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Survivor: Game Changers, also known as Survivor: Game Changers — Mamanuca Islands, is the thirty-fourth season of the CBS competitive reality television series Survivor.

This is the fourth season to feature a full cast of returnees, after Survivor: All-Stars, Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, and Survivor: Cambodia.

After a chaotic season packed with multiple strategic shifts, the person who ended up controlling most of the post-merge with her calculated flips, Sarah Lacina, won in a 7-3-0 final vote over Brad Culpepper and Troyzan Robertson. To date, it has produced four returning players (Aubry Bracco, Sandra Diaz-Twine, Sarah Lacina, and Tony Vlachos) for subsequent seasons.

Production[]

The season was filmed 25 days after the filming of Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X, following the back-to-back filming pattern of seasons since Survivor: Samoa.

This season features a nautical theme. The Tribal Council set is comprised of ten actual shipwrecks, most of which were retrieved in the aftermath of Cyclone Winston, the cyclone that hit Fiji before production for Millennials vs. Gen X began.[3]

Twists/Changes[]

  • Game Changers: Twenty returning contestants, selected for the impact they had made on the game of Survivor, will return to battle for the title of Sole Survivor.
  • Simplified Tiebreaker: In the event of a tie at Tribal Council, the re-vote would be bypassed, and an open forum would commence. If the non-tied players are unable to make a unanimous decision who to eliminate, a rock draw takes place.[4]
  • Hidden Immunity Idol: The idols will be inconsistently hidden at camp, in challenges, and even at Tribal Council.[5]
  • Legacy Advantage: The Legacy Advantage was hidden on the ship used during the marooning, and allowed its holder to gain immunity at either the final thirteen or the final six. In the event that the holder is eliminated, he or she must will it to another player still in the game.
  • Tribe Expansion: As in Survivor: Cambodia and Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X, a third tribe was introduced during the pre-merge stage of the game. The Tavua tribe, wearing green buffs, was introduced on Day 7 of the game with 18 players left.
  • Joint Tribal Council: The two tribes who lost the fourth Immunity Challenge on Day 11 were both sent to Tribal Council as a group, but unlike a standard Double Tribal Council, they would vote as a group and only one person was voted out.
  • Tribe Switch: At the final fifteen, a second tribe switch occurred, resulting in the dissolution of the Tavua tribe and the remaining contestants being distributed across two tribes.
  • Exile Island: At the final fifteen, one person was sent to Exile Island because of not being placed on a tribe.
    • Advantage Option: The exiled castaway was given three possible advantages—a kit with which to design a fake Hidden Immunity Idol, an Extra Vote, or a challenge advantage for their new tribe.
  • Merge: The merge occurred with 13 players remaining.
  • Vote Steal: At the final eleven Reward Challenge, a "secret advantage" was placed by the sit-out bench. It was revealed to give its holder the right to steal a vote from another contestant, effectively denying that person a right to vote and allowing the holder to vote twice at one Tribal Council. It is usable up until the final five.
  • Expanded Jury and Final Three: Instead of the conventional Final Two facing the jury of seven, the Day 39 Tribal Council was held with a Final Three facing a ten-person jury.
  • Reformatted Final Tribal Council: Instead of having each jury member speak one by one, an open forum was held to ensure a more insightful rapport between the jury and finalists.

Castaways[]

Contestant Tribe Affiliation Finish Votes
Against
Original Tribe Expanded Tribe Switched Tribe Merged Tribe
S34 ciera t Ciera Eastin
27, Salem, OR
Blood vs. Water &
Cambodia
Mana 1st Voted Out
Day 3
9
S34 tony t Tony Vlachos
42, Jersey City, NJ
Cagayan
Mana 2nd Voted Out
Day 6
7
S34 caleb t Caleb Reynolds
28, Hopkinsville, KY
Kaôh Rōng
Mana Mana 3rd Voted Out
Day 9
5
S34 malcolm t Malcolm Freberg
29, Hermosa Beach, CA
Philippines &
Caramoan
Mana Nuku 4th Voted Out
Day 11
5
S34 jt t J.T. Thomas
31, Mobile, AL
Tocantins &
Heroes vs. Villains
Nuku Nuku 5th Voted Out
Day 13
3
S34 sandra t Sandra Diaz-Twine
41, Fayetteville, NC
Pearl Islands &
Heroes vs. Villains
Mana Nuku Nuku 6th Voted Out
Day 16
5
S34 jeff t Jeff Varner
50, High Point, NC
The Australian Outback &
Cambodia
Mana Nuku Nuku 7th Voted Out
Day 18
6
S34 hali t Hali Ford
26, Knoxville, TN
Worlds Apart
Mana Mana Mana Maku Maku 8th Voted Out
1st Jury Member
Day 21
8
S34 ozzy t Ozzy Lusth
34, Venice, CA
Cook Islands, Micronesia, &
South Pacific
Nuku Tavua Nuku 9th Voted Out
2nd Jury Member
Day 24
7
S34 debbie t Debbie Wanner
50, Reading, PA
Kaôh Rōng
Nuku Mana Nuku 10th Voted Out
3rd Jury Member
Day 26
6
S34 zeke t Zeke Smith
28, Brooklyn, NY
Millennials vs. Gen X
Nuku Tavua Nuku 11th Voted Out
4th Jury Member
Day 29
11
S34 sierra t Sierra Dawn Thomas
29, Roy, UT
Worlds Apart
Nuku Mana Mana 12th Voted Out
5th Jury Member
Day 32
15
S34 andrea t Andrea Boehlke
27, New York City, NY
Redemption Island &
Caramoan
Nuku Tavua Nuku 13th Voted Out
6th Jury Member
Day 33
14
S34 michaela t Michaela Bradshaw
25, Fort Worth, TX
Millennials vs. Gen X
Mana Nuku Mana 14th Voted Out
7th Jury Member
Day 35
11
S34 cirie t Cirie Fields
45, Norwalk, CT
Panama, Micronesia, &
Heroes vs. Villains
Nuku Tavua Mana Eliminated
8th Jury Member
Day 36
0
S34 aubry t Aubry Bracco
30, Cambridge, MA
Kaôh Rōng
Mana Nuku Mana 15th Voted Out
9th Jury Member
Day 37
9
S34 tai t Tai Trang
52, San Francisco, CA
Kaôh Rōng
Nuku Mana Nuku 16th Voted Out
10th Jury Member
Day 38
12
S34 troyzan t Troyzan Robertson
54, Miami, FL
One World
Mana Tavua Mana Second
Runner-Up
2
S34 brad t Brad Culpepper
47, Tampa, FL
Blood vs. Water
Nuku Mana Mana Runner-Up 2
S34 sarah t Sarah Lacina
31, Marion, IA
Cagayan
Nuku Tavua Nuku Sole Survivor 3

Season Summary[]

The 20 returning players were initially divided into two tribes of ten: Mana and Nuku. The Nuku tribe enjoyed early success, winning the majority of the Immunity Challenges. At the original Mana, two-time winner Sandra battled for control of the tribe against Tony. She emerged victorious and further consolidated her power after the first tribe switch on Day 7, but her grip over the game was undone by the second tribe switch on Day 14. Through both tribe switches, the original Nuku held strong and eliminated numerous members of Mana. The most notable of these eliminations was that of Jeff on Day 18, who publicly outed Zeke as being transgender in a last ditch effort to save himself.

Following Jeff's dramatic elimination, the thirteen remaining players merged into Maku Maku the next day. Though the original Nuku had a 9-4 numbers advantage over the original Mana, the camp soon divided into two warring alliances: One led by Andrea and Cirie, and another led by Sierra and Brad. While initially a member of Sierra's group, Sarah defected to the rival alliance on Day 26, eliminating Debbie.

Sarah continued flipping back and forth between the two alliances before eventually settling into a Final Three deal with Brad and Troyzan. Using a combination of Brad's strength in Immunity Challenges and numerous advantages and Hidden Immunity Idols, the trio were able to successfully eliminate Cirie at the final six before picking off the remaining outsiders, eventually reaching the Final Tribal Council on Day 39.

At the Final Tribal Council, Sarah was respected for her strategic control throughout the merge, and ability to manage her social relationships, but criticized for her numerous betrayals and manipulations. Brad was commended for dominating in Immunity Challenges but castigated for being condescending and not socializing with people outside his alliance. Troyzan was virtually ignored for his perceived coattail riding. Sarah's strong strategic control beat out Brad's dominance in challenges and Troyzan's lack of visible gameplay, and she was awarded the title of Sole Survivor with seven votes to win while Brad received three.

Episode Air date Challenges Eliminated
(Vote)
Finish Viewers
(in millions)
Ratings/Share
(18-49)
Reward Immunity
1 "The Stakes Have Been Raised" March 8, 2017 Nuku Ciera
(9-1)
1st Voted Out
Day 3
7.64[6] 1.7/6[6]
Nuku1
Nuku1 Tony
(7-2)
2nd Voted Out
Day 6
2 "Survivor Jackpot" March 15, 2017 Nuku1 Caleb
(5-1)
3rd Voted Out
Day 9
7.87[7] 1.7/7[7]
Tavua1
3 "The Tables Have Turned" March 22, 2017 Nuku Tavua2 Malcolm
(5-0)3
4th Voted Out
Day 11
8.10[8] 1.7/7[8]
Mana
4 "Dirty Deed" March 29, 2017 Tavua Mana J.T.
(3-2)
5th Voted Out
Day 13
8.26[9] 1.8/7[9]
Nuku Tavua
5 "Vote Early, Vote Often" April 5, 2017 None Debbie4 Sandra
(5-2)
6th Voted Out
Day 16
8.40[10] 1.7/7[10]
Mana
6 "What Happened on Exile, Stays on Exile" April 12, 2017 Nuku Mana Jeff
(6-0)5
7th Voted Out
Day 18
8.31[11] 1.7/7[11]
7 "There's a New Sheriff in Town" April 19, 2017 None Andrea Hali
(7-4-2)
8th Voted Out
1st Jury Member
Day 21
7.92[12] 1.7/7[12]
Andrea,
Debbie
Ozzy, Tai,
Troyzan,
Zeke
Tai Ozzy
(7-4-1-1)
9th Voted Out
2nd Jury Member
Day 24
8 "A Line Drawn in Concrete" April 26, 2017 Andrea,
Aubry, Brad,
Debbie,
Sierra
Troyzan Debbie
(6-5)
10th Voted Out
3rd Jury Member
Day 26
8.49[13] 1.8/7[13]
9 "Reinventing How This Game Is Played" May 3, 2017 Andrea,
Aubry, Brad,
Sarah, Zeke
Andrea Zeke
(5-3-2)
11th Voted Out
4th Jury Member
Day 29
8.26[14] 1.8/8[14]
10 "It Is Not a High Without a Low" May 10, 2017 Andrea,
Aubry, Brad
[Cirie, Sarah]
Brad Sierra
(6-3)
12th Voted Out
5th Jury Member
Day 32
8.30[15] 1.7/7[15]
11 "Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow" May 17, 2017 None Aubry Andrea
(6-2)
13th Voted Out
6th Jury Member
Day 33
8.27[16] 1.7/7[16]
Brad Michaela
(4-2-1)
14th Voted Out
7th Jury Member
Day 35
12 "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished" May 24, 2017 Brad1 Cirie
(0-0-0;
Default)6
Eliminated
8th Jury Member
Day 36
8.48[17] 1.9/8[17]
[Sarah,
Troyzan]
None Brad Aubry
(4-1)
15th Voted Out
9th Jury Member
Day 37
Brad Tai
(3-1)
16th Voted Out
10th Jury Member
Day 38
Jury Vote Troyzan
(7-3-0)
Second Runner-Up
Brad
(7-3-0)
Runner-Up
Sarah
(7-3-0)
Sole Survivor
13 "Reunion" 5.84[18] 1.3/5[18]
Notes:
^1 Combined Reward and Immunity Challenge.
^2 The two tribes that lost the Immunity Challenge were jointly sent to Tribal Council, where they would vote together to vote one person out.
^3 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played, negating all votes against its user.
^4 Due to an odd number of castaways at the tribe switch, the castaway who drew the package containing no buff was exiled until after the following Tribal Council, when they would join the tribe that lost a member.
^5 Jeff was voted out verbally and unanimously by the Nuku tribe. He did not cast an elimination vote.
^6 All votes cast were negated, causing a null vote. Per Survivor rules, a vote restart would have commenced under any other circumstance. However, since Cirie was the only castaway eligible to receive votes in the vote restart, she was eliminated by default.

Voting History[]

Original Tribes Expanded Tribes Switched Tribes Merged Tribe
Episode 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Voted Out S34 ciera t
Ciera
S34 tony t
Tony
S34 caleb t
Caleb
S34 malcolm t
Malcolm
S34 jt t
J.T.
S34 sandra t
Sandra
S34 jeff t
Jeff
S34 hali t
Hali
S34 ozzy t
Ozzy
S34 debbie t
Debbie
S34 zeke t
Zeke
S34 sierra t
Sierra
S34 andrea t
Andrea
S34 michaela t
Michaela
Null S34 cirie t
Cirie
S34 aubry t
Aubry
S34 tai t
Tai
S34 troyzan t
Troyzan
S34 brad t
Brad
S34 sarah t
Sarah
Vote 9-1 7-2 5-1 5-01 3-2 5-2 6-03 7-4-2 7-4-1-1 6-5 5-3-2 6-3 6-2 4-2-1 0-0-07 Default 4-1 3-1 7-3-0
Sarah Sandra Jeff Michaela Ozzy Debbie Zeke Sierra Andrea Michaela Tai Aubry Tai Jury Vote
Michaela5
Brad Caleb Malcolm Hali Ozzy Andrea Tai Andrea Andrea Michaela Aubry Aubry Tai
Troyzan Ciera Tony Hali Ozzy Andrea Tai Andrea Andrea Michaela Tai Aubry Tai
Tai Caleb Malcolm Sandra Jeff Hali Ozzy Andrea Sierra Sierra Andrea None6 Sarah Aubry Troyzan Sarah
Aubry Ciera Tony Sierra Michaela Hali Zeke Debbie Zeke Sierra Brad Tai Sarah Troyzan Sarah
Cirie Michaela Sierra Debbie Zeke Sierra Andrea Aubry Sarah Eliminated Sarah
Michaela Ciera Tony Sierra J.T. Zeke Zeke Debbie Zeke Sierra Andrea Tai Sarah
Andrea Sandra Jeff Michaela Zeke Debbie Zeke Sierra Brad Sarah
Sierra Caleb Malcolm Hali Ozzy Andrea Tai Andrea Brad
Zeke Sandra Jeff Michaela Aubry Debbie Sierra Sarah
Debbie Caleb Malcolm Exiled2 Jeff Hali Ozzy Andrea Brad
Ozzy4
Ozzy Sandra Jeff Hali Zeke Brad
Hali Ciera Tony Caleb Malcolm Zeke Sarah
Jeff Ciera Tony Sierra J.T. Tai None
Sandra Ciera Aubry Sierra J.T. Tai
J.T. Sierra Michaela
Malcolm Ciera Tony Sierra
Caleb Ciera Tony Hali
Tony Ciera Aubry
Ciera Michaela
Notes:
^1 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played, negating all votes against its user.
^2 Due to the odd number of castaways at the time of the tribe switch, Debbie, the odd person out, was exiled, and rejoined the game as a member of Nuku, replacing Sandra and evening the tribes at 7-7.
^3 Jeff was voted out unanimously by the Nuku tribe. Due to the nature of the verbal vote, Jeff did not cast a vote.
^4 This castaway used an Extra Vote advantage, allowing them to vote twice at Tribal Council.
^5 This castaway used the Vote Steal advantage, allowing them to steal another castaway's vote to vote twice at Tribal Council.
^6 This castaway's vote was stolen by the Vote Steal.
^7 All votes cast were negated, causing a null vote. Per Survivor rules, a vote restart would have occurred in any other circumstance. However, since Cirie was the only castaway eligible to receive votes for the vote restart, she was eliminated by default.

Trivia[]

  • Game Changers is the fourth season with a cast composed entirely of returning players, following All-Stars, Heroes vs. Villains, and Cambodia.
  • Game Changers was the first season to feature multiple fourth-time returning players. The only other four-time players were Rob Mariano and Rupert Boneham who played for the fourth time on Redemption Island and Blood vs. Water respectively.
  • Game Changers was tied with Micronesia, David vs. Goliath, Island of the Idols and Survivor 41 for the most openly LGBT contestants at the time of airing, with 3: Jeff, Tai, and Zeke. This record was broken by Survivor 44 with 6.
    • With Ozzy coming out as bisexual in 2022, four Game Changers contestants are LGBT as of the present day.
    • All men on this season's jury are openly LGBT.
  • The pre-merge tribe Buffs for Game Changers are the first since Heroes vs. Villains to not have tribe names prominently printed on them.
  • All three pre-merge tribes, including Tavua, won exactly three Immunity Challenges.
  • Game Changers is the first season since Philippines to not have any tie votes.
  • Game Changers saw the most players immune at a given Tribal Council with five (since broken in Survivor 41), as well as the first instance where a player was voted out with 0 votes due to there being no other non-immune option.
  • Game Changers is the most recent season where no Hidden Immunity Idols were in play the last time they could be played.
  • Game Changers has the fewest episodes of any Survivor season, with 13 (12 excluding the Reunion Show).
  • The pre-jury trip took place in Vietnam.[19]

References[]

  1. http://www.cbs.com/recommended/photos/1007417/all-of-the-cbs-season-finale-dates-you-need-to-know/120804/survivor-season-34-two-hour-finale-airs-on-wednesday-may-24-at-8-7c-/
  2. http://www.truedorktimes.com/s34/calendar.htm
  3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN2fUGO5b8Y
  4. https://parade.com/551340/joshwigler/survivor-game-changers-tie-breaker-twist-no-more-revote/
  5. http://ew.com/tv/2017/03/06/survivor-jeff-probst-game-changers-twists-idols/
  6. 6.0 6.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/wednesday-final-ratings-march-8-2017/
  7. 7.0 7.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/wednesday-final-ratings-march-15-2017/
  8. 8.0 8.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/wednesday-final-ratings-march-22-2017/
  9. 9.0 9.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/wednesday-final-ratings-march-29-2017/
  10. 10.0 10.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/wednesday-final-ratings-april-5-2017/
  11. 11.0 11.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/designated-survivor-and-abc-comedy-encores-all-adjust-down-wednesday-final-ratings/
  12. 12.0 12.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/wednesday-final-ratings-april-19-2017/
  13. 13.0 13.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/wednesday-final-ratings-april-26-2017/
  14. 14.0 14.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/wednesday-final-ratings-may-3-2017/
  15. 15.0 15.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/wednesday-final-ratings-may-10-2017/
  16. 16.0 16.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/wednesday-final-ratings-may-17-2017/
  17. 17.0 17.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/wednesday-final-ratings-may-24-2017/
  18. 18.0 18.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/wednesday-final-ratings-may-24-2017/
  19. https://www.facebook.com/varnernc/posts/pfbid0fW459hBnKG4wyKSjo4nsUDAGqE1X3P5LonQsmjBFQvSeKd3QoqTMBkohdZLwfJG2l

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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