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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.[1]

Jeff Probst claimed that the season format (initially code-named as "B.B.B.") was due to popular demand.[2]

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.[3]

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.[4]
  • 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.[5] 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
S28 david t David Samson
45, Plantation, FL
Miami Marlins President
Luzon 1st Voted Out
Day 3
4
S28 garrett t Garrett Adelstein
27, Santa Monica, CA
Professional Poker Player
Luzon 2nd Voted Out
Day 6
3
S28 brice t Brice Johnston
27, Philadelphia, PA
Social Worker
Solana 3rd Voted Out
Day 8
5
S28 jtia t J'Tia Taylor
31, Chicago, IL
Nuclear Engineer
Luzon 4th Voted Out
Day 11
7
S28 cliff t Cliff Robinson
46, Buffalo, NY
Former NBA All-Star
Aparri Solana 5th Voted Out
Day 14
4
S28 lindsey t Lindsey Ogle
29, Kokomo, IN
Hairstylist
Aparri Solana Quit
Day 14
0
S28 alexis t Alexis Maxwell
21, Addison, IL
Student
Solana Aparri 6th Voted Out
Day 16
8
S28 sarah t Sarah Lacina
29, Cedar Rapids, IA
Police Officer
Aparri Aparri Solarrion 7th Voted Out
1st Jury Member
Day 19
6
S28 morgan t Morgan McLeod
21, San Jose, CA
Ex-NFL Cheerleader
Solana Aparri 8th Voted Out
2nd Jury Member
Day 22
8
S28 lj t LJ McKanas
34, Boston, MA
Horse Trainer
Solana Solana 9th Voted Out
3rd Jury Member
Day 25
8
S28 jeremiah t Jeremiah Wood
34, Dobson, NC
Male Model
Solana Aparri 10th Voted Out
4th Jury Member
Day 28
9
S28 jefra t Jefra Bland
23, Campbellsville, KY
Miss Kentucky Teen USA
Solana Solana 11th Voted Out
5th Jury Member
Day 30
9
S28 tasha t Tasha Fox
36, St. Louis, MO
Accountant
Luzon Aparri 12th Voted Out
6th Jury Member
Day 33
4
S28 trish t Trish Hegarty
47, Needham, MA
Pilates Trainer
Aparri Solana 13th Voted Out
7th Jury Member
Day 36
5
S28 spencer t Spencer Bledsoe
21, Chicago, IL
Economics Student
Luzon Aparri 14th Voted Out
8th Jury Member
Day 37
8
S28 kass t Kass McQuillen
41, Tehachapi, CA
Attorney
Luzon Aparri 15th Voted Out
9th Jury Member
Day 38
2
S28 woo t Woo Hwang
29, Newport Beach, CA
Martial Arts Instructor
Aparri Solana Runner-Up 4
S28 tony t 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)[6]
Ratings/Share
(18-49)[6]
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 S28 david t
David
S28 garrett t
Garrett
Tie S28 brice t
Brice
S28 jtia t
J'Tia
S28 cliff t
Cliff
S28 lindsey t
Lindsey
S28 alexis t
Alexis
S28 sarah t
Sarah
S28 morgan t
Morgan
S28 lj t
LJ
S28 jeremiah t
Jeremiah
S28 jefra t
Jefra
S28 tasha t
Tasha
S28 trish t
Trish
S28 spencer t
Spencer
S28 kass t
Kass
S28 woo t
Woo
S28 tony t
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."[7]
  • 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.
    • It is the most recent season 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.

References[]

Survivor (U.S.) Seasons
BorneoThe Australian OutbackAfricaMarquesasThailandThe AmazonPearl IslandsAll-StarsVanuatuPalauGuatemalaPanamaCook IslandsFijiChinaMicronesiaGabonTocantinsSamoaHeroes vs. VillainsNicaraguaRedemption IslandSouth PacificOne WorldPhilippinesCaramoanBlood vs. WaterCagayanSan Juan del SurWorlds ApartCambodiaKaôh RōngMillennials vs. Gen XGame ChangersHeroes vs. Healers vs. HustlersGhost IslandDavid vs. GoliathEdge of ExtinctionIsland of the IdolsWinners at WarSurvivor 41Survivor 42Survivor 43Survivor 44Survivor 45Survivor 46Survivor 47
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