Survivor: Fiji is the fourteenth season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor. The season was filmed in the Fiji Islands. The premiere of Fiji aired on February 8, 2007. The two-hour season finale aired on May 13, 2007, followed by the Reunion show live from Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City. Host Jeff Probst has gone on record declaring the season as one of his least favorite seasons. Applications were due June 16, 2006. The complete season (including the live Reunion show) was released on DVD on December 11, 2012, available exclusively through Amazon.com.
In a twist from previous seasons of Survivor, all contestants participated in at least one challenge before being split into two tribes and moving to two different tribe camps. One camp (built by all contestants in the initial challenge), Moto, was furnished with several luxuries, including shelters built from pre-cut wood, a kitchen area with dishware, a shower, a toilet, furniture, and the means to maintain fire. The other camp, Ravu, was given merely a pot and a machete to survive. During the broadcast of the season, host Jeff Probst admitted that this concept did not play out quite as the producers hoped, as it led to the "haves" tribe predictably dominating in the challenges over the "have-nots" week after week. Exile Island returned once again for Fiji, with new twists. Unlike previous seasons, there were two hidden immunity idols, with one hidden at each camp. The idol now had to be played before Jeff read the results of the voting, rather than after. Once a hidden immunity idol was used, it was rehidden rather than discarded. The idols were good through the final five. The winner, Earl Cole, was unanimously selected by the jury. Yau-Man Chan reported that Andria "Dreamz" Herd and Cassandra Franklin received $100,000, as they both received the same number of votes for Sole Survivor (zero) and tied for second place. He also reported that he received $60,000 for coming in fourth.
This was the first season of Survivor to have an odd number of castaways, with 19. Mellisa McNulty would have been the twentieth castaway, but dropped out the night before the show because of panic attacks and irritable bowel syndrome. Due to the timing and lack of alternates, her spot could not be replaced. Gary Stritesky was the only contestant who applied to be on the show; McNulty and the other 18 contestants were recruited. The cast retained the same amount of diversity as the previous season, Survivor: Cook Islands, in a conscious effort intended to show that the racial diversity of Survivor: Cook Islands was not just a ratings stunt.
Video Survivor: Fiji
Contestants
Future appearances
Yau-Man Chan later appeared in Survivor: Micronesia.
Maps Survivor: Fiji
Season summary
Due to one player dropping out prior to the game, the season started with 19 players. After arriving at their beach as one group, instructions and materials for building a camp were dropped from a plane. Before the first challenge, the castaways were divided into two tribes by Sylvia, appointed for her leadership in building the camp, who was sent to Exile Island due to the odd number of players. After the challenge, the winning team, Moto, returned to the constructed camp, while the losing team, Ravu, was directed to a different beach where only meager supplies awaited them; Sylvia joined Ravu shortly afterwards. While both tribes vied equally in challenges, it was clear Moto was in much better shape due to the better camp, winning every single challenge. On Ravu, an alliance between Earl and Yau-Man was formed. When Earl was sent to Exile Island, he conspired with Yau-Man to find a hidden immunity idol located at the camp, which Yau-Man did.
A tribal shuffle served to further alliances; Earl and Yau-Man brought Michelle, Cassandra and "Boo" into their fold, while Alex became the leader of an alliance between himself, Mookie, Edgardo, and "Dreamz," titling themselves the "Four Horsemen". Mookie found the other hidden immunity idol, but decided not to tell "Dreamz" because of the latter's lack of trustworthiness. The tribes merged at the original Moto camp, stripped of their original structures and luxuries. The first post-merge immunity challenge divided the contestants into two randomly selected teams, putting Michelle with most of the Horsemen, and leading to her being voted out. After "Dreamz" discovered his alliance had neglected to tell him about Mookie's idol, he defected to Earl's alliance and worked with them to trick Mookie into misplaying his idol. Stacy joined their alliance and suggested targeting Edgardo, resulting in the systematic eliminations of the three loyal Horsemen.
The reward challenge played by the final six players was for a truck. Yau-Man won the challenge, but made a deal with "Dreamz" to trade the truck in exchange for the final challenge's immunity necklace should "Dreamz" win it. While "Dreamz" attempted to get out of the deal by targeting Yau-Man immediately, Yau-Man played his idol and Stacy was sent home, followed by "Boo" for being a physical threat. "Dreamz" won the final immunity challenge, but reneged on his deal with Yau-Man at the subsequent Tribal Council; Yau-Man was the final player voted out. At the final Tribal Council, "Dreamz"'s actions and Cassandra's quiet game led the jury to vote unanimously for Earl.
- 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
Voting history
Filming locations
Survivor: Fiji was filmed in the eastern region of the Macuata province, on Fiji's second largest island, Vanua Levu, about 15 miles (24 km) from the town of Labasa. Tribal Council, the production camp ("Tent City"), and several challenges were located in close proximity to the village of Vunivutu. Other challenges were held on Katawaqa Island, Tivi Island, Vatudamu Point, and fields along the Wainikoro River. The Moto (and later Bula Bula) tribe lived on a peninsula in Vunivutu Bay, while the Ravu tribe lived on Druadrua Island under much harsher conditions. Exile Island's actual name is Sausau Island. Reward getaways included trips to the Namale Resort and Jean-Michel Cousteau Fiji Islands Resort in the town of Savusavu, as well as a rafting excursion on the Navua River on Fiji's main island of Viti Levu.
Political turmoil in Fiji
On December 5, 2006 (two days before the Final Tribal Council), a coup d'état was initiated by Fiji's military leader, Frank Bainimarama. While there was some speculation that a full evacuation of the Survivor crew members from Fiji would take place, only a few crew members on the mainland were relocated to the second-smallest island. However, the political turmoil prior to the coup did prevent the families of the cast members from coming to Fiji to participate in a reward challenge (as usually occurs on Survivor) that occurred towards the end of filming.
Reception
Survivor: Fiji was met with generally negative reception. Entertainment Weekly columnist Dalton Ross ranked Fiji as the second-worst season of the series, only ahead of Survivor: Nicaragua, saying "With the exception of Yau-Man and Earl, a true bummer of a cast, and the 'Haves vs. Have-Nots' twist was one of the worst creative decisions in Survivor history." Host Jeff Probst, ranking it as the third-worst season ahead of Survivor: Marquesas and Survivor: Thailand, cited Yau-Man and "Dreamz" as the only good things about the season, and had it not been for them, Fiji would've ranked lower on his list than Thailand. Fiji is ranked as the worst season of all time by Examiner.com, and the fourth-worst season by Zap2it, only behind Survivor: Vanuatu, Thailand, and Survivor: Redemption Island. From 2012 to 2014, Survivor fan site "Survivor Oz" consistently ranked Fiji in the bottom four worst seasons in its annual polls ranking every season of the series; In 2012, it was 4th-worst ahead of Thailand, Nicaragua, and Redemption Island, and in 2013 and 2014, it was the 3rd-worst ahead of Survivor: South Pacific and Redemption Island. In 2015, Fiji was ranked as the fifth-worst season of the series on Rob Cesternino's website, only ahead of Nicaragua, Thailand, One World, and Redemption Island.
References
External links
- Official CBS Survivor Fiji Website
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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