Malcolm Freberg/Philippines

Malcolm Freberg is a contestant from Survivor: Philippines.

Starting off on the dismal Matsing tribe, Malcolm quickly attached himself to fellow tribemate Angie Layton, and later on to Denise Stapley. After voting out his ally Angie, Malcolm and Denise worked together and ably pitted the remnants of the former Kalabaw and Tandang tribes against one another. This stratagem, along with Malcolm's challenge prowess and easy charm, helped him navigate all the way to the final four alongside Denise. The two were forced to turn against one another at this point, due to the close working relationship between Lisa Whelchel and Michael Skupin, as well as the fact that both Malcolm and Denise recognized their biggest threat in each other. Lisa and Michael identified Malcolm as the likelier of the two to beat them in the final vote, siding with Denise and blindsiding Malcolm the night before the Final Tribal Council, though both would ultimately lose to Denise.

Profile[]

Retrieved from CBS.com

Name (Age): Malcolm Freberg (25)
Tribe Designation: Matsing
Current Residence: Hermosa Beach, Calif.
Occupation: Bartender
Personal Claim to Fame: In college, I helped to organize and run a program that paired varsity athletes with underprivileged children in a free-to-join sports league. It still exists today.
Inspiration in Life: O.J. Simpson before the legal drama. When he was a kid, he had rickets. For his birthday, when he was still young, his father took him to a signing to meet Jim Brown and O.J. hobbled right up to him and told him he was going to break all his records which he eventually did. I'm a sucker for underdog stories.
Hobbies: Exercising, writing/reading and partying.
Pet Peeves: Dumb people.
3 Words to Describe You: Charming, brilliant and cocky.
If You Could Have 3 Things on The Island What Would They Be and Why?
1) Hair ties – I can't see anything without them.
2) Book of puzzles – Your mind is a muscle and needs to be kept in shape.
3) Whiskey – to unwind after a hard day of challenge domination and competitor manipulation.
Survivor Contestant You Are Most Like: I think I will play most like Russell. You can control and rule with an iron first. You just have to be clever enough for them to thank you for it in the end. I'll run the show from Day 1 until I'm handed an oversized check with my name on it.
Reason for Being on Survivor: I've been watching Survivor since I was 12 years old. Some kids grow up watching baseball on TV and dream of getting their chance to play in the big leagues. I grew up watching and dreaming about playing Survivor.
Why You Think You'll "Survive" Survivor: I'm smart, I'm athletic and I'm nice to look at.
Why You Think You Will Be the Sole Survivor: There's no reason to play the game if you're not playing to win. I'm not trying to see 'if I have what it takes' or 'how far I can make it.' The best thing I have going for me is my single-mindedness to be the champion.^[2]

Survivor[]

Malcolm started the game on the Matsing tribe. Due to his physical ability and his personality, he started out in a good position and made friends quickly, most notably with Angie Layton, Denise Stapley, and Zane Knight. After observing Russell Swan's actions around camp, Malcolm was the first to bring up potentially voting him off, but added that it had to be at the right time, since on paper Russell did bring some useful qualities to the tribe. Matsing lost the first Immunity Challenge and Malcolm was tempted to vote Russell off but Zane told the tribe that he felt he was at fault in the challenge and Russell had to drag Zane through most of it, so Zane deserved to go. However Zane didn't really want to go, which made the decision a bit more difficult. Malcolm along with the rest of the tribe voted Zane off. Malcolm and Angie began cuddling more and more and Roxy Morris noticed this and targeted Angie. Malcolm was hoping Denise would realize there is no more between him and Angie than there is between him and Denise, and Denise did realize this and helped him in sending Roxy out of the game on Day 6. The tribe morale was pretty low in "This Isn't a 'We' Game" since they were already down to four members as opposed to the six on Tandang and six on Kalabaw. The alliance of Malcolm, Angie, and Denise seemed confident Russell would go next if they lost again, but after losing their third Immunity Challenge and seeing both Angie and Russell struggle, it was a tough decision and Malcolm decided to vote against Angie, sending her home. In "Create a Little Chaos", Russell spent a lot of time looking for the idol which concerned Malcolm. Matsing lost their fourth and what turned out to be last challenge on Day 10, Malcolm and Denise stuck together and voted Russell off after he failed to find the idol. This left Malcolm and Denise with little hope and a big mountain to climb.

Before the Reward Challenge, Malcolm and Denise thought there was a chance of a tribe absorption, so they looked for the idol and Malcolm found it first so even though they were in an alliance, it became Malcolm's idol. At the Reward Challenge, Malcolm was separated from Denise and he was absorbed into the Tandang tribe. Malcolm contributed to the Reward Challenge win and received a warm reception from his new tribe. For the next few days, Malcolm enjoyed being on a strong tribe where he made zero enemies and he helped them dominate in challenges, seeing Kalabaw's numbers shrink from seven to four, with Matsing ally Denise managing to stay strong.

Malcolm made the merged tribe Dangrayne and the then-dominant Tandang alliance led by Pete Yurkowski and Abi-Maria Gomes decided to target the returning players Michael Skupin and Jonathan Penner, as well as RC Saint-Amour, who appeared to be Michael's biggest ally. Malcolm didn't appear to be in any immediate danger despite being a physical threat except for when Lisa Whelchel accidentally discovered Malcolm's Hidden Immunity Idol when she was doing laundry, forcing them to align with each other. Malcolm voted for Jonathan, although Penner cancelled his votes with his Hidden Immunity Idol, which eliminated RC instead. Due to the antagonistic natures of Abi, Pete, and Artis Silvester, as well as the amount of control they had, Malcolm became part of a new alliance with Jeff Kent, Carter Williams, Penner, and Denise. They needed either Lisa or Michael to flip but Tandang remained strong and voted Jeff out in a close vote on Day 22. That same Tribal Council, Malcolm revealed his Hidden Immunity Idol to his whole tribe, putting a real target on his back for the first time but also gaining the trust of his allies. In "Little Miss Perfect", Malcolm's alliance targeted Artis for being the least likely recipient of Abi's Hidden Immunity Idol (revealed on Day 22 along with Malcolm's) and they fortunately convinced Michael to flip to their side and Artis was blindsided.

In "Whiners Are Wieners", Lisa decided to abandon the doomed Tandang alliance giving Malcolm's alliance enough numbers to split the votes between Abi and Pete as they flushed Abi's idol and eliminated Pete. In the final 7, Lisa and Michael approached Denise and Malcolm (after being denied by Penner) to make a final four deal, in which they accepted. This new core alliance was put to the test when the intended target, Abi, won immunity. The four stuck together and got rid of the perceived biggest threat Penner. Abi was spared once again after Carter was voted off since he was a physical threat, and then Abi was finally voted off after pretending to have an Immunity Idol.

At the Tribal Council where Abi's elimination took place, Malcolm and Denise were called out as threats to win, which concerned Malcolm. Both Malcolm and Denise felt that going to the end with each other was risky and they would have a better chance of winning if they went with Lisa and Michael, who each backstabbed a lot of people to get to the final four. Malcolm won the reward on Day 37 which was an advantage at the Final Immunity Challenge. Even with his advantage though, Malcolm was the first person eliminated from the challenge. Since Michael won immunity, Malcolm still had a chance if he could convince Lisa and Michael to take him to the end over Denise. Ultimately, Malcolm was seen as the bigger threat and was voted off 3-1. While leaving Tribal Council, he bitterly said "Congratulations Denise".

At the Final Tribal Council, Malcolm asked Denise why she played a better game than the other two finalists. Despite berating her for being an appeasing therapist, Malcolm ultimately contributed towards his ally's victory by voting for Denise to win, and she became Sole Survivor by a 6-1-1 vote.

Episode	Tribe Affiliation	Challenge	Challenge Type	Sit-Out?	Result
1	Matsing	Share the Wealth	Reward/Immunity	No	Lost
2		Manila Folders	Reward/Immunity	No	Lost
3		Deep In Thought	Reward/Immunity	No	Lost
4		Swing Break	Reward/Immunity	No	Lost
Switched Tribes, Day 12
5	Tandang	Idol Hands	Reward	No	Won
5		Thrash, Splash & Bash	Immunity	No	Won
6		Bog Roll	Reward	No	Lost¹
6		Philiping Out	Immunity	No	Won
Tribes Merged, Day 17
7	Dangrayne	Wrist Assured	Immunity		Lost
8		Catch of the Day	Reward		Won
8		Snake in the Grass	Immunity		Lost
9		Muddy Waters	Reward		Won
9		Paddle Out	Immunity		Lost
10		Snare the Drum	Reward		Won
10		Push Your Luck	Immunity		Lost
11		Survivor Auction
11		Brains and Brawn	Immunity		Lost
12		Mud Slinging	Reward		Won
12		Fish and Game	Immunity		Won
13		Sliders	Reward		Invited
13		One Track Mind	Immunity		Won
14		Dragon Slayer	Reward		Won
14		The Ball Drop	Immunity		Lost
Voted Out, Day 38
Notes: ^1 Tandang forfeited the challenge in exchange for Kalabaw's rice.

Episode	Malcolm's Votes	Voted Against Malcolm
1	Zane	-
2	Roxy	-
3	Angie	-
4	Russell	Russell
5	Tandang Tribe Immune
6	Tandang Tribe Immune
7	~~Jonathan~~¹	-
8	Pete	-
9	Artis	-
10	Pete	Abi-Maria, Pete
11	Jonathan	-
12	Carter	Individual Immunity
13	Abi-Maria	Individual Immunity
14	Denise	Denise, Lisa, Michael
Voted Out, Day 38
Voted for Sole Survivor	Denise

^1 In "Not the Only Actor on This Island", Jonathan used a Hidden Immunity Idol, negating Malcolm's vote against him.

Trivia[]

Malcolm is the only member of Matsing to be on the jury.
Malcolm is the only member of Matsing to be immune from Tribal Council more than once.
Malcolm is the fourth person to participate in every reward after the merge, after Parvati Shallow in Cook Islands, Bob Crowley in Gabon, and J.T. Thomas in Tocantins.
- Because Parvati won her her second season, Malcolm is the only member of this group to have never won the game.
Malcolm lost 10 lbs. during his time in Philippines.^[3]