Survivor: Cook Islands

Survivor: Cook Islands is the thirteenth season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor, having premiered on September 14, 2006. The location was discovered by a Survivor maps website before it was officially revealed on the Survivor: Panama reunion. The two-hour season finale aired on December 17, 2006, followed by the Reunion show live from CBS Television City in Los Angeles.

During this season of Survivor, the contestants were divided into four tribes by ethnicity; African American, Asian American, Hispanic American, and White American, a decision that generated some controversy prior to the premiere. Besides random division or team-choosing by the contestants, tribes had previously been divided by gender and/or age. The respective tribes' names were Manihiki ("Hiki"), Puka Puka ("Puka"), Aitutaki ("Aitu"), and Rarotonga ("Raro"). These four tribes were named after islands located in the Cook Islands. In the third episode, the four tribes evenly divided into two new mixed tribes, just Aitutaki and Rarotonga. After the merge, the tribe decided to name themselves Aitutonga.

A mutiny offer was made to all remaining players during this season. In Survivor: Thailand, mutiny was offered but no one accepted the offer. In this season, two players from the same tribe accepted the mutiny offer, which turned out to be a critically important turning point in the game, as it caused the remaining four members of that tribe to become underdogs through the rest of the competition.

During the Immunity challenge in Episode 9, the losing tribe was given a bottle with a note in it that was only to be revealed after that tribe voted off a member at the following Tribal Council. As it turned out, the note required the losing tribe to immediately vote a second person off, thus creating the first time one tribe has voted off two members during a single Tribal Council.

The concept of Exile Island returned, with a hidden immunity idol located somewhere on the island. While the idol itself was never used to prevent a player from being eliminated, it was used strategically as a lure to swing a vote at a key turning point in the game.

Instead of the usual Final Two players facing a jury of seven, there was a Final Three facing a jury of nine, which included players that were voted out before the merge. The final jury setup meant that a two or three-way tie to decide the winner of the game was possible, though the method to resolve this tie was unknown at the time.

In the end, Yul Kwon defeated Ozzy Lusth and Becky Lee by a vote of 5–4–0 to become the Sole Survivor.

Ozzy Lusth, Jonathan Penner, and Parvati Shallow were selected to be three of the Favorites of Survivor: Micronesia. Penner and Lusth finished in 15th and 9th respectively, while Shallow eventually won the season.

Shallow would again return for Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains along with Candice Woodcock. Shallow was a part of the 'Villains' tribe, and Woodcock was a member of the 'Heroes' tribe. Woodcock was voted out on Day 31 where she placed 8th. Shallow placed 2nd, losing out to Sandra Diaz-Twine in the final.

Lusth would also return for a third time in Survivor: South Pacific. He returned from Redemption Island twice, but was unable to make it to the end, eventually finishing in 4th place and becoming the first person to be voted out three times in the same season.

Penner returned for his third time in Survivor: Philippines where he placed 7th.

The complete season (including the mid-season recap episode and live Reunion show) was released on DVD on December 11, 2012, available exclusively through Amazon.com.