Survivor returns this week for its 40th iteration, Winners at War, which will feature one of the show's most popular contestants, Boston Rob Mariano. As Rob and his wife Amber return to the game to compete against each other and 18 other winners of the game, Survivor fans around the world are looking back on his previous moves and discuss his chances (if any) to take home the win this season.
Here is a list of the ten biggest moves Boston Rob made in the game, shaping his Survivor reputation and legacy. While most of the moves on this list are cutthroat, some display the softer, sensitive side of Rob that his wife Amber brings out of him. Let's take a look back through Boston Rob's Survivor career.
Blindsiding Matt Elrod For A Second Time
Boston Rob's fourth time playing the game in Survivor: Redemption Island was both masterful and painful to watch. He was able to herd the rest of the cast like sheep, controlling and manipulating them into playing as one tribe instead of individual games. After he purposefully sent contestant Matt Elrod to 'Redemption Island' - a twist where voted-out contestants have a shot to compete for their way back into the game - he won six individual challenges in a row, rightfully earning his way back into the game proper.
Boston Rob kept a close eye on Matt, realizing he couldn't win against Matt and his heroic comeback story. His worries and assumptions that Matt was mingling with the opposing alliance were enough to cut the latter loose, and Rob ended up blindsiding Matt Elrod for the second time in one season, sending him back to 'Redemption Island' the next vote.
Rob Throws The Immunity Idol Clue Into A Volcano
This scene came during a reward challenge in Redemption Island, and Boston Rob was feeling on top of the world after he found a hidden immunity idol. He found a clue during the reward, as they're typically hidden for castaways to find.
As he's situated with a volcano as his backdrop for an unforgettably epic confessional, Boston Rob strokes his ego, exclaiming: "It really doesn't matter what it says, because I already have the idol," and nonchalantly throws the clue behind him, into the abyss of a Nicaraguan volcano!
Rob Pits Rupert Boneham & Big Tom Buchanan Against Each Other
After Boston Rob won the final five reward challenge, winning both himself and Amber brand new cars, he began to get paranoid that tribemates Rupert and Big Tom plotted against him while he and Amber were enjoying their reward.
As a solution to his fright, Boston Rob pitted Rupert and Big Tom against each other, saying they were both gunning for one another. Effectively, Big Tom was eliminated at tribal council, showcasing Rob's true ability to manipulate and deceive!
Proposing To Amber During The All-Stars Finale
Boston Rob felt like a winner even if he wasn't triumphant his second time out in Survivor: All-Stars. Rob met Amber Brkich on his first day on the Chapera beach and fell for her fast. Amber claims she was initially only flirting for strategy, but couldn't deny their palpable chemistry. Rob and Amber, known affectionately as "Romber," managed to stay side-by-side through the majority of the game, only being apart for one monumental vote (see the next entry).
Though Amber won All-Stars after the jury felt sour towards Rob's lies and deceit, Rob felt like he won in a sense, and proposed to Amber on live TV right before Jeff read the final votes. The duo had a televised wedding special and have four daughters, and will both compete on the 40th season Survivor: Winners at War!
Rob Screws Over Lex
Boston Rob was crushed and felt doomed when Amber chose a different color buff from his during the deciding tribe swap in All-Stars, worried her time would soon be over as the odd one out on her new tribe. After his tribe wins immunity, Rob hesitantly scurries his way over to Lex van den Berghe. A friendship between the two had developed outside Survivor, and Rob was banking on Lex's trust. "You take care of her, I'll take care of you." He whispers to Lex, implying his need to keep Amber in the game.
Lex pondered voting out Amber but ultimately decides to betray alliance member Jerri Manthey, blindsiding her by keeping Amber afloat. Once the merge hits at the next vote, Lex comes to Boston Rob to assure his safety after saving his girlfriend. Boston Rob found himself making too many promises, and couldn't find the numbers to save his buddy, Lex. "The word I gave you was that if I could take care of you I will. I'm sorry, I cannot." This move has been considered one of the worst moves in the history of the game.
Rob Blindsides Hunter Ellis
Although his stint on Survivor: Marquesas was cut before he could make the jury, Boston Rob still left the game with blood on his hands. Before his merge boot elimination, Boston Rob decided to pit his tribe against the alpha male physical threat, Hunter Ellis.
Knowing he couldn't control where his vote went, Boston Rob successfully pulled off one of the game's first true blindsides by eliminating Hunter, regardless of its fateful outcome. This began Rob's taste for power and gave him the courage and guts that's instilled in his gameplay today. Boston Rob even wrote a book on his strategy and gameplay!
Rob Builds Fire Without Flint On Day One
Boston Rob was assigned to the Villains tribe on Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, the show's iconic 20th season. Boston Rob immediately began working hard, starting the shelter building and collecting materials to start a fire.
After he successfully started a fire with just the rubbing of sticks, Boston Rob already felt victorious, and his infectious attitude helped the tribe dominate the immunity challenge, staying far away from tribal council.
Rob Blindsides Rob Cesternino
Rob's tripe Chapera was kicking major ass in Survivor: All-Stars, winning challenge after challenge. Rob single-handedly won the tribe a unique shelter-building challenge, creating the Survivor's paradise, being the hands-on construction worker here to impress, after all!
Chapera lost immunity for the first time on Day 11, forcing the elimination of one contestant. Though the group had been jelling together well, Boston Rob campaigned to vote out know-it-all and strategist Rob Cesternino, the third-place finisher from Survivor: The Amazon who Jeff Probst dubbed: "the greatest Survivor to never win the game." Boston Rob successfully convinced the tribe and blindsided Rob C., beginning a string of blindsides that would end up coming to haunt him!
Rob Collapses In The Jungle
Though it's not a deliberate or intentional move, Rob fainting in the jungle during the early days of Heroes vs. Villains showed just how far Rob is willing to push himself in the game. Frustrated by his tribe's halfhearted efforts, Rob pushed himself to the limit when Jerri Manthey found him unconscious in the jungle.
Luckily, Survivor medics determined his collapse wasn't serious, and Rob didn't need immediate medical attention or to be pulled from the game. He quickly recovered and returned to continue rampaging his way through the game.
Rob's Overall Strategy In Redemption Island
Boston Rob finally won his fourth time out in Survivor: Redemption Island, and absolutely deserved the triumph. Countered against some of the most humdrum, mundane players to ever attempt this game, Rob stood no chance of losing the 22nd season!
Part of his overall strategy was to keep his allies close by, to the point of manipulating them into not even talking to opposing alliance . His capacity to control his tribemates while charming them won him the game, despite his cult leader antics.