Survivor: Palau

Survivor: Palau
Season Information
Version	United States
Season No.	10
Filming Location	Koror, Palau
Filming Dates	November 1, 2004 - December 9, 2004
Season Run	February 17, 2005 - May 15, 2005
No. of Episodes	15
No. of Days	39
No. of Castaways	20
Winner	Tom Westman
Runner(s)-Up	Katie Gallagher
Tribes	Koror Ulong
Viewership (in Millions)	20.91
Cast
Opening Sequence
Season Chronology
Previous	Vanuatu
Next	Guatemala

Survivor: Palau is the tenth season of Survivor. It was filmed in the island-country of Palau in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania. The main theme of the season was the Pacific Theatre of World War II.

This season ended with New York City fire lieutenant Tom Westman defeating advertising executive Katie Gallagher in a 6-1 vote. It would ultimately feature one quit, and has to date produced three returning players (Bobby Jon Drinkard, Stephenie LaGrossa, and Tom Westman) for subsequent seasons.

Survivor's 10th season earned the show a Primetime Emmy Award nomination in 2005.

Production

Applications were due June 22, 2004. Around 800 applicants were selected for an interview between the latter part of July and August. Out of these 800, 48 were chosen as semi-finalists for an interview in Los Angeles during September. From these semi-finalists, 20 were chosen to participate the show between October to December 2004.

The season's Tribal Council set was decorated with actual World War II relics such as fallen aircraft, weapons, bags of cement, and barbed wires. The set took eight weeks to build, took 25 tons of cement, 14 tons of rubble, and a thousand bags of sand.

Twists/Changes

• Expanded Cast: This is the first season to feature twenty contestants.
• Schoolyard Pick/Day 2 Eliminations: On Day 1, the survivors, still unsorted into tribes, raced to shore for two Immunity Necklaces, one for a man and another for a woman. The next day, the winners, Ian and Jolanda, were tasked to select 16 of the 18 remaining players to be on their tribes. The last man and woman respectively, Jonathan and Wanda, were eliminated on the spot.
• Tribe Composition: Following the elimination of two contestants on Day 2, two tribes of nine were formed.
• Double Tribal Council: On Day 12, both tribes went to Tribal Council to vote one out of their own.
  • Immunity Vote: The tribe that won the Day 12 Reward Challenge, Koror, voted one member from the rival tribe to have individual immunity from their Tribal Council.
• Fire-Making Immunity Challenge: With only two members remaining, Ulong competed in an individual Immunity Challenge at Tribal Council where the loser, Bobby Jon, was eliminated from the game, leaving the winner, Stephenie to return back to camp alone.
• No Merge: Having outlasted her entire tribe, Stephenie was absorbed by the Koror tribe, thus no merge occurred.
• Exile Island: A one-off twist used as punishment for the first person to bail out from the Day 26 Immunity Challenge. The exiled contestant, Janu, was sent to live on a remote location with minimum supplies until the next day.
• Tiebreaker Challenge: Facing a deadlock tie vote on Day 37, Ian and Jenn competed in a fire-making contest.
• Verbal Vote: Due to the Final Immunity Challenge concluding late at night, it was impossible to conduct a formal Tribal Council. The winner, Tom, was asked to verbally say his vote, which was Ian.
• Final Tribal Council Format: Two finalists faced a jury of seven. The jurors individually addressed the finalists.

Castaways

Contestant		Tribe Affiliation		Finish	Votes Against
		Original Tribe	Absorbed Tribe
	Jonathan Libby 23, Dallas, TX Sales & Marketing Associate			Eliminated Day 2	0
	Wanda Shirk 55, Ulysses, PA English Teacher			Eliminated Day 2	0
	Jolanda Jones 38, Houston, TX Lawyer	Ulong		1st Voted Out Day 3	6
	Ashlee Ashby 22, Easley, SC Student	Ulong		2nd Voted Out Day 6	6
	Jeff Wilson 21, Ventura, CA Personal Trainer	Ulong		3rd Voted Out Day 8	5
	Kim Mullen 25, Huber Heights, OH Graduate Student	Ulong		4th Voted Out Day 11	8
	Willard Smith 56, Bellevue, WA Lawyer	Koror		5th Voted Out Day 12	8
	Angie Jakusz 24, New Orleans, LA Bartender	Ulong		6th Voted Out Day 12	8
	James Miller 33, Mobile, AL Steelworker	Ulong		7th Voted Out Day 15	7
	Ibrehem Rahman 27, Birmingham, AL Waiter	Ulong		8th Voted Out Day 18	4
	Bobby Jon Drinkard 27, Los Angeles, CA Waiter	Ulong		Eliminated Day 21	2
	Coby Archa 32, Athens, TX Hairdresser	Koror	Koror	9th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 24	7
	Janu Tornell 39, Las Vegas, NV Vegas Showgirl	Koror		Quit 2nd Jury Member Day 27	1
	Stephenie LaGrossa 24, Toms River, NJ Pharmaceutical Sales Representative	Ulong		10th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 30	8
	Gregg Carey 27, Chicago, IL Business Consultant	Koror		11th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 33	4
	Caryn Groedel 46, Solon, OH Civil Rights Lawyer	Koror		12th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 36	7
	Jenn Lyon 32, Encino, CA Nanny	Koror		Eliminated 6th Jury Member Day 37	3
	Ian Rosenberger 23, Ambridge, PA Dolphin Trainer	Koror		13th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 38	5
	Katie Gallagher 29, Merced, CA Advertising Executive	Koror		Runner-Up	1
	Tom Westman 40, Sayville, NY Firefighter	Koror		Sole Survivor	0

Season Summary

The survivors, still undivided into tribes, raced from a rowboat to shore for two Immunity Necklaces, one for each gender. With no tribes formed nor any further information given to them, the castaways temporarily lived as one big group. The following day, those who won immunity, Ian and Jolanda were tasked to spread sixteen of the eighteen remaining players into two tribes of nine, with Ian choosing for Koror and Jolanda for Ulong. Those who were not picked, Jonathan and Wanda, were eliminated on the spot.

On paper, it seemed that the younger and more athletic Ulong tribe had an advantage over the older and slower Koror tribe, but Ulong's lack of teamwork resulted in them losing every Immunity Challenge in the first 21 days, decimating them to a paltry tribe of two: Bobby Jon and Stephenie, who faced each other off in a fire-making challenge. Stephenie, while having won the challenge, was forced to return to camp alone, but absorbed by the Koror tribe the next day, beginning the individual portion of the game without a merge.

Leaving a strong impression on Koror, Stephenie was a clear target, but Coby informed her about Koror's majority alliance: Ian, Gregg, Jenn, Katie, and Tom. For his loose lips, Coby was promptly voted out. While it would seem Stephenie was going next, Janu, fed up by her tribe and contented with her experience altogether, stalled the majority alliance's plans by quitting the game. After a long and hard battle however, Stephenie succumbed to the Koror Alliance on Day 30.

With only Koror members remaining, they were forced to turn on each other, with Ian and Tom taking over the game. Ian later considered betraying Tom, but was thwarted by the latter's Immunity Challenge winning streak. Tom realized Ian was plotting against him, prompting him to force a tie vote between Ian and Jenn. Ian won the fire-making tiebreaker challenge against Jenn, but was overwhelmed with guilt after being caught. During the Final Immunity Challenge, Ian stepped down and asked Tom to vote him out to make up for his betrayal.

At the Final Tribal Council, Tom was lauded for his leadership that led Koror to a clean Immunity Challenge sweep, but was barbed for his machismo. Katie, on the other hand, was appreciated for her honesty, but was more heavily berated for her poor challenge performances and accused of being mean to others besides Tom and Ian. In the end, Tom won the title of Sole Survivor in a 6-1 vote.

Episode		Air date	Challenges		Eliminated (vote)	Finish	Viewers (in millions)	Ratings/Share (18-49)
			Reward	Immunity
1	"This Has Never Happened Before!"	February 17, 2005	None	Ian	Jonathan (no vote)1	Eliminated Day 2	23.66	9.1/23
				Jolanda	Wanda (no vote)1	Eliminated Day 2
			Koror2		Jolanda (6-3)	1st Voted Out Day 3
2	"Love Is in the Air, Rats Are Everywhere"	February 24, 2005	Ulong	Koror	Ashlee (6-1-1)	2nd Voted Out Day 6	21.64	7.9/20
3	"Dangerous Creatures and Horrible Setbacks"	March 3, 2005	Ulong	Koror	Jeff (4-2-1)	3rd Voted Out Day 8	21.80	8.5/N/A
4	"Sumo at Sea"	March 10, 2005	Koror	Koror	Kim (5-1)	4th Voted Out Day 11	21.80	8.1/22
5	"The Best and Worst Reward Ever"	March 16, 2005	Koror		Willard (8-1)	5th Voted Out Day 12	18.42	6.9/19
				[Ibrehem]3	Angie (2-2-1; 3-0)4	6th Voted Out Day 12
6	"Jellyfish 'n Chips"	March 23, 2005	Ulong	Koror	James (2-2; 2-0)4	7th Voted Out Day 15	19.15	7.3/19
7	"The Great White Shark Hunter"	March 31, 2005	Koror	Koror	Ibrehem (2-1)	8th Voted Out Day 18	20.89	7.7/21
8	"Neanderthal Man"	April 7, 2005	Koror	Koror	Bobby Jon (no vote)5	Eliminated Day 21	19.75	7.0/20
9	"I Will Not Give Up"	April 14, 2005	None	Tom	Coby (7-1-1)	9th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 24	20.0	7.4/23
10	"Exile Island"	April 21, 2005	Caryn, Gregg, Janu, Tom	Tom	Janu (no vote)	Quit 2nd Jury Member Day 27	18.66	6.8/20
11	"I'll Show You How Threatening I Am"	April 28, 2005	Survivor Auction	Ian	Stephenie (6-1)	10th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 30	21.21	7.8/20
12	"We'll Make You Pay"	May 5, 2005	Gregg [Jenn, Katie]	Ian	Gregg (4-2)	11th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 33	20.07	7.1/21
13	"It Could All Backfire"	May 12, 2005	Ian [Tom]	Tom	Caryn (4-1)	12th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 36	19.3	7.1/21
14	"The Ultimate Shock"	May 15, 2005	None	Tom	Jenn (2-2; 1-1; tiebreaker)4,6	Eliminated 6th Jury Member Day 37	20.80	7.8/18
				Tom	Ian (1-0)	13th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 38
			Jury Vote		Katie (6-1)	Runner-Up
					Tom (6-1)	Sole Survivor
15	"Reunion"						16.72	6.5/16
Notes: ^1 Due to not being picked by the initial tribes, Jonathan and Wanda were automatically eliminated. ^2 Combined Reward and Immunity Challenge. ^3 The Koror tribe voted to give individual immunity to a member of Ulong. Ibrehem was granted immunity in a 3-2-2-1 vote. ^4 The vote resulted in a tie. Per Survivor rules, a revote would commence. ^5 With Ulong having only two members, a fire-making challenge was held to determine the elimination, which Bobby Jon lost. ^6 Per Survivor rules, in case of a deadlock tie at the final four, a fire-making challenge would be held between the tied players.

Voting History

		Tribe Selection		Original Tribes											Absorbed Tribe
Episode		1			2	3	4	5			6		7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
Voted Out		Jonathan	Wanda	Jolanda	Ashlee	Jeff	Kim	Willard	Tie	Angie	Tie	James	Ibrehem	Bobby Jon	Coby	Janu	Stephenie	Gregg	Caryn	Tie	Deadlock	Jenn	Ian	Katie	Tom
Vote		No vote1		6-3	6-1-1	4-2-1	5-1	8-1	2-2-12	3-0	2-22	2-0	2-1	No vote3	7-1-1	No vote4	6-1	4-2	4-1	2-22	1-15	Tiebreaker	1-06	6-1
►	Tom	—		—	—	—	—	Willard	—		—		—	—	Coby	—	Stephenie	Gregg	Caryn	Ian	Ian	—	Ian	Jury Vote
►	Katie	—		—	—	—	—	Willard	—		—		—	—	Coby	—	Stephenie	Gregg	Caryn	Jenn	Jenn	—	None
►	Ian	—		—	—	—	—	Willard	—		—		—	—	Coby	—	Stephenie	Gregg	Caryn	Jenn	None	—	None		Tom
►	Jenn	—		—	—	—	—	Willard	—		—		—	—	Coby	—	Stephenie	Caryn	Caryn	Ian	None	Eliminated			Tom
►	Caryn	—		—	—	—	—	Willard	—		—		—	—	Coby	—	Stephenie	Gregg	Ian						Tom
►	Gregg	—		—	—	—	—	Willard	—		—		—	—	Coby	—	Stephenie	Caryn							Tom
►	Stephenie	—		Jolanda	Ashlee	Jeff	Kim	—	Bobby Jon	Angie	Ibrehem	James	Ibrehem	—	Coby	—	Caryn								Tom
►	Janu	—		—	—	—	—	Willard	—		—		—	—	Stephenie	Quit									Tom
►	Coby	—		—	—	—	—	Willard	—		—		—	—	Janu									Katie
	Bobby Jon	—		Angie	Ashlee	Kim	Kim	—	Angie	None	James	James	Ibrehem	Eliminated
	Ibrehem	—		Angie	Kim	Jeff	Kim	—	James	Angie	James	None	Stephenie
	James	—		Jolanda	Ashlee	Kim	Kim	—	Angie	Angie	Ibrehem	None
	Angie	—		Jolanda	Ashlee	Jeff	Kim	—	Bobby Jon	None
	Willard	—		—	—	—	—	Katie
	Kim	—		Jolanda	Ashlee	Jeff	James
	Jeff	—		Jolanda	Ashlee	James
	Ashlee	—		Jolanda	Jeff
	Jolanda	—		Angie
	Wanda	Eliminated
	Jonathan	Eliminated
Notes: ^1 Because they were not picked to be on a tribe, Jonathan and Wanda were automatically eliminated. No vote occurred for their removal. ^2 Tribal Council 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. ^3 Because Ulong was down to its last two members, a fire-making challenge was held to determine the elimination. Bobby Jon lost, eliminating him from the game. ^4 Janu quit the game at Tribal Council, therefore the vote that night was cancelled. ^5 Per Survivor rules, a fire-making challenge would be held between the tied players in case of a deadlock tie in the final four Tribal Council. ^6 Ian and Katie did not vote as they could only vote for each other. By virtue of winning the Final Immunity Challenge, only Tom voted.

Trivia

The unused merge Buff. While never seen in the actual show, it remained commercially available on CBS.com during the season's run.

• The font used for the tribes and Palau subtitle is "Stencil".
• Palau is the only season to have only two tribes throughout the season.
• Palau is the only season where the pre-jury boots outnumbered those who reached the jury phase.
• Palau is the first season of US version of Survivor to have a cast of twenty.
• Palau is the last season to not feature Hidden Immunity Idols.
• Palau is the first season to eliminate three castaways in one episode. Jonathan and Wanda were eliminated in the Schoolyard Pick, while Jolanda was voted out the day after at a standard Tribal Council.
• Palau is the first season where contestants were eliminated before Day 3.
• Palau contains the most challenges where at least one person sat out, with 13.
  • Palau also set the record for most consecutive episodes with at least one person sitting out, with 7. This was broken in Survivor 42, which had an eight-episode streak with people sitting out.
• For the first time in the series' history, one tribe "conquered" the other by winning every single Immunity Challenge and absorbing the other tribe's last remaining member. Had Koror and Ulong merged, the merged tribe's color would have been green (see image to the right). The supposed merge Buff became a sought-after collector's item among Survivor fans.
• Palau marks the first tie vote since Marquesas due to the players' concern regarding the rock drawing tiebreaker.
• Palau ties with Caramoan, Kaôh Rōng and Survivor 41 for having the most tie votes, with three.
• Palau is the only season to have two fire-making challenges.
• Palau is the first season to have Exile Island. However, Exile Island was only used for one episode. Panama was the first season to use it as a full season twist.
• Palau holds the record for most contestants eliminated without being voted out, with 5.
• Ulong and Koror's camps, Mecherchar and Ulong Islands respectively, were used by the Malakal and Airai tribes respectively three years later in Micronesia.