Survivor: Kaôh Rōng

Survivor: Kaôh Rōng
Season Information
Version	United States
Season No.	32
Filming Location	Koh Rong, Cambodia
Filming Dates	March 30, 2015 - May 7, 2015
Season Run	February 17, 2016 - May 18, 2016
No. of Episodes	15
No. of Days	39
No. of Castaways	18
Winner	Michele Fitzgerald
Runner(s)-Up	Aubry Bracco Tai Trang
Tribes	Chan Loh Gondol To Tang Dara
Viewership (in Millions)	8.30
Cast
Opening Sequence
Season Chronology
Previous	Cambodia
Next	Millennials vs. Gen X

Survivor: Kaôh Rōng, also unofficially known as Survivor: Kaôh Rōng — Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty, is the thirty-second season of Survivor. It utilized the same tribe division twist as Survivor: Cagayan.

Described as the most punishing season in Survivor history, Kaôh Rōng saw a record number of medical evacuations. After a dynamic game filled with numerous strategic shifts, the season was won by Michele Fitzgerald in a 5-2-0 vote over Aubry Bracco and Tai Trang. The season has produced five returning players to date (Aubry Bracco, Caleb Reynolds, Debbie Wanner, Michele Fitzgerald, and Tai Trang).

Production

Though billed as the 32nd season, Kaôh Rōng was filmed earlier than its "predecessor" season, Survivor: Cambodia. This marks the first time the show has aired seasons out of order.

The pre-jury contestants were sequestered and had their trip in Vietnam.

Twists/Changes

• Brawn vs. Brains vs. Beauty: The division of the tribes is based on the most prominent personal attributes of each castaway.
  • The Chan Loh​​ tribe is the "Brains" tribe, consisting of players who mostly rely on intelligence to get by in life.
  • The Gondol​ tribe is the "Beauty" tribe, consisting of players who mostly rely on their looks and social skills.
  • The To Tang​​ tribe is the "Brawn" tribe, consisting of players who mostly rely on their brute strength and endurance.
• Hidden Immunity Idol: While the current format still applies, there is also the option to combine two idols to create a "super idol" that can be played after the votes are read to save any player still in the game.
• Tribe Switch: On Day 12, a tribe switch occurred, simultaneously dissolving the To Tang tribe and mixing 12 of the 13 remaining castaways into two tribes of six. The odd person out who drew the red buff would be exiled until the next Tribal Council.
• One-Time Exile: During the tribe switch, 12 people would be assigned to either Chan Loh or Gondol, leaving one person without a tribe. That person would be sent to the former To Tang camp, where they would be ineligible for the next vote, and would join the losing tribe at the next Reward Challenge.
• Merge: This season merged with 11 castaways in the game.
• Extra Vote: A castaway would get the right to vote twice at the same Tribal Council.
• Juror Removal: A castaway would get the power to eliminate a juror of their choice.
• Expanded Jury and Final Three: The Final Tribal Council was held with a Final Three facing a seven-person jury.

Castaways

Contestant		Tribe Affiliation			Finish	Votes Against
		Original Tribe	Switched Tribe	Merged Tribe
	Darnell Hamilton 27, Chicago, IL Postal Worker	To Tang			1st Voted Out Day 3	7
	Jennifer Lanzetti 37, Salt Lake City, UT Contractor	To Tang			2nd Voted Out Day 6	3
	Liz Markham 26, New York City, NY Quantitative Strategist	Chan Loh			3rd Voted Out Day 8	5
	Caleb Reynolds 27, Hopkinsville, KY Army Veteran	Gondol			Evacuated Day 9	0
	Alecia Holden 23, Dallas, TX Real Estate Agent	To Tang			4th Voted Out Day 11	8
	Anna Khait 26, Brooklyn, NY Professional Poker Player	Gondol	Gondol		5th Voted Out Day 13	5
	Peter Baggenstos 34, Minneapolis, MN ER Doctor	Chan Loh	Gondol		6th Voted Out Day 16	7
	Neal Gottlieb 38, Sausalito, CA Ice Cream Entrepreneur	Chan Loh	Chan Loh	Dara	Evacuated 1st Jury Member Day 19	0
	Nick Maiorano 30, Redondo Beach, CA Personal Trainer	Gondol	Chan Loh		7th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 22	6
	Debbie Wanner 49, Reading, PA Chemist	Chan Loh	Chan Loh		8th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 24	5
	Scot Pollard 40, Carmel, IN Former NBA Champion	To Tang	Gondol		9th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 27	7
	Julia Sokolowski 18, Boston, MA College Student	Gondol	Gondol		10th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 29	7
	Kyle Jason 30, Detroit, MI Bounty Hunter	To Tang	Chan Loh		11th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 32	5
	Joe del Campo 71, Vero Beach, FL Former FBI Agent	Chan Loh	Gondol		Evacuated 7th Jury Member Day 34	1
	Cydney Gillon 22, Douglasville, GA Bodybuilder	To Tang	Chan Loh		Eliminated 8th Jury Member Day 37	5
	Tai Trang 51, San Francisco, CA Gardener	Gondol	Gondol		Second Runner-Up	4
	Aubry Bracco 29, Cambridge, MA Social Media Marketer	Chan Loh	Gondol		Runner-Up	8
	Michele Fitzgerald 24, Freehold, NJ Bartender	Gondol	Chan Loh		Sole Survivor	2

Season Summary

The 18 new castaways were divided into three tribes based on primary attribute: Chan Loh (Brains), To Tang (Brawn), and Gondol (Beauty). It was all but total disaster for the To Tang tribe as they lost three of the first four Immunity Challenges and, coupled with tension surrounding the outspoken Alecia, they saw half their tribe members leave the game. Contrarily, the Chan Loh tribe only lost one member in spite of their constant manipulations and ego permeating. While the Gondol tribe went undefeated in Immunity Challenges, they also suffered a major setback when Caleb was medically evacuated after collapsing from heat exhaustion on Day 9.

Following the Tribe Switch on Day 12, few major cross-tribal alliances formed aside from the unlikely friendship between Scot and Tai. This ultimately proved crucial for Tai's survival, as original Gondol members Anna and Julia were targeted in his place. Though the former of the two was eliminated, Julia narrowly escaped the same fate after original Brain Aubry flipped against her former tribe and voted out Peter on Day 16.

This initially seemed to be a costly mistake on Aubry's part, as the remaining Brawn and Beauty members formed an alliance against the Brains following the merge on Day 17. However, Cydney had grown tired of the men's overconfidence and banded the women together to vote out Nick, forming a new majority. Though the minority alliance held two Hidden Immunity Idols, Aubry convinced Tai to betray his allies, getting rid of one of the idols and joining the majority.

From there, a core alliance of Aubry, Cydney, and Michele would vote out Scot's remaining allies, eventually becoming the final four along with Tai. With Michele winning immunity on Day 37, Aubry and Cydney were forced to turn on one another, resulting in a fire-making tiebreaker. Aubry ultimately won, joining Michele and Tai in the finals. At the Final Tribal Council, the jury was skeptical of both Aubry and Michele's games, while not respecting Tai's due to his constant floating and flipping. Ultimately, Michele's social game impressed the jury more than Aubry's strategic game, winning her the title of Sole Survivor in a 5-2-0 vote.

Episode		Air date	Challenges		Eliminated (Vote)	Finish	Viewers (in millions)	Ratings/Share (18-49)
			Reward	Immunity
1	"I'm a Mental Giant"	February 17, 2016	Chan Loh		Darnell (3-3; 4-0)2	1st Voted Out Day 3	8.30	1.9/7
			Gondol1
2	"Kindergarten Camp"	February 24, 2016	Gondol		Jennifer (3-2)	2nd Voted Out Day 6	8.39	1.9/6
			Chan Loh1
3	"The Circle of Life"	March 2, 2016	Gondol		Liz (2-2-2; 3-0-0)2	3rd Voted Out Day 8	9.24	2.2/8
			To Tang1
4	"Signed, Sealed and Delivered"	March 9, 2016	Chan Loh	Chan Loh	Caleb (no vote)3	Evacuated Day 9	9.26	2.1/8
			Gondol	Gondol	Alecia (3-1)	4th Voted Out Day 11
5	"The Devils We Know"	March 16, 2016	None	Julia4	Anna (5-1)	5th Voted Out Day 13	9.50	2.1/8
				Chan Loh
6	"Play or Go Home"	March 23, 2016	Gondol	Chan Loh	Peter (4-2)	6th Voted Out Day 16	9.31	2.1/8
7	"It's Merge Time"	March 30, 2016	None	Nick	Neal (no vote)5	Evacuated 1st Jury Member8 Day 19	9.16	2.0/7
8	"The Jocks vs. the Pretty People"	April 6, 2016	Debbie, Julia, Nick, Scot, Tai	Tai	Nick (6-2-1-1)	7th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 22	8.98	1.9/7
9	"It's Psychological Warfare"	April 13, 2016	Jason, Julia, Scot, Tai	Julia	Debbie (4-3-2)	8th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 24	8.39	1.9/7
10	"I'm Not Here to Make Good Friends"	April 20, 2016	Julia	Jason	Scot (4-2-2)	9th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 27	9.27	2.0/7
			Michele
			Tai
11	"It's a 'Me' Game, Not a 'We' Game"	April 27, 2016	Cydney, Michele [Aubry]	Michele	Julia (5-2)	10th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 29	9.47	2.1/8
12	"Now's the Time to Start Scheming"	May 4, 2016	Jason, Michele, Tai	Cydney	Jason (4-2-1)	11th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 32	9.48	2.1/8
13	"With Me or Not with Me"	May 11, 2016	Joe [Aubry, Cydney]	None	Joe (no vote)6	Evacuated 7th Jury Member Day 34	9.51	2.1/8
14	"Not Going Down Without a Fight"	May 18, 2016	Aubry [Cydney]	Michele	Cydney (2-2; tiebreaker)7	Eliminated 8th Jury Member Day 37	9.57	2.1/7
			Michele	None	Neal (1-0)8	Removed from Jury Day 38
			Jury Vote		Tai (5-2-0)	Second Runner-Up
					Aubry (5-2-0)	Runner-Up
					Michele (5-2-0)	Sole Survivor
15	"Reunion"						6.84	1.5/5
Notes: ^1 Combined Reward and Immunity Challenge. ^2 The vote resulted in a tie. Per Survivor rules, a revote would commence. ^3 Caleb was evacuated from the game due to severe heatstroke. ^4 As Julia had drawn the sole red buff, she was exiled to the former To Tang camp. She would not attend Tribal Council, and was effectively immune. ^5 Neal was evacuated from the game due to multiple staph infections. ^6 Joe was evacuated from the game from experiencing bladder problems. ^7 Per Survivor rules, in the event of a tie at the final four, a fire-making challenge would be held between the tied players. ^8 For winning the Reward Challenge, Michele earned the power to remove a juror.

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		Tie	Darnell	Jennifer	Tie	Liz	Caleb	Alecia	Anna	Peter	Neal	Nick	Debbie	Scot	Julia	Jason	Joe	Tie	Cydney	Tai	Aubry	Michele
Vote		3-31	4-0	3-2	2-2-21	3-0	No vote2	3-1	5-1	4-2	No vote4	6-2-1-1	4-3-2	4-2-2	5-2	4-2-1	No vote6	2-27	Tiebreaker	5-2-0
►►	Michele	—		—	—		—	—	—	—	—	Nick	Debbie	Tai	Julia	Jason	—	Aubry	—	Jury Vote
►►	Aubry	—		—	Peter	None	—	—	Anna	Peter	—	Nick	Debbie	Scot	Julia	Jason	—	Cydney	—
►►	Tai	—		—	—		—	—	Anna	Peter	—	Jason	Cydney	Scot	Julia	Michele	—	Cydney	—
																Michele5
►►	Cydney	Alecia	Darnell	Jennifer	—		—	Alecia	—	—	—	Nick	Debbie	Scot	Julia	Jason	—	Aubry	Eliminated			Michele
►►	Joe	—		—	Liz	Liz	—	—	Anna	Julia	—	Nick	Scot	Scot	Julia	Jason	Evacuated				Aubry
►►	Jason	Alecia	Darnell	Jennifer	—		—	Alecia	—	—	—	Aubry	Cydney	Aubry	Tai	Joe						Michele
►►	Julia	—		—	—		—	—	Exiled3	Peter	—	Nick	Debbie	Tai	Tai							Michele
►►	Scot	Darnell	Darnell	Alecia	—		—	Alecia	Anna	Peter	—	Aubry	Cydney	Aubry								Michele
►►	Debbie	—		—	Liz	Liz	—	—	—	—	—	Nick	Scot									Michele
►►	Nick	—		—	—		—	—	—	—	—	Debbie									Aubry
►►	Neal	—		—	Peter	Liz	—	—	—	—	Evacuated									None8
►	Peter	—		—	Aubry	None	—	—	Anna	Julia
►	Anna	—		—	—		—	—	Peter
	Alecia	Darnell	None	Jennifer	—		—	Scot
	Caleb	—		—	—		Evacuated
	Liz	—		—	Aubry	None
	Jennifer	Darnell	Darnell	Alecia
	Darnell	Alecia	None
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 Caleb was medically evacuated during the Reward Challenge due to heat exhaustion. No vote occurred for his removal. ^3 Due to the odd number of castaways at the tribe switch, the odd person out was exiled to the former To Tang camp until after the following Tribal Council, when they would join the tribe that lost a member. ^4 Neal was medically evacuated following the Immunity Challenge due to a rupture of a pus-filled abscess on his knee. The Tribal Council scheduled for that night was cancelled. ^5 This castaway played an Extra Vote advantage, allowing them to vote twice at Tribal Council. ^6 After suffering from constipation and urine retention following a reward, the medical team was alerted of Joe's condition. Eventually, his condition grew serious enough to necessitate his evacuation. No vote occurred for his removal. ^7 Per Survivor rules, in the event of a tie at the final four, a fire-making challenge would be held between the tied castaways. ^8 For winning the final Reward Challenge, Michele earned the power to remove a juror. She chose Neal.

Trivia

• The art design for this season's buffs and flags appears to be inspired by the Sak Yant, a traditional Southeast Asian style of tattooing deity or animal designs accompanied by Pali phrases said to offer good luck or fortune.
• The font used for this season is Croteau.
• Kaôh Rōng is the third season in which the starting tribe colors are blue, red, and yellow, and the merged tribe color is black, following Philippines and Worlds Apart.
• Kaôh Rōng features the most medical evacuations, with three.
• Kaôh Rōng is the first season with an equal number of Reward Challenges and Immunity Challenges.
  • Kaôh Rōng is the only season where the last challenge was played for reward rather than immunity.
• Kaôh Rōng is tied with Survivor 44 for the fewest players voted out, with 12.
• Post-merge, no people from the same starting tribe were eliminated consecutively.
• Kaôh Rōng is the first season since Tocantins where no Hidden Immunity Idols were played.
• Kaôh Rōng is the only season whose finale aired over a year after filming concluded.
• Kaôh Rōng is the only season with new players to have a Final Three where all three finalists returned for a future season.
  • The Final Threes of Borneo, Panama, Micronesia, Heroes vs. Villains, and Cagayan all returned for future seasons, but Heroes vs. Villains was a full returning players season, and all other such seasons (including returnee season Micronesia) had a Final Two.