Survivor: Micronesia

Survivor: Micronesia
File:Survivor Micronesia Official Logo.PNG
Winner	Parvati Shallow
Presented by	Jeff Probst
No. of episodes	14
No. of days	39
No. of castaways	20
Production
Production location(s)	Koror, Palau
Filming dates	October 29, 2007 (2007-10-29) – December 6, 2007 (2007-12-06)
Release
Original release	February 7 (2008-02-07) – May 11, 2008 (2008-05-11)
Chronology
Preceded by	Survivor: China
Followed by	Survivor: Gabon

Survivor: Micronesia — Fans vs. Favorites is the sixteenth season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor. It is the show's third season to include contestants from past seasons, after the all-returning contestant pool from Survivor: All-Stars, along with Survivor: Guatemala, in which two contestants from Survivor: Palau returned for a second chance. The season was filmed in Palau, marking the second time Survivor has filmed there (the first being 2005). The filming locations for this season were the same as those used in Survivor: Palau, with Airai living in the former Koror camp and Malakal living in the former Ulong camp. Exile Island returned this season after being absent from Survivor: China, with a new twist of one castaway from each tribe being sent to Exile Island where they had to compete to find the hidden immunity idol. This was the final Survivor season to be aired in standard definition. The complete season was released on DVD from CBS Home Entertainment, via Amazon.com's CreateSpace, on January 31, 2014. It is set to have significantly more special features than recent releases.

The full cast of 20 contestants was revealed on January 3, 2008 by Entertainment Weekly. For the first time since Survivor: Panama, the final Tribal Council featured a Final Two rather than a Final Three. This was also the first season to have an even numbered jury, with this season having eight jury members, rather than the traditional seven or nine in past seasons, making a tie possible. Host Jeff Probst held a white envelope that he claimed had the tie-breaker, but its contents were not revealed as no tie occurred. In the end, Parvati Shallow defeated Amanda Kimmel by a vote of 5–3 to become the Sole Survivor. On the reunion show, it was revealed that James Clement, for the second consecutive season, was the viewer's choice of favorite contestant, winning US$100,000. Kimmel and Oscar "Ozzy" Lusth received the next highest number of votes.

Casting

The initial plan was to do another All-Stars season. Many former castaways were contacted; some declined, while others were cut when the idea was changed to a Fans vs. Favorites format, requiring fewer returning players.

Those who declined included Shane Powers of Panama, Candice Woodcock from Cook Islands, Courtney Yates from China, Edgardo Rivera from Fiji, and Palau winner Tom Westman, who feared that the image he carved in Palau would be tarnished. Despite this, Westman would eventually join Woodcock and Yates in returning for Season 20, Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains. Woodcock returned again for Survivor: Blood vs. Water under her new surname Cody. Richard Hatch, winner of Borneo, was considered to return but, as he was under house arrest at the time, he needed to apply a visa to leave the United States and his request was denied.

Sandra Diaz-Twine, winner of Pearl Islands, was cut at the last minute but later returned for Heroes vs. Villains. Peih-Gee Law from China was cut and replaced by fellow China castaway Amanda Kimmel. Terry Deitz from Exile Island was also cut. Both Law and Deitz later returned for Cambodia. Other castaways who were cut included Coby Archa, Janu Tornell, Jeff Wilson, Jennifer Lyon and Ian Rosenberger from Palau, Twila Tanner from Vanuatu, Cook Islands winner Yul Kwon, and Courtney Marit from Exile Island. Michael Skupin from Australia stated that he was offered a spot on this season, but ultimately did not join the final cast. He later returned for Survivor: Philippines.

Contestants

The contestants included ten new players, the "Fans," and ten former players, the "Favorites," from six previous seasons returning for their second chance at the game. The "Fans" were initially on the Airai tribe, with the "Favorites" on Malakal; both tribes were named after locations in Palau.

Jon "Jonny Fairplay" Dalton came in last place

Yau-Man Chan came in eighteenth place

Ozzy Lusth came in ninth place and was the second jury member

Cirie Fields came in third place and was the eighth jury member

List of Survivor: Micronesia contestants

Contestant	Original tribe	Switched tribe	Merged tribe	Finish
Jon "Jonny Fairplay" Dalton 33, Los Angeles, California Pearl Islands	Malakal			1st voted out Day 3
Mary Sartain 29, Emeryville, California	Airai			2nd voted out Day 6
Yau-Man Chan 55, Martinez, California Fiji	Malakal			3rd voted out Day 8
Michael "Mikey B" Bortone 34, Los Angeles, California	Airai			4th voted out Day 11
Joel Anderson 32, Avondale, Arizona	Airai	Malakal		5th voted out Day 14
Jonathan Penner 45, Los Angeles, California Cook Islands	Malakal	Airai		Medically evacuated Day 15
Chet Welch 48, Ford City, Pennsylvania	Airai	Malakal		6th voted out Day 17
Kathleen "Kathy" Sleckman 45, Glen Ellyn, Illinois	Airai	Airai		Quit Day 19
Tracy Hughes-Wolf 43, Fredericksburg, Virginia	Airai	Malakal		7th voted out Day 20
Ami Cusack 34, Lakewood, Colorado Vanuatu	Malakal	Malakal		8th voted out Day 21
Eliza Orlins 25, Syracuse, New York Vanuatu	Malakal	Airai	Dabu	9th voted out 1st jury member Day 24
Oscar "Ozzy" Lusth 26, Venice, California Cook Islands	Malakal	Malakal		10th voted out 2nd jury member Day 27
Jason Siska 22, Barrington, Illinois	Airai	Airai		11th voted out 3rd jury member Day 30
James Clement 30, Lafayette, Louisiana China	Malakal	Airai		Medically evacuated 4th jury member Day 31
Alexis Jones 24, Beverly Hills, California	Airai	Airai		12th voted out 5th jury member Day 33
Erik Reichenbach 22, Pinckney, Michigan	Airai	Malakal		13th voted out 6th jury member Day 36
Natalie Bolton 32, West Hollywood, California	Airai	Airai		14th voted out 7th jury member Day 37
Cirie Fields 37, Norwalk, Connecticut Panama	Malakal	Malakal		15th voted out 8th jury member Day 38
Amanda Kimmel 23, Kalispell, Montana China	Malakal	Malakal		Runner-up
Parvati Shallow 25, Atlanta, Georgia Cook Islands	Malakal	Airai		Sole Survivor

Future appearances

Parvati Shallow, Amanda Kimmel, James Clement and Cirie Fields returned to play Survivor for a third time in Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains. Kimmel, Fields and Clement were all placed on the Heroes tribe, while Shallow was on the Villains tribe. Fields, Clement and Kimmel placed 17th, 14th and 9th, respectively, while Shallow was the season's runner-up. Ozzy Lusth returned to play a third time on Survivor: South Pacific where he placed 4th. Jonathan Penner returned for his third time on Survivor: Philippines where he finished 7th. Erik Reichenbach was the first Fan to return, playing as a Favorite in the second "Fans vs. Favorites" season, Survivor: Caramoan, where he again finished 5th due to medical reasons.

Season summary

The two tribes were pre-selected before the start of the show: ten returning Survivor contestants and ten new players. In their first challenge, each tribe competed within themselves to be first at a distance island and retrieve a hidden immunity idol that would only be good for that tribe's first visit to Tribal Council; these were claimed by Yau-Man and Kathy. In the pre-merge reward challenges, the winning tribe selected both a member of the losing tribe and a member of their own tribe to go to Exile Island where a series of clues would lead to a hidden immunity idol. Ozzy managed to follow the clues to claim the idol, and following Yau-Man's strategy from Survivor: Fiji, left a fake idol at its location. Jason would later find this idol, believing it to be the real idol.

After 11 days, with the tribes still at equal numbers, the tribes were swapped through a schoolyard pick. Despite the separate tribes, the favorites worked within their new tribes to eliminate the fans, who succumbed to infighting. Before and through the merge, three people had to be removed from the game; Jonathan, who suffered an infection on his knee; Kathy, who wanted to quit after suffering psychological trauma; and James, who had an infected finger - James remained part of the jury though had to use an IV drip during Tribal Council.

After the merge, the remaining fans attempted to form alliances with the favorites that held the majority. A core alliance of Amanda, Parvati and Cirie worked with the other female fans, Natalie and Alexis, to push through several upsets. First, Eliza attempted to work with Jason to use his idol to trick the majority, but her planned failed when she realized Jason's idol was fake. After luring Ozzy to believe they would be voting off Jason, they were able to eliminate Ozzy without him playing the idol. Jason was next sent to Exile Island and found the relocated idol but he too was lured into not playing it, and was quickly eliminated. After James' evacuation, the remaining fans (Alexis, Erik, and Natalie) convinced Cirie to betray Amanda, but Amanda had been to Exile since Jason's elimination and had retrieved the idol, playing it to protect her and eliminate Alexis. Finally, the remaining women convinced Erik he was safe at the next vote regardless if he won individual immunity; Erik, having won this immunity, gave it to Natalie to engender her trust, allowing the women to vote him off.

After eliminating the last fan, Natalie, and realizing that there would not be three contestants in the final tribal council, Amanda and Parvati both saw Cirie as the likely winner against either of them, and through her immunity win, Amanda voted Cirie off, opting to go to the final with Parvati. The jury grilled both players, with Parvati ultimately winning in a 5–3 vote.

Challenge winners, exiles, and eliminations by episode

Episode title	Original air date	Challenge winner(s)		Exiled	Eliminated	Finish
		Reward	Immunity
"You Guys Are Dumber Than You Look"	February 7, 2008	None	Yau-Man	None	Jonny	1st voted out Day 3
		Airai
"The Sounds of Jungle Love"	February 14, 2008	Malakal		Cirie	Mary	2nd voted out Day 6
			Kathy	Kathy
"I Should Be Carried on the Chariot-Type Thing!"	February 21, 2008	Malakal	Airai	Ami	Yau-Man	3rd voted out Day 8
				Kathy
"That's Baked, Barbecued and Fried!"	February 28, 2008	Malakal	Malakal	Kathy	Mikey B	4th voted out Day 11
				Ozzy
"He's a Ball of Goo!"	March 6, 2008	Airai	Airai	None	Joel	5th voted out Day 14
"It Hit Everyone Pretty Hard"	March 13, 2008	Airai	Airai	Chet	Jonathan	Medically evacuated Day 15
				Jason	Chet	6th voted out Day 17
"Like a Wide-Eyed Kid in the Candy Store"	March 19, 2008	Malakal	Airai	Jason	Kathy	Quit Day 19
				Tracy	Tracy	7th voted out Day 20
"A Lost Puppy Dog"	April 3, 2008	Airai		Alexis	Ami	8th voted out Day 21
				Ozzy
"I'm in Such a Hot Pickle!"	April 10, 2008	None	Jason	None	Eliza	9th voted out 1st jury member Day 24
"I Promise..."	April 17, 2008	Amanda, Erik, Jason, Ozzy	Parvati	Cirie	Ozzy	10th voted out 2nd jury member Day 27
"I'm Ruthless... and Have a Smile on My Face"	April 24, 2008	Survivor Auction	Erik	Jason	Jason	11th voted out 3rd jury member Day 30
"I'm Gonna Fix Her!"	May 1, 2008	Alexis [Cirie, Natalie]	Erik	Amanda	James	Medically evacuated 4th jury member Day 31
					Alexis	12th voted out 5th jury member Day 33
"If It Smells Like a Rat, Give It Cheese"	May 8, 2008	Erik [Amanda]	Erik (Natalie)	Parvati	Erik	13th voted out 6th jury member Day 36
"Stir the Pot!"	May 11, 2008	None	Amanda	None	Natalie	14th voted out 7th jury member Day 37
			Amanda		Cirie	15th voted out 8th jury member Day 38
"The Reunion"	May 11, 2008				Jury vote
					Amanda	Runner-up
					Parvati	Sole Survivor

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.

Episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Rating/share (household)	Rating/share (18-49)	Original air date	US viewers (millions)	Weekly rank
228	1	"You Guys Are Dumber Than You Look"	8.1/13	4.8/13	February 7, 2008	14.02	#8
In a pouring rain, the ten fans arrived on the island unaware that they would be facing past castaways and were shocked when Jeff introduced the favorites. Jeff then pointed to a beach on an island across the way with two boats and told the tribes to swim across. Individual Immunity Challenge: The players had to race across the ocean to a shoreline, where they would hunt for the individual immunity idols. The idols were attached to the back of each tribe's boat. The first favorite and the first fan to find their tribe's idol would be granted immunity at the first tribal council they attend. Jonny Fairplay was the first to find the idols tied to the boat's prows, but took the one belonging to the fans. Yau-Man noticed this, raced over, and grabbed the correct idol after Fairplay tripped (he accused Yau-Man of tackling him). Kathy got her tribe's idol after Yau-Man pointed it out to her. Two alliances were formed in the favorites tribe: one between Ami, Eliza, Jonathan, and Yau-Man and another consisting of the couples of James and Parvati, and Amanda and Ozzy. Both groups courted Fairplay and he played both sides. Reward/Immunity Challenge: The tribes are to assemble four puzzle wheels, attach them to a cart, and push the cart through a series of wooden fences. Upon reaching a sandpit with the cart, they then must dig up a set of planks to make a bridge. The tribes then push the cart over the bridge to a turnstile. The wheels are then removed and the pieces reassembled to complete the turnstile. The turnstile raises a fire wok on a pulley that lights the top of a platform. The winning tribe would receive tribal Immunity and flint. At the combined Reward and Immunity Challenge, the fans took the lead early and won. After the challenge, Jonny Fairplay told the tribe that his mind was not really committed to the game because he missed his girlfriend and unborn daughter. Feelings were split about whether he was being truthful or reverting to his old, dirty ways, but in the end he was unanimously voted out. After the vote, the tribe was given a flint by Jeff, although Yau-Man had already started a fire by focusing the sun using water and his eyeglasses.
229	2	"The Sounds of Jungle Love"	7.6/12	4.5/13	February 14, 2008	13.12	#6
Airai struggled with making fire and building a shelter. Chet, Kathy, and Tracy, feeling shunned by their younger tribemates and upset that the others were not making an attempt to build a decent shelter, built their own and then another was built for the other tribe members. At Malakal, the couples of Amanda/Ozzy and Parvati/James grew closer, much to the concern of Jonathan and Cirie, who joked that Amanda would be having "Ozzlets." At the combined Reward and Immunity Challenge, Malakal won by a wide margin after Chet struggled to retrieve his key. Before the challenge, Jeff announced Exile Island and said there would be a twist revealed after the challenge. Reward/Immunity Challenge: Five castaways are chosen to swim, one at a time, to a platform, grab a club, and leap off the platform to smash a tile that releases a key. The swimmer then retrieves the key and swims back to shore with it, allowing the next tribemate to go out. Once the five keys are collected, another castaway uses the keys to open a locked box containing a set of puzzle pieces that form a map of Micronesia. Three other castaways put the puzzle together. The winning tribe received Tribal Immunity, fishing gear, and a bamboo fishing boat. After Malakal selected Kathy to go to Exile Island, Jeff revealed the twist: the winning tribe also had to select one of their own to go to Exile Island. Cirie volunteered to go. Kathy and Cirie discovered a series of four clues at Exile Island that required them to crisscross between two islands, but did not find the Hidden Immunity Idol. After Chet's poor performance at the challenge, Mikey B wanted him to be voted out. Mikey B came up with a plan to split his alliance of seven's votes between Chet and Tracy to protect against potential Immunity Idols. Joel did not like how Mikey B was trying to control the vote, so he plotted with Erik, Alexis, Natalie, Chet, Tracy, and Kathy to break up Mikey B's alliance with Mary. Joel's plan came together, even though he changed his vote to Tracy at Tribal Council as a failsafe, and Mary was voted out.
230	3	"I Should Be Carried on the Chariot-Type Thing!"	7.3/11	4.0/10	February 21, 2008	12.55	#8
Mikey B confronted Joel about voting out Mary at the last Tribal Council. The alliance of Amanda, Ozzy, Parvati, and James tried to swing Eliza over to their side. Cirie contemplated her options on which alliance to trust and join. Reward Challenge: In a playing area similar to a football field, the tribes start at opposite ends of the playing field with three canvas bags. The tribes have to battle their way to their end zone. The challenge ends when one tribe has their three bags and two of the other tribe's bags in their end zone at the same time with the winners receiving three sets of items chosen from a catalog by the tribe At the Reward Challenge, the tribes, dressed in war paint, had a very physical battle in the rain. Ultimately, Malakal won the challenge, taking home a tarp, a lighting kit, and a survival kit. Kathy was selected to go to Exile Island for a second time along with Ami. Cirie struck an alliance with Amanda and Parvati to go all the way to the final three with them. On Exile Island, Ami tried to follow the clues without the help of Kathy, who refused to decode the clues that she already knew about from her previous stay. Immunity Challenge: Two women and two men from each tribe hold onto ropes that support a large net. The other castaways, one at a time, attempt to toss coconuts into the other tribe's net. The tribe who holds up their net for the longest time wins the challenge. The Immunity Challenge was won by Airai after Erik, Joel, Natalie, and Tracy outlasted Cirie, James, Jonathan, and Parvati. There was open lobbying by both alliances for Cirie to join their side. Cirie wanted Yau-Man voted off because she feared that he would find the Hidden Immunity Idol. The alliance of Amanda, Ozzy, Parvati, and James wanted to vote out Eliza, but decided to follow Cirie's lead and Yau-Man was voted out.
231	4	"That's Baked, Barbecued and Fried!"	7.5/12	4.2/11	February 28, 2008	12.47	#10
At Airai, Chet's lack of work around camp irritated his tribemates. At the Malakal campsite, Eliza was feeling sick and James criticized his alliance's decision to vote out Yau-Man instead of Eliza, whom he felt was the weakest member of the tribe. Reward Challenge: Four members of each tribe would swim out to a floating platform. One at a time, a castaway would dive down to a 30 foot (9.1 m) long steel cage that contained coconuts painted in tribe colors and with letters on them. The coconuts would have to be placed in a floating bin and the bin pulled back to shore. The four remaining castaways would unscramble a word puzzle using the letters on the coconuts with the winners receiving three chicken hens and one rooster along with chicken feed. Malakal won the Reward Challenge after Ozzy's strategy of singlehandedly pushing his tribe's coconuts to the front of the steel cage made it easier for his tribemates to retrieve their coconuts. Kathy was sent to Exile Island for the third consecutive time with Ozzy joining her. On Exile Island, a disheartened Kathy did not want to look for the Hidden Immunity Idol, so Ozzy followed the clues on his own under the pretense of looking for food. He succeeded in finding the Idol and kept his discovery a secret from Kathy. Borrowing Yau-Man's strategy from Survivor: Fiji, Ozzy fashioned a false Idol and placed it where he found the real Idol. Eliza tried to keep herself in the game by talking to Parvati about voting out Jonathan, but Jonathan overheard them. Immunity Challenge: Six tribe members would race to a six point, sliding hub and harness themselves in. The six would then pass around a keyring to find a key their individual lock that secured the hub to a stand. Once unlocked, the hub would have to be maneuvered through the forest where six puzzle piece necklaces were hanging on trees. The two remaining tribemates would use the necklaces as keys on a decoding wheel, which would decrypt a three word phrase. At the Immunity Challenge, Airai struggled to unlock their hub and maneuver through the forest. Malakal won their second challenge in a row by a wide margin. Mikey B, feigning loyalty to Joel, lobbied to vote out Chet. Tracy approached Joel about a plan to use her alliance with Chet and Kathy to help vote out Mikey B. Tracy's plan came to fruition and Mikey B was voted out.
232	5	"He's a Ball of Goo!"	7.3/11	4.0/10	March 6, 2008	12.06	#8
At Malakal, Ozzy told Amanda, James, and Parvati that he found the Hidden Immunity Idol. Before the Reward Challenge began, Jeff announced a tribal switch. The tribes were divided by schoolyard pick. The new Airai tribe was composed of Alexis, Eliza, James, Jason, Jonathan, Kathy, Natalie, and Parvati; Amanda, Ami, Chet, Cirie, Erik, Joel, Ozzy, and Tracy made up the new Malakal tribe. Reward Challenge: The tribes would divide into pairs that are harnessed together. Taking turns in rounds, one pair from one tribe would chase a pair from the other tribe through an obstacle course in the forest and attempt to grab a flag attached to the backs of the pair being chased. There would be a time limit of one minute to chase down the pair. If the chasing pair succeeded in grabbing the flag, their tribe would receive one point. If the chasing pair did not succeed, the other tribe would receive one point. The first tribe to score three points would win steak, sausage, vegetables, spices, and wine. Airai won the physically punishing Reward Challenge with Parvati receiving a fat lip, Ami a tweaked knee, Jonathan a puncture wound to the knee, and Chet a blow to the head. Jeff announced that due to the tribal switch, nobody would go to Exile Island. After the challenge and back at the Airai beach, Jonathan's injured knee required attention from the Survivor medical team. On day 14, the Favorites at Airai took charge and fixed the tribe's camp site by moving it further inland and building a new shelter. Immunity Challenge: Four members from each tribe would alternate at throwing rocks at hanging tiles. When the tile is broken, it would drop a bundle of puzzle pieces. Three tribe members and a direction caller would assemble a color-coded puzzle from the pieces. While Airai fell far behind during the rock throwing stage of the Immunity Challenge, they caught up during the puzzle assembly stage and won Tribal Immunity. Joel and Erik approached the Favorites of Malakal about voting out who they perceived as the weakest members: Chet, Cirie, and Tracy. Overhearing this, Cirie took Chet and Tracy aside and they decided to vote Joel out. Cirie told Amanda and Ozzy that it would be better to vote out Joel instead of Chet as Joel was the bigger threat longer term through the game, and that Chet could be used as a pawn for future strategic votes. Cirie also expressed discomfort that if the weaker members of the tribe were to be voted out, she would be voted off soon after Chet. Cirie's argument convinced the Favorites, and Joel was sent home.
233	6	"It Hit Everyone Pretty Hard"	7.9/13	4.2/13	March 13, 2008	13.06	#3
On Malakal, Tracy started to regret her decision to help the Favorites vote out Joel. Reward Challenge: The tribes were to swim out to collect bundles of planks, sticks, and ropes. They would then have ten minutes to use these items to build a blockade of the other tribe's tunnel. The tribes would then race to tear apart the other tribe's blockade of their own tunnel and get all the members of their tribe through to the other side with the winners receiving a visit by two native Micronesians who would demonstrate how to improve the tribe campsite and catch crabs and fish. Airai won the Reward Challenge and elected to send Chet to Exile Island along with Jason. After the challenge, Jeff announced that the Survivor medical team wanted to look at Jonathan's knee. The doctor recommended that he be evacuated and taken to the hospital for treatment as the knee had become seriously infected. Jonathan accepted the recommendation and left on day 15. The two Micronesians, Edwin and Joe—who made a previous appearance in Survivor: Palau—, showed up at Airai bringing fishing line, an extra machete, two knives, a fishing net, vegetables, fruit, and taught the castaways how to fish and hunt for crabs. At Malakal, Ami approached Tracy and Erik about forming an alliance with them after she felt that she could not trust Cirie. On Exile Island, Jason found the fake Hidden Immunity Idol that Ozzy left. Immunity Challenge: The tribes were to use two stepping poles to transfer two tribe members from one platform to another out at sea. All the tribe members would then swim out to a smaller tower. To win immunity, the tribe has to get all seven of its members on the tower with both feet on or above the top deck. Airai continued their winning streak at the Immunity Challenge by using a strategy of carrying Eliza and Parvati on a single stepping pole instead of using both poles. After the Immunity Challenge, Chet told his tribe to vote him out because he had given up and had an injured foot. Erik and Tracy tried to convince Chet to help vote out Ozzy, but the tribe honored Chet's request and he was voted out.
234	7	"Like a Wide-Eyed Kid in the Candy Store"	6.7/11	3.7/10	March 19, 2008	11.34	#6
At Malakal, Ozzy's de facto leadership and arrogance during a fishing excursion irked the women of the tribe. Reward Challenge: Four members of each tribe would be blindfolded and would push a large money stone through a forest course while being verbally directed by the two other tribe members. Along the course, the money stones would crush four tiles that would reveal a pair of smaller money stones. Three tribe members would then use these eight stones to solve a rotating cog puzzle with the winners receiving a trip to an island to enjoy a spa and food. Airai's winning streak was broken when Malakal won the Reward Challenge. They chose to send Jason back to Exile Island along with Tracy, who could not go on the spa trip with the rest of Malakal. On day 18, the constant rain, poor camp conditions, and feeling of missing her family was too much for Kathy to bear and she decided to quit the next morning. Jeff arrived at the Airai beach and took Kathy away at her request. Immunity Challenge: A tribe member would race across a floating bridge carrying one end of a rope. The rope would then be attached to a bundle of giant puzzle pieces. The rest of the tribe would turn a winch that would reel in the bundle and the tribe member back to the beach. Five bundles would need to be hauled to the beach in this manner. Two tribe members would then assemble the puzzle pieces. At the Immunity Challenge, Ozzy and Erik gave Malakal a large lead during the first half of the challenge, but Eliza and Jason quickly assembled their puzzle and Airai won immunity for the third straight time. Ami came up with a complex plot to blindside Ozzy at Tribal Council: Ami would convince Amanda and Cirie to vote for Erik and would tell the two women she and Tracy would be voting with them. However, Ami and Tracy would actually vote for Ozzy along with Erik. Ozzy would vote for Tracy thinking everyone else would be voting for her as well. This would lead to Ozzy being voted out 3–2–1. At Tribal Council, the complex plot collapsed as Amanda and Cirie did not want to betray Ozzy by voting for Erik. The vote followed Fans vs. Favorites lines with Erik joining the Favorites and voting out Tracy.
235	8	"A Lost Puppy Dog"	7.5/12	3.8/9	April 3, 2008	12.84	#11
At Malakal, Ozzy was still concerned about the perception that he was the leader. Ami tried to assure Ozzy that he was okay, but he began to feel uneasy about her loyalty. At Airai, Parvati approached Natalie about forming an alliance with James and Alexis in order to get them to the tribal merge. Longer term, Parvati offered to Natalie the option of going to the final four with Alexis and Amanda, which Natalie agreed with. A combined reward and immunity challenge was held on day 21 with a twist that the tribes had to select one member from the other tribe who would sit out the challenge, go to Exile Island, and return to Tribal Council with individual immunity for that one Tribal Council only should their tribe lose the challenge. Airai selected Ozzy and Malakal selected Alexis to sit out the challenge. Reward/Immunity Challenge: One tribe member at a time would have to cross an obstacle course of stepping stones suspended by ropes, rotating barrels, a balance beam, a floating bridge, and a net to retrieve a flag. The tribe member would then have to cross back with the flag thus scoring a point for their tribe. Two tribe members would be assigned to run the course. Two other tribe members would try to knock the opposing tribe's runner from the course into a water pit by swinging canvas bags at them. If the tribe member fell off the course, they would have to return to the start and the other runner would have to make an attempt. The first tribe to collect five flags would win pizza and beer delivered to the tribe's campsite as well as immunity. Airai won the closely contested challenge and won Tribal Immunity for the fourth straight time. On Exile Island, Ozzy feigned not having the Hidden Immunity Idol and went through the motions of trying to find the idol with Alexis to see if somebody took the false Hidden Immunity Idol that he planted. After the challenge, Erik told Amanda and Cirie about Ami's plotting with the Fans behind the Favorite's backs. Ami tried to convince Amanda and Cirie that her allegiance was to the Favorites. As soon as Ozzy returned from Exile Island, Erik told Ozzy the same story he told to Amanda and Cirie. Although Amanda and Cirie thought it would be safer to keep Ami since they knew her game and didn't trust Erik, Ozzy was upset at Ami's previous strategizing with the fans about potentially voting him out. At Tribal Council, a very emotional Ami tried to counter Erik's story, but to no avail and she was voted out.
236	9	"I'm in Such a Hot Pickle!"	6.9/11	3.8/11	April 10, 2008	11.68	#17
Eliza, disappointed that Ami had been previously voted out, formed an alliance with Jason, who told her that he had the Hidden Immunity Idol, not knowing it was a false Idol. On day 22, Airai and Malakal merged into one tribe and enjoyed the customary merger feast. The tribe decided to live at the Malakal campsite. Erik chose the name Dabu for the merged tribe, telling everyone that it meant "good" in Micronesian when in reality he had just made it up because he wanted to name the tribe something funny. Amanda became concerned about Alexis' attachment to Ozzy and she wanted to vote her off as soon as possible. Parvati told Amanda about the alliance she struck with Alexis and Natalie, but Amanda was angry about Parvati pledging Amanda's allegiance without her consent. Immunity Challenge: The tribe members are positioned under a metal grate as the incoming tide rises. As the tide rises, the breathing space under the grate grows smaller. The last castaway to remain under the grate would win Individual Immunity. At the Immunity Challenge, Jason won the first Individual Immunity, allowing him to give the false Hidden Immunity Idol to Eliza, though she immediately recognized it as a fake planted by Ozzy. Jason and Eliza devised a plan that involved the two of them voting for Ozzy and using the Idol to protect Eliza from being voted out when the others made it clear that they wanted her gone. Even though she knew it was a fake, calling it "just a stick," Eliza hoped that even if it wasn't the real idol, she could at least expose Ozzy for having the real one. After the castaways voted but before the votes were revealed, Eliza put her plan into action and presented the false Hidden Immunity Idol to Jeff. After declaring the idol a fake, Jeff tossed it into the fire pit. Eliza then said that Ozzy must have the real Hidden Immunity Idol, and he admitted that he did. The vote tally proceeded and Eliza was voted out and became the first member of the jury.
237	10	"I Promise..."	7.4/13	3.8/12	April 17, 2008	12.09	#11
Reward Challenge: The castaways would split into two teams of four in a schoolyard pick, with the castaway not picked being ineligible to win the reward and sent to Exile Island immediately before the challenge. One at a time, a castaway from each team would swim out to a multi-level net tunnel that they would have to crawl through. After another short swim, they would reach a floating platform that contained a wall with a set of Micronesian symbols laid out in a pyramid shape. The castaway would then return to the starting position and attempt to replicate the pattern of symbols onshore. The first team to match the symbols onshore with the pattern on the platform would win a flight to a village on Yap for a feast, watching a traditional dance, and spending the night in a chief's traditional house. The team of Amanda, Erik, Jason, and Ozzy won the Reward Challenge. Cirie was not selected during the schoolyard pick for the challenge and she had to go to Exile Island, where she spent a cold night planning how to get rid of Ozzy. Immunity Challenge: The castaways would stand on a log, one arm above their head with their wrist tethered to a bucket of water on top of a platform. The castaway who could stand there the longest without tipping the bucket would win. During the challenge, Jeff would tempt the castaways to quit with offerings of food, including donuts, cookies, and various other food items. This challenge was used before in Survivor: Africa and Survivor: All-Stars and was later used in Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains and Survivor: One World. At the Immunity Challenge, Erik and Cirie were the first to step down for a bowl of candy 20 minutes in. After 45 minutes in, Alexis dropped out due to excitement over the next item (a chocolate chip cookie). Natalie and James both lost their concentration and were out of the challenge. After one hour, Ozzy dropped out for 3 doughnuts. After 5 hours, Amanda dropped out for a bathroom break. The challenge came down to Parvati and Jason after over six hours of the two of them standing on the log. When Jeff offered a full tray of food that would be split with whomever stepped down and the castaways already out of the challenge, Jason said he would step down if he got a guarantee that he would not be voted for at the next Tribal Council after Parvati persuaded him that he could gain some friends by doing this. Everybody agreed, though several of the castaways crossed their fingers, and Jason stepped down, giving Individual Immunity to Parvati. When the castaways returned to camp, Amanda, James, and Ozzy immediately wanted to renege on their promise to Jason and vote for him. Cirie saw this as a good opportunity to blindside Ozzy, the biggest physical threat, and eliminate the danger of the Immunity Idol. She approached Alexis, Jason, Natalie, and Parvati about voting for Ozzy. The four agreed with her, but decided not to tell any of the others and hoped to throw them off by acting like Jason was going home. At Tribal Council, Ozzy stated that he might have had to play the Hidden Immunity Idol, but he did not bring it with him to Tribal Council. Following that, an angry Ozzy was voted out.
238	11	"I'm Ruthless... and Have a Smile on My Face"	7.9/13	4.2/13	April 24, 2008	12.98	#12
After Tribal Council, Amanda was angry that Parvati and Cirie did not tell her about their plot against Ozzy. Parvati tried to patch things up with James, but her efforts didn't work and James no longer trusted Parvati. Her efforts also failed with Amanda, though she kept her distrust of Parvati and Cirie to herself. Survivor Auction: Instead of a Reward Challenge, a Survivor Auction was held. One of the items sold at the auction was a bottle containing a note that said that the winning bidder had to pick a castaway to immediately go to Exile Island. The item was won by Natalie and she chose Jason. Jeff announced that there was a new Hidden Immunity Idol on Exile Island, which was found by Jason. While Jason was on Exile Island, the girls planned to blindside him at the next Tribal Council. The plan was for Natalie to exploit Jason's trust in her and tell him that he owed her for sending him to Exile Island so that he could find the Hidden Immunity Idol. Just before the start of the Immunity Challenge, Natalie put the girl's plan into action by telling Jason that James was going to be voted out and Jason needed to make sure that James did not win Individual Immunity. Immunity Challenge: The castaways would throw rocks at a tile which would cause a bundle of puzzle pieces to drop to the ground. The first four castaways who broke their tiles would move on to the second round of digging up a key that would unlock the puzzle pieces. The puzzle pieces would then be assembled into a wheel that would be used to crank a pulley which would lower two wooden planks. The first two castaways who completed the second round would move on the final round. The planks would be used to cross a rope bridge. The castaway would then race across a series of disks suspended on ropes to the finish. The first castaway to finish wins Individual immunity. On his 22nd birthday, Erik won Individual Immunity, unknowingly putting the second part of the girl's plan into place. Back at camp, the girls searched Jason's bag, much to the chagrin of James and Erik, and found the Hidden Immunity Idol wrapped in his belongings. Natalie convinced Jason that the girls would be voting for James. At Tribal Council, the girls' plan finally succeeded when Jason did not play the Hidden Immunity Idol, and he was voted out.
239	12	"I'm Gonna Fix Her!"	7.7/13	4.0/12	May 1, 2008	12.53	#14
After Tribal Council, the Survivor medical team took a look at James' injured finger and told him that they would look at the finger again the next morning. James was told that if the infection spread to the joint, he would need surgery to prevent disablement of the joint. During the night, Alexis tripped and fell, injuring her knee. Reward Challenge: The castaways would, in private, answer a survey about their fellow tribemates. After they have answered the questions in private, the results would be tallied and the challenge would begin. They would then have to guess whose name came up the most from the group. Each time a castaway guessed correctly, they would be given the opportunity to chop at a rope that held a weight above a statuette that represented another castaway. After three chops of the rope, the statuette would be smashed and that castaway would be eliminated from the challenge. The last castaway whose statuette was not smashed would win a trip to Jellyfish Lake to swim among stingless jellyfish with a loved one; selection of two additional castaways and their loved ones to share the reward The Reward Challenge included the customary visit by the castaways' loved ones. Jeff announced that Exile Island was back in play with another Hidden Immunity Idol. Alexis won the challenge to take a trip to Jellyfish Lake and opted to take along Cirie and her husband and Natalie and her mother. Amanda volunteered to go to Exile Island and Alexis granted her wish. After the challenge, the Survivor medical team looked at James again and made the call that the risk of the infection in his finger spreading to his joint was too great and that James be removed from the game for medication attention. On Exile Island, Amanda followed a new set of clues to learn that the Hidden Immunity Idol was buried under the tribe's flag back at camp. Alexis, Natalie, and Parvati discussed what they should do if Erik succeeded in winning the next Individual Immunity. Natalie said that she would vote for Amanda since she thought Amanda had the best chance of winning over the jury while Parvati said that she could not vote for Amanda due to long term alliances. Immunity Challenge: The castaways would take turns shooting a rifle at colored sake bottles, each representing a different castaway. The first person who breaks all three of their bottles would win. Erik's sharpshooting enabled him to win the Immunity Challenge, foiling the all-girl alliance's plan to vote him out at the next Tribal Council. Back at their campsite, Amanda truthfully told the tribe that she did not find the Hidden Immunity Idol. The idol clue stated that the idol was at camp, which she confided to Parvati. At that point, she recruited Parvati's help in retrieving the Idol. The others were fooled by Amanda and wanted to vote her out, worried that she had a better chance to capture jury votes since she had not made any enemies. Amanda and Parvati thought they could convince Erik to join their voting block by asking him to return the favor of keeping him in the game over Ami, but he would not join them. At Tribal Council, James shocked everybody by appearing with an IV for his infection. Alexis, Cirie, Erik, and Natalie openly said they would be voting for Amanda, but the three fans received a second shock for the night when she produced the Hidden Immunity Idol. She said when she told the others she didn't have it, she wasn't lying because she didn't have it at the time. This negated their votes against her, leaving only the votes cast for Alexis, who was voted out.
240	13	"If It Smells Like a Rat, Give It Cheese"	7.7/13	4.1/12	May 8, 2008	11.98	#9
After returning from Tribal Council, Erik and Natalie plotted their next moves to stay in the game, with them figuring out that one of them had to win the next Reward Challenge so that they could send the other to Exile Island in order to find the Hidden Immunity Idol. Amanda and Cirie reconfirmed their alliance with Parvati to go to the final three. They plotted to manipulate Erik into sending Parvati to Exile Island by having Amanda convince Erik that she forgave him for his switching loyalties and that they should team up since they were the two most physical players left. This would prevent Erik or Natalie from finding the Hidden Immunity Idol, making one of them vulnerable at the next Tribal Council. Reward Challenge: The castaways would be quizzed about favorite moments from past seasons of Survivor. The first person to correctly answer four questions would win a helicopter trip over the Rock Islands and an overnight stay at a resort Erik won the Reward Challenge and selected Amanda to join him based on his agreement with her, while Parvati was sent to Exile. Back at the campsite, Natalie felt betrayed by Erik and vented her feelings to Cirie, who found pleasure in Natalie stressing over the betrayal. After returning from the reward, Erik talked to Cirie and attempted to make a final 3 alliance with her and Parvati. However, Natalie overheard their conversation and she, Amanda and Cirie all recounted what Erik said to them, stressing Erik. Immunity Challenge: Three large sand pits are surrounded by signs with symbolic coordinate. Each castaway would be given a pair of ropes and a set of coordinates. They would use the ropes to match the coordinates up so that the ropes intersect within the circle. At that intersection point, they would dig up a bag of puzzle pieces. This would give them the coordinates to use with the ropes on the second sand pit. The process would be repeated until a final bag of puzzle pieces would be retrieved from the third sand pit. The first person to complete the last puzzle wins immunity. At the Immunity Challenge, Erik easily won, once again ruining the women's hopes of getting rid of him. Erik later revealed his planned game play to Cirie involving his hopes of going to the final three with her and Parvati, unaware that Natalie was nearby and overheard it. Natalie explained this to the other three women, and Cirie suggested that Natalie attempt to try to convince Erik to hand the Individual Immunity over to Natalie using the argument that it would redeem himself in front of the jury and that Cirie and Natalie would agree to vote out Amanda only if Erik saved Natalie. At Tribal Council, Amanda lambasted Erik for his switching loyalties, and was soon joined by Natalie and Parvati. However when the time came, the plot worked, and Erik gave Natalie the immunity necklace, hoping that Cirie and Natalie would join him in voting for Parvati. However, the girls stuck to their plan, and Erik was voted out.
241	14	"Stir the Pot!"	7.2/12	4.4/12	May 11, 2008	12.92	#11
After returning from Tribal Council, the ladies celebrated their success in voting out all of the men from the game. Immunity Challenge: The castaways would start standing on top of a 20-foot (6.1 m) pole in the water. They would have to lower buckets into the water and use the water to fill a bamboo chute which would raise a set of keys. Once the keys are in reach, the castaways would swim ashore with the keys to unlock a box that contained 16 individually shaped ladder rungs. The ladder rungs would be used to build a ladder to a platform. The first castaway to assemble their ladder, climb to the top of the platform and raise their flag would win immunity. At the Immunity Challenge, Natalie quickly took an early lead, but Amanda came from behind during the ladder assembly stage to win Immunity. Natalie tried to break up the alliance of Amanda, Cirie, and Parvati. During Tribal Council, Jeff hinted that instead of a final three that there would be a final two, which caused Cirie to declare that she felt she was at the bottom of every alliance that she was in. This resulted in a short argument between Cirie and Amanda. Despite this, the Favorites alliance held and Natalie, the last Fan remaining, was voted out 3–1. After Tribal Council, Amanda and Cirie continued their argument over Cirie feeling that she was at the bottom of every alliance she was in, although they eventually made up and celebrated that they had all reached the final three like they had originally intended. Their happiness was cut short however, as the three found out on Day 38 that Jeff's questions at Tribal Council about a final two were not hypothetical and they would have to go through one final Immunity Challenge after the customary honoring of past castaways who left the game. Immunity Challenge: A long wooden cylinder was cut into different sized segments. On the center segment a notch has been cut on which rests a metal ball. The castaways would have to hold up the segments by squeezing them between two handles. Every five minutes, a new round would start where the castaway would have to add two additional segments between the handles. After the cylinder was nine segments long, the final round would last as long as the castaways held out. If the metal ball fell off, the castaway would be eliminated from the challenge. The castaway who held up their segments the longest without allowing the ball to drop from the center segment would win immunity. While Parvati didn't really try, a distraught Amanda managed to regroup and win the final Immunity Challenge over Cirie. At camp, Cirie tried to convince Amanda why she should keep her, but at Tribal Council, Amanda kept her loyalty to Parvati and voted out Cirie. Back at camp, Amanda and Parvati celebrated their making it to the final two by eating the customary final feast and burning down their shelter. For her opening statement at the final Tribal Council, Amanda tried to persuade the jury to vote for her by emphasizing her loyalties to her alliances. Parvati emphasized her aggressive play during the game. Tribal Council then proceeded to the jury's statements and questions. Eliza complimented the girls on their strategic gameplay, but criticized Parvati for being mean and Amanda for being superficial. Jason asked if Amanda would have told Ozzy about the plan to vote him out if she had known about it and Parvati to list some of her redeeming qualities during the game. Alexis asked Parvati about what made her a better role model for young girls than Amanda, and asked Amanda about what part of her game was genuine. Natalie asked Parvati a confusing question about how Parvati's flirting translated into her intimate life, and Amanda was asked about her "glazed over... zombied, pretty girl, not really knowing what's going on, pageant queen cliché" look and if that was her strategy during the game. Erik asked Amanda on what basis she felt had to judge him during Tribal Councils, but he did not ask any question of Parvati. James did not ask anything of Amanda, but questioned Parvati about what she said to him after Ozzy was voted out. Cirie asked Amanda why Parvati deserved a million dollars more than her and then asked Parvati about why Cirie should be in the final two instead of Parvati. Ozzy used his statement time to blast Parvati for taking 12 days away from him that he could have spent with Amanda and for ruining their friendship, before declaring that he was falling in love with Amanda. In the end, the jury sided with Parvati and declared her the Sole Survivor with a vote of 5–3.
242	15	"The Reunion"	6.0/10	3.9/10	May 11, 2008	10.84	#12
The 20 castaways return to discuss the season with host, Jeff Probst.

Voting history

			Original tribes				Switched tribes						Merged tribe
Episode #			1	2	3	4	5	6		7		8	9	10	11	12		13	14
Day #			3	6	8	11	14	15	17	19	20	21	24	27	30	31	33	36	37	38
Eliminated			Jonny	Mary	Yau-Man	Mikey B	Joel	Jonathan	Chet	Kathy	Tracy	Ami	Eliza	Ozzy	Jason	James	Alexis	Erik	Natalie	Cirie
Votes			9–1	6–2–2	6–2–1	6–3	6–2	None	5–2	None	5–1	4–1	8–2	5–4	4–3–1	None	2–0	4–1	3–1	1–0
Voter			Vote
		Parvati	Jonny		Yau-Man								Eliza	Ozzy	Jason		Alexis	Erik	Natalie	None
		Amanda	Jonny		Yau-Man		Joel		Chet		Tracy	Ami	Eliza	Jason	Jason		Alexis	Erik	Natalie	Cirie
		Cirie	Jonny		Yau-Man		Joel		Chet		Tracy	Ami	Eliza	Ozzy	Jason		Amanda	Erik	Natalie	None
		Natalie		Mary		Mikey B							Eliza	Ozzy	James		Amanda	Erik	Cirie
		Erik		Mary		Mikey B	Chet		Chet		Tracy	Ami	Eliza	Jason	Jason		Amanda	Parvati
		Alexis		Mary		Chet							Eliza	Ozzy	James		Amanda
		James	Jonny		Yau-Man								Eliza	Jason	Parvati
		Jason		Chet		Chet							Ozzy	Ozzy	James
		Ozzy	Jonny		Yau-Man		Joel		Chet		Tracy	Ami	Eliza	Jason
		Eliza	Jonny		Yau-Man								Ozzy
	Ami		Jonny		Cirie		Joel		Chet		Tracy	Erik
	Tracy			Mary		Mikey B	Joel		Erik		Ozzy
	Kathy			Mary		Mikey B
	Chet			Mary		Mikey B	Joel		Erik
	Jonathan		Jonny		Parvati
	Joel			Tracy		Mikey B	Chet
Mikey B				Chet		Chet
Yau-Man			Jonny		Parvati
Mary				Tracy
Jonny			Ozzy

Jury Vote
Episode #	14
Day #	39
Finalist	Amanda	Parvati
Votes	5-3
Juror	Vote
Cirie		Parvati
Natalie		Parvati
Erik	Amanda
Alexis		Parvati
James	Amanda
Jason		Parvati
Ozzy	Amanda
Eliza		Parvati

Reception

This season was very well received by both fans and critics alike, and is generally considered one of the best seasons of the show. Jeff Probst originally ranked it as his second favorite season of all time (behind Borneo), stating that “The Parvati-led women's alliance produced some of the most memorable moments in the history of the show.” Probst also stated that the Tribal Council in which Erik Reichenbach was eliminated was his favorite of all the seasons, and he also said Palau was his favorite filming location. Survivor columnist Dalton Ross also rated the season as the second best season saying that it had “great characters and the perfect mix of solid and stupid gameplay.” He then later ranked this season and Borneo as tied for the best seasons saying, "I’ve gone back and forth with these two over the years. After Micronesia aired, I named it the best Survivor season ever. Upon reflection, while I still considered it the most enjoyable, I also worried I was understating the impact of the first season, which became a national phenomenon. (Yes, Borneo now seems dated and tame by comparison, but it’s the biggest game changer in the past 20 years of television.) So then I returned that to the #1 spot. If I wanted to watch one season again, it would be Micronesia. If you ask me which is the most important season, well, obviously it’s Borneo. So instead of constantly flipping them, they can simply share the top spot…until I change my mind again." Entertainment Weekly similarly ranked both Borneo and Micronesia as tied for first. Slant magazine gave it a 3.5 star rating out of 4, saying “Never in Survivor history has there been such a string of shocking tribal councils one right after the next.” Andy Dehnart of realityblurred.com also gave the season a positive review, stating that the moment where Erik gave individual immunity to Natalie helped make “Survivor: Micronesia the best season ever—or at least, the best second half of a season ever.” In 2014, Joe Reid of The Wire ranked it as the 6th-best season of the series. Survivor fan site "Survivor Oz" ranked Micronesia as the second-best season of the series (behind Heroes vs. Villains) in its annual polls ranking every season in 2012 and 2013, while it was ranked 4th in 2014 and 5th in 2015 Fellow fan site "The Purple Rock Podcast" ranked it as the 9th-best season. In 2015, in a poll held on the website of former Survivor contestant Rob Cesternino, Micronesia was ranked as the 4th-greatest season of the series by the website's users, while Cesternino himself personally ranked it as the second-best season, only behind Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains.

Seven years later, in the official CBS Watch issue commemorating Survivor's 15th anniversary, Micronesia was voted by viewers as the #3 greatest season of the series, only behind Heroes vs. Villains and Pearl Islands. Another poll in the same magazine, asking viewers to vote for the most memorable moment in the series, saw Ozzy's elimination in episode 10 come in second, only behind Sandra Diaz-Twine burning Russell Hantz's hat in Heroes vs. Villains.

External links

• Official CBS Survivor Micronesia Website