Samoa

Survivor: Samoa · Season 19

Episode Guide

How Survivor: Samoa unfolded, week by week.

  1. 1“The Puppet Master”Sep 17, 2009Twenty new players land in Samoa, and one of them changes the game forever the moment he hits the beach. Russell Hantz goes straight to work on Foa Foa, pouring out the tribe's water, burning a teammate's sock, and sweet-talking a secret women's alliance he calls his 'Angels,' all in the first few days. Galu takes the opener and ships Foa Foa to Tribal, where Russell quietly steers the vote and Marisa Calihan is the first one sent home.
  2. 2“Taking Candy From a Baby”Sep 24, 2009A brutal night for Foa Foa, with two players gone. During the bruising Schmergen Brawl challenge, Ben Browning is disqualified for kicking an opponent after Probst's warning, helping sink Foa Foa yet again. Then the tribe takes a second hit when Mike Borassi is medically evacuated, overheated and dehydrated on Day 5. Short-handed already, Foa Foa still owes a vote, and Betsy Bolan is sent out as Russell tightens his grip.
  3. 3“It's Called a Russell Seed”Oct 1, 2009Russell pulls off the trick that becomes his calling card: he finds the hidden immunity idol with no clue at all, just digging at the base of the trees until he strikes gold. Back at camp, Ben Browning, fresh off his challenge disqualification and clashing hard with Jaison, has worn out his welcome. Foa Foa loses again, and Ben is the one voted out.
  4. 4“Hungry for a Win”Oct 8, 2009Foa Foa finally breaks through and wins its first immunity, flipping the script and sending the dominant Galu to Tribal for the very first time. With a vote to make, Galu turns on Yasmin Giles, the loud, polarizing member who'd been feuding with the other tribe and grating on her own. Yasmin is voted out as Galu makes its first real cut.
  5. 5“Walking on Thin Ice”Oct 15, 2009Back on the bottom, Foa Foa returns to Tribal, and Russell keeps making the cold calls, even on the women in his own 'Angels' alliance. Ashley Trainer ends up the one he's willing to spend, the numbers falling her way. Ashley is voted out as Russell proves he'll cut anybody the second they've served their purpose.
  6. 6“This Is the Man Test”Oct 22, 2009There's no Tribal Council this week, because the game stops for a frightening medical scene. During the challenge, Galu's leader Russell Swan collapses from dangerously low blood pressure, and medical rushes in to treat him. He's in no shape to continue and is medically evacuated on Day 15, costing Galu its captain. It's one of the scariest moments the show has ever put on screen, and it ends Russell Swan's game without a single vote cast.
  7. 7“Houdini Magic”Oct 29, 2009Foa Foa just keeps losing, and the tribe gets whittled down to its core four: Russell, Natalie, Mick, and Jaison. Liz Kim is the last one outside that group, and with no numbers left to fight, she can't dodge the vote. Liz is sent home, leaving the 'Foa Foa Four' badly outnumbered heading into the merge.
  8. 8“All Hell Breaks Loose”Nov 5, 2009The merge arrives as Aiga, and the math looks grim for Foa Foa, just four of them against eight original Galu. But Natalie White quietly goes to work on the Galu side, painting Erik Cardona as a threat nobody can trust. At Tribal, Russell plays an idol he doesn't even need, while Erik, way too confident, leaves his own in his pocket and gets blindsided, the first crack in Galu's wall.
  9. 9“Tastes Like Chicken”Nov 12, 2009Galu still holds the numbers, so Foa Foa needs someone to flip, and they find their crack in Shambo. Fed up with her own Galu alliance, Shannon 'Shambo' Waters throws in with Russell's group and swings the whole game. The newly aligned bloc lines up on Kelly Sharbaugh, who's voted out as Galu starts to splinter.
  10. 10“The Day of Reckoning”Nov 19, 2009With Shambo flipped, the tribe splits right down the middle. Mick wins immunity, and Tribal deadlocks 5-5 between the two sides, forcing a revote nobody can feel safe about. When it shakes out, the Foa Foa bloc holds together and Laura Morett, Galu's strongest remaining strategist, is the one voted out.
  11. 11“Off With Their Heads!”Dec 3, 2009Russell's alliance, the Foa Foa Four plus Shambo, now controls the numbers, and they keep marching through what's left of Galu. Jaison wins immunity to lock his spot, and the group sets its sights on John Fincher. With no way to flip the math back, John is voted out as Galu's old majority keeps crumbling.
  12. 12“Damage Control”Dec 10, 2009A double-elimination night, and the last of the original Galu majority pays the price. Across two separate votes, the Russell-led bloc cleans the board: Dave Ball is sent out first, and then Monica Padilla follows him to the jury. By the end of the night, only Brett is left standing from Galu's once-dominant side, and Russell's crew is firmly in command.
  13. 13“Two Brains Are Better Than One”Dec 17, 2009Brett Clouser, the last original Galu still alive in the game, kicks off an immunity run that keeps him just out of reach. With Brett safe, the alliance has to look inward, and Shambo, whose flip handed Russell's group its power in the first place, has quietly become expendable. Shambo is voted out to the jury, cut by the very side she helped build.
  14. 14“This Game Ain't Over”FinaleDec 20, 2009Finale night, and Brett's immunity run is the only thing standing between Russell and the end he's drawn up. When Brett wins yet again at the final five, the Foa Foa Four has to turn on one of its own, and Russell engineers Jaison Robinson's exit. Brett finally loses the last immunity to Russell and is voted out at four. That sets a Final Tribal of Russell, Natalie White, and Mick, where Russell argues he ran the entire game, finding idols and pulling every string in sight. But the jury, stung by how he treated them along the way, rewards Natalie's quieter social game instead, 7-2-0.