Survivor: The Australian Outback, also called Survivor: Australia in later seasons, is the second season of the United States reality show Survivor. Filming took place at Goshen Station in northern Queensland between late October and early December 2000, and aired from January 28 to May 3, 2001 on CBS. The location used was within a three-hour drive off the coastal city of Cairns and located in a wet, tropical area. It was the top-rated show of 2001, according to Nielsen Ratings, ranging at 30 million viewers watching weekly.
Fourteen weekly episodes were aired, the premiere airing immediately after Super Bowl XXXV. The winner, Tina Wesson, was announced on May 3, 2001, when she defeated Colby Donaldson by a 4-3 vote.
Production
Filming was known to have commenced during the Survivor: Borneo reunion show which was hosted by Bryant Gumbel. Gumbel had Jeff Probst via phone patch where Probst revealed that they started filming.
In the middle of filming, Colby Donaldson, who won a trip to the Great Barrier Reef as part of a reward win, broke off coral which he intended to keep as a souvenir. During the same trip, a production helicopter flew over restricted sea rookeries. Both of these events led to the show being fined $100,000 Australian dollars. Executive Producer Mark Burnett apologized in behalf of Colby and the production staff after the episode aired.[2]
The season was released in DVD format on April 26, 2005.
Format
- Tribe Composition: The sixteen castaways were divided into two tribes of eight.
- Merged Tribe Composition: The merged tribe was composed of ten members.
- Final Tribal Council Format: Two finalists faced a jury of seven. The jurors individually addressed the finalists.
- Longer Game: The game lasted 42 days, three days longer than the previous season.
- Tiebreaker: In an event of a tie vote, a revote would take place. If a stalemate occurs, the votes cast against the players in question from previous Tribal Councils will be taken into account. The castaway that had more votes would be eliminated from the game.
Castaways
Contestant | Tribe Affiliation | Finish | Votes Against | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Original Tribe | Merged Tribe | ||||
Debb Eaton 45, Milan, NH Corrections Officer |
Kucha | 1st Voted Out Day 3 |
7 | ||
Kel Gleason 32, Fort Hood, TX Army Intelligence Officer |
Ogakor | 2nd Voted Out Day 6 |
7 | ||
Maralyn Hershey 51, Wakefield, VA Retired Police Officer |
Ogakor | 3rd Voted Out Day 9 |
5 | ||
Mitchell Olson 23, Union City, NJ Singer/Songwriter |
Ogakor | 4th Voted Out Day 12 |
6 | ||
Kimmi Kappenberg 27, Ronkonkoma, NY Bartender |
Kucha | 5th Voted Out Day 15 |
6 | ||
Michael Skupin 38, White Lake, MI Software Company President |
Kucha | Evacuated Day 17 |
0 | ||
Jeff Varner 34, New York City, NY Internet Projects Manager |
Kucha | Barramundi | 6th Voted Out Day 21 |
11 | |
Alicia Calaway 32, New York City, NY Personal Trainer |
Kucha | 7th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 24 |
5 | ||
Jerri Manthey 30, Los Angeles, CA Aspiring Actress |
Ogakor | 8th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 27 |
12 | ||
Nick Brown 23, Steilacoom, WA Harvard Law Student |
Kucha | 9th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 30 |
4 | ||
Amber Brkich 22, Beaver, PA Administrative Assistant |
Ogakor | 10th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 33 |
6 | ||
Rodger Bingham 53, Crittenden, KY Teacher/Farmer |
Kucha | 11th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 36 |
5 | ||
Elisabeth Filarski 23, Newton, MA Footwear Designer |
Kucha | 12th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 39 |
5 | ||
Keith Famie 40, West Bloomfield, MI Chef |
Ogakor | 13th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 41 |
10 | ||
Colby Donaldson 26, Dallas, TX Auto Customizer |
Ogakor | Runner-Up | 9 | ||
Tina Wesson 39, Knoxville, TN Personal Nurse |
Ogakor | Sole Survivor | 0 |
Season Summary
The sixteen castaways were divided into two tribes, Kucha ("kangaroo") and Ogakor ("crocodile"). While Ogakor began the game strong, Kucha quickly decimated them to five members. Ogakor broke their losing streak by winning the Day 15 Immunity Challenge, sending Kucha back to Tribal Council; and after a medical evacuation, Kucha lost their third member, forcing the tribes to merge both with five members each. The tribe named themselves Barramundi.
The 5-5 stalemate caused the tribes to be deadlocked the first time they went to Tribal Council, but Jeff Varner from Kucha had past votes, bounding the former Kuchas to extinction. Three of the five ex-Ogakors, Colby Donaldson, Keith Famie, and Tina Wesson, however, stayed a strong group and voted off the remaining Kuchas, while also removing two of their own, Jerri Manthey and Amber Brkich. As the game progressed further, the Barramundi tribe suffered harsh weather conditions, and with a depleted food supply, they were forced to barter their creature comforts for a tin of rice. The alliance of Colby, Keith and Tina stood strong and went onto the Final Three. Colby won the Final Immunity Challenge and took Tina to the end, with Keith completing the jury.
At the Final Tribal Council, the jury was torn between Colby's challenge prowess and Tina's quiet control over the Ogakor alliance. In the end, with four votes to three, Tina's strategy won her the title of Sole Survivor.
Episode | Air Date | Challenges | Eliminated (Vote) |
Finish | Viewers (in millions)[3] |
Ratings/Share (18-49)[3] | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Reward | Immunity | |||||||
1 | "Stranded" | January 28, 2001 | Ogakor1 | Debb (7-1) |
1st Voted Out Day 3 |
45.37 | 21.8/48 | |
2 | "Suspicion" | February 1, 2001 | Ogakor | Kucha | Kel (7-1) |
2nd Voted Out Day 6 |
29.04 | 11.9/28 |
3 | "Trust No One" | February 8, 2001 | Ogakor | Kucha | Maralyn (5-1-1) |
3rd Voted Out Day 9 |
29.04 | 12.2/28 |
4 | "The Killing Fields" | February 15, 2001 | Kucha | Kucha | Mitchell (3-3; 2-2; tiebreaker)2,3 |
4th Voted Out Day 12 |
28.23 | 11.7/29 |
5 | "The Gloves Come Off" | February 22, 2001 | Kucha | Ogakor | Kimmi (6-1) |
5th Voted Out Day 15 |
28.78 | 11.9/28 |
6 | "Trial by Fire" | March 1, 2001 | Kucha | None | Michael (no vote) |
Evacuated Day 17 |
31.32 | 13.7/34 |
7 | "The Merge" | March 8, 2001 | None | Keith | Jeff (5-5; 4-4; tiebreaker)2,3 |
6th Voted Out Day 21 |
28.72 | 12.1/31 |
8 | "Friends?" | March 14, 2001 | Jerri [Amber] |
Keith | Alicia (5-4) |
7th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 24 |
28.46 | 12.0/33 |
9 | "The First 24 Days" | March 21, 2001 | Recap Episode | N/A | N/A | |||
10 | "Honeymoon or Not?" | March 29, 2001 | Colby, Jerri |
Nick | Jerri (6-2) |
8th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 27 |
28.12 | 11.8/29 |
11 | "Let's Make a Deal" | April 5, 2001 | Survivor Auction |
Colby | Nick (4-2-1) |
9th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 30 |
27.71 | 11.7/32 |
12 | "No Longer Just a Game" | April 12, 2001 | Colby | Colby | Amber (4-2) |
10th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 33 |
27.55 | 11.7/34 |
13 | "Enough Is Enough" | April 19, 2001 | Tina | Colby | Rodger (3-2) |
11th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 36 |
28.41 | 11.7/32 |
14 | "The Final Four" | April 26, 2001 | Colby | Colby | Elisabeth (3-1) |
12th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 39 |
26.89 | 11.2/32 |
15 | "The Most Deserving" | May 3, 2001 | None | Colby | Keith (1-0) |
13th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 41 |
36.35 | 15.9/39 |
Jury Vote | Colby (4-3) |
Runner-Up | ||||||
Tina (4-3) |
Sole Survivor | |||||||
16 | "Reunion" | 41.26 | 18.5/41 | |||||
Notes: |
Voting History
Original Tribes | Merged Tribe | |||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Episode | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | ||||||||
Voted Out | Debb |
Kel |
Maralyn |
Tie | Deadlock | Mitchell |
Kimmi |
Michael |
Tie | Deadlock | Jeff |
Alicia |
Jerri |
Nick |
Amber |
Rodger |
Elisabeth |
Keith |
Colby |
Tina | ||
Vote | 7-1 | 7-1 | 5-1-1 | 3-31 | 2-22 | Past votes | 6-1 | No vote3 | 5-51 | 4-42 | Past votes | 5-4 | 6-2 | 4-2-1 | 4-2 | 3-2 | 3-1 | 1-04 | 4-3 | |||
► | Tina | — | Kel | Maralyn | Mitchell | Mitchell | — | — | — | Jeff | Jeff | — | Alicia | Jerri | Nick | Amber | Rodger | Elisabeth | None | Jury Vote | ||
► | Colby | — | Kel | Maralyn | Mitchell | Mitchell | — | — | — | Jeff | None | — | Alicia | Jerri | Nick | Rodger | Rodger | Elisabeth | Keith | |||
► | Keith | — | Kel | Mitchell | Mitchell | None | — | — | — | Jeff | Jeff | — | Alicia | Jerri | Nick | Amber | Rodger | Elisabeth | None | Tina | ||
► | Elisabeth | Debb | — | — | — | Kimmi | — | Colby | Colby | — | Jerri | Jerri | Amber | Amber | Keith | Keith | Tina | |||||
► | Rodger | Debb | — | — | — | Kimmi | — | Colby | Colby | — | Jerri | Jerri | Amber | Amber | Keith | Colby | ||||||
► | Amber | — | Kel | Maralyn | Keith | Keith | — | — | — | Jeff | Jeff | — | Alicia | Elisabeth | Nick | Rodger | Colby | |||||
► | Nick | Debb | — | — | — | Kimmi | — | Colby | Colby | — | Jerri | Jerri | Keith | Colby | ||||||||
► | Jerri | — | Kel | Maralyn | Keith | Keith | — | — | — | Jeff | Jeff | — | Alicia | Elisabeth | Tina | |||||||
► | Alicia | Debb | — | — | — | Kimmi | — | Colby | Colby | — | Jerri | Tina | ||||||||||
► | Jeff | Debb | — | — | — | Kimmi | — | Colby | None | Voted Out | ||||||||||||
Michael | Debb | — | — | — | Kimmi | Evacuated | ||||||||||||||||
Kimmi | Debb | — | — | — | Jeff | |||||||||||||||||
Mitchell | — | Kel | Maralyn | Keith | None | Voted Out | ||||||||||||||||
Maralyn | — | Kel | Jerri | |||||||||||||||||||
Kel | — | Jerri | ||||||||||||||||||||
Debb | Jeff | |||||||||||||||||||||
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 Per Survivor rules, in the event of a deadlock tie, past votes were taken into account. The castaway with more past votes would be eliminated. ^3 Michael was medically evacuated after falling into the camp fire and severely burning his hands. No vote occurred for his removal. ^4 Keith and Tina did not vote as they could only vote for each other. By virtue of winning the Final Immunity Challenge, only Colby voted. |
Trivia
- The Tribal Council set was located on the rock cliffs beside the Herbert River Falls.
- This is the first season to feature a live finale, as opposed to the previous season, which had the winner revealed on set. Each season thereafter followed this format.
- This season is the longest season in terms of filming, lasting 42 days instead of the standard 39.
- This season saw the first time a contestant was medically evacuated, when Michael Skupin fell into a fire and burned his hands.
- This is the only season to have an episode where there were only three people left.
- This season produced the most returning players, with 8. This season also has the highest percentage of returning players with 50% of its cast (8 of 16) returning for any future season.
- This season is tied with Survivor: Africa for the most deadlocked tie votes, with two.
- This season is tied with Survivor: Pearl Islands and Survivor: Cook Islands for being represented six times each in seasons which featured Returning Players.
- Along with Survivor: David vs. Goliath, this season has the fewest pre-merge Tribal Councils, with only five.
References
Survivor (U.S.) 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 • Survivor 44 • Survivor 45 • Survivor 46 |