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Survivor: Fiji is the fourteenth season of the CBS competitive reality television series Survivor. It was filmed in Macuata, Vanua Levu, Fiji during 2006 and aired on television in 2007. Earl Cole was declared the winner in the first unanimous jury vote in Survivor history. He defeated Cassandra Franklin and Dreamz Herd in a 9-0-0 vote. It would ultimately feature one quit, and has to date produced one returning player (Yau-Man Chan) for subsequent seasons.

Production[]

Applications were due June 16, 2006. Mellisa McNulty, a 27-year-old talent manager from Los Angeles, was supposed to be the twentieth castaway but dropped out the night before the show began because of panic attacks, making this the first season of Survivor to feature an odd number of castaways, with 19. Due to the timing and lack of alternates, her spot could not be replaced, making it the first time in which a contestant backed out of Survivor and was not replaced. Gary Stritesky was the only contestant who applied to be on the show; Mellisa and the other 18 contestants were recruited. The cast retained the same amount of racial diversity as the previous season, Survivor: Cook Islands, in a conscious effort intended to show that the diversity of Cook Islands was not just a ratings stunt.

Survivor: Fiji was filmed in the eastern region of the Macuata province, on Fiji's second largest island, Vanua Levu, about 15 miles (24 km) from the town of Labasa. Tribal Council, the production camp ("Tent City"), and several challenges were located in close proximity to the village of Vunivutu. Other challenges were held on Katawaqa Island, Tivi Island, Vatudamu Point, and fields along the Wainikoro River. The Moto (and later, Bula Bula) tribe lived on a peninsula in Vunivutu Bay, while the Ravu tribe lived on Druadrua Island under much harsher conditions. Exile Island's actual name is Sausau Island. Reward getaways included trips to the Namale Resort and Jean-Michel Cousteau Fiji Islands Resort in the town of Savusavu, as well as a rafting excursion on the Navua River on Fiji's main island of Viti Levu.

On December 5, 2006 (Day 37), a coup d'état was initiated by Fiji's military leader, Frank Bainimarama. While there was some speculation that a full evacuation of the Survivor crew members from Fiji would take place, only a few crew members on the mainland were relocated to the second-smallest island. However, the political turmoil prior to the coup did prevent the families of the cast members from coming to Fiji to participate in a Reward Challenge (as usually occurs on Survivor) towards the end of filming.

Twists/Changes[]

  • Odd-Numbered Cast: Prior to the start of filming, Mellisa McNulty suffered a severe panic attack and the medical team deemed her unfit to compete, thus she was removed from the cast. Due to Mellisa's abrupt removal and production being unable to have an alternate contestant be flown in on time, the game began with nineteen contestants.
  • Haves vs. Have Nots: The castaways (after they had been divided into tribes) would compete for the right to the luxurious camp in the first episode that all nineteen helped to build, the losing tribe would move to a new camp with the very basic of materials.
  • Rehashed Hidden Immunity Idol Mechanism: Unlike previous seasons wherein the Hidden Immunity Idol would be played after the votes have been read, the new format forces the holder to play it after the votes have been cast, but prior to the votes being read.
  • Exile Island: After a Reward Challenge, players may banish a player from the rival tribe to Exile Island. This island (entirely separate from the existing camps) will force the banished player to fend for themselves until the upcoming Immunity Challenge, unless stated otherwise. The banished player will be given clues to a Hidden Immunity Idol, as well as basic supplies for survival.
  • Message in a Bottle: A message forced the winning tribe of a pre-determined challenge to choose between keeping the luxurious camp or keeping immunity.
  • Tribe Switch: A Schoolyard Pick was conducted between two captains to determine the new tribes. After the pick was done, the captains would then draw buffs to determine which tribe they would be members of.
  • Post-merge Team Immunity Challenge: In the first round as a merged tribe, the group split into two teams of five. The winning group would be immune from Tribal Council under the rules of tribal immunity.
  • Final Three and Expanded Jury: A Final Three faced a jury of nine.

Castaways[]

Contestant Tribe Affiliation Finish Votes
Against
Original Tribe Switched Tribe Merged Tribe
S14 jessica t Jessica deBen
27, Los Angeles, CA
Fashion Stylist
Ravu 1st Voted Out
Day 3
6
S14 erica t Erica Durousseau
26, Baton Rouge, LA
Non-profit Fundraiser
Ravu 2nd Voted Out
Day 6
6
S14 sylvia t Sylvia Kwan
52, Ross, CA
Architect
Ravu 3rd Voted Out
Day 8
6
S14 gary t Gary Stritesky
55, Ramsey, MN
School Bus Driver
Moto Quit
Day 10
0
S14 liliana t Liliana Gomez
25, Los Angeles, CA
Loan Officer
Moto 4th Voted Out
Day 11
6
S14 rita t Rita Verreos
38, San Antonio, TX
Single Mother
Ravu 5th Voted Out
Day 14
6
S14 anthony t Anthony Robinson
32, Compton, CA
Expert Witness Locator
Ravu Ravu 6th Voted Out
Day 16
10
S14 rocky t Rocky Reid
28, Los Angeles, CA
Bartender
Ravu Ravu 7th Voted Out
1st Jury Member
Day 19
5
S14 lisi t Lisi Linares
36, Los Angeles, CA
Customer Service Representative
Moto Ravu 8th Voted Out
2nd Jury Member
Day 21
7
S14 michelle t Michelle Yi
22, Cincinnati, OH
Student
Ravu Moto Bula Bula 9th Voted Out
3rd Jury Member
Day 24
3
S14 edgardo t Edgardo Rivera
28, Miami Beach, FL
Advertising Executive
Moto Ravu 10th Voted Out
4th Jury Member
Day 27
5
S14 mookie t Mookie Lee
24, Chicago, IL
Business Consultant
Ravu Ravu 11th Voted Out
5th Jury Member
Day 30
6
S14 alex t Alex Angarita
28, Los Angeles, CA
Lawyer
Moto Ravu 12th Voted Out
6th Jury Member
Day 33
9
S14 stacy t Stacy Kimball
27, Boulder, CO
Web Producer
Moto Moto 13th Voted Out
7th Jury Member
Day 36
4
S14 boo t Boo Bernis
34, Lafayette, LA
Construction Worker
Moto Moto 14th Voted Out
8th Jury Member
Day 37
5
S14 yauman t Yau-Man Chan
54, Martinez, CA
Internet Technology Director
Ravu Moto 15th Voted Out
9th Jury Member
Day 38
9
S14 cassandra t Cassandra Franklin
42, Los Angeles, CA
College Administrator
Moto Moto Runners-Up 5
S14 dreamz t Dreamz Herd
24, Wilmington, NC
Cheerleading Coach
Moto Ravu 2
S14 earl t Earl Cole
35, Santa Monica, CA
Advertising Executive
Ravu Moto Sole Survivor 1

Season Summary[]

Due to one player dropping out prior to the game, the season started with 19 players. After arriving at their beach as one group, instructions and materials for building a camp were dropped from a plane. Before the first challenge, the tribes were divided by Sylvia, the one they saw as their leader; as she was the odd-one out, she became the first to visit Exile Island. After the challenge, the winning tribe, Moto, returned to the constructed camp, while the losing tribe, Ravu, was directed to a different beach where only meager supplies awaited them; Sylvia joined Ravu after the first Tribal Council.

While both tribes vied equally in challenges, it was apparent that the Moto tribe's well-off living condition had lopsided the competition, sending Ravu to five of the first six Tribal Councils, though Moto had their share of mishaps, such as Gary's body's averse reaction to bug bites (causing him to quit the game) and surrendering their immunity to Ravu to keep their shelter after a twist at the Day 11 Immunity Challenge. Ravu's losing streak, however, served to build an alliance between Earl and Yau-Man. When Earl became a target to be sent to Exile Island, he conspired with Yau-Man to find one of the two Hidden Immunity Idols located at the camps.

A Tribe Switch on Day 15 served to further alliances. At the new Moto tribe, Earl and Yau-Man added Boo, Cassandra, and Michelle to their alliance, while at the new, all-male Ravu tribe, Alex became the leader of an alliance between himself, Dreamz, Edgardo, and Mookie, self-titling themselves the Four Horsemen. Alex, Edgardo, and Mookie searched for the idol, which Mookie found, and Ravu would lose three more Immunity Challenges.

The tribes merged by traveling to Exile Island, then returning to the original Moto camp, finding that all the structures and luxuries had been removed. The first post-merge Immunity Challenge divided the contestants into two randomly selected teams, putting Michelle with most of the Horsemen, and leading up to her being voted out. After Dreamz found out that his allies kept the idol from him and flipped to the Syndicate Alliance. A critical game play moment came at Tribal Council on Day 27 when the Syndicate Alliance was able to trick Alex into playing Mookie's idol, but instead targeted and eliminated an unsuspecting Edgardo, which led to the elimination of Mookie and Alex in the subsequent votes.

The Reward Challenge played by the final six players was for a truck. Yau-Man won the challenge, but made a deal with Dreamz to trade the truck in exchange for the final challenge's Immunity Necklace should Dreamz win it. Yau-Man also became the first player to send himself to Exile Island, in hopes of using the clue there to find a Hidden Immunity Idol. Dreamz tried to get out of the truck deal by targeting Yau-Man before the final four. This plan failed as Yau-Man played his idol at final six and won individual immunity at final five. Dreamz won the Final Immunity Challenge, leaving him with a big decision to make. That night at Tribal Council, Yau-Man was voted out after Dreamz reneged on his promise to give up the Immunity Necklace.

At the Final Tribal Council, a mostly averse jury expressed their disgust at Dreamz for his deceptive gameplay, and controversial actions about the truck deal, while Cassandra was also criticized by the jury because of her perceived coattail-riding gameplay, and greediness. The jury of nine unanimously voted for the strategic, yet ethical Earl to win the title of Sole Survivor.

Episode Air date Challenges Exiled Eliminated
(Vote)
Finish Viewers
(in millions)[2]
Rating/Share
(18-49)[2]
Reward Immunity
1 "Something Cruel Is About to Happen... Real Soon" February 8, 2007 Moto2 Sylvia1 Jessica
(6-1-1-1)
1st Voted Out
Day 3
16.44 5.7/15
2 "Snakes Are Misunderstood... We Have an Understanding Now" February 15, 2007 Moto2 Earl Erica
(6-2)
2nd Voted Out
Day 6
16.08 5.6/15
3 "This Is Not Survival... It's a Thrival" February 22, 2007 Moto Moto Sylvia Sylvia
(4-3-1)
3rd Voted Out
Day 8
13.47 4.6/12
4 "Let's Just Call Jeff on the Jeff Phone" March 1, 2007 Moto Moto3 Yau-Man Gary
(no vote)
Quit
Day 10
14.67 5.0/13
(Ravu) Liliana
(6-1-1)
4th Voted Out
Day 11
5 "Love Many, Trust Few, Do Wrong to None" March 8, 2007 Moto Moto Earl Rita
(5-2)
5th Voted Out
Day 14
13.81 4.6/12
6 "I've Got Strength Now to Carry the Flag" March 21, 2007 None Moto Lisi1 Anthony
(5-1)
6th Voted Out
Day 16
12.78 4.2/12
7 "An Evil Thought" March 29, 2007 Ravu Moto Earl Rocky
(4-2)
7th Voted Out
1st Jury Member
Day 19
13.71 4.5/14
8 "So You Think You Can Meke?" April 5, 2007 Moto Moto Lisi Lisi
(4-1)
8th Voted Out
2nd Jury Member
Day 21
13.58 4.3/13
9 "Are We Gonna Live on Exile Island?!" April 12, 2007 Boo, Cassandra, Earl,
Edgardo, Yau-Man2
Bula Bula Michelle
(3-2)
9th Voted Out
3rd Jury Member
Day 24
14.25 4.5/13
10 "It's a Turtle?!" April 19, 2007 Cassandra,
[Boo,
Dreamz,
Yau-Man]
Yau-Man Mookie Edgardo
(5-3-1)4
10th Voted Out
4th Jury Member
Day 27
13.33 4.5/13
11 "Blackmail or Betrayal" April 26, 2007 Alex,
Dreamz,
Earl, Stacy
Stacy Boo Mookie
(4-3-1)
11th Voted Out
5th Jury Member
Day 30
13.83 4.6/14
12 "A Smile, Velvet Gloves and a Dagger in My Pocket" May 3, 2007 Boo Boo Earl Alex
(6-1)
12th Voted Out
6th Jury Member
Day 33
13.74 4.6/14
Yau-Man
Dreamz
13 "I Wanna See If I Can Make a Deal" May 10, 2007 Boo, Stacy,
Yau-Man5
(Dreamz)
Boo Yau-Man Stacy
(2-0)6
13th Voted Out
7th Jury Member
Day 36
13.77 4.4/14
14 "You've Got That Puzzled Look" May 13, 2007 None Yau-Man None Boo
(4-1)4
14th Voted Out
8th Jury Member
Day 37
13.63 4.6/13
Dreamz Yau-Man
(3-1)
15th Voted Out
9th Jury Member
Day 38
Jury Vote Dreamz
Cassandra
(9-0-0)
Runners-Up
Earl
(9-0-0)
Sole Survivor
15 "Reunion" 11.43 4.1/11
Notes:
^1 Due to an odd number of contestants, the odd person out was sent to Exile Island until after the proceeding Tribal Council, where that player joined the tribe that lost a member.
^2 Combined Reward and Immunity Challenge.
^3 After the Immunity Challenge, Moto was given an ultimatum of either keeping immunity or keeping their camp. Moto chose to keep their camp, giving immunity to Ravu.
^4 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played; however, no votes were cast against its user.
^5 Yau-Man gave up his reward to Dreamz and then exiled himself.
^6 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played, negating all votes 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 14
Voted Out S14 jessica t
Jessica
S14 erica t
Erica
S14 sylvia t
Sylvia
S14 gary t
Gary
S14 liliana t
Liliana
S14 rita t
Rita
S14 anthony t
Anthony
S14 rocky t
Rocky
S14 lisi t
Lisi
S14 michelle t
Michelle
S14 edgardo t
Edgardo
S14 mookie t
Mookie
S14 alex t
Alex
S14 stacy t
Stacy
S14 boo t
Boo
S14 yauman t
Yau-Man
S14 dreamz t
Dreamz
S14 cassandra t
Cassandra
S14 earl t
Earl
Vote 6-1-1-1 6-2 4-3-1 No vote3 6-1-1 5-2 5-1 4-2 4-1 3-25 5-3-16 4-3-1 6-1 2-07 4-16 3-1 9-0-0
Earl Jessica Exiled2 Sylvia Rita Edgardo Alex Alex Stacy Boo Yau-Man Jury Vote
Cassandra Lisi Edgardo Mookie Alex Yau-Man Boo Yau-Man
Dreamz Liliana Anthony Rocky Lisi Michelle Mookie Mookie Alex Yau-Man Boo Yau-Man
Yau-Man Jessica Erica Sylvia Rita Edgardo Alex Alex Stacy Boo Cassandra Earl
Boo Liliana Edgardo Mookie Alex Yau-Man Dreamz Earl
Stacy Liliana Michelle Edgardo Alex Alex Yau-Man Earl
Alex Liliana Anthony Rocky Lisi Michelle Cassandra Mookie Yau-Man Earl
Mookie Jessica Erica Anthony Rita Anthony Lisi Lisi Stacy Cassandra Boo Earl
Edgardo Liliana Anthony Rocky Lisi Cassandra Earl
Michelle Jessica Erica Sylvia Anthony Stacy Earl
Lisi Liliana Exiled4 Rocky Dreamz Earl
Rocky Mookie Erica Anthony Rita Anthony Lisi Earl
Anthony Jessica Sylvia Sylvia Rita Rocky
Rita Jessica Erica Earl Anthony
Liliana Cassandra
Gary Quit
Sylvia Exiled1 Erica Anthony
Erica Yau-Man Sylvia
Jessica Rita
Notes:
^1 Due to the odd number of players, Sylvia, the odd person out, was sent to Exile Island, and rejoined the game as a member of Ravu, replacing Jessica and evening the tribes at 9-9.
^2 After winning the Immunity Challenge, Moto was given the opportunity to exile one member of the losing tribe, allowing them to abstain from Tribal Council.
^3 Gary elected to quit the game due to illness. No vote occurred for his removal.
^4 Due to the odd number of players at the time of the tribe switch, Lisi, the odd person out, was sent to Exile Island, and rejoined the game as a member of Ravu, replacing Anthony and evening the tribes at 6-6.
^5 The Bula Bula tribe was divided into two teams of five before the Immunity Challenge, and only the losing team went to Tribal Council.
^6 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played; however, no votes were cast against its user.
^7 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played, negating all votes against its user.

Trivia[]

  • Due to Mellisa McNulty dropping out only hours before the castaways were set adrift, the crew was unable to pick a replacement contestant and the season started with 19 castaways. This makes Fiji the first and only season to begin with an odd number of castaways.
  • Fiji is the first season to have an uneven number of male and female players. It would later be followed by San Juan del Sur.
  • Fiji is the second season, after All-Stars, where Jeff Probst did not meet the contestants on Day 1. It would be followed by Island of the Idols.
  • Gary Stritesky became the first castaway to quit due to an illness.
  • Fiji was supposed to have a family visit, but due to the political turmoil in Fiji at the time of filming, the challenge was scrapped and the loved ones stayed home.
  • Fiji is the first and, thus far, only season with an all-African-American Final Three.
  • Fiji is the first season to have two runners-up; Cassandra Franklin and Dreamz Herd both received no votes from the jury, thus there were two second-place finishers and no third-place finisher. This later occurred in Philippines, Caramoan, Worlds Apart, Cambodia, and Millennials vs. Gen X.
    • This is the first season to have a unanimous jury vote.
  • During the finale, both Earl Cole and host Jeff Probst mentioned that Earl had never received a vote against him. However, this is untrue as Rita Verreos voted against him during the third Tribal Council.
  • Fiji is tied with Cook Islands for the most African-American, Asian-American, and Hispanic-American contestants, with five of each race.
    • Due to Mellisa dropping out of the competition, this is the first season in which the number of African-American, Asian-American, and Hispanic-American contestants outnumbered the amount of Caucasian contestants.

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 46
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