Survivor: Pearl Islands

Survivor: Pearl Islands (initially dubbed as Survivor: Pearl Islands — Panama) is the seventh season of the United States reality show Survivor. It was won by Sandra Diaz-Twine.

The complete season, including the Live Reunion Show, was released on DVD on February 7, 2006.

Production
The start of the game was announced as a surprise to the contestants, who were told that they would be participating in the clothes on their backs, most believing they were getting publicity shots prior to the contest, and that no additional supplies would be given to them, nor would they be allowed to bring any luxury items.

Twist/Changes
These are the game-changing events of the season:
 * No Luxury Items on first day: The contestants were lured to go on a yacht and travel across Panama to promote the season. Much to their surprise, they will be starting the game with only the clothes on their backs (with their luxury items and other personal belongings staying on the ship as well). After being divided into tribes, they were sent to a fishing village with 100 Panamanian Balboas (roughly $100) to buy their supplies.


 * Looting: Aside from the actual prize that a tribe gets after winning a Reward Challenge, the survivors will somewhat experience pirate life by pillaging from the losing tribe's camp. One member of the winning tribe will be sent to the other tribe's dwelling to loot one item from their camp.


 * Buried Treasure: Aside from looting items from the rival tribe, the tribe that wins a Reward Challenge will also get a third prize, a clue to the whereabouts of a hidden treasure chest buried somewhere in the tribes' respective islands.


 * Entirely distant camps: Unlike previous seasons, where the tribes dwell in the same island (albeit living in opposite sides), the survivors will live in two entirely different islands, with equal amount of resources.


 * Kidnapping: The Morgan tribe was given an additional advantage after winning the Day 12 Immunity Challenge. They were told that they will kidnap one member of the opposing tribe, until the next challenge, and that player will skip Tribal Council and will abstain from the vote.


 * Outcast Twist: On Day 19, the ten remaining survivors faced a third tribe comprised of the first six departed castaways in a 3-way special challenge. If the Outcasts win, both Drake and Morgan will go to separate Tribal Council sessions and will vote one of their own. The Outcasts will vote two of their own back into the game, with the remaining four eliminated for good. The two returning castaways will be granted immunity at their first visit to Tribal Council.


 * Double Tribal Council: In the advent of the Outcasts' victory, both Drake and Morgan will go to Tribal Council and must eliminate one of their own.


 * Jury competing in a challenge and immunity-free Tribal Council: At the Day 37 Immunity Challenge, while the final four castaways will vie for individual immunity, the then-incomplete Jury will also join the challenge as a team. If the Jury wins, none of the remaining survivors will have immunity.

Season Summary
On the first day, the castaways were lured into taking publicity shots, only to reveal that the game has started already. But not to be left with totally nothing, the tribes were given $100 dollars and were sent to a local village to buy their supplies. Drake prospered early by having more items (thanks to Sandra's Spanish-speaking skills and Rupert's theft of Morgan's shoes). This start propelled Drake to dominate the game by winning six consecutive challenge wins, while Morgan's numbers immediately dwindled to five after nine days.

With Drake apparently set to continue to win, Burton concocted a plan to purposefully throw the fourth Immunity challenge in order to get rid of the tribe's weaker players, among them Trish and Christa. Though the rest of the tribe disagreed (particularly Rupert), they went through with it anyway, purposely allowing Morgan to win. In a twist, Jeff Probst revealed that Morgan had won the right to "kidnap" one Drake member for a period to extend through the next Reward challenge, and Morgan quickly selected Rupert. As a result, Burton was blindsided at Drake's first Tribal Council. While being kidnapped, Rupert was liked by the Morgan members, thus giving him a dilemma in the future. Burton's ouster proved to be a pivotal point, as the once strong Drake tribe went on losing the next two Immunity challenges and leaving the tribes even with five members each.

On Day 19, the tribes faced another twist, when the six eliminated players returned to the game as a Ghost Tribe to participate in a special challenge. At the subsequent challenge, the Outcasts tribe did the unthinkable, beating out Morgan and Drake, sending them to Tribal Council to eliminate one of their own, while the Outcasts tribe would vote in two players to return to the game in their places, and will be immune at the next Tribal Council that they go to. Drake sacrificed Shawn for his volatile demeanor, while at Morgan's Tribal Council, Osten ultimately decided to quit, in which Jeff expressed outright disgust. The Outcasts selected Lillian and Burton to return to the game, both, by chance, returning to their original tribes but having immunity at the next Tribal Council. While Burton made amends with his former tribe, Lillian's return was still resented by Andrew and other Morgan members.

The next day, the two tribes merged into Balboa, a name given to a sea snake Rupert had found and tried unsuccessfully to nurse back to health. The tribe moved to Drake's beach. Burton and Rupert managed to gain individual immunities, and, along with Lillian's resentment, helped to voted out former Morgan members Andrew and Ryan O., gaining the numbers for the former Drake. Jon and Burton began seeing Rupert as a physical threat for challenges and conspired to vote him off, irking Rupert's alliance members Sandra and Christa. In the next reward challenge, where family and loved ones of the contestants were brought to the islands, Jon had conspired weeks before with his best friend to present the tale of a "dead grandmother," hoping to use it to gain sympathy. Though Sandra saw through the lie, Jon convinced the other players, causing them to throw the challenge for him, which caused them to spend the night on Morgan's old beach while Jon and his friend hung out alone, celebrating the success of their plot. Jon and Burton continued to conspire against the remaining female players, voting off Tijuana and Christa. With five players remaining, Burton won a car reward and took Jon with him as he drove away from camp. This allowed Sandra, Lillian, and Darrah to hatch a plan to vote off Burton, having Sandra act as if the next vote was already settled and that she would be eliminated. Burton and Jon dismissed the possibility that the women were working against them, and to his surprise, Burton was voted off at the following Tribal Council, leaving Jon in a scramble to try to win back any of the womens' favor. The following immunity challenge included yet another twist, in that it consisted of a trivia contest with the current Jury members playing as a team, while the four remaining survivors will compete for Immunity. But in another surprise turn of events, the Jury "won," thus denying immunity to the survivors, leaving all four vulnerable. Darrah was immediately voted out after winning three consecutive Immunity Challenges.

During the final immunity challenge, Sandra fell out early, allowing Jon to try to convince Lillian to take him to the Final Tribal Council. Lillian refused and outlasted Jon, winning immunity. Lillian struggled with her decision of who to take to the Final Tribal Council but ultimately selected Sandra. During the Final Tribal Council, Lillian's behavior during the game was contrasted with what people expected of a scoutmaster, questions Lillian's could not easily answer (combined with the fact that she was supposed to be eliminated already and only came back after the Outcast twist). But it was Sandra's under-the radar gameplay and the only one who really lasted 39 days, that made her go on as the seventh Sole Survivor with a 6-1 vote.

Trivia

 * This was the first season ever to have the castaways start the game with the clothes on their back and not bring anything else, except for another pair of shoes.
 * The Drake tribe won the first six challenges in a row, setting the record for most consecutive Tribal Challenges won. The Moto tribe of Fiji topped this feat by winning the first nine challenges in a row.
 * This is the first time contestants were given a second chance to play the game. They were represented as the Outcast tribe. Burton and Lillian came back to the game when the other eliminated contestants voted them in.
 * Because Osten's departure from the show was regarded as less than honorable, his final words were not broadcast during the end credits as they would have had he actually been voted out (nor were they posted on the show's official website at the time). To date, he is the only player not to have his exit confessional aired.
 * This season marked the first and only time there was no individual immunity won by the final four because the jury played that immunity challenge and won.
 * During the Rites of Passage, a tradition which the final three players participate in right before their final immunity challenge, they walked a path marked by the extinguished torches of the Survivors previously voted out, and stopped at each torch to reflect upon its owner. Osten's torch was excluded from the ritual. It was instead shown lying on the ground at the Tribal Council area, after the final three had finished walking the path. Then they put the remaining 12 torches up on a wrecked ship and fired muskets at it to burn it down.
 * Ryan S. wrote "die jerks" on his Outcast buff.
 * Sandra is the first, and so far only, Latino player to win Survivor.
 * This season's tribe colors (sans The Outcasts) were re-used in Survivor: One World.
 * Osten Taylor is the first person to ever quit Survivor.
 * This season ended the Sole Survivor male-female pattern that existed in the first six seasons.
 * If one counts the Outcasts as an actual tribe, this is the first season to have three non-merge tribes.
 * It was the only pre All-Stars season to be represented in Survivor: Micronesia. Jon Dalton returned for the latter season where he placed 20th.
 * This was the first season ever in which contestants attended Tribal Council for a reason other than losing an immunity challenge or to vote someone out of the game (Outcast tribe).
 * This was the first season ever to have an episode in which more than one Tribal Council was held.
 * This was the first season ever to have an episode end with "To Be Continued."
 * This was the first season to have all of the tribes be English words.