Rafe Judkins

Rafe Lee Judkins is a contestant from Survivor: Guatemala.

An unexpected challenge dominator, Rafe was remembered for co-leading the Nakúm Alliance with close friend and ally, Stephenie LaGrossa and his Final Two deal with another close friend turned ally, Danni Boatwright. His decision to release Danni from their pact freed her to vote him out the day before the Final Tribal Council.

Profile[]

Retrieved from CBS.com

Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Rafe Judkins was raised in a huge Mormon family that includes more than 60 first cousins. Rafe's mother, Lani, is an artist, and his father, Ren, an inventor. Judkins' unique childhood had him spending time painting rocks and taking apart machines. At age five, Judkins moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he attended Sewickley Academy for 14 years. During this time, Judkins spent his summers teaching English and science to inner city middle school students. He graduated cum laude in 2001 and was selected as the member of the senior class most likely to be on Survivor.

After graduation, Judkins moved to Providence, Rhode Island, to attend Brown University, where he concentrated in biology and anthropology. While in college, he managed Brown Outdoor Leadership Training (BOLT), a program designed to give students exposure to intense wilderness situations with small groups of people. He also expressed his love of food by founding a cooking class for students run by Brown's head catering chef.

Judkins' love for travel and adventure began early, driving around the country in a seventeen-passenger van with his family. Now 22 years old, he has been to all 50 states and 14 different countries, and he lived for seven months in Sydney, Australia. He believes you haven't really experienced a place unless you've slept on the ground and woken up to the sunrise there (cities excluded). He also enjoys tennis, swimming, water skiing and screenwriting. He is proudest of his ability to play Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" on the piano with his toes. Rafe's hero is his mother, Lani, who is brilliant, beautiful and charming enough to do anything with her life, but she chose to be his mother. He believes she made him every bit the man he is today.

Judkins currently resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with his mother, father and brother, Landon. His birth date is January 8, 1983.^[1]

Survivor[]

Rafe started the game on the Yaxhá tribe. He had an early alliance with Gary Hogeboom, Stephenie LaGrossa, Morgan McDevitt, and Brianna Varela, but back-to-back immunity losses caused the departure of McDevitt and Varela. In "To Betray or Not to Betray", Rafe had been switched to the Nakúm tribe, along with three other Yaxhá members (Jamie, Stephenie, and Lydia). They managed to persuade a Nakúm member (Judd) to vote with them, thus giving them a 5-3 majority on Nakúm. In episode five, they won the Immunity Challenge. In episode six, both tribes had to vote a member out, but Rafe won individual immunity. As the reward, he was not in danger of being eliminated, he had the opportunity to watch the other tribe during their Tribal Council, and he was allowed to give individual immunity to a player on the other tribe. He chose Gary. In episode seven, Rafe, along with Stephenie, had to solve a puzzle in order to win tribal immunity. They finished the puzzle in the nick of time, thus helping their tribe go into the merge with a majority.

On Night 18, the teams merged into the Xhakúm (red buffs) tribe; Rafe and Lydia worked on the team flag. Rafe's alliance expanded to include Cindy, and although Rafe was tempted to vote out Jamie due to Jamie taunting the tribe members who were in the voting minority, ultimately, his alliance voted out challenge threat Brandon. In episode nine, Rafe continued to be frustrated with Jamie, and nearly beat him in an Immunity Challenge centered on navigating across bridges. In episode ten, Rafe won his second individual immunity in a challenge in which he had to climb through various hurdles and ropes. To his surprise, Rafe began to think he would be seen as a challenge threat. Jamie offered Rafe a final 3 alliance with Judd, but Rafe, increasingly upset by Jamie's paranoia, convinced alliance partners Stephenie and Lydia that it was the right time to vote Jamie out. Afterwards, he worked with Stephenie and Lydia to overthrow Judd, giving Danni Boatwright a second chance at the game.

Rafe's main alliance was with Stephenie, and his plan was to eliminate every player he felt would lose to her in the final 2, thus ensuring she would take him if she won the final immunity. He wanted another partner who would take him to the final 2, and this was Danni. As a result, after winning the a complicated maze/puzzle Immunity Challenge, he engineered Lydia's departure, in spite of her being no threat for the upcoming endurance challenge. At that challenge, Rafe lost his concentration and was eliminated. Danni then beat Stephenie. After he saw a sobbing Stephenie, he told Danni that any promises that she had made to him were no longer existent and that she could take Stephenie to the Final Two if Danni wanted to. Due to her belief that she might not beat Rafe in front of the jury, Danni took Stephenie to the Final Two; although Rafe felt she made a good strategic move, he was bothered by her decision, as he had hoped she would take him based on their bond, not on a promise she had made. With Rafe on the jury, he cast the sole vote for Stephenie because she was his ally and in retaliation from Danni's betrayal. Rafe's vote merely prevented Danni from sweeping the jury vote, but she still became the Sole Survivor.

Episode	Tribe Affiliation	Challenge	Challenge Type	Sit-Out?	Result
1	Yaxhá	11-Mile Hike	Reward	No	Lost
1		Paddle Battle	Immunity	No	Won
2		Web Over Water	Reward	No	Lost
2		Dragged Through Mud	Immunity	No	Lost
3		Blind Build	Reward	No	Lost
3		Holding Court	Immunity	No	Lost
Switched Tribes, Day 9
4	Nakúm	Rows and Throws	Immunity	No	Lost
5		Slave to the Grind	Reward	No	Lost
5		What's for Launch?	Immunity	No	Won
6		Boulder Smash	Reward¹	No	Won
6		Sudden Death	Immunity	No	Won
7		Spooling Around	Reward	No	Lost
7		Tomb Raider	Immunity	No	Won
Tribes Merged, Night 18
8	Xhakúm	Pot Head	Immunity	Yes²	Lost
9		Atlatl	Reward		6th³
9		Bridge It	Immunity		Lost
10		Mud Slide	Reward		Lost
10		Around the Bend	Immunity		Won
11		Shattered Dreams	Reward		Invited
11		Maya Folklore	Immunity		Won
12		Survivor Auction
12		Watch Your Step	Immunity		Lost
13		Second Chance	Reward		Lost
13		Pole Dancing	Immunity		Lost
14		Maya Maze	Immunity		Won
14		Wobbly Boots	Immunity		Lost
Voted Out, Day 38
Notes: ^1 Both tribes were sent to Tribal Council. The tribe that won the Reward Challenge earned the right to compete in an individual Immunity Challenge. ^2 Rafe elected to sit out of the challenge to eat at the merge feast. ^3 The reward was dependent on each castaway's finish in the challenge. Rafe originally finished 7th, but moved up to 6th place after Jamie volunteered to take last place.

Episode	Rafe's Votes	Voted Against Rafe
1	Yaxhá Tribe Immune
2	Morgan	-
3	Brianna	-
4	Brooke	-
5	Nakúm Tribe Immune
6	Margaret	Individual Immunity
7	Nakúm Tribe Immune
8	Brandon	-
9	Bobby Jon	-
10	Jamie	Individual Immunity
11	Gary	Individual Immunity
12	Judd	-
13	Cindy	Cindy
14	Lydia	Individual Immunity
14	Ineligible	Danni
Voted Out, Day 38
Voted for Sole Survivor	Stephenie

Post-Survivor[]

Rafe is currently a television writer, and is presently on staff for Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. He has also written for Chuck and My Own Worst Enemy.^[2]
On January 9, 2010, Rafe attended Survivor's 10-year anniversary party.
Rafe is currently the writer and executive producer for the 2017 TV show Wheel of Time.^[3]

Trivia[]

Rafe is the highest-placing man on Guatemala.
Rafe is the most recent person to cast an immunity vote, following the Koror tribe of Palau.
Rafe won the most individual challenges of the season, with four wins.
Rafe is first contestant to win individual immunity in the finale episode and be voted out.