Stranded in Namibia is the 21st season of Stranded and the most eclectic season to date. In a season where the theme was betrayal, the cast did not disappoint. From the very beginning the stage was set for another epic season of Stranded as players were asked to rank their tribe members in order of honesty. The least honest members were revealed arousing suspicion as the big twist of the season was announced: each tribe would have a mole. This was a member of the other tribe that remained anonymous to everyone, but had the potential to earn a Hidden Immunity Idol going into the merge. The catch: if the mole was guessed before the merge, they would instantly be exiled to the opposing tribe and thrust into Tribal Council.

This not only created tension within both tribes, but also created a large rift between the two tribes like we haven’t seen in a long time. The two most honest members of the tribes became the moles, and they couldn’t be any more opposite. Nama’s mole was the happy-go-lucky Ralph from the Ovambo Tribe. He made a huge impact on the game early when he formed a tight alliance with Kristina and provided comedic relief. In stark contrast, Sophie was chosen as the most honest member of Nama and became the Ovambo mole. Unlike Ralph, she was constantly aware of her surroundings and figuring out the best plan of action. Whereas Ralph dove head first into the twist and started chatting it up with the members of Nama, Sophie did not even log into the account until a few rounds had gone by and she felt comfortable enough with her position. While trying to remain anonymous as the Nama Mole, Ralph made an alliance with the biggest character on Nama, Papa Bear. As a code word, Ralph would later tell Papa Bear “baboon” in the merge to signify that he was the mole.

The pre-merge was rife with controversy as three players had to quit early: Matt, just because, Jim, because of a family emergency, and Rick because of a scheduling conflict. In a Stranded first, two replacements were brought in with New Rick and New Ashley and the tribes were swapped breathing new life into the game. Ashley hit the ground running forming bonds with all of the remaining Nama members and especially with the only member of Ovambo to end up on her tribe: Grant. After being the clear target, Grant decided to use the mole twist to his advantage, he guessed incorrectly and was swapped back to Ovambo where Rick was booted. Although no one gave Ashley a chance in hell of making it to the merge, she survived another Tribal Council where Papa Bear insisted that Semhar go.

The merge began as was predicted with Cochran leaving, but not everything was set in stone. Ralph tried to rekindle his baboon alliance with Papa Bear, but when he attempted to bring Kristina along, she was firm in her stance to get rid of Papa Bear. With Papa Bear gone, and the Ovambo alliance having an 7 to 3 majority, the natives were getting restless. David and Mike began talking with Nama members about making a big moves and when they discussed this with Grant, it became clear that something had to be done and in a shocking move, they blindsided Kristina and voted out her number one ally Ralph. After Ralph had left the game, the biggest and most influential boot was upon them as Ashley and Sophie convinced Whitney and Julie to join forces with them to blindside the biggest player in the game: Grant. The Ovambo alliance split the votes between Whitney and Sophie in an attempt to flush out the idol. What they didn’t know was that Sophie and Whitney were working with Ashley and had secured Julie’s vote. Grant was voted out 4 to 3 to 2.

When the next council came around it was an obvious tie vote between Kristina and Sophie until David panicked and changed his vote on the revote. With Kristina out of the game, Sophie was in the majority for the first time in the game with Ashley, Whitney and Julie by her side. With everyone furious at David and Stephanie finding the Hidden Immunity Idol, the next vote would obviously be four for David and three for Ashley. However, when Whitney failed to show up and vote, the vote was once again tied resulting in rocks being drawn. Whitney pulled the losing rock by default and the game was all tied up with both alliances having three members. The next vote resulted in a tie yet again with rocks being drawn. This time, Julie pulled the unlucky rock and was sent home. Yet again Sophie’s was in the bottom and with no idols in play, she was finally voted off in the final 5.

With four players left in the game, it seemed certain that Ashley would go home as the most likable and biggest jury threat and the last remaining member of Sophie’s alliance. With David having so much pressure put on him by the jurors, by the players in the game, he was beginning to crack and in the final 4, Ashley had guilted him to tie the vote between Mike and herself, with Stephanie being immune. Ashley pulled the purple rock and became the final juror. With Mike simply going along with the power alliance, and David’s constant flip-flopping throughout the merge, Stephanie had guaranteed herself a victory. From winning countless challenges, finding countless Hidden Immunity Idols and remaining true and in control of her alliance, Stephanie won the game with six votes, while Mike and David tied for second.