The Marooning

The Marooning is the first episode of and the very first episode of the American Survivor television series.

Day 1
16 average Americans from different walks of life were sent to a remote fishing village to board a small boat. In the middle of the ocean, the cast were instructed to salvage all supplies that they can get, jump overboard to their tribe rafts on the small uncharted deserted island of Pulau Tiga in the South China Sea off the Malaysian coast of Borneo.

The sixteen castaways were divided into two competing tribes. The orange Tagi tribe consisted of: Dirk Been, Kelly Wiglesworth, Richard Hatch, Rudy Boesch, Sean Kenniff, Sonja Christopher, Stacey Stillman and Susan Hawk. Wearing yellow, the Pagong Tribe consisted of B.B. Andersen, Colleen Haskell, Gervase Peterson, Greg Buis, Gretchen Cordy, Jenna Lewis, Joel Klug and Ramona Gray. They must survive the elements and each other for the next 39 days, or they will be voted off the island. In the end only one will claim the $1,000,000 prize and the title of Sole Survivor.

Early on, sickness among castaways started to set in. The paddle from the boat took place under a hot equatorial sun. Pagong was fighting the current, and their journey took almost two hours longer than Tagi's. Both Ramona and Gretchen swallowed salt water en route, with Ramona vomiting over the side of the raft before reaching shore, and Gretchen heaving on the fringe of the jungle once they'd made land. While approaching their beach, Jenna of Pagong haplessly breast-stroked to their camp, without even knowing that Pulau Tiga has one of the highest concentration of sea snakes.

Upon reaching camp, Tagi immediately began working on shelter and fire, except Richard, who sat on a tree while watching his tribemates work. Sue called him up to help them, but he refused, leading to a conflict, but he demanded that the tribe must work in unison or they would fail. At Pagong, the eldest of the tribe, BB, also squabbled with his tribemates about work ethic.

The difference between the two was that Ramona couldn't shake the nausea for several days, and was branded as lazy by BB; others including Gervase, sympathized with her situation. Gretchen had a rough few hours after arriving on the beach, then recovered and immediately went to work. Her work ethic was only matched by BB's. BB and Ramona later found their water hole containing brackish water, covered with leaves.

Friendships among players started to form a bond. The two African-Americans Gervase and Ramona, clicked instantly and promised each other that they will never vote against one another; while Greg entertained Jenna and Colleen with his funny antics.

As day turned to night, neither tribe was entirely settled (though Tagi had constructed a magnificent makeshift outhouse) and neither had fire for cooking a hot meal. With rats and snakes beginning their nocturnal beach invasion, the sixteen brave men and women settled down for a night of fitful rest.

Day 2
The next morning, at Pagong, the tribe finally had fire. Later, the two teams met Jeff Probst, where he revealed that they would compete in their first challenge, where it was revealed that the winning team will receive 50 waterproof matches, as well as the Immunity Idol, which symbolizes the guarantee of staying on the island for three more days. The losing tribe will proceed to Tribal Council and vote one tribemate off the game.

It was a close race between Pagong and Tagi, but Tagi's Sonja stumbled as they reach the beach. In the end, Pagong emerged victorious.

Day 3
Back at Tagi, Richard targeted Stacey for being the weakest, while the others were gunning for Rudy and Sonja for being the oldest castaways. Also, Sonja's poor performance at the challenge made her a target for elimination. Stacey conspired with the women about voting out the grumpy Rudy. Sue initially said she agreed with the plan, but in a confessional, she declared she had other ideas. At Tribal Council, Sue joined Dirk, Sean, and Rudy in eliminating Sonja. She was first to go in 4-3-1 vote.

Reward/Immunity
Challenge: Quest for Fire

Tribes must guide a raft they lit a series of torches along the way. Throughout the challenge, tribe members must have a hand touch the raft at all times. Upon reaching shore, the tribe must lit the remaining torches before setting their side of the fire spirit ablaze. First tribe to set fire on their side of the fire spirit wins the challenge.

Reward: 50 waterproof matches and Tribal Immunity.

Winner: Pagong

Voting Confessionals
Sean and Dirk's confessionals are only available on DVD.

"tagi"

- Just physically it's too much. That's it. That's the only reason. I love her spirit, but she can't handle it. It's hurting the team.

"tagi"

- Stacey, tough call. Subtle reasons. Not sure exactly what they are.

"tagi"

- Picking her because I think she's the reason we lost yesterday.

"tagi"

- My vote really kills me because I love her, but I want to get the best opportunity for my team to survive, my other teammates. There's a lot of physical challenges, and I think that it's best if we vote for Sonja. Much to my dismay. I'm gonna miss her if she goes. It kills me. Breaks my heart. She really wants to be here. That's it.

"tagi"

- I'll miss his skills and speaking his mind openly.

"tagi"

- He's an ornery guy. Doesn't really help that much. For a Navy Seal he doesn't know how to start fire. He just criticizes everything.

"tagi"

- I remove the weakest link in the crew.

Final Words
"tagi"

- Well I think this has been an awesome experience. Being first to be voted out is a little humiliating. On the other hand, I think the team did the right thing. They are a terrific group of people, very strong physically, and I think in their shoes, I would have probably done the same thing voted off the weakest member.

Other

 * Sonja Christopher was the very first castaway and first female castaway voted off in Survivor history.
 * This is the first episode to feature a combined Reward/Immunity Challenge.
 * Sue is the first contestant to ever cast a vote at Tribal Council.
 * Rudy is the first contestant to have a confessional.