Survivor: Cagayan

Survivor: Cagayan
Season Information
Version	United States
Season No.	28
Filming Location	Palaui Island, Santa Ana, Cagayan, Philippines
Filming Dates	July 10, 2013 - August 17, 2013
Season Run	February 26, 2014 - May 21, 2014
No. of Episodes	14
No. of Days	39
No. of Castaways	18
Winner	Tony Vlachos
Runner(s)-Up	Woo Hwang
Tribes	Aparri Luzon Solana Solarrion
Cast
Opening Sequence
Season Chronology
Previous	Blood vs. Water
Next	San Juan del Sur

Survivor: Cagayan, also unofficially known as Survivor: Cagayan — Brawn vs. Brains vs. Beauty, is the twenty-eighth season of Survivor. Three tribes of six players each were established at the beginning of the season, each being defined by traits that its members tended to employ in their daily lives. The season saw one quit, and has to date produced six returning players (Kass McQuillen, Sarah Lacina, Spencer Bledsoe, Tasha Fox, Tony Vlachos, and Woo Hwang) for subsequent seasons.

Cagayan is famed among Survivor seasons for its unpredictability as well as the strategic and emotional dynamism of its cast. The post-merge game in particular was characterized by a higher-than-usual number of betrayals and blindsides, and there were several bitter disputes between contestants. Highlights included the frenetic scheming of Tony Vlachos, the up-and-down fortunes of Spencer Bledsoe, and the polarizing conduct of Kass McQuillen. The season culminated with Tony winning the title of Sole Survivor in an 8-1 vote over Woo Hwang.

Production

The season was filmed shortly after filming Survivor: Blood vs. Water for cost-cutting purposes, a tradition in the U.S. series since Survivor: Samoa. It was said that several cast and crew decided to stay to enjoy the town's beaches and other natural wonders.

Jeff Probst claimed that the season format (initially code-named as "B.B.B.") was due to popular demand.

While the season was filmed in the Philippines, the theme of the season was mostly inspired by Indonesian culture (predominantly Balinese), with the logo of the season, torches, and the tribal Immunity Idol bearing Balinese demon designs.

Survivor: Micronesia winner Parvati Shallow continued to be the host of the Survivor After Show for this season.

Twists/Changes

• Three Tribes: The castaways are divided into three tribes of six members each.
• Brawn vs. Brains vs. Beauty: The division of the tribes is based on the most prominent personal attributes of each castaway: brawn, brains, and beauty.
• Tribe Leaders: At the beginning of the game, all tribes vote for a tribe leader, who will be tasked with making decisions (only the first impressions' vote) for the tribe as a whole.
• First Impressions: The leaders of the tribes must choose who they think is the weakest on their respective tribe. The 3 chosen contestants (one from each tribe) get to ride to camp in the chopper and get there faster. At the camp, they choose between a clue for the Hidden Immunity Idol or an extra bag of rice for the tribe.
• Hidden Immunity Idol: While the current format of the Hidden Immunity Idol still applies, an additional Hidden Immunity Idol will be in play post-merge. The said idol is to be used after the votes have been read and can be only used by its finder. This format is similar to how the idol was supposed to be used back in Survivor: Panama and Survivor: Cook Islands.
• Tribe Switch: On Day 12, Luzon is disbanded, and the remaining fourteen castaways are shuffled and randomly distributed into the new Aparri and Solana tribes.
• Merge: This season merged with eleven castaways in the game.
• Final Two and Nine-Person Jury: For the first time in Survivor history, two finalists would face a 9-person jury. This is also the first time since Survivor: Tocantins to have a Final Tribal Council with only two players.

Castaways

Contestant		Tribe Affiliation			Finish	Votes Against
		Original Tribe	Switched Tribe	Merged Tribe
	David Samson 45, Plantation, FL Miami Marlins President	Luzon			1st Voted Out Day 3	4
	Garrett Adelstein 27, Santa Monica, CA Professional Poker Player	Luzon			2nd Voted Out Day 6	3
	Brice Johnston 27, Philadelphia, PA Social Worker	Solana			3rd Voted Out Day 8	5
	J'Tia Taylor 31, Chicago, IL Nuclear Engineer	Luzon			4th Voted Out Day 11	7
	Cliff Robinson 46, Buffalo, NY Former NBA All-Star	Aparri	Solana		5th Voted Out Day 14	4
	Lindsey Ogle 29, Kokomo, IN Hairstylist	Aparri	Solana		Quit Day 14	0
	Alexis Maxwell 21, Addison, IL Student	Solana	Aparri		6th Voted Out Day 16	8
	Sarah Lacina 29, Cedar Rapids, IA Police Officer	Aparri	Aparri	Solarrion	7th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 19	6
	Morgan McLeod 21, San Jose, CA Ex-NFL Cheerleader	Solana	Aparri		8th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 22	8
	LJ McKanas 34, Boston, MA Horse Trainer	Solana	Solana		9th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 25	8
	Jeremiah Wood 34, Dobson, NC Male Model	Solana	Aparri		10th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 28	9
	Jefra Bland 23, Campbellsville, KY Miss Kentucky Teen USA	Solana	Solana		11th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 30	9
	Tasha Fox 36, St. Louis, MO Accountant	Luzon	Aparri		12th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 33	4
	Trish Hegarty 47, Needham, MA Pilates Trainer	Aparri	Solana		13th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 36	5
	Spencer Bledsoe 21, Chicago, IL Economics Student	Luzon	Aparri		14th Voted Out 8th Jury Member Day 37	8
	Kass McQuillen 41, Tehachapi, CA Attorney	Luzon	Aparri		15th Voted Out 9th Jury Member Day 38	2
	Woo Hwang 29, Newport Beach, CA Martial Arts Instructor	Aparri	Solana		Runner-Up	4
	Tony Vlachos 39, Jersey City, NJ Police Officer	Aparri	Solana		Sole Survivor	5

Season Summary

The eighteen new castaways were divided into three tribes based on primary attributes: Aparri (Brawn), Luzon (Brains), and Solana (Beauty). The Brains tribe stumbled out of the gate early, losing three of the first four Immunity Challenges and being reduced to only Tasha, Kass, and Spencer. The Beauty tribe, led by LJ, only lost one member, while the Brawn tribe went undefeated in challenges.

With 14 players remaining, the castaways were shuffled into two tribes of seven: Aparri—featuring the three Brains, three Beauty, and Sarah from the Brawn tribe— and Solana, consisting of Beauties LJ and Jefra, and the other five Brawn. The Brawn initially planned to hold strong and get rid of LJ, but he and Jefra convinced Tony and Trish to turn on the original Brawn tribe, voting out physical threat Cliff instead.

The two tribes merged with 11 players remaining, five from Solana and six from Aparri. While the swapped tribes looked like they were going to stick together, Tony attempted to sway his old ally Sarah back to the Brawn-heavy Solana Alliance, but Sarah was indecisive. Instead, Trish persuaded Kass to swap to defect from Aparri to Solana, which she did, eliminating Sarah and putting the post-swap Solana in power.

Despite being part of the majority group, Tony's paranoia continually got the better of him as he and Woo navigated between the two alliances to blindside potential threats. He also found multiple hidden Immunity Idols, including a special one that could be used after the votes were read. Tony lied about the idol's "different powers" and successfully managed to avoid being targeted out of fear, ending up in the final three with Kass and Woo.

Woo won the Final Immunity Challenge; and while Kass seemed like an easy choice to take to the end after betraying her initial alliance, Tony convinced Woo to honor their bond as tribe mates throughout the entire game, and Woo took Tony to the Final Tribal Council. At the Final Tribal Council, a majority of the jury grilled Tony (for his aggressive game play), and only Spencer criticized Woo (for riding Tony's coattails), but ultimately Tony was awarded the title of Sole Survivor with eight of the nine jury votes.

Episode		Air date	Challenges		Eliminated (Vote)	Finish	Viewers (in millions)	Ratings/Share (18-49)
			Reward	Immunity
1	"Hot Girl with a Grudge"	February 26, 2014	Solana1		David (4-2)	1st Voted Out Day 3	9.40	2.4/7
			Aparri1
			Aparri1		Garrett (3-2)	2nd Voted Out Day 6
			Solana1
2	"Cops-R-Us"	March 5, 2014	Aparri1		Brice (2-2-2; 3-0-0)2	3rd Voted Out Day 8	9.58	2.4/8
			Luzon1
3	"Our Time to Shine"	March 12, 2014	Solana	Solana	J'Tia (3-1)	4th Voted Out Day 11	9.66	2.5/8
			Aparri	Aparri
4	"Odd One Out"	March 19, 2014	Solana	Aparri	Cliff (4-3)	5th Voted Out Day 14	9.46	2.5/8
5	"We Found Our Zombies"	March 26, 2014	Solana	Solana	Lindsey (no vote)	Quit Day 14	9.85	2.3/7
					Alexis (6-1)	6th Voted Out Day 16
6	"Head of the Snake"	April 2, 2014	None	Woo	Sarah (6-5)3	7th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 19	9.48	2.3/7
7	"Mad Treasure Hunt"	April 9, 2014	Jefra, Jeremiah, LJ, Morgan, Spencer	Spencer	Morgan (6-4)	8th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 22	9.62	2.4/7
8	"Bag of Tricks"	April 16, 2014	Jeremiah, Spencer, Tony	Tasha	LJ (5-3-1)	9th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 25	9.35	2.3/8
9	"Sitting in My Spy Shack"	April 23, 2014	Jefra, Jeremiah, Spencer, Tasha	Tasha	Jeremiah (5-3)3	10th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 28	9.43	2.3/7
10	"Chaos Is My Friend"	April 30, 2014	Survivor Auction	Tasha	Jefra (4-3)	11th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 30	9.70	2.3/7
11	"Havoc to Wreak"	May 7, 2014	Kass, Spencer, Woo	Spencer	Tasha (4-1-1)	12th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 33	9.91	2.4/8
12	"Straw That Broke the Camel's Back"	May 14, 2014	Tony [Trish]	Spencer	Trish (4-1)3	13th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 36	9.93	2.6/9
13	"It's Do or Die"	May 21, 2014	None	Kass	Spencer (3-1)	14th Voted Out 8th Jury Member Day 37	9.58	2.6/8
				Woo	Kass (1-0)	15th Voted Out 9th Jury Member Day 38
			Jury Vote		Woo (8-1)	Runner-Up
					Tony (8-1)	Sole Survivor
14	"Reunion"						7.14	1.9/6
Notes: ^1 Combined Reward and Immunity Challenge. ^2 The vote resulted in a tie. Per Survivor rules, a revote would commence. ^3 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played, however, no votes were cast against its user.

Voting History

		Original Tribes					Switched Tribes			Merged Tribe
Episode		1		2		3	4	5		6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
Voted Out		David	Garrett	Tie	Brice	J'Tia	Cliff	Lindsey	Alexis	Sarah	Morgan	LJ	Jeremiah	Jefra	Tasha	Trish	Spencer	Kass	Woo	Tony
Vote		4-2	3-2	2-2-21	3-0-0	3-1	4-3	No vote2	6-1	6-53	6-4	5-3-1	5-33	4-3	4-1-1	4-13	3-1	1-04	8-1
►►	Tony	—	—	—		—	Cliff	—	—	Sarah	Morgan	LJ	Jeremiah	Jefra	Tasha	Trish	Spencer	None	Jury Vote
►►	Woo	—	—	—		—	LJ	—	—	Sarah	Morgan	LJ	Jeremiah	Jefra	Tasha	Trish	Spencer	Kass
►►	Kass	J'Tia	Garrett	—		J'Tia	—	—	Alexis	Sarah	Morgan	Jeremiah	Jeremiah	Spencer	Tasha	Trish	Spencer	None		Tony
►►	Spencer	David	J'Tia	—		J'Tia	—	—	Alexis	Jefra	Tony	LJ	Woo	Jefra	Tony	Trish	Woo			Tony
►►	Trish	—	—	—		—	Cliff	—	—	Sarah	Morgan	Jeremiah	Jeremiah	Spencer	Tasha	Kass				Tony
►►	Tasha	David	Garrett	—		J'Tia	—	—	Alexis	Jefra	Tony	LJ	Woo	Jefra	Trish				Woo
►►	Jefra	—	—	Brice	Brice	—	Cliff	—	—	Sarah	Morgan	Jeremiah	Jeremiah	Spencer						Tony
►►	Jeremiah	—	—	Morgan	Brice	—	—	—	Alexis	Jefra	Tony	LJ	Woo							Tony
►►	LJ	—	—	Morgan	Brice	—	Cliff	—	—	Sarah	Morgan	Spencer								Tony
►►	Morgan	—	—	Alexis	None	—	—	—	Alexis	Jefra	Tony									Tony
►►	Sarah	—	—	—		—	—	—	Alexis	Jefra										Tony
►	Alexis	—	—	Brice	None	—	—	—	Jeremiah
►	Lindsey	—	—	—		—	LJ	Quit
►	Cliff	—	—	—		—	LJ
	J'Tia	David	Garrett	—		Spencer
	Brice	—	—	Alexis	None
	Garrett	David	J'Tia
	David	J'Tia
Notes: ^1 The vote resulted in a tie. Per Survivor rules, a revote was held where the castaways involved in the tie would not vote and the remaining castaways could only vote for those involved in the tie. ^2 Lindsey quit the game immediately after Cliff's elimination. No vote occurred for her removal. ^3 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played; however, no votes were cast against its user. ^4 Kass and Tony did not vote as they could only vote for each other. By virtue of winning the Final Immunity Challenge, only Woo voted.

Trivia

• The font used for Cagayan's logo is a modified version of "Kemasyuran Jawa."
• Cagayan is the third season to have a three-tribe format, following All-Stars and Philippines.
  • Cagayan is the first three-tribe season to not contain returning players.
  • Cagayan is the first three-tribe season to have its tribes divided by theme.
• Cagayan is the first season since Cook Islands where a Hidden Immunity Idol may be played after the votes are revealed. This only applied to the special post-merge idol.
• Cagayan is the only season where the first three castaways voted out were men.
• Cagayan is the first season since Borneo to have its finale air on a Wednesday, and the first since The Amazon to not have the finale air on a Sunday.
• Cagayan is the fourth season to have an all-male Final Tribal Council, and the third to have an all-male Final Two.
• Cagayan is the first season since Tocantins to have a Final Two.
• Cagayan is the first season to have a Final Two with a 9-person jury.
• Cagayan is currently the most recent season to have all finalists come from the same starting tribe.
• Cagayan is one of three seasons to have all final four contestants return in future seasons. The other two are Borneo and Panama.
• All six returning players from Cagayan are featured on the DVD cover.
• All four players who won individual immunity during this season returned for Cambodia.
• Cagayan has produced the most winning games with three: Tony in this season and Winners at War, and Sarah in Game Changers.
  • This season has also produced the most Final Tribal Council appearances with six: Tony and Woo in this season, Spencer and Tasha in Cambodia, Sarah in Game Changers, and Tony again in Winners at War.