Every Survivor season that featured Exile Island

After seeing Exile Island make a brief return duringSurvivor 50, I couldn’t help but wonder if that was a tease for what was to come inSurvivor 51. And now that we have our cast list and can properlyanalyze the teaser trailer, I’m convinced now more than ever that Exile island will be back in play as we kick off the open era where anything is possible.

So let’s take a look back at seasons ofExile Islandpast to see if there are any other possibleSurvivor 51twists lurking in the pages of theSurvivorhistory books.

Survivor: Palau(season 10)

If you thought that Exile Island first happened on the season subtitled “Exile Island,” you’d be a logical thinker, but you’d be wrong. We first saw Exile Island during season 10 whenJeff Probstannounced during an individual immunity challenge that in addition to the reward of immunity for the last player standing, there would also be a punishment for the first person to drop out of the challenge. Janu Tornell fell first and was sent to “Exile Island” where she had to spend a night away from her tribe.

Survivor: Panama(season 12)

The first official season to feature Exile Island as a recurring game mechanic, the punishment was always in play for a member of the losing tribe to be sent to, isolating themselves from any social gameplay opportunities. This season, however, expanded on the initial concept by introducing a slight reward for the players who were sent to Exile: ahidden immunity idol. Everyone who arrived at Exile received a clue as to the whereabouts of the idol, so it actually became valuable for a player to be exiled.

Survivor: Cook Islands(season 13)

Continuing from the prior season, players continued to be banished to Exile Island after their tribe lost reward, forcing them to provide for themselves leading up to the next immunity challenge. But again, the Exile visitor received clues to the hidden immunity idol that was tucked away somewhere on the isolated island.

Survivor: Fiji(season 14)

The game continued with no changes to the Exile Island factor on the first season they filmed in Fiji. At that point, lots of more twists and advantages were coming into play that Exile Island started to feel expected and players knew exactly how to hack it with a few key strategies that seemed to work in seasons past.

Survivor: Micronesia(season 16)

For theFans vs. Favoritesseason, we once again got Exile Island, but this time, it drove more chaos than ever before. Ozzy Lusth quickly found the hidden immunity idol on Exile and opted to create a fake idol of his own to replace it for anyone else who went looking. The only problem? It was literally just a stick with a face on it. Low-and-behold, Jason Siska found it and fell for it, giving it to Eliza Orlins to play where she delivered one of the best lines inSurvivorhistory, “It’s a ******* stick!”

Survivor: Gabon(season 17)

Thinking they were being strategic, the winning tribe just kept sendingJessica “Sugar” Kiperto Exile Island because they didn’t think she could find it and they wanted to prevent anyone else from possibly finding the idol. But Exile Island was slightly different this season, players could either opt in for an idol clue or choose comfort while at Exile. So after Sugar found the hidden immunity idol on her first visit to Exile Island, she spent the rest of the time in a little hut—which she aptly named the “Sugar Shack”—resting in a hammock and eating fresh fruit.

Survivor: Tocantins(season 18)

This season once again saw a new evolution to Exile Island. In the pre-merge portion of the game, the player who was chosen to be exiled got to pick a person from the winning tribe to join them. Upon arriving, there were two bottles: one containing a clue to the hidden immunity idol, and one containing nothing. The player who got the clue knew where to look back at their camp for the idol and was also given the option to “mutiny” and change tribes (with the expectation that they’d want to do this to find the other camp’s idol). But in the entire season, none of the players sent to Exile opted to mutiny.

Survivor: San Juan del Sur(season 29)

We didn’t see Exile Island again for more than 10 seasons and when it came back, it completely changed up the game. In the early stages of the game, when it was still loved ones vs. loved ones on opposite tribes, players were set to compete in “Hero Duels” where two loved ones would go against each other in a challenge, resulting in the loser going to Exile Island. But the winner was allowed to choose one of their own tribe mates to join their loved one on Exile where two urns would be present: one containing a hidden immunity idol clue and one containing nothing, just likeTocantins.

Survivor: Kaoh Rong(season 32)

The 32nd season featured a one-time Exile Island that was brought into play during the tribe swap. With 13 players in the game needing to be divided between two tribes, one player was left out and sent to the third tribe beach, no longer in play, where they wouldn’t participate in the game again until the tribe that lost immunity voted someone out and our exiled player took the extra spot on that tribe.

Survivor: Game Changers(season 34)

Probably the sneakiest of Exile Islands, the one-time twist was reintroduced, similar to how it played out inKaoh Rong. The exiled player, Debbie Wanner, however, was not sent to an island at all, but rather a luxury yacht in the middle of the ocean where she got to have a big lunch withSurvivor: CaramoanwinnerJohn Cochranand ask him any advice for the game. At the end of Cochran’s visit, he offered Debbie one of three advantages: a fake hidden immunity idol creation kit, an extra vote, or a challenge advantage for their new tribe. She took the extra vote and when she rejoined the game with her new tribe, she told them how terrible Exile had been.

Survivor: David vs. Goliath(season 37)

Following the same uneven tribe swap format as its two predecessors, season 37 sent one player to Exile Island where they waited to rejoin the game with the losing tribe. But once again, production switched things up and instead of a hidden immunity idol, they hid a brand new advantage, the idol nullifier, on the island. Carl Boudreaux was sent to Exile and found the nullifier, which he could use to make anyone else’s hidden immunity idol useless, if he guessed who had one correctly.

Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans(season 50)

Exile Island was brought into play a few times during the anniversary season. The first and most prominent being after the individual supply challenge.Ozzy Lusth, Q Burdette, and Benjamin “Coach” Wade all volunteered to go earn supplies for their tribe after the marooning challenge. One player would walk away with supplies and the other two had to stay on the island overnight until they had a new chance at supplies in the morning.

Then during the “Blood Moon” twist, one player earned an advantage in the game—a trip to Exile Island. Ozzy scoured the jungle for the advantage and then was given the opportunity to have one tribe member join him. He and Rizo Velovic spent the night on Exile Island, safe from and unaware of the triple Tribal Councils happening that night.

And when the Double Duos twist hit andCirie Fieldsvolunteered to not have a partner, she was sent to Exile Island where she had a limited amount of time to find a specific coconut amongst a beach loaded with coconuts. If she didn’t find it, she’d stay on Exile Island, missing the historic vote that night. But she found the phoenix emblem coconut and earned her vote back, being allowed to re-enter the game and attend Tribal Council with everyone else.

Survivor 51?

Now, we don’t know for sure whether or not Exile Island will come into play for the upcoming season, but with all the teasingSurvivor 50did, I’ve been wondering for a while if it would make an appearance. Especially since Jeff continues to reiterate that everything from every past season was on the table for the open era. So I have a very strong feeling that we will see Exile island again sooner rather than later.

What do you think? Would you love to see Exile Island return for the first season of the open era?

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