The Zapatera Six is an alliance from Survivor: Redemption Island.
Although not lasting long in the competition due to the success of their rivals, the six are notable for eliminating Russell Hantz, a notorious villain of Survivor.
Members[]
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History[]
Plan to Get Rid of Russell[]
When Russell Hantz was revealed to be joining the Zapatera tribe, he was not as warmly received as Rob Mariano was by the Ometepe tribe, due to his notorious and villainous game-play in his previous seasons. The plan to get rid of Russell started to form when Russell, despite saying he would play differently this time around, resorted to his old strategy by making alliances with Stephanie Valencia and Krista Klumpp and also searching high and low for the Hidden Immunity Idol with the two other girls, raising the suspicions of the six other Zapatera members.
Formation of an Alliance[]
With Russell and his alliance posing a threat towards the tribe, the six remaining Zapateras came together and formed the Zapatera Six, all with a common goal: getting rid of Russell.
Throwing the Challenge[]
While looking for rocks to build a fire, Ralph Kiser unexpectedly discovered the Hidden Immunity Idol without any clues, much to his delight.
With the Hidden Immunity Idol in one of their members' possession and having a two-member lead over Ometepe, the Zapatera Six purposely threw the Immunity Challenge away, giving Ometepe their very first immunity win of the season. The move angered Russell and his alliance, who were fully aware that the six threw the challenge.
A Plan Works[]
Knowing that his alliance was outnumbered 6 to 3, Russell tried to sway Julie Wolfe to vote for Ralph, promising her the final four. Julie considered Russell's plan. However at Tribal Council, Julie stayed loyal and the Zapatera Six split their votes between Russell and Stephanie (in case Russell found an idol), while Russell's alliance voted for Ralph, forcing a 3-3-3 tie between Russell, Stephanie, and Ralph. In a revote, with the Zapatera Six now knowing that he did not have an idol in his possession, Russell was voted out of the tribe and sent to Redemption Island.
Dismantling Russell's Alliance[]
With the plan of getting rid of Russell having come to fruition, the next stage of the plan was to get rid of Russell's alliance. As a result, at the next Tribal Council, Krista was eliminated. David Murphy tried to lobby for Sarita White to be voted off over Stephanie for being the weak link in the tribe but ultimately failed and Stephanie was eliminated for being untrustworthy and a former member of Russell's alliance. With Stephanie's elimination, Russell's alliance was disintegrated.
The Six Becomes Five[]
With Russell's alliance gone, the six knew that they had to win the next challenge to keep the alliance intact. However, Ometepe narrowly won the next challenge, sending Zapatera to their third straight Tribal Council. David lobbied hard for Sarita to be eliminated, while Sarita lobbied for David, as he was seen as condescending and untrustworthy. Thus, the four other members had to choose which member to keep. In the end, the alliance decided that strength was more important than loyalty and voted Sarita off.
The Merge[]
The Zapatera alliance entered the merge outnumbered by Ometepe 7-5 after Matt Elrod won the Redemption Island duel that allowed him to re-enter the game, despite David's return to the Zapatera Six. The Zapatera alliance tried to get Matt to flip and join them in voting out Rob Mariano. However, Matt attempted to vote with Ometepe, only to be blindsided for the second time in a 6-5-1 vote, even though the Zapatera members voted against Grant Mattos.
Pagonging[]
With the Ometepe alliance remaining solid and determined to get rid of the remaining five, the Zapatera alliance was picked off one by one, with Steve Wright being the last member sent to Redemption Island. In the end, the highest-placing member of the Zapatera Six was Mike Chiesl.
Trivia[]
- This alliance is the first to successfully vote out Russell Hantz.