Survivor: Game Changers, also known as Survivor: Game Changers — Mamanuca Islands, is the thirty-fourth season of 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.
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 retired, and an open forum would commence. If the non-tied players are unable to make a unanimous decision who to eliminate, the 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, as well as 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 | ||||
![]() |
Ciera Eastin 27, Salem, OR Blood vs. Water & Cambodia |
Mana | 1st Voted Out Day 3 |
9 | |||
![]() |
Tony Vlachos 42, Jersey City, NJ Cagayan |
Mana | 2nd Voted Out Day 6 |
7 | |||
![]() |
Caleb Reynolds 28, Hopkinsville, KY Kaôh Rōng |
Mana | Mana | 3rd Voted Out Day 9 |
5 | ||
![]() |
Malcolm Freberg 29, Hermosa Beach, CA Philippines & Caramoan |
Mana | Nuku | 4th Voted Out Day 11 |
5 | ||
![]() |
J.T. Thomas 31, Mobile, AL Tocantins & Heroes vs. Villains |
Nuku | Nuku | 5th Voted Out Day 13 |
3 | ||
![]() |
Sandra Diaz-Twine 41, Fayetteville, NC Pearl Islands & Heroes vs. Villains |
Mana | Nuku | Nuku | 6th Voted Out Day 16 |
5 | |
![]() |
Jeff Varner 50, High Point, NC The Australian Outback & Cambodia |
Mana | Nuku | Nuku | 7th Voted Out Day 18 |
6 | |
![]() |
Hali Ford 26, Knoxville, TN Worlds Apart |
Mana | Mana | Mana | Maku Maku | 8th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 21 |
8 |
![]() |
Ozzy Lusth 34, Venice, CA Cook Islands, Micronesia, & South Pacific |
Nuku | Tavua | Nuku | 9th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 24 |
7 | |
![]() |
Debbie Wanner 50, Reading, PA Kaôh Rōng |
Nuku | Mana | Nuku | 10th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 26 |
6 | |
![]() |
Zeke Smith 28, Brooklyn, NY Millennials vs. Gen X |
Nuku | Tavua | Nuku | 11th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 29 |
11 | |
![]() |
Sierra Dawn Thomas 29, Roy, UT Worlds Apart |
Nuku | Mana | Mana | 12th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 32 |
15 | |
![]() |
Andrea Boehlke 27, New York City, NY Redemption Island & Caramoan |
Nuku | Tavua | Nuku | 13th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 33 |
14 | |
![]() |
Michaela Bradshaw 25, Fort Worth, TX Millennials vs. Gen X |
Mana | Nuku | Mana | 14th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 35 |
11 | |
![]() |
Cirie Fields 45, Norwalk, CT Panama, Micronesia, & Heroes vs. Villains |
Nuku | Tavua | Mana | Eliminated 8th Jury Member Day 36 |
0 | |
![]() |
Aubry Bracco 30, Cambridge, MA Kaôh Rōng |
Mana | Nuku | Mana | 15th Voted Out 9th Jury Member Day 37 |
9 | |
![]() |
Tai Trang 52, San Francisco, CA Kaôh Rōng |
Nuku | Mana | Nuku | 16th Voted Out 10th Jury Member Day 38 |
12 | |
![]() |
Troyzan Robertson 54, Miami, FL One World |
Mana | Tavua | Mana | Second Runner-Up |
2 | |
![]() |
Brad Culpepper 47, Tampa, FL Blood vs. Water |
Nuku | Mana | Mana | Runner-Up | 2 | |
![]() |
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. There were two Tribe Switch during the pre-merge phase. The original Mana tribe struggled as they lost six of their ten members before the merge while Nuku only lost one. The pre-merge phase of the game was characterized by the early eliminations of perceived dangerous and manipulative players, previous winners, physical threats, a somewhat higher amount of twists, and a controversial incident that sealed Jeff Varner's demise in the game.
The tribes merged with 13 players remaining: 9 original Nuku and only 4 original Mana. Two alliances fought for power: One led by Andrea Boehlke and Cirie Fields, and another led by Brad Culpepper and Sierra Dawn Thomas. While Sarah Lacina was a part of Andrea and Cirie's group, she would navigate between both alliances to eliminate members from both sides. She later betrayed Andrea and Cirie and aligned with Brad and Troyzan Robertson. The three used Brad's Immunity Challenge wins, Sarah's Legacy Advantage, and Troyzan's Hidden Immunity Idol to make it to the Final Three.
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 on the bottom. 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. |
Voting History
Survivor: Game Changers 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: | ![]() Ciera |
![]() Tony |
![]() Caleb |
![]() Malcolm |
![]() J.T. |
![]() Sandra |
![]() Jeff |
![]() Hali |
![]() Ozzy |
![]() Debbie |
![]() Zeke |
![]() Sierra |
![]() Andrea |
![]() Michaela |
Null | ![]() Cirie |
![]() Aubry |
![]() Tai |
![]() Troyzan |
![]() Brad |
![]() 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 | Default8 | 4-1 | 3-1 | 7-3-0 | |||
►►► | Sarah | — | — | — | — | — | Sandra | Jeff | Michaela | Ozzy | Debbie | Zeke | Sierra | Andrea | Michaela5 | — | Aubry | Tai | Jury Vote | |||
Michaela5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
►►► | Brad | — | — | Caleb | Malcolm | — | — | — | Hali | Ozzy | Andrea | Tai | Andrea | Andrea | Michaela | — | Aubry | Tai | ||||
►►► | Troyzan | Ciera | Tony | — | — | — | — | — | Hali | Ozzy | Andrea | Tai | Andrea | Andrea | Michaela | — | Aubry | Tai | ||||
►►► | Tai | — | — | Caleb | Malcolm | — | Sandra | Jeff | Hali | Ozzy | Andrea | Sierra | Sierra | Andrea | None6 | — | Aubry | Troyzan | Sarah | |||
►►► | Aubry | Ciera | Tony | — | Michaela | — | — | Hali | Zeke | Debbie | Zeke | Sierra | Brad | Tai | — | Troyzan | Sarah | |||||
►►► | Cirie | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Michaela | Sierra | Debbie | Zeke | Sierra | Andrea | Aubry | Eliminated | Sarah | |||||
►►► | Michaela | Ciera | Tony | — | 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 | Ozzy4 | Andrea | Brad | ||||||||||
Ozzy4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
►►► | Ozzy | — | — | — | — | — | Sandra | Jeff | Hali | Zeke | Brad | |||||||||||
►►► | Hali | Ciera | Tony | Caleb | Malcolm | — | — | — | Zeke | Sarah | ||||||||||||
►► | Jeff | Ciera | Tony | — | J.T. | Tai | None | |||||||||||||||
►► | Sandra | Ciera | Aubry | — | J.T. | Tai | ||||||||||||||||
► | J.T. | — | — | — | Michaela | |||||||||||||||||
► | Malcolm | Ciera | Tony | — | ||||||||||||||||||
► | Caleb | Ciera | Tony | Hali | ||||||||||||||||||
Tony | Ciera | Aubry | ||||||||||||||||||||
Ciera | Michaela | |||||||||||||||||||||
Notes:
^1 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played, negating all votes against its user. |
Trivia
- The pre-merge tribe Buffs for Game Changers are the first since Heroes vs. Villains to not have tribe names prominently printed on them.
- 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 42 with 5.
- With Ozzy coming out as bisexual in 2022, four Game Changers contestants are LGBT as of the present day.
- All three pre-merge tribes, including Tavua, won exactly three Immunity Challenges.
- 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 has the fewest episodes of any Survivor season, with 13 (12 excluding the Reunion Show).
References
- ↑ 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-/
- ↑ http://www.truedorktimes.com/s34/calendar.htm
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN2fUGO5b8Y
- ↑ https://parade.com/551340/joshwigler/survivor-game-changers-tie-breaker-twist-no-more-revote/
- ↑ http://ew.com/tv/2017/03/06/survivor-jeff-probst-game-changers-twists-idols/
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/wednesday-final-ratings-march-8-2017/
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/wednesday-final-ratings-march-15-2017/
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/wednesday-final-ratings-march-22-2017/
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/wednesday-final-ratings-march-29-2017/
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/wednesday-final-ratings-april-5-2017/
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/designated-survivor-and-abc-comedy-encores-all-adjust-down-wednesday-final-ratings/
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/wednesday-final-ratings-april-19-2017/
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/wednesday-final-ratings-april-26-2017/
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/wednesday-final-ratings-may-3-2017/
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/wednesday-final-ratings-may-10-2017/
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/wednesday-final-ratings-may-17-2017/
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/wednesday-final-ratings-may-24-2017/
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/wednesday-final-ratings-may-24-2017/
Survivor (US) Seasons |
---|
Borneo • The Australian Outback • Africa • Marquesas • Thailand • The Amazon • Pearl Islands • All-Stars • Vanuatu • Palau • Guatemala • Panama • Cook Islands • Fiji • China • Micronesia • Gabon • Tocantins • Samoa • Heroes vs. Villains • Nicaragua • Redemption Island • South Pacific • One World • Philippines • Caramoan • Blood vs. Water • Cagayan • San Juan del Sur • Worlds Apart • Cambodia • Kaôh Rōng • Millennials vs. Gen X • Game Changers • Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers • Ghost Island • David vs. Goliath • Edge of Extinction • Island of the Idols • Winners at War • Survivor 41 • Survivor 42 • Survivor 43 |