| Survivor: Fiji | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Reality television |
| Winner | Earl Cole (9–0–0) |
| No. of episodes | 14 |
| No. of days | 39 |
| No. of survivors | 19 |
| Tribes | Moto Ravu Bula Bula |
| Fans vs. Favorites | Yau-Man Chan |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | Macuata, Vanua Levu, Fiji |
| Filming dates | October 30, 2006 – December 7, 2006 |
| Broadcast | |
| Original run | February 8, 2007 – May 13, 2007 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Survivor: Cook Islands |
| Followed by | Survivor: China |
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 favorites.[1]
In a twist from previous seasons of Survivor, all contestants participated in a challenge before being split into two tribes and moving to two different 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 water well and a machete. 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.[2]
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 pivotal moment of the season came when contestant Yau-Man Chan won a 2008 Ford Super Duty truck at a reward challenge on Day 34 and decided to make a deal with formerly homeless contestant Andria “Dreamz” Herd. Yau-Man would give Dreamz the truck on the condition that if Dreamz won immunity when four contestants remained, he would give the immunity to Yau-Man. Dreamz accepted the deal and went on to win immunity at the final four. However, despite calling himself "a man of his word" and wanting to set a good example for his children, when the time came to follow through with his promise, Dreamz decided to keep immunity for himself, causing Yau-Man's elimination. During the reunion show it was revealed that Dreamz had kept the truck, although it is unclear whether or not he donated it to charity.[3] The move was billed in previews and promotional media for the season as "the most controversial decision in Survivor history."
The winner, Earl Cole, was unanimously selected by the jury. Yau-Man reported that Dreamz and Cassandra Franklin received $100,000, as they both received the same amount of votes for Sole Survivor (zero) and tied for second place. He also reported that he received $60,000 for coming in fourth.[4]
Applications were due June 16, 2006.[5] Melissa McNulty, a 27-year-old talent manager from Los Angeles, would have been the twentieth castaway but dropped out and returned home the night before the show began because of panic attacks,[6][7] making this the first season of Survivor to have an odd number of castaways, with 19. Because of the timing and lack of alternates, her spot could not be replaced.[8] Gary Stritesky was the only contestant who applied to be on the show; McNulty and the other 18 contestants were recruited.[9] 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.[8]
Yau-Man later appeared as a "favorite" on Survivor: Micronesia where he was the third contesant to be voted out. He was asked to return for Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains but turned the offer down due to work obligations.[10]
Although a DVD release of the season has not yet been planned, Amazon.com is currently giving its customers the option to sign up to be notified when the item becomes available.
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 teams were divided by Sylvia, the one they saw as their leader; as she was the odd-one out, she became the first to visit Exile Island. 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; however, this served to build an alliance between Earl and Yau-Man. When Earl became a target to be sent to Exile Island, he conspired with Yau-Man to find one of the two individual immunity idols located at the camps.
A pre-merge 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, self-titling themselves the "Four Horsemen". The tribes merged by traveling to Exile Island, then returning to the original Moto camp, finding that all the structures and luxuries had been removed. 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. By this point, Yau-Man and Mookie, using clues given to him by Lisi before her elimination, held possession of the two immunity idols. A critical gameplay moment came at Tribal Council on Day 27—Earl's alliance, with the help of Stacy, Boo and a alliance-shifting Dreamz, was able to trick Alex into playing Mookie's immunity idol, but instead targeted and eliminated Edgardo, which led to the elimination of Mookie and Alex in the subsequent votes.
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. Yau-Man also became the first player to send himself to Exile, in hopes of using the clue there to find an immunity idol. Boo and Stacy were eliminated in the following days, and Dreamz won the final immunity challenge. At the subsequent Tribal Council, Yau-Man was voted off after Dreamz reneged on his promise to give up the immunity idol. At the final Tribal Council, Dreamz' actions and Cassandra's quiet game led the jury to vote unanimously for Earl.
| Contestant | Original Tribe | Switched Tribe | Merged Tribe | Finish | Total Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jessica deBen 27, Los Angeles, CA |
Ravu | 1st Voted Out Day 3 |
6 | ||
| Erica Durousseau 27, Lake Charles, LA |
Ravu | 2nd Voted Out Day 6 |
6 | ||
| Sylvia Kwan 52, Malibu, CA |
Ravu1 | 3rd Voted Out Day 8 |
6 | ||
| Gary Stritesky 55, Rochester, MN |
Moto | Removed Due to Illness Day 10 |
0 | ||
| Liliana Gomez 25, Oxnard, CA |
Moto | 4th Voted Out Day 11 |
6 | ||
| Rita Verreos 38, San Antonio, TX |
Ravu | 5th Voted Out Day 14 |
6 | ||
| Anthony Robinson 32, Compton, CA |
Ravu | Ravu | 6th Voted Out Day 16 |
10 | |
| James "Rocky" Reid 28, San Diego, CA |
Ravu | Ravu | 7th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 19 |
5 | |
| Lisette "Lisi" Linares 36, Las Vegas, NV |
Moto | Ravu2 | 8th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 21 |
7 | |
| Michelle Yi 23, Cincinnati, OH |
Ravu | Moto | Bula Bula | 9th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 24 |
3 |
| Edgardo Rivera 28, Miami, FL |
Moto | Ravu | 10th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 27 |
5 | |
| Mookie Lee 25, Chicago, IL |
Ravu | Ravu | 11th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 30 |
6 | |
| Alex Angarita 28, Sacramento, CA |
Moto | Ravu | 12th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 33 |
9 | |
| Stacy Kimball 27, Boulder, CO |
Moto | Moto | 13th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 36 |
4 | |
| Kenward "Boo" Bernis 34, Lafayette, LA |
Moto | Moto | 14th Voted Out 8th Jury Member Day 37 |
5 | |
| Yau-Man Chan 54, Fresno, CA |
Ravu | Moto | 15th Voted Out 9th Jury Member Day 38 |
54 | |
| Andria (Dre) "Dreamz" Herd 25, Wilmington, NC |
Moto | Ravu | Runner-Up3 | 2 | |
| Cassandra Franklin 42, San Francisco, CA |
Moto | Moto | Runner-Up3 | 5 | |
| Earl Cole 35, Santa Monica, CA |
Ravu | Moto | Sole Survivor | 1 |
^1 Sylvia was given the task of dividing the tribes. She was sent to Exile Island and told she would join whichever tribe lost the Immunity Challenge after that tribe voted off a member. Because Ravu lost the Immunity Challenge, Sylvia became a member of Ravu.
^2 Lisi was not picked in the tribal switch. She was sent to Exile Island and would join the tribe that lost the Immunity Challenge. Because Ravu lost the challenge, Lisi became a member of Ravu.
^3 Dre and Cassandra were considered co-runners up due to being tied at zero votes each in the final Tribal Council vote, and both awarded the 2nd place monetary prize. Yau-Man was awarded the 3rd place prize.
^4 Since Yau-Man played the Hidden Immunity Idol, four votes against him did not count.
| Episode title | Air date | Challenges | Exiled | Eliminated | Vote | Finish | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reward | Immunity | ||||||
| "Something Cruel Is About to Happen ... Real Soon" | February 8, 2007 | Moto5 | Sylvia1 | Jessica | 6–1–1–1 | 1st Voted Out Day 3 |
|
| "Snakes Are Misunderstood ... We Have an Understanding Now" | February 15, 2007 | Moto5 | Earl13 | Erica | 6–2 | 2nd Voted Out Day 6 |
|
| "This Is Not Survival ... It's a Thrival" | February 22, 2007 | Moto | Moto | Sylvia | Sylvia | 4–3–1 | 3rd Voted Out Day 8 |
| "Let's Just Call Jeff on the Jeff Phone" | March 1, 2007 | Moto | Yau-Man | Gary | No Vote | Left Due To Illness Day 10 |
|
| [Ravu] | Liliana | 6–1–1 | 4th Voted Out Day 11 |
||||
| "Love Many, Trust Few, Do Wrong to None" | March 8, 2007 | Moto | Moto | Earl | Rita | 5–2 | 5th Voted Out Day 14 |
| "I've Got Strength Now to Carry the Flag" | March 21, 2007 | None7 | Moto | Lisi2 | Anthony | 5–1 | 6th Voted Out Day 16 |
| "An Evil Thought" | March 29, 2007 | Ravu | Moto | Earl | Rocky | 4–2 | 7th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 19 |
| "So You Think You Can Meke?" | April 5, 2007 | Moto | Moto | Lisi | Lisi | 4–1 | 8th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 21 |
| "Are We Gonna Live on Exile Island?!" | April 12, 2007 | Boo, Cassandra, Earl, Edgardo, Yau-Man5 |
None8 | Michelle | 3–211 | 9th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 24 |
|
| "It's a Turtle?!" | April 19, 2007 | Cassandra, [Boo, Dreamz, Yau-Man] | Yau-Man | Mookie | Edgardo | 5–3–1 | 10th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 27 |
| "Blackmail or Betrayal" | April 26, 2007 | Alex, Dreamz, Earl, Stacy |
Stacy | Boo | Mookie | 4–3–1 | 11th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 30 |
| "A Smile, Velvet Gloves and a Dagger in My Pocket" | May 3, 2007 | Boo, Dreamz, Yau-Man | Boo | Earl | Alex | 6–1 | 12th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 33 |
| "I Wanna See If I Can Make a Deal" | May 10, 2007 | Stacy |
Boo | Yau-Man | Stacy | 2–012 | 13th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 36 |
| "You've Got That Puzzled Look" | May 13, 2007 | None | Yau-Man | None | Boo | 4–1 | 14th Voted Out 8th Jury Member Day 37 |
| Dreamz | Yau-Man | 3–1 | 15th Voted Out 9th Jury Member Day 38 |
||||
| "Reunion" | May 13, 2007 | Jury Vote | Dreamz | 9–0–0 | Runner-Up | ||
| Cassandra | Runner-Up | ||||||
| Earl | Sole Survivor | ||||||
^5 Combined Reward and Immunity Challenges.
^6 Moto won the immunity challenge, but received a message which forced them to choose between keeping their luxurious camp or keeping immunity. The Moto tribe chose their camp and gave immunity to Ravu.
^7 There was no Reward Challenge due to a tribe mix-up.
^8 The ten remaining Survivors were merged on Exile Island, therefore nobody was exiled.
^9 Yau-Man made a deal with Dreamz to give the reward to Dreamz in exchange for the possibility of a future Individual Immunity.
The castaways arrived on an island with no instructions and were not split into tribes. After some time, a box was parachuted, which contained plans for a luxurious shelter using the provided building supplies. The castaways spent the next two days constructing the shelter from the plans under the primary direction of Sylvia. At the combined Reward and Immunity Challenge, the castaways were asked who the leader was during construction and unanimously named Sylvia. Sylvia was told to split the castaways into two tribes but was then exiled. She would be immune from Tribal Council and would join whichever tribe lost the Immunity Challenge. Ravu lost the challenge and was sent to a new island with only one pot and a machete. Moto returned to the original tribe to live in the shelter built on day one and two with additional amenities. James (self-nicknamed "Rocky"), Erica, and Jessica formed a strong alliance, while the other six formed a looser alliance. Jessica was blamed for losing the challenge and being under the radar. She was voted out 6–1–1–1.
Ravu continued to suffer from dehydration and were reduced to licking water off of leaves, though they found a supply of pineapples in addition to their coconut supply. At Moto, the castaways continued to live a cushy life at their camp. Boo injured himself in the eye and then shortly thereafter cut himself with an ax while chopping wood, and then the hammock he was lying on fell down. On day 5, Sylvia returned from Exile Island and immediately declared that she felt like an outcast. Her tribemates were annoyed by her perceived bossiness and the fact that she had plenty of water to drink on Exile Island. The challenge was another combined Reward/Immunity Challenge and the winners would receive fishing gear and the choice of sending somebody from the losing tribe to Exile Island. In a close race, Moto pulled out another win and chose Earl to go to Exile Island. Anthony lobbied to vote out Sylvia for being the outsider and disrupting the tribe's chemistry. However, when Erica panicked during the challenge, it caused a movement against her that ended with her elimination with a vote of 6–2.
Michelle finally started a fire at Ravu using Yau-Man's glasses. Michelle used Yau-Man's glasses because the thicker bifocals concentrated the light better than her own glasses. This energized the tribe, but the momentum failed to carry over to the Reward Challenge where Ravu lost (though they did gain flint for successfully earning fire on their own). Moto opted to have a second set of fishing gear as reward instead of their luxury items or fresh fruit. Moto also won the right to send somebody to Exile Island and they selected Sylvia to go for a second time. After the Reward Challenge when Moto returned to camp, Gary felt dizzy and complained of chest pain, thinking that it may have been a cracked rib suffered during the Reward Challenge. The medics were called in and he was cleared to continue, though his tribe encouraged him to not be afraid to call for medical help should he not be able to breathe. This deflated some of Moto's elation of the Reward win. At a food eating Immunity Challenge, tempers flared after some taunting by Mookie, but Moto was able to continue their win streak. Sylvia, knowing she was vulnerable from the previous vote and her performance at the Reward Challenge, attempted to find the idol at camp using the 3 clues she had, but was unsuccessful. Her tribemates voted her out 4–3–1.
Gary continued to suffer from vertigo due to an allergic reaction brought on by bug bites. Moto came up with a great strategy to win the Reward Challenge after initially falling behind. The challenge was almost exactly the same as the one in Vanuatu. Moto chose to send Yau-Man to Exile Island and received a reward of fish, rice, spices, pillows, and a king size bed. A frustrated Rocky threw a temper tantrum after the Reward Challenge. On Day 10, Gary decided that his condition was not getting any better and he pulled himself from the game. Rocky decided to motivate his tribe by wearing one of the women's pink tops to the Immunity Challenge, but this did not help as Moto's winning streak continued. In a twist, the winning tribe opened a sealed bottle that contained a note that stated:
You have just won immunity. You must now decide which is more important to you: immunity or comfort. To keep your immunity, you must live at the Ravu tribe camp. To enjoy the food and comfort of the Moto camp, you must give up immunity and vote someone out tonight.
Moto decided to keep their comfort and go to Tribal Council. The alliance of Alex, Boo, Edgardo, Lisi, and Stacy discussed voting strategies for tribal council, and decided to target Liliana after viewing Dreamz as an asset for the tribe and Cassandra as harmless. The decision was motivated after Liliana gave the men a sports massage, which Lisi saw as deceptive. Alex was initially against this decision as he feels Liliana was about as strong as the men of the tribe, and preferred to eliminate weak link Cassandra instead. Despite that, the alliance stuck with their decision and Liliana was blindsided 6-1-1.
Earl and Yau-Man discussed their clues about the Hidden Immunity Idol. Earl took the tribe on a hunting expedition, leaving Yau-Man to dig for the Idol, but his search turned up nothing. At the Reward Challenge, Moto crushed Ravu and opted to send Earl back to Exile Island. Lisi and Stacy upset Alex and Edgardo by going on a power trip, treating Cassandra and Dreamz rudely. Dreamz decided that he and Cassandra would flip to the other side after the unspoken alliance's effort to smooth things over rang hollow. Moto won a close Immunity Challenge to remain undefeated. Rita annoyed Rocky with her chitchatting with Michelle and she was voted out 5–2.
After receiving tree mail, Moto and Ravu head to what they think is a Reward Challenge. Jeff tells the tribes to volunteer one member from each tribe. Earl from Ravu and Edgardo from Moto step forward. Jeff then announced that volunteers would start the selection of new tribes by schoolyard pick. The new Moto tribe becomes Earl, Yau-Man, Cassandra, Boo, Michelle, and Stacy. The new Ravu tribe becomes James, Dre, Mookie, Edgardo, Anthony, and Alex. An upset Lisi was not picked and was sent to Exile Island, after her statements about being ready to give up prompted a stern lecture from Jeff Probst. Edgardo and Earl then played Rock, Paper, Scissors for the right to draw from a bag that contained Moto and Ravu buffs to see which tribe went to which camp and Edgardo drew the less luxurious Ravu camp. Cassandra, who had been weak without any alliance in the old Moto tribe quickly warmed up to the new members. Over at Ravu, the new members were not in such bad spirits as the old members at Ravu, and in turn, the new Ravu members strengthened the team with their positive attitude and well health. Despite this, Ravu was not able to win the closely contested Immunity Challenge, where each team was linked together with several different poles and had to work their way through a maze to the finish line. At the Ravu camp, two heads were on the chopping block: Anthony for being seen as weak and James for his obnoxious behavior. Things became tense at Tribal Council, when Anthony unleashed some pent up anger at Rocky. When it came to the vote, Anthony was voted out 5–1.
Lisi joined the Ravu tribe after spending two days on Exile Island. Dreamz immediately saw Lisi as an outsider and the weakest person, as well as being annoying. Earl took his tribemates to try to retrieve Moto's stranded boat, leaving Yau-Man to search for the hidden immunity idol. Using Moto's digging tools, Yau-Man found the hidden immunity idol and vowed to share the idol with Earl. At the reward challenge, Dreamz's perfect aiming led Ravu to finally break their losing streak. Ravu sent Earl to Exile Island, and they enjoyed beer, hot dogs, a pool table, bowling, and virtual golf at a video arcade. After suffering stomachaches from gorging on too much hot dogs (going as far as putting 2–4 frankfurters with a lot of condiments in one bun), Rocky (the only one who took his time and ended up without a stomachache) told them that "it is what it is." Although Lisi was planned as the next to go if Ravu lost immunity, the others were fed up with Rocky's harsh attitude and did not want to suffer the same fate as Anthony. Yau-Man made a fake hidden immunity idol and planted it where he found the real immunity idol, though not as deep. At the immunity challenge, Ravu and Moto were neck and neck, but Moto finished the puzzle quicker. Knowing she was next and wanting to keep herself in the game, Lisi told Alex the clues she got from Exile Island to the whereabouts to the hidden immunity idol on Ravu. Alex and Edgardo then concluded that they preferred Lisi's loyalty over Rocky's strength and attitude. Dreamz agreed with them, but Mookie still felt taking out physically strong Rocky was too risky and wanted physically weak Lisi out. In the end, loyalty outweighed physical strength as Rocky was blindsided 4–2.
While Dreamz and Lisi slept, Alex, Edgardo, and Mookie found the hidden Immunity Idol using the clues that Lisi told Alex. The three men decided not to tell Dreamz or Lisi that they found the idol, though Lisi figured out that Alex told Mookie about the clues. Alex stated that they would share the idol, but Mookie made it clear that he had primary control of the idol because he dug it up. After Lisi mocked the idea that anyone else had found the idol, Mookie had some fun by helping her dig in the spot where he'd already found it. At the Reward Challenge, where the tribes were to perform a traditional Fijian meke, both Moto and Ravu tied for both appearance and spirit, but Moto beat Ravu in the dance (moves and timing) category. Moto enjoyed a traditional Fijian feast with the natives while Ravu was sent into a low morale. Lisi struggled at Exile Island during the thunderstorm. The Immunity Challenge tested the tribes' accuracy in hitting a target for 3 rounds. Each round involved a different task: blow darts, spear throwing, and archery. Moto continued their winning streak by winning all rounds, with Yau-Man showing off some "unorthodox" but successful techniques in spear throwing and archery. Because of that, Earl (and Cassandra, who sat out) never had to participate in this challenge. A frustrated Lisi told her tribe that she wanted to be voted out, which made Dreamz happy because he'd never gotten along with her. Lisi then changed her mind and hoped that Alex and Edgardo would vote out Dreamz, but the tribe had enough and decided to vote out Lisi 4–1.
On day 22, the tribes received tree mail that told them to paddle immediately to Exile Island and to not take any of their rewards with them. When they arrived, they discovered a box in the tower on the island with purple buffs and a note telling them that they were now a merged tribe and they were to return to the Moto camp. When they arrived, everything had been removed and the castaways would have to rebuild from scratch. All the castaways started scrambling for new alliances or tried to bring back together old ones. Michelle chose the name Bula Bula for the merged tribe, meaning "hello hello." At the combined Reward and Immunity Challenge, the castaways were randomly split into two competing teams consisting of a green team (Alex, Dreamz, Michelle, Mookie, and Stacy) and an orange team (Boo, Cassandra, Earl, Edgardo, and Yau-Man). The winning team would be immune, not attend Tribal Council, and receive a reward of vegetables, meat, and wine. The other tribe would go to Tribal Council, and do what a note held by Jeff Probst said. Leading from the start, the orange team won the combined Reward and Immunity Challenge, leaving Alex, Dreamz, Michelle, Mookie, and Stacy to go to Tribal Council. The note revealed that they were to go to Tribal Council immediately and were not allowed to discuss anything or strategize. When they got to Tribal Council, Jeff asked each Survivor to tell him a good reason to vote out another castaway. Through this, Alex implied that he was voting for Michelle. Dreamz decided to also vote for Michelle, and she was voted off 3–2.
After the half of the tribe returned from the previous Tribal Council, tensions were high as everyone knew the next vote would decide the game between the two alliances. Michelle's ousting caused Boo, Cassandra, Earl, and Yau-Man to regroup and make a new strategy. Cassandra won the first individual Reward Challenge, sending Mookie to Exile Island, and bringing along Boo, Dreamz, and Yau-Man on a private yacht trip. During the challenge, which involved each tribe member guessing which competitors were named by the others for numerous questions, Stacy received several negative titles, including "Who do you NOT want to see after the game is over?" and "Who wasted this great opportunity?". On the yacht, Cassandra and Yau-Man talked Dreamz into their alliance. The first individual Immunity Challenge was won by Yau-Man. In the ensuing scramble to decide the vote at Tribal Council, the self-titled "Four Horsemen" of Alex, Dreamz, Edgardo, and Mookie figured that Earl must have the other hidden Immunity Idol and planned to vote him off. Both Alex and Yau-Man tried to convince Stacy to join their alliances. In the end, Stacy sided with Yau-Man. Alex, Edgardo, and Mookie told Dreamz that they found the hidden immunity idol at Ravu, which caused Dreamz to waver because they kept it a secret from him.
Dreamz jumped sides and told Cassandra, Earl, and Yau-Man that Mookie had found an Immunity Idol. Initially, the group of Boo, Cassandra, Dreamz, Earl, Stacy, and Yau-Man decided to target Alex. Feeling threatened, Alex asked Mookie to discretely give him the hidden Immunity Idol for protection at Tribal Council. Dreamz noticed this exchange and told the Earl's alliance of the swap, and the same group decided to change the target to Mookie. Edgardo later suggested to the Four Horsemen that they vote off Cassandra instead, as she was a strong middle player in the game and if Earl did have the Immunity Idol, their plan may backfire. Seeing that Dreamz may have been playing both sides of the game and hoping to improve her standing with her critical teammates, Stacy suggested to Boo, Cassandra, Earl, and Yau-Man that they vote off Edgardo and not tell Dreamz about this change; regardless of whether Alex and Mookie had the idol (facts unsure by Dreamz's double-sided dealings), Edgardo would be left unprotected and be voted off if the 5-member alliance held. This would also confirm whether Dreamz was trustworthy and cost the Four Horsemen use of the idol. At Tribal Council, Alex played the hidden Immunity Idol, but for naught (as he received no votes), and the Earl-led alliance stuck to their plan and blindsided Edgardo 5–3–1. Jeff noted the Immunity Idol would be re-hidden with new clues available on Exile Island.
With Edgardo gone, the "Four Horsemen" alliance collapsed. Alex and Mookie confronted Dreamz about why he double crossed them at Tribal Council, but Dre tried to cover because he noted he needed their votes if he was to make it further in the game. For the Reward Challenge, the tribe was divided into two teams for a game to catch a ball shot into a mud flat. Boo struggled in the Reward Challenge when he injured his knee, but he popped it back into place and continued playing. Alex, Dreamz, Earl, and Stacy won the reward of going to a spa resort and sent Boo to Exile Island. At the spa, Alex scrambled to see if he could get any support from his fellow tribemates, but he could not. Alex and Mookie figured that Yau-Man had the other hidden Immunity Idol from the Moto camp and confirmed this when they searched through his personal belongings. They plotted to confront Yau-Man about the idol at Tribal Council to either get him to lie about having the idol or stir up trouble by casting doubt among his alliance. However, Cassandra and Stacy were nearby, attempting to eavesdrop on the conversation. Although they only heard small parts of the conversation and didn't learn exactly what their adversaries were planning, they were spotted by Mookie and Alex, who then decided to confront Yau-Man immediately. They attempted to blackmail Yau-Man into telling his alliance about the hidden Immunity Idol or they would tell them. Yau-Man decided to tell the members of his alliance, but the strongest reaction was anger that Alex and Mookie went through Yau-Man's personal bag. At the Immunity Challenge, Stacy won immunity through a game similar to Battleship by taking out Yau-Man and Alex. Boo convinced his alliance that it would be better to split the votes between Alex and Mookie, just in case either of them had found the remaining idol, even though neither of them had any clues about the rehidden idol. At Tribal Council, it was admitted openly that Yau-Man had the hidden Immunity Idol and that Alex and Mookie were on the outside. The six-person alliance held to their plan of splitting their vote and Alex, to keep himself in the game, voted out Mookie 4–3–1.
Alex went into self-declared "ninja" mode trying to stay out of everybody's way and just observing the others looking for possible ways to continue in the game. Cassandra, Earl, and Yau-Man discussed the options for who is the fourth member of the "Core Four" alliance with Cassandra and Earl preferring Dreamz and Yau-Man preferring Stacy. At the Reward Challenge, the winner and the first two runners-up were taken on a river rafting excursion. The winner of the challenge also received an advantage to the next Immunity Challenge. Boo won the challenge by a wide margin with Yau-Man and Dreamz as runners-up. Boo selected Earl to go back to Exile Island. In a surprise, the three castaways on the trip received letters from home. Alex noticed the others complaining about Boo being too talkative, so he approached Dreamz about convincing the others to vote Boo out before Alex. At the Immunity Challenge, Boo's advantage turned out to be a free pass to the final round of the challenge, where he was joined by Dre and Alex. However, the energy expended by Alex and Dreamz were too much to overcome and Boo won Individual Immunity. With Boo winning immunity, Alex tried to convince Cassandra, Dreamz, and Earl that now was the time to vote out Yau-Man, but his efforts were for naught and he was voted out 6–1.
Boo made himself a hideout near the well to overhear conversations thinking that he would be the next one voted out. Earl discussed with his alliance that Boo would be indeed the next voted out. At the Reward Challenge, Yau-Man won a new truck, but then dealt the truck to Dreamz in exchange for Individual Immunity should Dreamz win Individual Immunity at a prospective final four. Yau-Man also decided to send himself to Exile Island. In his new truck, Dreamz, Boo, and Stacy delivered school supplies and a teacher's office to the local school as part of the reward. After Dreamz returned from the trip, he plotted with Cassandra and Stacy to vote out Yau-Man after realizing what Yau-Man's strategy was regarding giving him the truck, also noting that the deal wouldn't be broken if he voted out Yau-Man before the final four. At the Immunity Challenge, Boo,Dreamz,Earl and Yau-Man moved on to the second round. Yau-Man and Boo then moved on to the final round. Boo won immunity for the second time in a row, throwing the alliance's plans into disarray. Earl found the Hidden Immunity Idol using the third clue that Yau-Man received. Feeling bad vibes leading up to Tribal Council and Stacy's hinting that his alliance would split a vote, Yau-Man played his Hidden Immunity Idol. The plans to eliminate Yau-Man backfired, and a surprised Stacy was voted out 2–0 (with 4 non-counted votes against Yau-Man).
After Tribal Council, Earl tried to figure out his standing with his alliance after the unexpected vote results. At the Immunity Challenge, Yau-Man won immunity. Boo tried to stay in the game by trying to persuade Earl and Yau-Man to vote out Dreamz, but he did not succeed and Boo was voted out 4–1.
The final Immunity Challenge was won by Dreamz when he outlasted Yau-Man. At Tribal Council, Dreamz reneged on his agreement with Yau-Man to hand over the immunity necklace as Dreamz, correctly, felt that if he handed the necklace over, he would be voted out. With Yau-Man's agreement broken, he was voted out 3–1. At the final Tribal Council, the jury saw Dreamz as disloyal and deceptive, Cassandra as greedy and undeserving, and Earl being the only one of the three that played the game respectably. Earl received the unanimous vote of the jury and became the fourteenth Sole Survivor.
| Original Tribes | Switched Tribes | Merged Tribe | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Episode #: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | ||
| Eliminated: | Jessica 6/9 votes |
Erica 6/8 votes |
Sylvia 4/8 votes |
Gary No vote10 |
Liliana 6/8 votes |
Rita 5/7 votes |
Anthony 5/6 votes |
Rocky 4/6 votes |
Lisi 4/5 votes |
Michelle 3/5 votes11 |
Edgardo 5/9 votes |
Mookie 4/8 votes |
Alex 6/7 votes |
Stacy 2/2 votes12 |
Boo 4/5 votes |
Yau-Man 3/4 votes |
| Voter | Vote | |||||||||||||||
| Earl | Jessica | Exiled13 | Sylvia | Rita | Edgardo | Alex | Alex | Stacy | Boo | Yau-Man | ||||||
| Cassandra | Lisi | Edgardo | Mookie | Alex | Boo | Yau-Man | ||||||||||
| Dreamz | Liliana | Anthony | Rocky | Lisi | Michelle | Mookie | Mookie | Alex | Boo | Yau-Man | ||||||
| Yau-Man | Jessica | Erica | Sylvia | Rita | Edgardo | Alex | Alex | Stacy | Boo | Cassandra | ||||||
| Boo | Liliana | Edgardo | Mookie | Alex | Dreamz | |||||||||||
| Stacy | Liliana | Michelle | Edgardo | Alex | Alex | |||||||||||
| Alex | Liliana | Anthony | Rocky | Lisi | Michelle | Cassandra | Mookie | Yau-Man | ||||||||
| Mookie | Jessica | Erica | Anthony | Rita | Anthony | Lisi | Lisi | Stacy | Cassandra | Boo | ||||||
| Edgardo | Liliana | Anthony | Rocky | Lisi | Cassandra | |||||||||||
| Michelle | Jessica | Erica | Sylvia | Anthony | Stacy | |||||||||||
| Lisi | Liliana | Exiled2 | Rocky | Dreamz | ||||||||||||
| Rocky | Mookie | Erica | Anthony | Rita | Anthony | Lisi | ||||||||||
| Anthony | Jessica | Sylvia | Sylvia | Rita | Rocky | |||||||||||
| Rita | Jessica | Erica | Earl | Anthony | ||||||||||||
| Liliana | Cassandra | |||||||||||||||
| Gary | ||||||||||||||||
| Sylvia | Exiled1 | Erica | Anthony | |||||||||||||
| Erica | Yau-Man | Sylvia | ||||||||||||||
| Jessica | Rita | |||||||||||||||
| Jury vote | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Finalist: | Cassandra 0/9 votes |
Dreamz 0/9 votes |
Earl 9/9 votes |
| Juror | Vote | ||
| Yau-Man | Earl | ||
| Boo | Earl | ||
| Stacy | Earl | ||
| Alex | Earl | ||
| Mookie | Earl | ||
| Edgardo | Earl | ||
| Michelle | Earl | ||
| Lisi | Earl | ||
| Rocky | Earl | ||
^10 Gary was evacuated due to medical reasons, and therefore no vote occurred for his removal from the game.
^11 Half of Bula Bula was immune due to winning the Reward/Immunity Challenge, therefore was not present at Tribal Council and did not participate in the vote.
^12 Yau-Man played the hidden Immunity Idol, therefore the votes against him were not counted.
^13 Earl was exiled in episode two and did not return to his tribe until after Tribal Council, meaning he could not be voted out or participate in the vote.
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.
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.