Survivor: Pearl Islands

Survivor: Pearl Islands, (initially dubbed as Survivor: Pearl Islands — Panama at the Survivor: The Amazon live reunion show where it was officially announced), is the seventh installment of the United States version of the reality show Survivor. The season was won by Sandra Diaz-Twine by a landslide in a 6-1 jury margin, with Lillian Morris being the runner-up, despite only lasting thirty days in the game.

The season was filmed on the Pearl Islands, off the coast of Panama, and had a pirate culture theme. The season received lots of critical acclaim from the fan base due to the lively cast, unique challenges, an eccentric blend of twists, the cultural representation, focus on the survival aspect of the game, and some of the most memorable and entertaining content in Survivor history. The complete season, including the Live Reunion Show, was released on DVD on February 7, 2006.

Twist/Changes

 * Unexpected start: The contestants were invited to a yacht under the impression they were going to take some publicity pictures to promote the season. Much to their surprise, they were told the game had begun unexpectedly, and that they would start it wearing only the clothes they possessed on their backs (with their luxury items and other personal belongings staying on the boat, besides the shoes that were given to them by Jeff Probst). After being divided into the two tribes, they were sent to a small fishing village with 100 Panamanian Balboas (roughly $100) to buy their supplies they would need for the next thirty-nine days.


 * Looting: Aside from the actual prize that a tribe gets after winning a Reward Challenge, the survivors experience pirate life by pillaging from the losing tribe's camp. One member of the winning tribe is sent to the other tribe's camp to loot one item of their choice. This twist was not continued once the merge arrived due to the castaways living on the same beach and being one unified tribe and was inactive during episode one and seven pre-merge.


 * Buried Treasure : Aside from looting items from the rival tribe, the tribe that wins a Reward Challenge also gets a third prize: a clue to the whereabouts of a hidden treasure chest buried somewhere on the tribes' respective islands. The clues were cumulative with each one being more useful then the last. There was a maximum of three clues for each tribe. Inside the chest once discovered would be luxury items to make like at camp more enjoyable.


 * Entirely distant camps: Unlike previous seasons of the series where the two tribes would dwell on the same island (but on opposite sides), the two tribes lived on two entirely different islands, with an equal amount of resources. This went along with the pirate theme for the season as rival groups would not have shared the same island.


 * Kidnapping: The Morgan tribe was given an additional advantage after winning the Day 12 Immunity Challenge. They were told that they could kidnap one member of the opposing Drake tribe until after the next challenge, and that player will skip his tribe's Tribal Council and will compete with them at the next challenge. They selected Rupert who was given the opportunity to stay at their tribe for the remainder of the day to enjoy the reward they won, but he declined.


 * Outcast Twist: On Day 19, the ten remaining castaways 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 being eliminated for good. The two returning castaways will be granted immunity at their first visit to Tribal Council. If the Outcasts finish second, only one of them will be voted back in the game, and only the losing tribe will vote somebody out. If the Outcasts lose to both tribes, they are all eliminated from the game, and Morgan and Drake merge without voting anybody out.


 * Jury competing in a challenge and immunity-free Tribal Council: At the Day 37 Immunity Challenge, while the final four castaways fought for individual immunity, the incomplete Jury also joined the challenge as a team. If the Jury beat the rest, none of the remaining survivors would have immunity. Having an obvious advantage, the jury beat the final four, and therefore everybody was vulnerable of being voted out that Tribal Council.

Season Summary
On the first day, the castaways were lured into taking publicity shots, only to discover that the game has started already. The Drake tribe, which wore blue, consisted of Burton Roberts, Christa Hastie, Jon Dalton, Michelle Tesauro, Rupert Boneham, Sandra Diaz-Twine, Shawn Cohen, and Trish Dunn and the Morgan tribe, which wore orange, consisted of Andrew Savage, Darrah Johnson, Lillian Morris, Nicole Delma, Osten Taylor, Ryan Opray, Ryan Shoulders, and Tijuana Bradley were both created. Not to be left with totally nothing, the tribes were given 100 Balboas by Jeff Probst and were sent to a local village to buy their supplies. wore blue prospered early by having more items (thanks to Sandra, who spoke Spanish, and was able to communicate with the locals; and Rupert, who stole the other tribe's shoes), while the Morgan tribe was disorganized and didn't make full use of their money. This gave Drake an advantage early on in the game as they were set for the next 39 days. Morgan however could not find water, needed more food, and had difficulties sleeping that night due to a poorly built shelter.

The following day, the castaways on the Drake tribe were starting to get uncomfortable with wearing only the clothes on their back. Rupert was struggling wearing thick denim jeans, Sandra wanted her shoes to dry for once, and Michelle also wanted her clothes to dry. Since Christa's dress was falling apart she decided to help out and used it to make clothes for Rupert and Michelle. At the Morgan tribe, Tijuana suggested they go look for water; the guys were hesitant about the suggestion at first thinking the focus should remain solely on the shelter for the time being, until Tijuana discovered the path to the water well was on the map they were given the entire time. Back at the Drake tribe, Burton and Shawn went out to go catch fish for the tribe not wanting to be unproductive around camp and brought one back. Rupert felt the need to follow suit and went out and caught one. Rupert thrived to be the provider for Drake and went out time after time to get a fish for each member of the tribe. While he failed to accomplish his goal, he set a good example for his tribe and showed what a hard worker he was.

On day three, Ryan S., Nicole, and Darrah went out to get the treemail for the Morgan tribe. Andrew read it out loud to reveal the challenge would feature the necessity of having brawn and brain skills. Andrew gave the tribe a pep talk before the challenge and the tribe noticed that Andrew gave the presence of a leader and it was not challenged. Andrew and Ryan S. made a deal with Osten that if his pants went down during the challenge they would take their's of too as they were a "family" now. At the cannon carry challenge in which a cannon needed to be transported through an obstacle course and cross the finish line, Osten's shorts kept coming down so the other two Morgan males stripped down as well. The Morgan tribe lost the challenge just by a little bit, but Andrew gave them a talk saying they would pick themselves up and crush the other tribe the next time remembering how cocky the Drake tribe was to them. Ryan O., Andrew, Tijuana, Darrah, and Nicole had to decide whether they would take out Ryan S. who wasn't contributing or Lillian who wasn't so great in challenges. However, suspicions arose when Lillian reaveled that Nicole tried to get Tijuana eliminated and she was voted out in a 7-1 vote because she couldn't be trusted.

With Drake apparently set to continue winning, Burton Roberts concocted a plan to purposefully throw the fourth Immunity Challenge in order to get rid of the tribe's weaker players, among them Trish Dunn and Christa Hastie. Though the rest of the tribe disagreed (particularly Rupert), they went through with it anyway, 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. Angry with the outcome, Drake blindsided Burton at Tribal Council. Rupert was liked by the Morgan members as he worked to better thetribe by catching fish and teaching them to do so and this created a problem for him, as realized he will have to betray one of the tribes 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 challenge, the Outcasts tribe did the unthinkable, beating both Morgan and Drake, and sending them to Tribal Council. At Drake's Tribal Council, Shawn Cohen was eliminated for his volatile demeanor. The Morgans did not vote anyone out because Osten Taylor decided to quit, fearing for his health. Jeff Probst expressed outright disgust at Osten's request, but agreed to send him home. Right after the tribes' Tribal Councils, the Outcasts voted in two players to return to the game and replace Shawn and Osten. They selected Lillian Morris and Burton to return to the game. Both, by chance, returned to their original tribes. While Burton made amends with his former tribe, Lillian's return was still resented by Andrew Savage and other Morgan members. The returning players were granted immunity at the next Tribal Council.

The next day, the two tribes merged and created the Balboa tribe. The merged tribe was named after an injured sea snake Rupert had found and tried unsuccessfully to nurse back to health (the snake, in turn, was named after Vasco Núñez de Balboa). The tribe moved to Drake's beach. Burton won the first Immunity Challenge, and gave his necklace to Rupert, as he was already immune. This move helped him get Rupert's trust. At the next two Tribal Councils, Lill, who was still angry at her tribe for voting her out, helped to eliminate the Morgan leader Andrew and his close ally Ryan Opray. Jon Dalton and Burton, who tried to eliminate Rupert at the tribal stage, decided to target Rupert again, irking Rupert's alliance members Sandra and Christa. Eventually, the second time proved successful for Burton and Fairplay, and they managed to blindside Rupert. At the next Reward Challenge, where loved ones of the contestants were brought to the islands, Jon's friend brought him the news that his grandmother, who was allegedly supposed to appear at this challenge, had died. The news saddened all the tribemates except for Sandra, who wasn't impressed. Despite her efforts, Jon and his friend won the challenge with help from everybody else. Their prize was some time alone at the camp, while the others spent the night at the old Morgan camp. Jon quickly revealed to the viewers that his grandmother did not die, and that this moment was planned weeks before the game started. The "dead grandmother lie" helped Jon convince the other players to trust him. The only one who saw through the lie was Sandra. Jon and Burton continued to conspire against the remaining female players, voting off Tijuana Bradley and Christa. With five players remaining, Burton won a car and took Jon with him on a reward trip. This allowed Sandra, Lill, and Darrah Johnson 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. This left Jonny Fairplay alone without an ally, trying to regain the women's favor. The following Immunity Challenge included yet another twist. In a trivia contest the Jury members played as a team, trying to beat the final four castaways and prevent one of them from gaining the Immunity Necklace. In another surprising turn of events, the Jury won, leaving all four remaining players vulnerable. Lill and Sandra decided that Darrah, who won three challenges in a row, was a bigger threat than Jon, and she was sent home, while Jon was spared.

The women's decision proved correct. During the final Immunity Challenge, Sandra fell out early, but Lill outlasted Jon, winning immunity. Lill's refusal to Jon's deals pretty much meant it was game over for him, and indeed, at Tribal Council Lillian selected Sandra to stay in the game. At the Final Tribal Council, Lillian was criticized for her game, as her actions contrasted with what people expected of a scoutmaster. The fact she was an Outcast also did not help her cause as it was seen that she did not deserve it more then Sandra who spent the 39 days without getting voted out. It was Sandra's "as long as it isn't me" strategy, her friendships with Rupert and Christa, her strong Final Tribal Council performance, and her not being an Outcast, that made her the seventh Sole Survivor after a 6-1 vote.

Episode Guide
Notes:

Due to The Outcasts twist, this Tribal Council was held to vote people back into the game.

Being the two returnees, Burton and Lillian received immunity on their next Tribal Council. Burton won the Immunity Challenge and could decide if he'd like to give his extra immunity.

Trivia

 * This is the first season 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. This record stood until the Moto tribe of 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.
 * 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).
 * This season marks the only time nobody won individual immunity at an Immunity Challenge (the challenge involved the Jury, who defeated the castaways - another Survivor first).
 * This season had the first Survivor quitter - Osten Taylor.
 * Osten's torch was excluded from the Rites of Passage ritual. It was instead shown lying on the ground at the Tribal Council area, after the final three had finished walking the path.
 * Sandra is the first, and so far only, Hispanic player to win 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 is the only pre season to be represented in . Jon Dalton returned for the latter season, where he placed 20th.
 * This is the only season where the winner of an individual Immunity Challenge does not wear a necklace. Instead, the winner wears a cutlass in a scabbard on his shoulder.
 * This is the first season in which votes were cast for (and not against) players in a vote other than the Final Tribal Council.
 * It was followed by.
 * This is the first season to have tribe names derived from the English language.
 * This is the only odd-numbered season that did not have a yellow or gold colored tribe.
 * This is the first season to have an episode end with a cliffhanger.
 * This is the only season where only one person never left the game.
 * This is due to the Outcasts twist.
 * Michael Skupin was originally cast to be in this season, on the Morgan tribe, but when the producers  decided they wanted an all new players season he was cut and was replaced by Andrew Savage.
 * This is the first season not to feature luxury items.
 * The Final 3 were tied at voting most contestants through out the season -- Lillian Morris and Jon Dalton successfully eliminated 9 people.  Sandra Diaz-Twine voted 8 people out, but eliminated Burton Roberts twice.
 * That makes her the only person who voted to eliminate him both times.  Because other original Drake members did not survive until final 5, except Jon who did not vote against Burton for the second time.
 * This is the last season where publicity shots were indoors.
 * This is the first season where the castaways were not given an introduction in the first episode.
 * This is the first season where everyone wins at least one challenge.