Survivor

Cochran, Dawn, and Brenda were the only returnees this season to improve upon a previous season's finish.  Brenda improved from 10th in Nicaragua to sixth, Dawn from 10th in South Pacific to second, and Cochran from 8th in South Pacific to winner.

Cochran is the third unanimous winner in series history, joining Earl Cole from Fiji and J. T. Thomas from Toncantins. He is the second besides J.T. to play a "perfect" game, getting all the winning votes at Final Tribal Council and never having been voted against once during the season.

This is the third time in Survivor history that more than two contestants (Reynold, Malcolm, and Eddie) are immune from Tribal Council vote in a post-merge Tribal Council.  The last time was in Heroes vs. Villains in the episode where J.T. was voted out (Danielle had immunity, and Sandra and Jerri both played hidden immunity idols).

This episode is the first ever Survivor appearance of Tata the Bushman, whom Jeff Probst has stated he would like to appear again in the future.

Francesca is the third contestant ever to compete a second time despite not making the jury in his/her previous season for reasons other than medevac. Shii Ann Huang and Rob Mariano in All-Stars did it before.

Four similarities between this season and the first Fans vs Favorites: (1) a tribe of first-time players competes against a tribe of returning players, (2) all returnees are competing for the second time, (3) out of all the returnees, only one made it to a final in his/her previous season (Amanda in Micronesia, Philip in this season), and (4) one contestant is returning immediately after competing in the previous season (Amanda in Micronesia, Malcolm in this season).

With her elimination, Francesca now holds the record for fewest days (9) playing Survivor by a contestant who competed more than once, breaking the previous record set by Russell Swan last season.

By tying for second place in the "Philippines",Michael Skupin significantly improved on his previous season (day 17 in "The Australian Outback").

With Michael Skupin in the final three, every season of "Survivor" with returning contestants has had at least one of those returning contestants make it to the final.

In a "Survivor" first, Deniseis the first contestant who has been to every Tribal Council during one season and survived each one.

Denise is the oldest (41) female contestant to win the game, surpassing Tina Wesson from Outback (40 at the time she won).

Denise becomes the third consecutive female winner, after Sophie from South Pacific and Kim from One World. The last time there were three straight female winners came after All-Stars, where Amber followed Sandra from Pearl Islands and Jenna from Amazon.

Denise is the first winner since Heroes vs Villains to have not won the final Immunity challenge.

Having been to 13 consecutive Tribal Counsels, Denise Staples has now beaten the record of Stephanie La Grossia set in Season 10: Palau for the most tribal counsels attended in a single season of Survivor.

Having been to 12 consecutive Tribal Counsels, Denise Staples has now tied the record of Stephanie La Grossia in Season 10: Palau for the most tribal counsels attended in a single season of Survivor. The difference being that Denise is still in the game; whereas Stephanie was voted out in episode 12 of Season 12: Palau.

With Carter's ouster, five consecutive males have been voted out via Tribal Council. This has happened in only four other seasons, One World, Heroes vs. Villains, Gabon, and Guatemala. This is the first time for it to happen in successive seasons, however.

Penner is the second contestant (joining James Clement) to play the game three times without ever finishing in the final four.

By being voted out on day 30 in the "Philippines", Jonathanimproved on his medically evacuated season (day 15 in "Micronesia") but was four days shy of improving on his "injury free" season (day 33 in "Cook Islands").

Jonathan Penner becomes the fourth contestant in series history to play a Hidden Immunity Idol at Tribal Council which nullifies votes against him AND saves him from elimination. He joins Yau-Man in Fiji, Amanda in Micronesia, and Russell Hantz in Samoa in accomplishing this.

For the first time ever, the tribes merge at 11 total contestants left in the game.