Survivor

Russell plays a hidden immunity idol at Tribal Council and is saved from elimination. He becomes the third contestant since the rule of playing the idol before the votes are read is instituted, joining Yau-Man from Fiji and Amanda from Micronesia.

Russell becomes the first contestant in series history to search for and find more than one hidden immunity idol in a season. James from the China season had two idols, but Todd gave him one and told him where the other one was.

For the first time, the merge took place with 12 contestants. Usually, the merge comes at 10 or 9.

There were many "Survivor" firsts:
- a challenge is cancelled after it has started.
- no winner is declared after a challenge.
- the vote at Tribal Council is cancelled.
- two tribes in front of the Tribal Council fire at the same time.

Not including any specials, reunions or re-cap episodes, and only counting episodes with game play in them, this is the 250th episode of Survivor.

This is first time in "Survivor" history in which host Jeff Probst is not present at a challenge as he was not at the reward challenge.

Russell from Foa Foa finds the hidden Immunity Idol in this episode. It is the first time in the history of the show that a contestant finds the idol without being given any clues.

Ben is removed from the Immunity Challenge for tripping another player. It is the first time in the history of the show that a contestant is removed from a challenge.

Yasmin says the name of this episode when she visits the Foa Foa tribe.

With Marisa's ouster, this marks the third straight season in which a female is voted out first, a "Survivor" first. Twice before, females were the first boots in two consecutive seasons, Borneo/Outback (Sonja, Debb) and Pearl Islands/All-Stars (Nicole, Tina W.)