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Survivor: Kaôh Rōng, also unofficially known as Survivor: Kaôh Rōng — Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty, is the thirty-second season of Survivor. It utilized the same tribe division twist as Survivor: Cagayan.

Described as the most punishing season in Survivor history, Kaôh Rōng saw a record number of medical evacuations. After a dynamic game filled with numerous strategic shifts, the season was won by Michele Fitzgerald in a 5-2-0 vote over Aubry Bracco and Tai Trang. The season has produced five returning players to date (Aubry Bracco, Caleb Reynolds, Debbie Wanner, Michele Fitzgerald, and Tai Trang).

Production[]

Though billed as the 32nd season, Kaôh Rōng was filmed earlier than its "predecessor" season, Survivor: Cambodia.[3] This marks the first time the show has aired seasons out of order.

The pre-jury contestants were sequestered and had their trip in Vietnam.[4]

Twists/Changes[]

  • Brawn vs. Brains vs. Beauty: The division of the tribes is based on the most prominent personal attributes of each castaway.
    • The Chan Loh​​ tribe is the "Brains" tribe; consisting of players who mostly rely on intelligence to get by in life.
    • The Gondol​ tribe is the "Beauty" tribe; consisting of players who mostly rely on their looks and social skills.
    • The To Tang​​ tribe is the "Brawn" tribe; consisting of players who mostly rely on their brute strength and endurance.
  • Hidden Immunity Idol: While the current format still applies, there is also the option to combine two idols to create a "super idol" that can be played after the votes are read to save any player still in the game.[5]
  • Tribe Switch: On Day 12, a tribe switch occurred, simultaneously dissolving the To Tang tribe and mixing 12 of the 13 remaining castaways into two tribes of six. The odd person out who drew the red buff would be exiled until the next Tribal Council.
  • One-Time Exile: During the tribe switch, 12 people would be assigned to either Chan Loh or Gondol, leaving one person without a tribe. That person would be sent to the former To Tang camp, where they would be ineligible for the next vote, and would join the losing tribe at the next Reward Challenge.
  • Merge: This season merged with 11 castaways in the game.
  • Extra Vote: A castaway would get the right to vote twice at the same Tribal Council.
  • Juror Removal: A castaway would get the power to eliminate a juror of their choice.
  • Final Three: Instead of the conventional Final Two facing the jury, the Day 39 Tribal Council was held with a Final Three facing a seven-person jury.

Castaways[]

Contestant Tribe Affiliation Finish Votes
Against
Original Tribe Switched Tribe Merged Tribe
S32 darnell t Darnell Hamilton
27, Chicago, IL
Postal Worker
To Tang 1st Voted Out
Day 3
7
S32 jennifer t Jennifer Lanzetti
37, Salt Lake City, UT
Contractor
To Tang 2nd Voted Out
Day 6
3
S32 liz t Liz Markham
26, New York City, NY
Quantitative Strategist
Chan Loh 3rd Voted Out
Day 8
5
S32 caleb t Caleb Reynolds
27, Hopkinsville, KY
Army Veteran
Gondol Evacuated
Day 9
0
S32 alecia t Alecia Holden
23, Dallas, TX
Real Estate Agent
To Tang 4th Voted Out
Day 11
8
S32 anna t Anna Khait
26, Brooklyn, NY
Professional Poker Player
Gondol Gondol 5th Voted Out
Day 13
5
S32 peter t Peter Baggenstos
34, Minneapolis, MN
ER Doctor
Chan Loh Gondol 6th Voted Out
Day 16
7
S32 neal t Neal Gottlieb
38, Sausalito, CA
Ice Cream Entrepreneur
Chan Loh Chan Loh Dara Evacuated
1st Jury Member
Day 19
0
S32 nick t Nick Maiorano
30, Redondo Beach, CA
Personal Trainer
Gondol Chan Loh 7th Voted Out
2nd Jury Member
Day 22
6
S32 debbie t Debbie Wanner
49, Reading, PA
Chemist
Chan Loh Chan Loh 8th Voted Out
3rd Jury Member
Day 24
5
S32 scot t Scot Pollard
40, Carmel, IN
Former NBA Champion
To Tang Gondol 9th Voted Out
4th Jury Member
Day 27
7
S32 julia t Julia Sokolowski
18, Boston, MA
College Student
Gondol Gondol 10th Voted Out
5th Jury Member
Day 29
7
S32 jason t Kyle Jason
30, Detroit, MI
Bounty Hunter
To Tang Chan Loh 11th Voted Out
6th Jury Member
Day 32
5
S32 joe t Joe del Campo
71, Vero Beach, FL
Former FBI Agent
Chan Loh Gondol Evacuated
7th Jury Member
Day 34
1
S32 cydney t Cydney Gillon
22, Douglasville, GA
Bodybuilder
To Tang Chan Loh Eliminated
8th Jury Member
Day 37
5
S32 tai t Tai Trang
51, San Francisco, CA
Gardener
Gondol Gondol Second
Runner-Up
4
S32 aubry t Aubry Bracco
29, Cambridge, MA
Social Media Marketer
Chan Loh Gondol Runner-Up 8
S32 michele t Michele Fitzgerald
24, Freehold, NJ
Bartender
Gondol Chan Loh Sole Survivor 2

Season Summary[]

The 18 new castaways were divided into three tribes based on primary attribute: Chan Loh (Brains), To Tang (Brawn), and Gondol (Beauty). It was all but total disaster for the To Tang tribe as they lost three of the first four Immunity Challenges and, coupled with tension surrounding the outspoken Alecia, they saw half their tribe members leave the game. Contrarily, the Chan Loh tribe only lost one member in spite of their constant manipulations and ego permeating. While the Gondol tribe went undefeated in Immunity Challenges, they also suffered a major setback when Caleb was medically evacuated after collapsing from heat exhaustion on Day 9.

Following the Tribe Switch on Day 12, few major cross-tribal alliances formed aside from the unlikely friendship between Scot and Tai. This ultimately proved crucial for Tai's survival, as original Gondol members Anna and Julia were targeted in his place. Though the former of the two was eliminated, Julia narrowly escaped the same fate after original Brain Aubry flipped against her former tribe and voted out Peter on Day 16.

This initially seemed to be a costly mistake on Aubry's part, as the remaining Brawn and Beauty members formed an alliance against the Brains following the merge on Day 17. However, Cydney had grown tired of the men's overconfidence and banded the women together to vote out Nick, forming a new majority. Though the minority alliance held two Hidden Immunity Idols, Aubry convinced Tai to betray his allies, getting rid of one of the idols and joining the majority.

From there, a core alliance of Aubry, Cydney, and Michele would vote out Scot's remaining allies, eventually becoming the final four along with Tai. With Michele winning immunity on Day 37, Aubry and Cydney were forced to turn on one another, resulting in a fire-making tiebreaker. Aubry ultimately won, joining Michele and Tai in the finals. At the Final Tribal Council, the jury was skeptical of both Aubry and Michele's games, while not respecting Tai's due to his constant floating and flipping. Ultimately, Michele's social game impressed the jury more than Aubry's strategic game, winning her the title of Sole Survivor in a 5-2-0 vote.

Episode Air date Challenges Eliminated
(Vote)
Finish Viewers
(in millions)
Ratings/Share
(18-49)
Reward Immunity
1 "I'm a Mental Giant" February 17, 2016 Chan Loh Darnell
(3-3;
4-0)2
1st Voted Out
Day 3
8.30[6] 1.9/7[6]
Gondol1
2 "Kindergarten Camp" February 24, 2016 Gondol Jennifer
(3-2)
2nd Voted Out
Day 6
8.39[7] 1.9/6[7]
Chan Loh1
3 "The Circle of Life" March 2, 2016 Gondol Liz
(2-2-2;
3-0-0)2
3rd Voted Out
Day 8
9.24[8] 2.2/8[8]
To Tang1
4 "Signed, Sealed and Delivered" March 9, 2016 Chan Loh Chan Loh Caleb
(no vote)3
Evacuated
Day 9
9.26[9] 2.1/8[9]
Gondol Gondol Alecia
(3-1)
4th Voted Out
Day 11
5 "The Devils We Know" March 16, 2016 None Julia4 Anna
(5-1)
5th Voted Out
Day 13
9.50[10] 2.1/8[10]
Chan Loh
6 "Play or Go Home" March 23, 2016 Gondol Chan Loh Peter
(4-2)
6th Voted Out
Day 16
9.31[11] 2.1/8[11]
7 "It's Merge Time" March 30, 2016 None Nick Neal
(no vote)5
Evacuated
1st Jury Member8
Day 19
9.16[12] 2.0/7[12]
8 "The Jocks vs. the Pretty People" April 6, 2016 Debbie,
Julia, Nick,
Scot, Tai
Tai Nick
(6-2-1-1)
7th Voted Out
2nd Jury Member
Day 22
8.98[13] 1.9/7[13]
9 "It's Psychological Warfare" April 13, 2016 Jason,
Julia,
Scot, Tai
Julia Debbie
(4-3-2)
8th Voted Out
3rd Jury Member
Day 24
8.39[14] 1.9/7[14]
10 "I'm Not Here to Make Good Friends" April 20, 2016 Julia Jason Scot
(4-2-2)
9th Voted Out
4th Jury Member
Day 27
9.27[15] 2.0/7[15]
Michele
Tai
11 "It's a 'Me' Game, Not a 'We' Game" April 27, 2016 Cydney,
Michele
[Aubry]
Michele Julia
(5-2)
10th Voted Out
5th Jury Member
Day 29
9.47[16] 2.1/8[16]
12 "Now's the Time to Start Scheming" May 4, 2016 Jason,
Michele,
Tai
Cydney Jason
(4-2-1)
11th Voted Out
6th Jury Member
Day 32
9.48[17] 2.1/8[17]
13 "With Me or Not with Me" May 11, 2016 Joe
[Aubry,
Cydney]
None Joe
(no vote)6
Evacuated
7th Jury Member
Day 34
9.51[18] 2.1/8[18]
14 "Not Going Down Without a Fight" May 18, 2016 Aubry
[Cydney]
Michele Cydney
(2-2;
tiebreaker)7
Eliminated
8th Jury Member
Day 37
9.57[19] 2.1/7[19]
Michele None Neal
(1-0)8
Removed from Jury
Day 38
Jury Vote Tai
(5-2-0)
Second Runner-Up
Aubry
(5-2-0)
Runner-Up
Michele
(5-2-0)
Sole Survivor
15 "Reunion" 6.84[20] 1.5/5[20]
Notes:
^1 Combined Reward and Immunity Challenge.
^2 The vote resulted in a tie. Per Survivor rules, a revote would commence.
^3 Caleb was evacuated from the game due to severe heatstroke.
^4 As Julia had drawn the sole red buff, she was exiled to the former To Tang camp. She would not attend Tribal Council, and was effectively immune.
^5 Neal was evacuated from the game due to multiple staph infections.
^6 Joe was evacuated from the game from experiencing bladder problems.
^7 Per Survivor rules, in the event of a tie at the final four, a fire-making challenge would be held between the tied players.
^8 For winning the Reward Challenge, Michele earned the power to remove a juror.

Voting History[]

Original Tribes Switched Tribes Merged Tribe
Episode 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Voted Out Tie S32 darnell t
Darnell
S32 jennifer t
Jennifer
Tie S32 liz t
Liz
S32 caleb t
Caleb
S32 alecia t
Alecia
S32 anna t
Anna
S32 peter t
Peter
S32 neal t
Neal
S32 nick t
Nick
S32 debbie t
Debbie
S32 scot t
Scot
S32 julia t
Julia
S32 jason t
Jason
S32 joe t
Joe
Tie S32 cydney t
Cydney
S32 tai t
Tai
S32 aubry t
Aubry
S32 michele t
Michele
Vote 3-31 4-0 3-2 2-2-21 3-0 No vote2 3-1 5-1 4-2 No vote4 6-2-1-1 4-3-2 4-2-2 5-2 4-2-1 No vote6 2-27 Tiebreaker 5-2-0
Michele Nick Debbie Tai Julia Jason Aubry Jury Vote
Aubry Peter None Anna Peter Nick Debbie Scot Julia Jason Cydney
Tai Anna Peter Jason Cydney Scot Julia Michele Cydney
Michele5
Cydney Alecia Darnell Jennifer Alecia Nick Debbie Scot Julia Jason Aubry Eliminated Michele
Joe Liz Liz Anna Julia Nick Scot Scot Julia Jason Evacuated Aubry
Jason Alecia Darnell Jennifer Alecia Aubry Cydney Aubry Tai Joe Michele
Julia Exiled3 Peter Nick Debbie Tai Tai Michele
Scot Darnell Darnell Alecia Alecia Anna Peter Aubry Cydney Aubry Michele
Debbie Liz Liz Nick Scot Michele
Nick Debbie Aubry
Neal Peter Liz Evacuated None8
Peter Aubry None Anna Julia
Anna Peter
Alecia Darnell None Jennifer Scot
Caleb Evacuated
Liz Aubry None
Jennifer Darnell Darnell Alecia
Darnell Alecia None
Notes:
^1 The vote resulted in a tie. Per Survivor rules, a revote was held where the castaways involved in the tie would not vote and the remaining castaways could only vote for those involved in the tie.
^2 Caleb was medically evacuated during the Reward Challenge due to heat exhaustion. No vote occurred for his removal.
^3 Due to the odd number of castaways at the tribe switch, the odd person out was exiled to the former To Tang camp until after the following Tribal Council, when they would join the tribe that lost a member.
^4 Neal was medically evacuated following the Immunity Challenge due to a rupture of a pus-filled abscess on his knee. The Tribal Council scheduled for that night was cancelled.
^5 This castaway played an Extra Vote advantage, allowing them to vote twice at Tribal Council.
^6 After suffering from constipation and urine retention following a reward, the medical team was alerted of Joe's condition. Eventually, his condition grew serious enough to necessitate his evacuation. No vote occurred for his removal.
^7 Per Survivor rules, in the event of a tie at the final four, a fire-making challenge would be held between the tied castaways.
^8 For winning the final Reward Challenge, Michele earned the power to remove a juror. She chose Neal.

Trivia[]

  • The art design for this season's buffs and flags appears to be inspired by the Sak Yant, a traditional Southeast Asian style of tattooing deity or animal designs accompanied by Pali phrases said to offer good luck or fortune.[21]
  • The font used for this season is Croteau.[22]
  • Kaôh Rōng is the third season in which the starting tribe colors are blue, red, and yellow, and the merged tribe color is black, following Philippines and Worlds Apart.
  • Kaôh Rōng features the most medical evacuations, with three.
  • Kaôh Rōng is the first season with an equal number of Reward Challenges and Immunity Challenges.
    • Kaôh Rōng is the only season where the last challenge was played for reward rather than immunity.
  • Kaôh Rōng is tied with Survivor 44 for the fewest players voted out, with 12.
  • Post-merge, no people from the same starting tribe were eliminated consecutively.
  • Kaôh Rōng is the first season since Tocantins where no Hidden Immunity Idols were played.
  • Kaôh Rōng is the only season whose finale aired over a year after filming concluded.
  • Kaôh Rōng is the only season with new players to have a Final Three where all three finalists returned for a future season.

References[]

  1. https://twitter.com/nealhgottlieb/status/715937086654849024
  2. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2016/02/18/wednesday-final-ratings-feb-17-2016/
  3. http://parade.com/415787/joshwigler/jeff-probst-tells-you-everything-you-need-to-know-about-survivor-second-chance/7/
  4. https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNKEauy-4LJvOAjw3upZpbWVw3zoswi6eiB7BfTJrv79bNpFK3UnUNWBENXHiUs0A?key=Z0hxcW04QkFWUGdpRjlleGhJa0oyeFh2U1ZXQXhB
  5. Ross, Dalton (January 11, 2016). "Survivor: Jeff Probst reveals latest twist: a new 'super idol'". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/article/2016/01/11/survivor-kaoh-rong-jeff-probst-super-idol. Retrieved January 11, 2016. 
  6. 6.0 6.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2016/02/18/wednesday-final-ratings-feb-17-2016/
  7. 7.0 7.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2016/02/25/wednesday-final-ratings-feb-24-2016/
  8. 8.0 8.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2016/03/03/wednesday-final-ratings-march-2-2016/
  9. 9.0 9.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2016/03/10/wednesday-final-ratings-march-9-2016/
  10. 10.0 10.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2016/03/17/wednesday-final-ratings-march-16-2016/
  11. 11.0 11.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2016/03/24/wednesday-final-ratings-march-23-2016/
  12. 12.0 12.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2016/03/31/wednesday-final-ratings-march-30-2016/
  13. 13.0 13.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2016/04/07/wednesday-final-ratings-april-6-2016/
  14. 14.0 14.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2016/04/14/wednesday-final-ratings-april-13-2016/
  15. 15.0 15.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2016/04/21/wednesday-final-ratings-april-20-2016/
  16. 16.0 16.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2016/04/28/wednesday-final-ratings-april-27-2016/
  17. 17.0 17.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2016/05/05/wednesday-final-ratings-may-4-2016/
  18. 18.0 18.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2016/05/12/wednesday-final-ratings-may-11-2016/
  19. 19.0 19.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2016/05/19/tv-ratings-wednesday-may-18-2016/
  20. 20.0 20.1 http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2016/05/19/tv-ratings-wednesday-may-18-2016/
  21. http://sak-yant.com/
  22. http://www.fonts.com/font/typodermic/croteau/regular

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