: Edge of Extinction

Survivor: Edge of Extinction
Season 38
Region 1 DVD cover
Presented by	Jeff Probst
No. of days	39
No. of castaways	18
Winner	Chris Underwood
Runner-up	Gavin Whitson
Location	Mamanuca Islands, Fiji
No. of episodes	14
Release
Original network	CBS
Original release	February 20 (2019-02-20) – May 15, 2019 (2019-05-15)
Additional information
Filming dates	May 30 (2018-05-30) – July 7, 2018 (2018-07-07)
Season chronology

Survivor: Edge of Extinction is the 38th season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor. The season featured fourteen new contestants competing with four returning players. The season premiered on February 20, 2019, and concluded on May 15, 2019. Chris Underwood was named the winner of the series defeating Gavin Whitson and Julie Rosenberg by a vote of 9–4–0. Underwood was the first person to win Survivor after being voted out in the same season. It was the twelfth season to feature returning players and the seventh to be filmed in Fiji.

Production

This season introduced a new feature wherein contestants who are voted out have an option to take a boat to the titular "Edge of Extinction" rather than leave the game permanently. The Edge of Extinction is a desolate, abandoned beach with even fewer amenities than the main island: contestants on the Edge of Extinction may either wait for an opportunity to re-join the main game or may choose to leave the game at any point by raising a white sail. Castaways on the Edge of Extinction were given regular correspondence by way of coded maps and letters, which led to the location of daily rice rations and advantages in the game. The remaining contestants were initially unaware of this twist; it was officially revealed at the tribal merge, at which point the remaining Edge of Extinction castaways competed in a challenge with the winner returning to the game. The losing castaways were given the opportunity to remain on the Edge of Extinction and, from that point on, all remaining Edge of Extinction inhabitants went to each Tribal Council as members of the jury. This is the most recent season to have the winner reveal and the reunion special taking place live.

Host Jeff Probst explained that the "Edge of Extinction" concept was the result of a goal to "try to get a little deeper psychologically, a little deeper spiritually," asking contestants, "is there a possibility of the spiritual death and rebirth that you seek in life, where you realize something deeper about yourself?"

Casting

This season featured 14 new players and four returning players, the first season since Survivor: Blood vs. Water (11 seasons prior) to feature a mix of both new and returning players. According to host Jeff Probst, the decision to bring back returning players was made as a response to the Edge of Extinction concept to illustrate the difficulties of the game, stating, "Once we landed on Extinction, what stood out to me is we're asking people to go further than they've ever gone before in a game that's already very difficult. Let's bring reminders of how difficult it is. We're going to bring four returning players that are going to remind you."

As such, producers ultimately cast four returning players for this season: Joe Anglim from Worlds Apart and Cambodia, Aubry Bracco from Kaôh Rōng and Game Changers, Kelley Wentworth from San Juan del Sur and Cambodia, and David Wright from Millennials vs. Gen X. Benjamin “Coach” Wade from Tocantins, Heroes vs. Villains, and South Pacific was also asked back by producers but ultimately turned down the offer, saying he felt it was a waste to play on a season with newbies.

Contestants

Joe Anglim

Among the 14 new players was educator Ron Clark.

List of Survivor: Edge of Extinction contestants

Contestant	Age	From	Tribe			Main game		Edge of Extinction
			Original	Switched	Merged	Finish	Day	Finish	Day
Reem Daly	46	Ashburn, Virginia	Manu			1st voted out 1st jury member	Day 3	Lost challenge	Day 35
Keith Sowell	19	Durham, North Carolina				2nd voted out	Day 6	Left game by raising sail	Day 17
Chris Underwood (Returned to game)						3rd voted out Removed from jury	Day 8	2nd returnee	Day 35
Rick Devens (Returned to game)				Lesu		4th voted out	Day 11	1st returnee	Day 17
Aubry Bracco Kaôh Rōng & Game Changers	32	Los Angeles, California	Kama	Manu		5th voted out 2nd jury member	Day 13	Lost challenge	Day 35
Wendy Diaz	25	Bell, California	Manu			6th voted out	Day 16	Left game by raising sail	Day 17
Joe Anglim Worlds Apart & Cambodia	29	Ogden, Utah	Kama	Kama	Vata	7th voted out 3rd jury member	Day 19	Lost challenge	Day 35
Eric Hafemann	34	Livermore, California		Manu		8th voted out 4th jury member	Day 22
Julia Carter	25	Bethesda, Maryland		Kama		9th voted out 5th jury member	Day 23
David Wright Millennials vs. Gen X	44	Sherman Oaks, California	Manu	Lesu		10th voted out 6th jury member	Day 25
Kelley Wentworth San Juan del Sur & Cambodia	32	Seattle, Washington				11th voted out 7th jury member	Day 27
Dan "Wardog" DaSilva	38	Los Angeles, California				12th voted out 8th jury member	Day 29
Ron Clark	45	Atlanta, Georgia	Kama	Kama		13th voted out 9th jury member	Day 31
Aurora McCreary	32	Orlando, Florida				14th voted out 10th jury member	Day 34
Victoria Baamonde	23	Bronx, New York		Manu		15th voted out 11th jury member	Day 36
Lauren O'Connell	21	Waco, Texas	Manu	Lesu		16th voted out 12th jury member	Day 37
Rick Devens	33	Macon, Georgia				Eliminated 13th jury member	Day 38
Julie Rosenberg	46	New York, New York	Kama	Kama		2nd runner-up	Day 39
Gavin Whitson	23	Erwin, Tennessee		Manu		Runner-up
Chris Underwood	25	Greenville, South Carolina	Manu			Sole Survivor

Future appearances

Outside of Survivor, Chris Underwood competed on the second season of The Challenge: USA.

Season summary

The season filmed in the Mamanuca Islands of Fiji.

The 14 new players and four returning players were divided into two tribes of nine: Kama and Manu. At Kama, the new players aligned against returnees Aubry and Joe but avoided Tribal Council, while at Manu, returnees David and Kelley struck up an uneasy truce to control early votes, aided by their respective closest allies, Rick and Lauren. After the tribe swap, Aubry was voted out, while Kelley turned on David to eliminate Rick. Players who were voted out were given a chance to head to a secluded island, the Edge of Extinction, for a chance to return to the game; at the merge, Rick won a competition and rejoined the game.

After the merge, the Kama majority alliance voted out Joe before turning on each other, leading to a series of short-term coalitions to eliminate common threats, including David and Kelley. Rick emerged as the biggest remaining target, but stayed in the game after winning immunity challenges and playing hidden immunity idols. Wardog was the strategic force of the old Manu alliance, while Ron was the strategic force of the old Kama alliance, which caused both to get blindsided by an emerging four-person alliance of Lauren, Victoria, Aurora, and Gavin. However, Lauren then led the charge to blindside Aurora, and then Victoria, both for being big threats to win.

When five players remained, Chris, who had been on the Edge of Extinction since Day 8, won the final re-entry challenge and returned to the game. Chris convinced Lauren to play her hidden immunity idol on him, successfully played an idol on himself and won the final immunity challenge to earn a spot at the final Tribal Council, only to give up his immunity so he could face Rick in the fire-making challenge; Chris defeated Rick to join Julie and Gavin at the Final Tribal Council.

At the Final Tribal Council, Julie was largely ignored due to playing with her emotions, and not strategy. She explained her case saying she had tight bonds with Ron and others and said she was the reason why Julia was sent home. Gavin was praised for his social game, effective use of the Extra Vote, and his immunity wins, but playing a relatively safe strategic game, with no big moves. Chris said that even though he was only in the game for 13 days, he made big moves by opting to go into the fire-making challenge, use of multiple idols, and making great social bonds with the people on Edge of Extinction. Because of this, Chris won in a 9-4-0 vote over Gavin and Julie.

Challenge winners and eliminations by episodes

Episode			Challenge winner(s)		Eliminated
No.	Title	Original air date	Reward	Immunity	Tribe	Player
1	"It Smells Like Success"	February 20, 2019	Kama		Manu	Reem
2	"One Of Us Is Going To Win The War"	February 27, 2019	Kama		Manu	Keith
3	"Betrayals Are Going to Get Exposed"	March 6, 2019	Manu	Kama	Manu	Chris
4	"I Need a Dance Partner"	March 13, 2019	None	Kama	Lesu	Rick
				Manu
5	"It's Like the Worst Cocktail Party Ever"	March 20, 2019	Kama	Kama	Manu	Aubry
			Manu	Lesu
			Kama	Kama	Manu	Wendy
			Manu
6	"There's Always a Twist"	March 27, 2019	Rick	Julie	Vata	Joe
7	"I'm the Puppet Master"	April 3, 2019	Aurora, Eric, Julia, Rick, Wardog, Victoria	Aurora		Eric
8	"Y'all Making Me Crazy"	April 10, 2019	None	Gavin		Julia
9	"Blood of a Blindside"	April 17, 2019		Aurora		David
			Gavin, Kelley, Lauren [Julie]	Rick		Kelley
10	"Fasten Your Seatbelts"	April 24, 2019	Julie, Lauren, Rick, Wardog	Rick		Wardog
11	"Awkward"	May 1, 2019	Ron [Gavin, Julie]	Gavin		Ron
12	"Idol or Bust"	May 8, 2019	Gavin [Victoria, Lauren]	Rick		Aurora
13	"I See The Million Dollars"	May 15, 2019	Chris	Julie		Victoria
			Julie [Chris, Lauren]
			None	Rick		Lauren
				Chris [Gavin, Julie]		Rick
14	"Reunion Special"

Episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Rating/share (18-49)	Weekly rank	Original air date	U.S. viewers (millions)
555	1	"It Smells Like Success"	1.6/7	15	February 20, 2019 (2019-02-20)	7.75
The 14 new players were divided into two tribes, Kama and Manu, and introduced to the four returning players: Joe and Aubry joined Kama, while David and Kelley joined Manu. The tribes were given a few minutes to retrieve supplies off a boat before paddling to their camps; Keith from Manu struggled with swimming, while Ron from Kama found a secret advantage. At camp, Ron followed the clue to an "Advantage Menu", giving him the choice of one of three advantages, to be used at any point until after the third Tribal Council: the ability to steal the other tribe's reward; an extra vote; or individual immunity at Tribal Council. At Kama, Joe earned his tribe mates' admiration, particularly Aurora's, by making fire without flint. Eric and Gavin bonded over a desire to eliminate the returning players, and targeted Aubry. At Manu, Kelley and Lauren bonded. Wendy revealed to the tribe that she has Tourette syndrome. Reem bonded with Keith and Wendy, but the rest of her tribe mates were frustrated by her micromanaging; while Reem and Wendy helped teach Keith to swim, the rest of the tribe aligned against them. Reward/Immunity Challenge: The tribes ran through an obstacle course, after which six tribe mates solved a large slide puzzle. The first tribe to solve the puzzle won immunity and flint. Kama won the challenge. At Manu, Reem targeted Kelley and Lauren for being an obvious pair, but her overbearing attitude made Keith decide to turn on Reem and Wendy. At Tribal Council, Reem became confrontational, and the tribe split the votes between Reem and Wendy, with Reem becoming the first player voted out of the game. After her elimination, Reem was given an opportunity to remain in the game; she accepted the offer, and was sent to the Edge of Extinction.
556	2	"One of Us is Going to Win the War"	1.5/7	14	February 27, 2019 (2019-02-27)	7.07
At the Edge of Extinction, Reem explored the barren locale. At Manu, Wendy—Reem's closest ally—continued to campaign against Kelley, while David and Rick aligned, and considered joining Wendy's plan. Kelley then led an open hunt for the hidden immunity idol in order to prevent Wendy from finding it; Lauren—Kelley's closest ally—found the idol but kept it a secret from the rest of her tribe, including Kelley. At Kama, Aubry tried bonding with the new players, but Julia, Ron, and Victoria found her attempts disingenuous. Julie later tried leading Julia and Victoria on a hidden immunity idol search in order to improve the gender balance regarding idol finds. Reward/Immunity challenge: Castaways swam out toward a cage to retrieve a 400-pound snake filled with numbered discs. Once the snake was brought back to shore, another tribemate used the discs to solve a combination lock and unlock eight rings; castaways then tossed rings onto a series of eight paddles, in order. The first tribe to have rings on all paddles won immunity and their choice of cooking gear or fishing gear. After Keith struggled with swimming and tossing the rings for Manu, Kama won the challenge and chose the fishing gear. At Manu, Kelley and Wendy continued to target the other. Keith pledged his loyalty to Chris, which convinced Chris to join David, Rick and Wendy against Kelley, but Wardog tried convincing Chris to get rid of Keith to keep the tribe strong and to keep larger targets in the game. At Tribal Council, the tribe stayed united to vote out Keith. After his elimination, Keith struggled to make a decision about remaining in the game, while Reem considered quitting on the Edge of Extinction due to the isolation.
557	3	"Betrayals Are Going to Get Exposed"	1.5/6	14	March 6, 2019 (2019-03-06)	7.25
Keith took the offer to go to the Edge of Extinction and reunited with Reem. The next morning, they followed a map up a long set of stairs to find a day's worth of rice, and realized that they would have to make the climb daily to get food. Reward challenge: Tribemates assembled a wheelbarrow and then navigated it through an obstacle course while collecting sandbags. They then reassembled the wheelbarrow into a slingshot, and used the sandbags to hit a series of targets. The first tribe to knock down all four of their targets won either luxury items or chickens. Despite Wendy injuring her ankle during the challenge, Manu won their first challenge and chose the chickens. Back at camp, Wendy conspired to set the chickens free but was sidelined due to her injury. At Kama, the new players minus Aurora (dubbed the Kama Six) aligned against Aurora, Aubry and Joe, but Aubry found the tribe's hidden immunity idol. Immunity challenge: Four players per tribe pulled three tribemates in a boat, who retrieved keys from a tower. At shore, they used the keys to unlock a three-stage ship's wheel puzzle. The first tribe to complete their puzzle won immunity. Kama won the challenge. At Manu, Wendy hid the tribe's flint to prevent her tribemates from cooking the chickens. While Kelley, Lauren, and Wardog targeted Wendy, David and Rick decided to blindside Kelley instead, and recruited Chris and Wendy. With the majority secured, David told Chris not to tell Wardog about the plan, but Chris did anyway, which prompted Wardog to target Chris instead for his disloyalty, believing him to be the mastermind of the plot against Kelley. David and Rick, frustrated by Chris' untrustworthiness, considered joining Wardog's plan; at Tribal Council, they joined the plan to eliminate Chris. Chris then took the opportunity to head to the Edge of Extinction.
558	4	"I Need a Dance Partner"	1.5/7	13	March 13, 2019 (2019-03-13)	7.53
At the Edge of Extinction, Chris was confronted by Reem and Keith, both of whom he helped vote out, but he later earned their respect by catching fish. At Manu, everyone decided that Wendy was the next target, while Wendy returned the flint but continued conspiring to release the chickens. That day, the tribes gathered, and Kama was shocked to see Chris voted out as he was the most physical person on Manu. The remaining players were swapped into three new tribes: Aurora, Joe, Julia, Julie, and Ron remained on Kama; Aubry, Eric, Gavin, and Victoria joined Wendy on Manu; while the rest of Manu—David, Kelley, Lauren, Rick, and Wardog—became the new Lesu tribe, having to build a new camp from scratch. At Kama, Aurora and Joe tried to form a majority alliance with Ron, but Ron instead conspired with Julia to search through Joe's bag to confirm he didn't have a hidden immunity idol. At Manu, Wendy told her new tribemates everything about her former tribe, and then released the chickens, much to everyone else's frustration. At Lesu, Lauren fell ill and stopped eating. Immunity challenge: The tribes scaled two large A-frames, and then pulled on rope to release a box of puzzle pieces. Two tribemates then used the pieces to solve a puzzle. The first two tribes to solve the puzzle won immunity. Kama and Manu won the challenge. Back at camp, Lauren and Kelley targeted Rick for being the most likely to ingratiate himself with the other tribe after the merge, while David and Rick targeted Lauren for her sickness. Wardog was the swing vote; at Tribal Council, he joined Lauren and Kelley to eliminate Rick, who took the offer to go to the Edge of Extinction.
559	5	"It's Like the Worst Cocktail Party Ever"	1.3/6	8	March 20, 2019 (2019-03-20)	7.05
Reward challenge: The tribes ran through an obstacle course and retrieved four bolas. The first tribe to throw all four bolas on their post won peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, extra condiments, bread and milk, while the second tribe to do so won a plate of sandwiches. Kama and Manu won the challenge. At Kama, Joe continued to provide for the tribe, which made Ron reconsider the plan to eliminate him. At Manu, the majority alliance of Eric, Gavin, and Victoria decided to target Aubry first over Wendy; Victoria then pretended to align with Aubry and Wendy against the men. Though David was the obvious target on Lesu, Wardog tried to convince Kelley to eliminate Lauren, her closest ally, for her illness. At the Edge of Extinction, the castaways found coded maps that led to a pair of advantages. After Rick deciphered the map, the quartet decided to explore together after eating, but Keith snuck off to try and claim the advantages for himself. The others eventually caught up to him; Chris wrestled Keith to claim one advantage, while Rick found the second. Chris's advantage gave him a series of planks and twine as "practice" for an upcoming challenge to re-enter the game, while Rick's advantage gave him the power to anonymously send an extra vote to a member of the tribe attending the next Tribal Council. Immunity challenge: Tribemates dove into the water to retrieve two puzzle pieces before loading them onto a pontoon. Once the pontoon was ashore, castaways used the pieces to build a pyramid-shaped puzzle. The first two tribes to build their puzzle won immunity. Kama placed first, while Lesu came from behind to win their first immunity challenge. Rick secretly sent the extra vote advantage to Aubry, which she found in her bag before Tribal Council. Aubry discussed blindsiding one of the men with Victoria and Wendy, but Wendy was reluctant to commit to a plan. At Tribal Council, Aubry voted against Wendy, but was blindsided by the rest of her tribe, being voted out without playing her idol or extra vote; she chose to go to the Edge of Extinction. Reward challenge: Castaways jumped over a series of tables to a pile of large sandbags, which they searched through to find a lever. Pulling the lever released sixty smaller sandbags. They then used the sandbags to unspool two targets, raising flags. The first tribe to raise both flags won coffee and pastries, while the second tribe to do so won coffee and cookies. Kama placed first and Manu placed second. At Kama, Joe lamented the elimination of fellow returning player Aubry, and feared that he was next. He attempted to earn trust with Julia by talking to her about how they were both being viewed physical threats. At Lesu, Wardog continued to campaign against Lauren, but Kelley was frustrated with his constant scheming. At the Edge of Extinction, the castaways received another coded map, which Rick again deciphered. Reem and Keith found him looking in the ocean; Reem spotted the advantage, which Keith retrieved. The advantage allowed Keith to penalize another castaway during the upcoming reentry challenge. Chris remarked about Reem letting Keith grab the advantage, which led to Reem yelling at Chris. Immunity challenge: Tribes raced through an obstacle course while maneuvering a bag along a rope, and then threw a monkey's fist through a hoop to release a gate. Once through the gate, two tribemates solved a slide puzzle. The first tribe to solve the puzzle won immunity, sending the other two tribes to Tribal Council. Kama won the challenge, sending Lesu and Manu to a joint Tribal Council to eliminate a single castaway. Manu plotted to convince David to join their side to avoid a deadlock tie. At Lesu, Wardog suggested targeting Wendy in hopes that her tribemates would not risk going to a lottery tiebreaker to save her, though Kelley and Lauren were again frustrated by his refusal to listen to anyone else's ideas. The Lesu members looked for the hidden immunity idol, which Kelley found and shared with Lauren, who in turn told Kelley about her own idol. At Tribal Council, Manu voted against Lauren while Lesu voted against Wendy, and the votes were tied. Before the tiebreaker ballot, Eric, Gavin, and Victoria conferred with Lesu and decided to band together, unanimously eliminating Wendy on the revote. Wendy went to the Edge of Extinction; the following morning, the near-extinct castaways were instructed to board a boat to return to the game.
560	6	"There's Always a Twist"	1.6/8	9	March 27, 2019 (2019-03-27)	7.75
The day after the joint Tribal Council, the tribes were merged and the Edge of Extinction was officially revealed. The six near-extinct castaways arrived to compete in a challenge to return to the game. Keith used his advantage to penalize Chris during the challenge, giving him 30 knots to untie before completing the final part of the challenge. Edge of Extinction challenge: The competitors raced through an obstacle course to untie a bag with bamboo and twine, which they used to create a pole long enough to retrieve a key through a gate. Once through, they navigated a ball up a vertical maze. The first player to get their ball to the top of the maze returned to the game. Rick won the challenge and returned to the game. After the merged tribe, Vata, departed for a celebratory feast, the near-extinct castaways were given the chance to return to the Edge of Extinction to await a second re-entry challenge. All five castaways took the offer but, back at the Edge, Keith and Wendy decided to raise the sail and quit the game. For winning the re-entry challenge, Rick secretly earned two halves of a powerless hidden immunity idol; he was to give one half to another player and, if both players remained in the game following the next Tribal Council, the idol would gain its power. He gave one half to David, his closest ally. Kelley, Lauren, and Wardog tried to permeate the Kama majority by targeting Rick again; Aurora and Joe — the Kama minority alliance — were open to Kelley's plan, but Julie was appalled by their cruelty of sending Rick back to the Edge right after he returned. Immunity challenge: Castaways held a vertical pole over their head with a tiki statue at the end, while standing on a narrow beam. Every few minutes, the castaways stepped forward to a narrower part of their beam. Castaways were eliminated if they fell off the beam or dropped their statue; the last player remaining won immunity. Julie outlasted Lauren and Joe to win immunity. Back at camp, Julie targeted Kelley and told Rick about Kelley's plan. Ron asked Joe about that night's target, but Joe's vague answers frightened Ron. Ron then approached his Kama Six alliance about targeting Joe for being a physical threat. At Tribal Council, it was revealed that all remaining players on the Edge of Extinction — including Reem, Chris, and Aubry — would attend Tribal Council as members of the jury. Joe and Kelley's alliances split their votes between David and Rick while David and Rick voted against Kelley, but the Kama Six decided to blindside Joe, who went to the Edge of Extinction.
561	7	"I'm the Puppet Master"	1.5/7	15	April 3, 2019 (2019-04-03)	7.41
After Joe was eliminated by the Kama Six, Aurora — the lone Kama outsider and Joe's closest ally — lamented their betrayal, but considered sticking with the Kama Six as long as they had power. The alliance of Kelley, Lauren and Wardog plotted to align with Aurora and former Manu allies David and Rick to force a tie, but David and Rick had aligned with Kama Six leaders Eric and Ron for long-term safety. Reward challenge: Divided into two teams of six, four teammates swam out to a platform to retrieve two sets of wooden puzzle pieces and brought them to shore, where the two remaining teammates used them to solve a puzzle. The first team to solve their puzzle won a reward of Chinese takeout. The team of Aurora, Eric, Julia, Rick, Wardog and Victoria won the reward. Back at camp, David agreed to reunite with Kelley's alliance, but Rick — upset over having been voted out by them on the Lesu tribe — refused to do so, preferring to stick with the Kama group. At the Edge of Extinction, a coded note led Aubry to two advantages: a pole with rope as practice for the next re-entry challenge, and an extra vote to assign to another player. Immunity challenge: Castaways stood on a wooden frame, balancing a block between their head and the top of the frame without the assistance of their hands. The last contestant with their block remaining won immunity. When only Aurora, Victoria and Lauren remained, Lauren fainted. While the medical team checked on Lauren, Aurora tried to negotiate with Victoria for safety after the Kama Six's betrayal, but was rebuked by her tribemates for doing so while Lauren was unconscious. Lauren recovered, and Aurora won the challenge. Back at camp, Aurora found the extra vote that Aubry had secretly gifted her. The Kama Six (with Aurora, David and Rick) planned to split the votes between Lauren and Kelley, but Wardog spoke with Gavin and Julia about Eric and Ron's deal with David and Rick, claiming that Eric and Ron were keeping around David and Rick as allies for when the Kama Six had to turn on each other. A suspicious Julia talked to Eric about voting out David that night, but Eric's refusal prompted her, Gavin and Victoria to consider turning on Eric and Ron. At Tribal Council, Rick joined the Kama plan to split the votes between Lauren and Kelley, but Aurora, Gavin, Julia and Victoria flipped and voted with Kelley's alliance plus David to blindside Eric, who went to the Edge of Extinction.
562	8	"Y'all Making Me Crazy"	1.5/7	7	April 10, 2019 (2019-04-10)	7.59
After they were left out of Eric's blindside, Julie and Ron attempted to reintegrate with their Kama alliance. Julie expressed to Ron and Rick that she felt Julia was running the show and was going to win the game. Gavin aimed to team up his alliance (including Julia and Victoria) with Kelley, Lauren and Wardog; his first target was David, but Julia was unsure about aligning with another tight trio. David and Rick reconciled and realigned with Julie and Ron. Immunity challenge: The castaways balanced a ball on a wooden bow while standing on a slanted, increasingly narrow beam, moving farther down as the challenge progressed; if they or the ball fell, they were eliminated. The last castaway remaining won immunity. Gavin outlasted David to win the challenge. Kelley's alliance tried to change the target from David to Ron, prompting Julia to try and reunite the Kama alliance and target Kelley, which frustrated Gavin. The Kama alliance's quiet behavior alarmed David and Kelley's alliances; their fears were further exacerbated by Julia and Aurora's comments at Tribal Council, prompting them to begin forming a new plan on the spot, resulting in a lengthy, chaotic series of discussions. Rick suggested that the remaining Lesu members, with Ron and Julie, turn on Julia and Aurora, who he felt were running the game. Initially, Wardog threw out flipping on Kama by targeting Aurora. However, Julie once again threw out Julia's name, prompting Wardog to switch the vote to Julia. Ultimately, David gave his half of the hidden immunity idol to Rick, who played the full idol on David, negating Aurora's vote against him; Julia voted against Kelley and Aurora voted against David, while the rest of the tribe turned on Julia and voted her out, who went to the Edge of Extinction.
563	9	"Blood of a Blindside"	1.5/8	5	April 17, 2019 (2019-04-17)	7.89
After Julia's elimination, Wardog created a new majority alliance with Gavin, Julie, Lauren, Kelley and Ron, targeting Aurora who they felt had cost Julia her game. Before the immunity challenge, the castaways were given the opportunity to sit out of the challenge in exchange for pizza; Lauren, Kelley, Victoria and Ron took the offer. Immunity challenge: Castaways squatted over an urn of water above a fire. If they stood too high, their urn would extinguish their fire, while if they dropped too low, a flag would release; both eliminated them from the challenge. The last castaway remaining won immunity. Aurora outlasted David to win the challenge. With Aurora immune, Wardog's alliance decided to target David instead. David and Rick decided to target the tight alliance of Kelley, Lauren and Wardog, and tried to recruit Aurora, Julie, Victoria and Ron. Julie and Ron found themselves in the middle. At Tribal Council, David and Rick voted for Wardog, but everyone else voted out David, who went to the Edge of Extinction. At the Edge, the castaways were given another clue. David deciphered the clue and found an advantage in the next immunity challenge, to be given to a remaining player; he chose Rick. Immunity challenge: Castaways navigated balls down a dimpled paddle; the first to get all five of their balls in the dimples won immunity. Rick's advantage gave him only four balls to secure instead of five, and he won the challenge. While Wardog's alliance initially planned to go through on their earlier plan to target Aurora, Wardog decided to betray Kelley for being the last returning player remaining, recruiting Aurora, Rick, Ron and Victoria. To try and secure Ron's loyalty, Aurora gave him her extra vote. At Tribal Council, Wardog's new plan held strong and Kelley was blindsided; she went to the Edge of Extinction, where she told the others about her and Lauren's idols.
564	10	"Fasten Your Seatbelts"	1.5/7	10	April 24, 2019 (2019-04-24)	7.50
After Tribal Council, Gavin confronted Wardog about being excluded from the plan to blindside Kelley, prompting Gavin to target Wardog. Rick proposed an alliance with Ron and Wardog as the biggest remaining threats to take out lesser targets, while Ron and Julie reconciled after voting separately. Reward challenge: Divided into two teams of four, two members of each team swam to a platform, where they pulled themselves under and untied a set of rings. They brought the rings to a second platform, where the remaining two team members tossed the rings onto three floating pegs. The first team to land all three rings won a trip to the Sabeto mud pits and a feast. Julie, Lauren, Rick, and Wardog won the challenge. While on the reward trip, Julie and Lauren considered working together against Wardog, although Lauren felt Rick was a bigger threat than Wardog. At camp, Ron gave the extra vote back to Aurora, but they disagreed over rice rations, while Victoria and Gavin discussed with them about voting out Rick before Wardog. Immunity challenge: Castaways raced over a series of frames while holding a buoy. They maneuvered a second buoy through a rope tunnel, then untied a third buoy and crawled under a net. They used the keys attached to the buoys to unlock their puzzle pieces. The first person to finish their star puzzle won immunity. Rick won immunity, thwarting the majority's plan. Gavin began to rally votes against Wardog, who discussed targeting Aurora with Julie, Rick and Ron. At Tribal Council, Rick and Wardog voted for Aurora, but everyone else voted out Wardog, who went to the Edge of Extinction.
565	11	"Awkward"	1.4/7	10	May 1, 2019 (2019-05-01)	7.34
After Tribal Council, Rick confronted Ron for lying to him about the plan against Wardog; to repair their relationship, Ron gave Rick the Advantage Menu he found during the marooning but, unbeknownst to Rick, it had long-expired. At the reward challenge, the players were joined by their loved ones: Rick's wife Becca, Julie's husband Mark, Lauren's father Joey, Ron's husband Lloyd, Victoria's father Roch, Aurora's brother Shane and Gavin's wife Carly. Reward challenge: The castaways retrieved ocean water with a bucket and tossed it to their loved one, who would use another bucket to catch the water and pour it into a third bucket attached to a seesaw. The first pair to tip their seesaw won a picnic. Ron and Lloyd won the challenge, and chose to share the picnic with Gavin, Julie and their loved ones. Knowing he was in danger, Rick searched for a hidden immunity idol; Aurora searched through his bag, but was caught when Rick returned to camp. Rick continued his search and found a clue that told him the idol was hidden in a tree above the tribe's shelter; he retrieved it that night while his tribemates slept. Immunity challenge: The castaways stood on footrests against two walls, bracing themselves with armrests; the last castaway standing won immunity. Gavin won immunity. With the tribe united against Rick, the others made contingency plans in case Rick played an idol. Julie and Ron told Rick to vote Aurora, and assured him that the Advantage Menu was real. Victoria and Lauren planned to split their votes between Rick and Ron, as the perceived next-biggest threat, and let Aurora and Gavin know their plans. As it was the last night Aurora could play her extra vote, she gave it to Gavin to ensure that it remained in play throughout a tiebreaker due to his immunity, though Gavin considered betraying his alliance by not voting Ron after he had shared the loved ones reward with him. At Tribal Council, Rick tried to use the Advantage Menu for individual immunity, but was informed by Jeff that it has already expired on Day 8. He berated Ron and Julie for trying to embarrass him before playing his idol on himself, negating the four votes against him. Rick had voted against Aurora, but Gavin (voting twice) and Lauren voted against Ron, who went to the Edge of Extinction.
566	12	"Idol or Bust"	1.5/7	11	May 8, 2019 (2019-05-08)	7.28
Rick searched for, and found, another hidden immunity idol. Reward challenge: Each castaway shot two balls into an overhead track and race through an obstacle to catch the ball before it hits the ground. Then, they dug their way under a log before attempting to land the balls on top of a narrow perch. The first castaway to land their two balls on their perch won a helicopter tour over Fiji, followed by a feast at a luxury pool resort. Gavin won and chose Lauren and Victoria to join him, which made Aurora feel like the outsider of their alliance. While on reward, Lauren considered keeping Julie, perceiving her to be easier to beat in the end. Immunity challenge: The castaways slid lettered discs through a slot, and then transported them over balance beams using two handles. After they had all their tiles, they used them to solve a word puzzle. The first person to solve the puzzle won immunity. Rick won immunity. Lauren attempted to convince Gavin to vote out Aurora over Julie, as she felt she had a better shot beating Julie in the end then Aurora. She was willing to vote Aurora without Victoria's consent, but Gavin wouldn't commit without Victoria, who was unsure about leaving Julie and Rick both in the game together and also felt that Lauren was secretly working with Julie. At Tribal Council, Rick revealed his idol and said he would play it for Julie in an attempt to get the others to flip. When the vote came, he kept his idol, and the rest of the tribe voted out Aurora, who went to the Edge of Extinction.
567	13	"I See The Million Dollars"	1.5/7	11	May 15, 2019 (2019-05-15)	7.21
The castaways arrived at the second and final Edge of Extinction re-entry challenge. Edge of Extinction challenge: The near-extinct castaways were attached to a rope woven through a series of obstacles. They then guided two balls through a table maze. The first one to finish returned to the game. Chris won the challenge, and the other Edge of Extinction castaways were officially eliminated. Chris and Rick reconnected, while Victoria plotted to vote Chris out right away. Chris told Lauren he knew of her idol. Reward/Immunity challenge: Castaways traversed a series of obstacles, solved a combination lock, and completed a vertical puzzle. The first to complete their puzzle won immunity and a steak and chocolate cake meal. Julie won and chose Chris and Lauren to accompany her on reward, which made Rick wary of Julie's loyalty. During the reward meal, Chris claimed that the jurors believed that Rick and Victoria were the biggest remaining threats. This prompted Lauren to want to blindside Victoria. Meanwhile, Victoria plotted to work with Rick because she felt Julie and Lauren would realize they had a better shot beating Chris in the end than her or Gavin. Later, Rick revealed his idol to Chris, who in turn revealed that he had received the same two-part powerless hidden immunity idol that Rick had received earlier in the game. Needing to give one half to another player to give the idol power provided both halves survived the next Tribal Council, Chris gave one half to Rick. Chris then attempted to convince Lauren to play her idol on him in order to impress the jury. At Tribal Council, Rick played his idol, and Lauren played her idol on Chris, negating three votes against Rick and one vote against Chris. Chris and Rick's votes against Victoria sent her to the jury. The next morning, Rick found yet another idol and hid two fake ones; Julie and Lauren found them and believed them to be real. However, they eventually deduced one was fake as two idols were played in the previous Tribal Council, and they saw Rick find one. Rick also gave Chris his half of the two-part idol, giving it power. Immunity challenge: Each castaway raced through a giant obstacle course with six stations over different obstacles and collected six bags of puzzle pieces along the way. They used those pieces to solve a puzzle. The first to finish their puzzle won immunity. Rick won his fourth immunity challenge. He and Chris targeted Lauren as they felt she had played the most strategic game out of her, Gavin, and Julie. Knowing he and Chris both had real idols, and Julie and Lauren both had fake ones, Rick decided to strike a deal with Gavin by giving his immunity idol in exchange for Gavin taking him to final tribal if he won final immunity. Gavin agreed to the deal despite questioning if he would follow through on his side of it if the time came. This prompted Chris to play his idol on himself, negating three votes. Chris and Rick's votes against Lauren sent her to the jury. Immunity challenge: The castaways stacked lettered blocks on an unbalanced table while pulling on a rope to keep the table balanced while retrieving their blocks. The first contestant to stack their blocks to spell "FINAL 3" won immunity, along with the right to determine the competitors for the fire-making challenge to determine the third finalist. Chris won the challenge. He helped Gavin and Julie practice making fire, but at Tribal Council, he decided to give immunity to both of them so that he could face Rick in the fire-making challenge himself. His reasoning was to show the jury he earned his spot in the final 3 in a riskier fashion. Chris defeated Rick, making him the final member of the jury. At the Final Tribal Council, Gavin highlighted on his social game, Julie claimed that her emotions were part of her strategy, and Chris said he played the best game he could with the 13 days he was in it. Gavin was praised for never having his name written down at tribal, but criticized for not making big moves throughout the game. Julie mostly faced criticism for letting her emotions get the best of her strategy. Chris was praised for making big moves when he re-entered the game, but Gavin pointed out that Chris had an unfair advantage since he was out of the game for so long.
568	14	"Reunion Special"	0.9/4	N/A	May 15, 2019 (2019-05-15)	4.64
Nearly a year later, at the live reunion show, Chris was named the Sole Survivor in a 9-4-0 jury vote over Gavin and Julie, respectively. The castaways then reunited to discuss the season with host Jeff Probst.

Voting history

	Original tribes			Switched tribes				Merged tribe
Episode	1	2	3	4	5			6	7	8	9		10	11		12	13
Day	3	6	8	11	13	16		19	22	23	25	27	29	31		34	36	37	38
Tribe	Manu	Manu	Manu	Lesu	Manu	Manu		Vata	Vata	Vata	Vata	Vata	Vata	Vata		Vata	Vata	Vata	Vata
Eliminated	Reem	Keith	Chris	Rick	Aubry	Tie	Wendy	Joe	Eric	Julia	David	Kelley	Wardog	Ron		Aurora	Victoria	Lauren	Rick
Votes	4–3–1–1	6–1–1	5–2	3–2	4–1	4–4	6–0	6–3–2–2	8–2–2	9–1–0	8–2	5–4	6–2	3–1–0		5–1	2–0–0	2–0	Challenge
Voter	Vote
Chris	Reem	Keith	Kelley														Victoria	Lauren	Won
Gavin					Aubry	Lauren	Wendy	Joe	Eric	Julia	David	Aurora	Wardog	Ron	Ron	Aurora	Rick	Chris	Saved
Julie								Joe	Lauren	Julia	David	Aurora	Wardog	Rick		Aurora	Rick	Chris	Saved
Rick	Reem	Keith	Chris	Lauren				Kelley	Lauren	Julia	Wardog	Kelley	Aurora	Aurora		Aurora	Victoria	Lauren	Lost
Lauren	Wendy	Keith	Chris	Rick		Wendy	None	David	Eric	Julia	David	Aurora	Wardog	Ron		Aurora	Rick	Chris
Victoria					Aubry	Lauren	Wendy	Joe	Eric	Julia	David	Kelley	Wardog	Rick		Aurora	Chris
Aurora								Rick	Eric	David	David	Kelley	Wardog	Rick		Julie
Ron								Joe	Kelley	Julia	David	Kelley	Wardog	Rick
Wardog	Wendy	Keith	Chris	Rick		Wendy	Wendy	David	Eric	Julia	David	Kelley	Aurora
Kelley	Wendy	Keith	Chris	Rick		Wendy	Wendy	David	Eric	Julia	David	Aurora
David	Reem	Keith	Chris	Lauren		Wendy	Wendy	Kelley	Eric	Julia	Wardog
Julia								Joe	Eric	Kelley
Eric					Aubry	Lauren	Wendy	Joe	Kelley
Joe								Rick
Wendy	Lauren	Kelley	Kelley		Aubry	Lauren	None
Aubry					Wendy
Keith	Reem	Wendy
Reem	Kelley

Jury vote
Episode	14
Day	39
Finalist	Chris	Gavin	Julie
Votes	9–4–0
Juror	Vote
Rick
Lauren
Victoria
Aurora
Ron
Wardog
Kelley
David
Julia
Eric
Joe
Aubry
Reem

Notes

Reception

Survivor: Edge of Extinction received negative reviews due to the poorly balanced editing, the Edge of Extinction twist, and the abundance of idols and advantages at the end of the season that helped contribute to the controversial outcome in Chris Underwood, who was voted out on Day 8 and didn't return to the game until Day 35, being crowned the champion of the season. While Underwood was praised for his gameplay in the final few days of the game, his win was controversial due to his early elimination, resulting in him not being involved in the elimination of the majority of the players due to his position on the Edge of Extinction.

Survivor blogger and former contestant Stephen Fishbach spoke negatively about the season, stating about Underwood's victory, "On paper, it seems impossible, even insulting. The signature challenge of Survivor is, how do you vote people out of the game in such a way that they're willing to vote for you to win. Chris didn't have to do any of that. Rather than having to betray his tribemates, Chris spent a month feeding them, healing wounds and building bonds. And what does that mean about the past 10 episodes of the show? Were they all just a pointless waiting room for Chris' march to victory?" Fishbach also panned the editing at the conclusion of the season, as many of the cast members received less screen time than the four returning players, Devens, and at the finale, Underwood.

Dalton Ross of Entertainment Weekly also criticized the season's editing and casting, as well as the eventual winner. According to Ross, "Rick Devens was the only true breakout from the cast...but that may also be because so much of the attention early was spent on the four returning players." Ross spoke of Chris' victory, "It's so hard to know what to make of Chris as a winner. He was voted out, only played 13 out of 39 days, and had what other players said was a 'monumental' advantage of getting to become friends with the entire jury in a non-game setting...doesn't really seem fair." Ross ranked the season 29th out of 38 (at the time); as of the conclusion of the 40th season, it is now ranked 30th out of 40.

Leigh Oleszczak of Surviving Tribal wrote, "There was a lot wrong with Survivor: Edge of Extinction... They tried it once and it gave us not only one of the worst seasons ever but the worst winner ever." Andy Dehnart of Reality Blurred also panned the season and its finale, stating, "If you want a shoddily produced game with no coherent rules, just lots of signs that the producers are twisting the game into shapes because they don't understand or care about game design, there are plenty of other options. One of them starts next month on CBS and is called Big Brother." Daniel George of Surviving Tribal also lambasted the Edge of Extinction twist, giving seven reasons why it was a failure in his review of the season. However, the twist would later be used again two seasons and a year later, where it received high praise for the returning contestant despite criticizing it for the return.

In 2020, Survivor fan site "Purple Rock Podcast" ranked this season 26th out of 40 saying that the "gimmick employed here always seemed destined for failure." Later that same year, Inside Survivor ranked this season 33rd out of 40 saying that the Edge of Extinction twist "ultimately makes the whole season feel empty and pointless."

In 2021, Rob Has a Podcast ranked Edge of Extinction 36th out of 40 during their Survivor All-Time Top 40 Rankings podcast. Despite the highly negative responses to the season, Survivor once again led the country in the key 18-49 demographic and second overall in viewers during its timeslot.

External links

• Official CBS Survivor Website