Survivor: Palau

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.

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.

Twists/Changes

• Expanded Cast: This is the first season to feature twenty contestants.
• Schoolyard Pick and Day 2 Elimination: The contestants start the game by competing for two individual Immunity Necklaces awarded to the first male and the first female to reach them. The winners then pick one member of the opposite sex to join their tribe and add another contestant to it. The last male and the last female who are not picked are eliminated from the game.
• Double Tribal Council: On Day 12, both tribes have to vote somebody out of the game following a Reward Challenge.
• Tiebreaker Challenge: A fire-making contest is held in case of a tie at the final four or if there are only two people left on a tribe.
• No Merge: Ulong was absorbed into its rival tribe, Koror, after being reduced to one member following an unprecedented losing streak.
• Exile Island: Exile Island is introduced for the first time. Used only once as punishment for the first one out of an Immunity Challenge, the exiled contestant is sent to a remote location with minimum supplies to live there for a certain period of time.

Castaways

Contestant		Tribe Affiliation		Finish	Votes Against
		Original Tribe	Absorbed Tribe
	Jonathan Libby 23, Dallas, TX Sales & Marketing Associate	None		Eliminated Day 2	0
	Wanda Shirk 55, Ulysses, PA English Teacher	None		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 Model	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, Tom's 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		13th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 37	3
	Ian Rosenberger 23, Ambridge, PA Dolphin Trainer	Koror		14th 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 twenty castaways began the game by rowing to the beach they would live on, with the first player of each gender to reach shore winning immunity. However, once ashore, they received no additional instructions nor were they divided into tribes, and began to work on a common shelter. The next day, host Jeff Probst announced that they would now pick tribes via a Schoolyard Pick, with those who had won immunity, Ian Rosenberger and Jolanda Jones, getting to choose first. The last male and female remaining would immediately leave the game. Eventually, Jonathan Libby and Wanda Shirk did not get picked, and were sent home. The two tribes, Koror and Ulong, then participated in the first Reward/Immunity Challenge, with the winner, Koror, deciding to leave their present beach to another one they had not seen.

On paper, it seemed that the young and athletic Ulong tribe had an advantage over the old 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 Drinkard and Stephenie LaGrossa, who faced each other off in a fire-making challenge, with the latter emerging victorious. After spending the night alone, Stephenie was absorbed by Koror, thus having no merge.

Koror developed a core group of five: Ian, Gregg Carey, Jenn Lyon, Katie Gallagher, and Tom Westman, and those on the outside saw them as a threat but were not able to break them. Despite making an immediate strong impression on her new tribe, Stephenie was targeted due to her strength and tenacity. She was able to buy herself some time when the Koror Alliance briefly turned on each other, and when Janu Tornell quit, but was eventually voted out.

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 run. At the final four, Tom realized Ian was targeting him, which caused him to turn on Ian, though Ian won the fire-making tiebreaker challenge against Jenn. At the Final Immunity Challenge, which ran for almost 12 hours, Ian decided to step down after being burdened by his numerous deceptions and gave Tom the win. He asked Tom to vote him out, making him the final member of the jury. 

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, being gossipy and mean towards others besides Tom and Ian. In the end, Tom won the title of Sole Survivor in a 6-1 landslide vote.

Episode		Air date	Challenges		Eliminated (vote)	Finish	Viewers (in millions)[2]	Ratings/Share (18-49)
			Reward	Immunity
1	"This Has Never Happened Before!"	February 17, 2005	None	Ian	Jonathan Wanda (no vote)2	Eliminated Day 2	23.66	9.1/23
				Jolanda
			Koror1		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	(Ibrehem)	Willard (8-1)	5th Voted Out Day 12	18.42	6.9/19
					Angie (2-2-1; 3-0)3	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)6	13th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 37	20.80	7.8/18
				Tom	Ian (1-0)	14th 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 Combined Reward and Immunity Challenge. ^2 Due to not being picked by the initial tribes, Jonathan and Wanda were automatically eliminated. ^3 A tie between Bobby Jon and Angie forced a re-vote; Stephenie and Ibrehem switched their votes to Angie, eliminating her. ^4 A tie between Ibrehem and James forced a re-vote; Stephenie switched her vote from Ibrehem to James, eliminating him. ^5 With Ulong having only two members, a fire-making challenge was held to determine the elimination, which Bobby Jon lost. ^6 With a deadlock tie between Ian and Jenn, a fire-making challenge was held to determine the elimination, which Jenn lost.

Voting History

Survivor: Palau Voting History
		Tribe Selection		Original Tribes											Tribe Absorption
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	Tiebreaker6	1-07	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	Voted out			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
	Jonathan	Eliminated
	Wanda
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 the rules, a second vote 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 Job lost, eliminating him from the game. ^4 Janu quit the game at Tribal Council, therefore the supposed vote that night was cancelled. ^5 Per the rules of Survivor at the time, a fire-making challenge was held in case of a deadlock tie in the final four Tribal Council. As of the current season, re-votes during the final four Tribal Council are considered obsolete. ^6 Jenn lost the fire-making challenge, eliminating her from the game. ^7 Ian and Katie did not vote as they could only vote for were each other. By virtue of winning the final Immunity Challenge, only Tom voted. Moreover, Tom's vote was verbally cast immediately after the Immunity Challenge as it was too late in the evening when the challenge ended to hold a traditional Tribal Council.

Trivia

• The font used for the tribes and Palau subtitle is "Stencil".
• This is the only season where the pre-jury boots outnumbered those who reached the jury phase.
• This is the first season of US version of Survivor to have a cast of twenty.
• Palau is the first season to eliminate three castaways (excluding losing finalists) in one episode. Jonathan Libby and Wanda Shirk were eliminated in the Schoolyard Pick, while Jolanda Jones was voted out the day after in a standard Tribal Council scenario.
• Palau is the first season where contestants were eliminated before Day 3.
• 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.
  • With this season having no merged tribe, Palau has the fewest number of tribes, with two.
• This season marks the first tie vote since Marquesas due to the players' concern regarding the controversial rock drawing tiebreaker. In Samoa, host Jeff Probst confirmed that the rock drawing tiebreaker only applies to votes outside the final four, whereas in a final four situation, the contestants are to compete in a fire-making challenge.
• This season ties with Caramoan and Kaôh Rōng for having the most tie votes, with three.
• Palau is the only season to have two fire-making challenges occur.
• 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.
• The season's Tribal Council set was a 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.^[3][4]
• Ulong and Koror's camps would be used by the Malakal and Airai tribes respectively three years later, in Micronesia.^[5]

References

1. ↑ http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1,1002,271%7C99065%7C1%7C,00.html
2. ↑ http://www.spottedratings.com/2011/12/spotvault-survivor-cbs-fall-2005.html
3. ↑ http://survivorskills.com/forum/index.php?action=printpage;topic=1772.0
4. ↑ http://insidepulse.com/2005/02/09/31956/
5. ↑ http://www.claycritters.com/map/s16/survivor_16_map.htm

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