Survivor: Marquesas

Survivor Marquesas is the fourth installment of the reality television show Survivor. It premiered on February 28, 2002 and ended May 19, 2002. The season was filmed from November 12 to December 20, 2001 on the island of Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia.

The two tribes, Maraamu and Rotu (Marquesan for 'Southern Wind' and 'Rain' respectively) switched some members, then later merged into the Soliantu tribe (a word created by Kathy Vavrick O'Brien and Rob "Boston Rob" Mariano which they intended to mean "Sacred Allegiance to the Sun.")

In the end, Vecepia Towery beat out the competition and won the title of Sole Survivor and the $1,000,000 grand prize.

Production
The Marquesas Islands were initially selected as a backup location for Survivor. The original location, Jordan, was discounted as a result of the September 11 attacks and the political situation in the Middle East.

This was the first season where the contestants were not given any initial supplies, such as food, water, or matches. Also, the rules of the Individual Immunity Idol were changed so that a contestant who won the idol in a challenge was able to give it to another contestant. Previous votes against a contestant were discounted in subsequent Tribal Councils. As this was the former method of determining if a contestant was eliminated in case of a tie, a new tiebreaker format was developed. The controversial Purple Rock tiebreaker was used in this season alone, and resulted in the ousting of Paschal English, then with no votes against him.

Twist/Changes

 * No Provided Food: For the first time, the castaways were not given any food rations (such as limited supply of rice or canned goods). Both tribes' supply crates were drastically reduced to only a pair of machetes, three pans, a fillet knife, two water containers and a magnifying glass, but no food items whatsoever.
 * Tribe Switch: Similar to the previous season, three people from both tribes will be transferred to the rival tribe.
 * Passable Immunity Necklace:  Starting this season, the current holder of the Immunity Necklace will have the privelege to transfer his/her immunity to another player, keeping that player safe, while leaving the original wearer vulnerable. This option can still apply as of the latest season.
 * Purple Rock Tiebreaker:  Previous votes against a contestant were discounted in subsequent Tribal Councils. As this was the former method of determining if a contestant was eliminated in case of a deadlock tie, a new tiebreaker format was developed. Everyone (including people who did not have votes - except the wearer of the Immunity Necklace) will pick a rock from a bag, and the unfortunate person who gets the purple rock will be automatically eliminated from the game. The Purple Rock tiebreaker was used in this season alone, for it generated controversy from fans. As of the latest season, handling deadlock ties became ambiguous, though the Purple Rock controversy became a driving force to scare castaways from enforcing a tie vote. The only known deadlock tiebreaker started in Palau, where the involved parties must compete in a fire-starting challenge (though in all occasions, this has happened when there are only four contestants remaining). It is currently unknown of what will happen if tie votes occurred before the final four.

Castaways
Notes:
 * The Votes Against is the number of votes a castaway has received during all Tribal Councils where the castaway is eligible to be voted out from the game. It does not include the votes received during the final Tribal Council.
 * Paschal was not voted out. The purple rock tiebeaker determined who would be eliminated. He drew the purple rock and he was sent home.

Season Summary
From the beginning, the Rotu tribe prospered as a unified, hard-working tribe, while the Maraamu tribe quickly became divided between the leaders (headed by Hunter), and the workers (led by Rob). These differences heavily reflected in challenges, as Maraamu tribe lost the five challenges in a row. Rob took control of Maraamu by creating an alliance consisting of Sean, Vecepia, Sarah and himself. The three successive losses caused that yellow tribe to eliminate Peter, Patricia and Hunter in three consecutive Tribal Councils.

On Day 10, a random tribe shuffle sent Rob, Sean, and Vecepia to Rotu, while Paschal, Neleh, and Kathy joined Maraamu. With her entire alliance swapped at Rotu, Sarah was left alone, and was voted out after Maraamu's fourth immunity loss. After Sarah's elimination, the Maraamu tribe experienced a rebirth, and wen on to win three consecutive challenges. As Maraamu came together, Rotu began to fall apart, as John accused Gabriel of untrustworthiness. Gabriel's gestures led to a four-way voting alliance of John, Zoe, Robert and Tammy. The "Rotu Four" and the three former Maraamu members joined forces, sending Gabe home. After Rotu's first Tribal Council, John promised the new tribe members that the Maraamu tribe would be targeted first. Rob and John shook on the deal, though neither one intended on keeping their promises. Rob led Rotu into a comeback victory, sending Maraamu back to Tribal Council, where Gina was outnumbered by her new tribemates, eliminating her from the game.

When the tribes merged on Day 19, Rob turned Kathy onto her former Rotu comrades, causing Kathy to almost unable to trust anybody. With this, Kathy persevered even harder at the first individual Immunity Challenge, in which she won. Rob was eliminated because of his over-scheming. After Rob's elimination, the Rotu Four alliance seemed to have congratulated themselves about their perceived victory. But not backing down, Kathy convinced the two other alliance dyads (fellow Black Americans Sean and Vecepia and seeming father-daughter tandem of Neleh and Paschal) to form one strong pact to eliminate John. Kathy's plan worked, and with with five votes to four, John was blindsided. Outnumbered by Kathy's new alliance, the remaining Rotu Four alliance members were subsequently eliminated. With the Rotu Four gone, Kathy was stuck between the two pairs that she formed an alliance with, with both factions vying for her vote. Eventually, Kathy sided with Paschal and Neleh, and Sean was eliminated.

With only four players left, Vecepia needed to win immunity or she knew she would be voted off. Having spent time with every contestant came back to work in her favor as a trivia contest about the contestants gave her the immunity win and placed a target squarely on Kathy. Knowing Paschal and Neleh would not vote for each other, Kathy publicly at Tribal Council approached Vecepia about making a voting bloc and taking each other to the Final 2. Vecepia agreed to the deal, and they agreed to both vote for Neleh that night. With the vote being tied and deadlocked for the first time, the new rules for breaking a tie-breaker came into effect as everyone would reach into a bag and pull out a colored rock. Whoever withdrew the purple rock would be sent home; only Vecepia was exempt from participating as she had immunity. Paschal lost and was eliminated, despite having received no votes throughout the entire game. This method of tie-breaking would continue to affect all preceding seasons, with contestants changing their votes to avoid a tie. At the Final 3, after Kathy was the first eliminated from the final Immunity Challenge, Vecepia went back on her deal with Kathy by agreeing to step down and give Neleh immunity, in exchange that Neleh would vote off Kathy. Neleh agreed and Kathy was the last member to join the jury.

At the final Tribal Council, Neleh and Vecepia were met with a bitter jury as they were grilled for hiding behind religion, while being deceptive same time. Neleh was castigated by the former Rotu Four alliance by riding on coattails and playing the game too late. Vecepia was condemned for constantly flip-flopping from alliance to alliance and was met with heavy disdain for betraying Kathy after publicly aligning with her. Ultimately, it was Vecepia who was crowned as Sole Survivor after a close 4-3 vote.

Episode Guide
 Notes: 
 * In the case of multiple 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.
 * Paschal was eliminated because of the Purple Rock tiebreaker, despite not having any votes against him.

Voting History
Notes:
 * All votes with an asterisk (*) resemble votes that are cast during a revote (if tied).
 * In Day 37, Paschal unfortunately drew the Purple Rock, sending him home (despite not having any votes against him).

Trivia

 * This is the first known time to have tribe camps with its own advantages and disadvantages. Maraamu camp was situated in a white-sand beach, with an abundance of fruit-bearing trees and a rock pool filled with shrimp, though its water source was a small creek. On the other hand, Rotu had a rocky shore, with very few food sources, though its had a brackish waterfall as their source of water.