The Marooning

The Marooning is the very first episode of Survivor. It aired on May 31, 2000.

Challenges
Reward/Immunity Challenge: Quest for Fire 

A symbolic race for fire held on the Sand Spit, an s-shaped sand bar located one mile off Pulau Tiga. The object was to alternately float and carry a cauldron of fire from a position 50 yards offshore to the finish line, which was delineated by a 20-foot high Fire Spirit. In addition, teams had to light a succession of torches between start and finish, with the winner being the first to light all their torches and the Fire Spirit.

Reward: 50 waterproof matches and Tribal Immunity.

Winner: Pagong

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 consists of: Dirk Been, Kelly Wiglesworth, Richard Hatch, Rudy Boesch, Sean Kenniff, Sonja Christopher, Stacey Stillman and Susan Hawk. Wearing yellow, the Pagong Tribe consists 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 breaststroked 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 each other; 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
Morning at Pagong, the tribe finally had fire. The two teams met Jeff Probst where he revealed that they will 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, Stacey conspired with the women about voting out the grumpy Rudy, but Sue secretly denied to follow suit. Richard targeted Stacey for being the weakest, while the others were gunning for Rudy and Sonja for being the oldest castaways. back at Tagi camp, Sonja's poor performance at the challenge made her a target for elimination. On the other hand, Stacey tried to conspire with the other women about getting rid of the grumpy Rudy. Sue initially said she agreed with the plan, but in a confessional, Sue declared she had other plans. At Tribal Council, Sue joined Dirk, Sean and Rudy in eliminating Sonja. She was first to go in 4-3-1 vote.

Voting Confessionals

 * Dirk: "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." (only available on DVD)
 * Kelly: Unavailable
 * Richard: "Stacey, tough call. Subtle reasons. Not exactly sure what they are."
 * Rudy: "I'm picking her because i think she's the reason why we lost yesterday."
 * Sean: "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.
 * Sonja: "I'll miss his skills and speaking his mind openly." (only available on DVD).
 * Stacey: "He's an army guy. Doesn't really help that much. For a navy seal he doesn't know how to start fire and he just criticizes everything."
 * Susan: "I'll remove the weakest link of the crew."

Trivia

 * Sonja Christopher was the very first castaway and first female castaway voted off in Survivor history.
 * This is is also the first episode to feature a combined Reward/Immunity Challenge.

Links

 * CBS episode summary


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