Kucha

Tribe Profile
Version	United States
Season	The Australian Outback
Namesake	Aboriginal word meaning "kangaroo"
Tribe Type	Starting Tribe
Day Formed	Day 1
Rival Tribe(s)	Ogakor
Tribe Status	Merged with Ogakor on Day 19
Challenge Wins	6
Lowest-Placing Member	Debb Eaton (16/16)
Highest-Placing Member	Elisabeth Filarski (4/16)
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Buff

Kucha is a tribe from Survivor: The Australian Outback.

Initially the weaker of the two tribes, Kucha managed to win three consecutive Immunity Challenges. Later in the game, the tribe's intertribal dynamics were to their detriment after the merge. Their tribe color is blue.

Members

Alicia Calaway 32, Manhattan, NY Personal trainer	Debb Eaton 45, Milan, NH Corrections officer	Elisabeth Filarski 23, Newton, MA Footwear designer	Jeff Varner 34, Manhattan, NY Internet projects manager
Kimmi Kappenberg 27, Ronkonkoma, NY Bartender	Michael Skupin 38, White Lake, MI Software company president	Nick Brown 23, Steilacoom, WA Law student	Rodger Bingham 53, Crittenden, KY Farmer

Tribe History

Personalities on the tribe clashed early, as Kucha had trouble navigating the hike to their campsite. Many of the castaways were annoyed by Debb Eaton, who took the reigns and rubbed people the wrong way with her outspoken personality. She wasn't the only over-the-top persona in the tribe: Michael Skupin annoyed some with his overbearing leadership, and Kimmi Kappenberg earned the ire of the tribe due to her loud voice and raucous antics. After losing badly in their first Immunity Challenge on Day 2, the tribe was divided between eliminating Debb, who had been annoying the tribe with her bossy behavior, or Jeff Varner, who had been sick since getting off the plane. In the end, Kucha decided that Debb should go home, with a unanimous 7-1 decision.

As Kucha settled into life in the Outback, Michael emerged as the tribe's leader and provider. In spite of his survival capabilities and physical prowess, Michael's leadership was resented by some members of the tribe, particularly in the grandiose way he would make the tribe convene for prayers before a meal. Other members took different roles: Alicia Calaway emerged as the tribe's motivator, Rodger Bingham as the group's moral center, and Elisabeth Filarski as the team cheerleader.

The Day 4 Reward Challenge involved jumping off a cliff and swimming down treacherous rapids. This was doubly intimidating to Rodger, who feared both heights and water. Even though Kucha ended up losing the challenge, Rodger was looked upon with admiration due to his courage in facing his fears. It was at this challenge that Kimmi accidentally revealed to the Ogakors that Jeff had received a vote at the previous night's Tribal Council.

The Day 5 Immunity Challenge had the tribe members choking down various exotic "local delicacies." Kucha was put at a disadvantage when vegetarian Kimmi refused to compromise her morals and eat a cow brain. However, Kimmi redeemed herself by eating a mangrove worm in the tiebreaker round and kept Kucha from attending its second Tribal Council.

Kucha managed to continue winning Immunity Challenges and avoid Tribal Council, allowing the castaways to build relationships with one another. One such friendship was between Alicia and Jeff, who enjoyed each other's personalities and often strategized with one another. Elisabeth and Rodger also formed a bond that would last throughout the game, with Elisabeth referring to Rodger as her "Outback Daddy."

Despite its harmonious appearance, Kucha was not without its share of conflict. Alicia and Jeff became annoyed with Nick Brown's lack of work ethic, feeling that he would only work on activities that were not necessary to the tribe's survival. Kimmi became aggravated with the rest of her tribe when Michael slaughtered a pig and displayed the corpse back at camp. This wasn't the first time Kimmi's vegetarianism had alienated her from the tribe, and it wouldn't be the last.

On Day 10, Kucha won a Reward Challenge that entitled them to three egg-bearing chickens and a rooster. The tribe felt that Kimmi had become too attached to the chickens, and was thus overly distraught when they were slaughtered. Kimmi countered that the tribe should simply kill the birds at a slower rate, in order to spread their protein intake over a longer period. It was this point that got her into a heated argument with Alicia over her attachment to the birds. The ensuing screaming match remains one of the most iconic scenes in Survivor history.

When Kucha lost the fifth Immunity Challenge, Kucha finally returned to Tribal Council on Day 15, nearly two weeks after their first visit. The tension between Alicia and Kimmi weighed heavily on people's votes, and in spite of her strong work ethic, Kimmi was voted out of the tribe unanimously 6-1. Kucha then managed to rebound from their previous loss by winning the next Reward Challenge, winning them a picnic of Doritos and Mountain Dew. Despite the victory, on Day 17, tragedy struck on the tribe. While tending to the fire, Michael inhaled a large amount of smoke and passed out face-first into their bonfire. The ensuing events resulted in the loss of most of the skin on his hands. Michael was airlifted from the game to stunned reactions from his tribemates. The news immediately reached the rival Ogakor tribe, announcing the cancellation of what should have been their sixth/final tribal Immunity Challenge via Tree Mail. After the fateful accident, Kucha was now even with Ogakor going into the merge with five members each.

On Day 19, Elisabeth and Alicia went to the Ogakor camp, while Jeff, Nick, and Rodger entertained the opposing tribe's men (Colby and Keith) at the Kucha camp. The tribes received notice of the imminent merge, and on Day 20, the two groups reconvened at a new beach to form Barramundi.

Challenge History

Episode	Challenge	Challenge Type	Sit-Out	Result	Eliminated (Vote)	Finish
1	Bridging the Gap	Reward/Immunity	None	Lost	Debb (7-1)	1st Voted Out Day 3
2	Butch Cassidy	Reward	None	Lost	Tribe Immune
	Tucker'd Out	Immunity	None	Won
3	Water Torture	Reward	None	Lost	Tribe Immune
	Lock Step	Immunity	None	Won
4	Mastermind	Reward	None	Won	Tribe Immune
	True or Falls	Immunity	None	Won
5	Triage	Reward	Kimmi, Rodger	Won	Kimmi (6-1)	5th Voted Out Day 15
	The Maze	Immunity	None	Lost
6	Blind Leading the Blind	Reward	Rodger	Won	Michael (no vote)1	Evacuated Day 17
Tribes Merged, Day 20
Notes: ^1 Michael was pulled from the game due to medical reasons, thus the Immunity Challenge was cancelled.

Voting History

		Original Tribes
Episode		1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Voted Out		Debb	Tribe Immune	Tribe Immune	Tribe Immune	Kimmi	Michael	Tribes Merged
Vote		7-1	—	—	—	6-1	No vote1
►	Elisabeth	Debb	—	—	—	Kimmi	—
►	Rodger	Debb	—	—	—	Kimmi	—
►	Nick	Debb	—	—	—	Kimmi	—
►	Alicia	Debb	—	—	—	Kimmi	—
►	Jeff	Debb	—	—	—	Kimmi	—
	Michael	Debb	—	—	—	Kimmi	Evacuated
	Kimmi	Debb	—	—	—	Jeff
	Debb	Jeff
Notes: ^1 Michael was medically evacuated after falling into the camp fire and severely burning his hands. No vote occurred for his removal.

Gallery

Kucha's alternate photo.

Kucha's shot in the intro.

Kucha in their shelter.

Kucha competing in the first Immunity Challenge.

Kucha at their first Tribal Council.

Debb voted out.

Kucha competing in the first Reward Challenge.

Kucha competing in the second Immunity Challenge.

Kucha celebrates winning immunity.

Kucha competes for reward.

Kucha wins the third Immunity Challenge.

Kucha at their second Tribal Council.

Kimmi voted out.

Michael evacuated.

Trivia

• Kucha was the first ever blue tribe on Survivor.
• Kucha is the first tribe to have a person medically evacuated.
• Kucha is the first tribe to visit the first Tribal Council and not produce the winner of the season. This situation would not occur again until The Amazon.
• Kucha is the first tribe to win consecutive Immunity Challenges.
• Both times Kucha went to Tribal Council, a woman was unanimously voted out, with Jeff Varner receiving the remaining vote.