Survivor: Gabon
Survivor: Gabon — Earth's Last Eden | |
---|---|
| |
Winner | Robert "Bob" Crowley |
Presented by | Jeff Probst |
No. of episodes | 14 |
No. of days | 39 |
No. of castaways | 18 |
Production | |
Location(s) | Wonga-Wongue Presidential Reserve, Estuaire, Gabon |
Filming dates | June 23 – July 31, 2008 |
Release | |
Original release | September 25 – December 14, 2008 |
Chronology | |
Preceded by | Survivor: Micronesia |
Followed by | Survivor: Tocantins |
Survivor: Gabon — Earth's Last Eden is the seventeenth season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor.[1] The premiere aired September 25, 2008, with the first two episodes screened back-to-back. Survivor: Gabon began filming in late June.[2] It marked the second season of the series that was filmed in Africa (Survivor: Africa had been filmed seven years earlier in Kenya). Reports from Gabon indicate the show was filmed around the coastal towns of Nyonie and Ekwata in the Wonga-Wongue Presidential Reserve.[3]
This season, players sent to Exile Island had a choice of receiving a clue to the location of a Hidden Immunity Idol or a comfort item. On April 13, 2008, at the National Association of Broadcasters's annual show, Sony announced that the 17th season of Survivor would be the first to be shot in high definition, using Sony XDCAMs.[4] The show ranked number ten in DVR playback (2.33 million viewers), according to Nielsen prime DVR lift data from September 22, 2008 – November 23, 2008.[5]
The winner was 57-year-old Robert "Bob" Crowley, a high school physics teacher from Maine. He defeated Susie Smith and Jessica "Sugar" Kiper in a 4-3-0 vote at the live finale to take the million dollar prize. In addition, Bob won the $100,000 "Sprint Survivor of the Season" award, beating out Sugar and Matty Whitmore who were next highest in the popular vote.
The complete season, including the mid-season recap episode and live reunion show, was released on DVD exclusively through Amazon.com on September 11, 2014.
Contestants
Contestant | Original tribe | First switched tribe |
Second switched tribe |
Merged tribe | Finish |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chase, MichelleMichelle Chase 24, Los Angeles, California |
Fang | 20 | 20 | 20 | 1st voted out Day 3 |
Larson, GillianGillian Larson 61, Temecula, California |
Fang | 20 | 20 | 20 | 2nd voted out Day 6 |
Soto-Castillo, PalomaPaloma Soto-Castillo 23, Downey, California |
Kota | 20 | 20 | 20 | 3rd voted out Day 9 |
Berg, JacquieJacquie Berg 25, Santa Barbara, California |
Kota | Fang | 20 | 20 | 4th voted out Day 12 |
Brown, Danny "GC"Danny "GC" Brown 25, Portland, Oregon |
Fang | Fang | 20 | 20 | 5th voted out Day 15 |
Czarnecki, KellyKelly Czarnecki 22, Spring Grove, Illinois |
Kota | Fang | 20 | 20 | 6th voted out Day 18 |
Gordon, AceAce Gordon 27, Naples, Florida |
Kota | Fang | 20 | 20 | 7th voted out Day 21 |
Kay, DanDan Kay 32, Boston, Massachusetts |
Fang | Kota | 20 | 20 | 8th voted out Day 21 |
Lehman, MarcusMarcus Lehman 28, Atlanta, Georgia |
Kota | Kota | Kota | 20 | 9th voted out 1st jury member Day 24 |
Herschel, CharlieCharlie Herschel 29, New York, New York |
Kota | Kota | Fang | Nobag | 10th voted out 2nd jury member Day 27 |
Bailey, RandyRandy Bailey 49, Eagle Rock, Missouri |
Fang | Kota | Fang | 11th voted out 3rd jury member Day 30 | |
Kaplan, CorinneCorinne Kaplan 29, Los Angeles, California |
Kota | Kota | Fang | 12th voted out 4th jury member Day 33 | |
Cox, CrystalCrystal Cox 29, Durham, North Carolina |
Fang | Fang | Kota | 13th voted out 5th jury member Day 36 | |
Hoang, KenKen Hoang 22, Westminster, California |
Fang | Fang | Kota | 14th voted out 6th jury member Day 37 | |
Whitmore, MattyMatty Whitmore 29, San Francisco, California |
Fang | Fang | Fang | 15th voted out 7th jury member Day 38 | |
Kiper, Jessica "Sugar"Jessica "Sugar" Kiper 29, Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
Kota | Fang[lower-alpha 1] | Fang | 2nd runner-up | |
Smith, SusieSusie Smith 47, Charles City, Iowa |
Fang | Kota | Kota | Runner-up | |
Crowley, Robert "Bob"Robert "Bob" Crowley 57, Augusta, Maine[6] |
Kota | Kota | Kota | Sole Survivor |
- ↑ Sugar was sent to Exile Island after not being chosen during the first tribe swap. She joined the tribe that lost the next Immunity Challenge, Fang.
Future appearances
Jessica "Sugar" Kiper and Randy Bailey returned for Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains where they placed 20th and 18th, respectively. Corinne Kaplan was asked to return, but declined due to work obligations.[7] Kiper was also later featured as a patient on Celebrity Rehab. Kaplan eventually returned for Survivor: Caramoan and finished 12th.[8]
Season summary
The players were divided into tribes by a schoolyard pick started by the oldest players, Bob and Gillian. It became evident that Gillian's tribe, Fang, was weaker, losing many of the reward and immunity challenges even after a tribal switch, but a core alliance between Matty, Ken, and Crystal developed. On Bob's tribe, Kota, a series of alliances were formed, strengthened after the swap with the addition of Randy. Both the hidden immunity idol and Exile Island were in play; the winning tribe on reward challenges was able to send one of the losing tribe's members to the latter. At Exile, that player had the option of a clue to the immunity idol hidden near Exile (ultimately leading to a string of hidden clues to the idol), or to relax in a small shack with a provision of fruit and a hammock. Sugar was the second player to visit Exile and found the idol on her first visit; she was repeatedly sent back to Exile, where, isolated from both tribes, she relaxed most of the time. Sugar's idol was eventually discovered by Matty, Ken, and Crystal, and they decided to bring her into their alliance, with Ken convincing her to vote off her closest ally Ace whom he claimed was using her for the idol.
On Day 22, both tribes were given clues suggesting a tribal merge; they enjoyed a celebratory meal, and discovered a hidden immunity idol nearby. Unanimously, the players agreed to throw the idol away into the ocean. They then discovered they were still separate tribes, mixed by random draw, and returned to their camps. This development proved crucial for the minority Fang alliance, who successfully convinced Kota alliance member Susie that she was on the bottom of her alliance, resulting in the elimination of Kota alliance leader Marcus. The tribes were then merged with the former Kota alliance in the minority. The Fang alliance, now with Susie, dominated the game, eliminating the former Kota alliance until only Bob was left. Bob won three consecutive immunity challenges, forcing the Fang alliance to turn on themselves and resulting in the eliminations of Crystal and Ken due to their strong strategic prowess.
The final four were Matty, Sugar, Susie, and Bob. Susie won the final immunity challenge, ending Bob's immunity streak. Sugar decided to vote with Bob due to their social bond, forcing a tie between him and Matty; Bob won the fire-making tiebreaker challenge. At the final Tribal Council, the jury were critical of Sugar's backstabbing and of Susie's less-dominant strategic game. They ultimately voted Bob as the Sole Survivor with four votes to Susie's three, with Sugar receiving none.
Episode title[9] | Original air date | Challenge winner(s) | Exiled | Eliminated | Finish | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Reward | Immunity | |||||
"Want to See the Elephant Dung?" | September 25, 2008 | Kota[lower-alpha 1] | GC[lower-alpha 1] | None | Michelle | 1st voted out Day 3 |
Kota[lower-alpha 2] | ||||||
Kota[lower-alpha 2] | Dan | Gillian | 2nd voted out Day 6 | |||
"She Obviously Is Post-Op!" | October 2, 2008 | Fang | Fang | Sugar | Paloma | 3rd voted out Day 9 |
Marcus[lower-alpha 1] | ||||||
"It Was Like Christmas Morning!" | October 9, 2008 | None[lower-alpha 3] | Kota | Sugar[lower-alpha 4] | Jacquie | 4th voted out Day 12 |
"This Camp Is Cursed" | October 16, 2008 | Kota | Kota | Sugar | GC | 5th voted out Day 15 |
"He's a Snake, But He's My Snake" | October 23, 2008 | Kota | Kota | Sugar | Kelly | 6th voted out Day 18 |
"It All Depends On the Pin-Up Girl" | October 30, 2008 | Kota | Marcus[lower-alpha 5] | Sugar | Ace | 7th voted out Day 21 |
[Sugar][lower-alpha 5] | Dan | 8th voted out Day 21 | ||||
"Apple in the Garden of Eden" | November 6, 2008 | None[lower-alpha 3] | Fang | None[lower-alpha 3] | Marcus | 9th voted out 1st jury member Day 24 |
"The Brains Behind Everything" | November 13, 2008 | Fang | Susie | Bob | Charlie | 10th voted out 2nd jury member Day 27 |
"Nothing Tastes Better Than Five Hundred Dollars" | November 20, 2008 | Survivor Auction | Ken | Bob | Randy | 11th voted out 3rd jury member Day 30 |
"The Good Things in Life Aren’t Easy" | December 4, 2008 | Bob | Bob | None[lower-alpha 6] | Corinne | 12th voted out 4th jury member Day 33 |
"The Good Guys Should Win in the End" | December 11, 2008 | Bob, [Crystal, Ken] |
Bob | Susie | Crystal | 13th voted out 5th jury member Day 36 |
"Say Goodbye to Gabon" | December 14, 2008 | None | Bob | None | Ken | 14th voted out 6th jury member Day 37 |
Susie | Matty | 15th voted out 7th jury member Day 38 | ||||
Reunion | December 14, 2008 | Jury vote | ||||
Sugar | 2nd runner-up | |||||
Susie | Runner-up | |||||
Bob | Sole Survivor |
- In the case of multiple tribes or castaways who win reward or immunity, they are listed in order of finish, or alphabetically where it was a team effort; where one castaway won and invited others, the invitees are in brackets.
- 1 2 3 During the initial challenge, the first castaway from each tribe to complete it would win individual immunity at their first Tribal Council, while the first tribe to complete the challenge would win reward.
- 1 2 Combined reward and immunity challenge.
- 1 2 3 There was no Reward Challenge due to a tribal switch.
- ↑ Sugar was exiled after not being chosen for a tribe, and joined the tribe that lost the next immunity challenge.
- 1 2 Marcus won the individual immunity challenge, and chose Sugar to receive immunity as well.
- ↑ As part of a special event in which all castaways got to see their respective loved ones, nobody was sent to Exile Island.
Episodes
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Rating/share (household) | Rating/share (18-49) | Original air date | US viewers (millions) | Weekly rank |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
245 | 1 | "Want to See the Elephant Dung?" | 7.7/12[10] | 4.4/11[11] | September 25, 2008 | 13.06[10] | #13[10] |
The castaways were welcomed to the game by Jeff with just their street clothes. After introducing themselves, the tribes were divided by schoolyard pick. As traditional in Gabon, Jeff announced that the elders usually make the decisions in the tribe and therefore the oldest castaways, Bob and Gillian, started the pick. After the tribes were picked, tribe names announced, and buffs passed out, Jeff announced the first challenge for individual Immunity Idols and extra food.
Marcus and GC won individual Immunity Idols and Kota won the extra bag of food. At the Kota tribe, Bob and Ace took charge and organized the campsite. At the Fang tribe, a nighttime visit by an elephant spooked the tribe. Randy hit his head on the tribe's hut, requiring a visit by the Survivor medical team to put in several stitches.
At a combined Reward/Immunity Challenge, Kota pulled far ahead while digging up the puzzle bags and won by a blowout. Before Tribal Council, Michelle and Gillian were targets for votes due to their negativity and age, respectively. Michelle's negativity outweighed concerns over age and she was voted out. After the vote, Jeff announced that Fang would be taking their torches back to camp and gave them a flint. Picked as the leader of Fang at Tribal Council, GC started the tribe's first fire and organized jobs to fix up the campsite. At Kota, Charlie and Marcus formed an alliance; the two expanded their alliance to include Jacquie and Corinne. The four discussed bringing in Bob to have a majority, though Bob would be kept out of the core alliance of four. In the early morning of day 5, GC resigned his leadership of the tribe after arguing with Gillian over waking up early and making too much noise. After receiving tree mail announcing the next challenge, Dan tried to unify Fang by painting everybody with charcoal face paint.
Despite Fang's attempts to boost morale, Kota won their third challenge in a row. Kota selected Dan to go to Exile Island, where he chose to get a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol, but he was not able to decode the clue to find it. At Fang, Randy fashioned a fishing hook out of parts from his glasses and the tribe was finally able to get some meat. Gillian suggested to Susie that the two of them form an alliance, fearing they might have been next in line to be voted out since they were the oldest women in the game; she suggested the two vote off Ken because Gillian thought he was useless. Dan's behavior after he returned from Exile Island made the others suspicious that he had found the Hidden Immunity Idol. This caused some of the Fang tribe to reconsider voting out their weakest link, Gillian, and instead vote for Dan. At Tribal Council, Gillian's weakness at physical challenges was seen as a greater concern than Dan's potential of having the Hidden Immunity Idol and she was voted out. | |||||||
246 | 2 | "She Obviously Is Post-Op!" | 7.7/12[12] | 4.3/12[13] | October 2, 2008 | 13.08[12] | #12[12] |
At Fang, the argument over who was or was not the tribe leader continued. At Kota, the rest of the tribe was annoyed at Ace's attitude of being king of the tribe.
At the Reward Challenge, Ace chose Paloma to hang on to the post. However, the Fang members easily overpowered her, leading to their first victory. They also elected to send Sugar to Exile Island. The win re-energized the Fang tribe and they finally felt like a team. Meanwhile, at Kota, Paloma's poor effort at the challenge caused her to be seen as the weakest link in the tribe. Corinne talked to Bob about joining her alliance of four, though she kept him in the dark about his status in the endgame. On Exile Island, Sugar elected to receive a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol over comfort and followed the clues to find the Hidden Immunity Idol. Sugar then revealed that her father's recent death was the motivation for her playing the game.
During the Immunity Challenge, Ken secured Fang's victory by overcoming Kota's lead at the tile retrieval stage and solving the numeric puzzle before Bob. After the Immunity Challenge and back at their camp, Sugar told Ace that she found the Hidden Immunity Idol while leading the others to believe she didn't have it. Paloma approached Corinne about forming an alliance and targeting Ace for elimination, due to Ace being manipulative and trying to set her up for failure at the Reward Challenge. At Tribal Council, Ace's attitude at camp was discussed, but the tribe chose to remove their weakest physical link and voted out Paloma. | |||||||
247 | 3 | "It Was Like Christmas Morning!" | 7.7/12[14] | 4.3/12[15] | October 9, 2008 | 13.28[14] | #12[14] |
After Tribal Council, Ace was upset at Kelly's animosity towards him and her vote against him. In retaliation, he targeted her for the next elimination. Over at Fang, an alliance of Dan, Matty, Randy, and Susie formed and targeted GC for elimination. The remaining members of Fang, Crystal, GC, and Ken formed their own alliance. When the tribes next gathered, Jeff announced that the castaways would rank their tribemates by secret survey according to their importance within the tribe. Kota ranked Marcus as most important in their tribe followed by Ace, Bob, Charlie, Jacquie, Corinne, Sugar, and Kelly. Fang ranked Matty as most important in their tribe followed by Dan, Randy, Crystal, Ken, GC, and Susie. After announcing the rankings, Jeff told the castaways to drop their buffs as they would be picking new tribes by schoolyard pick once again. Voted as most important within their tribes, Marcus and Matty stayed with their original tribes and started the draft. The new Kota was Marcus, Dan, Charlie, Randy, Corinne, Susie, and Bob, while the new Fang tribe consisted of Matty, Ace, Crystal, Jacquie, Ken, Kelly, and GC. As Sugar was not selected during the process, she was sent to Exile Island. She would stay there until after the next Tribal Council and then join the tribe that lost the next Immunity Challenge. Since she had already found the Hidden Immunity Idol, Sugar chose the comfort option at Exile Island. At the newly formed Fang campsite, Crystal noticed that Kelly felt like an outcast at the old Kota and invited her to join her alliance with GC and Ken.
At the Immunity Challenge, Randy scored all three goals for Kota in their shutout victory over Fang. Kelly's poor performance at the challenge made Crystal, GC, and Ken reconsider their alliance with her, as they now perceived her as the weakest member of the tribe. However, they decided to target Jacquie instead, realizing that Sugar might have the Hidden Immunity Idol and with it, the trio of Ace, Sugar, and Jacquie would hold power within the tribe. They wanted to ensure that Ace in particular had as little power as possible, as he was also a physical threat. The three shared their plan with Matty to persuade him to vote their way, but he immediately informed Jacquie of the development. Jacquie tried to plead her case to Ken and Crystal, casting herself as an outsider who was not allied with Ace and really wanted to remain in the game. However, her effort was in vain, as the original Fang stuck to their plan at Tribal Council, voting Jacquie out. | |||||||
248 | 4 | "This Camp Is Cursed" | 7.8/13[16] | 4.2/12[17] | October 16, 2008 | 12.81[16] | #12[16] |
Sugar arrived at Fang to join her new tribe and was surprised to see that Jacquie was voted out at the last Tribal Council. She continued to feign that she had not found the Hidden Immunity Idol, but Crystal did not believe her and targeted her next for elimination. On day 13, the Fang tribe were visited by an elephant just across the river from their camp.
At the Reward Challenge, a strategy change of tossing two fruit at a time over Ace defending the second wall helped Kota win the challenge by 2 pounds (0.91 kg). Kota chose to send Sugar to Exile Island for the third time in a row, with Dan stating that it was a strategy move to force her to play the Hidden Immunity Idol before the tribal merge as they wanted it back into circulation. At Exile Island, Sugar once again opted for the comfort. At the Fang camp, the pressure of the game started to get to GC and he argued with Crystal. Immediately before they were to leave for the Immunity Challenge, he went off alone in the tribe's kayak, causing his tribemates to call out for him. He returned just before they left for the challenge.
At the Immunity Challenge, Fang was in the lead until the last round of the challenge when Randy, the caller for Kota, tricked Ace, the blocker for Fang, into stopping and allowing the last Kota ball to reach the goal. The final points were enough for Kota to win the challenge, continuing their winning streak. Before Tribal Council, GC told Matty that he was ready to leave the game. Crystal searched Sugar's bag and found that Sugar had the Hidden Immunity Idol. Although Crystal, Kelly, Ken, and Matty believed that the upcoming Tribal Council was the ideal time to blindside Sugar, they decided instead to grant GC's wish to leave and he was voted out. | |||||||
249 | 5 | "He's a Snake, But He's My Snake" | 7.8/12[18] | 4.4/12[19] | October 23, 2008 | 13.31[18] | #14[18] |
The day after Tribal Council, Matty and Ace made a pact to take each other to the tribal merger as long as Ace could keep Sugar in the game and Matty could keep Ken in the game. Matty swore on his girlfriend and Ace swore on his mother's life. Over at Kota, Dan's extra helpings of food caused conflict among the tribe while the dwindling food supplies at Fang made them rethink their rationing of food. After Ace told Sugar that he thought the rest of Fang went through her bag and discovered the Hidden Immunity Idol, she gave him the idol for safekeeping.
At the Reward Challenge, Kota won their fourth consecutive challenge when Ken, Sugar, Kelly, and Crystal were unable to keep up and dropped out of the challenge, leaving an exhausted Ace and Matty to be chased down by the five men of Kota. Randy's taunting of an emotional Crystal did not sit well with her and she predicted that the old Fang and new Fang members would not get along. Kota chose to send Sugar back to Exile Island for the fourth time. Unlike her last visit where she enjoyed the food with the comfort, Sugar felt guilty about eating while her fellow tribe members subsisted on three scoops of rice. Kelly thought that Crystal crying after the Reward Challenge was a sign of weakness, but Crystal said that it was not.
At the Immunity Challenge, good teamwork by Kota during the flag pole assembly versus Ace trying to assemble Fang's flag alone allowed Kota to extend their winning streak to five challenges in a row. After the challenge, Matty approached Ace about blindsiding Sugar to flush the Hidden Immunity Idol, but Ace convinced Matty not to worry about the Hidden Immunity Idol being played and to vote for Kelly, though Ace did not tell Matty that he had the idol. Crystal also wanted to blindside Sugar or vote out Ace, but Matty told her of Ace's plans. Ken talked to Matty about blindsiding Ace, but Matty told Ken that he made a promise that he could not break. Lastly, Ken talked to Sugar about Ace and she told Ken that she had given the idol to Ace. Ken was unable to convince Sugar to change her alliances, but Ken did make sure that Sugar took the idol back from Ace. At Tribal Council, none of the blindside plans came to fruition and Kelly was voted out. | |||||||
250 | 6 | "It All Depends On the Pin-Up Girl" | 7.7/13[20] | 4.1/12[21] | October 30, 2008 | 13.02[20] | #15[20] |
The day after Tribal Council, Crystal accidentally kicked over Fang's rice supply, which upset Ace and Matty. At the Kota camp, the alliance of Charlie, Corinne, and Marcus made Dan uncomfortable and he approached them feeling left out.
At the Reward Challenge, Kota continued their winning streak by shutting out Fang 3-0; Sugar was chosen to go to Exile Island for the fifth consecutive time. Back at camp, Matty voiced his frustration at Sugar's lack of effort at the challenge. Matty offered Ace a plan to vote out Sugar without Ace having to stab her in the back, but Ace wanted to vote out Crystal instead. Meanwhile, Ken talked to Crystal about blindsiding Ace. During Kota's reward picnic, a crew member of the helicopter surprised them with letters from home. At the Immunity Challenge, Jeff announced that both tribes would be going to Tribal Council, that they would be playing for Individual Immunity, and there would be a twist announced after the Challenge was done.
Marcus won the Individual Immunity by defeating Sugar and Ace. The twist was that Marcus had to assign Individual Immunity to one member of the other tribe and he selected Sugar. After the Immunity Challenge, Ken, in an effort to blindside Ace, told Sugar about Ace and Matty plotting to vote her out. Later, Ace asked Sugar to give him the Hidden Immunity Idol, which made her think Ken's story was true. At Fang's Tribal Council, Ken's plan to blindside Ace came to fruition as Sugar cast the deciding vote against Ace and he was voted out. The afternoon before Kota's Tribal Council, Dan scrambled to keep himself in the game. Charlie, Corinne, and Marcus replaced Bob in their alliance with Randy, though they did not tell Bob. Susie upset Corinne by telling her she had planned to vote for her. Corinne immediately went to her alliance and told them that she wanted to vote out Susie. Corinne, Charlie, Marcus, Randy, and Bob split their votes between Dan and Susie, convincing each to vote for the other and hoping that the immunity idol would be flushed out if Dan had it in his possession. Ultimately, Dan was voted out. | |||||||
251 | 7 | "Apple in the Garden of Eden" | 7.2/11[22] | 3.8/10[23] | November 6, 2008 | 12.01[22] | #15[22] |
Back at camp after Tribal Council, Marcus and Corinne addressed Susie over her opinion that she was a stronger player than Corinne. Over at Fang's camp site, the tribe tried to start over and looked ahead to an expected tribal merger. After tree mail hinted at a tribal merge, the castaways packed up their personal items and went to a beach for a feast. At the feast, a clue for a second Hidden Immunity Idol was tucked under a locked box that the castaways would open after the feast was over. Ken noticed the note first, but when he tried to get the note for himself, Charlie saw the note and forced Ken to share the note with everybody. When nobody showed much interest in going to find the idol for fear of looking greedy, Marcus proposed to dig up the Hidden Immunity Idol, but to throw it in the ocean so that nobody could use it. Although many were tempted to take the Idol, the castaways finally agreed to throw it into the ocean. When the castaways opened the locked box, they were instructed to each draw a numbered stone from a bag. A second note was then read, stating that they had just selected new tribes. Castaways with odd numbers would be the new Fang and the even numbers the new Kota. At the new Kota, Marcus identified Crystal as the cousin of one of his friends, forming a connection with her. The two agreed not to write each other's names down at Tribal Council, but Crystal later stated in a confessional she had no intention to be loyal to him. Marcus tried to convince Susie to join his alliance with himself and Bob. At the new Fang, Corinne felt that the greatest threat to her alliance with Marcus was Matty and she wanted to vote him out next. Matty told Sugar that Ace never targeted her contrary to what Ken told her and she felt bad about blindsiding Ace at the last Tribal Council. The two formed a new alliance. Concerned over how Susie would vote at a Kota Tribal Council, Randy talked to Charlie and Corinne about throwing the next Immunity Challenge to force Fang to go to Tribal Council where the three would vote out Matty.
At the Immunity Challenge, Matty outlasted Bob and he won the challenge for Fang, spoiling Charlie, Corinne, and Randy's plans. Marcus tried to keep the Kota six alliance going by approaching Crystal about replacing Susie in the Kota six and voting out Ken followed by Susie, but she did not want to vote out her ally, Ken. Marcus told a different story to Susie, telling her the plan would be to vote out Ken followed by Crystal. He also promised to take Susie to the final three. Not wanting to betray her long term alliance with Ken, Crystal told Ken what Marcus told her. Crystal tried to convince Susie that Marcus's promise of a final three was not possible because Corinne and Randy disliked Susie too much to allow that to happen. At Tribal Council, Susie decided to join Crystal and Ken, and they voted out Marcus. | |||||||
252 | 8 | "The Brains Behind Everything" | 7.6/12[24] | 4.1/11[25] | November 13, 2008 | 12.89[24] | #15[24] |
Several castaways expected a merge notice via tree mail, but instead the tribes received a Reward Challenge note. Upon seeing the Marcus-less Kota tribe, Charlie and Corinne were visibly shocked at their ally's ouster.
Fang came from behind to win the Reward Challenge. Corinne announced that Fang was going to send Bob to Exile Island, hoping that he would find the Hidden Immunity Idol, but not knowing that Sugar had already found it. At Exile Island, Bob followed the clues to the Hidden Immunity Idol and found the location where the idol would have been. Unable to find the idol and thinking that Sugar may have found it, Bob fabricated a fake Hidden Immunity Idol that he hoped to use as a bluff. On day 27, before the start of the Immunity Challenge, Jeff announced that the tribes had merged.
Susie and Sugar were the only two castaways to get a fire started during the Immunity Challenge, with Susie being the first to burn through her rope to win individual immunity. The castaways returned to the old Fang campsite, found that they had received new food supplies, and named themselves Nobag ("Gabon" backwards). The alliance of Charlie, Corinne, and Randy saw Sugar as a swing vote at Tribal Council to vote for Crystal, whom Randy wanted voted out. Sugar told Charlie and Corinne that she could not live with Randy any more and Corinne tried to convince Sugar that if she voted with their alliance that they would vote Randy out next. To get revenge for forcing him to share the note about the second Hidden Immunity Idol at the feast, Ken decided to blindside Charlie by fabricating a story that Charlie was the brains behind the Kota alliance. Ken told the story to his alliance of Crystal, Matty, and Susie who believed his story and agreed to vote for Charlie. Ken told the same story to Sugar in an effort to get her vote for Charlie. At Tribal Council, Crystal confronted Randy over why he disliked her so much. Sugar joined the alliance of Crystal, Ken, Matty, and Susie, because she did not want to align with Randy and Corinne, and Charlie was voted out. | |||||||
253 | 9 | "Nothing Tastes Better Than Five Hundred Dollars" | 7.5/12[26] | 4.0/11[27] | November 20, 2008 | 12.50[26] | #14[26] |
Not knowing that Sugar had the Hidden Immunity Idol, Bob told her that he did not have it and showed her the fake idol that he made.
The second item up for bid was unknown as it was covered. After making the winning bid, Ken discovered he had won the right to send somebody to Exile Island and take their money. He chose Bob who immediately departed for Exile Island. For the second to last item at the auction, Corinne won a sealed bottle with a note that would give her an advantage at the next Immunity Challenge. Randy won the last item of the auction, chocolate chip cookies to share with the tribe. Sugar declined the first cookie offered to her which Randy then split between Matty and Corinne. Without taking one for himself, Randy offered Sugar the last cookie. She took it and gave it to Matty which upset Randy. At Exile Island, after getting no additional help from the Hidden Immunity Idol clue, Bob decided to go on a personal safari instead of looking for the idol. After the auction, Corinne and Randy talked to Matty about joining their alliance with Bob. Instead of joining with Corinne and Randy, Matty lobbied his alliance to vote out Bob next instead of Randy. Randy decided that the only option available to his alliance was to annoy the Fang alliance, get them to all vote for him, pull out the Hidden Immunity Idol that he assumed Bob had found, and blindside Susie at Tribal Council in revenge for her flipping to the Fang alliance. Randy told Matty that Matty had "whored [himself] out" to the original Kota alliance, at which point Matty rescinded his voting off order and gave into his alliance's want of voting Randy off.
At the Immunity Challenge, Corinne's sealed note that she bought at the Survivor Auction stated that she would skip the first round and go directly to the final round. Despite her advantage, Ken defeated her and Matty in the final round. After the Immunity Challenge, Bob told Sugar that he still did not have the Hidden Immunity Idol and she told him that he should give his fake idol to Randy. Figuring that he had nothing to lose and it would keep him in the game, Bob agreed to Sugar's plan and gave Randy the fake idol. At Tribal Council, Randy pulled out the idol before the votes were read. Jeff announced that it was not a hidden immunity idol and tossed the idol into the fire pit. The votes against Randy were counted and he was voted out. | |||||||
254 | 10 | "I Was Put On The Planet For This Show" | 4.9/10[28] | 2.3/7[29] | November 27, 2008 | 8.31[29] | TBA |
A recap of the first 30 days including previously un-aired bonus footage. | |||||||
255 | 11 | "The Good Things in Life Aren’t Easy" | 7.5/12[30] | 4.0/11[31] | December 4, 2008 | 12.73[30] | #11[30] |
Back at camp after Tribal Council, Bob was upset at all of the laughing when Randy was voted out. Corinne and Sugar argued over how to play the game. At the Reward Challenge, the castaways got to view a short video clip from their loved ones before the schoolyard pick. Jeff said that the castaways' loved ones were not around the corner and he only had the videos of them. Because "today is all about love" according to Jeff, nobody was sent to Exile Island.
The schoolyard pick resulted in one team of Susie, Matty, and Ken and another team of Crystal, Sugar, and Bob; Corinne was not picked, so she could not win. The team of Bob, Crystal, and Sugar came from behind to win the first round of the challenge and moved on to the final round. Bob won the Reward Challenge by quickly solving his sliding puzzle first. Jeff then told the rest of the tribe that he had nothing for them and told them to head back to camp. While Bob was watching the video clip from his wife, she paused and said that there was "something I wanted to show you" and moved off-camera. Contrary to what Jeff said at the start of the Reward Challenge, Peggy, Bob's wife, was in Gabon and she stepped around the corner to surprise Bob. Bob and Peggy then walked hand in hand to the Nobag campsite to meet the rest of the castaways. After introducing his wife to the tribe, Bob turned and whistled to signal the other castaways' loved ones to make an appearance. Matty proposed to his girlfriend, Jamie. The loved ones departed camp before sundown. Bob shared with Corinne a plan to blindside Matty where Bob would make up a second fake Immunity Idol and tell the Fang alliance that it was the idol that Marcus threw into the ocean. Bob's story was that Marcus only threw the bottle into the ocean, had hidden the idol around the camp, and told Bob where it was.
At the Immunity Challenge, Bob won by throwing his second ball one zone from the center. With Bob's win, Corinne expanded upon her blindsiding plan with Bob by concocting the story that Bob would have played the idol tossed into the ocean at the next Tribal Council, but since he won Individual Immunity, he would give Corinne the lost idol. Bob and Corinne hoped that the threat of Corinne having an idol would deter the Fang alliance from voting for her and would instead vote for Matty. Corinne told the story to Ken, which he believed and he suggested that Bob and Corinne approach Crystal with their plan. Bob told the story to Crystal and showed her the second fake idol. Crystal and Ken talked about their voting strategy under this plan where Ken would vote for Matty, Crystal would vote for Corinne, resulting in a 4-3 vote split between Corinne and Matty, respectively, Corinne would play the lost idol negating votes against her, the lost idol would be flushed, and Matty would be going home. At Tribal Council, the vote went as Crystal and Ken planned, Corinne's bluff was called and she was voted out. | |||||||
256 | 12 | "The Good Guys Should Win in the End" | 7.7/12[32] | 4.1/11[33] | December 11, 2008 | 13.05[32] | #14[32] |
After the castaways returned from Tribal Council, Matty was upset because Ken voted for him. Ken told Matty about Bob and Corinne's Hidden Immunity Idol, but Matty did not believe him. Ken confronted Bob about the fake Hidden Immunity Idol. Bob promised Ken that if he won the next Immunity Challenge that he would give the immunity necklace to Ken.
Bob won the Reward Challenge and chose to take Crystal and Ken along on the trip and to send Susie to Exile Island. While on the trip, Bob reiterated his promise to give the immunity necklace to Ken. Ken decided that he would only take it if he felt he was in danger of being voted out. On Exile Island, Susie selected the comfort choice because she knew that Sugar already had the Hidden Immunity Idol. Back at camp, Matty tried to get Sugar to give him the Hidden Immunity Idol. After returning from the reward trip, Crystal yelled at Matty for him questioning Crystal and Ken's loyalty to him. The yelling made Sugar change her opinion about Crystal and Ken. She told Matty that he would not be going home after the next Tribal Council and hatched a plan to take out Crystal and Ken.
At the Immunity Challenge, Bob won immunity for the second time in a row, marking his fourth consecutive challenge win. Ken told Crystal, Matty, and Sugar that Bob would give him the immunity necklace if they all told Bob that they would be voting for Ken, so they should tell Bob that and then vote for Bob instead to blindside him. Sugar told Bob of Ken's plan, that she would not vote for him, and to vote for Crystal. At Tribal Council, Bob and Ken said that their agreement over the immunity necklace would be that Bob would give it to Ken if Bob felt that Ken was in danger of being voted out. Jeff stated that this Tribal Council would be the last Tribal Council where the Hidden Immunity Idol could be played. Sugar was openly wearing the Hidden Immunity Idol. Before the voting started, Jeff asked Bob if he was going to give up the Immunity necklace. Bob stated that he was not going to give up the necklace as he thought Ken was not going to go home. Before the votes were tallied, Sugar gave the Hidden Immunity Idol to Matty who then presented it to Jeff. Ken and Crystal's votes against Matty were voided and Crystal, upon receiving the four remaining votes, was sent to the jury. | |||||||
257 | 13 | "Say Goodbye to Gabon" | 7.8/12[32] | TBA | December 14, 2008 | 13.77[32] | #9[32] |
Ken felt that Bob reneged on his deal to hand over the immunity necklace at the last Tribal Council. Sugar worked on re-establishing Ken's trust in her even as she plotted with Bob to vote out Susie and Ken next.
At the Immunity Challenge, Bob narrowly beat Sugar, winning immunity for the third straight time and the fifth consecutive challenge. At Tribal Council, Ken felt confident going into Tribal Council that he would not be voted out, but that confidence was misplaced as he was voted out 4–1. Before the start of the final Immunity Challenge, the Final Four took the traditional journey honoring the castaways voted out before them.
Susie broke Bob's challenge winning streak by having built the tallest house of cards after 30 minutes. Sugar thought about forcing a tie at the next Tribal Council due to her loyalty towards Bob for being a father figure. Bob went off into the trees to practice starting a fire, anticipating a fire making tiebreaker challenge. At Tribal Council, Sugar did force a 2-2 tie between Bob and Matty. The tiebreaker challenge was to create a fire large enough to burn through a rope, which Bob won after resuscitating his initial fire to burn through his rope; Matty did not manage to even get one started. The final three spent their last day at camp eating the traditional feast and burning down one of the huts at the campsite. At the final Tribal Council, Charlie asked Sugar and Susie why they felt they should be voted at the "top of the totem pole" even though they were ranked the second lowest and lowest, respectively, among their tribes before the first tribal switch. He asked Bob if the "intimate cuddling and spooning all night long" was more enjoyable than he would liked to admit. Crystal asked no question of Susie, asked Bob to tell her something that Sugar didn't tell him to do, and asked Sugar why she voted her out. Ken asked Susie why she thought she deserved the million dollars and his vote, asked Sugar why she back stabbed him, and Bob about their deal over the immunity necklace. Corinne asked Susie if she would be willing to have her vocal cords removed if she were to win the million dollars. She asked Bob to show the nasty side of Bob and make her believe that he did not like Sugar. She took the opportunity to make a callous comment about Sugar's deceased father, to which Sugar gave an obscene gesture. Marcus asked no questions of Susie, what Sugar would do to honor her deceased father if she were to win, and for Bob to give one example of a situation in which he was responsible for his decisions. Randy asked Susie to elaborate on the time that Susie said she felt sorry for him and Sugar and Bob if they considered the consequences of putting him on the jury when they gave him the fake Hidden Immunity Idol. Matty asked Susie to tell him why Bob and Sugar were less deserving that she was of the million dollars, Sugar to reveal something that she felt that she did was evil, and Bob why Sugar and Susie were more deserving of the million dollar prize than he was. In the end, the jury voted Bob the Sole Survivor receiving four jury votes while Susie received the remaining three. | |||||||
258 | 14 | "Reunion" | 7.0/12[32] | TBA | December 14, 2008 | 11.74[32] | #15[32] |
The castaways return to discuss the season with host, Jeff Probst. |
Voting history
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- ↑ The first Tribal Council vote resulted in a tie. As there were only four castaways remaining, the two tied castaways would compete in a fire making challenge to resolve the tie.
- ↑ Because Matty played the Hidden Immunity Idol, the two votes against him did not count.
- 1 2 3 Matty lost to Bob in the fire making tiebreaker challenge.
- ↑ Sugar was sent to Exile Island after not being chosen in the first tribal switch. She joined the tribe that lost the subsequent Immunity Challenge, Fang.
Reception
Host Jeff Probst originally ranked Gabon 14th out of 19 seasons in 2010, thus ranking it as the 6th-worst season of the series.[34] He later went on to say that the show was drifting during Gabon and that he nearly quit the show as a consequence. [35] Dalton Ross of Entertainment Weekly ranked Gabon in the bottom 10 worst seasons of the series, summarizing: "It got better near the end, but it was still a case of too little, too late. The fact that so many unworthy players went so far is simply too damning."[36] Gabon is ranked as the second-worst season of the series by Examiner.com (only ahead of Survivor: Fiji), The Wire (only ahead of Survivor: Redemption Island), and fan site "The Purple Rock Podcast" (only ahead of Survivor: Nicaragua).[37][38] In 2012 and 2013, Survivor fan site "Survivor Oz" consistently ranked Gabon as the 8th-worst season of the series in its annual polls ranking all seasons; however, Gabon improved significantly in 2014, when it was voted as the 10th best season.[39][40][41]
Controversy
Survivor: Gabon received some minor criticism from the Parents Television Council for a brief, uncensored glimpse of Marcus's penis when the tip was partially exposed through the fly of his boxer shorts. The exposure occurred on the season opener during the second Immunity Challenge when Marcus raced alongside fellow contestants.[42][43]
References
- ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (2008-01-28). "CBS sticks with Survivor; Probst re-ups as host". Reuters/The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
- ↑ Ross, Dalton (May 12, 2008). "Jeff Probst talks about next 'Survivor' location". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 9, 2009.
- ↑ "Survivor Gabon--Return to Africa". 2008-05-29. Archived from the original on 2008-05-14. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
- ↑ Dickson, Glen (2008-04-13). "NAB 2008: Sony Nets Big HD Camera Sales, Survivor, COPS to Use Sony's XDCAM HD". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved 2008-04-13.
- ↑ "CBS NUMBER ONE LIVE -- AND IN PLAYBACK". The Futon Critic. December 12, 2008. Retrieved May 17, 2010.
- ↑ "Looking for an adventure, Mainer lands on 'Survivor' (quote: "Crowley lives in South Portland with his wife, Peggy.")".
- ↑ "Season Preview". Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains. TV Guide Channel.
- ↑ Ross, Dalton (2013-01-11). "'Survivor: Caramoan -- Fans vs Favorites': New cast and intel revealed!". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2013-01-13.
- ↑ "CBS TV Schedule".
- 1 2 3 Seidman, Robert (2008-09-30). "Dancing Stars, Desperate Housewives and Grey’s Anatomy lead weekly viewing". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
- ↑ Kissell, Rick (2008-09-26). "ABC wins opening Thursday". Variety. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
- 1 2 3 Gorman, Bill (2008-10-07). "Dancing Stars, NCIS, 60 Minutes and Desperate Housewives Top Broadcast viewing". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
- ↑ Kissell, Rick (2008-10-03). "Huge audience for VP debate". Variety. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
- 1 2 3 Seidman, Robert (2008-10-14). "CSI, Dancing with the Stars, NCIS, Criminal Minds and CSI: NY Lead Weekly Broadcast Viewing". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
- ↑ Kissell, Rick (2008-10-10). "'CSI' strong; 'Mars' top bow". Variety. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
- 1 2 3 Seidman, Robert (2008-10-21). "CSI, NCIS, Dancing Stars and Desperate Housewives Lead Weekly Viewing". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
- ↑ Kissell, Rick (2008-10-17). "ABC's 'Mars' takes tumble". Variety. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
- 1 2 3 Seidman, Robert (2008-10-28). "CSI, Dancing With the Stars and NCIS Most-Watched In Prime Time". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
- ↑ Kissell, Rick (2008-10-24). "CBS tops World Series". Variety. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
- 1 2 3 Seidman, Robert (2008-11-04). "World Series, NFL and The Simpsons Lead Weekly TV Viewing". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
- ↑ Kissell, Rick (2008-10-31). "'Rock' hits series high". Variety. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
- 1 2 3 Seidman, Robert (2008-11-11). "60 Minutes, CSI and Sunday Night Football lead weekly top 20 Nielsen TV Ratings". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
- ↑ Kissell, Rick (2008-11-07). "CBS, ABC top Thursday ratings". Variety. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
- 1 2 3 Seidman, Robert (2008-11-18). "60 Minutes, NFL, CSI and NCIS lead weekly Nielsen broadcast viewing". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
- ↑ Kissell, Rick (2008-11-14). "CBS takes another Thursday". Variety. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
- 1 2 3 Seidman, Robert (2008-11-25). "Dancing With the Stars, CSI and NCIS lead weekly broadcast viewing". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
- ↑ Kissell, Rick (2008-11-21). "CBS wins another Thursday". Variety. Retrieved 2008-11-21.
- ↑ "TV Ratings: Thanksgiving Thursday Goes to CBS". zap2it. 2008-11-28. Retrieved 2008-11-28.
- 1 2 Kissell, Rick (2008-12-02). "Football dominates last week of Nov.". Variety. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
- 1 2 3 Seidman, Robert (2008-12-09). "The Mentalist, NCIS and CSI lead weekly viewing as CBS takes top three spots". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2008-12-09.
- ↑ Seidman, Robert (2008-12-05). "Thursday Ratings: Barbara Walters is still a hit with the "youth"". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2008-12-09.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Seidman, Robert (2008-12-16). "CBS Dominates Weekly Primetime Viewing taking 14 of the top 20 shows". TVbytheNumbers. Retrieved 2008-12-16.
- ↑ Kissell, Rick (2008-12-12). "CBS scores big on Thursday". Variety. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
- ↑ "- 'Survivor' - Jeff Probst Ranks All the Seasons, Worst to First - EW.com". Entertainment Weekly's EW.com.
- ↑ "‘Survivor’ Defies Gravity to Hang On as CBS Ratings Stalwart". The New York Times.
- ↑ "Survivor recap: My Word Is My Bond - EW.com". Entertainment Weekly's EW.com.
- ↑ Joe Reid. "A Definitive Ranking of Every Season of 'Survivor'". The Wire.
- ↑ "Survivor season rankings (with spoiler-free summaries)". The Purple Rock Survivor Podcast.
- ↑ "Top 24 Survivor Seasons of All Time – Rankings from 24 to 1!". Survivor Oz.
- ↑ "Ozcars 2013 Best Seasons – Rankings from 26 to 1!". Survivor Oz.
- ↑ "Ozcars 2014 Best Seasons–Rankings From 28 to 1!". Survivor Oz.
- ↑ "PTC Blasts CBS for Nudity on "Survivor" Premiere" (Press release). Parents Television Council. 2008-09-30. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
- ↑ Moorhouse, Drusilla (2008-10-02). "Survivor's Big Reveal". E! Online. Archived from the original on October 7, 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-03.