Preceded by Survivor: Micronesia Winner Bob Crowley Number of episodes 14 | Followed by Survivor: Tocantins Air date September 25, 2008 Presented by Jeff Probst | |
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Location(s) Wonga-Wongue Presidential Reserve, Estuaire, Gabon Original release September 25 (2008-09-25) – December 14, 2008 (2008-12-14) Winner Bob Crowley | ||
Survivor: Gabon — Earth's Last Eden is the 17th season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor. The premiere aired September 25, 2008, with the first two episodes screened back-to-back. Survivor: Gabon began filming in late June. It marked the second season of the series that was filmed in Africa (Survivor: Africa had been filmed seven years earlier in Kenya). Reports from Gabon indicate the show was filmed around the coastal towns of Nyonie and Ekwata in the Wonga-Wongue Presidential Reserve.
Contents
This season, players sent to Exile Island had a choice of receiving a clue to the location of a Hidden Immunity Idol or a comfort item. On April 13, 2008, at the National Association of Broadcasters's annual show, Sony announced that the 17th season of Survivor would be the first to be shot in high definition, using Sony's XDCAMs. The show ranked number ten in DVR playback (2.33 million viewers), according to Nielsen prime DVR lift data from September 22, 2008 – November 23, 2008.
The winner was 57-year-old Robert "Bob" Crowley, a high school physics teacher from Maine. He defeated Susie Smith and Jessica "Sugar" Kiper in a 4-3-0 vote at the live finale to take the million dollar prize. In addition, Bob won the $100,000 "Sprint Survivor of the Season" award, beating out Matty Whitmore and Sugar, who were next highest in the popular vote.
The complete season, including the mid-season recap episode and live reunion show, was released on DVD exclusively through Amazon.com on September 11, 2014.
Dan Kay, an attorney who was the 8th person voted out in the game (the last vote-out before the Jury began selection) died on December 31, 2016. He was 40 years old.
Future appearances
Jessica "Sugar" Kiper and Randy Bailey returned for Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains where they placed 20th and 18th, respectively. Corinne Kaplan was asked to return, but declined due to work obligations. Kiper was also later featured as a patient on Celebrity Rehab. Kaplan eventually returned for Survivor: Caramoan and finished 12th.
Season summary
The players were divided into tribes by a schoolyard pick started by the oldest players, Bob and Gillian. It became evident that Gillian's tribe, Fang, was weaker, losing many of the reward and immunity challenges even after a tribal switch, but a core alliance between Matty, Ken, and Crystal developed. On Bob's tribe, Kota, a series of alliances were formed, strengthened after the swap with the addition of Randy. Both the hidden immunity idol and Exile Island were in play; the winning tribe on reward challenges was able to send one of the losing tribe's members to the latter. At Exile, that player had the option of a clue to the immunity idol hidden near Exile (ultimately leading to a string of hidden clues to the idol), or to relax in a small shack with a provision of fruit and a hammock. Sugar was the second player to visit Exile and found the idol on her first visit; she was repeatedly sent back to Exile, where, isolated from both tribes, she relaxed most of the time. Sugar's idol was eventually discovered by Matty, Ken, and Crystal, and they decided to bring her into their alliance, with Ken convincing her to vote off her closest ally Ace whom he claimed was using her for the idol.
On Day 22, both tribes were given clues suggesting a tribal merge; they enjoyed a celebratory meal, and discovered a hidden immunity idol nearby. Unanimously, the players agreed to throw the idol away into the ocean. They then discovered they were still separate tribes, mixed by random draw, and returned to their camps. This development proved crucial for the minority Fang alliance, who successfully convinced Kota alliance member Susie that she was on the bottom of her alliance, resulting in the elimination of Kota alliance leader Marcus. The tribes were then merged with the former Kota alliance in the minority. The Fang alliance, now with Susie, dominated the game, eliminating the former Kota alliance until only Bob was left. Bob won three consecutive immunity challenges, forcing the Fang alliance to turn on themselves and resulting in the eliminations of Crystal and Ken due to their strong strategic prowess.
The final four were Matty, Sugar, Susie, and Bob. Susie won the final immunity challenge and ended Bob's immunity streak. Sugar decided to vote with Bob due to their social bond, forcing a tie between him and Matty; Bob won the fire-making tiebreaker challenge. At the final Tribal Council, the jury were critical of Sugar's backstabbing and of Susie's less-dominant strategic game. The jury ultimately voted Bob as the Sole Survivor with four votes to Susie's three, with Sugar receiving none.
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.Reception
Host Jeff Probst originally ranked Gabon 14th out of 19 seasons in 2010, thus ranking it as the sixth-worst season of the series. He later went on to say that the show was drifting during Gabon and that he nearly quit the show as a consequence. Dalton Ross of Entertainment Weekly ranked Gabon in the bottom ten for worst seasons of the series, summarizing: "It got better near the end, but it was still a case of too little, too late. The fact that so many unworthy players went so far is simply too damning." Gabon is ranked as the second-worst season of the series by Examiner.com (only ahead of Survivor: Fiji), The Wire (only ahead of Survivor: Redemption Island), and fan site "The Purple Rock Podcast" (only ahead of Survivor: Nicaragua). In 2012 and 2013, Survivor fan site "Survivor Oz" consistently ranked Gabon as the eighth-worst season of the series in its annual polls ranking all seasons; however, Gabon improved significantly in 2014, when it was voted as the tenth-best season.
Controversy
Survivor: Gabon received some minor criticism from the Parents Television Council for a brief, uncensored glimpse of Marcus's penis when the tip was partially exposed through the fly of his boxer shorts. The exposure occurred on the season opener during the second Immunity Challenge when Marcus raced alongside fellow contestants.