Survivor: Gabon
Season	17
Filming Location	Wonga-Wongue Presidential Reserve, Estuaire, Gabon, Africa
Season Run	September 25, 2008 - December 14, 2008
Filming Dates	June 23, 2008 – July 31, 2008
Survivors	18
Winner	Bob Crowley
Runner(s)-up	Susie Smith Sugar Kiper
Tribes	██ Fang ██ Kota ██ Nobag
Opening Sequence
Series Chronology
Previous Season	Micronesia
Next Season	Tocantins

Survivor: Gabon - Earth's Last Eden is the seventeenth season of Survivor. The winner of this season, Bob Crowley, the oldest winner in Survivor history, defeated Susie Smith and Sugar Kiper in a final vote 4-3-0.

ProductionEdit

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 XDCAMs.

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.

Twists/ChangesEdit

• Tribe Selection: Similar to Survivor: Thailand, the oldest male and female players will choose their tribemates.
• Disposable Immunity Idols: Similar to Survivor: Micronesia, the players competed for individual immunity for their first visiting Tribal Council.
• Exile Island: Exile Island returns this season, with some new tweaks. The banished player will pick one of two bottles, one will grant idle comfort (referrring to a semi-lavish shelter with a fruit basket inside), while the other will provide idol protection (a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol somewhere around the vicinity). If the player chose to look for the idol, he/she must rest outside of the shelter. If that player chose to enjoy the comforts of the shelter, the player in question cannot look out for the idol.
• Hidden Immunity Idols: Two Hidden Immunity Idols were available this season, one during the tribal phase of the game, and another during the second tribe switch.
• Double Tribal Council: On Day 21, both tribes must go to Tribal Council to eliminate one of their own.
• Two Tribe Switches: There are two tribe swaps in this season, the first one on Day 10, and the other on Day 22.
• Delayed Merge: Due to the surprise second Tribe Switch, the merge was delayed for three days, merging with nine remaining contestants
• Final Tribal Council: The finale returned to the Final Three, seven-person Jury format, similar to Survivor: China.

CastawaysEdit

Contestant		Tribe Affiliation				Finish	Votes Against
		Original Tribe	Switched Tribe	Second Switch	Merged Tribe
	Michelle Chase 24, Los Angeles, CA	Fang				1st Voted Out Day 3	8
	Gillian Larson 61, Temecula, CA	Fang				2nd Voted Out Day 6	8
	Paloma Soto-Castillo 23, Downey, CA	Kota				3rd Voted Out Day 9	7
	Jacquie Berg 25, Santa Barbara, CA	Kota	Fang			4th Voted Out Day 12	5
	G.C. Brown 25, Portland, OR	Fang	Fang			5th Voted Out Day 15	6
	Kelly Czarnecki 22, Buffalo Grove, IL	Kota	Fang			6th Voted Out Day 18	8
	Ace Gordon 27, Naples, FL	Kota	Fang			7th Voted Out Day 21	5
	Dan Kay 32, Boston, MA	Fang	Kota			8th Voted Out Day 21	4
	Marcus Lehman 28, Atlanta, GA	Kota	Kota	Kota		9th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 24	3
	Charlie Herschel 29, New York, NY	Kota	Kota	Fang	Nobag	10th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 27	5
	Randy Bailey 49, Eagle Rock, MO	Fang	Kota	Fang		11th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 30	5
	Corinne Kaplan 29, Los Angeles, CA	Kota	Kota	Fang		12th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 33	4
	Crystal Cox 29, Durham, NC	Fang	Fang	Kota		13th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 36	11
	Ken Hoang 22, Westminster, CA	Fang	Fang	Kota		14th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 37	7
	Matty Whitmore 29, Pacific Palisades, CA	Fang	Fang	Fang		15th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 38	7
	Sugar Kiper 29, Brooklyn, NY	Kota	Fang	Fang		Second Runner-Up	0
	Susie Smith 47, Charles City, IA	Fang	Kota	Kota		Runner-Up	7
	Bob Crowley 57, South Portland, ME	Kota	Kota	Kota		Sole Survivor	2

Season SummaryEdit

Episode GuideEdit

Notes:

^1 Combined Reward and Immunity Challenge.
^2 Matty used a Hidden Immunity Idol, negating 2 votes against him.
^3 With a deadlock tie between Bob and Matty, a fire-making challenge was held to determine the elimination, which Matty lost.

Voting HistoryEdit

Survivor: Gabon Voting History
		Original Tribes			First Switch					Second Switch	Merged Tribe
Episode #:		1	2	3	4	5	6	7		8	9	10	12	13	14
Eliminated:		Michelle	Gillian	Paloma	Jacquie	G.C.	Kelly	Ace	Dan	Marcus	Charlie	Randy	Corinne	Crystal	Ken	Matty	Sugar	Susie	Bob
Vote:		8-1	7-1	7-2	5-2	6-1	5-1	3-2	4-3	3-2	5-4	5-3	4-3	4-0	4-1	2-2	4-3-0
►►►	Bob	—	—	Paloma	—	—	—	—	Dan	Ken	Crystal	Susie	Matty	Crystal	Ken	Matty	Jury Vote
►►►	Susie	Michelle	Gillian	—	—	—	—	—	Dan	Marcus	Charlie	Randy	Corinne	Crystal	Ken	Bob
►►►	Sugar	—	—	Paloma	Exiled	G.C.	Kelly	Ace	—	—	Charlie	Randy	Corinne	Crystal	Ken	Matty
►►►	Matty	Michelle	Gillian	—	Jacquie	G.C.	Kelly	Crystal	—	—	Charlie	Randy	Corinne	Crystal	Ken	Bob		Susie
►►►	Ken	Michelle	Gillian	—	Jacquie	G.C.	Kelly	Ace	—	Marcus	Charlie	Randy	Matty	Matty	Susie			Susie
►►►	Crystal	Michelle	Gillian	—	Jacquie	G.C.	Kelly	Ace	—	Marcus	Charlie	Randy	Corinne	Matty				Susie
►►►	Corinne	—	—	Paloma	—	—	—	—	Dan	—	Crystal	Susie	Matty						Bob
►►►	Randy	Michelle	Gillian	—	—	—	—	—	Susie	—	Crystal	Susie							Bob
►►►	Charlie	—	—	Paloma	—	—	—	—	Dan	—	Crystal								Bob
►►	Marcus	—	—	Paloma	—	—	—	—	Susie	Ken									Bob
►	Dan	Michelle	Gillian	—	—	—	—	—	Susie
►	Ace	—	—	Paloma	Kelly	G.C.	Kelly	Crystal
►	Kelly	—	—	Ace	Jacquie	G.C.	Crystal
►	G.C.	Michelle	Gillian	—	Jacquie	Kelly
►	Jacquie	—	—	Paloma	Kelly
	Paloma	—	—	Ace
	Gillian	Michelle	Ken
	Michelle	Gillian

Notes:

• Due to a tie a fire-making challenge tiebreaker was held and Bob won, eliminating Matty.

TriviaEdit

• This is the only season to have two involuntary Tribe Switches.
• This is also the first season to feature two pre-merge individual immunity challenges
• This is the first season since Survivor: China to feature a seven-member Jury with a Final Three.
• This is the first season with an 18 player cast where the Jury began before the Merge.
• All the members of the second iteration of Fang were voted out in two groups of four.
  • This is similar to Samburu of Survivor: Africa as they were red, and were voted out in groups of four.
• Currently, the contestants from Gabon who have returned to compete on another season have never reached the jury.
  • Coincidentally, they were each voted out first of a tribe at some point (Heroes for Sugar, Villains for Randy, and Enil Edam for Corinne).
  • Corinne is the only one to not be voted out unanimously.

ReferencesEdit

External linksEdit

Survivor Seasons
Borneo · The Australian Outback · Africa · Marquesas · Thailand · The Amazon · Pearl Islands · All-Stars · Vanuatu · Palau · Guatemala · Panama · Cook Islands · Fiji · China · Micronesia · Gabon · Tocantins · Samoa · Heroes vs Villains · Nicaragua · Redemption Island · South Pacific · One World · Philippines · Caramoan · Blood vs Water