Stealth R Us was the majority alliance of Survivor: Redemption Island.
Orchestrated by veteran and four-time player Rob Mariano and named by Phillip Sheppard, this alliance finally enabled Rob to win the competition after four attempts.
A successor to the alliance was formed in Survivor: Caramoan, with both Phillip and Andrea reprising their roles.
Members[]
With the exception of Matt Elrod, all members of Stealth R Us have codenames given to them by Phillip Sheppard.
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History[]
Formation[]
On the first day of the competition, Rob Mariano formed an immediate connection with Grant Mattos, Matt Elrod, Ashley Underwood, Andrea Boehlke, and Natalie Tenerelli. This group of six seemed impenetrable, which left outsiders Kristina Kell, Phillip Sheppard, and Francesca Hogi in the minority.
Flushing The Idol[]
Rob caught Kristina looking for a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol. Rob then talked to Phillip about keeping an eye out for a woman's alliance on the tribe (although at this point, Rob's alliance had the numbers). After losing the first Immunity Challenge, Kristina told Francesca and Phillip about her finding the Hidden Immunity Idol, and she told Francesca about her plan to blindside Rob by getting the other three Ometepe women to vote for her, while their three-person alliance votes for Rob. Francesca was concerned that it was too early to vote out Rob, and that they didn't have the numbers to stay in the game.
After Ometepe lost the first Immunity Challenge, Rob assumed the worst. He ordered his alliance to split the vote between Kristina and Francesca in an attempt to flush out the Idol if Kristina had it. At Tribal Council, the Francesca/Kristina/Phillip alliance imploded when Francesca openly said that Rob would not be voted out. This enraged Phillip, who immediately responded and said that Francesca told him to vote for Rob, after an outburst from all three accused tribe members, Jeff asked Rob whose story he believed. Rob said that, while Phillip was adamant in defending his story, Francesca denied it with equal energy. However, Kristina did not defend herself. Rob asked Kristina to show him the Idol just to confirm that she had it. Upon seeing it, he asked her to give him the Idol, declaring that she would stay in the game if she handed it over and that doing so would show that Kristina was telling the truth, but Kristina said she could not give it up. Francesca was eliminated at Tribal Council.
Matt Elrod's Elimination, Redemption Island and Blindsides[]
Matt was initially a founding member of the Ometepe Alliance, but Rob began to notice his closeness with Andrea and recognized that together, they could become a powerful force in the competition (mirroring his alliance in All-Stars with wife Amber Mariano) and so began to put a plan in motion to blindside Matt. Fortunately for Rob, Matt began digging his own grave by shaking hands with members of the Zapatera tribe in an attempt to promote good sportsmanship after Ometepe lost the second challenge.
Thinking that he would be safe, Matt turned to Rob and asked who the alliance would target. Rob told Matt to vote for Phillip, this would later reveal itself to be a ruse as Matt was blindsided by his tribe and sent to Redemption Island. Rob also tricked Kristina into playing her Hidden Immunity Idol as she was left without any alliances but was left dumbfounded once Matt was voted out. Rob continued to maintain his leadership over his alliance and secured several Tribal Immunity wins but began to realize that his first blindside in the game could return to haunt him as Matt won Duel after Duel. During one such encounter, Matt stated that he wished to be a part of his alliance still, and go to the Final Tribal Council with him and Grant.
Upon his return to the game after defeating Sarita White, Matt began to lay the foundations to eliminate Rob by attempting to bring Andrea into an alliance with the former Zapatera after he was promised Final Three by Mike Chiesl and the use of the Hidden Immunity Idol. He later regretted this decision and went to Rob about his plan with Zapatera and his deal with Andrea. Feeling betrayed, Rob rounded up the Ometepe alliance to vote out Matt straight away and all the while he once again duped Matt into a red herring vote. Once again he was sent to Redemption and remained there until his eventual elimination on Day 36.
The Buddy System[]
Upon merging, to prevent his alliance from creating new bonds with the Zapatera tribe, Rob created his Survivor version of "The Buddy System" where none of the alliance would talk to their rivals about the game without another alliance member present. This was proven to work effectively as the members of Zapatera were voted out consecutively.
Turning On Each Other[]
Due to Matt's continued dominance at Redemption Island, the Ometepe Alliance were comfortable with the remaining Zapatera being eliminated thus the idea of turning on one another was never an issue until the Final Six. Andrea was the first targeted, as a possible jury threat, and also having been the bottom of the totem pole in the alliance. Ashley Underwood was targeted next, to split up her growing bond with Natalie. However, after Ashley won immunity, Rob orchestrated the blindside of his close friend Grant Mattos, not wanting to take him to the end as the biggest jury and physical threat of the 6 Stealth R Us members, and also hoping he could win the final Redemption Island duel and eliminate another major jury threat- Matt Elrod. Andrea won the Redemption Island duel and returned to the game but she failed to win immunity, while Ashley, the other primary target for elimination did so for a second straight time, and while Andrea pleaded for Rob to be voted out at Tribal Council, Rob played his Hidden Immunity Idol that Natalie and Ashley already knew about, leading to Andrea being eliminated for good. At the final 4, Ashley fell to the same plot by Rob, stating that she had a better chance of winning over him than either Natalie or Phillip, which led to her blindside.
In an all Stealth R Us final, Rob Mariano would easily defeat Phillip Sheppard and Natalie Tenerelli. Natalie was seen by the jury as the most passive player in the alliance, and just one of Rob's minions, while Phillip was chastised for his lack of social awareness and rudeness with nearly everyone on the jury. Both also failed to own up to their own games, and simply gave credit to Rob for carrying them there. 3 former Stealth R Us members- Grant, Ashley, and Andrea, would criticize all 3 finalists for betraying them to take easier opponents to the end, but all 3 would be amongst the 8 to vote for Rob as the winner. Rob would win with 8 votes, Phillip would place runner up with 1, and Natalie would finish 3rd with 0 votes.
Trivia[]
- Both incarnations of the alliance produced the winners of their respective seasons.
- Also, both times, Francesca Hogi was one of their first targets.
Gallery[]
