Survivor: Vanuatu

Survivor: Vanuatu (also known as Survivor: Vanuatu — Islands of Fire) is the ninth season of Survivor. Filmed in Vanuatu, a chain of volcanic islands in the South Pacific, the season premiered on September 16, 2004.

Chris Daugherty defeated Twila Tanner in a 5-2 vote to become the ninth Sole Survivor.

Development
Survivor Live, an hour-long Internet talk show hosted by the show's first winner Richard Hatch and Entertainment Tonight correspondent Chris Booker, debuted during the season. The talk show, airing every Thursday and Friday on the CBS website, interviews former contestants and reviews the players' game-play.

The DVD for this season was released on December 5, 2006. It was the final Survivor DVD set to feature commentaries and DVD-exclusive interviews.

Twists/Changes

 * Expanded cast: Following the previous season, this season also featured eighteen castaways.
 * Battle of the Sexes: For the second time, the castaways are divided to tribes based on gender.
 * Double Tribal Council: On one occasion, both tribes go to Tribal Council and vote somebody out, with one member of each tribe possessing Individual Immunity.
 * Tribe Switch: Two tribe "chiefs" are selected to rearrange the tribes, mixing up the gender-based tribes.

Season Summary
The players were brought into the game at a native gathering, with the natives dividing the group to men and women. The men were clearly revered at the ceremony, suggesting they would have the advantage in the game. After the ceremony, the men were named the Lopevi tribe, and the women the Yasur tribe, and sent to find their camps in the dark. Lopevi lost the first challenge, mainly due to Chris Daugherty's inability to cross over a balance beam. This seemed like the end of the game for him; however, he succeeded in convincing the older men of the tribe to form an alliance and vote off the younger men. Brook Geraghty was chosen as the first target, and was quickly eliminated. The plan would continue through their next two Tribal Councils, eliminating John Palyok and Brady Finta.

In Yasur, two factions emerged. An alliance of Julie Berry, Mia Galeotalanza, Lisa Keiffer, and Eliza Orlins and an alliance led by Ami Cusack, who gathered Twila Tanner, Scout Cloud Lee, and Leann Slaby. Both groups fought over Dolly Neely's vote. With Dolly refusing to commit to either faction, a concerned Eliza made a temporary jump to Ami's group to vote Dolly out. Mia was sent home after the double-boot twist because of her combative demeanor. The women would then dominate the game by winning the next two challenges.

A Tribe Switch occurred on Day 11, mixing the two tribes; Rory Freeman and Travis Sampson were sent to Yasur, while Twila and Julie were sent to Lopevi. Lopevi went on winning four challenges in a row. The first Yasur loss resulted in Travis being eliminated for trying to send a message to Chris right in front of Ami. It seemed Rory, the last man on the new Yasur, will go home next, however, concerned over Lisa's loyalty, Ami arranged her elimination at the next Tribal Council. At Lopevi, Lea Masters, Chad Crittenden, and Chris decided to invite Twila into their alliance as a fourth member, not trusting John Kenney (the last younger man on the tribe). The next Lopevi Tribal Council resulted in John K. being voted off. After the vote, Twila and Julie swore allegiance to Lopevi come the merge.

On Day 19, the two tribes merged and took the name Alinta, with the women outnumbering the men, six to four. While the men reformed their alliance, Julie and Twila broke their promise to them. The six women joined forces and eliminated Rory, Lea, and Chad in quick succession, leaving Chris as the last man in the game. By this time, Ami's core alliance consisted of her, Julie, and Leann, while Twila and Scout had formed a closer pairing, and Eliza was on the outside. When Chris was unable to secure the next immunity, he was given a lifeline by Twila, who wanted to remove Ami from power. Ami, meanwhile, also decided to spare Chris, and instead remove Eliza from the game. This helped Chris, Scout, and Twila to make an alliance with Eliza and get rid of Leann (Ami won immunity, and could not be voted out). The plan worked, and Leann was sent home. Ami and Julie soon followed, despite their last-minute attempts to swing Chris to their side. Chris won the last two Immunity Challenges, which allowed him to remain in power. He started by getting rid of Eliza, and ultimately took Twila over Scout with him to the Final Two.

Before the Final Tribal Council, Chris convinced Twila not to go easy on the jury, and not suck up to them and promised to do the same. The jury heavily criticized Chris, with Julie and Eliza being especially mad at him for breaking his promises to them. Chris, however, was able to appease them, he admitted that he was wrong, and that his time on Survivor has changed him. This, combined with Twila following his "advice", and Chris' ability to stay in the game despite the incredible odds against him, convinced the jury to vote for him. He won the title of Sole Survivor by a vote of 5-2.

Trivia

 * This is the first season with 18 castaways where all of them are new players.
 * On the Survivor: America's Tribal Council special during the previews for this season, Jeff Probst incorrectly stated there was going to be 16 castaways.
 * This is the second season to feature a Battle of the Sexes format, following . It is the only Battle of the Sexes season where the women entered the merge with numbers over the men (The men had the numbers on  and, while on , the men and women merged with equal numbers).
 * All eighteen contestants of Survivor: Vanuatu were present during the Survivor 10th anniversary party.
 * During this season, the filming location was struck by an earthquake.
 * After the Day 18 Immunity Challenge, Rory accidentally snapped the head of the Immunity Idol.
 * This season featured the first amputee contestant, Chad Crittenden.
 * This is the first season to have a subtitle in its name.
 * Only two men were on the jury of Survivor: Vanuatu, the fewest men on any jury thus far.
 * With the exception of the premiere and finale, every episode contained separate reward and Immunity Challenges.
 * This is the only season in which both the final pre-merge and first post-merge episodes contained separate reward and Immunity Challenges, and as a result the season with the most consecutive episodes with separate reward and Immunity Challenges.
 * If the opening twist is counted as a de facto Reward Challenge, every episode contained exactly two challenges.
 * This is the first season to not feature the Survivor Smorgasbord challenge.