"The Marooning"
The Adventure Begins
Season	Borneo
Episode Number	1/13 (001)
First Broadcast	May 31, 2000
Episode Chronology
Next	The Generation Gap
Subpages
Gallery Transcript

The Marooning is the first episode of Survivor: Borneo and the very first episode of the Survivor television series.

Contents 1 Challenges 2 Story 2.1 Day 1 2.2 Day 2 2.3 Day 3 3 Tribal Council 3.1 Voting Confessionals 3.2 Final Words 3.3 Still in the Running 4 Trivia 4.1 Behind the Scenes 4.2 Other 5 References 6 External links 7 Comments

ChallengesEdit

Reward/Immunity Challenge: Quest for Fire
A symbolic race for fire held on the Sand Spit, an s-shaped sand bar located one mile off Pulau Tiga. The object was to alternately float and carry a cauldron of fire from a position 50 yards offshore to the finish line, which was delineated by a 20-foot high Fire Spirit. In addition, teams had to light a succession of torches between start and finish, with the winner being the first to light all their torches and the Fire Spirit.
Reward: 50 waterproof matches and Tribal Immunity.
Winner: Pagong

StoryEdit

Day 1Edit

16 average Americans from different walks of life were sent to a remote fishing village to board a small boat. In the middle of the ocean, the cast were instructed to salvage all supplies that they can get, jump overboard to their tribe rafts on the small uncharted deserted island of Pulau Tiga in the South China Sea off the Malaysian coast of Borneo.

The sixteen castaways were divided into two competing tribes. The orange Tagi tribe consisted of: Dirk Been, Kelly Wiglesworth, Richard Hatch, Rudy Boesch, Sean Kenniff, Sonja Christopher, Stacey Stillman and Susan Hawk. Wearing yellow, the Pagong Tribe consisted of B.B. Andersen, Colleen Haskell, Gervase Peterson, Greg Buis, Gretchen Cordy, Jenna Lewis, Joel Klug and Ramona Gray. They must survive the elements and each other for the next 39 days, or they will be voted off the island. In the end only one will claim the $1,000,000 prize and the title of Sole Survivor.

Early on, sickness among castaways started to set in. The paddle from the boat took place under a hot equatorial sun. Pagong was fighting the current, and their journey took almost two hours longer than Tagi's. Both Ramona and Gretchen swallowed salt water en route, with Ramona vomiting over the side of the raft before reaching shore, and Gretchen heaving on the fringe of the jungle once they'd made land. While approaching their beach, Jenna of Pagong haplessly breast-stroked to their camp, without even knowing that Pulau Tiga has one of the highest concentration of sea snakes.

Upon reaching camp, Tagi immediately began working on shelter and fire, except Richard, who sat on a tree while watching his tribemates work. Sue called him up to help them, but he refused, leading to a conflict, but he demanded that the tribe must work in unison or they would fail. At Pagong, the eldest of the tribe, BB, also squabbled with his tribemates about work ethic.

The difference between the two was that Ramona couldn't shake the nausea for several days, and was branded as lazy by BB; others including Gervase, sympathized with her situation. Gretchen had a rough few hours after arriving on the beach, then recovered and immediately went to work. Her work ethic was only matched by BB's. BB and Ramona later found their water hole containing brackish water, covered with leaves.

Friendships among players started to form a bond. The two African-Americans Gervase and Ramona, clicked instantly and promised each other that they will never vote against one another; while Greg entertained Jenna and Colleen with his funny antics.

As day turned to night, neither tribe was entirely settled (though Tagi had constructed a magnificent makeshift outhouse) and neither had fire for cooking a hot meal. With rats and snakes beginning their nocturnal beach invasion, the sixteen brave men and women settled down for a night of fitful rest.

Day 2Edit

The next morning, at Pagong, the tribe finally had fire. Later, the two teams met Jeff Probst, where he revealed that they would compete in their first challenge, where it was revealed that the winning team will receive 50 waterproof matches, as well as the Immunity Idol, which symbolizes the guarantee of staying on the island for three more days. The losing tribe will proceed to Tribal Council and vote one tribemate off the game.

It was a close race between Pagong and Tagi, but Tagi's Sonja stumbled as they reach the beach. In the end, Pagong emerged victorious.

Day 3Edit

Back at Tagi, Richard targeted Stacey for being the weakest, while the others were gunning for Rudy and Sonja for being the oldest castaways. Also, Sonja's poor performance at the challenge made her a target for elimination. Stacey conspired with the women about voting out the grumpy Rudy. Sue initially said she agreed with the plan, but in a confessional, she declared she had other ideas. At Tribal Council, Sue joined Dirk, Sean, and Rudy in eliminating Sonja. She was first to go in 4-3-1 vote.

Tribal CouncilEdit

Tribal Council 1: Tagi
Voted Against	Voter
Sonja (4 votes)	Dirk, Rudy, Sean & Susan
Rudy (3 votes)	Kelly, Sonja & Stacey
Stacey (1 vote)	Richard
VOTED OFF: Sonja Christopher

Voting ConfessionalsEdit

Sean and Dirk's confessionals are only available on DVD.^[1]

“	Just physically it's too much. That's it. That's the only reason. I love her spirit, but she can't handle it. It's hurting the team.	”
–Dirk[2]

“	Stacey, tough call. Subtle reasons. Not sure exactly what they are.	”
–Richard

“	Picking her because I think she's the reason we lost yesterday.	”
–Rudy

“	My vote really kills me because I love her, but I want to get the best opportunity for my team to survive, my other teammates. There's a lot of physical challenges, and I think that it's best if we vote for Sonja. Much to my dismay. I'm gonna miss her if she goes. It kills me. Breaks my heart. She really wants to be here. That's it.	”
–Sean[3]

“	I'll miss his skills and speaking his mind openly.	”
–Sonja

“	He's an ornery guy. Doesn't really help that much. For a Navy Seal he doesn't know how to start fire. He just criticizes everything.	”
–Stacey

“	I remove the weakest link in the crew.	”
–Susan

Final WordsEdit

“	I think this has been an awesome experience. Being first to be voted out is a little humiliating. On the other hand, I think the team did the right thing. They are a terrific group of people, very strong physically, and I think in their shoes, I would have probably done the same thing.	”
–Sonja Christopher

Still in the RunningEdit

Pagong
B.B.	Colleen	Gervase	Greg	Gretchen	Jenna	Joel	Ramona
Tagi
Dirk	Kelly	Richard	Rudy	Sean	Sonja	Stacey	Susan

TriviaEdit

Behind the ScenesEdit

OtherEdit

• Sonja Christopher was the very first castaway and first female castaway voted off in Survivor history.
• This is the first episode to feature a combined Reward/Immunity Challenge (which Pagong won).
• This is the very first episode of Survivor.
• Sue is the first contestant to ever cast a vote at Tribal Council.
• Rudy is the first contestant to have a confessional.

ReferencesEdit

External linksEdit

• CBS episode summary

Survivor: Borneo Episodes
The Marooning · The Generation Gap · Quest for Food · Too Little, Too Late? · Pulling Your Own Weight · Udder Revenge · The Merger · Thy Name Is Duplicity · Old and New Bonds · Crack in the Alliance · Long Hard Days · Death of an Alliance · The Final Four

Start a Discussion Discussions about The Marooning

You can find discussions about everything related to this wiki on Survivor Wiki Forum!