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''Survivor: Fiji'' is the fourteenth season of the American
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competitive
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series ''
Survivor Survivor(s) may refer to: Actual survivors * *Last survivors of historical events Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Survivors, characters in the 1997 ''KKnD'' video-game series * ''The Survivors'', or the ''New Survivors Found ...
''. The season was filmed in the
Fiji Islands Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
from October 30 until December 7, 2006, and aired from February 8, 2007, until the two-hour season finale on May 13, 2007, followed by a live reunion from
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in
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, where Earl Cole was named the Sole Survivor over Andria "Dreamz" Herd and Cassandra Franklin in the first unanimous vote of the show's history. This is, to date, the only season of ''Survivor'' to have an odd number of castaways, with 19, after a 20th castaway, Mellisa McNulty, withdrew the night before filming began. 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 maintained a similarly racially diverse cast (with the intended 20 person cast containing equal amounts of
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,
Asian American Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...
,
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, and
European American European Americans (also referred to as Euro-Americans) are Americans of European ancestry. This term includes people who are descended from the first European settlers in the United States as well as people who are descended from more recent Eu ...
castaways) as '' Survivor: Cook Islands'', in a conscious effort intended to show that the racial diversity of ''Survivor: Cook Islands'' was not just a ratings stunt.


Overview


Gameplay

This season introduced the "Haves vs. Have Nots" twist, regarded as one of the worst twists in ''
Survivor Survivor(s) may refer to: Actual survivors * *Last survivors of historical events Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Survivors, characters in the 1997 ''KKnD'' video-game series * ''The Survivors'', or the ''New Survivors Found ...
'' history. At the start of the season, the 19 castaways lived on a single beach and built a furnished camp, including shelters built from pre-cut wood, a kitchen area with dishware, a shower, a toilet, furniture, and the means to maintain fire, with supplies provided by the production. When the castaways were divided into two tribes, the winning tribe, Moto, won the furnished camp while the losing tribe, Ravu, had to build a new camp from scratch, and 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 playable through the final five.


Contestants

The two tribes were Moto and Ravu, meaning "spear" and "to kill" in Fijian respectively, while the merged tribe Bula Bula means "welcome" or "hello" in Fijian. Notable contestants on this season including
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contestant
Rita Verreos Rita may refer to: People * Rita (given name) * Rita (Indian singer) (born 1984) * Rita (Israeli singer) (born 1962) * Rita (Japanese singer) * Eliza Humphreys (1850–1938), wrote under the pseudonym Rita Places * Djarrit, also known as Rita, a ...
.


Future appearances

Yau-Man Chan later competed in '' Survivor: Micronesia''. Outside of ''Survivor'', Earl Cole appeared on an episode of the thirteenth season of ''
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''. Cole was also a contestant on the 2022
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reality competition series ''
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''.


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 Macuata is one of Fiji's fourteen Provinces, and one of three based principally on the northern island of Vanua Levu, occupying the north-eastern 40 percent of the island. It has a land area of 2004 square kilometers. The Province has 114 villa ...
province, on Fiji's second largest island,
Vanua Levu Vanua Levu (pronounced ), formerly known as Sandalwood Island, is the second largest island of Fiji. Located to the north of the larger Viti Levu, the island has an area of and a population of 135,961 . Geology Fiji lies in a tectonically ...
, about from the town of
Labasa Labasa (pronounced ) is a town in Fiji with a population of 27,949 at the most recent census held in 2007. Labasa is located in Macuata Province, in the north-eastern part of the island of Vanua Levu, and is the largest town on the island. Th ...
. 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 Savusavu () is a town in the Fijian Province of Cakaudrove. The town is located on the south coast of Vanua Levu Island and had a population of 3,372 in the 2007 census. Savusavu is known as "the hidden paradise of Fiji." Geography Savus ...
, as well as a rafting excursion on the
Navua River The Navua River is located in the island of Viti Levu in Fiji and has its source on the south east slope of Mount Gordon and flows for 65 kilometers to the south coast. It is noted for the scenic beauty of the rugged mountain country through w ...
on Fiji's main island of
Viti Levu Viti Levu (pronounced ) is the largest island in the Republic of Fiji. It is the site of the nation's capital, Suva, and home to a large majority of Fiji's population. Geology Fiji lies in a tectonically complex area between the Australian P ...
.


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 Josaia Voreqe "Frank" Bainimarama (Fijian: ʃoˈsɛia βoˈreŋɡe mbɛiniˈmarama born 27 April 1954) is a Fijian politician and former naval officer who served as the prime minister of Fiji from 2007 until 2022. A member of the FijiFirst ...
. 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. ''
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'' columnist Dalton Ross ranked ''Fiji'' as the third-worst season of the series, only better than ''
Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...
'' and '' Island of the Idols'', 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." In 2010, host Jeff Probst, also ranked 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
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, 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, a poll by ''
Rob Has a Podcast ''Rob Has a Podcast (RHAP)'' is an entertainment podcast hosted by former '' Survivor'' contestant Rob Cesternino. The podcast primarily provides commentary of reality television game shows. Overview Cesternino started ''RHAP'' in 2010, in orde ...
'' ranked ''Fiji'' as the fifth-worst season of the series, only ahead of ''Nicaragua'', ''Thailand'', '' One World'', and ''Redemption Island'', with
Rob Cesternino Robert Kristopher Cesternino (born October 20, 1978) is an American reality television contestant and podcast host, known for his appearances on '' Survivor: The Amazon'' (2003) and '' Survivor: All-Stars'' (2004). In 2010, he launched ''Rob Has ...
ranking this season 25th out of 30. This was updated in 2021 during Cesternino's podcast, ''Survivor All-Time Top 40 Rankings'', ranking 28th out of 40th. That same year, however, Kristen Kranz of ''
Collider A collider is a type of particle accelerator which brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Colliders may either be ring accelerators or linear accelerators. Colliders are used as a research tool in particle ...
'' gave the season a positive review and ranked ''Fiji'' as the 10th best season of the series. She also wrote that the big move made by Herd saved the season from being mediocre, praised Chan's gameplay, and said that Cole was a "great, deserving winner."


References


External links


Official CBS Survivor Fiji Website
{{Survivor (American TV series) Macuata Province 14 2007 American television seasons 2006 in Fiji Television shows filmed in Fiji Television shows set in Fiji Television shows filmed in New York City