Season of television series
Survivor: Vanuatu | |
---|---|
Season 9 | |
Region 1 DVD slipcase cover | |
Presented by | Jeff Probst |
No. of days | 39 |
No. of castaways | 18 |
Winner | Chris Daugherty |
Runner-up | Twila Tanner |
Location | Efate, Vanuatu |
No. of episodes | 14 |
Release | |
Original network | CBS |
Original release | September 16 (2004-09-16) – December 12, 2004 (2004-12-12) |
Additional information | |
Filming dates | June 28 (2004-06-28) – August 5, 2004 (2004-08-05) |
Season chronology | |
← Previous All-Stars Next → Palau | |
List of episodes |
Survivor: Vanuatu — Islands of Fire, also known as Survivor: Vanuatu, is the ninth season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor. The season was filmed from June 28, 2004, through August 5, 2004, and the season premiered on September 16, 2004. Filming took place in Vanuatu, a chain of volcanic islands in the South Pacific. Hosted by Jeff Probst, it consisted of the usual 39 days of gameplay, with 18 competitors for the second time in the series' history.
This was the second season to initially divide the tribes by gender following Survivor: The Amazon. Chris Daugherty was named the winner and Sole Survivor after defeating runner-up Twila Tanner by a jury vote of 5–2.
Contestants
The cast is composed of 18 new players, initially divided into two tribes by gender: the male tribe was named Lopevi, after one of Vanuatu's volcanic islands; while the female tribe was named Yasur, after Mount Yasur. It was the first season to feature an amputee (Chad Crittenden, who had lost a foot to cancer) and two openly LGBT+ women (motivational speaker Scout Cloud Lee and former Playboy model Ami Cusack). On Day 11, there was a tribal shuffle which ended up moving two people from each tribe over to the other tribe. On Day 20, the tribes were merged with ten contestants remaining; the tribe was named Alinta, a name proposed by Cloud Lee meaning "people of fire."
Contestant | Age | From | Tribe | Finish | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Original | Switched | Merged | Placement | Day | |||
Brook Geraghty | 27 | Winthrop, Massachusetts |
Lopevi | 1st voted out | Day 3 | ||
Dolly Neely | 25 | Lake Latonka, Pennsylvania |
Yasur | 2nd voted out | Day 6 | ||
John Palyok | 31 | Los Angeles, California |
Lopevi | 3rd voted out | Day 7 | ||
Mia Galeotalanza | 29 | Boston, Massachusetts |
Yasur | 4th voted out | |||
Brady Finta | 33 | Huntington Beach, California |
Lopevi | 5th voted out | Day 10 | ||
Travis Sampson | 33 | Johnson City, Tennessee |
Yasur | 6th voted out | Day 12 | ||
Lisa Keiffer | 44 | Mandeville, Louisiana |
Yasur | 7th voted out | Day 15 | ||
John Kenney | 22 | Los Angeles, California |
Lopevi | Lopevi | 8th voted out | Day 18 | |
Rory Freeman | 35 | Des Moines, Iowa |
Yasur | Alinta | 9th voted out | Day 21 | |
Lea Masters | 40 | Columbia, South Carolina |
Lopevi | 10th voted out 1st jury member |
Day 24 | ||
James "Chad" Crittenden | 34 | Oakland, California |
11th voted out 2nd jury member |
Day 27 | |||
Leann Slaby | 35 | Kansasville, Wisconsin |
Yasur | Yasur | 12th voted out 3rd jury member |
Day 30 | |
Ami Cusack | 31 | Lakewood, Colorado |
13th voted out 4th jury member |
Day 33 | |||
Julie Berry | 23 | Gorham, Maine |
Lopevi | 14th voted out 5th jury member |
Day 36 | ||
Eliza Orlins | 21 | Syracuse, New York |
Yasur | 15th voted out 6th jury member |
Day 37 | ||
Scout Cloud Lee | 59 | Stillwater, Oklahoma |
16th voted out 7th jury member |
Day 38 | |||
Twila Tanner | 41 | Marshall, Missouri |
Lopevi | Runner-up | Day 39 | ||
Chris Daugherty | 33 | South Vienna, Ohio |
Lopevi | Sole Survivor |
Future appearances
Ami Cusack and Eliza Orlins returned for Survivor: Micronesia as members of the Favorites tribe.
Outside of Survivor, John "J.P." Palyok competed on the second season of the Fox Reality Channel reality game show Solitary. In 2006, Twila Tanner competed with Survivor: Pearl Islands castaway Jonny Fairplay on a Reality Star episode of Fear Factor. Orlins competed on The Amazing Race 31 with fellow two-time Survivor contestant Corinne Kaplan.
Season summary
The eighteen players were brought into the game at a native gathering, with the natives dividing the group into men and women. The men were clearly favoured at the ceremony, creating animosity between them and the women. After the ceremony, the men were named the Lopevi tribe, and the women the Yasur tribe, and sent to find their camps in the dark. Lopevi lost the first challenge mainly due to Chris, but he created a majority alliance with older tribe members Lea, Travis, Rory, and Chad, and worked to vote off the younger men. In Yasur, two factions began to emerge, one composed of Julie, Mia, Lisa, and Eliza and the other of Ami, Twila, Scout, and Leann. While both factions lobbied for Dolly's vote, her refusal to commit resulted in her elimination. Both tribes were sent to tribal council on Day 7 as a result of a twist. The older men continued to eliminate the younger ones, and Ami's faction, now in power, voted Mia off. The Yasur tribe continued their dominance over the tribal challenges by winning the next reward and immunity challenges, bringing the men's numbers down to six.
A tribal switch occurred on day 11, mixing the two tribes; Rory and Travis were sent to Yasur while Twila and Julie were sent to Lopevi. The first Yasur loss resulted in Travis being eliminated for trying to publicly ask Lopevi to throw the immunity challenge. However, concerned over Lisa's loyalty, Ami arranged for the tribe to eliminate her at the next Tribal Council. At Lopevi, Lea, Chad, and Chris aligned with Twila and Julie, not trusting John K. as the last young man remaining. He was voted off and the five remaining Lopevi tribe members agreed to stick together after the merge.
On Day 19, with six women and four men remaining, the two tribes merged into Alinta. While Rory joined the Lopevi alliance, Julie and Twila broke their word and reformed the women's alliance. The men were quickly targeted over the next three tribal councils, leaving Chris as the sole male. By this time, Ami's core alliance consisted of her, Julie, and Leann, while Twila and Scout had formed a closer pairing and Eliza on the outside. Despite Chris losing immunity, Ami decided to spare him and vote Eliza out instead. However, Twila and Scout took the opportunity to align with Chris and Eliza, creating a new majority alliance and systematically voting out the others.
Chris won the last two immunity challenges, and ultimately took Twila with him into the final two. The jury saw Chris' ability to effectively stay in the game with the odds against him, from the first challenge to being the last man standing, and voted him the Sole Survivor in a vote of 5–2.
Episode | Challenge winner(s) | Eliminated | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | Title | Original air date | Reward | Immunity | Tribe | Player |
1 | "They Came at Us With Spears!" | September 16, 2004 | Yasur | Lopevi | Brook | |
2 | "Burly Girls, Bowheads, Young Studs, and the Old Bunch" |
September 23, 2004 | Yasur | Lopevi | Yasur | Dolly |
3 | "Double Tribal, Double Trouble" | September 30, 2004 | Lopevi | John K. (Lopevi) |
Lopevi | John P. |
Ami (Yasur) |
Yasur | Mia | ||||
4 | "Now That's a Reward!" | October 7, 2004 | Yasur | Yasur | Lopevi | Brady |
5 | "Earthquakes and Shake-Ups!" | October 14, 2004 | Lopevi | Lopevi | Yasur | Travis |
6 | "Hog Tied" | October 21, 2004 | Lopevi | Lopevi | Yasur | Lisa |
7 | "Anger, Threats, Tears...and Coffee" | October 28, 2004 | Yasur | Yasur | Lopevi | John K. |
8 | "Now the Battle Really Begins" | November 4, 2004 | Lopevi | Lea | Alinta | Rory |
9 | "Gender Wars...It's Getting Ugly" | November 11, 2004 | Leann |
Ami | Lea | |
10 | "Culture Shock and Violent Storms" | November 18, 2004 | Ami, Chad, Chris, Eliza |
Twila | Chad | |
11 | "Surprise and...Surprise Again!" | November 25, 2004 | Eliza | Ami | Leann | |
12 | "Now Who's in Charge Here?!" | December 2, 2004 | Eliza, Ami, Chris |
Chris | Ami | |
13 | "Eruption of Volcanic Magnitude" | December 9, 2004 | Julie |
Eliza | Julie | |
14 | "Spirits and the Final Four" | December 12, 2004 | None | Chris | Eliza | |
Chris | Scout | |||||
15 | "The Reunion" |
- In the case of multiple tribes or castaways who win reward or immunity, they are listed in order of finish, or alphabetically where it was a team effort; where one castaway won and invited others, the invitees are in brackets.
- After Lopevi won the reward challenge, they competed in an individual immunity challenge, as both tribes would go to Tribal Council. John K. won immunity.
- John K. had to spend a day with Yasur in order to give immunity to one of their players at Tribal Council. He chose Ami.
- When Eliza won the reward challenge, she received a new car and a spa retreat, and the players who finished second and third in the challenge were able to join her at the retreat.
Episodes
No. overall | No. in season | Title | CBS recap | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) | Rating/share (18–49) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
123 | 1 | "They Came at Us With Spears" | Recap | September 16, 2004 (2004-09-16) | 20.06 | 7.8/22 | |
After being divided into two tribes separated by gender, with the men and women in the Lopevi and Yasur tribes respectively, and witnessing a Vanuatuan ceremony, the tribes headed their separate ways through the dark night in order to find their respective camps. As the Yasur tribe negotiated the dangerous rocky beach path, factions quickly developed. At the Lopevi camp, Chad stunned his tribemates by revealing his prosthetic foot, which he received as a result of a battle with cancer.
At the combined Reward and Immunity Challenge, the men made quick work of the puzzle maze and took their lead to the balance beam, where they struggled to cross it one by one. The men maintained their lead until Chris simply could not cross the balance beam. Taking advantage of this, the Yasur tribe took the lead and received immunity. After returning to camp from the crushing defeat, most of the Lopevi members deemed it a foregone conclusion that Chris would be the first one voted off because of his balance beam failure. Chris, however, built an alliance on the fly with some of the older members of Lopevi to get rid of the younger members of the tribe. At Tribal Council, the older member's alliance held strong and Brook was voted out. | |||||||
124 | 2 | "Burly Girls, Bowheads, Young Studs, and the Old Bunch" | Recap | September 23, 2004 (2004-09-23) | 19.14 | 7.5/22 | |
As the tribes convened for the Reward Challenge, Jeff explained that the challenge would involve balance and teamwork, and that if Lopevi were to win, they would secure flint for their tribe.
During the challenge, the women of Yasur made easy work of the competition and finished well ahead of Lopevi, winning the reward of comfort. Alliances were still forming at Yasur; the tribe was split by age with the younger and older alliances. After learning that she had been a target, Twila formed an alliance with Dolly.
When the tribes started the Immunity Challenge, chaos began as the blindfolded castaways bumped into each other. Lopevi took the lead, while the Yasur women were in disarray when Scout mistakenly overlooked the final puzzle piece in the water. Lopevi made quick work of the rest of the puzzles, and they secured flint as well as Tribal Immunity. After experiencing their first defeat and returning to their camp, the Yasur women vacillated between Eliza or Leann. At Tribal Council, Dolly found herself to be the swing vote; she, however, was perceived as a threat to the rest of her tribe, and got voted out. | |||||||
125 | 3 | "Double Tribal, Double Trouble" | Recap | September 30, 2004 (2004-09-30) | 19.91 | 7.5/21 | |
Personalities clashed at both tribes. At Lopevi, Lea questioned Rory's work ethic. At Yasur, Mia expressed her dislike for Twila. Julie, Lisa, and Mia got concerned that Eliza may have changed her vote. At the reward challenge, Jeff announced that both tribes would go to Tribal Council, and that the winning tribe would compete for individual immunity.
Lopevi had an early lead, but they lost one of their grappling hooks, allowing Yasur to pull ahead. However, Lopevi managed to pull ahead once Yasur had trouble obtaining their final key. Lopevi won reward, as well as a chance to compete for immunity individually.
At the immunity challenge, it came down to Chad and John K. Chad came up first with all seven rungs, however he had trouble assembling the puzzle-like ladder, allowing John K. to pull ahead and win immunity. At Yasur, Eliza lobbied to vote out Scout, however Mia lobbied to vote out her nemesis, Twila. At Lopevi, Brady argued to Lea that the alliance of older men should be broken up to vote out Rory, who didn't get along with many of his tribemates. Chris had to talk to Lea and convince him to stay loyal. In the end, Lopevi's alliance of older men held strong, and sent John P. home. At Yasur's Tribal Council, John K. granted Ami immunity as he knew she would probably be safe anyway. The alliance of younger women was broken when Lisa flipped, voting Mia out. | |||||||
126 | 4 | "Now That's a Reward!" | Recap | October 7, 2004 (2004-10-07) | 19.46 | 7.3/21 | |
After Lisa flipped alliances at the previous Tribal Council, tensions arose at Yasur and the women were unsure whom to trust. The older men of Lopevi were happy to see that they were succeeding in voting out the younger men. Knowing he was on the chopping block, the younger Brady attempted to become Lopevi's provider of fish, however he brought back only a small catch.
With the help of Ami, Eliza, Julie, and Leann, Yasur took an early lead at the reward challenge and eventually won. When the Vanuatu tribesman, Dah, arrived at the Yasur camp, he taught the tribe how to retrieve coconuts for milk and showed them roots, nuts, and sugarcane. The Yasur women felt that Dah's visit boosted their team morale. At Lopevi, Travis became homesick and the feud between Lea and Rory intensified.
At the immunity challenge, Lopevi selected Rory to be their "eyes" and Yasur selected Eliza for theirs. Yasur managed to secure another victory. Knowing they were on the chopping block, Brady and John K. lobbied the older men's alliance to keep them around in order to win challenges. In the end, loyalty outweighed strength, and Brady was unanimously sent home. | |||||||
127 | 5 | "Earthquakes and Shake-Ups!" | Recap | October 14, 2004 (2004-10-14) | 19.16 | 7.0/19 | |
After a cold night, there was a conflict at Lopevi over who gets to sleep near the fire. Travis, who always slept near the fire, refused to consider a rotation of sleeping positions that will give all Lopevi members a chance to sleep near the fire. As morning came, both tribes were shocked to see Vanuatu tribesmen approach their shore, instructing them to choose a "chief". Lopevi chose Lea while Yasur chose Scout. As the tribes speculated about the role of being the chief, both tribes were shaken up by an earthquake. As the tribes gathered for a reward challenge, Jeff announced that the tribes would be switched. The two chiefs, Lea and Scout, would be the leaders of the new tribes. Scout had to assign the castaways to each tribe, while Lea would get to choose which tribe he would lead. After the tribes were switched, the new Lopevi tribe was Chad, Chris, John K., Julie, and Twila with Lea as their leader. The new Yasur tribe was Ami, Eliza, Leann, Lisa, Rory, and Travis with Scout as the leader.
At the reward challenge, the new Lopevi tribe fell behind as Chris lost his marker. However, they managed to pull ahead when Ami from Yasur was unable to dive that deep and returned empty-handed. Chris found the marker, and came back from underwater, winning reward for Lopevi. As they enjoyed their reward, the new Lopevi tribe bonded over their beer and Pringles. The women at Yasur welcomed new arrivals Rory and Travis. As Jeff was explaining the immunity challenge, Ami caught Travis trying to communicate something to Chris, who was now on the opposing tribe.
During the challenge, Yasur fell behind when Rory had trouble untying a knot to release a paddle. Lopevi ended up winning immunity. As the only men on Yasur, Rory and Travis were on the chopping block, however Eliza argued that they could go on a losing streak without the men. Despite Eliza's arguments, Travis was not trusted due to his attempt to communicate with Chris during the challenge, and he was voted out. | |||||||
128 | 6 | "Hog Tied" | Recap | October 21, 2004 (2004-10-21) | 19.22 | 7.3/20 | |
Rory was upset that the only other Yasur male, Travis, was voted out. At Lopevi, Julie and Twila made predictions of who Yasur voted out. After receiving Tree Mail, the Yasur tribe gathered to hear a speech from Rory about fairness.
At the reward challenge, Lea placed the final pig into the pen, winning reward for Lopevi. While Lopevi enjoyed their steaks, the Yasur tribe discussed Eliza's poor performance in the reward challenge. At Lopevi, Lea and Twila discussed their alliances. Without Rory and Travis, the older men welcomed Twila into their alliance.
At the immunity challenge, Ami and Chris collapsed on the beach. Rory gave Yasur a lead, however Leann had trouble underwater, allowing Lopevi to win immunity once again. After Yasur lost immunity, Leann blamed herself for the loss of the challenge. Eliza, Leann and Rory were on the chopping block. However, Ami decided that Lisa couldn't be trusted and convinced Eliza, Leann, and Rory to vote for Lisa. In the end, Ami's plan came to fruition, and Lisa was sent home. | |||||||
129 | 7 | "Anger, Threats, Tears...and Coffee" | Recap | October 28, 2004 (2004-10-28) | 20.24 | 7.6/20 | |
At Lopevi, John K. decided to slack off from work, which irritated some of his tribemates. At Yasur, since being the only man left, Rory was feeling vulnerable.
At the reward challenge, Leann almost lost the challenge for Yasur when she tripped. However, she managed to bring the full jar across the finish line, winning reward for Yasur. At the café the Yasur tribe enjoyed their treats and tearfully read letters from home.
At the immunity challenge, Rory hit his tribe's final tile, winning immunity for Yasur. After returning to camp, the men of Lopevi worried that keeping the women around could be fatal mistake, as they could easily pick off the men one by one with a 6–4 advantage. Knowing that he was on the chopping block, John K. lobbied Chris and Twila to vote out Chad because of his position as a sympathy threat. In the end, the alliance of older men stuck to their original plan, and John K. was sent home. | |||||||
130 | 8 | "Now the Battle Really Begins" | Recap | November 4, 2004 (2004-11-04) | 20.70 | 7.8/ | |
Knowing she would probably be next on the chopping block, Julie flirted with Lea. At Yasur, Rory and Scout seemed to be doing most of the work. Being the only man on Yasur, Rory's patience was dwindling.
At the reward challenge, both tribes had trouble getting the water into their final castaway's bucket. However, Chris managed to catch water more easily by getting low to the ground, allowing Lopevi to take the lead and win reward. While enjoying their reward, Chris formed an alliance with Chad. As the tribes gathered for the immunity challenge, Jeff shocked the castaways when he announced the merge, and explained that they would be playing for individual immunity.
Immunity was won by Lea. As the castaways returned to the old Lopevi camp, they were excited to enjoy their merge feast. They chose to name the new tribe "Alinta", which means "people of the fire". Lea got nervous when he saw how close Ami and Julie were, which threatened his Lopevi alliance. With the Lopevi men's alliance and the Yasur women's alliance, Julie and Twila were the swing votes. They could either vote with their former Lopevi tribemates, or vote with the other women to eliminate the men, starting with Rory. In the end, Julie and Twila stuck with the other women, and voted out Rory. | |||||||
131 | 9 | "Gender Wars...It's Getting Ugly" | Recap | November 11, 2004 (2004-11-11) | 20.14 | 7.4/ | |
After Julie and Twila broke their alliance with the Lopevi men, it became clear that a gender war was taking place. Being the leader amongst the men, Lea became worried.
At the reward challenge, all three men were quickly eliminated as the women burned all of their skulls. Leann won reward, and chose Julie to join her. As Julie and Leann enjoyed their picnic, they formed a final two alliance. Back at camp, the men tried to figure out how to break the female alliance. They decided to take advantage of the rift between Eliza and Scout, and use that to convince the women that Eliza should be voted out.
At the immunity challenge, the first puzzle eliminated all three men. In the end, it came down to Ami, Julie, and Leann. Immunity was won by Ami. After returning to camp, the men continued to try and break the women's alliance. Lea convinced Twila that she was lied to by Julie and not by the Lopevi alliance. Chad suddenly realized that instead of their stupid plan to have Eliza voted out, the men should try and convince her to abandon the women's alliance that didn't really like her and join forces with them. In the end, however, the women stuck together, and Lea was voted out, becoming the first member of the jury. | |||||||
132 | 10 | "Culture Shock and Violent Storms" | Recap | November 18, 2004 (2004-11-18) | 20.70 | 7.7/ | |
As morning rose, Scout formed an alliance with Chad and Chris. Her plan was to eliminate Eliza, then Ami.
The team of Ami, Chad, Chris, and Eliza won reward. Back at camp, Scout revealed her plan to eliminate Eliza before the men. Leann had doubts, however Julie and Twila considered it. After the winning team returned to camp, Scout clarified her plan to the men.
At the immunity challenge, it came down to Chad and Twila. Twila outlasted Chad, winning immunity. After returning to camp, Scout immediately lobbied to have Eliza eliminated before the men. However, Ami still wanted to stick with their original plan. Twila ended up being the swing vote. She could vote for Eliza, with Chad, Chris and Scout and cause a tie between Chad and Eliza, or vote for Chad with Ami, Eliza, Julie and Leann, sending Chad home. However, the women ended up sticking to their original plan, and Chad was voted out, becoming the second member of the jury. | |||||||
133 | 11 | "Surprise and...Surprise Again!" | Recap | November 25, 2004 (2004-11-25) | N/A | TBA | |
Knowing he was on the chopping block, Chris, the last man left, attempted to break the female alliance. He told the women that Scout and Twila had conspired to align with Chad and Chris. As the castaways gathered for the reward challenge, Jeff shocked the castaways by announcing that the winner would get to communicate with their loved one for one hour using a computer satellite hook-up. The castaways were given a one-minute taste of the contact before the challenge started.
The challenge came down to Eliza and Julie. Eliza ended up winning reward. Jeff shocked Eliza by telling her that she would actually spend a whole night with her mother. Jeff invited the loved ones for a tearful reunion with the castaways. While Eliza spent time with her mother, Ami and Leann asked Scout and Twila where their loyalties lay. They both assured Ami and Leann that they were sticking to their original plan. However, Leann revealed that she had since promised Julie a spot in the Final Four, meaning that the original plan (Leann, Ami, Scout, and Twila in the Final Four) was no longer applicable. As the castaways gathered for the immunity challenge, Jeff shocked the castaways by announcing that the loved ones would participate in the challenge.
It came down to Ami and her girlfriend, and Chris and his fiancée. Ami and her girlfriend completed the puzzle before Chris and his fiancée, and Chris sadly told her his fate in the game was sealed. After returning to camp, the women discussed who they would vote out next. Julie and Leeann decided that Eliza didn't deserve to stay in the game any longer, which Ami then signed off on. However, Julie told Chris about Eliza's looming vote-out, and then Chris brought the information to Twila. Twila told Chris that he's been spared and he could turn the game around by talking to one person; after some back and forth, Chris realized she meant Eliza, and he went to Eliza and pleaded with her to take the chance and side with him, Scout and Twila against her former allies, which was hard for Eliza due to her dislike of Scout and Twila. Scout and Twila formed an alliance with Chris and Eliza and targeted Leann, since Ami had immunity. In the end, the new alliance of four's plan came into fruition, and Leann was voted out, becoming the third member of the jury. | |||||||
134 | 12 | "Now Who's in Charge Here?!" | Recap | December 2, 2004 (2004-12-02) | 19.72 | 7.3/ | |
After returning from Tribal Council in which Leann was voted out, Ami was furious at Twila for betraying her, but Twila bluntly told Ami she'd paid the price for being cocky and making it clear who was NOT in her Final 3 and Final 4 alliances. As the castaways gathered for the reward challenge, Jeff drove up in a brand new Pontiac G6, and explained that the winner would win the car.
It came down to Ami and Eliza as they both got their three flags. However, as they were running up to place their flags in their posts, Ami fell in the water, allowing Eliza to win the car. Being in second and third place, Ami and Chris joined Eliza on the road trip, with Chris making a critical move to outrun Julie for the reward share so that she and Ami wouldn't have their former alliance-mate/recent vote target Eliza alone to possibly re-recruit. At the reward, Ami apologized to Eliza for voting for her at the previous Tribal Council, but annoyed Eliza by claiming (falsely) that Ami and her alliance had repeatedly saved Eliza from being voted out in the past. Back at camp, Twila got worried that Ami would use the reward time to recruit Eliza into her alliance. At the reward, Ami lobbied Chris and Eliza to break their alliance with Scout and Twila. Chris explained to Eliza that strategically, it would be better to stick with Scout and Twila. Meanwhile, Ami urged Eliza to consider how many times Ami had saved her from being eliminated. Eliza thought it would be hard to write down Ami's name.
At the immunity challenge, it came down to Ami and Chris. Ami hit one of her own discs off an island, reducing her score by one, giving Chris immunity. After returning to camp, Ami and Julie knew they were on the chopping block. Chris, Scout and Twila got worried that Eliza would flip to Ami's side. In the end, Eliza stuck to her alliance with Twila, Chris, and Scout, and Ami was voted out, becoming the fourth member of the jury. | |||||||
135 | 13 | "Eruption of Volcanic Magnitude" | Recap | December 9, 2004 (2004-12-09) | 20.30 | 7.6/ | |
After Eliza reminded Twila of a previous broken promise at Tribal Council, Twila got furious at Eliza and her tribe. Julie took advantage of the rift between Eliza and Twila and lobbied to vote out Twila next. Eliza told her that she would consider it if Chris was on board.
At the reward challenge, it came down to Julie and Twila. Julie ended up winning reward, and chose Chris to join her hoping that she could convince him to eliminate Twila. At the reward, Julie told Chris that Eliza had put the decision about whether or not they were going to break their alliance with Scout and Twila in his hands. After Chris and Julie returned to camp, Chris assured Scout and Twila that he was still on board with them.
Immunity was won by Eliza. After returning from the challenge, Chris knew he was the swing vote. Chris could vote with Scout and Twila to eliminate Julie, or he could vote with Eliza and Julie to eliminate Twila. He told both Julie and Twila that he needed to vote the other off. In the end, Chris voted with Scout and Twila, and Julie was voted out. Julie became the fifth member of the jury. | |||||||
136 | 14 | "Spirits and the Final Four" | Recap | December 12, 2004 (2004-12-12) | 19.72 | 7.5/16 | |
After returning from Tribal Council, Eliza was angry at some of the things said about her.
At the immunity challenge, Chris spelled out the winning phrase, "Final Three", correctly, winning immunity. After he won immunity, Chris celebrated with Scout and Twila. Chris tried to get Twila to give Eliza a hard time before Tribal Council, however Twila realized that he was trying to get more jury votes should they make it to the final two. In the end Chris voted with Twila and Scout, eliminating Eliza by a 3–1 vote, who became the sixth member of the jury. The final three were awakened early by Jeff, who instructed them to paddle to chief Roy Mata's resting place to pay their respects to the fallen castaways. The final three passed all the torches and reminisced about the 38 days they had spent at Vanuatu.
At the final immunity challenge, Scout fell out first. After an hour, Twila lost balance, giving Chris immunity once again. After winning the final immunity challenge, Chris thought about whom to take to the final two. He felt that Twila was not as well liked as Scout, therefore he felt he could beat Twila more easily. In the end, Chris voted out Scout, who he felt was more liked by the jury. Scout became the seventh and final member of the jury. At the final Tribal Council, Chris defended his actions as part of the game and said that he often didn't know who he was going to vote for until he was in the booth. Twila apologized for swearing on her son's name, and said that she worked hard and did what she needed to stay true to herself. Twila received Ami and Scout's votes, while Chris received votes from Lea, Julie, Eliza, Chad and Leann. | |||||||
137 | 15 | "Reunion" | N/A | December 12, 2004 (2004-12-12) | N/A | TBA | |
Months later, Chris won the game and becoming Sole Survivor beat Twila by 5–2 votes. The castaways return to discuss the season with host, Jeff Probst. |
Voting history
|
- Notes
- ^ Scout and Twila were not eligible to vote as the only eligible players they could vote for were each other.
Reception
The season has generally been negatively received, with the primary criticism being the repetition of the "battle of the sexes" theme, and how the theme arguably did not work as well in this season as it did in Survivor: The Amazon. Host Jeff Probst, ranking it as the 5th-worst season in 2010, admittedly felt that he "liked this season more than the audience did, and that has probably influenced why it has dropped since my last ranking." Tom Santilli of Examiner.com ranked it among the bottom 10 at #21, while Dalton Ross of Entertainment Weekly ranked it the seventh-worst season of the series, only better than San Juan del Sur, One World, Thailand, Fiji, Nicaragua and Island of the Idols, saying that although "the battle of the sexes worked well the first time around," he felt it wasn't as strong in this season. In 2020, it was ranked 31st out of 40 by Survivor fan site "The Purple Rock Podcast", saying that "the casting was below average on this season," and since "the gimmick/twist for this season was one the show had used before…the issue here is whether you like that narrative." Andrea Deiher of Zap2it ranked it as the 3rd-worst season, saying that "we can barely remember anyone from this season…this was just kind of a dud season." In 2015, a poll by Rob Has a Podcast ranked Vanuatu 17th out of 30 with Rob Cesternino ranking this season 19th. This was updated in 2021 during Cesternino's podcast, Survivor All-Time Top 40 Rankings, ranking 23rd out of 40. In 2020, Inside Survivor ranked this season 22nd out of 40 saying that while "there are a few casting duds on Vanuatu, and the early merge suffers from a predictable Pagonging against the men, there's still a lot to love in this season thanks to its characters, unexpected moments, and a fantastic endgame." Part of the show's mixed-to-negative legacy has been defined by how different observers feel about the season's winner, Chris Daugherty. Jeff Probst said in numerous forums that Chris was a liar and a bad winner, and while fans mostly liked Chris and were happy when he won, the fact that he has never returned to any other SURVIVOR season has made his legacy more faded than most winners who have been back at least once after they originally triumphed.
References
- Ross, Dalton (January 3, 2008). "New 'Survivor' cast revealed!". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
- Andy Dehnart (June 28, 2006). "Mike "The Miz" and Trishelle win reality all-stars Fear Factor". reality blurred. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
- Pedersen, Eric (April 5, 2019). "CBS Moves 'Amazing Race' Premiere Up A Month, Bumps 'Million Dollar Mile' To Saturdays". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- "Survivor: Vanuatu—Islands of Fire Episodes". TV Guide. December 12, 2004. Retrieved April 6, 2010.
- Probst, Jeff (February 10, 2010). "'Survivor': Jeff Probst Ranks All the Seasons, Worst to First". EW.com.
- Ross, Dalton (December 11, 2019). "Survivor recap: A player is removed from the game for first time ever". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
- "Survivor season rankings (with spoiler-free summaries)". The Purple Rock Survivor Podcast. May 22, 2020. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
- "The 10 best and 5 worst 'Survivor' seasons, ranked | Zap2It". Zap2it. Archived from the original on December 17, 2015. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
- "Survivor Top 30 All-Time Season Rankings Results". Rob Has a Podcast. September 21, 2015. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
- "Survivor All-Time Top 40 Rankings | #23: Vanuatu". Rob Has a Podcast. May 5, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
- Pallon, Christine (October 22, 2020). "Best Season Rankings – No. 22 – Vanuatu". Inside Survivor. Retrieved April 29, 2021.