The Merge

The Merge
Episode Information
Version	United States
Season	The Australian Outback
Episode Number	7/16 (021)
Original Release	March 8, 2001
Viewership (in Millions)	28.72
Ratings/Share (18-49)	12.1/31
Episode Chronology
Previous	"Trial by Fire"
Next	"Friends?"
Subpages

The Merge is the seventh episode of Survivor: The Australian Outback.

Story

Day 19

As the merge awaits, Kucha discusses strategy. Kucha and Ogakor will each have five members, so Kucha suspects that there will be a tie at the first Tribal Council. Their plan is to target Colby Donaldson. Jeff Varner, meanwhile, thinks that he will be Ogakor's first target. At the first Reward Challenge, Kimmi Kappenberg revealed to Ogakor that Jeff had received a prior vote (from Debb Eaton), which would make Jeff vulnerable in a tiebreaker situation. Still, Kucha vows not to give up. They recall Michael Skupin's final words before he was evacuated: "Somebody from Kucha needs to take this money."

On Ogakor, as the tribe speculates about which Kucha member had to be evacuated, the tribe receives Tree Mail. It tells them that the men should travel to Kucha, while the women remain behind. Meanwhile, Kucha's Tree Mail says the opposite—that the women should travel to Ogakor, while the men stay behind. Alicia Calaway and Elisabeth Filarski set off for Ogakor, while Colby and Keith Famie head to Kucha.

Day 20

At Ogakor, Amber Brkich, Jerri Manthey, and Tina Wesson are surprised to see the Kucha women arrive, having expected the men. Alicia and Elisabeth tell the women about Michael's accident. Over at Kucha, Jeff, Nick Brown, and Rodger Bingham are a bit disappointed to be wining and dining with the guys instead of the women, but they share a meal of chicken with Colby and Keith anyway. They, too, get caught up on Michael's injury.

At Ogakor camp, a rain nearly snuffs out the fire, and the tribe's only matches are away with Keith. Jerri tries not to criticize Keith so that she does not indirectly inform the Kuchas that Keith has prior votes. Jerri cooks her "famous" tortillas for the women. Everyone has decided that Kucha is the better of the two camps, but both tribes get Tree Mail telling them that they must move to an entirely new camp. There, both tribes meet and find a crate of food and wine and a set of all-new orange buffs, signaling the merge. The merged tribe settles on "Barramundi" as its new name. The tribe celebrates, but there is some tension as Jerri and Rodger disagree over where to set up their new camp, with Jerri ultimately getting her way.

At the first individual Immunity Challenge, the contestants drop out one by one as host Jeff Probst tempts them with food, and Jeff jumps off his perch at an offer of peanut butter. After more than ten hours, Alicia finally caves for some hot coffee, leaving only Keith and Tina. Keith begs for Tina to let him win. "I need this," he tells her. Tina agrees, and steps down, and Keith wins the first individual challenge.

Day 21

At Tribal Council, the votes are split by tribal lines. The five ex-Kuchas vote for Colby, while the five ex-Ogakors vote for Jeff. Colby and Jeff each make a statement pleading their case after the votes are read, and the other eight Barramundis revote. Nothing changes—the vote remains tied.

To break the deadlock, Jeff Probst asks Colby and Jeff how many votes they have received at previous Tribal Councils. Colby has none. Jeff has two (from Debb and Kimmi). That dooms Jeff, who brings his torch to be snuffed.

In his final words, Jeff blames Kimmi's big mouth for tipping off Ogakor about his previous votes. He also regrets about giving up on the Immunity Challenge for peanut butter.

Challenges

Immunity Challenge: Perch
Each tribe member will stand on top of a wooden pillar in the water. At random points, host Jeff Probst will tempt the castaways down by bribing food items. The last person left standing wins immunity.
Winner: Keith Famie

Tribal Council

• First Vote
• Revote
• Tiebreaker

Tribal Council 6: Barramundi
Voted Against	Voter
Colby (5 votes)	Alicia, Elisabeth, Jeff, Nick, Rodger
Jeff (5 votes)	Amber, Colby, Jerri, Keith, Tina
TIE: Colby, Jeff (5 votes each)

Revote (Colby and Jeff ineligible to vote)
Voted Against	Voter
Colby (4 votes)	Alicia, Elisabeth, Nick, Rodger
Jeff (4 votes)	Amber, Jerri, Keith, Tina
DEADLOCK: Colby, Jeff (4 votes each)

Tiebreaker (counting past votes)
Voted Against	Voter
Jeff (2 votes)	Debb (Tribal Council 1)	Kimmi (Tribal Council 5)
Colby (0 votes)	None
VOTED OUT: Jeff Varner

Voting Confessionals

Colby's and Tina's votes were not shown during their confessionals. Amber, Jerri, and Keith's confessionals are only available on DVD. Colby “ (voting against Jeff) It was a, uh, strategic move that was determined the first week we were here. ” Keith “ (voting against Jeff) Nothing personal. I think you're a great guy. It's just part of the strategic plan. ” Rodger “ (voting against Colby) I really like the guy, but he's from the Ogakor tribe and they have all got to go. ” Jerri “ (voting against Jeff) Going into this, um, I'm pretty much expecting a five and five tie, and we learned early on in the game that you had one vote against you previously. That is the only reason. It's purely strategic. I'm so happy that I got to know you. I love your sense of humor, and I wish you the best of luck. ” Tina “ (voting against Jeff) He seemed like a really great guy. This is 100% a strategic vote. ” Jeff “ (voting against Colby) 'Cause everything's bigger and better in Texas... this lone star has got to go. ” Amber “ (voting against Jeff) Jeff, you seem like a really great guy, and I wish I would've gotten to know you a little bit better. And, um, I hope you feel better soon. ”

Final Words

	Jeff	“	I knew this was going to happen. Because of a very large mouth of a former tribe member at Kucha, Ogakor knew I had that vote, and I knew there was nothing I could do about it. So I'm going home and I've had an awesome time. This has just been the most amazing experience I've ever had in my entire life.	”

Still in the Running

Debb 16th	Kel 15th	Maralyn 14th	Mitchell 13th	Kimmi 12th	Michael 11th	Jeff 10th	Alicia Barramundi
Amber Barramundi	Colby Barramundi	Elisabeth Barramundi	Jerri Barramundi	Keith Barramundi	Nick Barramundi	Rodger Barramundi	Tina Barramundi

Trivia

• Keith Famie lasted 10 hours and 17 minutes to win the Immunity Challenge. ​This set the record for the longest challenge, and would hold the record until the Final Immunity Challenge in "The Ultimate Shock".
• At the past-votes tiebreaker, Jeff Varner stated he knew of only one previous vote, from Debb Eaton during the first Tribal Council. Host Jeff Probst had not revealed Varner's other vote from Kimmi Kappenberg during the fifth Tribal Council.
• With Jeff's elimination, this episode marks the first time in the series' history where the female castaways outnumbered the males, 5-4. This would not happen again until Peter Harkey was voted out in "Back to the Beach".
• Jeff stepping down for peanut butter would be mentioned by Probst at the Worlds Apart Reunion Show before Jeff was revealed to be competing in Cambodia. Probst asked Jeff if he still eats peanut butter, to which Jeff confessed "No, haven't touched it in 14 years."