Survivor: Gabon

Survivor: Gabon
Season Information
Version	United States
Season No.	17
Filming Location	Wonga-Wongue Presidential Reserve, Estuaire Province, Gabon
Filming Dates	June 23, 2008 - July 31, 2008
Season Run	September 25, 2008 - December 14, 2008
No. of Episodes	14
No. of Days	39
No. of Castaways	18
Winner	Bob Crowley
Runner(s)-Up	Susie Smith Sugar Kiper
Tribes	Fang Kota Nobag
Viewership (in Millions)	13.81
Opening Sequence
Season Chronology
Previous	Micronesia
Next	Tocantins

Survivor: Gabon, also known as Survivor: Gabon — Earth's Last Eden, is the seventeenth season of Survivor. The winner of this season, Bob Crowley, the oldest winner in Survivor history, defeated Susie Smith and Sugar Kiper in a 4-3-0 final vote.

Production

On April 13, 2008, at the National Association of Broadcasters's annual show, Sony announced that the 17th season of Survivor would be the first to be shot in high definition, using Sony XDCAMs.

Survivor: Gabon began filming in late June. It marked the second season of the series that was filmed in Africa, as Survivor: Africa had been filmed seven years earlier in Kenya. Reports from Gabon indicate the show was filmed around the coastal towns of Nyonie and Ekwata in the Wonga-Wongue Presidential Reserve. Production struggled in transportation because of animals constantly obstructing them.

Twists/Changes

• Tribe Selection: Like Survivor: Thailand, the oldest male and female players will choose their tribemates.
• Individual Immunity Idols: Similar to Survivor: Micronesia, the players competed for individual immunity for their first visit to Tribal Council.
• Exile Island: Exile Island returns this season, with some new tweaks. The banished player will pick one of two bottles, one will grant idle comfort (referring to a semi-lavish shelter with a fruit basket inside), while the other will provide idol protection (a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol somewhere around the vicinity). If the player chose to look for the idol, he/she must rest outside of the shelter. If that player chose to enjoy the comforts of the shelter, the player in question cannot look out for the idol.
• Hidden Immunity Idol: Two Hidden Immunity Idols were available this season, one during the tribal phase of the game hidden on Exile Island, and another during the second tribe switch.
• Double Tribal Council: On Day 21, both tribes must go to Tribal Council to eliminate one of their own.
• Two Tribe Switches: There were two tribe swaps in this season, the first one on Day 10, and the other on Day 22.
• Delayed Merge: Due to the surprise second tribe switch, the merge was delayed for three days, merging with nine remaining contestants.
• Final Three: The finale returned to the Final Three, albeit with a seven-person jury format, similar to Survivor: China.

Castaways

Contestant		Tribe Affiliation				Finish	Votes Against
		Original Tribe	First Switched Tribe	Second Switched Tribe	Merged Tribe
	Michelle Chase 24, Los Angeles, CA Music Producer	Fang				1st Voted Out Day 3	8
	Gillian Larson 61, Temecula, CA Retired Nurse	Fang				2nd Voted Out Day 6	8
	Paloma Soto-Castillo 23, Downey, CA Student	Kota				3rd Voted Out Day 9	7
	Jacquie Berg 25, Santa Barbara, CA Medical Saleswoman	Kota	Fang			4th Voted Out Day 12	5
	G.C. Brown 25, Portland, OR Maintenance Man	Fang	Fang			5th Voted Out Day 15	6
	Kelly Czarnecki 22, Buffalo Grove, IL Retail Saleswoman	Kota	Fang			6th Voted Out Day 18	8
	Ace Gordon 27, Naples, FL Jewelry Salesman/Photographer	Kota	Fang			7th Voted Out Day 21	5
	Dan Kay 32, Boston, MA Lawyer	Fang	Kota			8th Voted Out Day 21	4
	Marcus Lehman 28, Atlanta, GA Doctor	Kota	Kota	Kota		9th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 24	3
	Charlie Herschel 29, New York City, NY Lawyer	Kota	Kota	Fang	Nobag	10th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 27	5
	Randy Bailey 49, Eagle Rock, MO Wedding Videographer	Fang	Kota	Fang		11th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 30	5
	Corinne Kaplan 29, Los Angeles, CA Pharmaceutical Saleswoman	Kota	Kota	Fang		12th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 33	4
	Crystal Cox 29, Durham, NC Olympic Gold Medalist	Fang	Fang	Kota		13th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 36	11
	Ken Hoang 22, Westminster, CA Professional Gamer	Fang	Fang	Kota		14th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 37	7
	Matty Whitmore 29, Pacific Palisades, CA Personal Trainer	Fang	Fang	Fang		15th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 38	7
	Sugar Kiper 29, Brooklyn, NY Pin-up Model	Kota	Fang	Fang		Second Runner-Up	0
	Susie Smith 47, Charles City, IA Hairdresser	Fang	Kota	Kota		Runner-Up	7
	Bob Crowley 57, Portland, ME Physics Teacher	Kota	Kota	Kota		Sole Survivor	2

Season Summary

The players were divided into tribes by a Schoolyard Pick started by the oldest players, Bob Crowley and Gillian Larson. It became evident that Gillian's tribe, Fang, was weaker, losing many of the Reward and Immunity Challenges, even after a Tribe Switch; however, a core alliance between Matty Whitmore, Ken Hoang, and Crystal Cox developed. On Bob's tribe, Kota, a series of alliances were formed, strengthened after the swap with the addition of Randy Bailey. Both the Hidden Immunity Idol and Exile Island twists were in play; the winning tribe on Reward Challenges was able to send one of the losing tribe's members to the latter. At Exile, that player had the option of a clue to the Immunity Idol hidden near Exile (ultimately leading to a string of hidden clues to the Idol), or to relax in a small shack, latter dubbed the Sugar Shack, with a provision of fruit and a hammock. Sugar Kiper was the second player to visit Exile and found the idol on her first visit. Sugar's Idol was eventually discovered by Matty, Ken, and Crystal, and they decided to bring her into their alliance.

On Day 22, both tribes were given clues suggesting a tribal merge, but then discovered they were still separate tribes, mixed by random draw, and returned to their camps. This development proved crucial for the minority Fang alliance, who successfully convinced Susie Smith that she was on the bottom of her alliance, resulting in her jumping ship. The tribes were then merged with the former Kota alliance in the minority. The Fang alliance, now with Susie, dominated the game, eliminating the former Kota alliance until only Bob was left. Bob won three consecutive Immunity Challenges, forcing the Fang alliance to turn on themselves. This resulted in the eliminations of Crystal and Ken due to their strong strategic prowess. At the final four, Susie won the Final Immunity Challenge, ending Bob's immunity streak. Sugar decided to vote with Bob due to their social bond, forcing a tie between him and Matty; Bob won the fire-making tiebreaker challenge.

At the Final Tribal Council, the jury was critical of Sugar's backstabbing and of Susie's less-dominant strategic game. They ultimately voted Bob as the Sole Survivor with four votes to Susie's three, and Sugar receiving none.

Episode		Air date	Challenges		Exiled	Eliminated (Vote)	Finish	Viewership (in millions)	Rating/Share (18-49)
			Reward	Immunity
1	"Want to See the Elephant Dung?"	September 25, 2008	Kota	GC		Michelle (8-1)	1st Voted Out Day 3	13.06	4.5/11
				Marcus
			Kota1
			Kota1		Dan	Gillian (7-1)	2nd Voted Out Day 6
2	"She Obviously Is Post-Op!"	October 2, 2008	Fang	Fang	Sugar	Paloma (7-2)	3rd Voted Out Day 9	13.08	4.5/12
3	"It Was Like Christmas Morning!"	October 9, 2008	None	Kota	Sugar2	Jacquie (5-2)	4th Voted Out Day 12	13.28	4.4/12
4	"This Camp Is Cursed"	October 16, 2008	Kota	Kota	Sugar	GC (6-1)	5th Voted Out Day 15	12.81	4.2/12
5	"He's a Snake, but He's My Snake"	October 23, 2008	Kota	Kota	Sugar	Kelly (5-1)	6th Voted Out Day 18	13.31	4.4/12
6	"It All Depends on the Pin-Up Girl"	October 30, 2008	Kota	Marcus	Sugar	Ace (3-2)	7th Voted Out Day 21	13.02	4.1/12
				[Sugar]3		Dan (4-3)	8th Voted Out Day 21
7	"Apple in the Garden of Eden"	November 6, 2008	None	Fang	None	Marcus (3-2)	9th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 24	12.01	3.8/10
8	"The Brains Behind Everything"	November 13, 2008	Fang	Susie	Bob	Charlie (5-4)	10th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 27	12.88	4.1/11
9	"Nothing Tastes Better than Five Hundred Dollars"	November 20, 2008	Survivor Auction	Ken	Bob	Randy (5-3)	11th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 30	12.50	4.0/11
10	"I Was Put on the Planet for This Show"	November 27, 2008	Recap Episode					N/A	N/A
11	"The Good Things in Life Aren't Easy"	December 4, 2008	Bob	Bob	None	Corinne (4-3)	12th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 33	12.73	3.9/11
12	"The Good Guys Should Win in the End"	December 11, 2008	Bob [Crystal, Ken]	Bob	Susie	Crystal (4-0)4	13th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 36	13.05	4.0/11
13	"Say Goodbye to Gabon"	December 14, 2008	None	Bob	None	Ken (4-1)	14th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 37	13.77	4.4/10
				Susie		Matty (2-2; tiebreaker)5	Eliminated 7th Jury Member Day 38
			Jury Vote			Sugar (4-3-0)	Second Runner-Up
						Susie (4-3-0)	Runner-Up
						Bob (4-3-0)	Sole Survivor
14	"Reunion"							11.74	3.8/10
Notes: ^1 Combined Reward and Immunity Challenge. ^2 Due to an odd number of castaways at the tribe switch, the odd person out was sent to Exile Island until after the following Tribal Council, when that castaway would join the tribe that lost a member. ^3 Before the Double Tribal Council on Day 21, the tribes competed in an individual Immunity Challenge. The winner of the challenge, Marcus from Kota, was given the right to assign immunity to a member from the Fang tribe. He chose Sugar. ^4 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played, negating all votes against its user. ^5 Per Survivor rules, in the event of a tie at the final four, a fire-making challenge would be held between the tied castaways.

Voting History

		Original Tribes			First Switched Tribes					Second Switched Tribes	Merged Tribe
Episode		1		2	3	4	5	6		7	8	9	10	12	13
Voted Out		Michelle	Gillian	Paloma	Jacquie	GC	Kelly	Ace	Dan	Marcus	Charlie	Randy	Corinne	Crystal	Ken	Tie	Matty	Sugar	Susie	Bob
Vote		8-1	7-1	7-2	5-2	6-1	5-1	3-2	4-3	3-2	5-4	5-3	4-3	4-02	4-1	2-23	Tiebreaker	4-3-0
►►►	Bob	—	—	Paloma	—	—	—	—	Dan	Ken	Crystal	Susie	Matty	Crystal	Ken	Matty	—	Jury Vote
►►►	Susie	Michelle	Gillian	—	—	—	—	—	Dan	Marcus	Charlie	Randy	Corinne	Crystal	Ken	Bob	—
►►►	Sugar	—	—	Paloma	Exiled1	GC	Kelly	Ace	—	—	Charlie	Randy	Corinne	Crystal	Ken	Matty	—
►►►	Matty	Michelle	Gillian	—	Jacquie	GC	Kelly	Crystal	—	—	Charlie	Randy	Corinne	Crystal	Ken	Bob	Eliminated		Susie
►►►	Ken	Michelle	Gillian	—	Jacquie	GC	Kelly	Ace	—	Marcus	Charlie	Randy	Matty	Matty	Susie				Susie
►►►	Crystal	Michelle	Gillian	—	Jacquie	GC	Kelly	Ace	—	Marcus	Charlie	Randy	Corinne	Matty					Susie
►►►	Corinne	—	—	Paloma	—	—	—	—	Dan	—	Crystal	Susie	Matty							Bob
►►►	Randy	Michelle	Gillian	—	—	—	—	—	Susie	—	Crystal	Susie								Bob
►►►	Charlie	—	—	Paloma	—	—	—	—	Dan	—	Crystal									Bob
►►	Marcus	—	—	Paloma	—	—	—	—	Susie	Ken										Bob
►	Dan	Michelle	Gillian	—	—	—	—	—	Susie
►	Ace	—	—	Paloma	Kelly	GC	Kelly	Crystal
►	Kelly	—	—	Ace	Jacquie	GC	Crystal
►	GC	Michelle	Gillian	—	Jacquie	Kelly
►	Jacquie	—	—	Paloma	Kelly
	Paloma	—	—	Ace
	Gillian	Michelle	Ken
	Michelle	Gillian
Notes: ^1 Due to the odd number of castaways at the tribe switch, the odd person out was sent to Exile Island until after the following Tribal Council, when they would join the tribe that lost a member. ^2 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played, negating all votes against its user. ^3 Per Survivor rules, in the event of a tie at the final four, a fire-making challenge would be held between the tied players.

Trivia

• This is the only season to have only two pre-merge tribes, yet have two Tribe Switches.
• This is the first season since Survivor: China to feature a seven-member jury with a final three. After this season, every season that had a final three would feature a jury of at least eight members, though the Juror Removal twist in Survivor: Kaôh Rōng would reduce that season to an eventual seven-member jury.
• This is the first season with an 18-player cast where the jury began before the merge.