Survivor 14 - Fiji

Survivor: Fiji was the fourteenth season of the CBS reality television series Survivor, filmed in the Fiji Islands.

The premiere of this season of Survivor 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. Fiji is generally considered to be one of the worst seasons of Survivor among critics and fans, due to its predictability and mean-spiritedness. Host Jeff Probst has gone on record declaring the season as one of his least favorites.

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 was also in play for Fiji, with some new tweaks. 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 (Dre) “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."

For the first time in U.S. Survivor history, the winner, Earl Cole, was unanimously decided 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] Although Jeff Probst said that Earl had become the first player to never receive a vote (besides the winning ones) for the entire show, Earl did receive a vote from tribemate Rita Verreos at the third Tribal Council.

Applications were due June 16, 2006.[5] Mellisa 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, Cook Islands, in a conscious effort intended to show that the racial diversity of Cook Islands was not just a ratings stunt.[8]

The Ravu tribe considerably had the worst performance at challenges, winning only one reward challenge and zero immunity challenges. However, Moto gave up their immunity in episode four to stay with their luxeries, giving Ravu a "false victory" at immunity. Ravu's poor performance and Moto's surperior perfomance broke the performance records in Survivor: Palau (the Koror tribe won 4 reward challenges, 6 immunity challenges, and 1 combined reward/immunity challenge; the Ulong tribe won 3 reward challenges).

Earl Cole